Chapter Ten: Paradox

"Okay," said The Super. "Let's do this." He stepped forward, leaning just a bit to look over the edge of the cliff. Below was a long, long, drop, and then desert expanded to the horizon. It was about noon, which made the day even hotter than it seemed. They were all sweating profusely, Cassandra looking completely exhausted, Rose with her jacket tied around her waist, and Alfonso refusing to take his off. Even though it was over one hundred degrees, he chose to keep his black leather on.

"I'm tired," Cassandra grumbled, like the eight year old she was. She could keep going, but she didn't want to. Her freckled face was bright red, caused by the fact that she didn't really sweat. At least, not like adults do. The blood rushing to her face made her cheeks feel extra hot, and her face felt fuzzy and distant, like right before you fall asleep. "Can we rest? Is there water?" She was the kind of person who could chug two liters of water before stopping to take a breath. It really clogged up the lines at the drinking fountains at school.

"Fine," said The Super. "I'll keep going. You guys decide whether or not to come with; She'll be able to catch up just fine, and maybe give you guys without powers a ride."

"Uh, yeah," said Alfonso, "that 'maybe' doesn't comfort me when we're standing in the middle of an Arizona desert. I'm going with you."

"Yeah, well," said Rose, "I'm staying. She may bug the heck out of me, but technically, she is me. I'll make sure she gets back all right. Thanks for looking out for her, Supes. You're a real role model."

"Why, thank–" he frowned, thinking a moment. "I hate sarcasm."

"Yup," said Rose, "that's the point. Now, run along. I want you home by midnight."

The Super opened his mouth to say something, closed it, and turned to grab hold of Alfonso. The two slowly descended to the ground far, far below Cassandra. Soon, they were just tiny dots, ants trying to cross the desert of a sidewalk. People are so much more tiny and insignificant than they think they are. Cassandra sighed, long, but short too, a puff of air that seemed to hang longer than it did.

"Now," said Rose, "let's get you something to drink." She reached into the pack she'd brought with her, and brought out a two-liter bottle of water, though the knapsack looked completely empty. It was as if she was Mary Poppins, pulling impossibly large things out of a tiny bag that weighed almost nothing,

"How did you–" she started.

"Sciency stuff from the future. Like a real-life Bag of Holding." A Bag of Holding was something that you could own in a roleplaying game like Dungeons and Dragons, basically a magically enhanced bag that could hold an almost infinite amount of objects. Cassandra had always known that science and magic were intertwined in fiction stories, but in real life? She'd always wished magic really existed. Writing letters to people like Santa or the Tooth Fairy, getting replies that had been kept in the fridge to seem like they'd come directly from the North Pole, or written with a parent's left hand to make it seem like a tiny person wrote with a pig pen. She was too critical, and wished for such things to be real. Maybe if she just trusted people a bit more, if she could just believe in things, it might all seem a bit more real. She huffed a laugh. This was coming from someone who discovered that some fantasies were real, that she had powers, and the powers of her most recent comic book creation, no less! She believed that. Why couldn't she believe in the Easter Bunny?

"You said.. You said that I bug the heck out of you. Why? Have I done something?"

"No!" said Rose. "It's just that... You don't seem right. Reality doesn't create people like you. Believe me; I've tried. Not on myself, of course, just with... experiments..." she trailed off, tried again. "The Super's planet, and the worlds closely surrounding it, are a space-time anomaly. They shouldn't exist, yet they do. That's why I came here, because I'm a scientist. I want to know what's making the world be like this."

"What does that have to do with–"

"You're not from this dimension. You're from a regular reality, one that follows the basic rules of mutation, and how gravity works. So why do you have these powers, and why discover them now, and not younger, or older? And don't think I didn't catch you, letting the others believe that you're a whole four years older than you really are. Sidenote: your hair bugs me, too. I had blond hair, too, but it went away by first grade. Mostly because none of my relatives had blond hair, I didn't get to retain it. So why would you have it, still? I mean, granted, you're only eight, but come on! Your hair going brown, that should've happened years ago," finished Rose.

