In another world, she is dreaming.
Deep breaths form a foggy backdrop to calm observation.
It's both the greatest thing she's ever seen, and the most limited. A hundred thousand million earths, each spiralling out from one another, yet all at the same fixed position. There is nothing beyond this in her field of view: no moon, no sun, no stars. Just an uncountable number of a single, lonely planet.
We're so alone, aren't we?
Somehow, she feels something agreeing with her.
No matter. The payload is heavy in her right hand. Some piece of metal juts out into her palm; a pinprick of almost-pain is spreading slowly outward. She clenches it tighter, ignores the discomfort, not knowing what would happen if she dropped it here. There's no gravity, so it wouldn't fall anywhere, or so she would assume. And yet...
Maybe there was gravity, and it would fall towards the conglomeration of Earths. At that thought, as if a brief consideration was all it took, suddenly she's closer. Where before the planet was the size of her palm, now it takes up her full field of view. Just the single instance, the one she wanted.
She can see the Leviathan. A black shape, gigantic, cutting through the Atlantic ocean. The picture is perfect, clear - enough to see the blood trailing through the water, the aquatic corpses left in the beast's wake.
Her mind feels clearer, too. It's hard for her to know if this is what normal is supposed to be, or if this place somehow lets her think easier than even before she had these powers.
Slight shudder. Here, the memories come back easier. It had been useful, at first. Questions she hadn't really ever wanted to ask, slowly answered - but at times like this, she doesn't particularly care for it.
There are more important things to think about.
Her vision sharpens. The beast, the Leviathan, has almost reached the city. It carves through the water, a straight line, ignorant or uncaring of obstacles in its path.
It's easy to remember Dragon's instructions, to avoid catching other capes in the detonation. But there's no risk here, the beast having yet to reach the city.
She presses down her thumb, hard. Then she joins him in the water, even as she can feel the device expanding.
"That was fast. Do you think you got him with it?" A woman's face, overlarge, tilts to the left. "You didn't even take the original with you. That could be a game-changer, given our limited supply."
"Hey, you okay?" A familiar voice.
Nod.
"Is that a side effect of your power?"
"We don't know yet, actually. She's... new to the team."
"I see. Do you think she'll be okay to do that again, or will this be a liability?"
The armored man is gone, leaving just the boy in the room with her. He's looking at her with some kind of concern, brow furrowed, tail low. "I think she's okay. Hey, do you want to do that again?"
No.
The boy's expression is warm, encouraging. Expectant.
She nods.
"Okay. What were you saying we should use, Dragon?"
"Hold on. Leviathan's been sighted, I'm going to verify if the last one visibly hit. If she was able to connect with that, we might want to go with something with more... ah, 'oomph'. Can you take the one in the body's hand, and put it back on the table? We'll keep it around, at least."
"Gotcha."
The display changes, shifting to a view of a gigantic monster. It's rising up onto a beach, water sloughing off of jet-black skin. For a moment, everything is silent.
She closes her eyes.
"I've located some damage on his shoulder. It's minor, but there is a very high probability it's from the bomb. They never show up injured."
"Awesome!" Grinning: "Hey, you did it!"
"Take the one on the left. Yes, that one. Okay, listen carefully - is she okay? She doesn't seem to be particularly, hm, attentive."
"No idea. Just go for it, can't go wrong in an Endbringer fight, right?"
A thoughtful expression. "All right, put that one back, and take the one that Armsmaster pointed out to you earlier. Yes, that one."
"Heavy."
"And dangerous."
He gives it to her. Both hands close around it, forefinger just a touch away from the trigger.
"Do not leave until I have given the all clear. Assuming you can locate Leviathan, I'll wait until the defenders have lost track of him, and then you can go."
A nod, slow.
There's regrettably little time to rest, before she's back in this place, the world outside worlds.
Memories of events not even an hour old rush back to her. She tries to block them out, and finds it easy, like a relaxed form of meditation.
A talk show host, back when she'd had time to watch television, had referred to the Endbringers as god-beasts. Looking at the Leviathan now, she finds it difficult to agree. Fast, powerful, maybe even elegant in motion - but nothing more. A brutish thing, skin covered in lacerations, greedy misshapen eyes glancing back and forth like a wild animal. At home in the filth and muck of the sewers beneath the city.
Disgusting.
Without another thought, she presses down her thumb.
"That one did quite a lot of damage. Good work - you know, we never asked for your name?" Statement, phrased like a question.
"She doesn't have a cape name, yet. A new team member."
"If she's still coherent, we can try the one I pointed out to you previously."
"Here, put this in your hand. The trigger is a little complicated, do you think you-"
She examines the device, feeling calm, breathing smoothly.
Breathing? A weird thought. She hadn't considered it previously, but the air quality in this place is perfect. She wonders if she even needs to breathe, or if it's just instinct.
The weight in her hand serves as a reminder of the current situation's urgency. Not something that she can bring herself to truly care about, at least not without great effort. But it matters to her newfound friends, so it's important to her.
She presses down her thumb.
This time, she's just far enough away to be able to meet Leviathan's eyes.
It's almost like looking in a mirror.