“Shockwaves.”
The wizard Argent, Lord Ian Patrick stood in the observation room, his eyes wandering over the various scenes displayed on the walls.
The observation room sat atop the great black marble Tower of the Citadel. No windows marred the dark, pitted surface of the ancient construct. Even if there were, there would have been, as yet, not much to see.
The Citadel rested upon a dead world, its one-time inhabitants eons dead and gone, its atmosphere spun into space.
Though still and quiet for so long, now machines, ranging in size from near microscopic to lumbering behemoths, traveled the cratered surface, starting the work of re establishing an atmosphere, and beginning the process of reseeding the world with life. The end result, a world once again teeming with life, was, however, at least hundreds of years in the future. A future Ian looked forward to seeing….for he would be here to see it.
For now, however, he saw only what the inner walls showed him…projections of alternate realities, other timelines.
“There goes another.”
Ian turned as Keiran, his cousin, followed by his wife Anne and Ian’s butler, Gerald squeezed through the narrow entrance of the Observation room.
Keiran walked easily to his cousin’s side but Anne, as usual, hesitated.
She hated this room. It was not that she considered it evil. Like Ian and Keiran, she had come to realize that, often, things were not evil in themselves…it was merely the use to which they were put.
In her old world, before Superman had brought the shard that had twisted things, and people, to Earth, one of the sayings had been ‘Guns don’t kill people…People kill people.’ The same concept held for this place. Like a gun, it was a tool, nothing more.
It was, she supposed, more what the place represented than what it actually was.
Being here, she now had some concept of what Ian and Keiran spoke of when they talked of different Shadows. Different realities…all existing in the same space and time, separated by….what? That she had never truly understood. Were they separated by Dimensional barriers?
She looked around the room noticing the slowly turning bronze rings built within the floor. Three concentric circles. Each turning in variouos directions at various speeds, as if a giant were twirling the dial of a combination lock…always searching for the right combination.
In the center of the room, above a long control console, a great….gyroscope was the only word she could use to describe the tumbling object suspended, with no apparent support, above the console.
The room was exactly had been the day they had moved in…no…not exactly the same. A pedestal had been added, upon which now rested a large transparent sphere, the interior of which now swirled with a light green mist.
Taking a deep breath, Anne stepped over the rings and joined her husband and Ian at the console.
Gerald, as usual, waited by the door. He had been with Ian long enough to gage his master’s moods and knew when his presence would be desired…it would not be long now.
Another scene on the wall darkened, leaving a blank spot until the rings moved and another reality came into view.
“And another.” Keiran sighed. “How many is that now?”
“I don’t know.” Ian shrugged, the gesture seeming forced. “I had Ceilia stop counting once she hit two million…that was a few days ago.”
“Two….” Anne gasped, a hand flying to her lips.
Keiran shared a look of sympathy with her and then glanced at the globe on the pedestal, his eyes narrowing.
“Do you think it knew?” He demanded of no one in particular. “Did it know this would happen?”
Turning, Ian saw where Keiran was looking.
“Yes…Yes I am certain that it knew.” He answered the question. He placed a hand on the globe, a smile that did not reach his eyes touching his lips as weak tendrils of energy sparked from the mist to strike the inside of the globe where his fingers touched. Much like a toy on earth. He looked back to the scenes on the wall. “I find that I am in agreement with it.” He announced.
“What?” Anne gave him a shocked look. “How could you?” She demanded.
“Shhhh.” Keiran placed a hand on her arm, but his attention was on Ian. “Explain.”
“These realities that are winking out of existence.” Ian turned his attention back to the scenes playing all around them. “They all have one thing in common.” He shook his head. “These are not full-fledged realities….Probabilities as Kara would call them…but non-viable timelines.” He looked back at the globe. “Timelines that it artificially sustained. Timelines that should have split and then faded almost instantly.” He looked now at Keiran. “It was playing God.” He announced. “Until it was forced to admit that it wasn’t a God.”
“Wasn’t it?” Anne demanded.
“No.” Ian shook his head. “Oh, it passed most of the tests for godhood…perhaps all but two…it was not omniscient nor was its power inexhaustible, as we have seen. It had its limits…and it had reached them…long before…well, when it was called on to anchor those new worlds into the Multiverse…It had to withdraw its energy…not only from the Sentinels of the various Probabilities…but also from those probabilities that it was sustaining…and who knows what else.”
“Six worlds….six new realities.” Keiran shook his head. “How many have perished for those six to exist?”
“Ten worlds, actually.” Ian looked on as yet another reality faded from view. “The original three had to be reinforced and made permanent.”
“You mean the Starheart was sustaining those worlds too?” Anne was incredulous.
“Yes.” Ian nodded ever so slightly. “When that one Probability was split into three, by all rights, the two new ones should have faded away within minutes. The Starheart’s power kept them in existence…but at a price.”
“Could it have been that interference that altered the way the Guardians of Probability Two reacted towards that reality’s Arisia?” Anne pondered.
“Possibly.” Ian’s reply was casual, as if he considered that a minor point.
“Why would it want to keep…what do they call it…Probability 3?.” Keiran asked, and then waved off the the question before Ian could respond and quickly made an observation. “With the introduction of the new six, that only makes nine.”
“You noticed that, did you?” Ian gave a bark of a laugh. “It seems a seventh world tagged along…or rather was caught in the storm. A world that has ties to both Kara and to Otherverse.”
Understanding dawned in Anne’s eyes. She had heard the story of Kara Zor-El and her companions.
“The world where Kara was resurrected!” She whispered. As Ian nodded she looked back at the globe. “And none of them knew it.”
“It is possible that the Flameling…Faith, felt it.” Ian shrugged. “In fact, it is likely she did…but she had no frame of reference and probably assumed it was merely one of hundreds of power surges she and the others must have felt that day. In fact, it is highly likely that it was that final jolt…that energy needed to begin the anchoring process that overloaded Senturia and caused her to split…with both halves unconscious.”
“But why?” Kerien demanded. “Why sacrifice all those realities…why did it almost drain itself out of existence?”
Ian was silent for a moment and then touched another control. This time the images faded to be replaced with an image of the recent past. Somehow, Ian had managed to capture images of Team Sentinel as they worked to channel the energies to anchor the new worlds.
“I don’t even want to know how you accomplished that.” Keiran muttered.
Ian fine tuned the image, causing it to zoom in on Sentura at the exact instant that the energy around her faded and she split into her two composite parts…Jennifer Walters-Gand and Arisia Fentura.
“I can’t begin to claim to understand the why of it.” Ian admitted. “I have studied and discovered some interesting facts about our little Starheart, but I nothing to explain why. Neither will I try to speculate.” He looked up at the others. “Recall that this Starheart is not even remotely human and it would be futile to attempt to assign human motives to it.” He looked back down at the globe. “What I have discovered, however, is interesting and could possibly shed a bit of light.’ He looked up again. “For instance, Our little friend here is, in all probably, barely out of what we would call adolescence.”
