vs DC 56
The attacks converge on Mongal's force shields, pressing against them, hiding her completely in a combination of energy and rapidly vaporizing matter. The shield buckles and sags, then gives way completely as Shale dodges around the various ranged attacks, thwacking first her shields and the finally landing a solid blow to the side of her head, sending her tumbling unconscious through space.
Mongal takes on an unexpected amber glow, unlike that of the ring, and then your eyes fill with the same glow as your surroundings fade away.
You blink your eyes, attempting to recover from whatever blinding attack has struck you, but as your vision clears, you find that you are in some sort of building. The room resembles a gothic cathedral in construction, vaulted ceilings soaring beautifully over your heads to a height of at least 300 feet, and the central hall is at least 400 feet long. What would be stonework in a cathedral is here some sort of high density composite. A complex but abstract pattern laces the floor, looking like a combination of circuitry and a medieval labyrinth. At the head of the room, where an altar might be in a church, there is a circular bank of work stations, screens and holographic projectors pointing into the circle. Twelve workers man stations in two concentric rings, like a round NASA mission control center. They are of many alien races, two humans among them. Each of them wears some sort of visor and earmuffs that might be reality enhancement suites.
Inside the two circles of control stations, there is a raised platform that is a combination of the Iron Throne and the captain's chair from The Next Generation.
On this command chair sits a man human male with an impressive but not ridiculous physique and an unkempt shock of red hair. His face seems somewhat familiar but you can't place it.
Beside you are the companions you were separated from in the battle (so everyone is here, people who were dirt side and people who were in the space battle. The javelin is, unfortunately, absent, as is The Shield.) Alongside the people you have been fighting alongside are the strange purple cyborg not superman and his robotic gold EVA companion. He genuflects toward the throne before stating, "Rebel 1, our objectives are achieved. We have returned with the members of the Justice League and Technomancer. We have confirmed that this Earth is the birthplace of The Monarch. "
The man on the throne rises to his feet and strides toward you quickly, "Welcome, all. I hope we will soon be fast friends and allies. I apologize for our abrupt and unfortunately violent entrance. I assure you that even now we are working to repair the damage done to your Hall. My name is Xander (pronounced Zander) Luthor, though here I am known as Rebel 1. I pray that you will join the efforts of those who dwell on the space station to restore peace and freedom to the multiverse. Of course, if you listen to what we have to say and feel that you must return to your homes, we will accommodate your request as soon as possible."
As he says "space station," it occurs to you that the surfaces on the wall beside you that you had assumed were stained glass windows are actually tall, gothic arch shaped screens that display thousands of images of rooms and hallways in what must be a vast space station.
"Um I didn't know that the multiverse was broken. " Sinter comments, felling completely out of his depth. "Was somebody supposed to tell me the multiverse was broken?"
"I would think each universe would have enough to deal with in their own universes without meddling in everybody else' business."
"Oh yeah, and while we're at it, what is a multiverse?"
"Not 'A Multiverse', 'The Multiverse'. Picture our universe as a marble. The Multiverse would be the infinitely stretching bag holding an infinite amount of marbles. Each marble would be a different universe, some with similarities, others completely different. Right now, in The Multiverse, there are countless versions of you, of all of us. My guess is 'The Technomancer' that they keep referring to is another universe's version of me, while 'Xander' here is another universe's version of Kara's father. Honestly, don't dwell on it too much or you might, uh, lose your marbles."
Now while Sinter doesn't have a normal face to do expressions very well, you can certainly tell that his mind is throughly boggled by that.
"Uh. Right. Ok. Won't dwell. "
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Imagine has a brief flash of panic as the landscape changes, but as the lack of mega-bolts come, she stands impassively, listening...just listening to the speech.
She listens, with wide, open eyes and and an attentive facial expression, to Neil clarify what a multiverse is using a derivative of the basic Everett-Gleason-Hartle Many-worlds theory, which will suffice for the 30 seconds they had to grasp the implications of what was being laid out before them.
After another moment when it seems that no further explanation will be immediately forthcoming, she begins to think along a wide-band. She turns her head and her gaze falls upon Xander like a blacksmith's hammer. Her mouth never moving, the words sweet as peach pie.
'Rebel 1, you have got...a -lot- of explaining to do. If you're half the man you present to be you know who I am and so, yes, an explanation of who -exactly- you are will go far in clarifying things.
