It was a small, seemingly ordinary hill in no significant region of town. Nothing noteworthy had happened there in the recent past, but somehow Allan Kidman materialized there for no apparent reason at all. He appeared a few inches above the ground, and hit it with a minor force before quickly springing to his feet.
Allan Kidman was not what any chronicle would call a 'superhero'. Yes, he possessed unusual capabilities and yes, he used them to fight evil and defend the world, but he found no need for a secret identity, mask, cape or tights. He did not wear glasses to avoid being recognized in his usual life, or rather, he only had one life. Sitting at home watching television and running around fighting crime were not two sides of the same coin but two areas of the same big picture. And he certainly did not look like a superhero. His eyes were plain old brown, his hair was long yet neat and plain old brown, his chin was an average size and shape, and he kept his underwear… well… under.
For a little while he stood in bewilderment surveying the scene, as if it appeared unusually calm to him: Cars driving by, people going places, coming back from other places and talking on cellular phones. The only unusual part of the scene was the fact that a twenty-four year old man with hydrokinesis and the ability to breathe underwater appeared out of thin air, and this was the only thing no-one seemed to notice. Suddenly a look of urgency shot across his face.
"I can still stop it!" he said aloud to himself, and sped home.
Back home Zoë Wright was waiting for Allan to return along with Victoria Honeywell (more commonly referred to as Vicky). They left a few minutes ago, on foot. Allan burst through the door breathing heavily from running the whole way, but he didn't seem the least bit interested in pausing for a rest.
"That was fast," was Zoë's remark.
"Where's Edward?" Allan demanded.
"He hasn't come back from that excavation site yet. Where's the pizza... Where's Vicky?"
Immediately Allan turned his eyes to the clock visible through the kitchen door. He narrowed them in thought, mouthing the time to himself, and with the return of the urgency once again spoke aloud to himself "We're still at the pizza place!"
Something seemed strange to Zoë which she couldn't place. In fact it was Allan's weapon of choice, a trident, which stayed behind in his room when he left earlier but was now somehow strapped to his back when he came in.
He then turned to a confused looking Zoë and said "You have to take us there, now!"
Speed was not a problem for Zoë Wright. An incident at a nuclear reactor some years before that would surely have caused her death in any other circumstance not only left her strangely unharmed, but endowed with a remarkable power over electricity. She could generate and discharge it and found many other ways to use it as time went by, which included propelling her limbs to unimaginable speed without tiring her muscles. She wasn't particularly strong, but even dragging someone like Allan (who was average-to-tall in size but still a good deal larger than she was) along still left her much faster than anyone could run. Yes, she was quite a small girl, but small in such a way that most outfits in her size were rather tight in certain regions. Her facial features were more colorful than Allan's: Her lips were notably pink, her eyes large and undeniably green, and her hair as bright and dark red as naturally possible. Despite all of this, what stood out most –almost literally- about her face were her eyelashes: they were thick and dark and had no use for mascara.
They came to a standstill outside their favorite pizza place and Allan rushed inside followed less urgently by Zoë, who stopped in the doorway and opened her mouth. Inside was Vicky with her eyes wide, Allan with a look of astonishment, and another Allan with the same urgent look with which he came into the building just ahead of Zoë.
"If I took a moment to explain this now we'd never make it in time. So everyone, please get over the shock as quickly as you can. We have to go and we have to do it now," was all he had to say at the moment.
Vicky was in the taller domain between Allan and Zoë as far as height was concerned. Her eyes, too, were brown, but a warmer, friendlier brown. Her lips were full and red and reminded of ripe, succulent fruit. Her hair was as black as the ink used in calligraphy and despite being female she had the strongest limbs in the group. She was an expert mountain climber and was most at home surrounded by nature. Despite her outdoorsy personality she had no tan.
Meanwhile, Allan's brother Edward was half leaning against, half hiding behind a large rock, waiting for the team's Arch-nemesis to appear out of the sky and steal whatever was being excavated from the archeological site in front of him. Archeologists, news reporters, cameramen and other people in hard hats stood in silence as the winch slowly lifted something very old and mysterious from a deep hole in the ground. It was bolted to a platform and looked like a large wooden frame about the size of a door and had two triangular protrusions at its lower laterals which enabled it to stand upright. Mounted to its top beam was something which vaguely resembled a torch. The people on the surface held their breaths as they waited to lay eyes upon it. None of them knew what it was, or what it was used for.
Edward Kidman was facially very similar to his brother Allan save a pointier nose which supported a pair of spectacles. He had once been abducted by Hazard Inc (the large evil corporation bent on conquering the world that so often features in chronicles like these), which was governed by a man known only as Leather Jack, called so due to his long brown leather jacket and brown leather hat which he wore whenever anyone saw him. During his time of imprisonment, Edward had fallen victim to one of Hazard Inc's many inhumane experiments. This one was the development of a synthetic gland that enabled its user to secrete any element of the periodic table through their skin, and somehow remain unharmed by any adverse effects. By the time the team managed to rescue Edward the gland had already been inserted and was working perfectly, and it was this new ability that Edward used to destroy all the research Hazard Inc had conducted and stolen to create the gland. In destroying the research, Edward knew that Hazard Inc could not make another, and could never bestow their army of synthetic life forms with the power it contained. Hazard Inc knew this, too, and also knew the only way they could replicate the gland was by recovering the prototype and studying it. As Edward didn't feel like having himself cut open a second time, he was not on very friendly terms with Hazard Inc.
"How can you be from the future?" Allan panted as he ran.
"Near future. Much nearer than is at all convenient," was the other Allan's reply
"I don't understand," Vicky said quizzically "Do you and Edward find a way to travel through time in the near future?"
"Not if I can help it," Allan answered, although it didn't seem to answer much.
The four young people pounded down the road in much this manner the rest of the way, each enquiry answered urgently and cryptically, as if this self-proclaimed 'future Allan' was trying above all else to cause none of this to matter in the end. In reality, he was the only one who knew what was happening so far, and he was doing his best to ensure that the things he knew never came to pass.
By the time they reached Edward the relic was nearly visible to the masses behind the safety tape, the lone man hiding behind the stone, and the screen in the large blimp that hovered unseen above all their heads. Edward did not notice the rest of his team - one member in duplicate - come up behind him.
'Psst, Edward.'
'What are you doing here, Allan?' he whispered without noticing he was talking to one of three identical people, as opposed to the usual two, 'we agreed that if I came alone I'd be less easily spotted.'
Vicky, Zoë, and the other Allan stared at him.
'Edward, we have to get away from this place. Something terrible is about to happen.'
'I know. That's why I came, remember? I have to stop Leather Jack from stealing-'
Just then the five became aware of a large amount of people gasping at the site of the artifact explained earlier meeting the light of the Sun.
