"Hello." The words were spoken in a completely foreign tone to Eleven's ears, boundless and bare, yet filled with thought and calculation, "You must be Jane." The sight that met the girl's eyes was alarming, to put it mildly. A quite muscular, quite blue, and quite nude man stood before her, his azure glow reflecting off the black waters that covered their feet. Or actually, just her feet. The blue man's feet seemed to be position atop of the water, as though he was standing above it rather than in it.
It took her a moment to get over her shock, "Who are you?" She asked, trying to keep her wandering eyes off of his... man parts. When she forced her gaze onto his face, her attention was quickly ripped away from everything else, fascinated by his glowing white eyes and the black emblem on his forehead. She'd seen that icon before- the black circle surrounded by a ring with a smaller circle on top of it- she'd seen it often at the lab she was raised in.
"My name is Jon Osterman," The blue man said, his mouth being the only part of his body that moved, "I'm very pleased to meet you, Jane." He seemed to mean that, but then again she wouldn't know any better because of his completely and utterly monotone voice.
"I... that man, Eddie," She said, taking a step to her side, which subsequently caused Jon to do the same, "He talked about you. You and a man named... Adrian?" He seemed confused at this statement, but his face quickly shifted into one of enlightenment.
"Oh yes, Edward Blake. The Comedian," His eyes shifted around rapidly, as if he was seeing something in the nothingness that encapsulated them, "It's October 12th, 1985. Edward Blake falls from his apartment window after being thrown from it by Adrian Veidt, and I save him. Teleport him to your world." Eleven's guard went up instantly, her world?
"My world?" She asked, taking another step, "Are you from the upside down?" It would make sense. Yet another monster coming to kill her from that place- but this one in an unusually human state.
However, Jon shook his head, "If you're referring to the quantum entanglement affect, then no, I am not. At least, not from your idea of it," That was a lot of big words. Words that she couldn't have even hoped to understand yet, armed only with her fifth-grade-level vocabulary, "But, in a way, we are both from the 'upside downs' of our respective universes."
His eyes finally returned down to her own, watching her intently, "I... don't... understand."
This didn't seemed to faze him, "Yes, I know. Jim Hopper didn't seem to either," Jane froze, her eyes wide and her mouth wide open, "Yes, I have met your father. And he is very much alive, but if you would-"
"Where. Is. He?" Eleven growled, her eyes returning to an angry expression.
"On Mars," Jon said, nonchalantly, "He's safe, don't worry. I am placing an oxygen field around him approximately three martian sols ago." Eleven furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, but the blue person didn't seem to care all that much. She knew Mars was the orange planet in the solar system, but there was no air to breathe on that planet- and what was a sol? Like a day?
"How long has he been there?" she growled, but Jon's face remained blank. He seemed to be less interested in her question than he was in the void they found themselves in.
"Exactly that time span. Just three sols," He said, eventually registering that she didn't understand what he was saying, "Or... just over three Earth days." A slight tang of annoyance was the first bit of emotion that Eleven noticed had slipped through his facade... or maybe it wasn't a facade. She wasn't sure of anything any more. "If you are not aware of martian time..." He began, thoughtfully, "...then you wouldn't be aware of the tachyon particle."
Eleven raised her eyebrows again, shaking her head, "No... no, what is that?"
"So it isn't you blocking my sight, then," Jon murmured to himself, before suddenly returning his attention to her, "Tachyons are small theoretical particles that travel backwards in time- while they are miracles of science, yes- they obscure my vision into the future. The type of cloud that is obscuring my vision is not natural, which means someone must be generating them."
That still made no sense, "What do you want?" She asked, changing the topic back to a relevant one.
Jon still seemed distant, not paying attention at all, "But if you aren't generating them, then who is?" His vision was once again fixed on some arbitrary spot in the black horizon, his expression completely unreadable- an amalgam of various human emotions that seemed to blend all together, "Or perhaps what? Surely, not Adrian... yes, yes of course, Adrian!"
