Kai POV
I appeared in a narrow alleyway.
The first recruit Hope wanted me to find was Marie, and this world was already broken beyond repair.
Here, Homelander snapped without warning. He slaughtered half of Vought and killed any supe who dared get in his way. Then he went straight to the White House, murdered the president, and crowned himself a tyrant.
He built an army of supes. Anyone who opposed him died.
For a while, it looked like he was going to take over the entire planet.
Then the government responded.
They created a virus, one that targeted supes specifically, and released it into the atmosphere.
It worked.
Too well.
The virus nearly wiped out every superhero on Earth. Only the smart ones survived, the ones who went underground before it spread too far.
I cast a locator spell.
Marie's location snapped into focus almost instantly.
I launched into the air, following the coordinates as they burned themselves into my mind. It didn't take long.
A forest.
Hidden beneath it is a bunker.
I landed in front of the reinforced door and waved my hand, locking it behind me as I entered. Before going any further, I layered cleansing and purging spells over myself. If the virus was still airborne, I wasn't taking chances.
It was dark inside.
I conjured a small orb of light and moved deeper into the bunker. At first, it was nothing but bare concrete walls, silent, empty.
Then I saw it.
An elevator.
And whatever was waiting below it had survived the end of the world.
I pressed the button to call the elevator.
It didn't take long before the doors slid open. I stepped inside, sealed them behind me, and began the descent. Whoever built this place knew what they were doing and had money. The elevator just kept going. Deep.
Very deep.
After about a minute, it finally stopped.
The doors opened into what looked like a living space, almost like a house built underground. But it wasn't clean. It felt abandoned, worn down by time and desperation. There were no lights anywhere. I didn't bother chanting; small orbs of light flared to life and scattered across the room, bathing the area in a soft glow as I moved forward.
I focused my senses.
Two life signs.
I followed their energy signatures to a reinforced door. Locked. I unlocked it with a flick of magic and pushed it open.
Inside was a control room, walls lined with monitors, each one showing a different part of the bunker.
And a body on the floor.
A girl lay facedown, unmoving. Blonde hair. I approached carefully and dropped to one knee beside her, reaching out to check her pulse.
Click.
"If you move, I'll blow your head off."
A woman's voice. Calm, but shaking underneath.
Marie.
I knew she was hiding somewhere in the room, but my priority was the girl on the floor.
"I'm just making sure your friend's okay," I said evenly. "I'm not here to hurt you, Marie."
The girl suddenly stirred, scrambling backward and putting distance between us.
Cate.
"Who is he?" Marie asked.
"I don't know," Cate said, eyes narrowed. "I can't read his mind. It's like… something's blocking me."
Cate didn't look good. Pale skin. Dark circles under her eyes. Exhausted.
"That would be magic," I said, standing slowly.
"Hey!" Marie snapped. "I told you not to move!"
I turned my head toward her. She was holding a shotgun, but she looked just as bad. Weak. Sick. The virus was still affecting her.
I focused on the weapon.
It crumbled into sand.
Marie froze, staring at her empty hands in shock.
"Relax," I said calmly. "I'm not here to fight. I just want to talk."
I snapped my fingers.
Two chairs appeared in the room.
"We can help each other."
They exchanged a look. Distrust was written all over their faces, but they were cornered. Slowly, they sat. Cate stayed close to Marie.
"What do you want to talk about?" Marie asked warily.
"Before that," I said, "let me help you."
I raised my left hand and began chanting. The magic flowed clean and precise, targeting the virus inside their bodies, eradicating it cell by cell. Their breathing steadied. Color slowly returned to their faces.
Once I was done, I summoned a chair for myself and sat. A table formed between us. I opened a small pocket dimension and pulled out four burgers and two drinks, setting them down gently.
"You look like you haven't eaten in days."
They hesitated.
Then hunger won.
They dug in.
I watched quietly.
I wasn't surprised Marie was alive; that was the whole reason I was here. Cate, though? That was unexpected. The only reason she could've survived this long was Marie. Her power, healing at the cellular level, must've kept Cate alive, even if just barely.
I leaned back in my chair.
No point guessing.
After a couple of minutes, they finished eating. They looked… better. Not perfect, but alive.
"You two okay now?" I asked calmly.
This was where the real conversation would begin.
"Yes, we are," Cate said softly. "Thank you for the food. We ran out about two weeks ago. We've been rationing energy bars since then."
"That sounds awful," I said honestly.
"It was," Marie replied. "But… who are you?"
"My name is Kai," I said. "And I want to make you an offer."
Both of them stiffened.
"What kind of offer?" Marie asked cautiously.
"I want you to come to my world," I said. "And join my hero team."
They both stared at me like I completely lost my mind.
"…Right," I muttered. "I keep forgetting this part. Let me explain."
I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck.
"I'm not from this world. I'm from another one, another multiverse. My world's similar to yours in some ways. We've got heroes. Villains. And plenty of other nasty things. I travel the multiverse recruiting people."
