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Chapter 6 - Midjourney -

Felix chuckled and blew out a breath.

“You’re an idiot,” he muttered, looking at Melody.

She grinned at him, showing her teeth, and then shrugged.

“Maybe. But it worked! I now have a harem!” Melody declared. “I’ve got it whenever I want on tap. It’s like having an eternal buffet at the ready. Sausage, clam, whenever, whatever.”

With a groan, Vince closed his eyes, then coughed, and started to laugh. He put his hands to his head.

“I want to comment or… or… say something… but it isn’t as if I haven’t done the same,” Vince grumbled.

Not far away, Miles twitched on the bed they’d put him in.

All three Campbells looked at the older man. Confirmed he was just shifting around, then looked back to each other.

They were seated on several chairs they’d dragged over.

“He’s not like us,” Vince murmured and hooked a thumb at Felix. “He actually fought all of them at every turn. I can’t seem to go a week without finding someone new and interesting.”

“That makes me the middle one then,” Melody offered, holding up her hands. “I’ve got all my colors and that’s it. I don’t think Gus would let me add more women even if I brought in super model nobel prize winners with bodies like Dryads.

“Though… I don’t really think I want anymore myself either. I guess my dance card is all full.”

Before Felix or Vince could respond to that, Runner entered. He paused in the doorway, looked to Miles, than the three Campbells.

“Surprises around every corner,” Runner murmured then leaned up against a dresser. He folded his arms in front of himself and clicked his tongue. “We were supposed to go on an adventure from here. To go across multiple planes and worlds and launch an attack on Zeus himself.

“There’s no reason to do that now. A lone actor is taking it on themselves to take the fight head on. We’ve all been sidelined. Completely. I can’t even reopen the way for us to join in.”

“Oh,” Melody said, then looked to Vince and Felix. She looked back to Runner. “Does that mean we get to go home?”

“Yeah. You can… you can all go back as you like. There’s no reason to keep you here since there’s nothing to do. Your part in my little war is over,” Runner declared. Then he gestured to Vince and Felix. “No limitations either, by the way. You can return to where you were, or go back home, or both. Doesn’t matter now.”

“Great,” gushed Felix with a grin. He was glad to hear that. He definitely was looking forward to seeing everyone all together again.

Everyone where they should be and able to go where-ever they liked.

I can… go back to my own life and everything I want to do.

To handle.

“I’ll take care of dad,” Melody offered quickly. “I’ll just take him back home and get him set up. He’s got a lot of power there, too.”

Melody bounced up out of her chair and turned toward Runner.

“Can my brothers come visit me whenever they want?” she asked.

“Yeah, it’s fine. Sam can probably show you how to pop open a portal that’ll take you across. Just be careful,” Runner allowed. “Even if we beat Zeus, some of his people will hold tight to the worlds they’re in. Their power. A victory won’t make everything and everyone go away.”

“Neat. Just uh… just send Warner at them,” Melody said with a casual flick of her hand. “I’m sure anyone working with Zeus probably has a mount of skeletons to handle.”

“Steve,” Vince said as a simple single word counter to Melody’s statement.

“I… oh… yeah. I guess that’s a good point. I saw them talking earlier,” Melody confessed and then shrugged. “Inc-Suc could probably start working on that if you wanted to hire them.”

Runner’s eyebrows shot up and he nodded slowly.

“Yes. That’s a great idea. I’ll go talk to Sam and Alex,” Runner said almost to himself. He smiled and nodded at Melody and then waved a hand at them. “Just head back to where we fought and go into whatever portal you want. It’ll lock you into it and freeze you into place.

“Once everyone has gone through I’ll send everyone off and restart everything. It’ll be just as if you’d walked through the portal and instantly came out the other side. Many worlds are currently stuck in neutral period of waiting for everyone to return.”

Runner left quickly after that. Leaving the Campbell family to themselves.

“So… family reunion soon?” Melody asked, looking to the two men with a wide grin on her face.

“Family reunion,” Felix agreed. “Also… uh… give me your measurements. I’ll have some armor made for you. It just wouldn’t be good to have my little sister running around without protection I can give her.”

Melody squealed, then got out of her seat and hugged Felix tightly. Hugging him with force.

Maybe Andrea was just practice for Melody.

They seem oddly similar.

“You’ll like my wife, Andrea,” Felix prophesied. “She collects guns, ammo, and is obsessed with pancakes.”

“I love her already,” Melody said, still hugging Felix.

***

Stepping through the portal, Felix felt a strange fluttering in his chest. A second after that and the world went absolutely dark around him. There was nothing anywhere.

“Hey, Felix,” said a calm and collected voice.

Felix tried to look in every direction but he didn’t see anyone.

“Edmund?” Felix asked quietly. He wasn’t completely sure it was him, but it sounded right.

“Yeah. Sorry. I’m not actually there, by the way,” Edmund said. “I’m… elsewhere. Trying to fix what I can. Doing this… Save State Hero… thing… or whatever.

“Anways! Yes. It’s me. How’re you boss?”