"Uh," said Cassandra. "I've had these powers for a couple years now. Wasn't keeping very good track of exactly when. Why are you so focused on my hair? It's always been this color. Look, what happened was this: I found out I had powers one night. I got so excited I flew and flew, and lost myself in the city. I kept flying, hoping to find someone I knew, and suddenly, this window just opened up right in front of me, in the middle of the sky, and I couldn't stop myself from going into it. Suddenly I was in this different world, where people flew around like I did, and then I saw someone I recognized. The Super."

"Wait, what? I thought you'd never been to this dimension?" interrupted Rose.

"I hadn't," said Cassandra. "But, I had recently started drawing comics, before this all happened. And one day, I was doodling up characters, and I came up with–"

"The Super."

"Yup," said Cassandra. "Weird, huh?"

"Crap," muttered Rose.

"What? What is it?"

"You don't have superpowers," said Rose. "You've never met the Super, and technically, you're not even talking to me right now."

"What? Yeah, I am, you're right here."

"Why can I be so stupid sometimes?" shouted Rose. "This is bad, really, really bad. I don't know what will really have an affect and what won't–"

"What are you talking about?" asked Cassandra.

"You're not really here," said Rose. "You're comatose, back on your Earth. Have been for one or two years. Maybe three. The question is, why would someone–"

"What? Why would they what?" asked Cassandra, freaking out, hyperventilating slightly.

"Someone wanted you to know about The Super, or was trying to warn you that he was in danger and that he needed your help. They started sending you messages in your dreams, the kind of dreams you forget about. But they tried so hard, your brain started remembering The Super. More of a shadow really, just bits and pieces, but you knew there was something there. You started making comics, drawing him, and then BOOM– one night you just fell into a coma. I don't know why, and I get the feeling you don't either, so I won't bother you with questions."

"Wha– you expect me to believe all this?" asked Cassandra.

"Of course not," replied Rose. "I expect you to think about it. And then make some very important life decisions." She turned away, mumbling to herself. "Who would try to contact such a little girl? Does she have special potential? Is it just random? And why? That's a good question to ask. It could be someone from the future, which would mean that it wasn't random and they chose her specifically because she becomes important one day... What for? And what kind of person would have time travel?" She started fiddling with a watch-like device on her wrist, thinking hard, and then all of a sudden froze. "No," she said smiling a bit, staring at the thing attached to her arm. "Wait, yes. Ah, yes! Wow, that's really something. Can't believe I never thought of it earlier! Which means... ah, yes, of course..." She was grinning ear to ear now. "I'm so brilliant sometimes."

"What do you mean? What's that–thing– on your wrist?" asked Cassandra.

"This," said Rose, holding it up, "is a Space-Hacker. Sometimes known as a Vortex Manipulator. It can put anyone wearing it at any point in time or space the wearer chooses. Basically, I can travel in time. And go wherever I want. I could hop back to Earth right now, if I wanted to."

"But what does it have to do with me?"

"Right now? I'd say... nothing. But it might, later on. Can't tell you much about it, though, seeing as how... ah, but that'd be a spoiler. Don't you just hate those?"

"Those what?" asked Cassandra. Rose was making less and less sense the more she talked.

"Spoilers. When someone tells you that the main character dies before you get to that part. It's really annoying. Anyway, you feeling better?"

"Uh, yeah," said Cassandra.

"Then let's get moving, shall we?"




Hooray! This post took longer than I anticipated, and I never actually got around to writing the part I actually wanted to. It got interrupted by the paradox. I don't know how much of you will see it yet. I'll wait for your understanding. Or not understanding, that works too. Just send me feedback, please?

I'm totally exhausted from all this writing. I'm going to go to sleep. See you in the next post.

               PolarFarina