by Mathy, Scott
Dwight climbed to his feet, “I sent the signal hours ago. What took you so long?” he asked, testing the bars with his prosthetic limb.
Zhu snorted, “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I had been demoted to inter-dimensional taxi. I was taking care of some things. Should I assume I’m speaking with a wanted criminal of more than one world now?”
“I was saving people’s lives,” Dwight retorted.
Bernard chimed in, “By punching ‘oles through scantily-clad witches.”
Dwight held an annoyed finger to his former-partner’s illusion, “What did I say about that?” Too late he realized the older Power couldn’t see the giant mocking him.
“Been down here long then?” Void asked
Dwight sighed heavily, “I am merely having an argument with a mental projection created from a lingering drug overdose.” He took several seconds, “That sounded better in my head.”
Zhu raised a judgmental eyebrow at his caged associate. “I’m going to cut you out of there, Knolls, but I need you to promise that you’re not going to try to eat anyone’s face.”
He sat back down, defeated as usual. “You have my word. I’m fine; at least as fine as I ever am.”
“Good enough,” Zhu said, summoning a stream of energy from the swirling vortex of his left eye. The purple light sliced through the bars of Dwight’s cell with ease. Once enough had been cut to form a big enough hole, Zhu released his concentration, the field dispersing as quickly as it had formed. He offered a hand to his seated partner.
Dwight took it, careful not to make contact with the glowing iron bars of his cage. Upon standing, Zhu brushed several wayward pieces of straw from Dwight’s leather jacket. “I’m guessing from your mood that your quest here was a bust.”
“Turns out I am one hundred percent incapable of anything even remotely related to magic,” Dwight said dismally.
Zhu smiled, trying to cheer up his miserable accomplice, “That’s not true. Remember that thing you can do with cards and a pencil?”
Void’s attempt at humor was lost on the moping hitman, “Oh great, I can stop the Council with party tricks. I’ll wow them into submission.”
Void’s portal fluttered unexpectedly, the sign that its creator was connecting it to some other place. He closed his good eye briefly, “On that note, I may have found something.”
Finally confronted with progress, Dwight shook off his morose attitude, “Fine, anywhere but here. I’ve had enough of magic. I always thought they were insufferable back in New Haven, but this is something else.” He prepared to enter the portal, when he suddenly stopped.
“What? I can’t hold this forever,” Void protested
Dwight looked up the stairs that led back into the Enclave’s upper levels, “My bag; it’s in my room. They’ve also got Ivan. We can’t leave without them.”
Void put his hands out, “Dwight, I don’t think I’m up for taking on an entire school of magic-users to get your fancy, one-use rocket launcher back.”
“Those are still Ellis’s; do you want me to tell her it was your call to leave them behind?”
Zhu briefly considered the ramifications of angering the mad scientist. The portal beside him slipped closed and faded from existence, “Where’s your room?”
As the two men made their way up the steps leading out of the prison, they heard a door open at the top of the landing. Wordlessly, both professionals stooped down, cautiously advancing to assess the opposition. Two voices quietly conversed, their words too low for Dwight to make out. Just beyond the horizon of the stairway, three bursts of glowing energy illuminated the chamber.
Dwight shrugged lightly to Zhu, who seemed puzzled by the results of the captors’ discussion. They both abandoned their watchful stances and proceeded on. Entering the guards’ station, Dwight first noticed the cloaked form standing in the doorway, carefully closing the way outside. On the floor, two acolytes lay stunned, glowing mystic runes dancing around their prone bodies. Two clockworks stood inactive at the corners of the room, their magical essence pulled away, eyes dead. The robed figure checked to make sure their actions weren’t detected before turning to face them.
Huea let out a startled cry beneath her hood as she saw the two men standing before her. She dropped the bag she carried; a heavy metallic thud rang out from the pack. “Sorry,” she apologized to the bag’s contents softly as she lifted the sack.
Dwight stared at the mage, “You’re not going to stop me. I need my things and I’m going.” He crossed his arms.
