16th September 2012
19:59 GMT +1
"I can see it."
Angelika is shaking with excitement, her hands clenching and unclenching as she tries to work out what to do with them.
"I can see it. They're coming!" Something occurs, and her hands still. "They're coming. What do I tell them?"
"Okay, firstly, we don't know for certain that it's them. It's a way to access parallel universes. This could be anyone. Secondly… This could just be a test. It's entirely possible that they're using the equipment for the first time but aren't going to send through anything more sophisticated than a biological sample container."
She nods. "I know."
"And given how injured you were, it's possible that nothing is going to come through intact."
She takes a moment to steady her breathing.
"Yes, yes, I know."
"But on the off-chance that someone comes through and it's not Karl Kant, have you thought about how you're going to handle it?"
"Almost every day since I have been here." She looks around, taking in 21st century non-national socialist Germany. "Most of the other New Statesmen or other heroes do not have improved vision, so they will not immediately see... Ah…"
"All the wanton degeneracy?"
"Ah. Yes. So that will be easier."
"Are you planning on going back?"
"That-. It would depend. If this portal can be maintained and I could travel back and forth, then I would rather visit home and then return here. If it is harder… It would depend on what the restrictions were." She frowns. "Why do you think this is happening now?"
"We did turn off the devices blocking travel to parallel universes for an hour a few days ago."
"It does not appear to be a barrier."
"Not an absolute barrier, no. But it blocked some types of inter-parallel sensors and disrupted some… Things it couldn't block completely. This could be the result of them now knowing that there's something here to access." I shrug. "Or… Something else. Maybe this is just how long it took."
"Are you worried that it might be the demons?"
I take out a rune stone and hold it towards the point of maximum oddity. No reaction.
"No. A demon portal would require huge amounts of magic. I'm honestly not sure if it's even possible to move from one parallel reality to another with magic."
"Are demons incapable of using machinery?"
"It's not that they can't, it just… Demons aren't usually good at technology. Even with everything Satanus devised, it relies on the presence of a high magic environment to allow the damned souls operating it to remain manifested. Or for the weapons themselves to work. A soul can't just step through a portal to the material universe and carry on as if nothing happened."
"So if demons from the Demonearth come through, then their weapons will not work."
"I'm not sure. Demon Supergirl wasn't possessed, just highly tainted. If they attack with infused cultists and metahumans, those should still function… For a while."
"And then what?"
"Without a source of demonic magic they would… Eventually lose most of the taint. I think. By default, anyway; there are ways to get around that with magic use."
"They would be freed?"
"Ah, they would no longer be compelled with demon magic. I imagine that after spending that long in such an environment that most of them would remain 'Markist'."
"Because even without the compulsion, it is what they are used to."
"I was thinking more that the shape of their thoughts would have been altered rather than it being a matter of pure habit, but, yes."
She's quiet for a moment.
"They would have a Kal-El, wouldn't they?"
"Probably, but I can't say for certain."
"They had a Supergirl."
"Yes, but one doesn't necessarily follow the other. For all we know, House El might have been involved with Earth for years before the whole demon thing happened. Or the fixation with the mark might come from a Kryptonian ship or data probe that arrived on Earth."
She looks at me.
"But you don't believe that."
"But I don't believe that."
"How much stronger would Kal-El be if he was given power by demons?"
"I'm not really sure how demons could give him power. He… Shouldn't be sufficiently in tune with Earth's thaumatic fields to use magic. They could make weapons for him; he'd be able to use those. But as for physically enhancing him, I wouldn't think so."
"We can fight him, then?"
"How much better than yours is New Kara's hearing?"
"I am only partially kryptonian. But her hearing is better than 'old' Kara's hearing as well." Angelika nods. "So the kryptonian of one universe is not the same as a kryptonian of another."
"And he'd be far more savage than the Kal-Els we're used to. He'd be fighting to kill from the start, and not at all concerned for collateral damage."
"Why is his mark so important?"
"It's important to their Kara. Nabu didn't seem bothered." She nods. "I don't know. It might be-."
Her eyes widen. "It's opening!"
Alright. Send a notification to the League and to the German government, prepare a railgun but keep it in the at rest position and generate construct armour-.
A red circle with black patches about two metres across swells into being, hands… Somehow holding the edges and pushing it open. I see the pale skin redden and blister as the owner somehow forces the primordial energies of the universe to comply with nothing but brute strength.
"Karl!"
Angelika darts forward, grabbing the edge of the portal from this side and helping the man I assume to be Overman maintain it. He notices her and smiles before shifting his body to this side. A three count and they both let go, allowing the portal to close up on itself.
Overman studies the area the portal was in for a moment, presumably checking that it's behaving as expected. Then he gives Angelika his full attention, smiling warmly at her.
"Angelika."
They both check each other over and then blur together, arms wrapped around one another, her face in the crook of his neck and his pressed into the top of her head.
"Karl."
Ah.
This… Feels awkward.
