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Godolkin University, campus sports field.
Cate Dunlap was currently watching her boyfriend, Golden Boy Luke, and her good friend Andrew train on the campus sports field.
This world's Cate, without Kevin's involvement, was still following her original path.
Being adopted by Indira, dating Golden Boy Luke, brainwashing Luke to make him forget his brother...
Everything was proceeding step by step according to the plot.
If there were no accidents, her future in this world would still be the same as her original fate.
Releasing the Supes from The Woods, causing a massacre of ordinary people within Godolkin University, then being stopped by the rumored female protagonist Marie, and finally being taken away by Homelander.
This was her original fate.
But today, the fate of this world's Cate finally began to deviate.
Sitting at the very front of the spectator stands, watching her boyfriend Luke and good friend Andrew train, she suddenly noticed a blue light appearing beside her.
And when Cate noticed the blue light and turned to look, she found that the blue light had already transformed into a man-sized halo.
And from within the halo, a young man in a suit walked out.
"!?"
The man's sudden appearance stunned Cate, and also stunned Luke and Andrew on the sports field at the same time.
But before Cate could be stunned for long, she heard the man say directly:
"Cate Dunlap, I need your help."
"What?"
Cate's expression was bewildered upon hearing this.
A strange man suddenly appeared and immediately asked for her help; anyone would find that odd.
But the man didn't give Cate time to respond.
He was merely telling Cate what he was going to do, not asking for her opinion.
So, before Cate could figure out whether to agree to help or not, or even to tell him to get lost, a halo identical to the blue one she had just seen appeared beneath her feet.
A sensation of weightlessness came, and Cate instantly vanished within the halo.
The brief fall made Cate instinctively close her eyes.
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in the captain's cabin of an abandoned cruise ship.
And before her eyes, a blurred man, bound by gray ropes, was kneeling.
When she saw the man's appearance, Cate instinctively took two steps back.
Because the man in her eyes looked almost identical to a faceless man from a horror movie!
Anyone seeing a guy like that would be startled, right?
As Cate stared at the man warily and fearfully, the blue halo appeared again, and the suit-wearing man who had just abducted Cate reappeared before her.
He didn't explain the current situation to Cate, nor did he tell her what was going on; he simply ordered Cate as soon as he arrived:
"Now use your ability to look into his thoughts! Immediately!"
"Screw you!" Cate, with her back against the wall, didn't even think before cursing at the man in front of her:
"Who do you think you are? Why should I listen to you?"
"Because I am the highest person in charge of The Woods! Because you are now a mandatory employee of Vought! Alright, I don't have time to waste words with you. If you don't want your boyfriend Luke to know what you did to him, now, immediately, do as I say!"
The man spoke in a low, angry voice, scolding Cate.
Cate's originally angry expression instantly turned to panic.
The highest person in charge of The Woods—that identity alone was enough to make Cate listen to him.
Not to mention he was also threatening her boyfriend.
Suppressing her temper, Cate looked at the man in the suit, then at the faceless man kneeling on the ground, and hesitated, saying:
"When I use my ability, I need to get Indira's permission..."
"I'll talk to Indira! Now stop talking nonsense!"
The man came to Cate's side, grabbing her hand without hesitation and looking towards the faceless man.
The moment the man touched Cate's wrist, Cate immediately activated her ability, wanting to control him, or at least read his thoughts, to confirm his identity as the 'highest person in charge of The Woods.'
But the next second Cate activated her ability, she was shocked to find that she couldn't invade his thoughts at all!
Forget about controlling him, she couldn't even read his thoughts!
She could only watch as the man pulled her in front of the faceless man and placed her hand on his forehead.
Cate had no choice; she couldn't control the man in the suit with her ability, nor could she escape from here.
Plus, the other party might be related to The Woods, being the highest person in charge of The Woods, so Cate could only obey his command and activate her ability to search the faceless man's memories.
However, upon seeing the faceless man's memories, Cate instantly forgot her own predicament.
Her eyes turned completely black, and within those dark eyes, specks of starlight flickered, as if countless stars were flowing before her eyes.
"This... this is... what...?"
Cate's voice trembled, carrying an unspeakable fear.
Because of fear, Cate tried to pull her hand back from the faceless man's forehead, but then she found that her hand was attracted to it, as if it were stuck, and she couldn't pull it away no matter what.
Kevin, seeing that something was wrong, immediately stepped forward and tried to use his spatial ability to stabilize Cate's state, but the next second he saw Cate suddenly shift her gaze to Kevin and directly speak Kevin's name.
"...You are... Kevin?"
"...?"
Kevin was astonished. He gazed into Cate's eyes, hesitated for a second, and then stepped forward again to stabilize the turbulent space.
"Cate?"
After confirming that the space here would not have problems for the time being, Kevin called out Cate's name.
But he was not calling out to the Cate of this world, but to the Cate from the original world, whose destiny Kevin had already changed.
Although the Cate in front of him had no change in appearance or clothing, it was clear that her inner self had changed due to the current special circumstances.
