CONVERGE
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“And the next thing I knew, I was in that nightclub with the murder-bots, where you found me,” the doppelganger shrugged, his expression solemn.
Dang blinked in disbelief, unable to tell whether the story he’d just been told was true or his newest doppelganger’s idea of a joke. Daedalus on the other hand had a dark, unsettled expression on his face, his arms folded as he leaned against Dang’s desk. He’d been quiet the entire time Dang-3 had been telling the story of how he ended up on that world and in the five minutes since Dang-3 had stopped speaking, Daedalus still hadn’t said anything.
Dang, tired of waiting to see what Daedalus would say decided to break the silence. “So, Bellum, this incurser dude, he was on your world?”
“I don’t know,” Dang-3 frowned. “I’ve never heard of that name until now. But a few years ago, our world did get invaded by these odd robot things…we called them murder-bots. They came with technology far beyond anything we’d seen, quantum drives and whatnot…the war ravaged our world, saw hundreds of cities be wiped out, billions of lives lost. But then, we won.”
“You won?” Daedalus repeated, an expression of disbelief on his face.
“Yeah,” Dang-3 nodded. “The Crimson Cloaks were formed to aid us in the war. They were people with unique abilities, the strongest of our kind. They won the battle and laid claim to the technology left behind by the incursers. Zaldur was the leader of the Cloaks, and he saw potential in the new technology, a way for him to make himself a god.”
“So that’s how the Cloaks and the Red Capital took over your world?” Dang asked. “With Bellum tech? BelTech?”
Daedalus glanced at Dang and arched one eyebrow over the other. “BelTech?” he queried.
“It’s a good name, I’m going with it,” Dang shrugged.
“Yes,” Dang-3 answered before Dang and Daedalus could begin to squabble. That was how Zaldur took over, how he made himself God of our world. The people who’d fought the Crimson Cloaks in the Cosmic War tried to stop him, but it was no good. None of them stood a chance. He killed them all. Him and the murder-bots he’d managed to enslave to his will.”
“So, on your world,” Daedalus shifted uncomfortably. “You won against the incursion but a different evil took over?”
Dang-3 nodded. “Pretty much, yeah.”
“And the bots you were fighting,” Dang murmured. “His?”
Dang-3 shook his head. “No,” he answered, a slightly puzzled expression on his face. “I mean, I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think they were his. They looked nothing like the ones Zaldur has running around doing his bidding. But there’s no way to be sure, maybe he had a few more hidden ones.”
“Or maybe they’re anomalies from a different time-space as you,” Daedalus suggested, the grim expression on his face absolutely frightening now.
“You think there’s more breaches happening here?” Dang asked.
Daedalus shrugged. “I think so. It’s possible that at the same time The Harness displaced him and sent him here, ripples of that distortional energy could have been sent throughout space-time and might have brought more of Bellum’s deathbots here too. I mean, I don’t know for sure, it’s just a theory, but it’s one I’ll need to look into.”
“So how did you get here?” Dang-3 asked Dang.
“It’s my world,” Dang replied with a straight face.
“Oh,” Dang-3 nodded then glanced at Daedalus. “How about you? And why is your name Daedalus?”
“I got sent here under similar circumstances as you. Bellum’s army arrived on my world and I was involved in battle with them. My friends used a jump tube to get to safety, and the same thing displaced me, sent me to this world,” Daedalus answered. “And my name’s Daedalus because it’s easier that way. Can’t all be running around introducing ourselves under the same name now, can we?”
“You think all of this is a coincidence?” Dang asked Daedalus.
Daedalus scoffed. “Me ending up here, sure, that could have been a coincidence. But another one of us being sent here too? I don’t think that’s just something happening randomly. There’s got to be something else going on that we’re missing, something that’s resulting in our alternate selves being pulled together in one universe.”
“Can you figure it out?” Dang-3 queried. “You seem like the sort of guy who really knows his way around all of this quantum whatever. Me? I’m just a guy who burns things and something tells me my fire won’t help me find a way back to my world. I’m going to need your help for that.”
“One step at a time,” Daedalus responded. “I promise I’ll try to figure out a way for us to get back home to our worlds but for now, in this moment, our mission has to be to understand why this is happening to begin with. We need to deal with this before a million other versions of ourselves end up on this world.”
“Okay,” Dang-3 nodded, smiling cheerfully. “I’m fine with that. Teaming up with cosmic clones of myself is a little weird but why not? First time for everything, right?”
“We’re not cosmic clones,” Daedalus said sharply, a little too defensively.
Dang-3 grinned and patted him on the shoulder. “Hey, relax. I’m just joking around, alright? Don’t tell me you’re missing that Dang sense of humor? I was hoping it would be multiversal. I think we should actually come up with a name for ourselves. How about, uhh, The Three Dangketeers?”
“Good one,” Daedalus answered unhumorously before shrugging Dang-3’s hand off and heading toward the desk. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got work to do now. Don’t need any more cosmic clones turning up.”
Dang-3 watched Daedalus sulk off then looked at Dang, a look of genuine confusion on his face. “I’m sorry, did I do something wrong?”
