super-powers Beware the Uncorrupted (Epilogue Added 05/28/22)

[PeepoHappy]

I loved every part of it!

[ploder4]

This looks bleak.  All of Julia's potential futures were the same way.  

How invincible will Sam become?  Will he be powerful enough to withstand an anti-matter blast?  

What about Percy's dad?  I predict a father and son team up.

Amazing story!  I'm really into this one.

[dredlifter]

Ridiculously good.

[DawnFire98]

I'm distraught about the fact that the Corruption managed to take over Sam. Now, they're all kind of fucked. Like, how are they going to beat someone who can adapt to anything thrown at him?

I'm excited to see, how @Philosopher will pull this off. I have faith in you.

[Ro20316]

 

Oh that first part broke me. Julia has become  afave of mine and i dont want anything to happen to her.  Her first vision was like she was being consumed by the black paint and the second probably when Percy was figthing Sam. I think somehow she is gonna go look after Percy eventho she has seen everyone's fate.

The corruption used Percy the same way the ehadquarters used him to lure Sam and his attitude was his downfall. He wa stold to stand back yet he wanted to pove something, what? I dunno but he was reckless and stupid here.

I have  a feeling  altho the Corruption took possesion of Sam his ability will help him fight him, he adaptabilyty will make him fight the corruption on his head, like two people trying to control a body, teh corruption might control him at first but while is happening Sam's body is adapting to the attack and looking for a way to destroy the invador.

On 9/16/2021 at 5:59 AM, ploder4 said:

What about Percy's dad?  I predict a father and son team up.

Bet you he shows up to fight Sam somehow and then dies  realising Percy's biggest explosion lol.

[ploder4]

One other thought... 

Since this would be a multiverse story.  I predict the universe they are all in collapses or is destroyed.  Julia makes it out alive I think.  She is the only one who isn't dying in her nightmares.

[Ro20316]

1 hour ago, ploder4 said:

One other thought... 

Since this would be a multiverse story.  I predict the universe they are all in collapses or is destroyed.  Julia makes it out alive I think.  She is the only one who isn't dying in her nightmares.

what chu mean... she diesn in both just lot of pain

[ploder4]

She assumed she died in the first.  She watched Percy die in the second.

[Philosopher]

I have a lot of free time, so here's another chapter!

Again, fair warning. This chapter is darker than the last one. Please read at your own risk.

Chapter 14

Wannabe Girl dropped us right in the middle of the top floor of the Province Headquarters. Not having anything else to expel from my stomach, I settled for some deep, heavy breaths, failing to understand what had occurred in the past two minutes. I was hyperventilating, and my breathing exercises did nothing to help me regain control.

When some resemblance of energy returned to me, I quickly grabbed Wannabe’s girl and squeezed as hard as I could. “SEND. ME. BACK!” I screamed at her, but she only watched me in mild curiosity as she pried her wrist from my hands.

“Percy. You’re making a fool out of yourself,” she gently whispered in my ear as she showed me the rest of the room.

I hadn’t noticed that there were people in it. I saw the Director first, her old yet beautiful face smiling to me as we had interrupted her mid-sentence. She was trying to keep the facade that everything was going smoothly, but subtle clues about her image told me that she was near the verge of collapse. Her hair had been styled oddly, as if she didn’t have enough time to brush them in the morning. Her nails appeared chipped, while her manicure was fading, the nail polish having been scratched over and over. Her entire image was muffled, like something deep and private had been taken off her and that there was nothing she could do about it. She was holding a tall glass, the brown liquid inside it probably having enough alcohol to down a rhino.

“About time,” she announced as she saw the both of us getting off her expensive carpets. “I suppose there isn’t any good news?” she raised her eyebrow at Wannabe Girl, who did her best to smile. The Director smiled too, and then she screamed with the loudest wail I had ever heard from her. “IDIOTS!” she threw her drink at the wall, which exploded in a million tiny pieces. Both me and Wannabe Girl flinched, but her guests only stared with mild interest, their eyes never leaving me. “YOU!” she pointed at Wannabe Girl, “ARE THE MOST USELESS PERSON I HAVE EVER WORKED ME IN MY ENTIRE LIFE! HOW-JUST HOW THE HELL DID YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, so much that it left tinnitus in my ears.

To her credit, Wannabe Girl held her ground. “The situation was extremely volatile, Miss Lydia. It could have gotten either way, with either Percy, Sam, or me getting possessed by the Corruption. Your direct orders were to ‘use the stupid antimatter kid as bait for the Corruption, and then bomb the shit out of it’, which obviously didn’t work. When I teleported Percy away, I was assuming that YOUR people were taking care of the Corruption, and I had no idea that Sam Shaw would suddenly materialize to fight the alien evil himself.”

The Director started walking towards us now, her tall heels echoing around the floor. “Then why, in the name of God, did you bring him back?!” she shouted, now pointing at me. “We had secured one variable away in the underground bunker, and you bring him BACK?” she hissed as she looked down at Wannabe Girl. The purple superhero was really small, barely five feet tall, making the towering Director seem like a titan ready for revenge against a small child.

