Chapter One: The Crocodile Hunter

For as long as Jason Cole could remember, Steve Irwin had been his hero. The wild, unstoppable Australian force of nature had shaped Jason's childhood dreams, igniting his passion for wildlife conservation and instilling in him a belief that even the fiercest creatures deserved respect. But on a fateful September day in 2006, everything changed. The world lost Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, in a freak accident that seemed almost too absurd to be real.

Jason remembered the moment like it was yesterday. He had been fourteen, sitting in his room, flipping channels on the TV. Then the news broke. Steve Irwin had been killed by a stingray. A stingray, of all things. It felt like the universe had played a cruel joke, snatching away someone who had faced crocodiles, venomous snakes, and the wildest animals on Earth without fear.

For years, Jason carried the weight of that loss. He pursued a degree in biology, followed by a PhD in quantum mechanics—two paths that seemed disparate to most but made perfect sense to him. Jason believed in two things: the beauty of the natural world and the untapped potential of time travel.

Now, in the year 2045, Jason stood in front of a massive, circular apparatus deep in the heart of the Terra Nova Quantum Institute. The machine before him hummed with a faint, eerie resonance. To most, it would look like a bizarre amalgamation of wires, glowing panels, and swirling energy fields. But to Jason, it was hope. It was the product of years of research, of sleepless nights and countless dead ends. And it was his one chance to right a wrong that had haunted him for decades.

"You're really going through with this?" a voice called from behind him.

Jason turned to see Dr. Elise Navarro, his colleague and the only person in the institute who knew the true purpose of his project. She leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, her face a mask of both curiosity and concern.

"I have to," Jason replied, his voice low and determined. "I know it sounds insane, but I’ve run the simulations. I’ve mapped every quantum variable, calculated every anomaly. This can work."

Elise walked closer, her eyes scanning the machine, then settling on Jason. "You realize the risks, right? You’ve done the math, sure, but this isn’t some theoretical paper we’re talking about. This is time itself. You could alter everything, Jason."

He looked away, his hands gripping the edge of the console tightly. "I know. But if I can just... If I can get to him before that stingray does... if I can save Steve, it’s worth it."

"Why him?" Elise asked, her voice softening. "Out of all the moments in history, all the people you could save… why Steve Irwin?"

Jason smiled faintly, the memory of that infectious, larger-than-life personality flashing before his eyes. "He taught me that the world was worth saving. That every creature, every species, had a role in the balance of nature. He showed me that you could fight for something bigger than yourself." His smile faded. "And he didn’t deserve to die like that. Not him."

Elise sighed, placing a hand on Jason’s shoulder. "I know what he meant to you. But this isn’t just about Steve, is it?"

Jason tensed under her touch. "What do you mean?"

"You’ve never forgiven yourself for not being able to do anything back then. You were just a kid, Jason. It wasn’t your fault."

He pulled away, pacing across the room. "Maybe. But now I can do something about it. I have the chance to fix it. How could I not?"

Elise shook her head. "This is bigger than Steve Irwin. You know that, right? You’re talking about jumping back nearly forty years, into the most delicate points in time. You’ve modeled out the ripple effects, sure. But there’s so much we don’t understand."

Jason stopped and looked at her, his face set with the kind of resolve that had driven him all these years. "I’ve thought about this my whole life, Elise. I know the risks. I know I could mess everything up. But I’ve spent my entire career preparing for this moment. I’m not walking away."

There was a pause, a long, tense silence. Elise bit her lip, her mind racing through all the arguments she could make, all the logic she could throw at him. But deep down, she knew nothing would change Jason’s mind. Not now.

Finally, she nodded. "Then I’m coming with you."

Jason blinked, caught off guard. "What?"

"You heard me," she said, her expression hardening. "I’m not letting you go alone. If something goes wrong, someone needs to be there to pull you out."

Jason stared at her for a moment, unsure whether to feel relieved or terrified. He opened his mouth to protest, but Elise raised a hand, cutting him off.

"You need me, Jason. Let’s not pretend you don’t."

He closed his mouth, then nodded slowly. "Alright. But if you’re coming, we do this my way."

Elise smiled, though there was still a shadow of apprehension in her eyes. "Deal."

Jason turned back to the console, his fingers dancing over the controls. The machine began to whirr louder, the lights intensifying as the air around them seemed to hum with energy.

"Ready?" he asked, glancing at Elise one last time.

She took a deep breath, then nodded. "As ready as I’ll ever be."

Jason flipped the final switch, and the room was swallowed in a brilliant flash of light. Time itself seemed to warp, bending around them, and then, in an instant, they were gone.

The mission had begun.

They were going back to save the Crocodile Hunter.