"Kevin... what exactly... is going on? Why... why are you here? Do you know we've been looking for you for days?"
As soon as Cate saw Kevin, she began to question him.
Through Cate's words, Kevin finally confirmed that when he returned to this The Boys world, time in the other The Boys world also began to flow.
However long Kevin stayed here, that's how long passed in the other world.
But none of that was important right now. Kevin simply replied to Cate:
"I'll tell you about these things when I get back later! For now, help me look at his memories!"
"His memories..."
Cate turned to look at the faceless man, and as her ability activated, the faceless man's memories began to pour into Cate's mind:
"Oh... my God... Oh, my God!"
"What exactly did you see!?"
"Parallel worlds... I saw countless parallel worlds intertwining, like... a chaotic ball of yarn tangled together... Worlds colliding... Worlds being destroyed..."
Cate described everything she saw, and the more she described, the more static there was in her voice, as if countless versions of her were speaking the same thing at once.
This was a sign that she was about to merge with her parallel world counterpart!
Realizing this, Kevin no longer waited. He immediately stepped forward, grabbed Cate's arm, and used his spatial ability to forcefully separate Cate's hand from Flashback's head.
Thud.
A slight thud of something falling to the ground was heard. When Cate and Flashback separated, Flashback's body lost its support and fell backward onto the ground.
Kevin didn't bother with Flashback; he held Cate, patting her cheek:
"Hey, Cate? Are you okay? Do you still remember who I am? Cate!?"
"Ugh... Kevin...?"
Cate murmured Kevin's name, which made Kevin's heart sink.
He wondered if his interruption of her contact with the faceless man had caused her thoughts to swap with another Cate.
But no sooner had he thought this than, less than two seconds later, Cate suddenly pushed Kevin away and quickly retreated backward, stopping only when she hit the wall of the cabin.
She stared, her eyes wide with terror and confusion, at Kevin:
"Kevin... Who is that? No, who are you? Why do I know your name? Oh my God... I... I think I just saw another me..."
...It's okay now.
Seeing that Cate's reaction didn't seem feigned, Kevin, on the contrary, breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed that Cate was able to call out Kevin's name just now because the memories of another Cate had inadvertently flowed into this Cate's mind.
That's why she knew Kevin's name.
It didn't mean she had swapped memories and thoughts with another version of herself.
"Sit here properly. I'll send you back later."
Kevin, having confirmed that Cate was fine and, through the description of another Cate, knowing what Flashback had hidden in his mind, lost interest in this Cate.
He treated Cate like a useless tool, casually telling her to find a place to sit down.
He then went to Flashback, who was lying on the ground, and squatted down to look at him.
Perhaps due to Cate's memory intrusion, Flashback's consciousness was no longer as chaotic as before; although the blurring of his body due to fusion still existed, he could at least converse normally.
Kevin patted his cheek and asked, "Hey, still alive?"
"...Kill... me."
"Is the one who wants to die the one controlling your body now?"
Kevin remembered that when he last saw Flashback, his words were extremely chaotic.
There were those who wanted to die, those who wanted to live, and those who complained about Compound V, as well as saying that everyone was doomed.
It was precisely because he couldn't communicate at that time, and he kept talking about parallel worlds colliding, that Kevin had no choice but to go to Godolkin University to find Cate.
Originally, Kevin wanted to find Mezmer, another telepath, but Mezmer in this world had already been killed by Butcher, so Kevin could only go to Cate.
Now that Cate had read what Kevin wanted from Flashback's brain, Flashback also seemed to have recovered to some extent, and communication appeared to be unhindered.
It was normal for Flashback to wish for death.
Although his appearance was barely presentable, his internal organs and brain were likely already in a state of fusion.
His life had already entered a countdown, and he might even be in unbearable pain all over, so wanting to die was quite normal.
Kevin placed his hand on his head, ready to activate his ability at any moment, and said to him, "I'll give you a quick end, but you need to tell me what exactly is going on. Was this spatial chaos caused by your ability?"
"I... don't have such strong abilities..."
Flashback spoke with difficulty, his voice pained, "It wasn't me who caused the chaos here, it was... it was chaos that already existed. I merely... merely provided the opportunity for it to appear..."
It should be like this.
Although the Supes in the The Boys world possess powerful abilities, such as Homelander and Stormfront, or Soldier Boy and others.
Most of them are manifested in physical strength.
There are very few abilities involving time and space, and even if there were, it would be impossible to cause the overlapping impact of several worlds.
Flashback's ability was also like this.
He didn't cause the great collision of parallel worlds; rather, the great collision already existed. Flashback was just very unlucky to become the core ability user connecting the critical point of the collision, which is why the inside of the cruise ship became what it is now.
Understanding the key, Kevin asked again, "Can you see those chaotic parallel universes?"
"Before... I couldn't see them, but recently I can... especially a few days ago... space... was dislocated again... and my ability, it started to... lose control at that time..."
A few days ago...