It seemed like it was time for Wannabe Girl to go to the offence. “You know better than most people that your little ‘pet project’ has grown very attached to Percy over here, so much that he has started violating your orders these past few months. Hell, he was the one who told Percy about his father and what your stupid bureaucracy did to him,” Wannabe crossed her arms. “At the moment, Percy was our best chance at making Sam fly away from the Corruption before initiating the blitz at it. And, I didn’t have enough time to come up with a better plan! If you knew that I’d be in the Alpes this weekend, you could’ve informed me of your own plan so much faster!” she started raising her voice as well.

The Director was silent for at least a minute, but the tension was so strong I could cut it with a knife. Her voice lowered, so low that only me and Wannabe could hear it. “If I gave a rat’s ass about what you do on your weekend, I’d get on the top of this building and jump off it naked,” she seethed as she walked back to her group of businessmen and women. “Right, everyone. Time for damage control. What’s the status on our new target?” she said as she grabbed a pile of folders, skimming them through.

One middle-aged woman in a lab coat cleared her throat. “Sam- excuse me, the Corruption has flown over the stratosphere. Our satellites have activated their camouflage mode in order to not be destroyed, so we knew that he is currently stationed above Hawaii. Amanda will tell you more about what we know regarding any weaknesses,” she nodded at a young woman besides her, also wearing a lab coat.

Amanda took a moment to look at everyone in the room, and when she laid her eyes on me, I could only see sadness and pity. She was one of the few people that knew Sam as well as me, and it must have hurt her deeply seeing her friend in this horrible situation.

“Right,” she nodded at nobody in particular. “Sam’s baseline power is called Adaptability. Basically, his body adapts to any situation that puts a strain on it, be it physical, mental, et cetera. Moreover, any adaptation that occurs within his body is considered to be permanent. Thus, his secondary powers include danger sense, super strength, super speed, flight, elemental immunity, compulsion immunity, and more that we might not be aware of. He is impervious to damage taken from bullets or other man-made objects, and while nuclear alternatives have not been tested, it is safe to assume that he would adapt to them too. However, using new methods to damage him might be the only option we have, as he can sustain damage before his power is activated. Please see the Princess Incident sub-file for more information.”

All around the room, people opened their files to that exact page. These were Directors and government officials from other states, making the room we were standing on perhaps the most powerful place in the U.S. Amanda continued, her voice straining as time went on. “While Princess is out of commission, we learned a lot about how Sam’s power works. There is a ten to thirty second interval where any damage he takes does not become automatically nullified by his adaptability. His secondary powers, however, can assist him in surviving for that duration, as he also possesses super durability. Thus, my department and I recommend that one attack of immense power and strength should be… enough,” she almost sobbed these words.

It took me a second to understand why she was so sad. “Wait… you-you want to KILL him?” my mouth opened before my mind could react. “You want to kill the damn best superhero this awful city has ever seen?!” I hollered at everyone in the room, not believing that they were discussing ways to murder big, sweet, wonderful Sam. “You… you’re not people. You’re ANIMALS! Grotesque, soulless animals.” I found my voice lowering, before disappearing. Wannabe Girl was touching my hand, and I could only presume that this was another of her powers.

Voice or sound manipulation.

The Director gave me a gaze filled with pure anger. “I’ll deal with you later. Amanda, dear, please continue.”

Amanda did as she was told. “Right. Um. Of course, we do not know whether that window of opportunity has changed now that Sam has been afflicted with the Corruption, but based on previous records, it is safe to assume that we would only have between one and five seconds to inflict damage enough to kill him before his body managed to adapt to it.”

Another man, dressed in an expensive business suit rose his voice. “I do not understand, shouldn’t his power counteract the Corruption by definition? Can’t his body simply adapt and expel it from within?”

Several nods and murmurs of agreement resounded around the room.

Amanda shook her head. “The Corruption is a fundamental force of the universe, such as time and space. It’s the inversion of light itself, the waste and accumulation of the entire sentient and non-sentient darkness that exists in everyone. It’s also been named the Blight, or the Darkness, as nothing can adapt to it. Not even Sam. He might have a limited control of his actions, but it’s the Corruption that is the captain now, not him.”

“In other words, we are screwed,” the man in the suit said again. “We cannot deploy any nuclear missiles because he can just intercept and avoid them, and even in the case that they hit him, there’s always the chance of him adapting to it.”

The Director raised her hand. “No nuclear missiles. The President has already refused the usage of any weapon that could pose a threat to civilian life. Well, any weapon under his command,” she then smiled, looking at me. “There are other options, Miss Amanda. I’ve been in contact with the Mountain, and I’ve been authorized to use any supervillains who want a one-of-a-lifetime opportunity to get out of the prison. I already have some of them getting transferred out of it as we speak,” her smile widened as she approached a tall man in military uniform and handed him a card.

