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Part Two of the untitled Female Booster and Ted from Another Dimension fic.
“Just come over,” Ted had said over the phone. “You gotta see this.” So Booster had headed over, Skeets in tow, expecting a technological breakthrough or a 1950s comic book in mint condition or maybe, if they were very lucky, the superheroine look-alike Playboy issue that was so hard to find because the superheroines had found out about it before it hit newsstands and no one in their right mind would admit to having a copy that had somehow escaped the wanton, needless destruction that had befallen most of the shipments.
He knocked on the door, then opened it without waiting for a response. “Ted? What’s so important that-Whoa! Hi!”
The pretty brunette smiled at him. “You must be Booster.”
He took her hand, bowing as he raised it to his lips. “I was, but from this moment on, I am your willing slave.”
She grinned and patted his cheek. “That’s cute.”
“Cute?” Booster demanded as she walked away. “Since when am I ‘cute’?”
“It has been my observation, sir, that women of this century consider cute to be a good thing.”
“Booster? That you?” Ted’s voice came from the living room. “You’re never going to believe this! Actually, you probably will. It’s not completely unheard of. Just unusual, even by our standards.”
“You’re babbling,” Booster said.
“Tess does that too,” a feminine voice said, as Booster followed the pretty girl into the next room. Ted was sitting on the couch, a blond woman lounging beside him. The other girl plopped down on Ted’s other side. Scowling, Booster dropped into the armchair, glaring at his best friend who had two girls while he sat alone.
“Booster, this is Tess and Michelle,” Ted said. “Notice anything unusual about them?”
Booster bit back the sarcastic “They prefer you to me?” and studied the women. Tess was on the short side, with a pixie cut and big blue eyes. Under the faded jeans and loose t-shirt she was wearing she bordered on petite. Michelle was taller, probably nearly as tall as Booster when she stood up, and had long, wavy blond hair, blue eyes, and a dimple.
“Um,” he said, after realizing the three on the couch were grinning at him like old friends who shared a private joke at the expense of the newcomer. “Michelle kind of reminds me of my sister. A little.”
Michelle’s grin was gone. “You have a sister? A twin?”
“Yeah. Only she’s dead. How’d you know she was my twin?”
She looked like she was going to cry. “She followed you to the past and died, right? Died as Goldstar?”
Booster and Ted nodded.
“Just like Michael,” Tess whispered.
“Booster’s real name is Michael.”
“Do I get an explanation now?”
“They’re us. Female versions of us from another dimension.”
“Why does that make so much sense?”
“The similarities between the two worlds are remarkable,” Skeets commented.
“You sound kind of funny.” Booster glanced over at the robot. “No way! There’s a girl Skeets?”
“I am neither male nor female. However, humans in our world are inclined to refer to me with female pronouns.”
“And there’s a minor difference in the vocal stimulators,” the other Skeets said, “resulting in a slightly higher pitch. All other specs are identical.”
“You two have been swapping notes?”
“It is pleasant to communicate with an equal again.”
“Ouch.”
“Now that we’re all here, want to explain why we’re all here?”
“Things got kind of out of hand in our dimension, and the world leaders all got together and decided they wanted to get rid of all metahumans,” Tess explained. “And aliens, time travelers, and costumed vigilantes. So they built a huge dimensional porter and sent us away.”
“And you let them?”
“Why would we stay?” Michelle asked bitterly. “They didn’t want us.”
“The portal was set to make sure we went to worlds similar to ours, so that we wouldn’t choke on poisonous atmospheres or anything. The criminals were mostly sent to an uninhabited planet. Sort of like Australia, only on a bigger scale.”
“Mostly?”
“There were some riots. Like I said, things got out of hand, and metas weren’t welcome anymore. People stormed the prisons. The guards stood aside and let it happen. Some helped. Prisoners were lynched, executed. It was pretty bad.”
“But as superheroes, we were given a choice. We could fight and be forced to go to Australia-world with just the clothes on our back, or leave peacefully and have a chance to pack and take our chances with the portal set on ‘random.’ Every time someone went through, the portal reset, so that none of us would end up in the same place. That way, if anyone finds their way back, they won’t bring everyone else home with them. We rode in the Bug to stay together.”
“We could have stayed,” Tess said softly. “We aren’t metas, so if we agreed to hand over all our tech to the government and never wear our costumes again, we’d be allowed to stay.”