'What is it?' said the Allan who didn't know what it was
The other Allan started to frown. He whispered slowly: 'Whatever you do-'
The next moment Leather Jack descended in a harness and landed on the platform, holding the lower end of another harness in his hand, which he fixed to the relic. He then produced a small but potent cutting torch and instantly severed the cable that was hoisting the relic out of the earth. He gave the other harness a tug and then started to rise along with his newly found loot.
Zoë launched herself over the stone they were hiding behind and whipped out her chain. She snagged the harness and clung to it before Edward landed behind her and took over holding onto it. Vicky shifted to her other form: her long hair went from black to blonde and her outfit went from a blue top and skirt to a flowing white dress. She stretched her newly formed wings out. Zoë then converted her body mass to electricity and passed through her chain, appearing on the other side of it the next instant. Edward threw his sword to her and she cut the harness. As her foothold plummeted to the ground she was caught in mid air by Vicky, who drifted gently to the ground and set her down safely. With a smirk Leather Jack let himself down to earth and brandished his knife. The fight had begun.
Allan drew his trident (future Allan had brought it from home in case it was needed) and jumped into action. Future Allan shook his head and did the same, he seemed a trifle annoyed. Edward prepared his palms with Iron and was able to block all cuts. Zoë stopped some of the swipes aimed at her with her chain, the rest she dodged by propelling herself with blasts of lightning. She knew that if she tried to zap Leather Jack, all the electricity would load into his blade: He learned from experience to insulate the handles of his knives. She waited for an opportunity to curl her chain around his wrist. Back in her usual form, Vicky beat her to it, doing so with her grappling hook. One of the Allans tried seizing the opportunity to pin Leather Jack's hand to the ground with his trident, but he twisted and ducked smartly and the trident merely stabbed through the rope. Leather Jacks hand was free again. Inside Edward's fingertips phosphorus atoms were constructing themselves and as they passed through his skin they met on the iron padding in his palm and formed a neat ball which Edward threw just as it burst into flames. Leather Jack punched at nothing with his previously bound fist and caught the ball of fire with the severed hook, which pierced it, swung round on its length of rope and flung it back at Edward. Edward dodged the fireball which caught the top, torch-like part of the relic and set it alight. It burned, but like something that was meant to burn. The fire did not spread to the rest of the relic, rather the fire turned an ominous green, and the air within the frame began to darken. The Allan that knew what was happening froze in fear.
Edward stared mesmerized into the paper thin film that was forming within the bounds of the frame. It developed a dark red tinge along the upper area. Edward knew this was a negative image of the sky but didn't think much of it because the reason he knew was even more startling. Edward Kidman was staring wide-eyed at a negative reflection of himself. Now on the platform, he inched closer and tried to touch it but was awoken from his trance by the only person who realized what was happening.
"Edward! Don't go any closer to that thing!" roared the future Allan, who had just escaped a moment of mental paralysis of his own.
Edward tried to back away but the platform shook: Leather Jack had secured the harness to the platform again and it was being lifted by his blimp. The sudden slant threw Edward off balance and he fell through the frame, passing through the film-like screen as if it was not there. He landed on the platform a few feet away and looked back at the frame. The film was intact but his reflection was gone. Eventually he slid off the platform and landed on the ground. When he looked up he discovered his cohorts were staring at him again. He turned his head and met a familiar gaze: sitting in front of him was his reflection from the mirror, in negative, but the mirror was no longer there.
It happened that when Edward fell through the mirror, his reflection fell out on the other side and hit the ground at more or less the same time he did. Now the reflection stood up, and ran off without saying a word.
The Allan from the future was still the only one with any Idea what had happened. He stared blankly and said only: "I failed."
Ages ago a civilization, now extinct, developed a special mirror of which the purpose was to bring balance to the world. This was as much a good thing as grey is white. Whatever passed through the mirror, the mirror would create the antithesis of it, which meant just as it could create something good from something evil, it could also create something evil from something good. Anything perfectly balanced would merely be replicated. Once the mirror was made the civilization soon plunged into chaos and was annihilated: in a twist of irony, the mirror created the opposite of the balance it was meant to create. All that remained of the civilization was covered up by centuries of dust.
Back home, Edward had gotten over the shock of two Allans and the situation was now being discussed openly.
"So, what you're saying is that this thing that came out of the mirror is the exact opposite of Edward?"
"Seems that way. Where Edward is able to produce matter, it can produce antimatter. I don't think you need any convincing about how dangerous it is." the Allan from the future was unaware of the entire history of the Balance Mirror, as they decided to call it, he knew only what he was able to learn from the events leading up to his trip twenty-eight hours into the past.
"But, how did you manage to travel to the past to come and warn us?" Zoë wanted to know.
"Sheer luck." said Allan, and they all waited for an explanation. Allan swallowed and shut his eyes. "Tomorrow afternoon that thing is going to use its powers," he spoke slowly "to create a black hole." This was a new shock for the team to deal with "I got sucked into it and managed to travel back to this time. It was just luck. Who knows what happened to the rest of the world. I thought I could use this second chance to keep it from happening, but obviously I haven't."
But if you managed to stop the black hole from happening, you couldn't have used it to come back here and stop it." Vicky ventured.
"Not necessarily," Edward interjected "there are many theories regarding time travel and paradoxes, but no-one knows for sure how it works because it's never been done. Until now," He added.
"That's right," said Allan, "I guess I was hoping however it works the timelines would sort themselves out. All I know is that our best chance for survival would have been to keep this whole thing from happening."
"We could wind up stopping the black hole and carrying on the rest of our existence with an extra Allan in the team."
One of the Allan's put his arm around Vicky, but retracted it at a jealous stare from the other. While Allan and Vicky were indeed a couple, a second Allan was complicating things.
"How are we going to stop the black hole? The thing that creates it has already come into existence and there's no stopping it." Allan explained.
"What do you mean?" said Vicky "Can't we just seek it out and kill it?"
"We tried that," said the future Allan, "Whatever we throw at it, it just cancels out with antimatter. It's beyond frustrating."
"Maybe we just haven't been trying hard enough." was Edwards guess.
"Hang on," an idea was slowly coming to the present day Allan's mind "if this... Anti-Edward is able to cancel out any of Edward's materials, and he is no more than a reflection, wouldn't that mean that our Edward could just use matter to cancel out any of his?"
"No." The Allan from the future seemed to have already thought of this. "Theoretically maybe, but our planet is one of matter, so the molecules in the atmosphere already serve to cancel out his antimatter. For this reason he can't launch his attack like Edward can, but it's the black hole we need to worry-."
"Wait, hear me out." Allan interrupted. "Maybe Edward has the power to cancel out the black hole?"
The others looked at him for a while.
Edward began: "impossible. I can only assemble the atoms from the sugar in my blood. When that runs out I'm done, and in desperate need of carbohydrates, too."
"Think about it," Allan persisted "if he's just a reflection of you with opposite yet equivalent abilities to yours, then you should have the potential to match his power and cancel it out."
"You mean," Edward considered the implications of this "I could make a black hole, too, but one of matter instead of antimatter?"
