Locking in Dupli-Kate

"Yeah, I'm locking in," you decide on Dupli-Kate. The smug genie nods, opens a portal, gives you a thumbs-up, and then disappears.

Dupli-Kate, or Kate Cha, appears in your modest living room with a flash of violet light. Her eyes go wide, stance tense, athletic body coiled like a spring ready to snap. Her short black hair sways as she instinctively drops into a fighting position, scanning the space for enemies.

"Where... where am I?" she hisses. "Did Angstrom Levy do this?"

You raise your hands slowly, trying to calm her. "Whoa, calm down. No Angstrom Levy here. You're safe. You're in my world now."

She glares at you, nostrils flaring. "Where the hell is your world?"

"Earth. But not your Earth. This one’s… different. No Viltrumites. No aliens. No supervillains. No powers in my world." You swallow. "Sorry, but… your duplication ability? It doesn’t work here."

She blinks. Slowly, she tries to activate her power. Nothing happens. No clone. No shimmer. Just silence.

You see it in her eyes, the panic, the confusion. The haunted weight of someone who has died more than once and remembers every second of it. For a moment, you realize she thought she was about to die again.

You suddenly remember something from the source material: she had been secretly planning to quit being a superhero for a while.

Dupli-Kate backs up, bumping into your coffee table.

You keep your voice soft. "This world is boring. That’s kind of the point. People go to work, pay bills, eat bad takeout. The most dangerous thing around here is traffic."

She doesn't say anything at first.

You sit down on the couch, careful not to startle her. "Look, I know this sounds insane. I didn’t expect this either. But you’re not going to die here. There’s no final battle waiting. No Rex cheating on you. No more getting torn apart by villains on rooftops."

Kate’s eyes flick to yours. You see something break inside her, something brittle that had been holding on for far too long.

"…You’re serious," she whispers.

You nod. "You’re free now. You don’t have to go back. Ever."