“A child?” Kerien snorted his disbelief.
“No…but, comparatively speaking, not long out of the childhood stage.” He turned and touched a control on the console and a new set of images sprang up on the walls.
“Of those sectors and probabilities outside the Multiverse in this Continuum, This starheart is a virtual Johnny-come-lately. In fact, I would say that it is, by a great measure, the youngest Starheart in the Continuum. Those in Alterverse and Otherverse are older, as is the Starheart in the Realm and all other sectors. Though I would also venture to say that it will not long remain the youngest.”
Kerien followed Ian’s gaze and saw that he was watching images of the Inheritor’s Universe.
“So, because it can no longer maintain all those realities, they all die.” Anne shook her head. “Will it stop?” She demanded. “And if it does, how many will be left? How many billions have to die?”
“Not die.” Ian turned to her. “Those realities, those Probabilities, will simply cease to exist. It will be as if they had never existed.”
“Semantics!” Anne snorted.
“An important distinction.” Ian corrected. “A slight distinction, to be sure. But important, nonetheless. And to answer your original questions, yes…it will stop. As for how many will be left, somewhere between one to five hundred probabilities will survive. ”
Stunned silence greeted this statement.
“Celia made what is, to her, a wild guess based on projected data from Probabilities 1 through 10.” Ian continued, moving back to look down at the mist filled sphere.”
“I don’t understand.” Anne admitted.
“Celia has discovered that the rate of…erasures…is constant. From that and other data, she has extrapolated that during the time that it would take to erase all those probabilities, the Ten core worlds will have been able to split into one to five hundred alternate timelines. Those and the ten Core Probabilities, or so Celia believes, will survive. Every other probability will in all likelihood be…erased.”
“And it sits there….helpless.” Kerien remarked after a long moment of stunned silence, looking again at the Glass sphere, his eyes widening as Ian gave a short bark of a laugh and stepped up to the globe, rapping on it sharply with his knuckles.
“Oh it is far from helpless.” He stated. “Our little friend here is playing possum.”
“What?”
“Oh, it was damned near helpless when I located it and placed it in this sphere. If I hadn’t, it is a near certainty that it would have lost cohesion and dissipated. At first, it was only this sphere that allowed it to retain its…intelligence…its sentience. Since then, however, it has been…feeding.”
“Feeding?” Anne gave the sphere a disgusted look. “Feeding on what?”
“On them.” Anne turned to her husband, for it was he, not Ian that had answered. She looked where he was looking and saw yet another probability wink out of existence. Erased.
“It is drawing the energy it used to maintain those realities back into itself.” Ian nodded.
“Is there anyway you can cut it off?” Anne demanded, sighing as Ian shook his head.
“No.” He said. “Perhaps, at first I could have, though I do not believe I would have. But not now.” He touched the globe. “What we are seeing here, in this globe, is only what it wants us to see.”
“Ten pounds of shit in a five pound bag.” Kerein sighed. “But why? Surely it knows it could have recharged itself over time without having to destroy all those realities.”
“Time, I believe, was…and still is…the issue.” Ian stood up straight. “It is charging itself at an alarming rate. It is marshalling it’s strength for something….and I think it is time we find out exactly what it considers so important that it has to sacrifice all those realities.
“Reed?”
Reed Richards shook his head and pushed back from his computer screen, unconsciously running a hand through his hair as he used the fingers of the other hand to first rub his eyes and then the bridge of his nose.
“I know.” He sighed, looking back over his shoulder towards the entrance to his lab.
Sue Richards stood there, her form silhouetted by the light from the hallway behind her.
“They’re waiting in the conference room, hon.” Sue spoke softly, moving into the room and stepping up behind him, resting her hands lightly on his shoulders. “Needless to say, they are curious. It’s not every day Reed Richards calls for an emergency conference with Dr. Strange, Prof. Xavier, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, and Jean Gray.”
She trailed off and let her eyes swept the room, finally resting on the large apparatus assembled in one corner.
“Have you figured out what it is?” She asked.
“Yes.” Reed nodded, not bothering to look at the assemblage. Over the past months, he had become intensely familiar with it. And what it represented. And how and why it had suddenly appeared in his lab!
It was rather large affair. A cobbled together console attached to what, at first appearances, was metallic ring, standing upright on a raised platform.
Reed stood and slipped an arm around the waist of his wife.
“C’mon.” He told her, urging her towards the lab exit. “I’ll explain when we get to the conference room.”
MVP1-17
“Thank you for coming on such short notice.” Reed spoke to the assembled heroes as he and Sue stepped into the conference room. He was only slightly surprised to see Johnny Storm, The Human Torch, and Ben Grimm, the Thing, there as well. “Sorry for the delay. I wanted to do one more test before I came to you.”
“Reed….” Johnny began, his worried eyes flicking first to Sue, then to Ben, before finally settling back on Reed.
“Hold on for a second, Johnny.” Reed waved him quiet and took a seat at the head of the conference table. He studied the controls of the panel before him and touched a few buttons.
The wall behind him seemed to dissolve and reform as the HQ computer displayed an image. A live feed from his lab showing the strange Ring.
“A few months ago, this object appeared in my lab and I have been working non-stop to determine exactly what it is and where it came from.” He began. He did not see the glances exchanged between his visitors or the shrug Sue gave when all eyes then turned to her. “So far, I have been able to determine that it is a probability transportation device.” He turned to the visitors. “This device, when it appeared, was slaved expertly into my computer system. A quick observation showed that my system had operation procedures for this device…as if it had been built here…and, by everything I have been able to discover it was.” He paused and clasped his hands in front of him. “I am fully aware that most, if not all, of you think I have snapped.”
Sue looked down and Johnny had the grace to blush.
Reed looked up, glancing at Sue and then running his eyes over the assembled heroes.
“I know that Sue, Johnny, and Ben believe that the ring has been there for some time and they believe they know who built it. They even believe I helped in its construction. Johnny has memories of entering the operation procedures into the computer system.”
Johnny nodded slightly.
“And unless I miss my guess. I would be willing to bet the rest of you recognized it the instant I displayed the image.”
No one answered though they all nodded.
“After examining this thing thoroughly, I have to admit that what Sue, Johnny, and Ben recall may have some basis.” Reed smiled wryly. “I can, after all, recognize my own work when I see it and, when I look at that thing, I can see my own work.”
He paused again.
“But, despite all the evidence, I have no recollection of working on such an object, much less installing it in my lab.”
“Reed.” Stephen Strange spoke up finally. “If you do not recall, then why did you decide to call us in particular?” He motioned towards the other visitors. “You are correct, we know what that object is. And we know who built it and why. But we in this room are the only ones on this world that would have that knowledge.”
“He knows that.” Charles Xavier mused. “He does not know how he has that knowledge, but he knows that, in some manner, we, all of us, were involved.”
“You are not comforting me, Charles.” Reed sighed. “You are just reinforcing the notion that I am, indeed, going crazy.”