"Maybe not a black hole," Allan continued, "maybe not something that pulls everything into itself, but something that pushes everything out with phenomenal force." He looked at Edward as if to say 'You know what I'm thinking.'
Edward stared back at his brother. "A... a supernova? Could I do that?"
"I hadn't thought of that," said the future Allan quietly, but as if hope was returning to his mind.
For a moment they were all quiet, but neither of the girls seemed to like this idea.
Vicky spoke first: "a supernova and a black hole, both in the same place? Both on the surface of a tiny, tiny planet? Wouldn't that certainly destroy everything and everyone?"
"It might, Vicky," said Allan "but a black hole certainly will. On the other hand, if we can get this exactly right, maybe the pull from the black hole and the push from the supernova will cancel each other out while the black hole sucks up the supernova and the immense amounts of matter and antimatter eliminate each other until there's nothing left of either."
"I know extremely dangerous doesn't even begin to describe it," Edward supported," but if it can save the planet, I have to try it. But what exactly do I have to do to cause a supernova? I mean it's not like I can practice, is it?"
At that moment Edward realized that Zoë had fallen silent. When he looked at her, he saw that her eyes were welling up with tears.
"Wouldn't that certainly kill you?" She was trembling.
"I really can't say," then he paused, "but if I'm capable of this sort of thing, wouldn't that be for the best? What if I tripped and did it by accident?"
This didn't make Zoë feel any better. She stormed out the room crying and Edward followed her. Edward and Zoë were a couple too, and the team of four had been through so many adventures together they were as close as family.
On that day Edward and Zoë promised each other they would not think about this worst case scenario. The others agreed to hope it wouldn't come to that.
Once everyone had recomposed themselves it was time to discuss their next course of action. First thing was definitely first: they had to get the balance mirror back from Hazard Inc before Leather Jack did any more evil with it. No one wanted to consider the type of consequences that could arise from an evil organization with that sort of power at their disposal above and beyond their usual capabilities.
Vicky replaced the rope of her grappling hook. Present-Allan honed his trident. As they walked, each one of them was wrestling with their own set of thoughts:
Vicky couldn't help but be puzzled about having two Allans in her life. Once this ordeal was over, if the human race still existed, obviously it was the present day Allan she had a relationship with, but since Allan loved her as much as she knew he did, it would be no small matter for this future Allan to see her with himself on a regular basis while he tries to get over the loss of his own future-Vicky and court another woman.
Allan (present day Allan) felt frustrated. Vicky was obviously uneasy about this other Allan, but due to the urgency of the matter there was no way he could take her aside and ask her exactly what her thoughts were. It bothered him that they could not discuss the matter. He also felt sympathy for the other Allan, Knowing how much he loved Vicky and would probably have to continue without her.
Zoë could not forget the conversation they had earlier, despite the promise she made. She could not stand the idea of losing Edward, the idea that Edward himself had had, but she also knew he was right. If he was not prepared to try it they would all be gone anyway. Whatever happened, it seemed she would end up losing him. Once again she tried very hard not to think about it.
Edward was partly afraid of what would become of Zoë once he was gone, that is to say if he managed to save her, and partly paranoid about this new idea about his gland. He understood in essence how the gland worked, and could not see where all the matter would come from that enabled him to erupt with the ferocity of an exploding star. But if this corrupt copy of his was capable of something of that magnitude, he had to be as well. And if this was the case, he was a walking danger to his entire Solar System.
The Allan from the future was trying to piece things together in his mind. scientists had speculated that it was possible to travel through time with a black hole, so that was obviously what had happened to him, but what happened to the Edward, Vicky and Zoë from his time? Were they stuck in different times? Were they trying to avert the black hole themselves? He caught himself thinking about one of them winding up in a future beyond the black hole, after everything had been consumed. He decided not to. As he let his mind wander, He too wondered what would happen to his relationship after this whole thing was over. Then he realized there were gaps in his memory. In his time Edward went out to the archeological site alone, why did he (Allan) know what the balance Mirror looked like? Perhaps he saw them hoisting it up on the television as he sat eating pizza? Perhaps his gaps in memory were a result of time traveling or changing history?
By the time they arrived at Hazard Inc they had all exhausted their minds thinking. A good fight against the artificially created legions and maybe even the odd henchman almost seemed a pleasant idea. As Edward strained a highly compacted cake of sulfur into his hand the others clasped their weapons. He carefully laid it down in front of the steel door to the building, took a few steps back and flicked a pea-sized amount of phosphorus at it. It burst into flames and scattered flaming fragments in all directions. As it burned Edward took out a box of donuts and ate three. He needed to do this, as his blood sugar was the source of his power. By the time it finished burning it had heated the door to a glowing state, and it only took a blast of liquid Nitrogen to cause the door to shatter into bits. They were now inside and had obviously set off an alarm. Biotroops came from all directions, some got electrocuted, some were knocked unconscious with an electrified chain, some were even roped by a grappling hook and slammed into others. Present-day Allan stabbed with his trident, hit with it, spun it defensively, but mostly blasted the beam (a small bonus he got from the radiation off the stones which gave him his aquatic gifts a while back). Future Allan fought in the same way. Edward mainly used his sword, but also the occasional fireball, ice blast or blunt damage with a metal pole from nowhere. He even tried a few plasma shots, but they consumed a lot of energy and he was still perfecting the technique.
When the wave was over Vicky switched to her other form and used her gift to tend to the teams injuries. Once everyone felt better they readied themselves for the next wave: it usually took about twenty minutes to create a fresh batch of biotroops. They waited, but nothing happened.
"You know what that means, don't you?" Future Allan concluded "Something's waiting for us."
At that point they decided to split Future Allan with the rest of the group. That way (should Hazard Inc. not be aware of the extra member) if he was found and captured, the troops would be spread out thinly looking for the other three, and could easily be taken out bit by bit by all four members. However, should the other four be found, there would be no search at all for Allan and he could take them by surprise.
They walked up and down the halls and stairs of Hazard Inc in silence for nearly an hour, eventually they came to a door that was locked.
"If they don't want us in here, this is probably where we should go," said Vicky
Edward surveyed the lock mechanism, near the card slot was a green button. He pressed it. A panel next to the door flipped open revealing a keyboard. "Must be a password mechanism for if an employee loses their card."
"I know the password." Zoë said with confidence.
Edward stood aside and Zoë held her hand up to the keyboard. "What's the password?" asked Edward.
Sparks shot from Zoë's hand to the keyboard until all the lights on the door went out and it swung open weakly. "'Or Else'" she said, smiling innocently.
Once they were through the door they came across Mayhem, a Hazard Inc. henchman with incredible strength and an even more dangerous temper. He was biologically modified to grow stronger as his aggression builds, and psychologically modified to get angry where anyone else would become afraid.
As the four were preparing to fight, something stepped out from behind Mayhem that struck the team with fear. It looked exactly like Mayhem but its colours were inverted. They all knew what that meant.
