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Some time ago. Steve spread the graph paper flat with his fingers, then took a sharpened #2 pencil to hand. "This is your universe." He made a dot at the center. "The dimension that you call Earth-Prime." He drew a line from the dot to one end of the paper vertically, then back the other way. At each place where horizontal lines crossed vertical, he made another dot. "This is its associated universes. You know some of them; the morally-inverted universe, the National Socialist universe, the gender-inverted universe..." He marked several others as he went. "There are an infinite number of universes along that line. Some are more important to the line than others," he said, pointing to the junctures, "and each has its close neighbors." He thought for a moment, looking down at the page, then picked one of the dots. "Here, the gender-inverted universe." He drew another line, this one horizontal, across the page, with the gender-inverted universe as its center. "And here are _its_ associated universes - the gender-inverted National Socialist universe, the gender-inverted morally-inverted universe, and the like. There are an infinite number of universes along this line as well - each with its close neighbors, some more important than the others, and so on." He drew more lines, back and forth, slowly and methodically, until he had covered the entire page. "Now, we come to the question of traveling." He put the pencil to paper again, directly over the now-overdrawn dot of Earth-Prime. "A traveler can go only a few steps away, to a closely associated universe, easily enough..." He began drawing the line. "Or he or she may go further, all the way to another point." He reached the morally-inverted universe. "This universe is among the closest to you, so it is one of the easiest to find. Hence Johnny Rocket's discovery some years ago." He lifted his pencil from the page, and plunked it down at a seemingly random point. "Large trips, one that leave a world-line behind completely, can take the traveler to a radically divergent world - but these require far more energy, and the return is far more difficult." He raised the pencil in the air, directly over one of the dots "The Zero Zone, as you call it, is the space outside of worlds - easy enough to visit from each world, and a potential gateway from one to the other for knowledgeable enough to use it. I believe Wander's Raptor Empire uses the Zero Zone to maintain its holdings. A wise policy. Most multiversal empires destroy themselves, because it is far easier to do this -" He pressed down with the pencil, hard, and tore a hole in the page near its top, showing the desktop beneath. "and open a hole that leads to what lies beneath the multiverse. The Terminus - the entropic sewer of creation." He set down the pencil and took up an X-Acto Knife, setting the blade down in the hole he had made. "An invasion is done in this fashion. Once a universe has been destroyed, it is used as base for further conquest." He drew the knife across the page, following one of the lines, back and forth. "Until that universe and all its associated universes are gone. From there, the attack begins on all the universes associated with _those_ universes..." He cut off the top section of the page, then cut that section in half. "Until at last all things related to that world are gone; save the fragments left in the Terminus." He scattered the paper pieces across the desk. "Omega hungers for Earth-Prime, and other key universes, so that he may divide up the multiverse - and devour it at his leisure."

Table of Contents Tensile Sojourner Hematite Knightfall Daybreak Mystery Midnight Dynasty IC

Jack Spade of Earth-Noir Jacqueline des Épées of Erde Sri Rik Espadas of Earth-Electrum Tom O'Hawk of Earth-3W Blaise O'Glory and Circuit of Earth-FC2 Jackolope of all Blades Earth A-Animal-1 Anthropomorphic hare who disguises his identity with a pair of false antlers Callie Burn Earth A-Gender-1 Exasperated den mother to her world's Interceptors Sri Rik Espadas Earth A-Improved-2 Spacefaring Star Knight bringing justice - and romance - to frontier worlds Cdr. Erica Espadas Earth G-Lor-5 Captain of the Ypres and the Republic's best hope against the Preservers Springheel Jack Earth G-Victorian-18 Steam-powered second-storey man with boots of brass and a heart of gold Pvt. 'One Eye Jack' Earth H-War-27 Close combat specialist of a ragtag commando unit operating behind enemy lines Old Man Jack Earth I-Future-52 Elderly mentor to the 52s, the gang ruling a dystopian, cyberpunk West End Jacqueline des Épées Erde J-Nazi-6 (Enemy) Sarcastic resistance leader thwarting the Reich in occupied Paris Tom O'Hawk Earth M-Tech-3 Professional steamboat gambler and secret agent of the President with a magic axe Frère Jacques Earth N-Retro-7 Jovial friar providing counsel to John of Aberdeen and his merry outlaws Jack O'Lantern Earth O-Eldritch-31 Friendly if macabre avatar of Hallowe'en, protecting children from true monsters Jack Spade Earth S-Low-39 Hard-bitten private eye kept alive by shocks of electricity and shots of bourbon Paul Perez Jr. Earth U-Isolate-1 Charismatic actor with a leading role in the Interceptors movie franchise Jack Knife Earth V-Malign-1 (Enemy) Psychopathic drug dealer merged with the spirit of murder Perseus Earth Y-Gorgon-13 (Extinct) Herald of the Gorgon, remade as an cosmic energy being of unthinkable power Joyeuse Earth A-Butterfly-7 Parisian vigilante raised by her father and hunting an elusive cat burglar The Orderly Earth A-Gender-1 Pre-med student trying to keep his sister and teammates in one piece Mallory Practice Earth V-Malign-1 (Enemy) Jewel Wasp's unhinged but loyal enforcer and personal assistant