“We decided to take our chances. No world could be worse than the one that kicked us out. And I like flying.”
Booster nodded. “I’d have done the same thing.”
“Of course you would have. They’re us, Booster. It’s not just an alternate time line, this is more like a parallel, nearly identical universe with one minor difference. Well, two, counting the whole ‘banish the spandex set’ thing.”
“Our pasts are remarkable similar. The gender-swap seems limited to the superheroes and villains. Both personal and world history are almost exact matches, right up to about 5 months ago when everything went to hell,” Tess said.
“Fingerprints are the same. Freckles. Scars from falling off a bike and scores on the SATs.”
“There are some differences of course. I got dolls when he got remote control cars. But really, it’s amazing how few differences there are.”
“The implications for gender study are remarkable. I was expecting them to be like sisters, but they’re more like us if we’d been zapped with a gender-switching ray.”
“How long have they been geeking out?”
“Over an hour.”
“You know the rule, Ted. Ninety minutes is the limit.”
“Booster has the same rule!” Tess squealed.
Booster blinked at her, then looked at Michelle. “You go by Booster?”
“And their costumes look just like ours!”
“Then we need to get them new costumes. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure you look great in them, but two Booster Golds won’t work. It would be okay for a quick publicity stunt, but nothing long term. You need new names and a new look. Maybe Booster Silver. Or Goldstar Jr.”
“And why do I have to change my name? Why don’t you change?”
“Because this is my world. I’m the Booster Gold everyone knows and loves.
It’s my face on the logo.”
“I’m a guest. The polite thing to do…”
“Guests leave. And it doesn’t look like you’re going anywhere. You want to be Girl Booster Gold for a week while we defeat the newest super villain before you disappear again, that’s great. But if you’re sticking around, you need to stay away from my copyright.”
“It’s my copyright, jerk.”
“Not here it isn’t.”
“A gentleman would let the lady keep the name.”
“I’m no gentleman. And if you’re me, you’re definitely not a lady. Probably make Bea look refined.”
Ted and Tess watched the two Boosters glare at each other. “Scary.”
“It’s like listening to him argue with himself.”
TBC
I have a superhero name for Tess, but I'm drawing a blank for Michelle. Any ideas?
“Just come over,” Ted had said over the phone. “You gotta see this.” So Booster had headed over, Skeets in tow, expecting a technological breakthrough or a 1950s comic book in mint condition or maybe, if they were very lucky, the superheroine look-alike Playboy issue that was so hard to find because the superheroines had found out about it before it hit newsstands and no one in their right mind would admit to having a copy that had somehow escaped the wanton, needless destruction that had befallen most of the shipments.
He knocked on the door, then opened it without waiting for a response. “Ted? What’s so important that-Whoa! Hi!”
The pretty brunette smiled at him. “You must be Booster.”
He took her hand, bowing as he raised it to his lips. “I was, but from this moment on, I am your willing slave.”
She grinned and patted his cheek. “That’s cute.”
“Cute?” Booster demanded as she walked away. “Since when am I ‘cute’?”
“It has been my observation, sir, that women of this century consider cute to be a good thing.”
“Booster? That you?” Ted’s voice came from the living room. “You’re never going to believe this! Actually, you probably will. It’s not completely unheard of. Just unusual, even by our standards.”
“You’re babbling,” Booster said.
“Tess does that too,” a feminine voice said, as Booster followed the pretty girl into the next room. Ted was sitting on the couch, a blond woman lounging beside him. The other girl plopped down on Ted’s other side. Scowling, Booster dropped into the armchair, glaring at his best friend who had two girls while he sat alone.
“Booster, this is Tess and Michelle,” Ted said. “Notice anything unusual about them?”
Booster bit back the sarcastic “They prefer you to me?” and studied the women. Tess was on the short side, with a pixie cut and big blue eyes. Under the faded jeans and loose t-shirt she was wearing she bordered on petite. Michelle was taller, probably nearly as tall as Booster when she stood up, and had long, wavy blond hair, blue eyes, and a dimple.
“Um,” he said, after realizing the three on the couch were grinning at him like old friends who shared a private joke at the expense of the newcomer. “Michelle kind of reminds me of my sister. A little.”
Michelle’s grin was gone. “You have a sister? A twin?”
“Yeah. Only she’s dead. How’d you know she was my twin?”
