[Time Warp] Cobalt Templar's Vignette

[Dr Archeville]

April15, 2011

Corbin was glad he didn't really have to worry about taxes; everyone seemed so stressed this time of year! Then again, he'd probably just hire some person or another to take care of it even when he got to the point of needing to do it himself. It'd let him have time to do more interesting things.

Like flying on a rather nice day, when all was said and done. Even though he really didn't have to worry about the weather when he had his ring on, it was still nice to have decent temperatures and beautiful sunshine going about. Those swirling circles all over really complimented all the flowers.

“Wait, what the crap? What are those-AH!”

Right as Corbin (well, technically “Cobalt Templar”, since he was in-costume and nominally on something vaguely resembling a patrol) stopped to get a better look at the various vortexes swirling all over the city, one appeared almost on top of him. Before he could do more than yell in surprise, he was gone.

---

Freedom City, Bayview

April15, 2161

And just as suddenly, he was ejected from a whirling madhouse that vaguely reminded him of his adventure in early February. He managed to not fall to the ground, his instinctive control over the ring becoming invaluable in that respect. After a few moments of blinking his eyes, his vision was clear. The first thing he noticed was that the portal was gone. About five seconds later, he noticed the rest of the city.

“What in the world? Where did...where did all this come from[/]?”

Before he can contemplate things further, he hears a voice from behind him.

“Hello. Please try not to panic. You've gone through a time portal 150 years into the future. Take a few moments to get your bearings as best you can.”

CT slowly turned to face the source of the voice, and was...surprised, to say the least. The speaker appeared to be a girl in her late teens or early twenties; then again, there was some quality about her that seemed older than that. More than that, despite the costume that covered most of her face, there was something hauntingly familiar about her.

She was wearing a full body suit that looked to be one of the thicker varieties of morphic molecules, or some similar spandex-like substance. Overlaid on the bodysuit were slim, streamlined boots and gloves that seemed to be metallic; she also bore some armor on her shoulders, and what looked like a cross between a helmet and a crown, with three spikes on it. Only her mouth and chin on her face were left uncovered by either the helmet or the mask she wore, though her hair was hanging out. Finally, there was a cape to complete the look.

The oddest part was the coloring; it was strangely similar to how Cobalt Templar's armor looked. Except that where his was blue, hers was a dark indigo, and the red of his costume was adjusted to be more like that of his lover's. The cape was also like Ultiteen's, being un-tattered, seemingly solid, and only going to about her waist. Finally, her costume broke the monotony of the indigo with an elongated pentagon shape on her chest, point down. The shape was a thin border of white around a smaller version of the shame that was the same maroon red as her “secondary colors” on her costume.

Then other things started to register. Like the fact that her stature seemed remarkable similar to both his and his girlfriend's, putting this young woman at about 6'2” tall. While not the size of a bodybuilder by any means, she definitely had noticeable musculature as well. One of the more striking features was her hair color; it was like a perfect blend of Corbin and Quo-Dis. Suddenly, other things clicked. Her voice. Her mannerisms. What parts of her face he could discern. And something else that he couldn't really pin down, but was still there.

“You're not just a random future citizen, are you? You're my-”

“Daughter? Yes. I am. And to head the question off, I'm not much older than I appear; while my development hasn't been as speedy as a human's, it's been quicker than Mom's ever was. I'm about 25, though I'm just now in my senior year of Claremont.”

She smiled gently, gesturing for him to follow her.

“Come on. We have a private place to talk.”

By this point, Corbin's mind had nearly shut down, so he simply followed the girl claiming to be his daughter in the future without a fuss. Before long, they were outside the city limits and approaching one of the larger hills in the nearby area. When they flew into a small entrance in the hill, Corbin finally spoke.

“Wait. I have a “secret lair” in a hill? Why not something less...well, Midnight-ish? Not that that's a bad thing; I just don't see myself doing this.”

His daughter shrugged, her mask and helmet fading. Without thinking, Corbin did the same. Somehow, he instinctively knew he could trust her.

“It's more for Mom than you. You've actually got your own hideaway, but it's in orbit, and a bit further away. You're a bit faster of a flier these days, so it's not as big of a deal for the, ah, “current” you.”

“That is officially awesome. I guess I get some living space here, then? Makes sense. Since me and Quo-Dis are...?”

“Married, yes. First locally, and then with Mom's homeland. She didn't make a big deal out of the ceremony, but she tells me she does adore that ring.”

