Across the Universe

“What do you mean? What is it?” Jinx and Bruce echoed the sentiment repeatedly in Scarlett’s earpiece but she was no longer interested in finding a way out of her uncomfortable mission. They continued to bicker over the radio over whether or not Scarlett was always that cryptic but their conversation feel on deaf ears for even Captain America wasn’t acknowledging the chatter. All anger and frustration between the two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on the field had been forgotten and replaced by fascination for what was now transpiring in the park.

Steve approached cautiously around the perimeter of the strange object, careful not to get too close to it. They didn’t know what it was after all or what had caused the strange light phenomenon to begin with. Scarlett was theorizing in her mind how such a thing could happen naturally. Of course, light phenomenon happened all the time. Half of the reports for UFOs and alien sightings around the world were due to just the right combinations of humidity and cold air combining to create astounding shows of electricity.

But there was nothing that night to account for what they were seeing, at least not that she could think of. The strange orb of light seemed to grow and stretch as though being pulled from the inside by imaginary hooks on either side. Scarlett walked straight toward it; she didn’t see the point of avoiding it. If this was indeed caused by the radiation phenomenon that Bruce Banner had earlier detected and equipped her to track down then it wouldn’t last long and they needed as much information as they could get. There was little time to be cautious. She half expected Steve to scold her for rushing toward it but he was as confused as she was and kept his distance while she approached. Even though he wasn’t at her side Scarlett knew that he had her back if something went wrong.

Civilians, mostly students, walking by on their way to the event down the street or to the only coffee shop on the strip that seemed to be open near the open expanse of faded yellowed grass in the park across the street had stopped to stare curiously. There were astounded murmurs spreading around the area as the small crowd drew closer to get a better look at the strange light show. But none were as eager to see what the source was as Scarlett. The dying light of the sun in the sky only made the glow in the park seem more astounding. Purples and orange hues fading into darkness triggered the lamps surrounding the park to activate and only add to the surreal glow.

Within the strange yellowish glow there was something moving, something dark and fluid. Scarlett couldn’t help but be reminded of liquid mercury and it was the very first thing that caused her to hesitate. What if the radiation they detected was what remained after this odd phenomenon occurred? Walking any closer to it could leave her toxic and sick. That was the last thing she needed on a day like today. Then again, the device she still kept in her pocket wasn’t screaming at her in warning to get away either so Scarlett thought the risk was worth taking.

The crowd grew larger as the glowing light spread but remained floating several feet above the ground. She could hear Steve behind her warning people to keep their distance from the glow but very few people were choosing to listen to the directions of a man wearing red, white, and blue spandex and carrying an actual shield. Most people thought he was likely a fanatic dressing up in costume rather than the real deal.

The dark rippling metallic like substance within the glow spread as though forming rivers and veins throughout the yellow light, making it look almost diseased and as though it were dying. Finally she could hear Steve behind her commanding people to remain behind the sidewalk just in case and it seemed as though people were at last listening since no one was close to Scarlett at this point. Dark lines that flowed like a web through something so beautiful seemed sinister.

“What on earth…” Scarlett whispered and stole a glance behind her to find Steve cautiously approaching, his shield held just as warily in front of him. Despite their arguments she somehow knew that she could look to him to back her up if something unsettling happened. Curiosity was more apparent than fear at this moment. The phenomenon was nearly ten feet tall now, stretching a mere three feet wide.

“What is it? It looks toxic.” Steve’s words seemed muffled over the rush of thoughts in Scarlett’s mind. But Scarlett didn’t answer, mostly because she didn’t have any idea what it could possibly be. Something told her it wasn’t of this earth and that scared her. Never before had she considered the possibility of something outside of their realm because it was just so damn illogical. Not to mention there was still so much to discover on their planet that thinking of anything outside of it seemed overwhelming.

Unfortunately it didn’t seem she had the privilege of ignorance any longer. Scarlett reached her hand out to touch the strange liquid and ignored Steve’s immediate warnings not to do just that. When her fingers at long last brushed against what should’ve been liquid she instead felt a flat solid surface form beneath her hand. As she rested her hand flat on the strange rippling metal spreading throughout what had once been a beautiful halo of light floating over the ground an ear splitting snap, as though of a whip, cracked through the air forcing bystanders to cover their ears.

Scarlett winced and heard ringing in her ears but was too enraptured by what had become of the seemingly fluid material in front of her. From her palm the liquid seemed to flatten out and harden, seemingly becoming glass. Once the ringing in her ears had subsided she could hear the crackling sound of glass breaking but saw nothing of the sort. Beneath her hand the material grew cold and uncomfortable but Scarlett refused to remove her fingers from it, wanting to see what would happen next.