"Who. Is. Adrian?!" Eleven shouted, her voice cutting through the silence and abruptly stopping Jon's train of thought, "Who are you? What are you doing here? Why is Hopper on Mars?" Jon's eyes returned to her, watching as her breaths grew heavy and her voice became desperate, "Please."
Jon was silent for what seemed like hours, simply staring at the girl with the same unwavering posture, "It's May, 1959..."
"I am at a scientific lab in Arizona, not unlike the one you were kept at- minus the captive children. I am a scientist that studies the relationship between time and matter, named Jon Osterman. I have been working at the lab, called Gila Flats, for nearly three and a half months. Within that time period, I meet a woman- her name is Janey Slater. She had jet black hair, shockingly blue eyes, and the brightest smile that I had ever seen. When I see her, my heart is filled with the sensation of child-like love. We are finally introduced by my friend, Wally Weaver- who, in ten years, will develop terminal cancer and die."
"Where am I?"
"I am currently showing you moments in time- something I have not been able to do for others."
"Why not?"
"...I am not yet sure. Would you like me to continue?"
"Does it have anything to do with me?"
"Yes."
"Then okay."
"Excellent. In a few moments, Janey and I are both absorbed into our conversation- Wally becomes an afterthought as he leaves us to our future. Janey offers to buy me a drink at the bar, I accept. In a few short moments, she slides the cold, perspiring glass into my hands- and our fingers touch."
"You loved her?"
"I did, yes. In July, 1959, Janey and I are at an amusement park, visiting her mother. We have our picture taken, but soon after- Janey's watch falls off her wrist and is stepped on by a fat man. I tell her that I can fix it, that it will be; 'Good as new.', and we return to our hotel room. As the watch rests on the nightstand, her breath falters against my cheek, and her legs fold around my waist..."
"Ew! Why did you show me that? Ugh!"
"Oh, sorry... in a month, the accident awaits me."
"...accident?"
"We have returned to Arizona a week later, she and I are sitting across from each other at a table, and she asks if I've fixed her watch yet. I answer that, yes, I have. It is now that I realize I left it in the intrinsic field generator- a machine that charges atoms with various types of energies. I rise from the seat, telling her that I left in my lab coat, as I go to retrieve it."
"And... you never made it out?"
"No. I reach the chamber and get the watch from my coat, but when I turn around, the door has sealed behind me. I laugh at my own stupidity, but when I look to the window, I am met with the horrified faces of my friends and colleagues. 'The program's locked in, and we can override the time-lock,' One tells me, 'It... it's a safety feature.' The cruel irony of it all is too much to bear- Janey runs out of the room, despite my calls for her to stay with me. I look at the watch in my hands- 'Good as new.' I hear the shields sliding back from the particle cannons, and I remember a cold, perspiring glass slide into my hand, my finger tips touching the woman I loved. And it is now that I see a light..."
"Heaven?"
"No. The light that rips me to pieces."
"But you're okay?"
"After a few months, yes. But at the same moment in cosmic time that I return- hovering above Janey, Wally, and the rest of the scientists- an infant child is being born on November 22nd, 1971. You."
"..."
"My skin has turned completely blue, my eyes a haunting white, and my body muscular and at peak human condition. The government calls me Doctor Manhattan... just as two digits are stamped onto a young girl's wrist. One. One. Eleven."
Taris,
04:32
"Is this the place?" Rex asked, bouncing his feet nervously as the Ghost entered the Tarisian atmosphere. He'd joined them after receiving medical treatment from the wounds Ezra- or perhaps Rorschach- had inflicted upon him on Lothal. Also with them was Hera Syndulla and Bo Katan, the latter of which had insisted on accompanying the crew when she'd heard someone else was behind the damage the Joker had done to Mandalore.
