For a moment, Shane nearly blurted out what he was thinking.
Fortunately, he had maintained his telepathic link with Rachel the entire time, so he quickly suppressed the impulse brought on by the illusion.
Once he calmed down and thought it through, Shane remembered how a higher-dimensional being had guided him out of Hypertime and back into the Invincible universe.
He had asked the higher-dimensional being for a few gifts then, and the being, who was friendly toward the Invincible universe's native inhabitants, had obliged.
Afterward, the being had given Shane a warning.
He was not to try returning to the Invincible universe through technology or magic.
The higher-dimensional being could certainly tell that Shane had not given up. In fact, all he could think about then was getting another chance to brutalize the Regent in reality.
And the being's answer went beyond simply forbidding Shane from interfering with the normal course of history.
"Neither technology nor magic can accomplish a crossing between greater universes like this. Limited by their horizons and various other factors, they can only send you in circles through their own different universes."
Naturally, Shane had been full of doubts at the time.
"But you can do it."
"Yes... When you meet someone in that universe who can do the same, you'll recognize him immediately." Afterward, Shane had been sent back into Hypertime and returned to his own DC world through a targeted passage constructed by the higher-dimensional being.
For a while, Shane had speculated about the identity of the person the being had described as someone he would recognize on sight.
Considering the blue light that enveloped the higher-dimensional being, Shane was fairly certain that the person capable of doing this in the DC universe had to be Doctor Manhattan.
Someone who had not originally