In response, the man handed her a solid, metallic cube. It resembled a Yoshimoto Cube, various colors appearing on every edge. The Director grabbed the cube with extreme precision, before twisting one of the edges. The edge proceeded to fall off, before beginning to flash with a bright yellow color.

A column of light appeared out of nowhere, and a silhouette of a big, burly man appeared in it. I had to shield my eyes away from the blast, tiny worms of light obscuring my vision.

No. She wouldn’t.

It seemed that the Director still had several aces on her sleeve, because when the light cleared, I saw my father staring back at me with a big smile on his face.

That must have been too much for the entire day, because I found myself passing out in the hands of Wannabe Girl, who held me with surprising ease.

^ ^ ^

Miss Lydia Addams stood in her office, drinking what others considered to be pure ethanol. It was 3 AM, and there was no sign of the Corruption anywhere. God knew what it was planning on doing.

She smiled, bitterly. Her resistance to alcohol was perhaps the only ‘supernatural’ ability she possessed. Of course, she stood no chance against others with an enhanced metabolism, but she could hold her ground with relative ease.

Another man was sitting in front of her desk, absently going through piles upon piles of files and papers. Everything the Province had on Sam, or now known as the Corruption. All the bits and pieces of information from a thousand different sources. Some of these files had never seen the light of day, yet here they were, being read by a man who held the future of the world in his hands.

Quite literally.

“Timebreaker, did you find anything of importance? I’ve already told you everything I know regarding Sam’s past and his interactions with me, but I can’t help but notice that you haven’t found anything remotely interesting yet,” she said as she chugged down more of her drink.

The man paused and looked at her. One of the most popular superheroes in the entire globe was approaching his sixties, or that was what he wanted others to think.

In truth, not even she knew how old the man really was. His time-dilation powers could bend and stretch one of the most fundamental forces in the universe, making minutes turn into days or years if he ever so willed. His hair had been completely shaved off, while he adorned his usual, civilian clothing in his skinny body. He looked more than a terminal patient rather than one of the most powerful people in the planet, but the Director knew that looks always deceived.

He opened his mouth, and a surprisingly powerful voice came from within. “This is not ideal, Lydia. The entire plan needs to be scrapped. We had collected so much information regarding the Painter and his known past, so much that we practically knew him better than his own self. The Endworld machine had been loaded with all the timestamps, all the venues of possibilities, something that had taken me ten relative years to finish. And now I have to do it again in a day.”

The Director shook her head. “Can’t you just create one of your time bubbles and make time flow slower for you? One year inside the bubble could be a mere hour on the inside. You’ve done this before.”

Timebreaker laughed, although his laugh wasn’t genuine. “I am old, Lydia. I don’t even remember how old I really am. All these years spent in these bubbles, perfecting technology, grafting futures, creating possibilities, they’ve all blended into one. But time has finally caught up to me. I’m dying. The more I use my powers, the faster death will come to me, ironically enough.”

The Director sighed, leaving her empty glass on the desk. “I’m very sorry to hear that. Do you… do you know how much you have left?”

“More than enough to finish what I started all these millennia ago. The machine is ready, it is built. It only requires a massive source of energy, something that, as I’ve told you before, cannot provide. I will have your new credentials and timestamps in the morning, don’t you worry.”

“I don’t know how to thank you enough,” the Director replied. You are literally saving the entire world by doing this.”

Timebreaker’s face hardened. “We both know that this is not saving anything, Lydia. It’s merely a mechanism to ensure that at least our future won’t be permanently lost. There will be deaths. There will be carnage. All these are irrefutable facts that neither I nor you can stop,” his voice was hard as steel. “I suggest you make peace with your demons, Director. The next part of the plan is not going to be pretty.” With that, Timebreaker waved his hands, and instantly, a thin bubble materialized around him, obscuring him from view and also cutting him from the main flow of time.

The Director got up from the desk and grabbed the empty glass. Of course, she knew that Timebreaker was right. The Library had warned her that her plan would not actually save anyone, and that the potential for disaster was simply too high to allow one of the five Shards to remain in her compromised universe.

She chuckled.

Damn them. Damn them all.

^ ^ ^

“-authority does not mean that you can order me around like some kind of prisoner!” a deep voice emanated from my right.

A gentler voice replied. “But that’s what you are, Mr. Duval. A prisoner. According to the bylaws of the agreement, you are to use your abilities in any way to defeat the enemy in exchange for your freedom after the event. If memory serves right, the Corruption not only is not eliminated, but it has grown stronger. So, I will say it again. Think very carefully what you will do in the next few hours.”

I opened my eyes, only to see the large figure of my father sitting next to me. He still had that intimidating frame, but his age was beginning to show quite a lot. I still remembered the attack that he had suffered against another corrupted supervillain, which stole ten years of his youth from him. His hair had grayed all over, while his eyes seemed to have lost a bit of their usual spark. His face had some deep and thin wrinkles too, heightening the illusion of old age. It also seemed that prison had made him rather softer looking. He was still tall and big, but he had lost his previous line-backer physique, now having more of the usual ‘dad-bod’ that most people his age would gain.

