The silver moon followed its designated route through the indigo sky. As the last remnants of budding sunlight cascaded down upon the mountain chain surrounding Los Soledad, Gwen Tennyson knew it would be a long time before she would get to see the sun rise again. That's what she kept on telling herself. Nothing seemed to be going her way anymore. Not with Ben— grandpa Max— and now most likely Kevin— she had lost every single one of them in a matter of a few months.
A cold metallic chamber pressed itself into her spine, reminding her of her captor's presence.
"Keep moving" Eon threatened.
Gwen sighed, before silently forging on ahead, past the collapsed roofs of the abandoned military bunkers. Keeping her head down, she navigated the ruined maze, her memorization skills she had developed over the years thanks to her studious nature coming in handy. The time-walker steadily kept his Taydenite liquefier aimed at her, his finger noticeably twitching from anticipation.
Finally, Gwen found the spot she had been searching for: an old, decrepit room with a massive quartzite ring standing vertically at its center.
"This is it." She announced, turning to face Eon.
"If Paradox is going to show up, it'll be here."
Eon considered her for a moment, then wordlessly tapped the control panel on his arm. He appeared to vanish from existence, although she knew better than to believe that. He was most likely cloaking himself from any detective or radar equipment that would give away his position. She shivered due to the chilly air, but persevered through it as she moved to flip the light switch. With a groan, and few cautionary flickers— the electronics hummed buzzingly before coming to life. Pausing for a moment to allow her eyes time to adjust, she contemplated how she was going to do this.
"Professor Paradox, if you're out there- I- I really need to speak with you. Please." She nearly whimpered the last part.
A minute passed, and with no sign of the professor, she was growing so desperate she got down on her knees to beg— when she caught a teal flash in her peripheral vision. She got up staggeringly, facing the man who she'd so tragically sought out.
"Gwendolyn! Always a pleasure to meet your acquaintance!" Paradox chirped, clicking his stopwatch shut.
The professor's upbeat mood seemed to sober some when he took full stock of her conflicted expression.
"Is something the matter?" His brows creased together worryingly.
"N-no but um… as you know I'm still coping with the loss of Ben..."
"Ah, I am terribly sorry for your loss darling. Did you perhaps seek me out for some intermediate closure? While I am quite well versed in the frivolousness of life in opposition to death- I would be the first to openly admit I might not be the best person to consult on erm, this. You see, my perspective on reality is heavily warped, to a psychotic degree. Even if it may not be obvious upon first glance, I suggest you-"
"-Paradox."
He halted his verbal spiel.
"Yes?"
"Did you and Ben, before he died- did you go somewhere?"
To his credit, the professor didn't outwardly show any tell-tale signs that he had any idea what she was asking him. However, there was that ever so slightest bit of hesitation in his response— the briefest aversion of eye contact— that tipped her off. Eon hadn't been talking insane nonsense.
"I am not entirely sure what you mean?"
"Did you or did you not take Ben to another universe? Without my or Kevin's knowledge?" She reaffirmed her question as a demand.
Paradox pursed his lips, mulling over the multitude of responses he could give her, but ultimately, he decided they would all be futile in the end.
"We aren't alone, are we?" He sighed, shoulders slumping.
"You would be correct about that one, Paradox." Eon materialized beside the quartzite ring, leaning on it for support.
"But you're correct about a lot of things, so it's not surprising." He strode towards them, arms folded behind his back, cape billowing.
"Do I know you?" The professor squinted at him, as if trying to discern any hidden details he'd been missing.
"In a roundabout kind of way. But I'm not interested in catching up. I need answers."
"These answers you search for, are they related to Benjamin?" He cast a sidelong glance over at Gwen.
"The one and only!" Eon's automated voice huffed static. "...But we both know that's not really true- don't we?"
"What's he talking about?" Gwen shook her head, understandably confused.
Paradox's eyes lit up with recognition.
"You're like me-"
"- A time-walker. Exactly. Right again, professor!"
The man's lip curled somewhat.
"That explains why I couldn't sense you before. Time-walkers cancel each other out."
Eon exposed a small circular disc. He clicked the central button, and the room was outfitted with intersecting lines of red energy. They formed a sort of cage, one that pulsed in tiny intervals.
"I call this neat little gadget Schrodinger's Box. Can you guess why that is?"
Paradox examined the energized particles, humming to himself thoughtfully.
"I wager this is a particle entanglement field of some kind. Technology like this shouldn't be possible in this era, yet…"
"...Yet it does. While you're confined inside it, you won't be able to teleport away or make any outstanding anomalies. You'll just be slingshot back inside. No one can get in, or out. We could be alive or dead, and no one would ever be able to tell. At least, from an outsider's perspective. Hence, the name."
"Abiding by your own logic, you are also trapped here- with us." Paradox frowned.
"You didn't think this through, did you?" Gwen spoke up.
"What's your endgame? You get the Omnitrix and then what? You destroy it? You use it for yourself? Take over the universe?"
