Max Black a.k.a Quantum regains consciousness with a colossal headache. The first thing he sees is a duplicate of Kari tying up a woman in her underwear using the bedroom’s curtains.
<What the…>
<Oh thank the Gods you’re fine> says yet another duplicate, created just to check if he’s injured. The hotel room is already quite crowded: in addition to the woman and the Kari duplicates, there are three unconscious men on the bed, expertly tied up with sheets.
<I don’t think I wanna know> Max says.
<They shot you with some kind of poison. This woman ισ τηειρ λεαδερ>– Kari explains while completing the final knot, reverting to her native Myridian language.
<Crap, not this again. Where’s the universal translator when you need it?>
<Ωηατ? Cραπ, νοτ this again. Τρανσλατιον cομεσ and goes. This ωομαν is their leader!>
The woman mumbles something angrily, muted by the sock shoved in her mouth.
“By experience, I won’t understand a thing Kari says until she’s near Vesta again” Max thinks before removing the gag.
<I was trying to save you, morons!!! Untie me and give me back my clothes!!!>
<Σηε ηαδ τηισ ωιτη ηερ> Kari says handing a plastic card to Max, who reads out loud:
<Agent Camilla Ramirez, C.I.A. How did you find me? And please don’t say “we’re the C.I.A.”, I already take enough of that crap from Null.>
<Are you kidding me? We’ve known your “secret identity” for months; you shouldn’t carry your cell phone with you when you’re Quantum. That’s how we found out, and how we’ve traced you here. Now will you please untie me!?>
<Not until you tell me the real reason you attacked me.>
<I knocked on the door and asked you to follow me!!!>
<Yeah yeah, listen I don’t buy the whole “we’re trying to help you” thing. I’ve seen way too many movies to fall for that.>
<You’re a moron. If we wanted to hurt you, we’d have…>
Ramirez doesn’t end her sentence, because a man in black military gear has just crashed through the door like it was made of cardboard. He doesn’t make a sound, thanks to the SN-100™ in his pocket.
<Don’t tell me: this is the guy I should be worried about> Max says, right when the man fires his machine gun at him. The bullets melt as soon as they leave the weapon.
<Microwave vision, dude. What else ya got?> Max taunts him.
The man doesn’t have the time to answer, because two duplicates of Kari appear literally out of nowhere to violently slam him against the wall.
The man in black answers by creating a copy of himself in the blink of an eye, ready to fight.
<Another Many? No biggie, I have superpowers this time> says Max, definitely not impressed, shooting lasers from his hands with the intent of cutting his enemies in two.
It doesn’t go as planned: the two men just stay there, taking it all in without flinching.
<This was probably a bad idea> Max understands, before the two men counterattack by firing energy blasts from their hands.
Back at the police station
Noriko and Torn are following Agent Warden to a black van.
<You have no idea of how many strings I had to pull to push the F.B.I off the case.>
<Where are we going?> she asks.
<You ask too many questions.>
<I’m accustomed to know all the answers by default.>
<Well, welcome back to Earth then> Agent Warden says, opening the van’s door for Noriko.
<Wait> Torn adds, placing his hand on her shoulder to stop her.
<What?>
<That man is aiming at us> he says, looking at the nearby buildings. Noriko can’t see anything thanks to the sun’s glare, but she can hear the gunshot.
Torn shoves her aside, and she hits the floor with enough force to worry about a broken arm. Reacting faster than any human Torn creates a red energy sword into his left hand, and with a swift move he cuts the bullet in mid-air. Agent Warden hasn’t even had the time to draw his gun.
<Go> is the only word that Torn spares.
The sniper fires again; while the other people around him scream and scatter, Torn effortlessly catches the second bullet with his bare right hand.
He examines the wasted ammo for an instant. Then he looks up: it’s his turn to aim.
On the top of the nearest building, the sniper is aiming for Noriko again. A red chain of barbed wire appears out of nowhere, slicing his weapon into a thousand pieces.
Somewhere else in New York City
Quantum is gone and there’s a large hole in the wall. There’s no time to think: Kari’s instinct and training take over. The men who attacked Quantum are larger than her, but there’s only two of them. A dozen of her duplicates jump at the attackers, trying to overcome them by sheer numbers. But punches and kicks don’t seem to bother the nameless enemies; they toss Kari aside as if she weights nothing. When the duplicates hit the wall, the impact is hard enough to make them disappear.
One of the men calmly walks out of the the hole in the wall. The second one attempts to do the same, but Kari creates a duplicate directly on his shoulder to bite his ear. But no matter how hard she bites, the man doesn’t react. The ear comes off. Instead of blood, the man’s head bleeds a blue gooey substance.
<Εωω> Kari says with a disgusted look on her face.
Then Ramirez shots him in the head. Kari doesn’t ask how she was able to break free from the sheets while she wasn’t looking or how did she find her gun so quickly. She’s got a more pressing issue at hand: the man is still standing, with blue stuff pouring out of the bullet hole.
