The memory was disorienting. A vision crammed into her head by a power that hadn’t shown any mercy in its application. She saw herself break. She saw life leave her own eyes at the hands of a man who seemed like he was made of stone. She didn’t know what she had been thinking in her final moments during the previous timeline. She couldn’t even begin to imagine it. She could feel the raw anger and heartache that burned in her chest from Sonya’s side of it, watching as Majordomo ended the life of someone she cherished.

Sonya had made a point to search for him as early as she could. She’d peppered the Pandora Committee multiple times for information about a hero by the name of Darwin. She couldn’t give specifics on their ability, only that they were a large man with gray skin and a bald head. Those details were provided only to the people she trusted with them. They’d never found him, and Chunhua was starting to consider the thought that somehow, some way, in the current timeline, he just hadn’t come into his own.

Or he changed his hero codename.

“Huh?” Nietz blurted, confused as he tilted his gray-skinned head. His glowing eyes furrowed in confusion. “Who’s Majordomo, ma’am?”

His voice was deep and gravelly, but in a way that should have been comforting, like a smooth-voiced narrator. To Chunhua, though, the voice gave her chills. She forced herself to separate from Sonya’s emotions for a moment. They weren’t hers, and she needed to remind herself of that. She needed to remind herself of what she’d just seen. 

“Apologies, Hero Nietz,” she said. “You look like someone else in that form.”

He blinked at her again and looked down at his hands. He jerked his head back a little and reached up to pat the top of his head, tugging at the long, steel-gray hair that had grown out of it. “Oh! Woah,” he rumbled. “That’s a big change. Sorry if I startled you, ma’am. Still me, just, uh… bigger?”

She put her hands on her hips and sighed before glancing towards Gravitic, who was standing over the fallen creature. Nietz and his team had struggled with it up until his clearly desperate transformation. He had been presented with a similar choice to the one that she and Crusader had argued about. Watching it from the outside, the lack of hesitation, even when he clearly had enough experience to know there was a different call he could have made, was remarkable. He sacrificed an arm for a comrade and extended the fight to ensure not only a win but also maximize survival.

“You did an excellent job,” Chunhua said. “Full marks. I’m sure the other judges will agree.”

He broke into a smile and rubbed the back of his big head, looking down at the ground bashfully. “Uh… thanks. I just did what I should have done. They’re my team.” 

Chunhua felt her chest tighten. This was not a monster. This was a good man doing his best. Perhaps it was because she knew Sonya’s heart, her goals, and her true aspirations, but even with the visions of that monster in the other timeline crushing her spine with his bare hands, she couldn’t bring herself to hate him. It felt wrong on a visceral level. He isn’t Majordomo. Not anymore. Her lips pressed together hard. But can I convince Sonya of that? Her hatred of the Heralds is…

“You beat the hell outta this guy,” Gravitic said aloud, blessedly distracting her from the growing crisis in her head. She turned with Majordomo as Gravitic knelt down next to the unconscious creature. He grabbed the back of its head and pulled it up, revealing the face. It was a dead ringer for Sir Halloway of Liberty’s Round Table based on the few security camera photos that had been taken of him. “Yep, it’s him alright. No beard, though. Odd.”

“Beards can be shaved,” Chunhua said and nodded to Nietz, who frowned.

“Who is it?” he asked.

Gravitic looked up at him. “That’s… Do you remember that story from my camp experience? The portal guy?” The gravity-wielding hero set the unconscious creature down and walked over.

Oh, right. Nietz was part of Gravitic’s security detail for a while before being reassigned, Chunhua realized. He also attended the Polish training camp. Did that change his path?

Nietz crossed his arms and tilted his head, his body starting to shrink a little. He swayed when he reached his normal size and sat down on the ground, looking exhausted. Gravitic knelt next to him, but he waved him off. “I’ll be fine,” he wheezed. “I’m usually just a little weary after using that function, but I basically quadrupled up this time. Looks like there’s an equivalent backlash.” He nodded towards the monster. “So, that’s that Rift guy? Didn’t he die?”

“That’s our concern,” Gravitic said heavily. “I know his face. That’s definitely him.”

“Gravitic, we should leave,” Chunhua said. “We’re judges. We shouldn’t be out here, and our mission has been accomplished. Let’s retrieve the creature and bring it back for examination. I’ll contact the Committee.”