The master set her bag back down, “Fool, I’m not trying to stop you. I want you to go.” She let the cord fall loose, revealing Dwight’s backpack and briefcase within.
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand,” Zhu replied.
She pulled the bag over to Dwight, “Koshi was a monster. Another Fallen in a never-ending line of succession – a line you just broke. She had been a thorn in this world’s side for years, killed hundreds. She would never have stopped. Now we are at peace, probably for the first time ever.”
Huea placed the strings of the bag in Dwight’s hand, “The Arbiter may not agree, but you saved many lives today.”
“Told ya, mate,” the phantom Bernard said smugly from his seat against the wall.
Dwight cast a scornful look at the figment before turning back to the mage, “Glad someone understands.”
Huea released her grip on Dwight’s metallic hand. “Good luck, Dwight Knolls. I hope you find what you are seeking, for the sake of your world.” She turned to leave, “The enchantments on the guards will fade in two minutes. Be gone before they do.”
She carefully slipped back through the exterior door, leaving the two men alone with the stunned guards. Zhu broke the extended silence between them, “Made a friend, Knolls?”
The hitman proceeded back down the steps to the prison without a response. His partner followed, snickering to himself the entire way. When they reached the bottom, Zhu resummoned the portal where it had been.
Dwight stared into the vortex, trying to see its exit. “Back to New Haven?” he asked.
Zhu shook his head, “Nope. I’ve been doing some wandering. Think I got something on your Council in another world.”
Dwight’s shoulders sank, “I don’t think I’m up for meeting another version of me, even if he knows the Council personally and can get me an invitation.”
“I don’t think that’s going to be an issue. The Knolls here is long gone.” Zhu shoved Dwight into the portal with both hands.
Instantly, the spiraling energy overtook him, hurling Dwight through the immense pressures between worlds. In the months of world-hopping the two had gone through together, he had never grown accustomed to the forces of interdimensional travel. He cried out against the heat and light tearing through him until finally his body slammed into the end of the ride. Tumbling forward, he crashed out of the terminus, landing hard on his back and knocking the wind from his lungs.
A few seconds later, Void was standing over him. Dwight groaned quietly. Stretching his hand down, the older man rolled his eyes, “You really are pathetic, Knolls.”
“I hear that a lot.” He accepted the help.
Zhu’s portal collapsed, sealing the way to the mage’s world. It wasn’t the first alternate universe Dwight had explored since leaving New Haven, but it was the first that Zhu had left him in. His stay at the Enclave was hopeful at first; being taught magic by a Power, a respected version of himself, was the best chance he’d found at gaining enough power to fight the Council. It turned out too good to be true. The Arbiter’s gifts were his own. In fact, every other Dwight the New Haven version had encountered were esteemed leaders of their societies, bringers of balance.
Looking up at the poisoned sky above them, Dwight watched sickly clouds pouring toxic water on the blasted landscape. Skyscrapers long-abandoned stood like monolithic skeletons over the deserted city. Dwight couldn’t help but think that this was the future for his home if he didn’t find th
e solution to the Powers’ game.
“Where are we?” Dwight asked as a bolt of lightning leapt across the darkened sky.
Zhu stared out into the devastation, “My world.”
The revelation was a punch to his already-reeling stomach, “Wait, no. We can’t be here. What about those things?” His eyes were already scanning the horizon for signs of the infected husks that once were this world’s superhumans.
“Why do you think I came here alone? I’ve been testing them for weeks; their senses are only good for a couple hundred yards.” Zhu pointed to a frail figure prowling the deserted streets far below the rooftop they currently occupied.
Dwight could make out the tattered remains of a team uniform, discolored and filthy from the elements, hanging around its desiccated flesh. Occasional pulses of a faint blue glow ran through its corrupted veins. It shuffled aimlessly between rusted cars, occasionally sniffing the polluted air before choosing another direction and wandering off.
Zhu sighed, looking at the sad creature, “There are thousands of them. I’ve spent days luring them away from the east side docks.”