He was still my dad though, and I couldn’t help but get up from the bed they had put me in and grab him in the tightest hug I had ever given. He immediately took me in and hugged me tightly too, his eyes now sparkling with fresh tears. “Oh Percy, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” he sobbed as he buried his face in my collarbone, and I could only shake my head in response.

“It’s okay dad. It’s okay. It-it wasn’t your fault,” I started crying too, not being able to hold my tears back anymore. “This isn’t anyone’s fault. We were just-just pieces in a board.”

We stayed like that for a long time.

Eventually my dad got up from the hug and rubbed his now red eyes. “No, Percy. I had so much time to think about what I did to that agent. I th-thought myself as a god, having been given such a powerful power. But I was anything but that. We’re all humans deep inside, no matter what power we’ve been given by the hand of fate. It took many years for me to understand that,” he murmured in shame and self-pity. “And now my own little boy has been cursed with the same horrible dilemma. Oh Percy, if I knew you’d get such a destructive power, I-“ he tried to say, but lost his words.

“What? You wouldn’t have me? Dad, normal people become monsters the moment you give them a single spark of power. A gun is essentially a superpower, no? A bomb is the same. It doesn’t matter what power you’ve been given. It’s how you use it in the end,” I rose my hands as an example. “I’ve promised myself that I will only use my power against the Corruption. I can’t-WON’T use it against normal people.”

My father’s sadness evaporated like hot water, now replaced by a beaming smile. “I-I’ve never been prouder in my entire life. You’ve grown so much, Percy. I only regret that I wasn’t there to witness it all.”

“How’s mom by the way?” I said, hoping that they had let her out of the Mountain too.

“They don’t think her power is useful enough against a potential world-ending threat, and I have to agree with them. I would never put your mother in any unnecessary danger, so I’ve made a deal with the Province to put her in a secure facility, away from the Mountain. She too will be released if we succeed in this.”

My smile grew at the sound of that. “Johnny will be ecstatic when he sees us. He thinks so highly of you, it really broke him when you got taken away,” I said as I got off the bed. I was still in my work clothes, a light blue button-up shirt with a red tie and my usual black jeans. They were dirty with black paint and ripped in some areas, and I didn’t see a change of clothes anywhere in this closet they had put me in.

“Let me help you with that,” my father smiled and touched the shirt. The black paint evaporated in a smoke, and the ripped parts mended themselves, as if the damage was being reversed by time itself.

Seeing his power in action, I couldn’t help but wonder. “Hey, Dad? I have to ask, why don’t you use your powers to make yourself younger? Like, matter manipulation allows that, right?” I asked him. There were so many applications of his power, that I couldn’t help but feel a tad envious about it.

“If there is one limitation to matter manipulation, it’s that it won’t allow me to interact with my own material and molecular composition. I can’t make myself younger or older, can’t add or subtract weight or height, and even the color of my hair,” he scratched his long mane, showing the grayness. “I am effectively mortal, no matter what I try to do about it.”

“Still better than mine, though. I mean, shooting antimatter out of my fingertips? That’s literally a one-time trick and then… goodbye,” I imitated a tiny explosion with my hands.

Dad frowned at that. “I don’t think your power is useless, Percy. You just haven’t found a practical application of it yet.”

We continued our catching-up for quite some time, enough that I hoped that the Province had forgotten about us, but there was no such luck. With a knock on the door, Amanda appeared from the corridor, along with the other scientist I had seen at the meeting before. “Mr. Duval, I would like to discuss some things with you. I believe that your power can enchant the weapons and armour of our agents by manipulating the molecular density of the materials. If you’d walk with me?” she said, walking back to the corridor.

My father looked at me and nodded, disappearing behind the scientist.

Amanda slowly went and sat to the bed, and a long, exhausted sigh escaped from her. “This… this is insane. They are literally discussing the most efficient way of murdering Sam. They’re not even trying to find ways to purify the Corruption out of him!” she exclaimed angrily. “These moronic old farts, only caring about their image. They are going to kill one of the most brilliant, kind, powerful heroes like it’s nothing.”

“Have they located him yet?”

She huffed out another sigh. “Yes. He’s in Hawaii for some reason. Maybe the Corruption wants to have some time off before destroying the entire world?” she tried laughing, but she stopped after seeing that I didn’t react. “I’m sorry. This is… too much for me.”

“I get it. I really do. What are the current plans that we have?”

Amanda got off the bed, beginning to walk around the small closet in anger. “There’s Plan A and Plan B. Plan A consists of Wannabe Girl enhancing Mister Superior with invulnerability, flight, immortality, some other things, and then sending him to fight Sam. After he’s done, they plan on throwing him to the Sun. They think that the sheer levels of heat will bypass Sam’s adaptability. Even if he still manages to adapt, he will still be travelling towards the core of the Sun, where temperatures increase exponentially. Chances of survival after reaching the core is less than fifteen percent.”

I couldn’t believe my ears.

