Chapter 62 – Across worlds
London, 2015.
The rain fell softly against the windows of a small apartment above an antique shop on Baker Street. Inside, the lights were low, a single lamp illuminated a desk cluttered with old maps, faded parchments, and neatly labeled relics.
Diana Prince sat quietly at a small table near the window, a cup of tea steaming beside her. The faint notes of classical music played from a nearby radio, its static blending with the patter of rain.
It was peaceful, the kind of peace she had grown accustomed to. The kind born not from joy, but from distance.
She turned a newspaper page with one finger.
Another headline, another war.
Different uniforms, same faces. The same hunger for power and destruction that had taken Steve Trevor a century ago.
Humanity had advanced, but its soul hadn't.
Now, she lived quietly, working as a cultural antiquities dealer. Museums, collectors, and historians came to her for insight on ancient civilizations. They knew her as a refined scholar, a woman who preferred solitude and candlelight over interviews or photographs.
They never suspected who she truly was.
The truth was, Diana had long stepped away from the public eye. She no longer stood in battlefields or in front of cameras. The world had enough heroes in masks and governments chasing weapons. She still helped, of course, quietly. An earthquake in Chile, a burning library in Istanbul, lives saved, relics preserved, with no trace left behind.
It was easier this way. Easier than watching humanity repeat its own mistakes.
She took another sip of tea, eyes drifting toward an oil painting she had yet to catalog, a sunrise over a misty valley. Soft, faded, beautiful. It reminded her of Themyscira.
Then, a sound.
A ding.
Not from the room, not from any device. It rang directly inside her mind, a soft chime that silenced everything else.
She froze, eyes narrowing. A moment later, something appeared before her, suspended in the air, bright and faintly translucent, like starlight woven into glass.
[Wonder Woman has joined the group chat.]
[System: The group now has over five members.]
[New Feature Unlocked: Identification System]
[Identification – allows members to access basic information about any selected individual or object.]
Her hand hovered near her bracelet out of instinct. The text didn't feel magical, not divine either. No trace of Olympus, no whisper of gods.
It was… something else.
Before she could analyze further, the panel shifted. Lines of glowing text began appearing rapidly, like a flurry of voices reaching across worlds.
[Naruto: Ohh! A new member!]
[Tony: Wonder Woman, huh? Interesting name.]
[Saeko: Don't worry, Wonder Woman. This isn't a hallucination. we are from different worlds.]
[Mindy: Yeah, it's real. I thought it was too at first.]
[Naruto: I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Nice to meet ya!]
Diana blinked.
Names. Faces unseen. Words from nowhere.
She felt no hostility in them, only a strange kind of warmth.
She hesitated, then finally replied.
[Diana: I am Diana Prince. I work in cultural antiquities. I specialize in ancient civilizations and artifacts.]
A short pause followed.
Then, another message popped up.
[Tony: Cultural antiquities, huh? Sounds normal… a little too normal.]
Diana's lips curved faintly.
Whoever "Tony" was, he reminded her of men she'd met before, the clever kind, masking curiosity with humor.
Another message appeared.
[Naruto: Awesome! Is that like when you find old stuff and fix it up?]
[Diana: (smiling) Something like that.]
The tone of the chat lightened. Diana found herself watching in quiet amusement as the others exchanged quick, casual lines.
Then one more name appeared.
Gaius remains quiet, and just watches them chatting until Tony pings him.
[Tony: @Gaius — a new member joined.]
[Gaius: I am Gaius Maximor Thassor. Greetings.]
Diana straightened slightly at the name. Gaius Maximor Thassor.
It sounded ancient. Roman, perhaps, or something older. His tone carried the weight of command, even in a single line.
"Who are you people…" she murmured softly, though she doubted anyone could hear her.
The messages continued, more curious now.
[Tony: Guys, the system says we unlocked something called 'Identification.']
[Tony: I tried it on my chest piece.]
Diana tilted her head. She wasn't sure what he meant until the chat displayed a new message block.
Arc Reactor: An advanced clean energy device created by Tony Stark after synthesizing a new element derived from his father's research. Its energy signature mirrors that of the Tesseract, the Space Stone. Stable, limitless, and self-sustaining.
She frowned slightly. The technology described seemed extraordinary, but what caught her eye were the words Tesseract and Space Stone. is it artifacts?
Tony replied again.
[Tony: Okay, I have no idea what that 'Space Stone' and 'Tesseract' thing is, but sure.]
Diana chuckled quietly at his humor.
Then Naruto's message appeared, full of excitement.
[Naruto: I tried it too! Look, it shows my shuriken!]
An image followed, a boy's hand holding a metal star.
Shuriken (Standard Ninja Throwing Star): A traditional shinobi weapon crafted from tempered steel and precisely balanced for flight. Can be infused with chakra to enhance speed, cutting power, and accuracy.
More voices followed, testing, laughing, experimenting.
Curious now, Diana focused on the antique painting near her. She thought the word Identification silently.
A soft shimmer filled her vision.
"Whispers of the Dawn" (Oil Painting by Elias Moreau): An early 18th-century work depicting a sunrise over a mist-shrouded valley. Time has softened its colors into warm amber and gold, fine cracks marking its surface like veins of age. The reclusive painter's identity remains unknown, but his art captures the melancholy beauty of fading eras.
She blinked once, impressed. "Accurate," she murmured. "Almost poetic."
Her mind was already analyzing. Whatever this system was, it functioned beyond science or magic, perhaps something in between. A link between realities, bound by no god or technology she knew.
The chat continued.
[Tony: Guys, looks like it can identify anything. That's… a little terrifying, actually.]
[Mindy: So… if Gaius ever broadcasts again, we could know what his stuff really is, right?]
The group went silent.
Even Diana paused, whoever Gaius was, he seemed to draw a certain reverence.
Tony broke the quiet.
[Tony: cough cough So, Gaius… on a mission right now?]
[Gaius: I am indeed on a mission.]
[Saeko: Since you are, why not broadcast it again? The new feature might help us understand more of your world.]
Diana leaned slightly forward, intrigued.
A "broadcast"? So they could see into each other's worlds?
Gaius pauses before responding. He knows where he's headed, a corrupted world, tainted by Chaos. The Warp might twist whatever connection this "chat" uses.
But the system has proven itself beyond comprehension, even the Emperor once within him could not sense its origin or power.
Finally, he agrees.
[Gaius: Very well. I will broadcast it.]
The chat came alive, text flashing, icons appearing, everyone speaking at once.
[Naruto: Woah! Let's gooo!]
[Tony: Finally.]
[Mindy: Awesome, i been itching to watch Gaius World again.]
[Saeko: We'll observe carefully.]
Diana smiled faintly.
She leaned back, sipping her tea as the rain outside softened to a drizzle.
Across the window, the streetlights shimmered on the wet pavement. Somewhere out there, the world kept spinning, wars, greed, and chaos continuing as they always had.
But tonight, something different stirred.
Across universes, connections formed, voices reaching each other through a mysterious link.
As the faint hum of the system pulsed in her mind as the members continued chatting, Diana whispered softly to herself:
"Across worlds…."
And somewhere far away, aboard a rising Thunderhawk in a galaxy unknown to her, Gaius began his broadcast.
~~~
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