Parallels- an MCSM AU [COMPLETED]

NINETEEN- Volatile Theories

The rest of us looked at each other for a few seconds. Aiden opened his mouth, then shut it again with an audible snap when he realized he was just as clueless as the rest of us.

"Talking to her's out of the question, right?" Radar asked. Julia shot him a look. "Definitely. And in any case, I don't think she'd be willing to negotiate after we so firmly turned down her stupid 'alliance' trap."

Lukas crossed his arms, looking uncomfortable. "Well...I can think of one way. It's not pretty, though."

"Yeah?" I asked, unable to keep the hope out of my voice. Lukas cleared his throat and gave me a cagey look, but didn't say anything else.

I stared at him for a moment, not comprehending, before it hit me.

"Oh. Well...yes, I suppose that's an option. But I don't like the look of this scenario if what should be our last resort is currently Plan A."

"Wait, you don't mean...we can't kill Essa?" Radar asked, his voice cracking with nerves.

Julia scowled at no one in particular. "Why not? She seems like she wants to do just as bad to us, does she not? You heard how she was talking in the In-Between." she pointed out.

"Actually, I'm not sure if that's such a good idea." Aiden cut in. Julia's glare lifted to him, and he hesitantly backpedaled. "Okay, yeah, I don't know about her as well as any of you do. But do we know what'll happen if a Prime gets killed? That'd be a pretty massive deviation, so wouldn't it ruin stuff even more?"

Julia held her glower for a moment more, than cursed quietly. "Dammit. You're probably right. I don't know how a Prime's death would affect things, especially one who was killed by another Prime. We might really screw stuff up."

Lukas snorted. "Yeah, like it's not screwed up enough as is?"

"Okay, wait. Aiden's got a point." I said. "But what if there's a loophole to that? Like maybe it won't screw things up if she's killed or not killed by another Prime? Or...in her timeline versus another? Or even the In-Between?"

Now it was Radar who gave me an anxious look. "I thought we just decided against killing her...?"

I shook my head. "Obviously, we'll do anything we can to avoid that. But Radar, this could get dire." I said gently.

"If killing off Essa will undo all the shit she's done, I am all for it." Julia contributed.

"But what if it does something horrible?" Aiden pressed. "What if, say, killing a Prime erases their entire timeline?"

This earned another disdainful noise from Lukas. "Honestly, I think that might be for the best. Essa's dimension is pretty fucked up."

Aiden pointed at him. "Yes, but if she realizes you guys are trying to take her out, wouldn't that validate her using lethal force against you? Which would risk either our or Julia's timeline being destroyed. And, forgive me, but I really don't feel like having my entire existence deleted."

Julia looked down her nose at him. "Stop helping. You're making this so much more confusing."

"I'm just trying to be logical." he objected, lifting his hands in a surrendering motion.

Radar crossed his arms loosely and bit his lower lip, a sign that he was thinking hard. "So then what can we do?" he muttered. "She won't listen to us, and we don't want to kill her unless we have to. What options does this leave us with?"

I sighed, rubbing my forehead. "I don't know. Essa's obviously unstable, and we just don't know enough about this to make a plan."

"I think we should do what Radar said. Go back to her timeline and see what we can figure out." Julia suggested. "I can use my Admin powers to disguise us, and maybe we can dig around her base or something."