It no longer rippled, no longer shone with a halo of light except for around the edges which were now a dark haunting blue. Her gaze was immediately drawn back to the metal which changed rapidly. Scarlett could see strange reflections appear, first only around her palm and then slowly spreading throughout the mirror. The reflections came in flickers rather than a steady apparition and it only further confused Scarlett.

Reflected in front of her, instead of the park, were beautiful stars over surreal golden architecture beyond Scarlett’s realm of understanding. She’d never seen anything like it, not even in the most sophisticated cities in the world. It was straight from a science fiction movie, beautiful arches and seemingly mathematically impossible structures hovering behind over a starry backdrop, every color she could imagine reflected through the starry sky.

Within the spotty reflection formed a black mass, becoming a shadow in front of her. When it took form Scarlett could swear she saw herself staring back. It was like the liquid had become a very strange mirror, showing her something hidden within her own world. The woman, the other Scarlett, stared just as transfixed but somehow very different in front of her. If she hadn’t known it was her own reflection she wouldn’t have guessed it to be. Her eyes were different, her clothing was different, and in her hand she held something long and dark but the flickering reflection was still indistinguishable in some parts and left Scarlett flummoxed.

When Scarlett turned to see where Steve stood she saw that he was only a few feet away. He should’ve been reflected in the mirror but there was no one else there except more shadows. Even as she looked back at the woman with wavy chocolate brown hair staring back at her Scarlett knew something was horribly wrong with what was reflected.

“Jinx there’s some kind of weird mirror here.” Scarlett finally acknowledged the radio chatter in her ear and it at once stopped. “It appeared, like a tear through fabric in the air. It’s not a normal mirror. It’s not showing a reflection of anything I’ve ever seen before.” Steve nodded absentmindedly next to her. He could see the strange vision of Scarlett reflected and wondered if it had something to do with her touch against the glass. The crowd of onlookers were stunned in place, each unsure of what they were seeing in front of them. Even the chatter of bugs and birds seemed to have silenced at the sight of the unnatural phenomenon.

When Steve made a move to touch the glass to see what would happen the strange woman, the other Scarlett reflected in front of them, changed. Her face twisted, scars spread across her face and neck and her dark lips curled into a maniacal grin. Immediately Steve withdrew his hand and took a defensive step backwards. Scarlett pulled her hand away but the reflection of the woman stayed, staring maliciously and not pulling her gaze away from her counterpart. The dark mass in her other hand shone green and revealed a long menacing staff. Marks along the handle led Scarlett to believe it had seen many a battle. At the end was fixed a blade and it was stained with either rust or blood and Scarlett guessed it was the latter.

She swung the staff toward the glass and when it hit the mirror with a thwack it didn’t pass through. A second swing and the mirror cracked along the inside but instead of shattering became once again the fluid rippling material that it had once been. The tip of the staff passed through but was pushed back as though by an invisible force. However, the power emitting from the staff did not return to its owner. Instead energy, white hot as fire and as bright as lightning cracked loudly, making the earth beneath them shake.

Bystanders cried out in terror and some even lost their balance. Others covered their ears and ran for cover. The lightning struck around her threateningly but didn’t hurt her.

“Move!” Scarlett jumped out of the way as a second blast of lightning blasted toward her just in time and rolled back to her feet with ease. It didn’t matter what fascinating things were happening on the other side of that reflection, there were too many civilians and the situation was too volatile. She pointed to Steve and with such urgency that he didn’t question her, not even for a second. “Evacuate the area! Now!” Muffled laughter from the liquid reflection left a chill down her spine. Even the sound of her own voice was distorted. This mirror version of her had to be an illusion to freak her out and it was sure as hell working. “Get the bystanders out of the way! Tell them to take refuge! That shop nearby! See if they have a storm cellar for the building! Go! Go!”

The rippling hastened and then it seemed as though the very element that had created it began to tear and spread open, making what was once a mirror now a gaping hole. The force that had once stopped the woman’s staff from passing through was no longer there and she stepped forward through the portal, parts of her wrapped in shadow and obscuring her from view. When she opened her mouth to breathe it sounded pained and horrible. A rush of horrible sounds from the other realm echoed around her. Despite the world having appeared so beautiful Scarlett and Steve were overwhelmed by the sounds of screams and torture. Something horrifying was going on past the mirror.

Scarlett knew she had to distract whatever this woman was. The outer rim of the portal between the mirrored world and her own seemed to crack along the outside but as the pieces fell away it didn’t return to the Pennsylvania sky line but rather another strange reflection Scarlett didn’t have the time to make out, this time glowing a friendly blue. It reminded her very much of Tony’s reactor. Jinx and Bruce were still talking in her ear, trying to figure out what was happening. Bruce was screaming about strange readings coming from the device he’d sent her along with but the whole notion of collecting data at the moment was out of the question.