Eon turned on her, fists clenched.
"Do you think I'm seriously stupid enough to tell you what my exact motives are? I'd think you have a bit more faith than to lecture me as if I'm some mere one-dimensional villain."
"You definitely got the asshole part down, I'll give you that."
Eon's patience had worn sparsely thin, apparently, as he responded by backhanding her across the room.
"Gwen- !" Paradox reached out to her, before backing off as a laser sword thrust itself in front of him.
"- You are going to stay right where you are! Am I understood!?" He hissed maliciously.
The professor's glower wasn't lost on Eon as he raised his hands to signify he had no intentions of going against him. The evil time-walker sheathed his blade, stalking towards Gwen, crouching beside her as she nursed the sudden whiplash in her neck.
"Of all people I thought you would be on my side." He whispered condescendingly.
Gwen laughed disbelievingly.
"Why would I ever want to help someone like you?" She spurned him.
"Because for as long as we've already been here- Paradox still hasn't given you the answer to your very simple question."
Gwen licked her lip, tasting the familiar iron of blood, continuing to stare at the ground.
"Isn't it strange? Your precious Kev' is hanging on by a mere string-" He made grabbing gestures with his index fingers and thumbs, "- and he still refuses to comply? It's obvious he knows what you're asking of him. He knows what's at stake. Don't you get it? You're smart Gwendolyn, you always have been. You've loitered that fact over people your whole life. It's one of the many reasons I hate you.
Paradox doesn't care- he doesn't feel. You heard him say it himself. Reality and the concept of inevitable decay are meaningless to him! I could crush your boyfriend in the palm of my hand right now and he wouldn't even flinch- that's the kind of person Paradox is!
The same sentiment can be applied to your cousin. They weren't really friends. By virtue of wielding the Omnitrix, Paradox saw him only as a means to an end: a goal post that he couldn't reach through his own merit without the necessary players being involved. I'm certain you are equally as curious as I, to learn where Paradox and Benjamin went. Isn't that why you chose to comply in the first place?"
"I complied because you cut Kevin's arm off and zapped him inside a capsule you goddamn psycho!" Gwen sniffled, as moisture brimmed in the corners of her eyes..
"And you're wrong about Paradox! He's a good person! He's the one who warned us about the Highbreed invasion so we could stop it! He values life above all else! If that's not proof I don't know what is!" She declared loudly, glaring at him with no hint of contempt.
"Hmph, well if you're so sure about that, why don't we test that theory?" He said as he stood idly for a moment before removing an orange blaster from a concealed holster on his hip.
"This is a Disintegration Raygun. I'm sure it needs no explanation as to what it does, but I think I oughta give you one anyway, Paradox." Eon pointedly remarked in the professor's direction.
"One direct hit from this is all it takes before her body will be completely and utterly reduced to ash. She'll be dead before she even has time to register the feeling of having each of her individual atoms carbonized. By all accounts, its a humane way of execution. No drawn out agonizing pain- just instant, total annihilation." He cocked the raygun so it would be aimed at her chest— at her heart.
"Anything you got to say for yourself, professor?"
The man in question observed the situation with a grim expression.
"Well!?" The raygun thrummed threateningly.
Gwen felt her confidence in the man waver.
"Paradox?"
"Let me explain whats going to happen; you refuse to talk, poor Gwendolyn here dies. Yeah, maybe she could get in a few hits or two before she goes down- but all I have to do is snap Kevin's energy capsule and she's lost everything she's fighting for. So, I kill him, then her, and we spend eternity here together. As long as it takes for you to give me what I want.
Or, you can go with the alternative; choose to have Gwen's life be spared in return for the information I desire. You show me a way to get there, and I may even consider handing back Levin. I may be a despicable man, Paradox, but I am a man of my word. I'm sure you can respect that."
Paradox appeared to be mulling the options over in his head.
"Oh, come on!" Gwen groaned incredulously.
"Fine! How about a countdown! Those are always fun! Lets start at ten!"
His theatrics were put on hold, however, as professor put up a halting hand.
"There will be no need for that." He shot Gwen an apologetic glance.
"I'll tell you everything you want to know. Please just don't hurt Gwendolyn anymore than you already have."
Eon kept the raygun trained on her for a few more seconds, before holstering the weapon satisfyingly.
"Finally, we're getting somewhere!" He clapped.
Paradox sighed, his unknown age beginning to slip through the cracks in his normally calm demeanor.
"Benjamin's sudden... decline in health spurred our untimely departure from this universe. We sought to bestow the powers of the Omnitrix unto another candidate as worthy as he had proven to be."
"I had gathered that much."
"...Through much trial and error- we eventually found that person." Paradox's story had completely enraptured Eon, who listened intently, hanging off of every detail.