"They've started using the mirror," the remaining Allan said to Edward out of one side of his mouth.
This Allan was the first to act. He noted the room was filled with suspended animation capsules and he knew these contained water. Unbeknownst to anyone, while they were sizing up the situation, he began stirring up the water in one of them, and by the time the first punch was thrown, he had gotten a steady whirlpool. He threw his trident at the capsule, which shattered the glass. He pulled the swirling ball of water and glass shards closer to him and launched it at the anti-Mayhem. The anti-Mayhem, much unlike the original, remained perfectly calm. Its eyes lit up as it neatly singled out the bits of glass with its mind and directed them back at Allan, who had no control over them. Anti-Mayhem got a splash of water in the face, while the sharp bits of glass caught Allan in the side of the head. Vicky shrieked as he hit the ground. She transformed as quickly as she could and stooped to heal him. Zoë took the opportunity to give the soaked anti-Mayhem an extra-powerful shock and Edward was left to battle the original alone.
Edward quickly fortified his head and chest with metal and readied a ball of phosphor, but instead of throwing it at Mayhem, he threw it a short distance up and stabbed it. As he moved with the best of his agility, all the while swinging his sword with a brightly burning ball on it, Mayhem started to feel a bit disoriented and began to throw some powerful punches at where he thought Edward was. He caught nothing, but was himself caught upside the head with Edward's foot which, Mayhem found, had also been covered with iron. He fell back and struck a wall behind him, then stood up in a mood so foul that he couldn't feel his headache. He charged at Edward who swung his sword, dislodging the fireball which flew straight ahead and connected with Mayhem's face, where it stuck.
Mayhem roared and brushed off the soft, burning substance feverishly. As it burned out on the floor in front of him, he began breathing smoke with rage.
Pain had this way of infuriating Mayhem, and anger had this way of sending blood into Mayhem's face, which was still throbbing with pain from the burn. This made it hurt even more, which made him even angrier. Mayhem's strength grew by the second until he reached his maximum where a single punch could knock Edward out, crack one of his ribs and send him flying. It did.
Zoë had just managed to render Anti-Mayhem unconscious when she saw Mayhem tossing around what looked like a life-sized Edward rag doll. Vicky saw the same thing when Allan was back on his feet. When Mayhem tried to throw what he was certain would be the punch to cool his rage, a chain snagged his wrist. At his level of strength and coordination he was practically ambidextrous, so he tightened his other fist, which was promptly curled around by a rope. Both arms were pulled in opposite directions. He pulled back with ease as Vicky and Zoë lifted off the ground effortlessly and landed in front of him on either side of Edward. Mayhem, too, got a splash in the face. The cool water made his face feel a bit better, which was bad news for him. Vicky and Zoë stood up and ran in opposite directions, pulling Mayhem's arms apart again. This time pulling them back together was a bit more of a strain, and it did not help when part way through Vicky suddenly healed his injuries. He knew she only did this to remove his anger, and this angered him, but he could not get himself anywhere near the level of rage he had when his face stung him like a mask of molten metal. Another splash of water made him shut his eyes, and while they were closed he became aware of a light beyond his eyelids as if his face were turned toward the sun. He was also aware that he was being struck by something like long drawn-out lightning. Zoë sent a gush of sparks through him that lit up the entire room, and despite his rage building anew he was helpless as his powerful muscles contorted involuntarily. Eventually his anger got so great that it fizzled out and vanished as he fell to the floor and lay there twitching. The fight was over. The anti-Mayhem disappeared with something that looked like an indigo flame, and there was nothing left of it.
After being healed, Edward stood up and straightened his spectacles. One of the lenses was cracked.
"Did you notice?" Allan said at length. "Both Mayhems fought for the same side."
"If they can reprogram a mind that powerful, who knows what they could bring about with that mirror thing?" Vicky added.
"There's only one simple solution," Zoë concluded, "We have to get that mirror, and put it somewhere no-one will ever find it again."
"I for one have certainly seen enough doppelgangers for one day," Edward remarked.
"But did you see how the new Mayhem vanished when we beat them both? Perhaps getting rid of the other Edward could be that simple, too."
"That may be, Allan, But you heard how difficult it is to land even a single hit on that copy-me. It can absorb anything we throw at it."
"Why bother throwing stuff at it? Why don't we just get in close and attack it with a weapon?"
"Even worse. Would you like to see that thing eliminate your trident and maybe a piece of your arm? It took a lot out of me to make the diamond for my sword's blade when tungsten proved not strong enough and I'm in no mood to do it again."
Edward's blade was, in fact, a long, razor-sharp diamond, arguably one of the most valuable things on the planet, but if insane riches were that important to the group he could sweat gold if he felt like it. As far as his weapon was concerned, he needed the blade strong and sharp, and the hardest substance in the world fit the need perfectly.
After Zoë entered her special password, they passed through the door the two Mayhems had guarded.
The next room was completely black. Leather Jack's voice boomed from a giant speaker system hidden somewhere in the darkness.
"So good of you all to come. I can't tell you how touched I am to see you all here, realizing that you've finally lost and willing to surrender yourselves to me. Still, that business with Mayhem was totally unnecessary. He's a reasonable fellow. He would have been more than happy to escort you in."
"You know how it goes, Jack," Edward shouted at seemingly just a large voice "We let ourselves in. That's how it is, and that's how it will be until the day we tear this place to shreds"
Allan tightened his grip on his trident.
"Always going for the violent option," roared the voice, "why do you always choose to make your lives so difficult? We're all civilized people here." The lights came on. "Surely we can all come to some sort of agreement."
With everything brightly visible, our heroes could see the room they were in was gigantic. It needed to be, as it contained a colossal vehicle. It looked like a modified construction vehicle, but streamlined. It had what looked like two immovable pincers at the front with a cannon of some kind between them. It rolled on massive wheels and had a thick pipe of sorts that lead out of the ceiling and fed into to a tank it carried on top. Up high visible through a dome of glass or Perspex was its creator, Professor Tech, at its controls.
Professor Tech was a scientist with a controversial ethics system. He shared in the megalomania that kept Hazard inc. going and had money and knowledge unmatched by many. He was also a top-class engineer and singlehandedly built the machines that gave Hazard Inc. its power. An accident with acid left his face disfigured and his brain visible, and he wore a long white coat with an oversized collar that veiled his face in darkness so all that could be seen were his glowing green eyes and his oversized pulsating brain above his head like a sick pink cloud. His sleeves extended past his hands but his fingernails were dangerously overgrown and could be seen sticking out beyond them.
Far above the machine Leather Jack sat in a glass observation deck behind a desk with a microphone. The balance mirror was next to him, deactivated. "Still," he continued, "I appreciate you all showing up to try out my new toy. I'm certain the soldiers that come out of it will serve me well."
"Haven't you tried the 'evil copy' bit already?" Vicky half-stated cynically, but got no answer.