“Probably just doesn’t like being called a clone,” Dang shrugged. “Speaking of not liking to be called things, you’re going to need to change your name…for obvious reasons.”
“Dante,” Dang-3 said, replying all too quickly, not even needing to give the decision much thought.
Dang arched one eyebrow over the other. “Dante? Why?”
“Why not?” Dang-3 shrugged. “I just gotta have a different name from you and Daedalus, right? Dante works. Plus, a guy who can manipulate fire being called Dante, kind of poetic, right?”
Dang sighed. “Sure, I guess. Well, now that that’s out of the way, we are going to need to discuss other matters. Now, I don’t mind you staying here, I mean, it’s a little weird but I don’t see any other way around it…but if you are going to be staying here, we’re going to need to set a few ground rules.”
“Alright,” Dante shrugged. “I’m listening.”
“First of, don’t do anything reckless or stupid, anything that could draw the kind of attention we don’t need,” Dang said. “What that means, of course, is you can’t just go out and flame on in public. Keep a low profile when you’re out there.”
“You mean like a secret identity?”
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“Sure, whatever,” Dang shrugged. “Long as you’re not bringing the Feds out here to my observatory, sure. Next up, obviously, is the bills. I’m already living with one high-maintenance version of myself, if I’m going to be living with another, you’ll need to be able to carry your own weight.”
“You want me to get a job?”
“Something like that,” Dang nodded. “Or at the very least, just help out with the chores and whatnot around here. I’m not interested in babysitting anyone.”
“How old are you?” Dante frowned, looking a little offended.
“Sixteen,” Dang answered. “Why?”
“I’m seventeen,” Dante jerked a thumb at his chest. “Which means you can’t be giving me orders or bossing me around like you’re trying to do.”
“You want to have a roof over your head while you’re stranded in another universe or not?”
Dante paused for a moment, biting his lips as he considered the question he’d just been posed. Finally, he relaxed his shoulders and let out a sigh. “Fine, whatever. I’ll go by your rules. What else is there?”
“I think that’s pretty much it for now,” Dang said. “Oh, and also, try not to burn down my observatory.”
“I think I’d only be doing it a favor if that happened,” Dante muttered, casting a disgusted glance at the observatory.
“I’m sorry, what was that?” Dang narrowed his eyes at his doppelganger.
“Nothing,” Dante said quickly and cleared his throat. “Uh, I said, uhh, sure thing, I’ll try not to burn it down.”
“Good,” Dang nodded slowly, although he regarded Dante with an oddly suspicious look. “Now that that’s out of the way, settle in, make yourself at home or something.”
“Sure,” Dante nodded. “So, the way I hear it from robot me, you have the power to project yourself across the multiverse?”
“Not consciously, no,” Dang shook his head. “It’s only ever happened accidentally. My main abilities revolve around being able to absorb and take on the properties and characteristics of things I touch.”
“That’s pretty useful.”
“Let’s hope it’ll be useful enough to stop whatever danger’s coming for this world,” Dang sighed.
“Why are you certain something’s coming?”
“Just a bad feeling,” Dang answered. “And from my experience, when I have bad feelings, I’m almost always right about them. Something terrible’s coming for this world, and something tells me we’re all going to have to fight against it.”
“Well, you’re in luck then,” Dante flashed a toothed grin and his eyes glowed orange. “I like fighting. And I’m pretty damn good at it.”
***
J sat at the table with the other four, his hands intertwined. Behind his mask, his eyes were wide with a mixture of shock and excitement but that was not something the others would be able to discern. Even when he spoke, he managed to keep his voice steady, managed to maintain his composure, hard as it was to manage that.
“It’s impossible,” Ravenmask shook her head and leaned forward over the table. She lowered her voice when she spoke again. “There hasn’t been a convergence like this in a long, long time. It shouldn’t be possible, shouldn’t be happening. Not unless someone is screwing with the balance of the continuum.”
“It doesn’t matter why it’s happening,” J spoke calmly. “Our focus should be more on that it is happening, and how we can make the most of this rare opportunity. Three alternates have been brought together on one world and each one of them displays unique abilities that are perhaps even capable of matching his if honed properly…it’s a rare opportunity, the sort we’ve long since hoped for.”
“What are you trying to say?” Penguinmask queried in his usual wiry tone. “You cannot be serious.”
“But I am,” J said, looking around at the others, noting the sudden shifts in their positions, signs of their discomfort which hinted that they all knew exactly where he was going with this. “I had proposed something of this sort once before but it was prohibited due to our strict laws against intervention in cosmic matters. But with Bellum’s incursion across the multiverse and a rare twist of fate such as that before us now, it would be unwise to remain confined to the shadows and not act on this.”
“What would you have us do?” Catmask demanded. “The doppelgangers can’t be made aware of our existence nor that of the pool. You know why that is.”
“And I do not wish for us to make ourselves known,” J clarified. “At least not now. What I wish is for us to test these doppelgangers. If they are to be our trump card in this multiversal war against the incursion, they will need to prove themselves worthy.”
“You’re joking,” Ravenmask snorted. “Test them? How exactly would we do that?”