Frowning, Felix didn’t like how this conversation was going so far.

“I’m alright,” he answered, not really wanting to share his problems as of late. He also wasn’t quite sure if this was real or part of the insanity creeping in on him. “Things are moving along. You know how it is.”

“You’re not going crazy, by the way,” Edmund offered. “You’re not crazy. Or going crazy. You’re just sensitive to me. To my power. To what I do.

“For some reason you can see whenever there’s a massive outlay of my power and some of the results. Not all of it, not always, but sometimes.”

Errr… huh.

That could maybe be it?

I wonder if it’s tied up with my Legionnaire contracts.

Probably.

Some type of ownership qualification so that I can modify it?

“You hypothesized it was due to one of our contracts in a previous conversation,” Edmund interjected. “We tried to modify me or my powers but couldn’t. Whatever the correlation or connection is, we didn’t figure it out.

“Don’t worry about it. Suffice it to say, you’re not crazy. Nor are you going to go crazy. You’re just seeing, ah, echoes of my power. Lots of them.”

That answer didn’t feel very reassuring but it was better than the one Felix had started to consider. It was certainly better than thinking he was going insane.

Doesn’t that mean that Andrea, Melody, Miles, all of that is also Edmund’s doing?

“Y—”

“Brought in Andrea and Melody, yes,” Edmund confirmed before Felix could ask. “Melody solved Miles. Andrea solved… you. You weren’t quite the same without her. You often went a bit uh… villain-y… without her around.

“Like actual super villain. Burn the world to the ground super villain. If I can’t have it, no one should, super villain.”

Taking in a short breath Felix wanted to argue that, then held his breath.

He couldn’t actually deny that he hadn’t been feeling very humane or civil after Andrea’s death. That if he’d lost Andrea, watched Miles die, than had a few other missteps, he could see himself falling into a pit of despair.

“Other losses?” he asked instead, wondering if Edmund could confirm his thoughts.

“Yes. Faith, Goldie, and Kit. You won’t lose anyone now though. I-I fixed it. I fixed the Save State,” Edmund confirmed. “You won’t even know of a world where it ever occurred. Just know that there’s a number of Felix’s I met that were very sad and disappointed people. I couldn’t leave you like that.

“Before you ask, it would have all happened on the mission. The mission no longer exists as a possibility for you since I’m taking it. I closed the way, locked it, and will handle it on my own,” Edmund explained. “Now… I need to get going so I’ll keep this brief from here.

“And yes, before you ask, you already are helping. I have a specific Save State I use to bounce ideas off you. You’ve been incredibly helpful.

“Anyways, sorry about all the fractures in reality. Those’ll lessen in time as I move further and further away from this point. There was just too many converging points here and they all happened. Fair warning, some people might remember things differently, but you’ll realize it’s weird. They might remember you helping them, when in actuality, they helped you. You’ll have to sit down and talk to everyone when you get back to really figure out what the current situation is.

“Sorry… not sorry. Had to be done to get everything here.”

I… wait… what?

Damn.

It’s almost like he picked up a puzzle I’d been working on and replaced it with a half-finished different one.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to help you out going forward though,” continued Edmund. “I’m going to be completely honest and tell you now that it’s a bit of a one way trip on this one. You won’t see me again.

“On top of that, outside of you, no one will remember me. It’ll be as if I never existed. Which is fine, really. If you’d never shown up when you did, I would’ve just lived out my life as I had been.”

Felix started to shake his head to that. He knew first hand from Ryker that Edmund had been plunked down in his path just for this such event.

“Before you say it, no,” Edmund argued. “Ryker didn’t know this would happen. Not really. He knew it was possible, that it would be dependent on you as a person, but he didn’t know it.

“On top of that, he set up a few different situations that’d draw me into the whole thing just in case you didn’t bump into me. There were a number of other events that could have, or would have, happened. You just stepped up on your own volition and made everything else unneeded.”

Standing there, Felix was a touch annoyed. He’d love to be part of this conversation but Edmund kept cutting him off before he could even voice it.

“Sorry,” Edmund muttered. “After having talked to you and run so many lines it’s a bit easier to know what you’re going to say before you do.”

“Well,” said Felix and then sighed. “I’m not exactly pleased about the fact that you won’t be coming back. I’d been grooming you to put you up as my successor. I need someone to take over after I’m gone.”

“You’ll be fine. Andrea’s kids with you will surprise you at every turn,” Edmund offered with a laugh. “I wouldn’t be concerned about successor generations. Not at all.

“Now… I do have to get going. Was there anything you wanted me to answer or ask me before I did? I don’t think we’ll talk again after this.”

Unaware of it, Felix had started scratching at his jaw in thought.

“Well… first off, thank you, Edmund. Thank you. I’m not really sure how to express myself for what sounds like-like you saving me from myself,” Felix tried. He’d been able to process a lot of what Edmund had told him, but it sounded like there was a lot more there. A lot that wasn’t being said or explained. Quite likely for his own sake. “Thank you. I just wish I could pay it back to you later. I really don’t like the idea of never being able to return the kindness.”