“Hardly.” Xavier snorted. “But perhaps I can, indeed shed some light on the problem.” He looked around at the others. “Reed is both right and wrong. That object may have been there for almost two years now, but it also just appeared.”
“Oh, that makes perfect sense.” Ben Grimm snorted.
“Actually, Ben, it does.” Strange turned in his seat to look at the Thing before looking back to Reed. “If all had gone as predicted, then that Portal should not be there and none of us would have any memories of it, the people that helped construct it, or the situation that surrounded its creation.” He paused and looked to Reed. “If I may?”
Reed nodded and killed the image, allowing the wall behind him to reappear.
Though every one looked at him as if expecting him to stand and begin lecturing, Dr. Strange simply stretched forth a hand and a smoke image began to swirl into existence in the middle of the table. Within seconds it was clear it was an image of Earth as it might be seen from space.
“Reed.” He began. “You are, obviously, familiar with the concept of alternate realities.”
“Somewhat.” Reed replied in a dry tone. It was well known that Reed had long since developed a viewer that would allow him to look in on various alternate realities. “Though there are several different descriptions. Alternate reality or alternate probability usually denotes a world that has come into existence by diverging from our own at some point in history. A parallel world usually means a world that may or may not be a mirror image of our own but does not have its origin in a divergence from our world.”
“Good.” Stephen Strange nodded and the earth in the image began to split. “Let’s stick with the alternate reality...or probability, if you wish. An event occurs that causes a split in the time line. But what if, during this split, another event occurs that does not allow the split…What if , after the split is started, that world suddenly finds itself in a position that prevents the split from completing…because there is no place in the current continuity for the alternate reality?”
There was a long silence and then finally Johnny spoke up.
“A cork in a bottle.” He murmured
“Exactly.” Strange looked towards the young man and nodded. “A cork in a shook up bottle of champagne, to be more accurate. The pressure builds until finally…”
“Pop!” Ben Grimm spoke up. “Da cork goes flyin’!”
“Yes.” Strange looked towards Reed. “And in this case, we are the cork!”
“The split finally completed, squirting this timeline out of the original continuity.” Reed mused. “To where?” He shook his head. “I admit that my reality viewer has been on the fritz. It is only within the past few months that I have been able to view other worlds…but none fit the description of the realities I should be looking in on.”
“I can explain both if you will allow.” Again Stephen Strange smiled. “I have not been idle, Reed Richards.”
“So it would seem.” Reed frowned but waved for the mage to continue.
“The answer lies in that portal in your lab.” Stephen Strange began. “Though first it would probably be best if I first….” He stretched forth his hand and the image in the center of the table changed. “Behold a new continuum.” He whispered. “A Continuum consisting of realities and groups of realities. All cast of realities from Continua such as our own…gathered together from across Hypertime, the Cosmos, and the far reaches of time and space. In the scheme of things, it is fairly young….yet the realities and groups or realities within have their origins in the mists of the beginning of time…..”
Zor-El stood and moved towards the shuttle’s exit as soon as the crew, all Kandorian…no…Daxamites, indicated that it was safe for him to do so.
The shuttle had come in hot, at the advice of Terran authorities, in order to present less of a target for less time for any person on the ground with a ground to air missile. And though very slight, those same authorities had informed the pilots that the danger was very real.
Of course, Zor already knew about the problems the Terran President, Lex Luthor was having.
No sooner had the previous United Earth Government ceased to exist (incinerated during the latest Khund attack when the War World had come too close to the planet, the wildly fluctuating gravitational forces playing havoc with the Earth. Causing tidal waves, earthquakes, screwed weather patterns (which were, according to the last message he had gotten from Kara, still running rampant across the planet) and bringing old, extinct volcanoes back to life…one of which had obliterated Geneva) than many territories around the world tried to exert their traditional regional authority.
The previous government had been lax, as far as President Luthor was concerned, about such things. But he knew that the Earth could no longer afford to be divided. For all practical purposes, all the old territorial boundaries were non-existent except for regional identification purposes.
Earth was, like it or not, a single entity. One central government. And to facilitate the new United Earth, Luthor had convened a new Constitutional Convention…but not before he divided the entire globe up into a series of regions, regardless of past political boundaries.
As the Shuttle powered down, Zor glanced upward towards the ceiling of the passanger cabin as a series of heavy rumbles seemed to pass over.
“Our fighter escort.” A flight attendant, seeing his glance, informed him.
Zor nodded in understanding.
The Sol system was still very much on a war footing, despite the fact that there had been no sign of any renewed activity on the part of the Khunds or Darkseid. Something he, as the first Ambassador of Daxam to the Combined Sol system government, planned to speak about as soon as the opportunity presented itself.
He straightened his dress tunic as the exit hatch cycled open.
As he had been warned, the shuttle had not approached the Spaceport terminal, as would have been normal procedures, but rather had come to a rest well away from any building. A ramp had been rushed out across the tarmac and locked into place.
At its foot, Zor was astonished to see an honor guard, consisting of soldiers form all three of the Solarian worlds. The Guard, forming two inward facing lines, came to attention, their weapons, and Zor was certain they were not just ceremonial weapons, at the traditional Terran version of present arms.
At the end of the double line of the guard, Zor was not surprised to see three Solarian dignitaries waiting for him. What did surprise him was the identity of the Terran Dignatary.
While the Graxian and the Tamararian dignataries must be the Ambassadors from their worlds, The Terran Dignatary was none other than Lex Luthor himself.
Realizing that he was stalling, Zor willed his feet to move, being careful of each and every step. While the Starheart may have some how stripped the Kandorians of their natural ability to gain super-powers beneath the rays of a yellow sun (though more current research had suggested it was not so much the color of the sun but rather the rare form of radiations exuded by only a small number of yellow stars) he was still a heavy worlder. Which meant that his dense muscles and frame would allow him to perform what many would still consider to be tremendous feats. A simple thing like walking normally would send him bounding across the tarmac in fantastic leaps.
The down side was the danger earth scientist had long ago discovered when humans spent too much time in extremely light or zero gravity. In a relatively short time, what was, to him, the slight gravity of earth would begin to tell on him. His heart would expand, his bones to calcify. That was why he had the exoskeleton packed into his luggage. The slight frame, wore beneath his clothes, would generate, as far as his body was concerned, a full Daxamite gravity. Though it would be uncomfortable, he would have to wear it until suitable quarters, complete with artificial gravity generators, were constructed. Thankfully, with their super-powers, none of Kara’s family had to worry about the long term affects of low gravity.
Movement caught in the corner of his eye caused him to turn his head as he descended the ramp.
Off in the distance, machines and men seemed to be making progress in erasing the damage done by the last Khund attack. Some damage was still visible...and probably would be for years to come…but progress was obviously being made.
He reached the bottom of the ramp and passed between the lines of the honor guard, stopping before the dignataries waiting for him.
“Ambassador Zor.” Lex spoke, smiling broadly. “Welcome to Earth!”
