Mom, I'm Bulletproof

Chapter 20.8: This Other Universe

Dreamsmith stirred, seemingly oblivious to the fire blasting all around them.

"Amy?" he said. "What was that?"

"The Ergosphere has a bunch of the Temple's tiny suns. He knocked out the manufacturers for a minute, but we need to take them out for good, with their heat and gravity or some crap."

Dreamsmith stood, seeming no longer to notice the hot fire still exploding from within him.

"What can I do?"

"Hot air. Generate a cushion of hot air under the Ergosphere's ship so it can lift off and get out of range, because it's our ride home."

"You can't just lift..."

"I still have a lot mummy fighting to do."

"Got it." Dreamsmith walked toward the ship, leaving a house-sized mass of fire following him.

Still clutching her canister, Amy took to the air. She saw Future Girl, Proscenium and the Ergosphere in place surrounding the manufacturers, who had started to stir. Amy landed, making the fourth corner of a square, with Future Girl, Proscenium, and the Ergosphere making the other three.

"Bring them over here, H.G.," Future Girl called out. History Girl flew past again, and the remaining manufacturers followed. They stopped when they saw their fellow manufacturers rise and readied to fight.

"Ain't all this just the damnedest?" History Girl said, hovering nearby. "I once shot a bear and spent the night in its cave. This here cave's nothing like that one."

"Stayback," Amy said to her. "Things about to get even crazier." 

Dreamsmith, barely visible with the fire burning all around him, approached the Accretion. He reached out with both hands, and the flames flowed forward, brightening the space between the ship and the ground.

From her position, even Amy had to close her eyes and turn away from the heat. It worked, though, as Amy heard the Accretion's engines hum to life and soar out of the line of fire.

"Now!" the Ergosphere shouted. The Accretion was outside of the square, so the Ergosphere, Future Girl and Proscenium opened their canisters, aiming at the center of the square.

Amy didn't open her canister. Dreamsmith was still in there.

Amy flew forward into the path of the suns and was immediately blinded by white light all around her. She lost the ability to move, and all her senses suddenly shut down, with exception of her sense of touch, which registered a painful burning sensation before shutting down. She feared she was too close to the suns.

She pushed all the confusion and loss of sensation out of her mind and concentrated on flying toward where she last saw Dreamsmith. She hit an object before her, one roughly his size. Hoping for the best, Amy wrapped her arms around it, and without any sense that she was actually moving, directed herself to fly back the way she came.

After a few seconds, Amy's senses returned, as did her sense of space. She fell to the floor, with Dreamsmith in her arms. She exhaled with relief seeing that neither of them were injured.

Dreamsmith coughed and asked, "What just happened?"

"Just a sec," Amy said. She flew back to her canister and opened it.

The square between her and the other three lit up with white light and no sound. Amy looked over at the Ergosphere, who gave her a nod.

"Throw them in," Amy said.

Amy hurled her canister forward, into the square. The Ergosphere, Future Girl, and Proscenium did the same. Once all four canisters disappeared, the blinding white light in the center of the square vanished, taking all four canisters and the manufacturers with it.

"Is that it?" Amy said, as the entire chamber fell into a sudden quiet. "Did we win?"

The Accretion hovered in the air off to the side of them. The side door opened and Marci waved at the heroes from within. "Omigod! I can't believe it worked."

"Something had to absorb all that heat and gravity," Future Girl said.

Marci smiled. "It was the field. You four established a universe field around the four containers."

"What field?" Amy said.

"The universe is endless, right?" Marci said. "Therefore, the external representation of that universe can take any shape whatsoever."

Now Future Girl smiled. "We took an entire universe and stretched it around the four of us, so when we exposed the suns, this other universe absorbed their heat and gravity as they destroyed the manufacturers. Cool!"

"I have no idea what any of y'all're talking 'bout," History Girl said. 

"But Sam and I were in there," Amy said. "In this other universe. And we flew back out. We survived." Amy lightly tapped her turquoise necklace and whispered, "Thanks, great-grandma." 

"Interesting." Marci folded her arms. "What if..."

"Sinners!" Jhedora rose into sight, hovering in air above them, her body glowing with golden light.

Amy pointed a finger at her. "You're finished. Without your mini-suns and your manufacturers and your neural network, the world will just keep on sinning."

"The Temple will..."

"Enough!" Proscenium's voice boomed throughout the entire chamber.

Marci fled back inside the Accretion. HistoryGirl stood at the Accretion's open door with both guns drawn. "I'll keep watchon her. You rest go on."

Future Girl took the cue and flew at Jhedora, only to knocked back to the floor by another blast of her bright light.

Dreamsmith held out his hands with palms facing upward. White-hot flame shot up from him and surrounded Jhedora.

"It won't burn her," Future Girl said.

"It might distract her," the Ergosphere said, adjusting his sunglasses slightly. "At least for a second."

Amy flew at Jhedora again, with Future Girl doing so as well, flying just slightly faster. In the midst of the fire, Future Girl delivered a uppercut, sending Jhedora flying up toward the chamber ceiling. Amy followed, pursuing Jhedora's flaming shape.

Amy hit Jhedora's body hard, wrapping her arms around the mummy's burning body while continuing upward. The two of them struck the ceiling, with it breaking apart around them. Amy pressed forward, forcing her way upward through layer after layer of solid rock, then metal, then concrete. Finally, the debris parted around Amy and Jhedora, and they found themselves penetrating from beneath a city street and up into the night sky.

Before Amy could wonder why they hadn't flown through any sort of sewer system, another stinging burst of light shot out of Jhedora's body. Amy was ready for it this time. She grimaced through the pain and kept her grip on Jhedora, still flying them both upward.

Looking down, Amy recognized the city below her. She was back in the skies over London.

# # # #

Next: That's when she saw the blood.