“Oh, I hope this works.” Scarlett muttered and held up her left arm where the Tesla glove was currently lodged. She brushed her fingers over the bottom and revealed and interactive screen that came to life with only her touch and pressed several buttons. With a few clicks the Tesla device sprung to life and as she swung her hand forward gears and pistons sprang to life. Pieces of the same metal the glove had been rebuilt with unfolded into a three foot long blade. The metal was sharpened on one end and stayed steady together in the sword shape she’d designed it in. She hadn’t yet tested the new features of her glove but she’d known she’d needed a better close combat weapon than just a taser.

The device had come alive just in time as the darker version of Scarlett swung the wicked looking staff at her once again! Cracks of lightning from the sky that had only seconds ago been free of clouds sprang around the end of the staff, created by the woman in front of her. She swung the staff wildly at Scarlett again, forcing her to bend underneath the force pressed upon her. Each crash of the staff was followed with a crack of lightning that destroyed parts of the ground nearby and even set a tree on fire. Her left arm, already pained by the wound received the night before, weakened under the weight and she was forced to lean back with each blow.

Sensing her weakness the mirrored woman swung the staff over and over again. The lightning from the top of it cracked and struck the ground, setting the grass on fire in places but it was quickly extinguished thanks to the humidity in the air brought on by the very storm the strange woman was brewing. Thunder rumbled across the sky with each unnatural shock of lightning brought down by the staff.

Steve had seen many strange things during his time as Captain America but this was definitely one of the stranger instances. He ran around the perimeter of the park, guiding people to follow others who had taken the lead into the building across the way after Scarlett had shouted orders. How safe they would be in there, he wasn’t sure but it had to be better than being out in the street. As Scarlett crumpled closer to the ground each time the staff and sword met in a clash of lightning he knew he had little time left before he had to jump to her aid. The blows were hitting her so hard that her feet were digging into the dirt and he could practically feel the ache she exhibited.

“Move!” Steve shouted when the lightning spread its destruction further around Scarlett and closer to the few remaining bystanders who had been awestruck in place or refused to go into hiding. He leapt in front of a man who was trying to get a better look at the phenomenon and snap pictures with his phone and held his shield in front of him. His feet dug into the ground and he slid backwards and had to crouch as his feet were forced across the concrete beneath him by the force of the lightning hitting his shield! His hands shook and stung from the contact with his now electrified shield but he gritted his teeth and waited for the blow to at last pass and dealt with the pain.

Then he turned about face, grabbed the phone from the onlooker’s hand and threw it to the ground giving his best look of disapproval to the onlooker who then retreated across the street and toward the strip mall with the others. The lightning and howling screams through the mirror were so loud there was no way they could argue.

Scarlett was barely able to remain upright against the strength of the mirror version of herself which had to be inhuman. She knew, deep within, that this mirrored version of herself was not actually her but it was disorienting to say the least. Knowing she’d fall to the ground if she took another blow from the staff Scarlett instead leapt to the side, ducked around the woman and stepped dangerously close to the portal before striking hard with the blade that extended from her Tesla glove.

The blade pierced her back but she quickly pulled free of it and swung her staff artfully around her to deflect Scarlett further. Light flashed in front of her and sent Scarlett backwards a few steps to try and escape the flash that had temporarily blinded her. Her feet barely past through the portal and instantly she felt out of her element and almost sick to her stomach. The gravity of whatever plane she’d stepped onto was heavier and nearly knocked her off of her feet. Breathing even seemed harder as she slid further within it; the air was much thicker and filled with electricity which seemed to be where the shadow version of herself drew her power from.

There were more voices outside of the portal which seemed to be collapsing, flaking away to reveal yet another reflection, lighter and glowing the same way the first orb had done when it’d arrived and seemed so surprisingly benign. Scarlett couldn’t make out the new sounds but could barely stay upright.

The shadow Scarlett pulled Scarlett from the portal by the blade of her sword and then snatched onto her shoulder, her grip tight. Scarlett howled in pain and the other her grinned maliciously, allowing Scarlett to see her sharpened teeth. She’d sensed the weakness in her arm and manipulated it to her whim. The shadow version of her narrowed green eyes, but they weren’t a normal green. It looked as though something was swimming within her irises, something poisonous that revealed flecks of her natural blue in narrow glimpses.

Triggering the Tesla device, Scarlett clenched her fist with her glove, withdrew the blade that clattered to the ground, removed from the glove entirely, then grabbed onto the arm of the woman holding her and digging her fingers further into an already terrible wound. The glove delivered a powerful blast of energy through the woman who screeched in anger as the blow tore through clothing and flesh of her arm and spread black blood dripping over the both of them.