Beyond that, why the charade? Was Mongal just your...what? Audition test for us? Why launch an attack with a yellow ring and buzzbots and a massive robot just to...get our attention? You could have just called, y'know. Hell, I would've set up a meeting just to blow daddy's mind with a picture of me shaking your hand.
By the name of 'Rebel 1' does that mean that there are more of you? How many? Is there a whole organization of 'Rebel's set up or is it just a nomenclature thing?
And if The Monarch is really Cap. Rob. but different, that means that we'll have to what? Kill him?"
A moment passes. All gathered could honestly say they did not see her smile. Some of her guards share glances.
'Or maybe recruit him? Well now. That -would- be an interesting day.
Wait, is he The Monarch or The Technomancer? Oh confound, Neil, how many version of you are there flying around threatening the multiverse?'
Xander replies, aloud, "Tsk, tsk, Auntie Imagine, it is impolite to carry on telepathic conversations in the company of those who lack the gift. And no, Captain, I am not some alternate version of your illustrious Lex Luthor, though there is a familial connection. I would prefer avoiding as much discussion of your futures as possible. What we do know is that this universe, this Earth, is the source, the origin, of our enemy. He is known as The Monarch. He is the conqueror of many universes, and he must be defeated. We have traced certain elements of his equipment to some of you, and we entertain the possibility that one of you may in fact become The Monarch. We have ruled out the size changer, but no one else. I am Rebel 1. I am the leader of the rebellion against The Monarch. All that remain of us are here on this station, and all of us have committed to this mission. To find you, to recruit you to our cause, to eliminate you if necessary."
As he speaks, the windows change images to show you The Monarch and his troops, many planets and many Earths conquered, burning, Green Lanterns crushed like bugs, armies destroyed.
Shale retracts his sword back into its cylindrical form, which he places back upon his belt. Seeing Cyborg and several other members of the group standing and breathing in the room, Shale makes the assumption that the air in the room is likely safe to breathe, and removes his helmet. Taking a quick breath and looking about, he vanishes from sight, the rest of his spacesuit appearing neatly folded and arranged on the floor nearby.
He reappears on the far side of the group in order to catch the conclusion of Xander's speech. In the split second in-between, he reconnoiters the extent of the accessible ship, making himself a detailed mental map of the layout, and noting the location of any inaccessible or restricted sections he is unable to access. Also of note would be the number of crew members (if there are others not immediately visible at the workstations), location of a weapons locker, medical bay, and so forth.
"If one of us supposedly becomes this 'Monarch', why would you risk warning him about your existence like this?"
"Who is his right mind would choose to be a monarch?"
"The Monarch is well aware of our existence. We have both a physical and temporal cloak that limits his ability to detect us across the various timestreams. This incursion will doubtless attract his attention, but we felt it necessary to verify his origin in this slice of hypertime. As for why he would choose to be a monarch, you would have to ask him, but I suspect his answer is order. He seeks the ultimate control and ordering of the multiverses, and possibly to break through the Source Wall itself. And yes, in fact, we have been able to identify at least two lobes of the multiverse that could be reasonably considered two multiverses, so perhaps there are more than one multiverse."
Shale runs, and runs, and runs. For someone who can be anywhere on the Earth's surface in an instant, the feeling is a little disconcerting. There are hallways after hallways, elevator shafts, subway like transportation systems, millions, maybe billions of inhabitants. You have seen satellites the size of buildings, space ships the size of cities. This thing must be the size of a medium size planet, but with layer upon layer of dwellings, factories, holding cells, entertainment venues, dining halls, processing plants. You find restricted areas that seem to lead to weapons systems, many redundant control rooms and systems, everything you can imagine in a functional spacefaring civilization. All functioning with relative peace and order. You see conflict here and there, but no intense violence. Everyone seems focused on their task, or their compatriots.
Sinter looks even more at sea after the latest explanation.
"Um, ok. What are we supposed to do?"
"Good question."
A smile creeps across Luthor's and into his voice, "Why, we are going to take you into the future and have you pick a fight with the most powerful mortal in the universe, of course?"
"Why?"
"You think one of us IS this being. I'm no expert but even I can think of about a thousand different ways this could backfire or cause some time paradox."
"Starting with the obvious one: By showing us the Monarch, or even TELLING us about them, you may have set one of us down the path of becoming them in the first place."
"What happens when we come across them and realize which one of us he or she is? The one who becomes the Monarch is just supposed to, what, kill themselves?"
"It may be that Monarch will have a reaction to one of you that will reveal something more of his or her identity. But more importantly, we need Technomancer to observe and investigate his armor. As for paradoxes, we aren't attempting to defeat the Monarch in his or her past, but in our present."
