Chapter 160

At the moment, Kara could exist in the past, present, and future if she chose to.

For her, any point in time could be called "now." She not only observed time but actively participated in it.

Dr. Manhattan often struggled with the concept of time, sometimes making seemingly incoherent statements. In reality, he was referring to events in the future as if they were happening in the present, blurring the lines of "now."

However, Kara shook her head and suppressed her ability.

Dr. Manhattan had been right about one thing: Kara didn't want to live that way.

"If you watch a movie over and over again, endlessly replaying it, wouldn't it get unbearably dull?" Kara muttered to herself. She refused to do that. It would sap all the interest she had in the world.

Most importantly, she wasn't about to let the future dictate her present choices.

Unlike Dr. Manhattan, Kara wouldn't sacrifice her current self for some hypothetical future self.

After she set aside her temporal abilities, Kara noticed something startling—an entire crowd had gathered around her.

These were the people she and Dr. Manhattan had just saved, resurrected after the devastation caused by the pharaoh's conspiracy.

Kara felt no guilt. This wasn't her universe, so she didn't have to worry about the potential ripple effects of rewriting history. That said, she followed a strict personal rule: in her own universe, she would never rewrite the past, no matter how tempting it was.

Take Krypton, for example. If Kara saved her home planet from destruction, her life would fundamentally change. She wouldn't have fallen to Earth with Clark. Without the red sun, she wouldn't have gained her powers. Ultimately, she'd still be on Krypton, vulnerable to any number of unforeseen accidents.

Was rewriting the past worth erasing herself? Absolutely not.

Suddenly, Kara became aware of the silent stares fixed on her. The crowd had witnessed everything—the confrontation with Dr. Manhattan and their cryptic conversation.

"You killed him?" someone demanded.

The voice belonged to Laurie.

The murmurs of the crowd mirrored Laurie's accusation.

Kara shrugged. "I guess I don't need to stay here any longer. You heard everything between me and Dr. Manhattan, right? I'll leave this world to you all now."

Her body began to glow faintly as she prepared to leave. Under Dr. Manhattan's subtle guidance, Kara had discovered a new level of control over time and space.

It was as if Manhattan had foreseen all of this, even the part where Kara would chart her own path forward.

With that, Kara stepped out of the present and into another moment in time.

1959: A Quiet Evening at a Diner

Jonathan Osterman was having dinner with Jenny Slater, his fiancée. Young and deeply in love, they sat across from each other in a cozy corner of the restaurant.

Kara, concealed in the shadows, observed the scene quietly. For once, she allowed herself to enjoy the simplicity of human happiness.

At one point, Jonathan stood up abruptly. "Oh no, Jenny. I think I left my lab coat at the lab this morning. Your watch is in the pocket."

He started to leave but stopped abruptly, reaching into his suit pocket. To his surprise, he pulled out the watch.

Jonathan blinked in confusion. "What? I could've sworn I left this behind..."

Jenny laughed, assuming he was joking. "You're such a goof, Jonathan." She walked around the table, kissed his cheek, and took the watch from his hand.

From the shadows, Kara smiled faintly.

In this timeline, Jonathan and Jenny went on to marry and build a life together. Their first child was born three years later—a bright, golden-haired girl they named Kara.

Years passed, and Jonathan and Jenny welcomed a second child, a boy they named Clark.

"It's funny," Kara mused from the sidelines. "Jonathan, this girl may share my name, but don't get any ideas. My adoptive father is another Jonathan entirely."

She chuckled softly to herself.

For a brief moment, Kara simply observed, allowing herself to feel a rare sense of peace.

A Bittersweet Farewell

"Thank you, Kara."

The voice startled her. She turned to find Dr. Manhattan standing beside her.

However, he looked different—fading, transparent. Kara knew the reason. By altering his origin story, she had set events into motion that were erasing him from existence.

If he wanted, Manhattan could hide in the Quantum Realm to survive. But instead, he stood there with a serene expression, watching the life he might have had unfold before him.

With a faint smile, Manhattan closed his eyes. Moments later, his form dissolved into nothingness.

Kara stayed behind for a while, watching the world shift into a new equilibrium. Without Manhattan, the world's timeline aligned more closely with her own universe. The Cold War proceeded without the existential threat of nuclear annihilation, and humanity's progress unfolded as it had in her reality.

Kara felt a sense of accomplishment. She had fulfilled Manhattan's final wish.

Finally, it was time to leave. Kara whispered a soft "goodbye" to Jonathan's family and opened a shimmering portal to the multiverse.

Without hesitation, she stepped through.

Kara emerged on the other side, back in her home universe. Though her mastery of quantum mechanics wasn't yet on par with Dr. Manhattan's, she knew it was only a matter of time before she surpassed him.

And as she looked out across the familiar stars of her universe, Kara smiled.

She was finally home.