They didn't look convinced.
"And before you say I'm crazy," I added, "I'll give you proof."
I stood up, activated the Multiverse Gun, and vanished.
An instant later, I reappeared.
This time, I was holding Homelander's head.
"What the fuck?!" Cate screamed, scrambling back.
"Sorry, my bad," I said casually. "I tried to bring his whole body, but he was being annoying, so I just ripped his head off. Don't worry, evil Homelander. Different universe."
I tossed the head to the side of the room.
"If you want more proof," I continued, "I can grab another one. Maybe Soldier Boy. Stormfront. Take your pick."
"No," Marie said quickly. "That won't be necessary."
She swallowed.
"It's pretty obvious you're not a normal supe."
She glanced at Cate, then back at me.
"We can't survive here anymore," she admitted. "The only reason we lasted this long was because of my powers. If your world doesn't have a supe-killing virus… then yeah. We'll join you."
"No worries," I said. "Nothing like that in my world."
Marie nodded once. "Then we're in. Honestly… we don't really have a choice."
They stood up. The chairs and table I'd summoned dissolved into nothing.
"Alright," I said, activating the Multiverse Gun again. "But before we head back to my world, we've got a couple more stops to make."
I glanced at them both.
"I'm recruiting more people."
I stepped closer to them and activated the Multiverse Gun.
The world folded.
Then vanished.
We reappeared in the middle of a ruined city, skyscrapers shattered, streets cracked open, ash and debris stretching as far as the eye could see.
"What the fuck?" Marie muttered. "Where are we?"
"Another universe," I said evenly. "In this one, a hero called Invincible, and his father, Omni-Man, turned evil and destroyed the Earth."
I paused.
"As far as I can tell, only one person is still alive."
I snapped my fingers. A translucent magical barrier formed around both of them.
"Whoa," Cate said, eyes wide.
"Relax," I said. "It's just to make traveling easier."
I took off into the air. The barrier lifted with them inside it, following me as if weightless. Mid-flight, I cast a locator spell, the coordinates burning into my mind as I homed in on the energy signature ahead.
Strong.
Lonely.
We descended into what used to be a neighborhood, houses collapsed, streets hollowed out by impact craters. I landed in the middle of the road. The barrier touched down behind me, then vanished.
I took a step toward the nearest house, and the front door exploded outward.
Adam and Eve burst into the open, already firing a blast straight at me.
I didn't even flinch.
A magical barrier snapped into place around us. The energy blast shattered harmlessly against it, dispersing into light. Instantly, glowing magic circles formed around Eve, and luminous tendrils lashed out, wrapping around her arms and legs, restraining her midair.
"Enough," I said calmly.
The ruined street fell silent, except for the crackle of fading energy.
This universe had learned to shoot first.
Good thing I was ready.
"I'm not here to fight," I said calmly. "I just want to talk, Eve."
She hesitated, then really looked at us for the first time.
"You're… human," she said slowly. "I thought I was the only one left."
I dropped the magical restraints holding her in place.
"Let's go inside and talk," I said. "Please."
After a moment, she nodded.
We went into her house and sat down in what used to be a living room. With a flick of her hand, she repaired the blown-out door like it was nothing.
"I'm sorry about earlier," Eve said. "I thought Mark came back early."
"No problem," I replied. "After what you've been through, I'd jump first, too."
She exhaled."Yeah… After Mark and his dad destroyed the Earth, Mark left me alive. Trapped here. He comes back once a year, asks if I'm ready to be his queen or whatever insane thing he's decided that time."
Her jaw tightened.
"So yeah. I wasn't exactly expecting to see other living people."
"I'm Kai," I said. "This is Marie and Cate. This is going to sound crazy, but we're from another world. I travel the multiverse recruiting people to join my hero team, and I want you to—"
"I'm in."
I blinked."…Wait. Seriously?"
"Yes," Eve said without hesitation. "If you can get me off this dead world, I'm joining. I can't take another year of fighting Mark. Honestly? I'd be happy if I never saw him again."
"Oh. Cool. Cool," I said. "Glad you're on board. There is one small downside you should know about."
She raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"
"Well," I said awkwardly, "I'm heading to another universe next, one where Invincible is alive, and I'm planning to try recruiting him. Which means you'll definitely see a Mark again. Just… not your Mark."
She sighed."I don't like it. But it's not a deal breaker, as long as he's nothing like the one I know."
"Trust me," I said. "He's completely different."
We all stood. I pulled out the Multiverse Gun and activated it, but before it fired, I raised my hand and etched an inverted magical circle into the structure of the house.
Eve frowned. "What was that?"
"A magical bomb," I said casually. "If your Mark shows up, it'll detonate and kill him instantly."
I shrugged."Just a little goodbye fuck you."
Eve smiled for the first time.
"Oh, I like that," she said. "Kinda wish I could stay and watch."
I grinned.
Then I activated the Multiverse Gun.
And the world vanished.