"It is," Sabine said, looking at the holo-map as Bruce sat in the co-pilot's chair next to Hera. For the last hour she'd been trying to reach Ezra through the haze of insanity that plagued his mind- so far she'd come up with nothing. The Dark Knight could tell it had been weighing down on her- you didn't need to be a Jedi to see the thousand-mile-stare that had been in her eyes ever since the padawan woke up, "But it'll be hard to find the exact location of the base," She said, "The entire planet is nothing but buildings and high-rises for the first thirty-thousand feet of atmosphere."
The young Mandalorian girl sat in the chair behind Bruce, with Rex beside her and Bo Katan holding onto the rail latched to the ceiling, "I've reached out to some of my contacts here," Bo said, "They've told me that the base is built into an ancient ship-wreck that crashed here nearly three-thousand years ago, apparently the remains of the Endar Spire."
"The ship that carried Darth Revan?" Hera asked, visibly doing a double take in surprise, "I was under the impression those were just legends." That was what most people assumed about the ancient sith lord- nothing more than a fairy story meant to scare young children. Bruce had seen the Twi'lek use it on her young son, Jacen, 'Go to sleep or else Darth Revan'll getchya!' She'd said.
"That makes two of us," Rex replied, looking over to Bruce, "But apparently, mynock-man, here thinks there's something to it." Bruce chose not to answer. Unfortunately, he found the clone rather unreasonable when it came to trust. Granted, he was expecting a seasoned soldier to take the guy in the bat costume's claims that a bed-time story for kids was actually real and holds the secrets of time and space.
"Well, he's not alone," Sabine interjected, looking over her shoulder at her crew-mate, "One of my friends from the Blood-Sister days told me that he'd found it back before the first Death Star," The clouds slowly began to clear as she said this, "Never got his name. But then again, he never tells anyone his name."
"You Mandalorians have very odd reasoning," Hera mused, "But... it does sound familiar..." Bruce didn't even need to look to know that was directed at him. He could feel the Ghost shake as the cloud-cover complete disappeared, revealing the ancient city surface. The detective did a double take upon seeing it- it was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. The entire surface was covered in what was once chrome, glistening metal, with long deactivated machinery and technology littering it's over-grown textures.
"This must've been what Krypton looked like..." Bruce mumbled to himself, extracting a grunt of interest from Bo Katan, "Nothing. Just reminded me of a friend." If there was any time that he wished that näive boy-scout were by his side, it was now- when time itself was the enemy.
The Ghost soared over the vine-covered city-scape, the entire planet seemingly silent except for the whistle of the wind and the hum of the ship's engines, "The planet was abandoned centuries ago," The red-headed leader of Mandalore explained, "The most occupation it's had since the Old Republic was whatever Palpatine was doing down here. Other than that, it's effectively a dead planet."
"If there's one thing Gotham has taught me," Bruce responded, "It's that nothing is ever truly dead." The quiet was putting him on edge, that much was clear to him and everyone else in the room, but in his life- quiet usually meant something ready to kill was waiting just around the next corner.
"This "Gotham" must be one hell of a town," Rex chuckled, which earned a slightly amused grunt from Bruce. You've got no idea. "But if there's anything serving in the Republic has taught me, it's that you never go to a weird energy source without a Jedi at your side. And our's is locked up in the other room with Mr. sunshine over there."
"That's a fair point," Hera answered, "Where's Ahsoka?"
"Meeting with Commander Skywalker on Yavin IV," Sabine replied, tapping her datapad, "We're on our own on this one." Bruce had heard a lot about this "Ahsoka" character- supposedly she didn't follow the laws of the Jedi like Ezra or Kanan Jarrus did, and from what he knew of Jason Todd, doing things your own way usually resulted in a bad situation for everyone, "We're approaching my contact's RV point now, be ready."
Gila Flats, Arizona
October 14th, 1985
1:56 AM
There were very few things that spooked Adrian Veidt. He had overcome the common fears of the human race, like the fear fictional characters or settings found in films or novels, the fear of the unknown, or the fear of the dark, all of those primitive phobias created by the imagination. No, he was afraid of facts. They terrified him. It's why he did what he did in his world's 1985.