Captain Robo remains silent while he processes all of the possibilities. The numbers don't seem to stack up right, but one thing does....
Don't trust Rebel 1
"So what's the plan?"
"It may be that Monarch will have a reaction to one of you that will reveal something more of his or her identity. But more importantly, we need Technomancer to observe and investigate his armor. As for paradoxes, we aren't attempting to defeat the Monarch in his or her past, but in our present."
"Your present, yes."
"But OUR future. The paradox can come from both ends. One of us could be meeting their future self."
"What if the Monarch tells his past self things to watch out for? Turns past defeats into victories, and victories into even more crushing ones?"
"Time travel's a b&$+* to predict. I've NEVER heard a story involving time travel that didn't start with 'And so we screwed up the timeline' and and then end with 'And then we fixed it because the change we made was WORSE'."
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Imagine crinks a smile. "Um, yeah, I mean you guys seem well intentioned and all, and being my nephew doesn't hurt either, but I don't think I'm breaking any secrets if I say that if we see someone becoming ultimately powerful and it turns out to be -me- then, well, let's just say the terms of the contract become negotiable, know what I'm sayin'?
What? Don't look at me like that. I -can- run the universe the best. Ask anyone, especially me.
But that's super unlikely. What IS likely is that the Monarch is the Technomancer, aka, Something Something Robo. I mean, you've planned for that contingency, yeah?
That having been said, ya, what's the plan?
Also...um....just how are we related? Are you like a great-great grandson, or sumpin'?"
"I'm not sure what our exact relationship is. I am descended from a Lex Luthor, as are you, I believe. But we are from different Earths in different dimensions, so I'm not sure there is language to describe our relationship.
As for making things worse, well, I'll let you be the judge of whether that is possible."
He gestures with his hands toward the windows and the images changes to panes from thousands of worlds, thousands of Earths, a near infinite variety of human and alien civilizations conquered. Among other things, you notice an armored figure fighting a team of Supermen of all appearances (different ethnicities, various ersatz Supermen from other companies), and mopping the floor with them. You also see armies of similar armored figures, slightly different in design. It seems that Monarch must have Monarch-bots or something that mop him up. You see a bit of Mandroid technology, and maybe some Manhunter thrown in.
"You see, Monarch is successfully conquering dimension after dimension, each conquest increasing his power, growing it exponentially. But all of this conquest and horror is hardly the problem. The Monarch seeks to gain enough power to travel into the past and defeat a Monitor. Not only to unify hypertime in the future, but to unify the past, all pasts, under his dominion.
So the plan, as you said, is to find him and launch an exploratory attack. Although your current abilities and tactics are less than we expected. As for predicting the effects of time travel, we have a highly sophisticated computer to manage that, as well as my own intellect."
"Who's the big green guy that keeps wrecking all the Monarch-bots?" Forzare asks, pointing to a random screen
"Why couldn't you recruit him?"
Shudder looks for a heroic Yellow lantern but the closest he got was Batman with a Green lantern ring
"We have made contact with several versions of the 'big green guy,' but those who are powerful enough to make a difference tend to be...unruly. You will see various versions of yourselves of course, we have researched your possibilities extensively. And of course, you can see the various armies that The Monarch has recruited or created from different universes. Collectively they are known as the Royal Guard."
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Imagine focuses on another version of herself. She appears much as she is now, flying along in an unfamiliar city that seems to be in the shape of a star. She's with a few other individuals; a man of immense size, a small woman who transforms into a slightly larger woman, another man of common description who phases through walls, and someone dressed in a primitive mechanical suit, rocketing through the air with an amateur's grace.
She approaches that screen and smiles. She reaches out a hand and whispers, "Yes. I miss them. I miss them all."
She spends a minute in the reverie then turns, her face hardened, her mouth shut, but all hear her voice: [to all:]'Mr. Rebel One, what exactly is the plan? Are we attacking The Monarch directly, or engaging in guerilla attacks? Are we harassing the Royal Guard first to divert his attention? Are we contesting conquests? Invading areas he once thought safe? You've had much time to write this symphony. The hall is rented, the band is struck. Now, let's see if you can dance.'
"Ok, well I know I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed and all, but didn't you just say we're less powerful than expected, and you're going to send us up against this guy who beats up universes? That's crazy. I mean, I don't have a lot to look forward to in what passes for life for me, but still, I don't plan to end it. "
Shale looks over the wide array of screens and images, looking for what he strongly suspects is not there.