They are about to throw the best thing that’s ever happened to me towards the goddamn Sun?!

“What happens if he does survive?” I trembled, trying to remove the thought of Sam getting burnt into piles of ash out of my mind.

“Then… then that’s where you come in. Wannabe Girl will try to pump as many powers in you as she can, and if you survive the transfer, they’ll send you off to fight Sam in space, or something, in order to minimize casualties.”

“You’re… you’re kidding, right? No. I most definitely won’t do this shit,” I laughed from my surprise and rage towards the Province. I should’ve expected this from that evil woman, the Director pretending to be the savior of humanity.

Amanda’s face didn’t betray a lot of confidence. “I don’t think it will matter anyways, Percy. If Sam survives the levels of heat from the Sun’s core, then your chances of beating him are less than one percent. If you use your antimatter power, then your chances rise to seventy-five percent, but the explosion will also wipe out Mercury and Venus, with the fallout towards Earth including both radiation and comets the size of countries. The Corruption wins either way.”

And I’d be dead anyways.

“Jesus Christ. What’s Plan B, then?” I asked, though I knew that I wouldn’t like the answer.

“The Director has a secret agenda, which includes some kind of machine that Timebreaker has made, using technology that the Otherworlders had used to invade our dimension. She fully believes that it will work, but other members of the Province do not have faith in her, so everyone will vote between the two plans.”

Both of us stayed silent for a long time, lost in our own thoughts. I opened my mouth to speak, but I couldn’t think of what to say. “What… what are you going to vote for?” I finally asked.

Amanda looked at me, pain, and conflict evident on her face. “I have to be honest with you, Percy. The situation is not good. The more we let the Corruption control Sam, the more potential there is for mass casualties. Plan A gives us at least an eighty-five probability of success. Plan B… we don’t even know what we will happen when the machine gets activated. It might just blow up, taking us all with it.”

“So… you’re voting Plan A?” I asked, my own voice sounding hoarse and thick with emotion.

“I know this is inexcusable. I know. But I have a family. My mom and dad in Florida, waiting patiently for me to come back for the holidays. My sister is graduating from her university this year. My brother is just in third grade. I can’t… I can’t put their lives in some unknown variables. I would rather die.”

I quickly went over Amanda and hugged her. She returned her hug, her entire body rigid with fear and exhaustion. “Don’t blame yourself, Amanda. I understand. You have family, friends. This isn’t what you signed up for, is it?”

“God no, it’s not,” she said, crying and laughing at the same time. “Speaking of friends, if-if there’s someone you need to be with you in the command center, the Province has allowed Wannabe Girl to use her teleportation and bring them inside the Province headquarters. Half of the employees threatened to quit on the spot if they didn’t allow it, so you might want to take the opportunity,” she finally said as she let me go and collected herself. “Right, then. I will go to my lab and cry some more. If you’ll excuse me now,” she smiled, a sad smile, and exited the closet.

I stared quietly at the dirty floor. I could faintly hear the same robotic voice I heard on the elevator a few hours ago, now quietly describing current events. I left the closet, walking towards the corridor.

The voice grew louder.

“Alert. Alert. This is the Unhuman Broadcasting Alert. Massive tectonic event reported coming from the North Pacific Ocean. Location: Hawaiian Archipelago. Mauna Loa has erupted. We repeat, Mauna Loa has erupted. The island of Hawaii has been destroyed. Estimated casualties: 1.300.000 million lives. Authorities have upgraded the previous Class 9 supervillain located in Seattle into a worldwide Class X anomaly, which is believed to be the one responsible for the sudden explosion of the volcano. The Province has refused to make a comment at the time, although all Province troops have been activated in every U.S state and are ready for combat. Military personnel have also been granted access to every Province site and ammunition. This is the biggest disaster the modern world has ever bore witness to. Alert. Alert. The entire state of Hawaii has been declared uninhabitable. Further tectonic readings indicate massive tsunamis and earthquakes to hit mainland U.S in T-5 hours. Prepare for impact, and my God have mercy on our souls.”

I still don’t remember what I did when those words hit me. The next thing I do remember is me being down in all fours, and begging Wannabe Girl to go and grab Julia and her family from her house, along with Johnny from our place. My father was next to me, trying to console me, but the only thing I cared about was Julia and my brother.

I only started breathing again when I saw Julia and Johnny suddenly materialize next to me, as if they were always there.

^ ^ ^

The journalist on the screen had to be one of the bravest people I knew. He was standing on the front deck of a military ship, describing the events that had just occurred in front of his eyes. Behind him laid something that resembled the biblical Hell.

“It… it just burst into flames. The entire mountain… the entire volcano. It just exploded outwards. It crashed on top of the island, giant boulders and rocks bursting into flames and raining down everyone like massive comets. Oh God. Oh God. The other islands… they simply sunk below the sea like sandcastles. Nothing remains. Nothing.”