Sure, being afraid of the truth covered a wide range of things, but nothing sent chills down his spine more than Jon Osterman. Now, of course, he was face to face with the man who came before Doctor Manhattan, who's existence single-handedly changed the course of history. He probably wouldn't have recognized him if he hadn't studied Jon intensely during 1984 and '85, memorizing every photograph he'd ever been in- from yearbooks, to work photos, and even baby pictures.
As he, Dan, and Steve followed Osterman through the facility, nothing he said really mattered to Adrian, because he was too busy considering the circumstances. Dan understood what they were facing down here, perhaps- due to the ex-vigilante's lack of hubris- even more so than Adrian did, but Steve clearly didn't get it. Honestly, how could he blame him? The boy hadn't even seen Doctor Manhattan, let alone spend forty-years living in a world that practically revolved around him.
"We don't get a lot of new guys here," Jon said, startling Adrian from his thoughts, "Well, we actually don't have to many people here to begin with- being POTUS's premiere engineering facility." They approached a small wooden door just a hallway down from the intrinsic field generator, as Jon pushed open the door to reveal rows upon rows of files and documents, all of which made Adrian's heart jump in instinctual excitement, "So, uh... what're you looking for in here?"
Adrian snapped out of his trance as he tried to scrounge up a passable excuse for being in here- but thankfully, he didn't have to, "ATTENTION!" A blaring voice came from a speaker mounted to the wall, "THERE ARE INTRUDERS IN THE BUILDING! BE ADVISED FOR TWO ADULT MEN, BLONDE AND BROWN HAIR, AND A MINOR WITH BLACK HAIR," Jon slowly turned his head back to them in sudden horror, "WE BELIEVE THEY ARE ARMED AND DANGEROUS."
The voice cut off as the four stood there in silence, their guide's eyes wide with fear, "Well..." Dan said, "This is awkward." Jon stood still for a moment longer, before bolting towards the door.
"Wait!" Adrian shouted as he reached the door, about to push it open just as he was hit in the head by a bulky metal stapler, sending him tumbling to the floor. Adrian looked in the direction the stapler had been thrown, seeing Steve pulling his hand back and breathing heavily, "Huh," He grunted, "You have a good arm, Mr. Harrington."
"Jeezus," Steve gasped, putting his hands on his knees, "How did they find us?"
"Must've found the assholes we stole the coats from," Dan said, moving over towards the door and locking it, "Adrian, you'd better know what we're looking for." Thankfully, he knew exactly what they were looking for. Adrian walked over to the shelf at the very end of the dark room, running his finger over the files until he found what he'd been hoping to find, "Wait, that's it?" Dan asked, as Adrian half-ignored him, opening the file and smiling, "I thought we were here to look into the generator."
"We are, but not this one," Adrian answered, closing the tan folder and tucking it in his coat, "The one that Jon, here, was exposed to in our world turned his skin blue and his eyes white, as well as gave him all his powers at once," He explained, "Clearly, Jane Hopper was put into a variation that gradually unlocked her abilities- but I could never quite locate it."
"Well do you know where it is now?" Steve asked.
"No, but I know who does," He said, "Does the name 'Becky Ives' mean anything to you?"
The palace of mirrors
Where dog soldiers are reflected
The endless road and the wailing of chimes
The empty rooms where her memory is protected
Where the angels' voices whisper to the souls of previous times.
-Bob Dylan
Sorry about the wait, just got back from setting up my own personal base in Antarctica in case of the Corona virus. It's pretty cool, complete with a giant squid-tank. You guys can hang out over there too if there's ever an outbreak. Anyways, to make up for the wait, this is the longest chapter yet other than the first one. I know this is still going pretty slow- and there's a lot of plot lines to be following- but it'll all tie-in together by the end of the story. I promise. As always, leave a review on your way out if you enjoyed, and I'll see you in... well, god knows how long at this point.
PS: Rip Black Mamba
-MB