Chapter 61: Not again
Toneri floated in the vast expanse of space, surrounded by the brilliance of distant stars. His Tenseigan flower-patterned eyes allowed him to see far beyond normal perception, peering across the cosmos with clarity that transcended physical limitations. He could see the intricate dance of celestial bodies, the blazing heat of stars burning billions of miles away as if he stood right next to it, and the violent eruptions of supernovas, their energies rippling through the void. Black holes, massive and insatiable, warped space around them, pulling everything into their event horizons. Quasars flickered at the farthest edges of his vision, their light reaching him after traversing the universe for millennia. Exotic energies—forces that defied conventional understanding—pulsed through the fabric of space, hinting at the mysteries that lay beyond.
It was a cosmic ballet, a spectacle of destruction and creation, of light and darkness, playing out in silence. Despite the beauty of the scene, Toneri felt no awe, only frustration. He floated there, surveying it all, before closing his eyes, cutting off the overwhelming sensory input.
'Not again,' he thought, a sigh escaping his lips as he began to troubleshoot what had gone wrong. His target had been the moon, but instead, he found himself in the middle of nowhere in space. He mentally reviewed the sequence of events leading up to this point.
'At least I'm not in the void where the Empty Hand resides,' he considered, a small comfort in an otherwise frustrating situation. But that didn't change the fact that he had no idea where he was. All he could see was open space stretching endlessly in every direction.
Then it hit him. 'Chaos energy,' he thought, recalling the surge of malevolent power that had disrupted his portal just as it had closed behind him. His mind drifted back to the battle with Klarion, the memory vivid in his thoughts.
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Flashback
Just as Toneri sighed in relief, believing the fight was over, a bolt of red energy slammed into him, sending him careening away. He crashed through several structures, the impact causing massive destruction. Groaning, he quickly got up, shaking off the debris that clung to his clothes. 'Did he just try to corrupt me with his energy?' Toneri thought, realizing the insidious nature of Klarion's attack. He could feel the lingering presence of chaos within him, trying to disrupt his chakra.
Klarion's laughter echoed through the ruined streets, his form reconstituting from the chaotic energy surrounding him. "You're resilient, I'll give you that," Klarion taunted, his eyes gleaming with malevolent delight. "But let's see how long you can withstand the true power of chaos!"
---
Toneri's eyes snapped open in the present, his suspicion confirmed. 'That residual chaos energy must've caused the portal to malfunction,' he thought. It was the only explanation that made sense.
Feeling the urgency to fix the problem, he closed his eyes and focused, retreating into his mindscape. His mental world resembled the space outside, vast and dotted with stars. In the center, a gigantic moon the size of Earth loomed, casting a soft, pale light across the landscape.
He felt around within himself, searching for any trace of the chaos energy that had corrupted his chakra. After a few moments, he found it—a tiny fragment of red energy, barely noticeable, yet potent enough to cause problems.
'There you are,' he thought, channeling his chakra toward the fragment. His nigh-infinite reserves of energy surrounded the chaos energy, suffocating it, until it was completely snuffed out. Satisfied, he opened his eyes, feeling the last remnants of the foreign energy dissipate.
'To think I would miss such a thing... Shit, I got careless,' he admonished himself, frustrated by his oversight.
He took a deep breath and tried to open a portal back to Mount Justice. But something was wrong. The connection wouldn't form. He frowned, concentrating harder, but the result was the same—failure.
'Why can't I open the portal?' he thought, going over potential reasons in his mind. Perhaps there was some sort of interference preventing him from locking onto the spatial coordinates. Or maybe the chaos energy had left some lingering effect he hadn't accounted for.
After several more attempts, he gave up on the direct approach and began sensing the space around him. He extended his awareness, probing the fabric of reality for any clues. After a few minutes, his eyes widened in shock as he detected something unusual, something different from the usual energy signatures he was familiar with.
'This is... different,' he thought, frowning as he tried to make sense of what he was feeling. It wasn't something he recognized, and that made it all the more concerning.
Deciding to change tactics, Toneri attempted to open a portal to the general spatial location of where Earth was supposed to be. This time, the portal flickered to life. He felt a sense of relief wash over him as he saw the familiar swirling energy.
'Huh, that at least worked,' he thought, wasting no time as he stepped through the portal.
He emerged into a new space, greeted by the sight of the blue marble that was Earth floating before him. The portal closed behind him, leaving him to drift in the vast emptiness of space.
He looked around, spotting satellites orbiting the planet. In the distance, he saw the moon, its surface a familiar sight that eased some of his tension. He glanced at the other planets in the solar system, each one in its proper place.
But then, his gaze returned to Earth, and a frown crossed his face. 'Where is it?' he thought, scanning the area. Something was missing—something significant.
The Watchtower, the Justice League's space station, was nowhere to be seen.
His frown deepened as he tried to make sense of the situation.
Toneri continued to float silently in space, his eyes narrowing as he examined Earth below him. Something about this planet felt different from the one he knew. There was a sense of stability and strength, as if this version of Earth was more resilient than the previous one. The difference was subtle, but it was unmistakable to someone like him, attuned to the spatial curvatures and energies of the universe.
He shifted his gaze to the moon, considering his next move. Without a word or even a hand sign, a shadow clone materialized beside him, its form solid and stable,. The clone gave a nod, understanding its task without needing instructions. A moment later, it opened a portal and disappeared inside of it, heading toward the surface of the moon to gather information and make a base if need be, leaving the original to continue his silent observation of Earth.
As he hovered there, his expression remained unreadable, his thoughts hidden behind a calm exterior. After a long moment, he sighed, resigning himself to the next step. "Oh well," he murmured to himself. "Let's see if I can find out where exactly I am."
With that, Toneri opened a portal directly to the planet's surface, feeling no need for a long journey. The swirling energy of the portal beckoned, and with one final glance at the stars above, he stepped through, descending toward the unfamiliar Earth below.