Leather Jack had once before obtained DNA of each of the four heroes and created genetic copies of them, complete with special abilities. He modified them to make them evil, but still could not control them. They broke out of the Hazard Inc facility and added themselves to the ensemble of villains the team is forced to face.
The vehicle roared into life. The heroes charged at it but were soon pushed back by a powerful blast of water. "You're all soaked now," Leather Jack gloated into the microphone. "Edward, I would tell your Ms Wright to think carefully about using her electricity. That water is much more saline than the water she boiled Mayhem in."
"Great!" Allan said, coming to his feet enthusiastically, "Then it's just my forte!" he readied his mind for the second blast.
The next blast of water was aimed straight at Allan, and while he was able to resist it to some extent, it was still very powerful and knocked him off his feet again. The pincers on the contraption shot sparks at each other. They were electric poles. They had to run, dive and roll around on the floor to avoid being zapped and every blast of water Allan tried in vain to resist with his gift. They needed to think of a new strategy, and fast.
Zoë looked up and saw a steel grating fly from one of the walls. She followed it with her eyes until it hit the ground and was followed by Future-Allan, who slowly rose to his feet and drew his trident. "Miss anything important?" he asked with a grin.
The next stream of water charged at both Allans, who each raised a hand in front of his face and gathered the stream up in a gigantic ball. One Allan commanded the left half, and the other commanded the right. The ball hovered above their heads for a while, and was then sent back at the machine, which was scooped off its wheels, flipped over and brought down with a force. It suffered no notable damage, but could not get upright. It was now using its water cannon to propel itself along the floor uncontrollably, but dangerously.
"Let's clean up!" Edward decided. He jumped at the nearly helpless machine, clambered up toward its underside, and grabbed one of its large, desperately spinning wheels. It flung him high into the air, toward the point where the duct that fed into the machine looked weakest, the place where it connected to the ceiling. He slashed at it powerfully and it came off. Water poured into the room.
Leather Jack gave an evil smile and threw a switch on the desk in front of him. When he did, the entire room started to seal itself. Every door, duct and drain closed itself tightly and did not allow another drop out. The five heroes stood and watched as the room began to fill with water. Meanwhile the once nearly helpless vehicle dethatched its tank, retracted its wheels and sprouted previously concealed fins and propellers.
Present-day Allan made an urgent appeal: "Edward! When the room gets too flooded, keep the girls safe. The other Allan and I will take it from here."
As the room filled up beyond the vehicle, its propellers came to life and lifted it off the ground. It now pumped powerful currents from its cannon and spat sparks angrily from its pincers.
Vicky and Zoë huddled together with Edward, who sealed the three of them in a metal capsule which he kept well stocked with oxygen. He left small pores in it to keep the pressure from getting too great and did what he could to ensure no water got in. Eventually the room was flooded to the ceiling.
To say Allan was a good swimmer was an understatement. He always enjoyed swimming, and it was while he went snorkeling when he noticed a strange blue glow at the bottom of a reef. He filled his lungs and plunged into what otherwise would have been the darkness of marine depth. As he swam down he noticed that the glow came from deeper under the surface than it originally seemed. Mesmerized, he continued his descent.
He reached a strangely smooth face of rock, and it was this face of rock that was causing the glow. He looked at it in astonishment as his lungs filled with carbon dioxide. So great was his feeling of wonder that he barely noticed how he no longer felt the pressure from the deep water around him. By the time he realized he needed breath it was much too urgent for him to make it to the surface. Nonetheless, he desperately kicked and paddled his way to the surface as his vision began to fade. Five feet below the surface he could no longer hold on, and salty water flushed down his airway, or, as he now discovered, his waterway. He could inhale the stinging salty water of the ocean and survive, and to top it all off it no longer stung him.
Since gaining his power to breathe under water he surprisingly quickly learned to swim as if he belonged there. He was at his most powerful under water and now there were two of him. Each Allan blasted an electric pincer with a trident, leaving the monster submarine unable to use them. The mechanism for the water cannon however was located too deep inside and they were unable to harm it in the same way. Both Allans darted for the bubble that contained the driver and struck at it with their tridents. It suffered no damage, still. One of them aimed a blast, but it bounced off and nearly hit the other. There was obviously some carefully crafted means to deflect light away from the cockpit. Leather Jack was getting to know his opponents too well. The next moment the vehicle began to spin and as it did, it stirred the water around it sending the two amphibians swirling out of control. Each composed himself and brought the water around him to a standstill. They swam toward each other and created a massive whirlpool of their own. The mech was caught in it and hurled toward a wall, but redirected itself with a blast from its cannon and swung in an arch, knocking one of the Allans - the future Allan - unconscious. He sank to the bottom, but safely so as the water could not kill him.
Present-day Allan remained standing, so to speak, and clung to the back of the vessel as it darted around viciously. He used his hands to slowly but surely climb against the water currents pushing him back and made his way to one of the fins. He blasted it with his trident, which caused it to break off and send the vessel twisting erratically through the water. Allan had a harder time holding on as he made his way to the other fin. Once he did he destroyed it, too. Tech could no longer steer. The grotesque submarine thrashed wildly, crashing into the walls.
The noise, which was even loud under water, woke up future Allan. He opened his eyes and blinked for focus. Lying in front of him was the grating he kicked out earlier. He got an Idea and pushed the back of his trident through one of the holes.
Leather Jack was sitting happily at his desk. So far he had been enjoying the show. He directed his attention away from one of the Allans when he was knocked out and sat waiting to see how Tech would take care of the other. Something was coming at the glass. It looked like a trident stuck through a grating of some sort. The impact of the grating chipped the glass. The mighty water on the other side of it caused it to crack. As it did, water started to gush in. Panic overcame Jack and he pressed a switch on the controls in front of him and ran out.
All the places that had sealed themselves earlier opened up, and the water in the room started to run out. Once the surface had lowered a good amount the Allans both swam to the bottom. They searched the floor for a fairly large metal object that was making thousands of small bubbles. When they found it they lifted it up and swam to the surface. They lodged it in the duct the water was pouring in from, which stopped most of the flow. Right before the water had gone too low one of them tapped at the object three times. A spark came out which turned into Zoë holding on to both Edward and Vicky.
"You guys okay?" present-day Allan asked?
"Fine," Edward panted. The capsule kept them relatively safe, but it was still an uncomfortable experience for both muscle and lung.
Vicky went into her other form and flew Edward back up to the blocked pipe, which was high above their heads now, Edward then froze what little water still trickled through and covered the ice with metal to seal the hole properly.
Not much longer afterwards the five had their feet on the ground again. Vicky remembered seeing the Balance Mirror up in the area where Leather Jack was. She flew up and yes, he had left it there. She brought it down again. The two Allans high-fived each other and Edward, then hugged Vicky. Edward hugged Zoë. They had recovered the balance mirror.
An alarm went off that vibrated the air, followed by the familiar thumping of several feet on the tiles that covered all the floors of the building. The heroes looked at each other and drew their weapons.