I need to talk to Sonya as soon as possible. She cannot find out about this without me talking to her first. He’s on a good path, she thought, and turned towards the creature that was starting to come around.

“...Grav?” It rumbled. “Blaak?”

Nietz pointed at it. “Oh, it was trying to say your name, man!”

Gravitic exchanged a look with Chunhua as the creature turned its head and looked in their direction. Gravitic held out his hand, and it was forced back down. It let out a shriek as its eyes bulged, fixing its stare on him. It thrashed, tossing its head as red sparks danced and died across its body. “GRAVITIC!” It shrieked. “GRAVIIITIII-”

It convulsed and then began to melt.

“Shit!” Gravitic shouted and hurried over as its body turned to fluid that spread out across the ground like ichor before bursting into flickering motes of rainbow-colored light and dissolving in the air. “What the hell?”

Chunhua frowned. “A mana reaction? It looked like a monster formation in reverse.”

She watched Gravitic’s shoulders tense and his hands tighten into fists as he stared at the spot. “Kaidan. I knew it.”

“Gravitic, we don’t-”

“It’s her!” Gravitic barked and turned around, marching out of the busted house. He paused next to his tired friend. “It was good seeing you, Nietz, but I gotta report back.”

“You do you,” Nietz said with an easy smile. “Go easy on yourself, okay? Say hi to Mols for me.”

“Only if you do the same for Locke,” Gravitic said quietly, patting Nietz’s shoulder and raising a hand to wave at Hammond, who was keeping a respectful - if a bit awkward - distance. Chunhua only then noticed that the young man was staring at her with a mixture of awe and terror. She sighed and shook her head as Gravitic pulled a device off of his belt and hit the release. A disk of metal appeared from it and landed on the ground. “You coming?” he called back to Chunhua as the disk began to glow.

“Right. Good luck, heroes.”

They were soaring a few moments later, and Chunhua was warring with her thoughts again. She had no idea how she was going to approach this conversation, but she needed to think of something. Fortunately, we had the feed cut to this area after we departed just in case. Ishtar probably didn’t see. I should be able to preempt any conversation. As long as he doesn’t transform like that in front of her anytime soon, anyway.

Her comm chimed in her ear, and she tapped it. “This is Black Lotus.”

“This is Filch at Logistics, sitting in for Euclidia. We’ve got a bit of an emergency situation here, ma’am,” the voice at the other end said with the energy of a telephone operator.

“Where’s Euclidia?” she asked and got a look from Gravitic. The young man frowned and shook his head. He gave a face that said ‘She’s being herself again,’ and Chunhua rolled her eyes. “I think I have an idea now. Never mind. What’s the situation?”

“What we’re suspecting was a Heroic dungeon appeared in Tibet. It was originally an Epic under the local jurisdiction, and we weren’t able to convince the local authority to do an investigation. They were insistent that it was still an Epic. There’s no precedent for a dungeon changing.”

“But it did,” Chunhua said evenly. “What happened after that?”

“Someone cleared it.”

Damn it. Let me guess, Sonya.

“If it’s cleared, what’s the emergency?” she asked.

“Another one popped from an Epic in Southern India. You’re the closest top-tier International, ma’am,” he said.

Chunhua’s stomach dropped, and her hand shot towards her earpiece. Wait, don’t say it-

“You’re on duty, Black Lotus. A helicopter is being dispatched.”

–

Sonya hummed merrily to herself as she stepped out of the collapsing portal, the energy dissipating into the chilly air around her. She put her hands on her hips and turned to smile at the trio behind her. Colin was adjusting his outfit and re-braiding his hair, while Beyol was adjusting his collar. Barry, though, looked distant and thoughtful. His eyes were unfocused as he mumbled quietly to himself. He turned and met her gaze, flushing a little bit before clearing his throat. “I, uh… upstaged you a little there, boss. Sorry.”

She gave him an incredulous look. “Do you think I’m mad or something?”

He furrowed his brows and cocked his head to the right. “Shouldn’t you be?” He held his head and shook it a little. “Man, my head feels funny.”

“Barry, you crossed the threshold. I felt it.”

The other two froze mid-step and looked up at him as he gaped at her. “I did?” He slapped his own forehead and barked out a laugh. “I did! Holy shit, I did!” He bounced up and down on his feet and turned to the others. “Ha ha! I got there first! I did it! I’m a Claimant now!” He struck a pose. “Claimant Kingshark!” he declared and then trailed off. “I have no idea what that means.”