“How are you doing that?” Dwight asked, looking toward the rows of steel buildings that the Doctor called home in his world.
A hand touched Dwight’s shoulder, causing him to nearly leap off the edge of the building in fright. He spun suddenly, losing his footing and teetering over the side. Two sets of hands sprung to grab his flailing arms. Both belonged to Evan Zhu, clad in the same exact clothing.
“Fuck, Knolls, could you let me know the next time you’re going to do something crazy?” the second Zhu said, clearly annoyed.
Dwight fought to catch his breath, “You want to tell me the next time you’re going to scare the hell out of me?” He poked the second Zhu with his finger; sure enough, it was solid, the texture of the leather coat passing his examination. “Recruiting help from other worlds to pull a prank seems like a bit much, even for you.”
Both Zhus laughed and spoke in unison, “He’s not from a different world; I unsynced my timeline and created a copy.” The second Zhu blinked and faded away, leaving only the original.
“You’ve always been able to do that?” He took a seat while the adrenaline faded.
Zhu sat down next to his companion, hanging his legs over the ledge, “You’re not the only one trying to improve while we’re away. I’ve let this power sit for too long, defaulting to a few basic uses, too afraid to see what it can really do.”
“Afraid of what?”
“Learning too much. Last time I thought I figured it out, I watched a version of myself die in another world; spent the next six months certain that I was going to fade out of existence or create some time paradox. I convinced myself that this power could break the universe if I wasn’t careful with it.” Another arc of lightning raced across the sky, followed by distant rumbling.
Dwight watched the shambling horror’s aimless drifting below as he quickly changed into his street clothes, “And now?”
Zhu got up, ignoring his partner’s state of undress, “Whatever this thing can do, I’m going to use it to stop this from happening to another world. I’ll use it to find the cause and take it with me, if I have to.”
“You said you found something,” the hitman tossed the Enclave’s uniform unceremoniously over the side. He headed after Zhu toward the fire escape.
They descended the stairway, carefully watching the streets below through the missing panels of windows on their way down. “Like I said, I’ve been using those copies to lure the infected away from the docks. I’ve been looking for this world’s Referee’s lair. Before he died, he said he was onto something, maybe the answer for the plague. If he knew anything, it would be there.”
“How did you figure that out?” Dwight asked, taking a moment to survey the area.
Zhu did the same, “Thinking back on old times. Whenever he showed up, he got there faster if we were operating near the east side. The few times we were out on the docks, he was there almost before we got started.”
The two crept from their hiding place, ducking from cover to cover in the deserted city. “Why would the Referee be after you?” Dwight whispered.
Zhu smiled, thinking back, “I wasn’t always a Cape, Knolls. There were a few years in my youth that I was making quite a killing opening portals for less-than-reputable groups. When he finally caught me, he gave me a choice, ‘clean up or get out.’ I cleaned up: joined the Alpha Guard.”
“Alpha Guard?”
They crossed between two bent chain link fences and into the sprawling rows of warehouses. “Adams’s personal superheroes – kind of like Starpoint, but slightly less evil. Fucker put me on the B-team. Anyway, I decided to check the power grid and see if anywhere was still drawing noticeable electricity. Turns out, there is at least one building that is sucking more than the rest of the city combined. Doubt that’s just some freezers left on.”
Dwight considered their situation as they proceeded cautiously between the innumerable unmarked buildings, “So why not just open a portal there? Why are we risking being zombified out in the open on foot?”
Halting the agitated hitman with his palm, Void knelt down, pointing at a barely noticeable wire spanning the walkway. His finger traced the line several feet away to a pile of refuse heaved against a steel wall. Pushing the waste aside, he revealed the line was tied to a cluster of explosives. “Because if I were the always-prepared, always-one-step-ahead Referee, I would have rigged this entire area with traps. In all likeliness, opening a portal will trigger some kind of self-destruct; he did know I existed, after all.”
