At a nexus point where dozens of universes converged, a space station sat amidst an asteroid field in orbit around a red sun. Hundreds of vessels were coming and going, mostly manned by Sentinels and collectively housing thousands of crypods from the various worlds where they had been tracking Traveler Scars. Empty ships were heading back out for their next run while others were depositing their pods at the station. 

[img]https://i.imgur.com/5794BWw.jpg[/img]

Any prisoners that fell outside the designated age-group were loaded into vessels bound for a place called Battleworld, while the Traveler Candidates were sorted into groups of twelve cryopods in the station’s hangar bay. Each group was moved onto smaller red spaceships, made from the metallic exterior of the dead Celestial, Arishem. These comprised the [color=Khaki][b]Inquisitor’s Fleet[/b][/color], and they soon departed the station and headed towards the [color=Khaki][b]Inquisitor’s Citadel[/b][/color] in the [color=Khaki][b]Elsdamorae System[/b][/color] of [color=Khaki][b]Universe A-109[/b][/color]. 

[img]https://i.imgur.com/yEJiWQ9.jpg[/img]

When the fleet passed the red planet [color=Khaki][b]Kabbayan[/b][/color], they knew it was time to start thawing out the Candidates in preparation for arrival at the Citadel. They had been sorted into groups of twelve to avoid too many of them being conscious at the same time on the same ship, just in case they might find a way to escape. However, one such ship, the [color=Khaki][i][b]Arishem-Exar[/b][/i][/color], had yet to notice a cloaked vessel in hot pursuit…

[color=LimeGreen]“Ugh..”[/color] Teddy moaned as he placed a hand on his face. His head was killing him, and he was dizzy and disoriented. He opened and closed his eyes repeatedly, but everything was pitch black. He was laying on some kind of padded mat and he could hear faint voices, but it sounded like he was underwater. There was a chill in the air, and he felt weak and shaky. He tried to sit up and slammed his skull against a glass barrier. 

[color=LimeGreen]“Ow! What the hell?”[/color] he started feeling around, and realized he was in some kind of pod. Then he remembered. [color=LimeGreen][i]The Sentinels! [/i][/color]

[color=LightSteelBlue]“Hey, can you hear me?”[/color] America called out from her pod, having woken first. 

[color=LimeGreen]“Yes! What’s going on? I can’t see anything!”[/color] he replied. 

[color=LightSteelBlue]“A side effect of the cryo process!”[/color] she explained. [color=LightSteelBlue]“When you first awaken, it takes a minute for your hearing and sight to fully return. I only just regained my own senses.”[/color]

[color=LimeGreen]“Picked up by the Sentinels as well?”[/color] Teddy inquired. 

[color=LightSteelBlue]“Yup,”[/color] she confirmed. 

[color=YellowGreen]“Do you know why they want us?”[/color] Loki asked, now conscious as well. 

[color=LightSteelBlue]“It’s my fault,”[/color] America revealed, then looked around to see everyone else waking up in their pods as well. [color=LightSteelBlue]“I’m sorry you all got caught up in this. These Sentinels are after me. They work for someone who calls himself the Beyonder, a being who was trapped in some prison realm and wanted to use me to escape. That’s because of my power - to open portals between universes. But if he was able to put all this together, I’m not sure why he even needs me at this point. All I know is that he is after me, and I allowed myself to get captured in the hopes of getting closer to him so I could send him back to his prison…”[/color]

[color=LimeGreen]“But none of us look like you,”[/color] Teddy pointed out. [color=LimeGreen]“We are all wildly different…”[/color]

[color=YellowGreen]“Isn’t it obvious?”[/color] Loki scoffed. [color=YellowGreen]“They don’t actually know what she looks like, only that she has a power the Beyonder wants. He probably at least knows that she’s a teenager, judging by the fact that we are all similar in age.”[/color]

[color=LightSteelBlue]“Bingo,”[/color] America smirked. 

Suddenly, the glass lids of the twelve pods swung open upwards, and they could climb out into what appeared to be a cargo bay on the ship. They felt severely lightheaded and could barely stand on their two feet, a feeling that only strengthened if they tried to call upon their powers. 

[color=Khaki]“We will be arriving at the Inquisitor’s Citadel in approximately fifteen minutes, Traveler Candidates,”[/color] came a computerized voice over the intercom. [color=Khaki]“Please use the washrooms located adjacent to your cryogenic stasis pods to clean yourselves up in preparation for your Soulgaze with the Inquisitor.”[/color]

[color=LimeGreen]“What the hell is a Soulgaze?”[/color] Teddy wondered out loud. 

[color=YellowGreen]“Probably a method to deduce if one has the powers the Beyonder is seeking, I reckon,”[/color] added Loki. He then smirked as he realized Teddy was, like him, clad in only a pair of swim trunks. [color=YellowGreen]“They grabbed you on the beach as well, then?”[/color]

[color=LimeGreen]“Yeah, right in the middle of my birthday party!”[/color] he replied, chuckling. 

[color=YellowGreen]“Don’t worry, I have some extra clothing in my Bag of Holding - you can’t see it, it’s cloaked, but it’s strapped to my waist right now.”[/color]

[color=LimeGreen]“How… How are you keeping it cloaked with the power dampeners?”[/color] Teddy was curious. 

[color=YellowGreen]“The enchantment is built into the material itself, I merely triggered it with a tiny flick of Mana when they were grabbing me,”[/color] Loki explained. [color=YellowGreen]“Luckily I had just enough energy to pull that off before being captured.”[/color]

[color=LightSteelBlue]“Since we are not actively being attacked, we should probably use the opportunity to clean up and use the restroom, like the voice said,”[/color] America offered. [color=LightSteelBlue]“I, for one, don’t want to pass up the chance to pee. Then we can regroup and figure out a way to escape.”[/color]

[color=LimeGreen]“Yeah, you’re right,”[/color] Teddy agreed. As they all walked towards the washrooms, they noticed there were twelve of them lined along the wall directly across the cargo bay from where their pods were lined up. 

[color=YellowGreen]“Oh, how nice of them to give us private facilities after kidnapping us. What lovely [i]twats[/i].”[/color]

Once they had a chance to clean up and take care of any needs in the washrooms, they grouped together in front of their pods to discuss methods of escape. 

[color=LimeGreen]“Your fashion sense is… Well, it’s not really [i]me[/i],”[/color] Teddy said as he looked down over the extravagant shirt and pants Loki had given him. [color=LimeGreen]“But it beats the swim trunks, so thanks… What was your name?”[/color]

[color=YellowGreen]“Loki Laufeyson,”[/color] he replied. America raised her eyebrows. [color=YellowGreen]“What?”[/color]

[color=LightSteelBlue]“You’re the first Teen Loki I’ve encountered,”[/color] she smirked. [color=LightSteelBlue]“Most of your variants are much older and have a different face. In one universe a Loki became a film actor under the name Tom Hiddleston.”[/color]

[color=LimeGreen]“Wait, so by ‘portals between universes,’ you meant legitimate parallel timelines?”[/color] Teddy asked in shock. 

[color=LightSteelBlue]“Yeah, does your world not know about the Multiverse yet?”[/color] America shrugged. [color=LightSteelBlue]“There are literally thousands of universes that exist at different vibrational frequencies. Some are nearly identical, while others vary drastically.”[/color]

[color=LimeGreen]“Wow, this is crazy…”[/color] he replied, then shook his head and looked up. [color=LimeGreen]“Sorry, we were giving our names, right? I’m Teddy Altman.”[/color]

[color=LightSteelBlue]“America Chavez,”[/color] she added, then looked at the others, prompting them to give their names as well.