"There are no other versions of me. Various incarnations of the Flash, Kid Flash, Impulse... but not me. I am an anomaly unique to this reality, it would seem. It makes sense though; I am not from this world, nor from any reality similar to it."
"When I was cast out of my world, I could see other realities, but they were all far off; each one like a glowing marble in the distance. Their surfaces shifted, like the image in a television. Stare at any one long enough, and what you saw would split off into a nearly infinite array of variations on the same fragment, each different, yet with a cohesiveness to the whole."
"There were no variations of my reality, nor any other worlds near it. The creatures that destroyed my world, the one's we called the Skol, left no others near it. There were no other versions of me to make the journey, so I am unique among all these worlds. It is a strangely isolating thought."
Luthor slides his eyes over you, "Sinter, there is no need for you to defeat The Monarch. If it were simply a matter of firepower, our War World would be more useful than your team. We intend for you only to encounter, provoke, observe, and then retreat. We believe he will be intrigued by your presence, enough to not obliterate you immediately. We will take you to your own Earth in the future, The Monarch is frequently at least partially present there. We will use our base to attack the Mars Colony, distracting the Royal Guard and giving you an opportunity to attack his Citadel. We can give you a ship to get to Earth or you can make your way there under your own power.[b]"
As he is talking, a group of white clad individuals enter from the end of the hall and make their way toward you, one of them carrying a tray full of chromed tubes of some sort. You realize that they are some sort of pneumatic injectors, as seen in Star Trek.
Luthor continues, [b]"And now, we are preparing for a temporal displacement, a time jump, if you prefer. Our medical staff here will administer a nanotech treatment that will correct the negative physical effects of time travel. Obviously, they cannot administer it to Sinter, and possibly others of you, and it certainly isn't something that we would force on you. If you wish to decline, simply make your wishes clear to the medical technicians."
At that, he strides away toward his command chair. As he sits, he says, "Mr. Toro, please initiate time travel sequence. I believe our guests are ready to get to work."
At that, the windows/screens become red lined and display a mixture of work stations on the space station and locations in the target time, scanning to make sure the station doesn't appear wrapped around a comet or meteor, or planetary defense system.
"No offense, but I don't trust you enough to drop my forcefield around you just yet. Or Imagine, for that matter. The Luthor name doesn't inspire confidence, if you know what I'm saying."
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Imagine blows Patrick a kiss. "Love you too, babycakes. Stop being so paranoid, you'll have more fun that way."
She turns to Captain Aterro. "Single file, gentlemen, don't everyone crowd. It'll be just like your yearly physical when we inject you with stuff. Some of which we actually know what it does!"
Imagine is the first in line. "Can I get the recipe? Y'know, so we can patented it when I get back? Surely you wouldn't deny the world a new miracle medicine?"
She knows there's low odds that he'll say yes, but it can't hurt. Why come back from saving all of space-time with a just a kick-ass story when you can come back with a kick-ass story AND a world-buying patent!
Imagine blows Patrick a kiss. "Love you too, babycakes. Stop being so paranoid, you'll have more fun that way."
"Call me paranoid all you want, but last time I got injected with some unknown substance it didn't exactly go well."
"Things are becoming so strange, I'm not sure I will notice the weirdness of time travel.
Let's try the full experience."
quietly, to himself
"I didn't hear the descendants mention time travel side effects on their visits, but- hey- he's no Braniac."
"Ok, I guess that makes sense. I'll go when the rest are ready. "
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Imagine contemplates her team, and then throws up a mind-answer. [to all:]'All things being equal, if we have use of a vehicle, I think I'd rather start with that. Even if one of our tall, dark, and weird team menbers -can- do the job, I'd just as soon start sitting down and strapped in to a comfy air-conditioned vehicle. If it gets itself perished and we have to improvise later, well, then we'll blow that bridge up when we come to it.'
"Yeah, just because we CAN, doesn't mean we SHOULD. Vehicle seems like a good idea."
looks at Cpt. Robo
wonders what he told them about the jaunt through Shadow
"Hey, don't look at me like that!" Neil says to Shadow Star idly. He can't quite pull himself away from the screens, which seem to show different iterations of Captain Robo through out the multiverses.
In one, he sees a boy not much older than 14 running through the streets of a city. In the horizon emerges a massive tentacled monstrosity. With a quick flick of his left wrist, an orange hard-light panel blinks into being. A series of nimble button presses sends a missile soaring through the sky, and within seconds, the towering robot known as "The Captain" meets the tentacled beast with a rocket-powered punch.