She looked like she was going to cry. “She followed you to the past and died, right? Died as Goldstar?”
Booster and Ted nodded.
“Just like Michael,” Tess whispered.
“Booster’s real name is Michael.”
“Do I get an explanation now?”
“They’re us. Female versions of us from another dimension.”
“Why does that make so much sense?”
“The similarities between the two worlds are remarkable,” Skeets commented.
“You sound kind of funny.” Booster glanced over at the robot. “No way! There’s a girl Skeets?”
“I am neither male nor female. However, humans in our world are inclined to refer to me with female pronouns.”
“And there’s a minor difference in the vocal stimulators,” the other Skeets said, “resulting in a slightly higher pitch. All other specs are identical.”
“You two have been swapping notes?”
“It is pleasant to communicate with an equal again.”
“Ouch.”
“Now that we’re all here, want to explain why we’re all here?”
“Things got kind of out of hand in our dimension, and the world leaders all got together and decided they wanted to get rid of all metahumans,” Tess explained. “And aliens, time travelers, and costumed vigilantes. So they built a huge dimensional porter and sent us away.”
“And you let them?”
“Why would we stay?” Michelle asked bitterly. “They didn’t want us.”
“The portal was set to make sure we went to worlds similar to ours, so that we wouldn’t choke on poisonous atmospheres or anything. The criminals were mostly sent to an uninhabited planet. Sort of like Australia, only on a bigger scale.”
“Mostly?”
“There were some riots. Like I said, things got out of hand, and metas weren’t welcome anymore. People stormed the prisons. The guards stood aside and let it happen. Some helped. Prisoners were lynched, executed. It was pretty bad.”
“But as superheroes, we were given a choice. We could fight and be forced to go to Australia-world with just the clothes on our back, or leave peacefully and have a chance to pack and take our chances with the portal set on ‘random.’ Every time someone went through, the portal reset, so that none of us would end up in the same place. That way, if anyone finds their way back, they won’t bring everyone else home with them. We rode in the Bug to stay together.”
“We could have stayed,” Tess said softly. “We aren’t metas, so if we agreed to hand over all our tech to the government and never wear our costumes again, we’d be allowed to stay.”
“We decided to take our chances. No world could be worse than the one that kicked us out. And I like flying.”
Booster nodded. “I’d have done the same thing.”
“Of course you would have. They’re us, Booster. It’s not just an alternate time line, this is more like a parallel, nearly identical universe with one minor difference. Well, two, counting the whole ‘banish the spandex set’ thing.”
“Our pasts are remarkable similar. The gender-swap seems limited to the superheroes and villains. Both personal and world history are almost exact matches, right up to about 5 months ago when everything went to hell,” Tess said.
“Fingerprints are the same. Freckles. Scars from falling off a bike and scores on the SATs.”
“There are some differences of course. I got dolls when he got remote control cars. But really, it’s amazing how few differences there are.”
“The implications for gender study are remarkable. I was expecting them to be like sisters, but they’re more like us if we’d been zapped with a gender-switching ray.”
“How long have they been geeking out?”
“Over an hour.”
“You know the rule, Ted. Ninety minutes is the limit.”
“Booster has the same rule!” Tess squealed.
Booster blinked at her, then looked at Michelle. “You go by Booster?”
“And their costumes look just like ours!”
“Then we need to get them new costumes. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure you look great in them, but two Booster Golds won’t work. It would be okay for a quick publicity stunt, but nothing long term. You need new names and a new look. Maybe Booster Silver. Or Goldstar Jr.”
“And why do I have to change my name? Why don’t you change?”
“Because this is my world. I’m the Booster Gold everyone knows and loves.
It’s my face on the logo.”
“I’m a guest. The polite thing to do…”
“Guests leave. And it doesn’t look like you’re going anywhere. You want to be Girl Booster Gold for a week while we defeat the newest super villain before you disappear again, that’s great. But if you’re sticking around, you need to stay away from my copyright.”
“It’s my copyright, jerk.”
“Not here it isn’t.”
“A gentleman would let the lady keep the name.”
“I’m no gentleman. And if you’re me, you’re definitely not a lady. Probably make Bea look refined.”
Ted and Tess watched the two Boosters glare at each other. “Scary.”
“It’s like listening to him argue with himself.”
TBC
I have a superhero name for Tess, but I'm drawing a blank for Michelle. Any ideas?