“You’ll figure it out,” Sonya said gently. “I’ll help how I can, but I’m still a little vague on some of it myself. I need to have a word with my tutor.”

“How did you do it?” Beyol asked him.

“I dunno really,” Barry said with a frown. “I just get it. My ability. Not like I know everything about it or anything. Still feels like there’s more to dig out of its instincts, but… I understand it. In my own way, if that makes sense.”

Beyol narrowed his eyes and squinted at the big man. “I… don’t believe I do.”

“It’s like enlightenment,” Sonya said with a smile. “It’s a big step. It’s not a power-up per se, but rather a streamlining of how the ability works for you. It’s yours now. I bet you if I could get a copy of it, the name would be different.”

Barry chuckled. “Neat! My own ability, named after yours truly!”

“And here I was thinking we’d get to see the boss make her declaration,” Colin said lazily as he strutted past Barry. “Oh well, at least one of our own got something good out of it. Speaking of which, you forgot to grab the treasure, Barry.”

Barry rounded on him and was brought face to face with Colin’s hand holding out what looked like a miniature horn on a silver chain. It radiated cold, a faint white mist boiling off of it. Barry stared at it before looking at Sonya, who was just enjoying the scene. She shrugged. “You beat the boss, Barry. Take it. Maybe it’ll be useful to you.”

He picked it up and cradled it in his hands before slipping it on over his head. “Thanks, boss. I mean it.”

Colin pursed his lips and changed the subject, eyeing Sonya. “So?”

Sonya raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Are we going to see it anyway?” he asked. “Come on… Don’t leave us in suspense! You were totally gonna do it in there!”

“I agree,” Beyol chimed in. “Mistress, I would like to bear witness to this. It will be your first time, yes?”

Sonya cleared her throat. “Phrasing, bud,” she chuckled and shot Barry a look. He nodded brightly, eyes sparkling with interest. She huffed out a breath. “I don’t want to steal your thunder, Barry. This is your day.”

“Oh, come on!” he guffawed. “Don’t be a stick in the mud! I appreciate the sentiment, but man, if I can see it firsthand, maybe I can start thinkin’ about my own. I wanna keep pace with you, boss.”

Sonya laughed and shook her head. You idiots. Alright, fine.

She closed her eyes and let herself reflect. That was the first thing she’d noticed she needed to do in order to feel it coming. It was like soul-searching, looking at oneself objectively - ability and all. There were, of course, different things she could declare, different statements she could make about herself. She had a few in mind, but one stood out amongst the others with the most clarity. It was a word that encompassed so much about herself and her story - her life, her experiences, her powers - her very identity. It was a strangely humbling realization she’d had, but one that had come relatively easily.

If it hadn’t been for centuries of introspection and thought, she wouldn’t have come to it so easily. Yet when she looked at herself with a firm gaze, she knew there was only one conclusion as to the first declaration she would make.

She took a deep breath and felt it rise up to her lips. She felt something in the air shift. She felt the world react to her, respond, something passing from it to her in a brief flicker as she took something that belonged to her. She held it in her hand as the words poured out.

“I am Duality.”

It washed over her, and she felt her body go through a change. She felt bigger. She felt stronger. She felt more complete and more aware of the world around her. She saw the contradictions in everything. She could sense the youthful ignorance that contrasted with Beyol’s cold and murderous nature. She could feel the cunning and wickedness that clashed with Colin’s hidden moments of warmth and genuine love. Even more strongly, though, she could feel the calm sea and raging tempest within Barry. His presence was so bright to her.

“Woah…” Barry breathed.

She opened her eyes to look at herself, and the feeling faded, sputtering out as whatever was fueling it ran its course. She swayed on the spot, her head pounding, and she nearly doubled over. What the- Barry caught her, and she clung to him, her muscles aching. It feels like when I tried to use my powers after merging the first time. What did I do wrong? She tried to think through the brief cobwebs that filled her head, and eventually she managed to shake it off. She patted her friend’s arm and stood on her own.

I didn’t do anything wrong. It was the right declaration, I’m sure. I did it; I just… petered out. First-time problems? She scoffed and shook her head again. 

That was disappointing. I need to talk to Set.

“Let’s head back.”