Agent Ramirez fires again and again, aiming for vital organs, but the man won’t stop. He lifts his right hand; something blue comes off its pores, solidifying into an exact replica of Ramirez’s gun.
When he shoots, Kari’s body disappears.
Agent Ramirez looks with disbelief at the duplicate vanishing, when another Kari grabs her wrist.
<Λετ’σ γο> she says, dragging Ramirez away from the Blue.
There are other Kari in the room, and they start multiplying.
Outside the police station
Noriko tries to push aside Agent Warden, who is at the same time shielding her with her body and holding on to her to make sure she doesn’t break free.
Torn still has his energy sword drawn, carefully keeping guard; it’s not easy with the chaos that sniper fire can bring into the city.
<I lost him. You shouldn’t have told me to not kill anybody> Torn says.
<Glad you take your promises seriously, but that thing probably isn’t alive> she answers, recalling last night’s fight.
<We should leave now; we don’t know if there’s any more of them> Agent Warden adds.
Just then, the sniper lands on the roof of the black van. The impact should’ve broken his legs, but instead his weight dents the vehicle’s body.
This time Agent Warden has the gun in his hand, but there’s no time to fire: the sniper is already aiming his own gun at Noriko.
A big red X cuts right through the man’s body, splashing body parts covered in blue goo into every direction, as if a grenade had just gone off inside the man’s guts.
<The #### are you doing!?> Noriko shuts.
<It’s an attack called “slash of life”. I didn’t have time to call it> Torn apologizes.
<This blue thing is a copy of the Many! What do you think’s gonna happen next!?>
As predicted, the body parts of the Blue are already recreating full copies of the body. Which means that Torn just multiplied the assassin by four. Agent Warden and the rest of the C.I.A. operatives open fire, having as much success as Ramirez.
<I’m surrounded by idiots> Noriko says, climbing inside the van followed by Agent Warden.
Somewhere else in New York City
Max Black a.k.a. Quantum turned instinctively into energy when the Blue blasted him through the wall; it’s the only thing that saved him from being disintegrated.
He turns back into human form in the middle of the street. A car brakes just in time to avoid hitting him; people in the street immediately start taking pictures with their cellphones. They hope to catch a glimpse of Quantum’s face, but even without his mask he’s unrecognizable: his face is literally brighter than the Sun. Just because the C.I.A. knows his secret identity doesn’t mean everybody should.
The Blue lands on the sidewalk; he’s just fine despite falling from the fourth floor. Quantum’s laser blasted through the black military gear, but he’s still bleeding a thick blue substance.
<Okay, so you’re not just uglier than the Many, you’re weirder. Let’s see how you like this> Quantum says before pointing his finger at the Blue, firing a lick laser at his head.
The Blue reacts by absorbing the energy and releasing it back with a blast coming out of his eyes. Quantum casually steps aside at the speed of light; all the Blue can do is dig a hole in the ground.
<Energy sponge? Look man, I’ve read enough comics to know how to beat someone like you.>
Quantum fires again at the Blue, but this time pouring a lot more energy into his attack. The Blue absorbs it like he’s supposed to; he can’t release it, though, because Quantum isn’t stopping. The Blue’s body quickly inflates horribly until it can’t take it anymore.
Overcharged, the Blue explodes into a million blue drops sprayed all over the street. Quantum crosses his arms to look more badass while the people cheer for him.
Then he hears a gunshot. He’s back into the hotel in the blink of an eye.
The room is filled with Kari duplicates; Quantum has to turn into X-rays to get to the hall on the other side, where the original Kari and Agent Ramirez have rounded up the male C.I.A. agents. They’re still out cold; Quantum makes a note to never get on Kari’s bad side.
<What happened? Where’s the Blue thing?> he asks.
<Στιλλ ταλκινγ αλιεν> Kari says.
<He’s under the Kari dogpile. I think he’s trying to shoot her…but your girlfriend’s duplicates keep vanishing> Agent Ramirez explains.
<Yeah, they pop out if you hit them hard enough.>
<What happened to the other guy?>
<I hit him hard enough> Quantum answers with a satisfied smirk on his face.
Kari takes Quantum aside, pointing at the room and saying with a very worried tone:
<Τηισ τηινγ’σ λικε τηε μανυ! Ωε νεεδ βαcκθπ, τηερε μαυ βε τηοθσανδσ βυ νοω!>
<What language is that? I don’t understand a word> Ramirez says.
<Makes two of us. Kari, slow down, in English!>
<Γοδσ ηελπ με. Do not…hit…by energy. They δθπλιcατε!!!>
<Uh-oh. I know that word; they say it all the time on Myridia.>
<What does it mean?>
<“Duplicate”> Quantum answers, turning into radio waves to get back outside.
The good news is that the street isn’t covered with blue goo anymore. The bad news is that there are now hundreds of Blue taking human form. The worse news is that the Blue is immune to energy attacks. The worst news is that they all want to kill Quantum.
<Some days, I miss Myridia.>
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