In another, the world seems to be in flames. Buildings toppled over, the sky on fire with an orange haze and in the center of all the mayhem, floating above the ground is the cyborg known as "The Tech-Lord".
In yet another, the computer networks of the world are all taken over by a sentient virus known as "The Technarch".
Yet another, an information-hungry creep using nanites known as "Techno Priest" puts the NSA to shame.
Chills ran down his spine. Jeez, We really run the gamut."
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Imagine's captain of her security detail glances briefly at the screens. Most of them don't interest him. He is a man of Reality, and 'ifs' and 'buts' are for children. If he is thrust into one of those other realities, he will deal with that, at that moment.
But he seems himself, and considers the visage a moment. He is clad much as he is now, but he is on a different planet, surrounded by others in almost comically more elaborate suits. He seems himself greeting another suited warrior as if we were a brother. Some words are spoken, and, almost beside himself, he finds himself nodding slightly, agreeing with these words that seem to have no meaning, yet mean everything.
"Indeed," he says, agreeing with the phantom. "The Emperor protects."
Debbie had remained quiet through the Luthor apparent's speech and the comments of her "teammates". Her eyes wandered across the multitude of screens whilst absentmindedly chewing on her lip. Occasionally she would stop when she discovered and alternate version of herself. A sinking feeling took hold as she realized that every incarnation where she wasn't powered; she was happy. In most, she was either married and possessed loving children or had a strong career.
In literally every instance she could find where she was powered, she was a villain. One image depicted her as a tyrannical despot ruling what looked like some kind of apocalyptic New Orleans, a throne made from semis and fishing boats, with a patchwork shoulder cape made from the torn pieces of almost every super suit/cape she could think of. Another showed her bigger than she'd ever imagined being, somewhere over two thousand feet tall towering over downtown Tokyo and smashing it like it was a gingerbread playground. She appeared to be more beastial in her mannerisms, howling and roaring like some kind of mad animal. Her surprise reached a new height and made her cheeks run red with embarrassment at the sight of what appeared to be a Giant version of Captain Robo rounding a building, striking a pose and then launching into combat with the mega sized Debbie. Most puzzling of all was that that screen in particular was casting the battle in black and white.
Tearing her face away from the disheartening and shocking sights, Debbie realized she was filled with regret and fury.
I am NOT a villain. I am NOT a monster. I AM happy. I am in CONTROL.
And she was gonna prove it. If she had to defeat some fanciful costumed would-be-King and travel through some ludicrous alternate future past to do it? She'd handled worse.
Turning her massive frame towards the lesser Luthor,making sure to fill his vision, she spoke with a low, acertive rumble.
"We'll take. The vehicle."
You have the strange sensation of being sucked through a straw as the room around you stretches and compresses. You feel as though you are watching a bad Kubrick rip off before the world rights itself and everything returns to normal.
Officers working the bridge stations make reports, all stations report nominal, temporal and spatial cloaks are engaged and fully functional, we are invisible, Rebel 1.
"Excellent, good job everyone. Guests, Thurse here will take you to Launch Bay 446 and give you a brief tutorial on the systems of the Stinger you will be deployed in. We will be unable to contact you once you leave without breaking our concealment. Of course, once we launch our attack on Mars Colony, that will be largely irrelevant.
After any additional comments you have to make, a human in a blue jumpsuit comes forward. He introduces himself as Thurse, and says that he is a Durlan.
He leads you from the cathedral like room and down a passage to what appears to be a tube-like train system. Boarding it, there is no sensation of motion as you ride for several minutes. When the doors open, he leads you through another passage and through a large door that retracts into the ceiling. Beyond the door is a massive hangar containing hundreds of ships of different makes. He leads you toward a long needle-like ship with x shaped fins at the tail. The ship has a slippery looking shiny skin that while somewhat chromed reflects nothing around it clearly. Thurse leads you to a platform that retracts into the bottom of the ship and gives you a rundown of flight, cloak, and weapons systems.
"How can I be nauseous if I don't have a stomach?!?"
"It's all in your head. Your brain's all scrambled around and disoriented. You feel nauseous because you still think you SHOULD. Psychosomatic response."
Shale declines the inoculation as well. "Prior experience with the League suggest that one should rarely accept injectable bio-active substances from strangers. No offense, Mr. Luthor, but I will endeavour to make do without."