“So you’re saying our world just tagged along for the ride?” Ben Grimm demanded after Dr. Strange finished his explanation. “Our world just followed those other six in a conga line into this new…Multiverse?”
“Essentially, yes.” Stephan Strange raised an eyebrow at the Thing’s analogy but otherwise said nothing.
Tony Stark smiled and shook his head.
“And so Kara saves the day again.” He stated.
“Actually, it was more or less Jennifer Walters with a lot help, a tremendous amount of good luck, and almost all the power of a massive Starheart, from what I have been able to discover.” Stephan responded. “And yet not a one of them are aware that our Earth slipped in through the back door, as it were.”
“Well, that truly explains why my equipment has been acting up.” Reed nodded. “My viewer is set up to look in on alternate realities…but it is having problems deciphering the current setup. First this Multiverse, which should not be too difficult, but then you toss in the alternate probabilities that are NOT part of the Multiverse, but reside in totally separate sectors within this Continuum and…” he shrugged.
“Sounds like you’ll have to re-calibrate it, dear.” Sue dead-panned. “If you start now you should be done by dinner time. Which, by the way,” she made a show of checking a non-existent watch on her wrist, “should be in about twenty-minutes.”
“Very funny.” Reed tried to frown but could not hold it, his lips spreading into an amused grin as he looked at his wife. “Okay, so re-calibrating the equipment shouldn’t be too difficult. But that still does not answer one question.” He looked at Xavier and then back to Strange. “Why do all of you remember all of what happened? Why are none of you missing Rogue, or Jenny? I know Jenny has been missing for a few months but….”
“She’s been missing because, according to this time line, she stayed in Otherverse with Kara, Rogue, and Lar when the Ripple hit.” Bruce Banner spoke up. “What you are remembering, Reed, are memories of the other timeline. The time line where Kara was not resurrected, where Rogue did not become a Kryptonian and where neither she nor Jenny joined Kara in Otherverse.”
“Bruce is correct, Reed.” Stephan agreed. “When the Ripple hit, attempting to put things back the way they were, before Kara, it also prevented the timeline split. That is why you have more recent memories of people that have, in this timeline, been gone not for months…but for close to three years! As to why we do not and you do…that is also quite simple.”
“I’m listening.”
“You have those memories because you are in the wrong place.” Xavier cut in. “You, personally, belong in the other timeline. And the Reed that is there should be here.”
Reed sat in his seat, stunned. He was in the wrong place?
“At this very moment, the other Reed is sitting in his conference room, speaking to our duplicates, our dopple-gangers, trying to discover why he has memories the others don’t and why he does not share the memories they have.” Stephan spoke softly.
“And just how do you know this?” Reed demanded.
“Because, even as we speak, I am in communication with my duplicate.” Stephan informed him. “I investigated before I came over here…and was able to make contact. Not too difficult as HE was trying to contact me at the same moment. At this point in time, our worlds…our realities, are still connected, still tied by a thin thread of reality…but that thread is fraying, about to snap. When that happens, we will totally immersed in this new Multiverse…and contact with that other reality will be forever impossible. So what must be done, must be done now.”
“What are you talking about?” Reed started to stand “Do what?”
“This!” Stephan lifted the Eye of Almagotta from the place it occupied on the chain around his neck and spoke words in a language none there recognized.
White light played over a startled Reed. It was brief and when the light winked out, Reed slumped in his chair.
“Reed?” Sue tossed Stephan a concerned look and moved to her husband’s side.
“I’m okay.” Reed took in a deep breath and looked up at Stephan. “Well obviously that didn’t work, what ever it was you were trying to do.” He looked around. “So that still leaves us with the question of what to do.”
“Are you certain, Reed Richards?” Stephan actually smiled.
“Of course I am.” Reed snapped. “Nothing has changed. Nothing has….” He paused and looked around the table, “You tried a transfer…that’s what you were doing!” He looked back at Stephan. “You tried to swap me for my duplicate!”
“No Reed, my duplicate and I did not try.” Stephan smiled. “We succeeded. If you doubt me, then I suggest you go look in your lab.”
“Then I wasn’t going crazy.” Reed slumped again, this time covering his face with his hands. Then his head snapped up and he fixed Xavier with a glare. “Who is Kara Zor-El?” he demanded.
“Why, she is the Kryptonian woman that we resurrected, placing her spirit and mind within a clone body.”
“What happened to Rogue and where is she?” Reed demanded of Jean Grey
“Rogue accidentally touched Kara, not long after you and Dr. Strange tried to give her control of her mutant powers of absorption. As a result of the accident, however, her very DNA and mental processes were changed. She became a full-blooded Kryptonian, loosing that mutant ability. She became Kara’s lover and she stayed with Kara in Otherverse.” Jean answered.
“And Jenny?” Reed turned to Bruce Banner.
“Jenny went to Otherverse as well, Reed. You know that as well as I.” Bruce smiled. “And you know what happened to her, how she gained her new power…I had to listen to you gripe about a wrecked Starship for weeks.”
“The transfer did indeed work, Reed Richards.” Dr. Strange said. “Though had we waited any longer, such a feat would not be impossible. You and your duplicate would have been trapped in worlds that, for all their similarities, would have been alien. And you and he would have eventually gone mad, trying to reconcile your memories with the realities of the worlds in which you were stranded.” He was quiet for a moment. “I wish only that we had had the power, and the means, to transfer all those that must have been stranded in the wrong timelines.”
“I wouldn’t worry too much about that, Stephen.” Jean Gray spoke up. “In most cases, average people will not see many differences. And any differences they do encounter will most likely be chalked up to faulty memory and nothing more.” She paused. “Though there will be some…some whose lives were drastically different. Those are the ones that will have a hard time of it.”
There was quiet for a moment as they all digested this and then Sue sighed.
“I feel sorry for them, but there is nothing we can do.” She said. “When, if, any of those make themselves known, we can see what help we can offer, but until then…”
“Until then, we go on.” Xavier nodded. “And speaking of which, what now?”
“Now I suppose I get my equipment working right.” Reed smiled slightly. “I know my duplicate is going to have hell trying to realign his after I tried to align them with my memories so I imagine I will have the same difficulties.”
“And then…after dinner?” Johnny quipped, earning him a mock glare from Reed.
“Then I suggest we see exactly where we are in the scheme of things in this new…Multiverse”
“It’s been difficult.” Lex Luthor admitted.
The previous two days had been spent in endless meetings between the dignitaries. Lex had skipped most of these, letting his chosen representative, Charles Xavier, speak and negotiate for him. Understandable. No one really expected the head of Earth’s young government to take the time out of his busy schedule to deal with the tedious details. Xavier knew what Lex wanted, what Earth needed out of these discussions, and what Earth could offer. He also knew where his authority began and ended. He knew when and where he could make decisions for the UEG and when and where he would have to consult with his government.
Now, however, the dignitaries had taken a few days break and Lex had invited Zor to his personal quarters for and informal get together. Not as President of the UEG and the Ambassador of Daxam, but rather as friends and comrades.