Paradox appeared conflicted about what he said next:
"Seeing as you are a time-walker yourself, it wouldn't be a stretch to assume you are aware of universes that exist separate from our own? Removed from the main timeline? Worlds outside this one, unimaginably infinite cosmos- places that not even the fabled Celestialsapiens can ever hope to reach."
"Its been theorized to be possible, but no one has ever been able to prove it before. Not in any substantial way. Successfully replicating cross-multiversal travel would be revolutionary."
"Indisputably- and I found out a way to do it."
"Typical that a Paradox variant figures it out. Elaborate."
"I discovered a universe similar to our own. The key difference being that super powers are a commonality among the general populace. The humans of this universe have evolved with these abilities, and thus pass them onto their children. Generation to generation, and so on. As a result, they have developed a strong, moral and idealistic society and culture structured around the core values of heroism and opposition to villainy." Paradox lamented, banging on a nearby block computer.
The comparatively ancient technology sparked to life, and he rotated the monitor so both Gwen and Eon could see it.
"I successfully mapped out and calibrated the coordinates of twenty-three separate universes through our travels. Since this is uncharted territory, there are no archives to refer to. So I took the liberty of plotting them myself. As you can see, our universe is located at the center-" He tapped a small pixel on the screen, "- and if we just zoom out…"
The computer was groaning with effort, but it still did its job as intended, and bit by bit, more dots littered screen. The diagram reminded Gwen of older pictures of the planets in the solar system she'd see in her science textbooks. Red blotches ziggzagged inbetween the blank spaces.
"The red markings- what do they represent?" Eon inquired.
"Those are rogue singularities. I advise you do try your best to avoid them. If you get pulled inside, there is no telling where you will end up. Ah, here it is!" He gestured to a yellow square that lied on the outermost circle.
"Universe twenty-three?"
"Correct. That is where Benjamin and I travelled to some odd months ago."
The professor, as if sensing what Eon would say next, reached inside a drawer in his desk, plopping the stack of papers in the other time-walker's hands.
"You may find all the necessary information regarding the separate universes in these documents."
Eon skimmed through the pages, nodding along.
"Get the multiversal gate up and running. I need to digest this."
Paradox wordlessly set about doing just that. As he was plugging in a multitude of wires to the base of the quartzite ring, Gwen quietly kneeled beside him.
"Paradox, are you really going to go through with this?" She whispered.
"Gwendolyn, he will kill you and Kevin if I don't do what he says."
"But-"
He placed a placating hand on her shoulder.
"Before I assist this deranged man- mind my hypocrisy- I want to set the record straight." He looked guilty, sorrowful.
"Benjamin… I did view him as a friend of mine. A close one. Initially, I felt I owed you three my services because you saved me from eternal torment and existential damnation. However, following the invasion, my faith in humanity- soon began to restore itself." He chuckled lightly.
"I hadn't experienced such joyous wonder of having a companion by my side in millenia. Benjamin reminded me a lot of my old partner, you know. Rude, upstart, but ultimately proud, whimsical… and undoubtedly heroic. Perhaps it was those qualities that I felt drawn to your cousin like a magnet. I considered him akin to a son of mine."
"Don't you dare make me start crying again."
The professor smiled mirthfully, sliding his green tinted goggles over his eyes.
"Look away darling, unless you want to be blind!"
Gwen immediately heeded his warning, turning her back and clasping her hands over her face shielding herself from the intense light that enveloped the room. Once she suspected it was safe, she rotated- finding an awe inspiring sight. The quartzite ring sparkled magically, and within its barriers, a spatial vortex spiraled endlessly. Colors of every shade and vibrancy swirled throughout it like a furious rainbow.
Eon set the stack of papers down, striding towards to the portal.
"Who am I looking for?"
"His name is Izuku Midoriya."
The time-walker's cape flapped behind him due to the solar wind rushing through the gate entrance. He made a raised fist gesture, and all around them, apparent clones of himself materialized.
"Ah, I suppose I should've anticipated that." Paradox mused.
Gwen, still reeling from the shock of seeing a literal event horizon, shook her head, calling out to Eon.
"OK! We gave you what you wanted! Now give Kevin back!"
Eon laughed.
"I'll give him back once the job is done. Men, you know what to do."
The Eon clones brandished their rayguns affirmatively.
"Uh, shouldn't he deactivate Schrodinger's box first?"
"That only applies to self-contained universal travel."
'Of course it does.'
"Pardon me- perhaps I should give a fair warning before you, well, step inside." Paradox interjected.
Eon, though incredibly irritated that his quest was being slowed down once more, regarded the professor quizzically.
"You better bring the same fight you have here over there. Because if you don't- I can guarantee that you won't make it back in time before you experience rapid flux degeneration." Paradox's glare of sheer intensity didn't make Eon squirm like it did Gwen, but it was unsettling.
"That won't be an issue. I'm not pathetic, like you old man."
With those final, departing words, Eon allowed himself to be sucked inside the multiversal gate, unable to comprehend the sensation of being rocketed through the distant cosmos.