The sun was setting when the heroes were back at the excavation site where the mirror had been hoisted out earlier that day. It was now peaceful and deserted save the head of the archeologists that visited the site earlier, with whom they had arranged to meet there. The hole gaped at the sky in silence while the extra Allan hid in it so as not to cause alarm.
"On behalf of all of us, I wish to thank you for returning this priceless piece of historic wonder to us." the archeologist said, almost glowing with gratitude. "If there's any way we can ever repay the favour, just name it."
"There is something," Edward ventured "This object is extremely dangerous. If you do not wish to destroy it, keep it somewhere safe as far away from fire as possible and the fewer the people who know where it is, the better."
"Done," the Archeologist replied. "In fact, I'll do you one better. We will change the place it is kept every set amount of time, and only a select group of people will know when and where. Even so it shall be heavily guarded by reliable men sworn to secrecy."
"That will do," Said Edward "And that is our sole request to you."
"I thank you again." The man said and walked off with the mirror. Vicky transformed and flew down the hole. A few seconds later she flew back out carrying the Allan that was left out of the conversation.
"How did it go?" He asked.
"I'd say it went well" Edward answered. "We can accept the mirror's safety for the next while at least."
Back home the team had a quick dinner and it did not take a long discussion to confirm unanimously that they would all go to sleep and begin searching for the first and last remaining trace of the mirror on the next day. They made a bed for future-Allan on one of the couches. He passed into sleep the moment his head touched it.
"Poor thing," Vicky Said, "he's been up since tomorrow."
"Looks like tomorrow will be quite the day then." Zoë deduced.
Edward and Zoë, too, left for well deserved rest. Allan and Vicky stayed behind for a moment.
"So Vicky," Allan said after a while "I've been meaning to ask you: Now that there are two of me, what will happen... you know... with us?"
"I've been thinking about that, too."
"And?"
"I'd rather not. Let's discuss it once we see how this whole thing works out."
The next day the five were awake early and after breakfast sat discussing the plan for the day.
"All right, Allan, tell us to the best of your ability how things happened on your timeline?"
"We got up, then we went looking for the creature that came out of the mirror."
"Did you find it?"
"Yes, Twice. The first time it was in the park. We fought it for a while but we couldn't even scratch it. It was like trying to make a hole in soup. Eventually it ran off. We found it again later on a small grassy hill, and that's where it made the black hole. The next thing I remember I fell to the ground and everyone was gone, that was when I realized I had traveled back in time."
"Right, then the park is the first place we'll look. Next we'll need a battle plan."
"What if we surrounded it? That way, while one of us distracts it someone else could get a hit."
"That might work, Vicky. Technically I can make matter anywhere I have skin, but I prefer using my hands because it's more convenient. He appears to do the same. He only has two hands and there are five of us. Maybe if we tried it that way we could do it."
"There's one thing, though, remember how the other Mayhem only vanished when we knocked out the original? We might have to do the same to Edward." Allan added.
"I, too, have come to realize that. So when the time comes, whoever's closest to me should knock me out as quickly as they can. It may be the only way."
The others sat for a moment, each wondering: If it was I who had to do it, could I bring myself as far as to knock him out, even if I knew it was for all of our benefit?
Once they arrived at the park they decided to split up. Vicky would take to the air and survey the situation from the skies. The other four would each search a quarter of the park. If either of the ground-dwellers found the creature first, they would fire a trident beam, bolt of plasma or streak of electricity past Vicky to get her attention. Vicky would then fire a beam near the other three and hover above the person who found it so the others would know where to go. If Vicky saw it from above before anyone else, she would simply send out a beam to each of them and hover above it so the others could get together around it.
Right before they split up, Edward reminded them "we get this shot and one other, but time won't be on our side for the second one, so we'd best do it at the first attempt."
Vicky too had a beam. One she could fire from her hands, but only in her mystical form and only downward. It had the effect of temporarily adding inertia and removing energy, so she could bring things to a standstill. She mostly used it to ground airborne adversaries. She gained it along with all the other special abilities she has in her mystical form, when she went hiking with Allan during a remote island getaway. He slid down some loose stones beyond her capability to assist and they agreed to regroup again half way round the mountain where Vicky's trail met with Allan's. After they had parted, a strange tribe of cave people caught Vicky and dragged her into their domain. Inside they tied her to a stalagmite and began to perform a mysterious ritual that was to transform her into what their language called a "Healing Goddess", so she could aid their soldiers when they returned from battle. Allan found it strange that Vicky was not already waiting for him at the place they agreed to meet, so he retraced her trail to see if she was alright.
Allan found Vicky's necklace, which she smartly removed and dropped by the cave's entrance. Driven by love, Allan charged in and shot with his trident at a large, clear crystal sticking out of the ground. The ray split into many lesser harsh rays which knocked out the whole tribe at once. Vicky had already shifted into a being with white butterfly-like wings, blonde hair and a feather-light white dress, but the ritual had not been completed, so she was not stuck in this form, but instead, could alter forms at will.
Zoë was the first to find the Anti-Edward. As they discussed she sent a jolt past Vicky and observed a pillar of light flash from Vicky downward, and again and again, and then saw her fly closer. She turned to face the creature, which was looking as though it was about to kill for food and enjoy doing so. To see the face of someone she loved stare at her in that way in such a strange colour disturbed her deeply. She gathered her wits and focused. She tried to zap him, but he extended a hand and the blast vanished in a purple cloud. She tried it again and once again, both times getting the same results.
One of the Allans was the first to join them. He fired a steady ray and held it. The creature consumed the ray as if it were nothing. The other Allan showed up and fired one too. The creature was now using both hands to keep beams at bay. Edward showed up and started to form a small blade between his palms. The moment the creature saw him - and before it could react - a yellow light caught it from above that slowed its mind and froze all its muscles for a moment. The heroes were now in a large, rough pyramid formation with the creature at its centre.
By the time the creature had control of its muscles Edward had already landed the blade in its shoulder. It appeared to scream but no sound came out. Zoë launched another streak of electricity that all gathered on the blade before it entered the creature. The creature shook with its eyes shut tightly. After a while it collapsed on the ground and Zoë stopped.
"I'm ready!" Edward shouted "Do it!"
Being as fast as she was, Zoë was the first to Edward. He handed her his sword, still sheathed. "Hit me with it!" he braced himself.
She gripped it in both hands and raised it above her head. She started shaking "I can't," she said weakly.
"Just do it," he insisted. "It's okay."
"Just hit him, Zoë!" Allan shouted from where he was standing.
"You can do it!" Vicky added.
"I can't!" Zoë argued. Edward's sword fell to the ground.
"Shock me then." Edward said urgently "I'll be fine. Vicky can heal me"
She extended a hand and looked away. A jolt came out that hit Edward, but it wasn't enough. Another one came out. It missed. Edward walked up to Zoë and took her hand. She turned her head back to face him.
"You can do this." he said softly
"I can't!" she protested.
"It's okay," he repeated, "just hold my hand and give it everything you've got."