“We’ve done a good job.” Luthor continued. “We’ve been able to route out most of those damned Sec-Pol bastards that President Golder…” he shook his head. He still fumed over what the previous president had done to the Security Police. When he, during his original term as President, had created Sec-Pol, he had never dreamed that the two presidents that followed him would turn it into a modern version of the KGB.
Now, having taken the reins once again, and from all signs, permanently, he had seriously considered disbanding the Sec-Pol. His advisors, chief among them being Mercy, had talked him out of it. Instead, he had initiated a public purge. Very public and very strict. If there was even a hint that a Sec-Pol officer had acted improperly, that officer was fired. If there was even the slightest proof that the officer had acted improperly, that officer would face charges in a very hostile court of law.
Of course it had not gone smoothly. Entire sections of the Sec-Pol had rebelled. Some had stupidly thought to fight it out with Luthor’s investigating officers, led by James Olsen, only to find that Olsen had access to overwhelming firepower.
Others had simply disappeared, melting into the background to link up with each other and/or terrorist cells scattered throughout the world.
“We’ve had better luck in corralling the anti-globalization wannabe terrorists.” Lex shrugged. “Especially in the areas that were more or less democratic in nature. Extremists from both the Left and Right seem to hate us, but they aren’t willing to put their own lives on the line to get rid of us. The religious fanatics and eco-fanatics cause us the most problems.”
“Krypton was not without its religious extremists.” Zor commented. “Nor do I doubt that Daxam will eventually have its share. I am sure if you talk to the Ambassadors from New Graxius and Venus you would find the same is true with them.”
“New Graxius.” Mercy picked that moment to walk in to the room, fresh cups of coffee for the two men in her hands. “You would not believe the hue and cry it caused here on Earth when the Graxians renamed Mars.”
“At least the Tamarians decided to keep the name Venus.” Lex nodded. “Though from what I understand, it was a close thing.”
“Well, they had already had two worlds destroyed.” Zor pointed out. “Tamaran and New Tamaran. I guess the majority felt they were not going to take a chance on a third world by naming it Tamaran 3.”
He took a sip of the coffee, marveling at its wonderful taste. It had been years since he had had a drop of the uniquely earth beverage. In fact, it had been way back when Kara and Kal had released Allura and himself from the Survival Zone, before they had elected to migrate to Kandor.
“I can see how you deal with your regular terrorists, but how do you deal with the…irregular…ones?” he asked.
“You mean the metas.” Lex smiled. “Actually, that has been less of a problem then you might guess. When they show up, we have our own teams of metas to deal with them. And quite frankly, they are getting less support than we thought they would.” He took a sip of his coffee before continuing. “One of the major terrorist groups that we are aware of are the Firsters. They preach Earth and normal Humans first. Aliens and Metas are second class citizens, at best, and should be exterminated, at worst.”
“Ha!” Zor barked, grinning. “And if I know Rogue, whenever they show their noses, she is right in their face.”
“You got it.” Lex grinned back at him. He then became serious. “Of course, that also tends to make her, and by association Kara and the Twins, prime targets.” He shook his head. “Thankfully we have others that can take the heat off them somewhat. Troia, Ms. Marvel, Starfire from Venus…”
“Starfire?” Zor was appalled. “Princess Koriand’r? I know she relinquished her claim to the Tamaran throne…but still….”
“She didn’t give the Tamaran Government a choice.” Mercy told him. “They sought to restrict her….and she migrated to Earth. She lives out on the West Coast now.”
“Enough of our problems.” Lex set his cup down. “Tell me about Daxam and the Kandorians. I hear you had Kara go to this….Otherverse…to retrieve those of your people left there.”
“Yes.” Zor nodded. “She, Rogue, and the twins transported the entire satellite they inhabit and placed it in orbit around Daxam. In fact, they are still there, making sure the orbit is stable and basically reassuring everyone, on the planet and in the satellite, that every thing is okay.” He paused and shrugged. “Since there isn’t a Starheart around to enlarge them, we are going to have to find a way to do it ourselves. We are hoping we can reverse engineer the method we used to shrink them in the first place…but that was done using my methods and the power of Paralax. While we can reverse my part of it, we don’t believe that Jenny can, as yet, generate the same amount of power Parallax wielded.”
“Are we about ready to take off?”
Kara looked around and frowned. The Kandorian satellite was stable in its orbit and communications established between those enlarged Kandorians on the planet surface and their miniaturized relatives. They had done what they could…the rest, she knew, would be up to the Kandorian scientists. Now it was time for them to go home.
She and Rogue would have no problem. The red sun of the Roxal system had not yet robbed them of their powers…or rather, not enough to notice. The depowering actually began the instant they came under its influence. It would, however, take two full weeks of constant exposure to rob them of their powers. They would, of course, start to fade well before that…and they were now pushing the limit. Soon they would start to feel the effects.
Both Carrie and Karen…no. Kara smiled. Kari and Kori, as they had been named in their naming ceremony six Earth months before, were already powerless. Neither girl had the benefit of having been…altered…by someone of cosmic ability like the Silver Surfer. Their powers simply cut off the instant they came under the influence of the Red Sun.
Arisia was preparing to encase the twins in an atmospheric globe constructed of the green cosmic energy that permeated her very being.
Jenny would, for now, remain on Daxam with Lar. The sole living true Daxamite in this reality, Lar was nowhere near ready to leave. Indeed. He had shown no desire whatsoever to leave since he had arrived six months earlier.
Though it worried Jenny, Kara could not fault the man. He was seeing what could have been his home world…resettled by those he thought of as descendants of those Daxamites that had long ago colonized Krypton.
When he wasn’t actively helping the Science Counsel, he was off digging and sifting through the ruins that still dotted the planet surface. Trying to discover everything he could about the Daxamites that had once lived here.
Rogue had made a quick, super-speed double check of all their rooms, making sure nothing had been left behind and now stood beside Kara, nodding her readiness.
“Not so quickly, Dear.” Kara turned as Allura, her face lined with worry, stepped into the court yard from which the group had been preparing to leap into the sky.
“Mother?” Kara frowned. They had already said their good-byes inside, but at that time, Allura had not seemed worried at all.
“Lar found something you should see, Kara.” Her mother told her. “He said you should come at once!”
“What did he find?” Rogue asked, frowning. Whatever could make Allura worry was worth looking into. Allura looked at her and they could all see the paleness in her complexion.
“A hunter-killer control station.” She whispered.
MVP1-17
Hunter-Killer!
The term had sent shivers down Kara’s spine when Allura had all but whispered the dread news.
Having met two, though it was possible that it had actually been the same one, first in the universe where she had been resurrected (See the Pre-Otherverse story “To Save A World”) and then later in this reality (see MVP1-4 (Arrival Chapter 4: Grand Entrance), Kara was not at all pleased.
“If these Daxamite unloosed Hunter-Killers, it’s no wonder they had enemies.” Rogue had summed up her feelings as they picked their way through the rubble in the ruins and then down a steep stairway into an underground complex..
