Crossing Over

Although Jay had long expected Kairi Technology Creative Company to have deep waters, he had not expected them to be so openly hostile. They did not even bother with the customary threats and warnings before making their move.

He did not know how many people like him, who had come to investigate, these people had dealt with using such crude methods in the past. But this time, they had run into someone tough. Two researchers in white coats tried to secretly inject Jay with some kind of drug, only for the needle to snap in two against his indestructible skin with a crack. Before they could recover from their shock, Jay casually shoved them away with a backhanded push, sending both flying across the room.

The man calling himself Kevin's expression changed dramatically. He realized that the kid who had barged in today would not be easy to get rid of. While loudly ordering the others to seize Jay, he himself retreated from this harbinger of disaster faster than anyone else. In the lab, many people who had been wearing white coats and looked every bit the scholarly type suddenly tore off their coats in unison, revealing bodies built like mountains. Some even vaulted straight over the second-floor railing, landing heavily on the floor with such force that it seemed to make the entire room hum.

Jay frowned slightly. He had never been inside such a large company before, but he figured that every researcher in the lab being built like a bull was probably not normal. The burly men cracked their knuckles and made exaggerated motions to loosen their muscles. They formed a semicircle and closed in on Jay layer by layer, like a pack of wolves surrounding a sheep with nowhere left to run.

What they did not know was that the one in the middle was the real wolf. In his eyes, they were all lambs waiting for slaughter.

Jay could have taken all of them down in less time than it took them to blink, but he did not want to make such a show of himself. It would be better if he could solve this without exposing his strength. But before he could figure out what to do, another unexpected development appeared.

The sound of a high-speed bullet slicing through the air entered Jay's super-hearing from beyond the ceiling nearly ten meters overhead. A red-and-blue afterimage tore a huge hole through the lab's dome at a speed almost no one could see, then crashed down in front of Jay. The invisible shockwave kicked up in that instant forced the burly men to unconsciously take half a step back.

Dark red knee-high boots crushed the floor, cracking and denting it. Her cape, lifted by the pressure of the wind, drifted gently down. Supergirl swept onto the battlefield like a blaze of war, her golden hair glowing beneath the lights with the brilliance of the sun.

Jay was no less surprised than anyone else in the room. "Kara!?"

What followed was an absurd scene: a group of hulking men built like mountains were cowed by the presence of a petite girl, retreating step by step without thinking. Their earlier arrogance vanished in an instant, leaving behind not even the slightest thought of resistance. Still, considering the enormous "S" on Supergirl's chest, no one found it particularly funny.

The girl opened her mouth and drew in a deep breath. Everyone vaguely anticipated the ugly scene that was about to unfold, their hearts practically lodged in their throats.

She forcefully exhaled in one tremendous blast. A visible wave of air swept out like a miniature typhoon descending upon the underground laboratory. One after another, the sturdy men were lifted into the air by the whirlwind, shrieking as they were violently flung away and crashed in all directions into the corners of the lab. Heavy equipment was toppled by the hurricane, while papers and documents flew everywhere from the tables, swirling down like falling snow.

Kara had resolved the problem in a single breath, and Jay finally found the chance to ask, "Kara? How did you... Weren't you supposed to have gone back to National City?"

"I was worried about you."

"You were following me?"

Kara's pretty face flushed as she waved her hands repeatedly. "No, I wasn't. I heard about your dad going missing, and I knew you would definitely do something. I was worried, so... well, maybe I was following you."

At least that showed that she cared about him. Jay felt somewhat reassured and smiled. "Thanks."

At that moment, Jay caught sight of Kevin out of the corner of his eye. The man had already climbed to the second floor and run to the enormous arched machine in the center of the hall. Facing the purple vortex at its core, where electricity flickered, he took a deep breath and leaped into it.

Jay and Kara blurred into motion, flashing before the vortex almost at the same time. They stopped and examined the device for a moment. Kara said, "It looks like some sort of teleportation device. But I can't see through to the other side, so I don't know where it leads."

"Maybe that guy brought me down here just to throw me into this thing," Jay said. "They looked familiar with the process. I'm guessing they dealt with plenty of other people this way too."

Kara asked, "So you think there might be a prison on the other side?"

"I don't know, but this is my only lead. I have no choice." Jay paused, then said, "You know you don't have to come with me. We have no idea what we might face on the other side."

"Since I came all the way here, I'm not about to turn around and go home now." Kara's tone left no room for argument.

"Then thank you." Jay turned back toward the enormous vortex before them. "Ready?"

"Um... let me take a deep breath first." Kara really did take two deep breaths. "All right. Now I'm ready."

The two looked at each other and nodded. Then they leaped side by side into the enormous vortex. The instant his body touched the trembling purple light, Jay felt as if an invisible giant hand had reached out from the abyss and seized him without warning. His feet left the ground, and he was sucked into an entirely different space. Violent energy filled the surroundings, roaring madly like wild beasts everywhere at once. Electricity and light merged together and surged violently into his mouth and nose, leaving him intensely uncomfortable.

He could only hope Kara was faring better than he was.

After who knew how long of spinning through the torrent of energy, Jay finally landed on solid ground with immense relief. It felt as though he had been dropped from more than fifty meters up, crashing heavily into a heap of miscellaneous junk. The instant he hit the ground, he seemed to smash some kind of machine to pieces, leaving a mass of broken parts and old wires beneath him.

Kara landed not far from him two seconds later. Her beautiful blonde hair was a tangled mess, and the expression on her face looked like she had just awakened from a hangover. It seemed she had not fared much better than he had.

"All right, that felt like riding an insanely thrilling space roller coaster." Kara shook her head and got to her feet. "Where are we?"

"Good question. You've stumped me." Jay stood up and found himself amid a pile of scrap metal so mangled that its original form could no longer be identified. He looked around and saw that, as far as his eyes could reach, there seemed to be nothing but similar wreckage piled into hill after hill, stretching endlessly into the distance.

"Looks like a... junkyard?"