“That's, uh, good to know. Can I ask what your name is?”

“I'm shocked you didn't earlier. My name is Jessica El-Cir Hughes. Daughter of two of the mightiest immortals to grace the planet Earth.. Bearer of the Indigo ring of the Mind-Spy, Champion of Compassion, wielder of the primal energies of the vril. I am the Vril Knight. Not a ground-shaking name, and yes, it's not color-themed like you, but I wanted a little something from each of you. “Indigo Teen” or “Indigo Girl” didn't inspire quite the same heroic connotations.”

“I think it sounds fine, really. So. You're a hero? Is it because we pushed you towards that, or...?”

She smiled and shook her head.

“I chose it, all on my own. I had some good examples, though.”

Suddenly, she stepped forward and gave Corbin a fierce hug. For several moments, he was frozen, before slowly returning the gesture. A soft smile grew on his face. Somehow, embracing his future daughter felt right.

“I can already tell I'll be proud of you. And let me guess; I made sure to tell you where to be and when? Why am I not here, or at least Quo-Dis?”

Jessica backed out of the hug and gestured at the far wall of the informal living room they were in. A slight glow lit a small control pad, and suddenly a silent television news cast came on. It showed subtly different versions of Corbin and Quo-Dis. His costume seemed essentially unchanged, though he'd apparently made his cape look nice and neat. Probably something with “maintaining a better image” or some such. He thought he might be a couple inches taller and have a bit more muscle. Something to look forward to. Speaking of which, Quo-Dis had grown a couple of inches as well, and kept about the same proportions. Her costume was also very nearly the same, though she had extended the shirt to cover her midriff. Both of them seemed to have hit that “sweet spot”, where they were unquestionably adults, but hadn't visibly aged past the “late 20's” stage.

“Mom goes by “Ultiwoman” now, but you haven't changed your name. It's pretty age-neutral, I guess. You two are real crowd-pleasers, since you've been in “the game” for so long. You-Wait. Sorry. I guess I shouldn't lay out your whole life for you, should I?”

“Probably not. The glimpses I'm getting are more than enough; it's one of those things that'll give me strength to keep going, you know? I guess it's nice I didn't get tossed back to when the meteor wiped out the dinosaurs or something, right?”

“I guess it is.”

She suddenly grew more serious.

“Okay, look. I can't warn you about every bad thing that's going to happen for 150 years. That might risk my own existence. I will tell you that there are some bad things on the horizon. You told me to tell you to “stick close to your friends, be willing to make new friends, and don't be afraid to lead”. Oh, and, if you can't tell by this-”

At this she holds up her right hand, prominently displaying the indigo-colored ring on her hand that was eeriely similar to Corbin's.

“There are definitely more of these out there. When you first run into them, some aren't going to be used by good people. Don't freak out too much about that. You have your ring, too. And in the long run, good triumphs, even if it takes time and pain to get there. In time, you'll assemble them all. Which...let's just say that having that sort of firepower available never hurts. Stay vigilant...dad.”

Corbin seemed to mull over her words for a long time. Finally, he nodded.

“Thank you. So. Do you know how long I'll be around here?”

“Until right. About. Now. Bye dad.”

“Wait, but-”

Suddenly, his whole world was swirling colors once again.

---

Freedom City, Bayview, Claremont Academy

April15, 2011

A swirling portal vomited Corbin out just a few seconds after he'd been pulled away. He took almost a minute to re-orient himself this time, the comparatively rapid change back and forth having knocked him for a loop. Finally, he had his bearings again. Right as the mass of panicked screams, car alarms, emergency sirens, and the general noise of chaos and danger rose from the streets. His mouth set in a grim line, he headed for the city.

For hours, he helped fight back the various things that had intruded on the world. The pack of vicious raptors (he didn't know which kind; they were a bit outside his window of history) had been especially “fun”. On the flip side, the giant Tyrannosaurus Rex had almost been easy. Especially once he'd slapped a muzzle on it and conjured a saddle. He couldn't contain his hollers of excitement as he steered it outside the city limits, where it was taken into its own time vortex.

Finally, no more dangerous beasts, aliens, criminals, or anything else was exiting the portals. Well, nothing except the people who had been whisked away. Cobalt Templar spent some time helping with the immediate recovery, before heading back to Claremont.

He had a lot to think about.