“Well, we also know more about those enemies.” Lar Gand offered as he led the way.
The first thing both Rogue and Kara had noted when they reached the site, flying over miles of ancient ruins, was their inability to see into the complex with their x-ray vision.
“Lead.” Lar, waiting at the uncovered entrance to what had to be one of many military installations that dotted the planet. “The entire site is enclosed in the stuff.”
“How?” Rogue shivered in sympathy with the long dead Daxamites.
“Daxamites still had to worry about radiation…and spy devices.” Lar shook his head. “And lead, despite our…allergy…to it, is still one of the best…and cheapest…materials that can block both..” He beckoned for them to follow and started into the entrance of the underground installation, stopping before taking the first step down to frown at them over his shoulder. “Arisia?”
“She decided to stay with the twins and finish getting our stuff ready for the trip back to Earth.” Kara answered, somewhat evasively.
The truth was, Arisia had used just that excuse…ignoring the fact that everything was already set for the trip.
“This is getting ridiculous.” Rogue has snapped as she and Kara had lifted off, flying towards the ruins. “They have got to get this settled.”
“I agree.” Kara had surprised her by agreeing. “But what would you have me do? And it is not as simple as it was for us.”
“Because Jenny has a problem not only with sharing, but even being with another woman…though it’s okay for us.” Rogue had groused.
“That’s not fair and you know it, dear.” Kara had shook her head, here hair flying wildly in the air. “Jenny simply has her preferences and that is fine and dandy. There are a lot of women that see nothing wrong with two women being together…just as long as they are not one of those two women. And to be fair, Ari isn’t helping. They need to talk about it…not…” She shrugged as well as she could while flying and let it drop.
Now, as they stopped before a set of thick, metal doors, the two women shook their heads.
“Looking at the ruins above, I would never believe this place could be in such good condition.” Kara remarked.
The final entrance into the complex had taken them several minutes to reach, though more than once, Rogue had been tempted to just pick the un-powered Lar up and fly the rest of the distance at super-speed. Now they looked around at an almost pristine hallway that ended in a set of double sliding doors, the Great Seal of Daxam plastered across it.
“You haven’t seen anything yet.” Lar laughed bitterly as he touched keypad set into the wall by the doors. “It took me awhile, but I was finally able to fool it into giving me the codes.”
“Fool it?” Kara perked up. “You mean there are still computers running down here? This installation still has power?”
“Oh yes…and more than that.” Lar entered a code and stood back as the doors slid open, motioning for the women to enter.
Kara and Rogue stepped into a large cavern of blinking lights, soft beeps, and harried techs, running from one of the large consoles that filled the room to another.
“What in Rao’s name?” Kara breathed.
“I am afraid your Kryptonian God, or Goddess, had nothing to do with this place.” Lar shook his head.
Kara turned as her father approached.
“What the hell is this place?” Kara demanded as a flare of green around another console showed where Jenny was working.
“A Hunter-Killer Control station.” Lar stated bluntly. He shrugged “We don’t know the whole story. But we do know that these Daxamites were fighting a multi-front war. One enemy we know to be the Khunds. And, from what we have been able to discover, the Daxamites were at least partially responsible for instilling a war-like mentality among the Khund. But the Khunds were, in the beginning, the least of their worries.”
“They were also in the midst of another civil war.” He continued. “Like my Daxam, this one seemed to go through many such civil conflicts. During this one, the last one it appears, one side, the side that controlled Daxam, created and unleashed the Hunter-Killers on the outlying colonies…their main target being the largest concentration of Rebels….Krypton.”
“Krypton?” Kara breathed.
“Wait a minute.” Rogue held up a hand, her eyes losing focus a bit as she accessed the memories she had stolen from Kara long ago. Finally she shook her head. “Nothing. Kara must not have been big on history.”
“I wasn’t” Kara admitted.
“Well,” Rogue went on. “I was under the impression, from what Zor told us during our first encounter, that the generation of Daxamites that created the Hunter-killers lived a few generations before Krypton was settled.”
“Actually, that is only supposition.” Lar corrected her. “We knew nothing for fact. We only had supposed eye witness accounts and some circumstantial evidence to suggest that a Hunter-killer was responsible for blasting the Kryptonians back into the stoneage. You have to recall that it was not until after Krypton exploded that Kryptonians finally admitted that it was possible that their species originated on Daxam.”
“Race, not species.” Kara corrected Lar. “The evidence is starting to pile up that those of us that are human all originated from one common ancestor on some unknown world.”
“And seeded on various other worlds by the so-called Preservers.” Lar shook his head. “I don’t really have enough information to form an informed opinion on that, but I do know that your father doesn’t subscribe to that theory.”
“It would explain why there are so many human variations around the galaxy.” Kara shrugged. “And how so many similar animals are found on different planets…and how, with only minor genetic manipulation, humans from Krypton and Earth can have children! Rao Lar, there are some that are already fully compatible. Tamarans and Graxosians are prime examples! They are both compatible with each other and with both Kryptonian and Terran Humans!”
“Enough with the biology lesson.” Rogue cut in, looking around. “What I want to know is why…after all these years…you decided to power this place back up.”
“We didn’t.” Lar answered softly. “This control center has been running continuously over the centuries.”
“You have got to be kidding.”
“I wish we were…but I am glad we’re not.” He led them to a large screen. “This is the place that was used to control the Hunter-Killers. A console for each of the monsters and a master console that obviously tied in with other control sites.
“How many of those things were there?” Kara demanded.
“We know that each site controlled a hundred and five. And that this site connected to five others. From the Master console, we have been able to determine that three of the fleets controlled from other sites were destroyed. The other two were tagged with what amounts to a large question mark.”
“Meaning they couldn’t determine the status of those fleets.” Kara mused.
“Correct.” Lar nodded. “We’ve been able to trace the communications and have some pretty good guesses as to where the other five control centers are located. As soon as we can, we’ll get some people in there and see what they can find.”
“What about this one?” Rogue looked around and did a quick count. “I see eighty-two active consoles.” She looked at Lar and Zor. “Does that mean that there are still eighty-two of those monsters floating round out there?”
“There were eighty-three.” Lar nodded, his eyes smoldering with anger. “The Eighty-third was the one you destroyed when we first came to this probability!”
“Wait a minute.” Kara gave Lar a sharp look. “That thing was the same one we faced in the Marvel Universe. The one that escaped to another reality!”
“It didn’t escape…it retreated.” Lar shook his head. “It returned…here.”
“Okay, what aren’t you telling us?” Kara planted her hands on her hips, her eyes narrowed.
“These people were not stupid.” Lar began. “They knew there may come a time they would need to decommission the Hunter-Killers. So they built in Self-destruct and remote-destruct safe guards. The Daxamites that manned this station died here. We had to remove their skeletons when we came in. They knew they were going to die. So they followed orders. They transmitted a last set of commands. Dooms-day orders. The Hunter-killers were to continue the war until they could no longer prosecute it. At that time, they were to self-destruct.”