The cameraman zoomed in what looked like a moon-sized charcoal standing in the middle of a massive thunderstorm. The entire sky was orange and red, black rain falling down everywhere. I could still see the embers of lava, running down what remained from the volcano. The entire island of Hawaii had been reduced into an uninhabitable wasteland. The sea surrounding the remains of the island was turbulent, painted black from all the dust and ash being poured into it. A hurricane was forming not far away from the ship, the black sludge from the sea making it resemble the literal eye of Armageddon.

All around the conference hall, I heard people crying and sobbing, but I could only watch in awe and horror at the level of destruction in front of my eyes. This looked like some kind of sick painting, but it was real.

It is real.

The journalist continued, his eyes red and bulging out. His face was painted grey from the sheer amounts of ash around the atmosphere, and his voice was breaking.

“Why? Why?” his voice dipped up and down as he continued narrating what might be one of the worst events in human history. “I can still hear the sirens, folks. I can still hear the screams. Everyone. Everyone is dead. Folks, this is terrible. This must be the worst thing I’ve ever witnessed in my entire career. But it does not compare to his face. His face, ladies, and gentlemen. I-ah-I can’t really talk, the ash is getting into my lungs. So much life, gone in an instant. It’s just laying there,” he then points at the unholy sight behind him. “A smoking, broken wreckage. I’m… sorry. His smile, his smile, oh God. He enjoyed doing this, he loved it. He will do it again; I swear it to you! HE WILL DO IT AGAIN!” he then screamed at the camera, which panned out for just a moment.

“Drake, both of us need to sit down. I think… I think I’m going to be sick,” we all heard the voice of the cameraman.

“No, no. I have to finish. We have to finish this. Not for us. For them.”

The camera was set up again, and I could see Drake again, his face still a mask of death. “Listen, folks. This… this might be the end for us. I want you all to go to your families and hug them tightly. Milan, if you’re listening to this, I want to know that I love you. I’m sorry for everything I said.”

The camera then zoomed out a bit from the journalist, and on the outer edges I could see what appeared to be a giant mountain made out of water steadily approach the boat the crew was on.

The journalist also seemed to hear something that the camera couldn’t quite pick on. “I-I can’t do this anymore, Phil. I’m going to step inside. This is it for me. If there’s a God, then he is playing a cruel prank on us all. Goodbye now.”

With that, the video-feed cut off, and the image was replaced by the main reporter of Channel 1, who simply stared at us with a haunting expression on his face. “Derek? Derek? It- uh -it seems that Derek and his crew aren’t with us anymore. We will keep updating you as more updates of the situation come in the surface. All civilians in the states of Washington, Oregon and California must prepare for the tsunamis created by the explosion. Unhumans capable of water manipulation are trying to divert them away, but it is currently unknown if this will work. Furthermore, we do not have enough information regarding the earthquakes, but we expect them to hit at the same time.” Then, the signal got cut off, and what remained was a countdown of five hours.

All Province employees in the room stared at the screen, their families, and friends next to them. Almost all of them were crying, except the duty-hardened military officials and generals, who tried to drill a hole in the screen with their eyes. One of them even went and smashed a random laptop on the ground, stomping up and down at the broken silicone and glass for what felt like an eternity.

“Percy…?” Julia uttered next to me. “Percy, please tell me this wasn’t real. I have- I have people I know in Hawaii. They can’t- no, not all of them,” she hyperventilated as she tried to process exactly what had happened.

I couldn’t bring myself to talk. My thoughts were a chaotic storm of pain and darkness, and I was scared that if I said anything, I’d make everything worse. The room was silent, nobody uttering a single word to their loved ones. I was sure that some people couldn’t, or refused, to believe the events that were unfolding right in front of their eyes. Other would probably try to rationalize what happened as some form of avoidable environmental disaster. Some would take their anger on material possessions, such as the general who destroyed that laptop.

I just stared at the screen, silent. What I saw would not be changed, not really. My feelings for Sam hadn’t changed either. He wasn’t lucid. This wasn’t him.

What I felt for the Corruption, though, changed in an instant. Fear was turning into a white, hot, mad anger. I suddenly was becoming more and more willing to be juiced up by Wannabe Girl and fly to space to beat the Corruption out of Sam’s body, not matter what it took. Hell, I’d even try to use short bursts of antimatter to annihilate the horror away. If Sam lost a leg or two, then he’d just regenerate them, right?

A loud clapping noise shook us all out of our individual thoughts and guilt.

It was the Director. Her makeup was gone, her hair was unkempt, she looked to have aged three decades overnight. She was so old, so fragile. I briefly wondered how she hadn’t had a heart attack already. The levels of shock coursing through her veins must have been insane.

Clearing her throat, she ushered Wannabe Girl next to her, who gently placed her hands on the back of the old woman. Her voice instantly became louder, but the fatigue could still be heard.

“This… this is a dark day for humanity. My reports describe a death count of over a million, with further severe, life-altering injuries estimated at another million and a half. The sheer scale of the catastrophe cannot be described in words, so I will not try to.”

More people started sobbing after hearing the Director, knowing that if it came out of her mouth, then it was the cold, clinical truth.