Looking Edward square in the eyes she began. She sent a few broken jolts through his arm, slowly increasing the power. Edward fought to keep the gentle expression on his face and wished Zoë would look away. Zoë could see the pain in Edwards eyes and she, too, wished she could look away. She tried as hard as she could but she was unable to do him any real harm. Both Allans and Vicky too could not stand the sight of what was happening. Eventually it became too much for one of them. He ran up to the pair and hit Edward with the wide side of his trident as hard as he could. Zoë screamed and Edward finally collapsed on the ground.
The four that were left standing turned to look at the reflection, but it was already coming to its feet. The moment it saw them staring it shouted something that made no sound and shrouded its whole body in a purple fog. It turned and ran off as a desperate barrage of light from the team vanished into it.
They could not chase it. They had to return to Edward. Stooping next to him Zoë took his hand as Vicky healed him. He opened his eyes and looked at Zoë. He then looked at the Allan that hit him, who shook his head.
"Thanks anyway," he said
They walked home in silence. Zoë felt terrible.
Edward stepped into Zoë's room. She was sitting on her bed with her head down and her back to the door. When Edward sat down next to her she didn't look up.
"I couldn't do it," She said bitterly
"It's okay," he said again, "I'm glad you couldn't." he added "Now I can buy a rolling pin and not be afraid of it if I ever worked late."
Zoë didn't laugh.
"Look at me," he said after a while. She looked up and faced him. He stared at her for a while and then said gently "such a pretty face." it made her blush. "If it came to me, and I had to hit you, I couldn't do it either. I mean how could I bring harm to something so perfect?"
Edward knew no human was truly perfect, he felt that Zoë was perfect for him and that was all the perfection he needed. It was with this in mind that he often liked to refer to her as such.
"Basically, I'm crazy about you," he continued "I couldn't hurt you even if I had to. And if I did, I'd hate myself for it."
There was a pause.
"You did the same thing I would do." He said eventually, "Which means you feel the same way I do. How could I be anything other than happy about that?"
It was rhetorical, but Zoë answered: "We could have beaten that thing. Everything could have been okay. But I couldn't do it, now the Black hole is going to happen and you're going to try and explode and it's all my fault."
Edward wiped the tears off Zoë's cheek. "You can't say that. Allan could have hit me, Vicky could have hit me, Future Allan could have hit me. They didn't even try until you did more than you could. If I listened to Allan in the first place that thing would never even have shown up. Anyone of us can take the blame and with good reason. We all make mistakes. It's human. And it's why there are problems in the world. But sometimes if we work together, we can help each other clean up a bit, and we can save what we can while we still can."
"I don't want you to blow yourself up."
"And I promise I won't do it if I don't have to."
Future Allan lead the team to the place where their last chance was. It was a small, seemingly ordinary hill in no significant region of town. On top of it stood the negative image of Vicky's close friend, the love of Zoë's life, and Allan's brother, but his eyes were the eyes of something else. Something unnatural that did not belong in this world. The image of Edward spoke, but again nothing could be heard. Lightning struck and a violent wind began to hiss about them. The storm broke out at the same time as the fight.
The Edward Copy had bound his shoulder after having dissolved the blade in it. His wound had mostly healed, but a stain of light green was still visible on the bandage. The invert-copy Edward had its own invert-copy sword. Its blade was pure black in colour and struck Edward's with a deep ring. His agility was inferior to Edward's, but Edward could not risk attacking for fear of a well placed antimatter cloud consuming his sword. He could only use his sword to parry the attacks from his mirror image. Zoë extended a hand and attracted the next bolt of lightning. As it drew close to her it curved right past her hand. She amplified it and sent it straight at the creature. The creature managed to consume some of it, but he had not made a big enough cloud and suffered a shock that threw him to the ground. Edward produced a tungsten javelin and passed it to Allan, who felt better throwing a temporary weapon than his trident at a creature that could make it vanish. Anti-Edward rolled on the ground, dodging the spear before springing to his feet. He covered his sword with a cloud of antimatter and waved it violently as he charged at them.
"What is that sword made of," Allan wondered aloud "if it's not even affected by antimatter?"
"Whatever it takes" Edward said horrified, "it wasn't made by science."
There was no defense for an antimatter sword. The heroes scattered.
"We've got to eliminate the cloud around the sword!" Edward shouted above the storm "Throw anything you can!"
They threw rocks, blasted with lightning and tridents, Edward even made blocks of lead. As they kept their distance, relentlessly pelting the sword with anything they could find, slowly but surely the cloud around the sword began to vanish. Once it did, Vicky jumped into the air, did the fastest transformation of her life and aimed a beam that covered the sword and the hand that held it. Edward threw another blade that hit it in the wrist. The sword flew and pegged into the ground.
"Now's our chance!" Shouted Allan "Give it everything you've got!" Both Allans blasted, Zoë shot lightning, Edward launched plasma, Vicky did her best to keep the creature still. The moment was chaotic to say the least. Hope bloomed in all of them, as they considered themselves getting closer to victory. Their hearts soon sank as they noticed the image of Edward on the receiving end of their attack stand totally unaffected. Everything they threw at it seemed to thin out, curve toward its eyes and vanish there. As they stopped attacking they noticed that the creature was wearing a foreboding expression. Its smile was wide like that of Edward at his friendliest, but the eyes spoke of deviousness and omen and had become pitch black. They seemed to darken the area around them.
Future Allan was next to speak: "This is it!" he shouted, "It's happening!"
The darkness in the creature's eyes spread across its face and down its body, until it looked like a silhouette. As the team became aware of a slight pull, the blackness spread further until it became an expanding ball. Light objects like sand and loose grass fell helplessly into the growing darkness. The surrounding air was pulled in too, causing a wind barely noticeable above the storm at first, but it grew stronger and louder until the storm itself was drowned out. The team tried to run, but they had not gone far until they were forced to grab hold of objects rooted in the ground. Edward grabbed a sign at a bus stop, Zoë the bus stop's bench. The Allans grabbed a tree and Vicky managed to hang on to the bars in the window of a building.
As the chaos grew more and more intense the friends began to struggle to hear each other above the noise and over the distances between them. The sign was the first to give in. It bent toward the growing black hole and snapped off. Edward thrashed his arms as he tumbled toward it and was then caught by Zoë, who now clung to her standing object with her legs and by altering magnetism. She held on as tightly as she could and Edward did the same. Then the tree revealed itself to be the nest of some ants. Smaller bits of greenery had already fed the creature in all his new found glory, but now it was the weakened tree's turn. It tore diagonally and crumbled as both Allans thrashed wildly while they plunged into the giant ball of doom, which by now loomed as large as a three storey building.
Witnessing this stirred something in Edward and as he held on to Zoë he noticed a strange light illuminating her face. She stared back at him and gaped as his eyes turned white and gave off a blinding light.
"I can do it!"
"What?!"
"The supernova! I can make it happen! Let me into the black hole so I can stop it!"