“When the Cyborg escaped the incursion, it was a sign of hope. We planned to find more. And now we have,” J went on. “But we do not know for certain that they’ll be capable of handling what is to come, of ensuring the Cosmic Good. The only way to make certain is to place them in cleverly constructed situations akin to that they are likely to find themselves in eventually.”
“All we are to do is watch,” Catmask scolded. “We do not intervene.”
“Do you wish to win this war or not?” J demanded, his voice rising with frustration. The others at the table fidgeted in their seats and exchanged looks even though their masks hid whatever expressions their faces might have had.
“Perhaps,” Penguinmask began slowly, “there may be some logic to this plan. But what happens if it fails? If they do not survive these situations that you wish to orchestrate?”
“Then it would mean that they were not ready, that they’re not the champions we need,” J answered. “And in such an eventuality, we will do what we’ve always done. We will watch, watch until the proper champions come along.”
“You can’t be seriously considering aligning with him on this,” Catmask addressed Penguinmask with a tone of exasperation.
“My plan is simple,” J said. “There are others across the multiverse who’ve been displaced. Vile men, monsters, the worst ones known…some of them are still lost in the stream, having not yet been spat out onto any world. What I would like is for the stream to spit these monsters out on a specific world.”
“The world where all three alternates are located?” Ravenmask asked.
J nodded slowly. “Precisely. Fate will take it from there. A confrontation between the monsters and the alternates will be inevitable, and there will be nothing at all to suggest some grand cosmic interference. We will not directly be violating our code. And we will be taking a grand step closer to the Cosmic Good.”
There was some more silence as the other Watchers pondered the strategy laid out before them.
“I do not like this,” Ravenmask shook her head. “We must acknowledge that there are others aside from the three alternates likely to get hurt if we take this course of action. Civilians, bystanders.”
“Their sacrifices, if any, will be for the greater good,” J insisted. “It will be their lives in exchange for trillions if all of this works out as it should. Surely, that’s a gamble we cannot pass up on.”
“I vote to proceed with his plan,” Penguinmask said and leaned back in his seat. “He’s right. We need to know that these doppelgangers are the ones we need before pinning all of our hopes on them. We cannot hope to beat the incursers on our own and if we are to get help, we will have to be incredibly meticulous in deciding who we seek that help from.”
Ravenmask clenched her fists so firmly that her knuckles cracked. Finally, she sighed. “Very well. Then I vote in favor too.”
J looked at Catmask and Hawkmask. “Three votes in favor already. I will go through with this plan regardless of how either of you vote. Better for us all to be in one mind about this.”
Hawkmask, who’d been silent the entirety of that meeting sighed. “Three alternates you say,” she murmured. “But there’s another, isn’t there? The one they haven’t discovered yet?”
“For now, these three remain the focus,” J replied. “The fourth…he’s an interesting one. It is impossible to determine what role he’ll play in all of this as of this moment. He’s a wildcard, if you will.”
“I suppose there is some truth to that,” Hawkmask leaned back. “Very well, then. You may proceed with your plan; you have my vote.”
“Ah, darn it,” Catmask grunted. “Don’t look like I’ve got much choice left on this anymore then. I’m going to have to vote in favor too but just so I’m clear and it’s out there, any of this goes wrong, I know who I’m going to blame for it.”
“Of course,” J nodded, smiling, although his mask also hid that smile. “If there won’t be anything else to discuss, I suppose that means we can bring this meeting of ours to a close, right?”
“Of course,” Ravenmask nodded. “And as always, everything discussed here and everything we are about to do, we do in the hopes that we will heal the multiverse.”
“For the Cosmic Good,” J said.
“For the Cosmic Good,” the others echoed.
And that was the conclusion of their meeting. One after the other, they rose from their seats and took their leave, J being the last to rise and leave.
He stepped out of the room and found Catmask in the hallway outside, leaning against a wall, his arms folded.
He halted at the sight of his fellow Watcher.
“What is it now?” J asked.
“Nothing,” Catmask grunted. “It’s just…you seemed incredibly persistent on being allowed to go through with this idea of yours in there. And it’s odd, you’re rarely ever persistent about anything.”
“I suppose I just care rather deeply about the balance and survival of the multiverse.”
“Sounds to me a lot like you care about these doppelgangers specifically,” Catmask said. “I wonder why that is.”
“In a world where there’s not much that counts as a phenomenon, the three of them have proven themselves an exception,” J responded. “Their mere convergence in of itself is a phenomenon on its own and when you take into consideration the potentially cosmic scale of their abilities? Is it really all that intriguing that I would take such an interest in them?”
“When you put it that way, I suppose not,” Catmask grunted. “Man, it’s annoying sometimes, isn’t it?”
“What is?”
“These masks we have to wear,” Catmask answered. “No one knows who is who in there, really. Makes you wonder if there’s a chance that certain people in there might have different motives or dark secrets, does it not?”
“Not really, no,” J answered. “I try not to wonder too much about the secrets of others.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because some secrets can burn everything,” J said, his tone turning a little cold. “And we wouldn’t want to get burned now, would we?”