The Director continued. “We were wrong regarding the effects that the Corruption had in Sam Shaw’s body. It hasn’t only augmented his adaptability power, but every single other ability he has gained over the past decade. This includes super strength that can cause an inactive volcano to catastrophically erupt, but also enough strength to be a match against Mister Superior. Combined with his extreme flight speeds that can now reach Mach 10 at their maximum, and his own super durability, we believe that Wannabe Girl’s borrowed powers may not be enough.”

The Director began moving behind the screen on the wall, which had now started to rise, revealing a mechanical structure behind it. “That is why, I believe we should not go forward with Plan A. The chances of Mister Superior successfully throwing Sam to the Sun is now less than ten percent. If Sam survives the Sun, then our extinction is guaranteed. If we send Percy Duval in space, we might only enjoy life for a few hours before an apocalyptic, irradiated comet shower wipes us all out. This is why I propose the activation of Timebreaker’s Endworld Machine, also known as Plan B.”

I stole a glance towards my father and Johnny. They were sitting together on the ground now, Johnny’s head resting on my dad’s shoulder, dried tears still reflecting on his cheek. He wasn’t smiling, and his eyes were closed, but I knew that he finally felt like he was home.

The machine had now been fully revealed. It consisted of several arrays holding tall Tesla coils and ultraviolet lamps on the center of a stage. Inside the stage was a pyramidal structure made out of some kind of hardened glass, blue lights trying to escape from within. Beside the machine was a tiny mainframe, a small display and a keyboard being the only things I could understand their function of.

“This… this is Timebreaker’s last creation. He didn’t want to be here if it was activated, so he is gone for the time being. He was supposed to be the one to control it, but we will have to do with what we have,” the Director murmured as she approached the mainframe and punched in a couple of codes. The blue lights inside the machine grew more intense, but nothing else changed. “Now. It’s time to vote. Please do not make your choice lightly. This could affect the future of the entire world.”

The whispers grew into murmurs, people discussing the right choice in the situation. “Excuse me. You still haven’t answered what your machine does exactly. Is it some kind of weapon?” an older man in a plain suit asked, and everyone’s attention fell back to the Director.

“No. It is not a weapon. Not exactly. Plan B is essentially a Dimensional Disruptor and Regenerator. It creates a rip in spacetime where one person can go through and change a single event in history.”

“You… you mean that Plan B is a time machine? Are you out of your mind, woman?!” the old man yelled, and the murmurs became shouts. “You will create a paradox! Kill us all by erasing us from the timeline itself!”

“PLEASE, let me finish, Director Andrews,” the Seattle Director gave him the stink eye, and continued. “This is not a time machine by the definition that you think of. It instead creates an entirely different alternate reality based on the event that the controller changes. The old reality stays behind, unchanged, but a new reality does indeed form. We used the interdimensional technology the Otherworlders left behind when they tried to invade us and modified it for our needs.”

Director Andrews took a moment to gather his thoughts. “Does this mean that all of us are transported in this new… reality? I assume the change you will make in the timeline will effectively eliminate the current extinction level threat we face against?” he said, scratching his white beard.

“Yes and no. There is a fifty percent probability that our consciousnesses will indeed cross the interdimensional barrier and live in this new, alternate Earth. However, it is equally possible that we will only create a copy of our own modified world, where versions of ourselves will live on it without a clue about what happened to us. There’s a chance that we might stay behind, along with the eldritch horror that’s running rampant.”

Another voice spoke from the crowd. “What event will you change? How far back will you go?”

The Director cleared her throat again. “I… will make it so I never interacted with Sam Shaw. I will let him live his own life rather than manipulate him to make him into the person that he is today. I do believe this will make it impossible for him to receive his powers. Moreover, in this new reality, I will make sure to inform the alternate Province of any future Corruption sightings. The Painter might still get corrupted, but without Sam Shaw interfering, we will successfully manage to lock it away, possibly forever.”

“And how confident are you that this will work?” Director Andrews spoke again.

“To be honest, ladies and gentlemen, I do not know. This is new technology, but I will do my damn best to succeed in my mission. If anyone else fails, we will at least have a backup copy of our universe. We will die knowing that our… legacies are safe and sound.”

I decided to speak up. My own voice was weak, but I did my best to speak up. “Why… why can’t we do both plans? If we risk losing everything, we might as well try our best with our two options.”

I hated it when everyone’s attention turned on me, but it was nothing compared to the pain and sadness ramming against my skull.

“That is because we will need you to charge the machine, Percy Duval. Antimatter releases exorbitant amounts of pure energy, just enough for the machine to charge for a single use. By our current measurements, the amount of antimatter you will have to create will be so much that your power will be out of commission for at least three days. This means that we will not be able to send you to space and kill the Corruption on your own, and frankly, I don’t really believe that Mister Superior will be able to handle Sam as he is right now.”

Silence reigned all across the conference hall. I looked around me, seeing scared men and women, friends, and family, even some children look at me with equal fear and hope etched on their faces.

