2nd April 2012
09:12 GMT -5, again
I've read John's file on Krona, and it… Wasn't particularly helpful. Ancient Maltusian, tried looking at the start of the universe and got stripped of his physicality as punishment. Nekron managed to give him a new one so that he could attack Oa, but he was defeated and they assumed that was the end of the matter. My comic knowledge isn't much-. No
any better. I know that he was the main villain of the JLA/Avengers crossover and… He was doing
something during the Trinity event where Morgaine le Fey, Enigma and Despero tried to restructure the universe around them. And the Parallax-Guardian in the film
might have been him.
Nothing I can use to help me
decide anything.
"You escaped. Why did he abduct parallel universe versions of me
and you?
"
"Because I'm a living temporal anomaly. Are you aware that the Challengers of the Unknown freed themselves from the Book of Fate?" I nod. "Something like that. I have no past or future, no history or destiny. Now
come. I can give you a fuller explanation once we're…" He pauses. "I was going to say 'safe', but that would be a lie. Saf
er."
"At the moment I only have your word that anything is even happening. And you're just some guy in a robe. I.. seem to remember that you sent me back to the present when Dox was planning to keep me in a cell. I'd be grateful, but I don't appreciate having my memories removed and I'm
somewhat suspicious of what you're planning on asking me to do.
"
"This isn't-." He exhales. "Fine, I can show you proof but we need to go somewhere safer
first. And if you think I'm trying to manipulate you then you should consider that I've already demonstrated the ability to leave you in temporal stasis. As attacks go that's fairly
conclusive."
I suppose he's got a point, there. At least I can be confident that he wants something from me.
"Alright then. Where to?
"
He starts walking again and I
fly after him. "In a manner of speaking, a dream. A lucid dream held together by a species-wide telepathic gestalt. Don't worry, it won't hurt any of the locals."
He walks through a doorway to what I
know leads to an emergency exit staircase, then reaches into his right sleeve and pulls out a small piece of red crystal. He holds it out, and…
The air around us turns red as a scarlet circle appears in the air before him, spinning and widening into what looks like a Dolmen Gate aperture. The
edge is two dimensional, comprised of wisps of the original circle which continue moving through the air-. And the walls and floors, apparently unobstructed. Through the portal I can see… A landscape made of the same red crystal Time Trapper used to open it, the red skies decorated by… Floating balls of… Is that wax? Liquid flames? They're paler than their surroundings so they aren't the light source…
"Come." Time Trapper walks towards it as the aperture passes floor level. "All of the explanation you w-."
The wall to our right
explodes, fragments of rock and concrete
flying past us and into my construct armour! Time Trapper is forced to
dive for safety as Overgirl strides forward, eyes glowing a baleful
red!
"
You!" She glares at him and
fires, but he raises his right hand and the lance of heat energy
stops in the air. "
It was you!"
"We don't have
time for this! Lantern!"
I hold up my hands in a calming motion as Angelika
stalks forward,
eye beams still on full.
"Angelika, talk to me. What are you doing? How do you know Time Trapper?
"
"
This portal!
This is what opened over Aachen when I tried to stop the train!
This man snatched me away from everyone I love!"
"That was
Krona! What possible use are you to me?"
"Angelika, stop. If he can open portals then he can send you home. We can deal with whatever Krona is doing-.
"
The Time Trapper pulls himself up slightly as Angelika's advance slows to a crawl. "How are you even
moving? From your point of view, time should-."
"
Do you have any idea how I fixated on becoming Karl's equal?!"
"I don't even know who 'Carl'
is! Lantern,
please!"
For all that she frustrates me, Angelika is a friend, an individual who is gradually awakening to the idea that the things she believes are
very wrong and doing her best to cope with that. And right now she's doing something harmful to her interests.
"Angelika, stop.
"
Golden kryptonite radiation plays over her.. to no apparent effect as she
brute forces her way closer to her target.
"
It took me years, but I learned how to power myself from things other than sunlight!
Including the force you use to alter time!"
"Damn it! The
one kryptonian who-!" The Time Trapper stands and steps backwards through the swirling portal. "Lantern, make a decision!"
It's for her own good.
Violet crystal forms on Angelika's back and rapidly grows to cover her torso. She's so fixated on Time Trapper that she doesn't notice until
it reaches her shoulders. Then she twists her head around to
glare at my betrayal.
"
Why-!?"
Her
head is covered, and.. the crystal is either holding against her heat vision or -as I hope- putting her into stasis.
"
Thank you. Come, I'll show you-"
I
pick up my crystallised colleague and carefully step through the portal.
"-what-. Why are you bringing a lunatic kryptonian?"
"She's not a lunatic. She's
a friend of mine and since she's resistant to your abilities I think that keeping her with me is the sensible thing to do. Now, if you're really desperate-.
"
He waves his crystal and the portal closes.
"Fine. This way."
He leads me along a narrow path, spires of crystal rising up all around us.
"Some time ago I found that as a result of time travel my past no longer existed. As I'm sure that you can understand, this left me quite distraught. But it occurred to me that if
I could survive without history, why not someone else? Why not dozens, millions, the untold billions of my uncreated temporal reality?"
"Because that's not how the universe works.
"
"Just so. But what if it
did? What if it
could? So I began experimenting."
Some distance in front of us there's a tall spire of crystal, tall enough to utterly dwarf the lesser spires around us. He appears to be leading me towards it.
"Did history 'snap back' from small changes? Were there consequences to the hubristic act of deliberately changing things? Was time inherently hostile and vengeful? Or mechanistic? While I was primarily interested in resurrecting my own timeline my
preference was to alter the nature of the universe so that it could sustain multiple timelines. I love my
own temporality. I don't hate those belonging to other people."
"Who would certainly try to resist if they found out that you were planning on erasing them.
"
"I would gladly fight and kill anyone if that was what it took. But… It wasn't going to. I found a way, a way to change the fundamental structure of reality. Some people would have been..
inconvenienced, in the
short term, but given what we would all have
gained I was confident that enough would volunteer to make the approach viable. And then Krona messed it all up."