With surprising strength she lifted Scarlett off of her feet by her shoulder and threw her over her head and onto the grass of the park. Breathing in the normal air of the suburb in Pennsylvania was a relief to Scarlett’s lungs despite how thick it’d become. A quick glance down at her shoulder told her that her wound was indeed bleeding and freely at that, she could feel it dripping down her arm and over her chest, staining her shirt.

Ignoring the pain, Scarlett pushed to her feet with her right hand and then scrambled to grab the now removed blade from her glove. As she steadied herself with the blade held in front of her and her Tesla glove snapping with electricity threateningly she realized the shadow woman was gone, nowhere to be seen. The only trace of her that remained was the black blood that was eating away at the grass where she’d been standing when Scarlett had wounded her. Instinctively Scarlett wiped the blood that had spattered on her jacket off with her leather glove in hopes it wouldn’t do any damage to her clothing.

The mirror was disappearing rapidly, the very force that had created it eating away at the ground beneath it and creating a large crater in its way that spread in width and depth each second that passed. In the reflection that was crumbling she could see shadows moving in the distance. That had to be where the wicked woman had gone and Scarlett had every intention of pursuing her. The last thing she wanted was someone with her face creating chaos even if it was in some other realm! Only she would give herself a bad name, damnit!

But as she rushed forward something heavy flew out of the second reflection that had begun to appear. It was thrown with such a force and with such a terrible noise that when it hit Scarlett she fell flat on her back with the weight of the object on top of her. It turned out that the object thrown wasn’t an object at all but a very real person who seemed just as annoyed to be thrown to the ground as she was.

Silently the woman who had been thrown on top of Scarlett turned to get a look at what she had landed on. Her green eyes were angry and nearly obstructed by now messy light brown hair barely held back out of her face by a red bandana. This was not the same woman who had attacked Scarlett only moments ago.

Steve followed in pursuit of the evil woman he’d watched take refuge within the portal when it’d begun to collapse after he’d assured the civilians had made it to safety. He wasn’t sure what he was getting into but he knew Scarlett well enough to know that no matter how he disagreed with her that type of destruction and malice wasn’t in her nature! There were many things he assumed about Scarlett but ruthless killer didn’t seem to fit the bill, even after he’d read her file.

The portal was collapsing too quickly and Scarlett knew that if they didn’t get out of the way something terrible was going to happen. The ground was disappearing beneath Steve’s feet as he ran toward the portal. He’d had the same idea she did, to pursue the shadow version of herself but it was too late. Both universes were colliding and becoming unstable and seemed near collapse.

“No! Get out of the way!” Scarlett shouted over the roar that had suddenly risen around them. The wind had picked up, the storm clouds that had been created by the shadow version of herself cracked threateningly with thunder and lightning overhead. Before the woman who had been thrown on top of Scarlett had a chance to react Scarlett was grabbing her by the arm and pulling her away from the portal that had transported her there. Whether she was friend or foe, Scarlett didn’t care. They needed to get to safety. “Rogers! Turn back! Retreat!”

Steve hesitated listening to Scarlett but as the glow became brighter and rapidly began to shrink he knew there were no other options. He turned on his heels and ran as far from the park as he could. Bystanders stood watch inside the coffee shop, some cowering with fear and others more bravely pressed against the glass to see what would become of their heroes.

In the blink of an eye the light had completely shrunk into one fine point, hovering about five feet above the ground but the wind beneath it stirred and chunks of dirt and grass flew unnaturally below it as though a small tornado were being created from the energy there. Steve, Scarlett, and the stranger who was reluctantly being pulled along by Scarlett kept running away from the phenomenon.

Just as they reached the sidewalk surrounding the park the light disappeared entirely and left them in astonishing silence. Scarlett turned to see what was left of the phenomenon only to be thrown off of her feet and into the street. The stranger and Steve had been thrown with the same sudden force! The silence was shattered by a bass heavy cacophony of sound and an invisible wave rippled through the air, throwing them each backwards and destroying the ground of the park beneath it in a circular shape.

Dirt and debris that had been within the forty foot wide area had completely disappeared, leaving nothing but a crater in the ground.

Steve held his shield in front of him, managing his way in front of Scarlett and the stranger just in case anything came flying toward them in the way of debris but there was nothing. He stood in awe and stared at what remained of the park which was very little but a burst pipe that was spouting water now into the air. It seemed they had run out of the way just in time as whatever that phenomenon had been had lost control of itself and collapsed into nothing. Very suddenly suburban Pennsylvania had returned to normal with the exception of the giant circular piece of earth that had gone completely missing.