“I see your point.” Dwight said, marveling at the ingenuity of his deceased counterpart.
“We’re almost there; keep your eyes open,” Zhu said, cutting the wire with a beam from his eye.
They continued along the path, noting the jury-rigged contraptions that threatened to spring to life any moment. Even through years of abandonment, the previous Referee’s work was still just as deadly. For the most part, they weren’t difficult to avoid, once aware of their existence. Dwight concluded that these hadn’t been meant to stop people from approaching, only the undead monstrosities that had overtaken this world.
Finally, they arrived at the enormous door of their objective. The huge barrier was fixed to the concrete floor with a single padlock. Overall, the setup didn’t scream “World Class Security.”
“I’m not so sure,” Dwight said skeptically.
Projecting another cutting ray, Void sliced the locking hook in half before grabbing the bottom of the door and hurling it open. It slid up on its guides before locking a dozen feet from the ground. Behind the door, another gate constructed of heavy plating more appropriate for top-secret research labs. A touch-screen panel was fixed to the pristine surface beside the sealed doorway.
“You were saying?” Zhu replied smugly. He touched the pad; at first, it gave no response. Then, a single box lit up the screen, blinking several times as the system started for the first time in twenty years. After a few moments, a handprint appeared on it. Zhu gestured for Dwight to come forward.
Placing his palm on the screen, a rotating disc appeared around the display, spinning as the mechanism processed the man’s identity. A second later, it chirped in recognition, and the door released its complex locks. Taking the handles in both hands, Zhu tugged heavily on the entrance. It slowly gave way, revealing a pitch black space beyond.
Stepping through, the building’s automated lights clicked on, slowly illuminating the cavernous room. All manner of technology lined the workshop. Numerous armored vehicles sat undisturbed in a makeshift garage. The two men walked through the Referee’s lair, unsure of what they were looking for.
Dwight touched a punching bag hanging from the bottom of a metal staircase. The well-used leather showed signs of constant abuse from its former owner. A pipe wrench lay against the nearby railing. “Seems like he was a nice guy.”
Zhu headed off towa
rd a workstation covered with scattered tools. A framework of mechanical arms, more appropriate for the Doc’s lab than anything Dwight could design, hung lifeless over the table, “He wasn’t so bad. Just harder. I never got the full story of what happened to him, but he never seemed all there, even at the best of times.”
Dwight crossed over to the workstation, examining a disused personal greenhouse: the plants beneath the glass hood were wilted into withered, black stems. Behind the arid garden hung a dusty corkboard covered in newspaper clippings. Some of the stories were successes, photographs taken celebrating the defeat of the Referee’s enemies. A few had lines tied between them, vague reports of unsolved crimes. One, hanging alone in an untouched corner of the board, caught Dwight’s eye. A red string hung loosely from the pin holding it in place.
The yellowed picture, a burning crater surrounded by trees, was lined with the wreckage of several buildings. Police officers were visible, along with six bodies covered by tarps. The headline, “Guild Recruits Murdered by Unknown Powers”, sparked Dwight’s curiosity. As he read, a single name filled him with dread: “Linda Knolls,” he read aloud.
“What?”
“Linda,” Dwight repeated, “They killed her.” He went back and reread, “Six Rising Stars trainees were found dead in Meteor Park following their disappearance from the academy early Sunday. Injuries suggest metahuman involvement. The Justice Guild has not, at time of writing, issued a statement on the incident.” There were no other articles, nothing to connect the string to. He stopped reading, “Someone killed his wife and her team.” The thought, even now, tore at Dwight’s emotions. He struggled to comprehend how he would have reacted if that had been his Linda, back when things were going so well, “Zhu, this is what pushed him over.”
“Doubtful anything ever came of that. Just some dead Capes – papers probably had something else before dinner that day.” Zhu tapped his fingers across a keyboard at the center of the workshop. Without warning, the idle servers came to life, the lab whirring up as the monitors blinked on. The automated construction arms resumed their projects, filling the workshop with the sounds of industrial tools.