“So what went wrong?” Rogue asked.
“Some one hijacked them.” Lar shrugged. “At least that is the best guess we have.” He waved to the workers around the consoles. “Ever since we figured out what this place was and how it functioned, we have been trying to activate the remote-destruct sequences.”
“We have the one you faced to thank for the knowledge we do have.” He added. “It followed orders and transmitted reports of its actions back to the control center…here. From those reports we have been able to determine a few things.”
“Like what?” Rogue crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, inviting him to continue.
“The reports show clearly that HK83, as we’ve termed it, was acting under direct, recent, orders when it did something it should not have been able to do…it crossed into another Reality to hunt out…Kryptonians. Not Daxamites. The reports make numerous references to the “other units” which we take to mean the other Hunter-Killers of the fleet. There are also references to the “One” from which it, and the fleet, was taking commands in absence of commands from this center.” Lar shrugged. “We have no clue who or what the “One” is, nor do we know how it gained control over the Hunter-Killers.”
“I can answer that one.” Kara all but snarled. “I got into to that monster. Thanks to a little help from a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, I was able to destroy the coupling that kept it under control of your “One”. We recognized the technology as Coluan!”
“Colu….” Lar started, “Brainaic!”
“The one that shrank Kandor?” A Kandorian working nearby looked up, her eyes full of fear.
“That would be the one.” Kara nodded. “And here, he has a whole fleet of these…abominations…in his power.”
“And he is not afraid to use that power.” Lar added. “Kara, from the records, it is clear that whatever we thought about who or what completely destroyed sectors 2815 and 2828, we were wrong. These Hunter-Killers are directly responsible. And they are now poised to continue…by moving into sector 2814!”
“That’s Earth’s Sector!” Rogue’s fist clenched.
“It is.” Lar confirmed. “And if we don’t figure out a way to stop them, then Earth, and the rest of the sector will be left like the worlds in Sectors 2815 and 2828. Burnt out cinders. After that, those things will come here!”
“Reed, I am not sure about this.” Sue Richards stood on one side of a safety glass, watching as Reed used waldos to manipulate the apparatus the twins had brought back with them after their unexpected trip to Apokolips. A Boom-tube, they called it.
“It’s risky.” Reed acknowledged. “But I’m confident that I can duplicate the technology. Think of the uses.” He looked over at his wife, glancing first towards his assistant, Sue’s brother, Johnny Storm. “I don’t believe Kara realizes the ramifications of the portals Carrie and Karen have constructed. Those portals, with only a slight bit of alteration, can be used to travel to other worlds in our reality, not just to other realities.”
“So long as there is a portal at the other end.” Sue corrected.
“Not necessarily.” Reed shook his head. “Kara had the twins tell me of their first try with the Portal…in the lab of the Reed Richards that resurrected Kara. They were able to use that portal to enter the reality of what is now Probability Nine. There was no portal there…but they did have to construct one there to return to their home. And that is where this…this boom tube comes in.” Reed nodded. “By duplicating it and that Mother-box thing, we take transportation that much further. Think of it. Scout units using one of these can go to new worlds and set up portals, allowing instant transportation.”
“Those things take a lot of power, Reed.” Johnny interjected. “Those scouts would have to haul a massive power supply with them.”
“Got it.” Reed ignored Johnny’s comment as his attention was drawn once again back to the Boom –tube he was working with. “Okay. Get ready, Sue.” He called. “I am going to activate it and I want you to put a shield around it. Who knows what might come out.”
“Ready.” Sue announced, though her tone indicated she was still unsure as to the wisdom of the action.
“Activating…now!” Reed called out.
For a long moment, nothing happened. Then light flared as the boom-tube activated, opening a connection to…somewhere else.
“Strange.” Reed muttered. “I am getting two sets of readings. As if some one were tapping in to the Tube from outside our Probability!”
Even as the tube sprang to life, Sue threw up her hands, her fingers spread, as she cast a mental shield round the containment room. An added measure of precaution.
She watched, perplexed, as a round metal ball, hardly larger than a medium sized cantaloupe, emerged from the boom tube, bouncing and rolling on the containment room floor.
“Reed?”
“I’m not so sure this is one of your best ideas.” Rogue grumped as she and Kara sped through the void in Hyperspace.
“No other choice.” Kara responded. The rings they both wore, each glowing with a slight green, acted not only as life support, but as communicators as well. Transferring their vocalized words to each other. “Arisia had to take the twins to the nearest yellow sun system and then make sure they were well on their way back to Earth before she headed off to join Jenny at Oa.”
Jennifer Gand had been the one to suggest that, perhaps, this threat was probably a bit more than they could handle…and offered a possible solution. Traditionally, the Sentinel could order out the Green Lantern Corps. Jenny was on her way to Oa to do just that.
Officially, Arisia now had the same traditional ability, yet since Jenny was the unofficial leader of what had come to be known as Team Sentinel, she left the task of facing the Guardians with the senior member. Besides, Arisia still harbored some ill feelings towards the Guardians and the Corps as a whole.
Of course, the Guardians of Probability One had gone out of their way to correct their mistake. They had forced the Arisia of this Probability to return to Oa where, after a long, arduous treatment and an equally long rehabilitation, Arisia had been returned to duty as a Green Lantern in the highest of standings.
That Arisia had died the same day that the Sentinel Arisia from Probability Two had been dumped in to Probability One on a return trip from The Inheritor’s Universe. (Note: See the Multiverse Story Earth-1: Refugees part 2)
The Guardians of Probability Two, however, had not done enough, at least in the eyes of the Arisia that would become a Sentinel. They had refused the call of the Sentinel of the time…Hal Jordan. And Earth had almost died. Only the splitting of one reality into three Probabilities had saved it.
And while their counterparts in the newly formed Probability One tried to make things right, the Guardians of Probability Two had stood by their decision…and rather than force Arisia back to Oa for treatment, had taken her ring willingly when she resigned…and left her to die on Earth of the yellow radiation that was already eating at her body (Note: See The Inheritors Chapter 20: Sentinel Rising). Only because the Starheart had chosen her as its next champion did she continue to live beyond all expectation.
So, though she had long since moved on…and even conversed with various members of the Corps, she refused to have anything more to do with the Guardians of Multiverse than she absolutely had to. Strange that she had not felt that way towards the Guardians of the Inheritor’s Universe. Possibly because they had nothing to do with what had occurred in Multiverse. If she had been a native of Earth in that universe, however, she would have definite trust issues with the Guardians of Oa.
“I know.” Rogue finally responded. “And I am not arguing with that. What I don’t think is the smartest thing is for you and I to be heading into this with no backup right now! We could have at least brought Lar…or called for Koriand’r!”
“Lar had to stay on Daxam and help with the Control Center. If anyone can work those panels and find a way to by-pass the block that is preventing the remote-destruct, it will be him. As for Koriand’r…the twins will inform her and give her our coordinates. Believe me. When she discovers that we may have discovered the culprit that destroyed her sector, she’ll…”
“Blow a gasket because we didn’t wait for her.” Rogue sighed. “Okay. But something about this seems all wrong.”