“I believe it is time to vote. The Corruption is currently approaching the Province Headquarters. This is our last chance at making everything right,” the Director said with a hand on her ear. “All those who vote for Plan A, please raise their hands.”

Half the people in the room rose their hands immediately. I found my own hand raising as well. I wanted to fight the Corruption, destroy it, burn it out of Sam and break every single molecule of its existence out of this universe. I was so angry, so furious, that I would gladly risk my own life to save Sam’s, even though it was impossible. However, before I could raise my hand, I saw Julia’s arm flinch and grab mine.

“No. Not Plan A. This is the wrong choice,” she whispered in my ear. Her eyes were shining so bright now, a mist of orange around her irises. “Trust me, Percy. It’s better this way.”

The Director took a note of the people who voted for Plan A and continued. “All those for Plan B, then?” she said, a small smile on her thin lips.

The other half of the room rose their hands, including that of my father’s and Julia’s. My own hand rose too, although my gut told me that we had made a terrible choice. Several people chose to abstain from the voting, including Johnny and Julia’s parents. They probably didn’t want to have the guilt of dooming humanity over their heads, and I couldn’t blame them.

“Well, then. Plan B has been chosen as the course of action by a single vote,” the Director announced, and her eyes fell on me again. “Mister Duval, if you may approach the machine, please?” she started walking towards the mechanical structure. I quickly followed behind, ignoring the hundreds of eyes on my back.

The machine was powering up, the blue lights becoming spheres and revolving around themselves inside the pyramid case. I felt my entire body getting a zapped by the tiny forces of electricity, and it was jarring to say the least. “Just place your hand on top of the pyramid and begin producing antimatter, as much as you can.”

So, I did as I was told. I felt the cold energy unlock itself on my fingertips, eager antimatter wanting to annihilate itself with matter and produce energy and gamma radiation. I placed my hand on the pyramid, which began to whir in response to the millions of kilowatts being entered inside it. When I saw that the pyramid wasn’t about to blow up, I increased the production of antimatter. The cold feeling crept up my hand and then my forearm, and the whirring of the machine intensified.

“Are there… any dangers with this?” I whispered at the Director, who seemed busy inputting timestamps and coordinates in the mainframe.

“If everything goes smoothly, then everything should be fine. There’s still the chance that we will be left behind and simply create a new timeline without us transferring to it, but it’s better than the alternative. There’s also a tiny chance that I could leave history in a state of flux, but that won’t happen.”

“A state of flux? What does that mean?”

“You heard of Schrodinger’s cat? That’s what could happen, time itself becoming this cat, with history unable to go one way or another and thus locking itself into a temporal paradox. If this goes on for too long, then all realities will begin to bleed in each other, with the walls between universes eventually breaking down and ending the entire multiverse in a silent snap.”

I almost took my hand away, but I was giving away so much energy that I was afraid I’d cause an accidental explosion. “Are you out of your goddamn mind?!” I whispered, and she chuckled lightly.

“Maybe. Frankly, I don’t care anymore, Mr. Duval. My career is ruined, and so is this world. The Corruption destroyed all of our satellites, you know. Now it’s coming here to finish what it started. So, I’d suggest you stop talking and continue charging up the only salvation humanity has.”

Suddenly, the lights went out with a sudden flash, and we were left in complete darkness. The only light we still had was the blue orbs trapped inside Timebreaker’s machine. Children began crying, while some shouted in surprise and fear.

“Alert. Alert. Province Headquarters, Floor 35 has been breached. Corruption detected. Alert. Alert.”

“I will try to hold him off as long as I can,” my father said, and a wave of grey residue began coagulating on his body, forming some kind of uber-dense armour. I wanted so much to stop and run to him, beg him to stay, but if I did, I’d risked ruining everything.

The only thing I could do was up my antimatter corruption. I could feel the cold energy go further into my body, affecting my core. At that moment, I intuitively knew that I wouldn’t be able to activate my powers any time soon.

“Mr. Duval, are you done yet? We have officially run out of time!” the Director urged, sweat dripping down her forehead. Exhaustion was seeping into me like the force of a hurricane, and I breathed out a reply.

“Almost… there.” The machine was whirring loudly now, the flashes of blue light too bright and intense to watch with the naked eye. The computer was beeping, showing off levels of potential energy that no nuclear missile could ever hope to match.

The robotic voice alerted us of the uninvited guest. “Alert. Alert. Corruption to breach conference room in thirty-seven seconds. Defense systems have been destroyed.”

The Director laughed, her laugh sounding a tad bit insane. “Oh, screw this! Goodbye, Percy. I sincerely hope I see you on the other side.”

“WAIT, IT’S NOT RE-“ I tried screaming at her, but it was too late.

The Director pressed the Enter key, and my entire world turned white.

[Ro20316]

Its making sense now. Julia's visions. Plan A is where she dies horribly being stoned by the building they inside of and Plan B is Percy Releasing the antimmater to activate the cube.