The portal spat them out onto a rooftop that should've been buzzing with 30th-century life. Instead, they landed in what looked like a tech museum—all sterile perfection and zero soul.
"This feels like a video game," Dean muttered.
Earth-18651 stretched below them like something out of a sci-fi movie. Glass towers shot up into the sky, their surfaces shifting colors with the sunlight. Roads curved straight up building sides, with sleek pods zipping through the air. Holographic ads floated everywhere, changing languages depending on who looked at them.
The whole place smelled clean but fake—like someone had scrubbed all the life out of the air. Even the trees were artificial, grown in labs. From up here, the city looked like a computer motherboard that had grown into a metropolis. Too perfect, too quiet.
Dean's system buzzed with a notification.
[ALLY-BONDED: KHAN (KAMALA KHAN)]
[ACCESS UNLOCKED: SHARED ABILITY LINK -- TIER-0: Morphogenetics]
Blink crouched at the roof's edge, scanning for trouble. Khan stood nearby with her arms crossed. Behind them, Dean stretched his arm out like he was warming up.
"Is he... doing yoga?" Khan asked.
"Testing his new power," Blink said without turning around. "He's linked to you now."
"What?"
"His powers copy bits of our abilities. He gets the basic version—very basic."
Right on cue, Dean's left arm suddenly shot forward and slapped into an air vent.
CLANG.
"Ow. Cool. That's new," he muttered, shaking his hand. "Can't wait to do a Gomu-Gomu no Kong Gun."
He tried again. This time, his legs grew at different speeds, and he toppled over like a broken table.
THUMP.
Blink smirked. Khan just stared.
"This is your power in his hands," Blink said dryly.
"Feels like an insult."
Dean groaned from the ground. "Hey, I've had this power for five minutes and a concussion."
Khan pulled him up. "Try not to grow anything else until we clear our mission."
"What's the mission?" Khan asked, checking her weapons.
Dean consulted the Tallus display.
[MISSION: LOCATE AND EXTRACT IRON LAD]
"We're looking for Iron Lad. Nathaniel Richards variant. Apparently, he's—"
A scream cut through the artificial calm.
They rushed to the roof's edge. Across the plaza, on another building's rooftop, a figure in silver-and-blue armor was dragging two adults toward the ledge.
"You made my life hell," the armored teen's voice carried across the space. "Figured I'd return the favor with a view."
"Bingo," Dean said grimly. "Traumatized teen genius with armor and anger issues."
Blink opened a portal beneath their feet, and they dropped through onto the opposite rooftop. Iron Lad spun around, his faceplate sliding back to reveal a sixteen-year-old face twisted with pain and rage.
"More witnesses?" Nathaniel sneered. "Perfect. These two spent years making sure I knew exactly how worthless I was."
Khan's hand moved to her weapon. "Kid, you don't want to do this."
"Kid?" Nathaniel's bio-metal suit shifted, armor plates turning into weapons. "I'm Iron Lad. And I'm going to prove myself."
"By murdering your bullies?" Blink asked calmly.
"By making them understand what fear feels like." His suit projected holographic footage—him being pushed down stairs, locked in closets, humiliated in front of crowds. "Every day for years. While everyone looked the other way."
Dean felt a stab of sympathy. He'd been there—the smart kid who became a target. But he'd never had 30th-century tech and a destiny as a time-traveling conqueror.
"I get it," Dean said. "Really. But this isn't justice—it's just becoming what they said you were."
Nathaniel's laugh was bitter. "What I am is someone who refuses to be a victim anymore."
"You're not running from your destiny," Blink said, eyes widening. "You're sprinting toward it. You're already becoming Kang."
"I'm NOT becoming him!" Nathaniel snarled, his weapons charging. "He told me I had to choose between being a victim or a monster. So I chose monster. But I'm not him."
Khan stepped forward. "You're trying to escape your destiny by doing exactly what your destiny said you would."
Nathaniel paced at the rooftop's edge, city lights casting shadows across his armor.
"I'm not him," he said sharply. "I'm not Kang. I chose to fight it."
Blink leaned against a vent. "You think dragging people up here makes you better?"
"They were my bullies. You don't get it—"
"I do," she said quietly.
He paused.
"I was pink. Before the portals. Just pink. Big eyes. Pointy ears. Freak." Blink's voice was steady. "They used to shove my lunch tray on the floor. Kick my legs out in hallways. Mutie. Alien. Monster. People always hate what doesn't fit."
Dean blinked. He'd never heard Blink speak that openly before.
"You know what I didn't do?" she added. "I didn't bring them to rooftops just to feel tall."
"I'm not—" Nathaniel started.
"Maybe not yet," Khan interrupted. "But I've seen what 'not yet' turns into. In my world, people like you cracked the sky open to save it. Called it improvement. Called it destiny. They always meant control."
Nathaniel's fists clenched. "You think I want that future?"
"No," Blink said. "But you're reacting like someone who's scared of falling—so scared, he forgets where the edge actually is."
Dean finally spoke up. "Trying to prove you're not Kang by playing judge and jury? Not the best look, man."
Nathaniel looked away.
Khan let her arms fall to her sides. "We're not telling you who you are. We're reminding you it's not too late to be someone else."
For a long second, all they could hear was wind between skyscrapers.
Finally, Nathaniel spoke, voice low.
"...That wasn't how I meant it to go."
Blink nodded. "Then try again."
-----------------------------------------
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Writing this has been a blast, but radio silence? Kinda soul-crushing, ngl.
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