“Dropping from Hyperspace…NOW!” Kara announced, snatching Rogue’s hand as she unexpectedly cut speed. Floating in normal space, far from any significant star system, Kara faced Rogue. “Okay, spill it. You are not usually this…cautious.”
“Think about it, Kara.” Rogue shook her head. “First the Khunds. Then Darkseid. Then our little jaunt that brought six new probabilities to this Multiverse. And now this…A fleet of Hunter-Killers. We still have not dealt with the Khunds…or Darkseid.”
“We fight our battles where we can.” Kara shrugged, though her face showed that she was seriously considering what Rogue was implying. “You think one or both of them are behind this? That they are in league with Brainiac?”
“I think they are in league…yes.” Rogue nodded. “But I think they are all following the orders of another power…whether they know it or not!”
“Qward!” Kara breathed.
“That would be my guess.” Rogue said.
“Why in Rao’s name didn’t you say anything about this on Daxam?” Kara demanded.
“I may have the same abilities as you, Kara, but you are right…I usually don’t think things through as much as I should. I think Carrie and I are alike in that. So it takes me a bit longer. What frustrated me was the fact that you couldn’t see it!”
“You may be right.” Kara mused. She thought briefly. “Okay. Here’s how we’ll play this. We do a quick recon. We’ll contact Jenny and have her stay at Oa. If we find anything…we high tail it out and head to Oa ourselves. We’ll work out a plan of action there.”
“Sounds….” Rogue was cut off as both the ring she wore and its twin on Kara’s finger began flashing.
“Kara! Rogue!” Arisia’s voice came in, sounding a bit frantic. “We have a problem….”
Arisia dropped out of hyperspace well within the gravity well of Sol. A risky thing, but considering the need for speed, it had been a risk she had taken. Of course Kara and Rogue might have something to say to her for taking the risk while hauling their daughters in an energy generated atmospheric globe behind her…but she would deal with that when it came.
“That’s it, ‘Ris!” Karen called out as the yellow rays of Sol bathed her, instantly reenergizing her and Carrie. “You can drop the bubble!”
Arisia nodded, not worried about whether the girls would have problems. Once powered, only two people she knew could out power them…that being Kara and Rogue. And both wore rings created by Jenny that would furnish them with life support while in the vacuum of space.
She was about to wave them off towards Earth and head out to find Kara when her ring began flashing an emergency signal….A signal originating from the Justice League Satellite!
“Justice League…this is Sentinel Arisia with Supergirl and Powergirl. Can we be of assistance?” She knew her words would be broadcast through her ring back to the satellite and knew that the twins would be listening in via their rings.
“Arisia!” A harried voice Arisia recognized as being that of Barbara Gordon came back. “You have the twins? Thank god.”
“Babs.” Arisia felt comfortable enough to use the familiar term with the woman. “What’s going on?”
“Get here as quickly as you can.” Babs voice came back. “And contact Kara and Rogue if you can. We’ve had a major…explosion…in Metropolis. Half the city and a good portion of the outlying area have been wiped out...”
“How….”
“Tony thinks it was a small anti-matter device.” Babs’ voice shook. “Ris…we thought the twins were….” She trailed off…but not before Karen and Carrie put it together.
“NO!” Carrie put on a burst of speed, followed by Karen, leaving Arisia behind.
“Carrie! Karen!” Arisia called after them. When they did not respond she addressed Babs. “Babs, the Twins just took off, heading in your direction…what is going on?”
“They figured it out.” Babs sighed. “Me and my big mouth. Arisia, Xavier’s school…the school the twins attended, was in the blast radius!”
“Okay….Sue, put a shield out and let’s see what we have.”
Reed and Sue Richards, Johnny Storm, Ben Grimm, Bruce Banner, Prof. Xavier, Jean Gray, and Dr. Stephen Strange stood behind a three foot thick transparent wall constructed by Reed for protection, yet even still, Reed wanted Sue to have another shield up between them and the gate before he tried to activate it again.
“We still don’t know what happened the last time?” Johnny glanced over at Reed as he entered a last bit of data into the console before him.
This was the second time in as many days that Reed had decided to test the gate.
Once he had gotten a grasp on what had happened to his world and where they were in this new Multiverse, it had been a simple matter to adjust the gate to automatically seek out a return signal from a similar gate. He had already re-located Otherverse and discovered that while it was adjacent to the Multiverse, some aspects even over lapping, it was not truly part of the Multiverse. And, through his viewer, he was able to determine that, though the gate remained in what had been Kara’s Colorado Fortress, Kara and the others were no longer there.
That, and the presence of Jennifer Walters in the Multiverse was enough to allow them to conclude that Kara and the rest had relocated as well.
“Most probably as a result of the Ripple.” Reed had theorized.
He had used his gate to tape into the signal of the Otherverse gate…enough to trace the faint signal that led to a similar gate in the Multiverse. He had, so far, located four separate gates. Two in a single probability and one apiece on two other Probabilities…one of which Reed had been able to identify as one of the probabilities his world had tagged along behind as they were brought into the Multiverse.
His first attempt to contact one of the Multiverse gates had end in failure. Nothing at all had happened. Now Reed was taking a step back. He knew he could get a contact with the Otherverse gate so he was going to try that now.
Sue placed a shield around the gate and waited while Reed worked the controls.
“Activating….now.”
The thunderous crash was enough to knock them all off their feet and send loose items flying around the lab. But Sue’s shield held.
“What the hell?” Johnny was the first to his feet, his body becoming a living flame as he looked around for the source of the attack…if attack it had been.
“Reed!…The gate!” Sue had maintained the shield but now lowered it as she viewed the contents of the area.
Where, moments before there had been a huge trans-dimensional portal….what the Twins called a Probability Broach…there was now nothing but a pile of twisted, burnt rubble.
End of Part One of Renewed Acquaintances
-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2006 by Dylan Clearbrook
-- and may not be reprinted without permission.
-- The Continuum Worlds Concept is a joint creation of
-- Dylan Clearbrook and Eldric. Otherverse, Multiverse,
-- and Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes, as depicted in the
-- Continuum Worlds, are original creations of Dylan Clearbrook.
-- Alterverse and The Inheritors, as depicted in the Continuum Worlds,
-- are original creations of Eldric.
-- The Realm and The Web of Shadows, as depicted in the Continuum Worlds,
-- are original creations of John P. and Jason G./ Andrew Shields respectively.
-- Terra-verse, as depicted in the Continuum Worlds,
-- is an original creation of DTO.
-- Some characters in Continuum Worlds stories are original creations
-- of Dylan Clearbrook, Eldric, Michael Liebhart, Jake H., Jason G.,
-- Andrew Shields, Kyle M., Brian, John P., DTO, or Jason Froikin and may not
-- be used without express permission of the respective author.
-- All DC characters are property of D.C. Comics.
-- All Marvel characters are property of Marvel Comics.