"This is crazy!"
"I know, but it's our only chance! Let me do it!"
"I can't!" Zoë said again.
The bars Vicky held on to broke off from the building and she, too, plummeted in.
"You have to! It's the only way we can save anything!"
"I couldn't even knock you out! Now you're asking me to drop you into a black hole so you can blow yourself up!"
"I know! I promised you I wouldn't do it if I didn't have to, but now I do! Please! You have to be strong for everyone's sake! That's what we do, remember?"
Zoë thought of how difficult it was to strike Edward, how hard she tried to build up enough power to zap him unconscious, and then the regret she felt when she failed to do it. She remembered what Edward said about blame and making up for mistakes made.
"You have to let me go!" Edward insisted. "This thing will not die down on its own! It will just get bigger and consume everything until nothing is left! Either I go, or everything goes including me!"
They looked at each other for a moment in what passed at that time for silence. He pulled himself closer until his mouth met her ear and spoke a bit more softly. "Whatever happens, I love you." He let himself move a bit further away and kissed her, then they both let go of each other's hands.
"I love you, too!" Zoë Shouted as Edward plunged into the blackness.
As the blackness did with his reflection, the light spread to Edward's face and then to his body. He became an expanding ball of light as he was consumed by darkness. The light and the darkness thinned out until the ball was perfectly grey, and it began to shrink. As it did the winds died down and the sky turned clear. The ball of grey shrunk until at first glance there was nothing left of it. Zoë stepped closer and saw a tiny grey dot floating in the air above the middle of a large, silent crater. The storm was gone, the wind was gone, bits of the road and buildings were gone, the hill was gone, and her friends were gone. The sun now shone brightly. The dot hovered there for a moment and then began to expand again, slowly at first. Zoë turned and ran: Logic predicted what was going to happen next.
As the dot expanded it became lighter and brighter until it turned to a glowing white ball, blasting out matter and growing in size and ferocity. It grew until it became as intense as the black hole had been at its worst, just before it consumed Edward. It blew out sand and clouds, the pieces of tree that had been torn off, chunks of tar and rubble, bits of grass and other plants, and mostly confusion. Eventually the noise became unbearable again and stopped after a while.
Zoë stood up and walked to the centre of where everything happened. There she saw Edward, passed out. She ran up to him and knelt down by his shoulder, then lifted his head and rested it on her lap. His eyes opened slowly and he looked around.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"I feel great," he said slowly and hoarsely, "we did it." He sat up.
Zoë was still kneeling behind him and now put her arms around him. There was movement in the rubble and Vicky emerged. She ran up to the pair.
"I'm glad to see you're alright. Where's Allan?"
"I'm over here!" Allan pushed a slab of rubble off himself and came to his feet.
"Which one are you?" Edward urged him. Present or future?
"Future. I'm the one who came back and quite honestly I can't tell you how relieved I am."
"Where's our Allan then? I don't see him anywhere." Vicky said at length.
Allan stood in thought for a moment and eventually said "I get it now. He's gone back to stop all this from happening!"
"How can you be so sure?" Vicky asked.
"Have you forgotten? I am him. This is how it happened, but I didn't stay to see the end. Now I have."
Allan remembered falling into the black hole the second time. How he thrashed his arms and legs, and then felt his heel hit something before looking down - or what passed for down at the time - to see the other Allan clutching the back of his head. He rubbed the back of his own head and sure enough, he too had a bump there. It all made sense now.
"This is how it all happened. My memory is a bit fuzzy but I'm sure of it."
"So that's it. He's gone," Vicky began blankly; "he's fallen into a black hole and is doomed to spending the rest of his life one day behind-" she stopped and looked over at Allan.
"See? I'm okay," he said comically. She felt a bit silly but relieved, and kissed him.
On the way home, Edward couldn't help but feel a degree of sympathy for the image of himself he had just defeated. He never wished to come into existence, and evil as though he was, his desire to destroy the world was just a reflection of Edward's desire to protect it. Edward remembered how the creature spoke without making any sound. Was he speaking in a sort of negative frequency that beings from this world did not hear? What was he saying? What language was he speaking? Edward thought of the conviction with which he himself fought for what he believed in. Could the copy have felt the same? Everything that made him a villain, everything that made him a threat, everything that made him what he was, was a negative reflection of Edward. Edward's fault, in a twisted way. Nonetheless, this all went to prove that the two beings were never meant to coexist. After all, Edward tried to assure himself, I was here first, and then he felt guilty for mentally wording it in that way. In the back of his mind Edward hoped if these miscreants went anywhere after they were defeated, they at least felt a bit better there than they did in the world where they did not belong -or at the very least felt nothing at all - assuming they felt anything to begin with.
As it turned out, Allan lived through the entire episode twice, suffering a sharp blow to the back of the head after the first round. The blow wiped some of the memories he had, mostly the dealings he had with himself, and the idea he had for a solution. Fortunately it left all the memories of the creature and what the creature did. In a way, he mainly recalled the events as they would have been had he not met his future self, had he not been told ahead of time what would happen. This made the mission more dangerous, but worked out for the best: had the creature not been able to create the black hole, one of the Allans could not have been sent back twenty-eight hours, and they would have been stuck with an extra, which, as stated earlier, would have made things very complicated.
It worked out for Edward, too: Having come face-to-face with a black hole he learned how to create a supernova, and although he still did not understand the logic behind it and why it left him unharmed, he knew exactly how to do it. But more importantly, he knew exactly how not to do it. He was no longer a threat to the world, and in the unlikely event of Anti-Edward ever being recreated he knew exactly how to stop the antimatter black hole.
Vicky was relieved, in one sense because the planet had not been sucked into a vortex, in another because events transpired in such a way that the dreaded talk with Allan about having two of him around was reduced to a few short sentences. Truth be told, she did not even know what she would say, had it worked out otherwise, and neither did Allan. Now things were back to normal (Barring the minor detail that the relative age difference between her and her Allan had increased by a bit more than a day) and as these suicide missions usually made it, they loved each other more than ever.
Zoë had forgiven herself (In fact, she was almost proud of it) for hesitating each time the responsibility fell to her to bring Edward to harm. In doing so, she managed to help bring about the best possible ending to a string of mishaps that could have ended in many ugly ways. She was also satisfied that the love she felt for Edward was mutual (She never doubted this, but now she knew it more than ever), and the fact that she had been able to allow Edward to plummet into a black hole and then explode like a dying star without even shedding a tear due to her trust, told her not that she felt less for Edward than she did before, but that she was much stronger than she had previously thought.
They were a day overdue for a pizza-night (In Allan's case, two days). As they ate they recounted their experiences of the last adventure and became more aware of what a team they made. Allan had the unforgettable experience of fighting alongside himself, which further extended his adaptive capability of teamwork, and Edward the introspective experience of fighting against himself, which refreshed his regard for humanity, but hampered none of his convictions. It was one of their craziest adventures yet, but by far not their last.