126. Kara Awakens.
"How long was I unconscious?"
After Pietro finished his thirty-seventh takeout box, Kara's eyelashes fluttered slightly, and she slowly opened her eyes.
"About an hour more than me," Pietro smiled. Seeing Kara finally wake up, his previously worried mood improved significantly. "Do you want something to eat? I'm telling you, these fried dumplings are amazing. Right, Alex?"
"They sure are, but there aren't many left. Given that this fast-food place is now in another dimension, it might be tough for you guys to get more in the future," Alex shrugged.
"Wait a minute, Alex, don't tell me this food came from that polluted world!?" Pietro was horrified.
"Yep," Alex nodded.
"What!? Why didn't you say that earlier!"
Pietro quickly started to gag, fearing that the food might be contaminated with unknown pollutants.
Watching this, Kara couldn't help but smile. Initially, upon waking from her coma, she felt a bit groggy, but as she watched Alex and Pietro bicker, all her confusion vanished. Kara hadn't felt this kind of warmth in a long time—the feeling of waking up with family around.
"Stop that, Pietro. It's disgusting, and I'm trying to eat," Kara said as she got up from the sheet spread on the ground and moved closer to the campfire. Although, as a Kryptonian, her body was immune to heat and cold, she wanted to be near the fire.
"Are you crazy? That food might be contaminated," Pietro turned around.
"Idiot, he was joking," Kara chuckled as she tore open a new takeout box.
Hearing this, Pietro looked at Alex in disbelief, unable to comprehend that Alex had fooled him.
Alex just spread his hands.
"I didn't expect you to react so strongly... What, is your super brain not working?"
"I'm going to get you!" Pietro grabbed his Zeus staff.
"Alright, stop it. You're both grown-ups. You always claim your mental age is older than mine, but you act like a fifteen-year-old," Kara said.
Kara had arrived on Earth at fifteen and was immediately detained by the Russian government for several years. During this time, without any social contact, she remained mentally at the level of a fifteen-year-old, which Pietro often exploited to call himself her older brother. But honestly, after being in that dark, sunless place for so long, Kara might not know much about social interaction, but her mental resilience was unmatched.
"Men are boys until they die. Alex taught me that," Pietro replied.
Hearing this, Kara turned to look at Alex.
Feeling Kara's gaze, Alex quickly spoke up. "He misunderstood."
After a bit more banter, Alex explained the whole situation to Kara. During that battle, Kara and Pietro had completely different perspectives. If Pietro witnessed the fall of a polluted reality, Kara undoubtedly witnessed the birth of a new one.
She was fighting Magneto at the time, not holding back just because he was an old man. And Magneto, having never encountered Kara before, fought with all his might to protect his mutant criminal allies.
On one side was the steel-bodied Kryptonian, on the other was Magneto, who controlled magnetic fields. Their battle destroyed half of Manhattan. As a showman, Magneto turned every magnetizable object into his weapon.
In an instant, steel bars and skyscrapers swirled in the sky, cars became his projectiles, and even those far away on the coast could see the scenes of their battle. It was also at this time that the world was being gradually reshaped, a new reality about to be born. Before the new timeline appeared, everything in the original reality was pushed into the cracks of existence by an unstoppable force.
The sky tore apart, seawater surged, and everything in reality was falling apart.
Kara's last memory was of a giant hand covering the entire sky reaching for her. She closed her eyes, not resisting at all, feeling completely at peace. Strangely, upon waking, Kara inexplicably thought that Alex should get a better pair of gloves—the leather ones were too uncomfortable.
"Is that thing still functional? It looks broken," Kara asked curiously, her gaze shifting to Pietro's Zeus staff.
"The capacitor and transformer are burnt out. I should be able to fix it. This thing will help me practice. I'm planning to focus on technology lately. It would be a waste not to use a super brain," Pietro replied. "Besides, I have a vibranium arm now. That's enough."
"Super brain, huh?" Kara murmured. On Krypton, she was supposed to be a scientist.
Seeing Kara deep in thought, Alex couldn't help but say, "Kara, you could try doing some research too. It's always good to have more skills. You have a super brain, so use it. Don't end up like your cousin."
"Kal? What about him?"
Kara was confused. She didn't understand why the topic suddenly shifted to her cousin. Seeing this, Alex decided to tell her a joke about Superman.
"Kara, you know, every time your cousin Superman thinks about how to defeat his enemies, his super brain always tells him: Use your super strength."
"Pfft," Pietro covered his mouth, trying not to laugh.
Kara fell silent, biting her lip to suppress her smile.
"It's actually a joke because Superman is so strong that he doesn't need to think much. His enemies 'aren't worthy' of his efforts. But, I want to say, Kryptonians aren't invincible, right?"
"Yes," Kara put away her smile. "In the last world, I learned a lot. There are many powerful beings among Earthlings, and when facing higher entities, Kryptonians are just durable toys."
"That's why, for us to live well, we need enough strength." At this, Alex seemed to remember something and asked, "By the way, Kara, how do you feel now? Is this world's sun familiar to you?"
Hearing this, Kara clenched her fist, pondered for a moment, and then slowly raised her head to speak.
"Maybe because it's night, I can't really feel the sun's changes in this world. But for now, it seems my strength is somewhat diminished."
...…..
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127. Nightclub in the Wasteland.
128. A Tender Trap in a Nightmare.
129. Orb.
130. The Gaze.
131. The Watcher's Eye.