Edmund laughed at that. One that held joy and relief in it.

“I wouldn’t worry about that. You’ve given me more than you’ll ever know and then some, Felix,” Edmund argued.

“Still, thank you. Thank you for Andrea. Thank you for Miles. For introducing me to my sister,” thanked Felix.

“Yeah… good luck with the last one. She seems like a handful and thens one,” Edmund countered.

“Other than all that then… I can’t really think of anything else. Other than does Runner actually get Ryker back?” Felix asked. “Ryker and Runner are rather interesting.”

“I have no idea,” Edmund answered with a laugh. “This is my first and only time through this one, myself. I only get the one shot at it. There’s never been a point where we got to this. From what I’ve seen though in other futures though… it seems pretty likely.

“If not for his own sake, but for the sake of getting Ryker’s family off his back. Especially Dorothy and Bianca. Those two… yeah, I wouldn’t want to end up dealing with those two without Ryker.”

Everything around Felix shuddered and quivered despite it being infinite darkness. The lack of time and space itself seemed to shiver as if things were happening.

“Ah, that’s the limit. Runner’s going to transfer you. That means that’s all there is. It’s time for me to go and you to go home,” Edmund said with discernible hesitation. “Work to do and all that. You too, actually. When you get back, you won’t have to do anything to open the portals. Runner will pop them open in Legion HQ for you. He always did before. I’ll need to go talk to him briefly in a moment anyways. Thats my last window to poke at him before I go on to my own final task.

That means… goodbye, Felix. Thank you for picking me up off the ground when and where you did. There weren’t many people who would have given me the chance and opportunity you did.

“To take me in as you did and elevate me as quickly as you did. What little joy I had in my life was entirely spent with Legion. With my family.

“Regardless of what happens, or where I end up, I’ll always think fondly of you. Goodbye, farewell, and thank you.”

As Felix opened his mouth to respond, he was spat out of the darkened space.

He was suddenly standing in an office of one of the Legion buildings.

“Legate has returned,” Legate reported from above him. “Reaffirming command structure and codes. Reconnecting to mobile Tribune and synchronizing data.

“Chronological data mismatch. Attempting to correct.”

“Chronological data mistmatch?” repeated Felix. He didn’t like the sound of that but it didn’t sound impossible either. Especially given what Edmund had told him. He got the impression that Edmund was fiddling with more than just “Save States”.

Though… whats a Save State?

He didn’t actually explain it. Didn’t talk about it either.

Well, maybe that’s—

“Ah? Felix!” squealed an Andrea a moment before they rocketed into him. Laughing, they held tightly to him and squeezed at him from behind.

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw it was Third. A one time Death-Other who he had a slight preference for.

“Hey beautiful, how long have I been gone?” he asked with a grin. He couldn’t help but feel good about Andrea being here. “Uhm? Nnn… I don’t know?”

“You’ve been away approximately forty-two years,” Legate answered. “Though with a correction for time, you’ve been away for about sixteen hours. The time dilation is unexplainable and is likely due to infiltration of the hostile network.”

“It wasn’t hostile,” Felix argued while worming around in Andrea’s grasp till he was facing her. Wrapping his arms around her hips he drew her into himself and once more did his best to push her into his own body.

“Nngh!” grunted Andrea who stuck her face in his neck.

“Any network that isn’t part of the Legion is hostile. Legion First,” countered Tribune. “Contact has been lost with the newly acquired network. Once the connection is re-established we will follow normal protocol.”

Felix laid his cheek to the side of Andrea’s head and clutched her. Greedily holding to her.

Andrea let out a noise, then went still, breathing in deeply and exhaling against his throat.

“Legate, Legionnaire Kit and Legionnaire Lily are moving in this direction,” warned Tribune. “These are not Hero Kit and Hero Lily. Though you must schedule meetings with both of those individuals at your earliest convenience.”

Nodding his head, Felix rubbed his face against Andrea’s head. Then turned his mouth toward her ear sighed.

“I love you, Andrea,” he said, not giving up his hold on her.

Going taught like a bow-string, Andrea remained where she stood. He felt her fingers curl into his plate-carrier.

“I want this,” she growled softly, then pulled on the armor. Slowly then, she forcefully disentangled herself from him. Her eyes were locked on his as she did so. Looking at him in a way he hadn’t seen before. Then she reached over and took the rifle away that was slung on his shoulder. He’d honestly forgotten about it. “I love you, too, Felix. I’m going to go… now. I’m going to go wait in our bedroom for you. I’ll keep myself busy by breaking this down and looking at it. It looks familiar but also not.”

Andrea hesitated, then kissed him before turning on her heel and exiting.

As she did so, he realized that he was in his main office at the main HQ. Which would be perfect for him to get control over his resources and start planning.

Because if Runner and Edmund’s words were true, he was going to have a chance to fix a few wrongs that’d lingered for him.

Or more accurately, fix his home world.

Then the door opened.