Kevin estimated the time.
That was around the time he brought Barry to the The Boys world!
Good, now all the puzzles are solved.
It was Kevin bringing Barry to the The Boys Universe that caused the already gradually chaotic Black Robe parallel universes to run wild like unbridled horses across the long timeline.
And as time went on, the impact grew larger and larger.
If it were just that, Flashback shouldn't have been in such a state.
But today...
Barry was brought to the abandoned cruise ship by Ghost.
A singularity not belonging to this world, encountering Flashback, who could exchange between parallel worlds, generated a unique energy reaction between them.
This led to the chaotic space inside the cruise ship, and countless parallel worlds began to intersect with the cruise ship as the center.
Until Kevin returned and used the newly 'created' magic to resolve this crisis.
In other words, strictly speaking, this whole situation was still Kevin's fault.
"...I'm sorry."
Understanding the cause of the matter, Kevin sighed and apologized to Flashback.
If he hadn't brought Barry over, perhaps Flashback wouldn't be experiencing this pain now.
But Flashback didn't seem to care about these things, or rather, he couldn't even imagine that it was Kevin's fault. Unable to bear the fusion of multiple parallel universes, he made one last plea to Kevin:
"...Kill me."
"Do you have any last wishes you want to fulfill? I can't save you, but I can grant some of your requests."
"...Help me... take care of Ghost... Thank you."
Flashback uttered his last wish and then fell silent.
He was still alive, waiting for Kevin to give him the final release.
Nodding slightly, Kevin's finger touched Flashback's brow:
"I promise you."
With that, Kevin, using his usual method, manipulated the blood in Flashback's brain, scrambling his brain, which was a mixture of individuals from different parallel worlds, granting him release.
The negligible increase in skill points proved that Flashback's fate should not have ended here.
But Kevin, who had already changed the fates of countless people, did not have much emotional fluctuation about this.
If anything, it was only a slight guilt towards Flashback.
Flashback's death caused the spatial chaos, which had arisen due to Flashback's existence, to gradually subside.
Kevin performed the final repairs on the space inside the cruise ship, then turned to Cate and said, "I'm sorry for calling you over so late. Did I scare you? Don't worry, I'll send you back very soon."
"W-what exactly is going on!? Who... who are you...? What was that I just saw? Why did I seem to see another me? All of this..."
"Miss Dunlap, you're talking a bit too much. Go back; your boyfriend is waiting for you."
A little fed up with Cate's rambling, Kevin, not intending to explain anything to her, snapped his fingers, creating a portal to Godolkin University behind her.
In a blink of an eye, Cate, who had been incessantly questioning, vanished from the ship's cabin, returning from whence she came.
Kevin's act of treating Cate like a worn-out rag, used and discarded, truly gave off a scumbag vibe.
However, Kevin would never admit to such a thing, and he wasn't in the mood to think about it now.
After collecting Flashback's body and confirming that the space inside the cruise ship was stable, Kevin opened the portal and returned to Mallory's villa.
Now that it was confirmed that the root cause of the further chaos in the parallel worlds lay with Barry, simply bringing Barry back should temporarily stabilize the chaos in the The Boys world.
However, this would only be a temporary solution. To completely resolve the crisis currently facing the The Boys world, Kevin still needed to find another way.
...
"You... really don't need my help anymore?"
The next morning, as Kevin was preparing to send Barry back after letting him rest, he heard Barry's question before leaving.
Kevin was conceptualizing magic patterns and replied without turning his head, "No need. I've probably found a way back, and you've also regained your Speed Force, so there's no need to stay here any longer."
"...Sounds like you're trying to get rid of me."
"Your imagination. Alright, are you ready?"
Kevin, having adjusted the magic patterns, put a watch covered in them on his wrist and turned to ask Barry.
Barry's gaze involuntarily fell on Kevin's watch:
"Ready... I am ready, but what is that you're wearing on your wrist? Are you sure I don't need to wear one?"
"It's a device I use to record some things; it has nothing to do with you. And the 'ready' I asked about wasn't about taking you back. I was asking, are you ready to change your world's timeline back?"
Barry would face a crucial decision upon his return.
That was to rewrite the timeline of the DC movie universe.
At the very least, Barry had to change the timeline of his own universe, forcing his mother, who had been saved with such difficulty, to face the fate of death again.
Hearing Kevin's question, Barry's mouth opened slightly, and he couldn't give an answer for a long time.
But suddenly, Barry seemed to remember something. He abruptly looked up at Kevin:
"...Oh right, I remember you said you had a way to save my mother. You said you'd tell me what to do only after I recovered my Speed Force. Now I've recovered my Speed Force, so you should tell me the answer to that question, right?"
Barry looked at Kevin with a pleading gaze.
It was only then that Barry remembered Kevin had once told him that Kevin had a way to save his mother.
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars for advance chapters | Every 100 powerstones=1 extra chapter | Report issues @discord.com/GVBdncd9Wr | 16 novels being updated, I can't read all comments