Welcome to the Omniverse, Claire Ferguson

[Blink]

The Luna Moore Inn. Despite her doubts about the man that had given her the direction to come to this location, Blink found herself standing in front of the neon sign advertising the hotel behind it. A man that somehow knew her real name had called her on a communicator he provided and sent her here, so they could meet in person. It was all very shady and suspicious. But even still, she had nowhere else to go. She had no home, no friends and no idea of where she actually was. Whoever this person was had some kind of answers for her. So she no choice. She had to meet him.

She had to figure out exactly how to get to the Third Tier, first. It took some trouble figuring out how the city was laid out. It turned out that Coruscant was a city stacked on top of itself, all the way to seven levels. She had been on the first tier, or the top one. She found an elevator and made her way down to the third tier, which was where this inn was. She glanced at the building. The room she had been directed to was on the top floor. Five.

Blink felt a tinge of pain in her stomach from when she had been kicked. She thought about the encounter earlier. A bald man named Rufus had attacked her after she refused to meet his boss. She had to admit that she was a bit curious who was trying to find her and what job this person had in mind for her. It might have seemed just as seedy as whoever this mysterious man was in this hotel, but at this Rufus guy had fought her straight on. He was honest in his approach, which is more then she could say for whoever she about to meet.

Rather then go to the lobby, she decided to go straight for the room itself. She headed in through a side entrance and took an elevator up. The hotel's color scheme was white and blue, which made sense given it was supposed to be a moonlight theme. The room that the pink mutant was supposed to find was 507 - easy enough to locate. Once in front of the dark blue door, she gave it a couple knocks.

Nothing.

She knocked again. She frowned as she could hear no noise on the other side of it. Blink had hyped up a big meeting in her head, as if some big muscular man kick the door open and attack her. But she was greeted to silence. Her long fingers found the pointed handle of the door and pushed down, just to try it. The knob clicked and the door opened slightly. Being wary, she carefully pushed it open and stepped in.

Once inside Room 507, Blink let the door shut behind her. She was in a hotel room. It had one big bed in the center, a desk in the corner and a door leading into what she assumed was a bathroom. Outside of being unlocked, there was nothing unusual about the room at all. Her green eyes peeked along the tabletop of the TV stand and the desk, to try and see if there was a message left for her. Her fingers slid over the top of the desk, glancing at the different advertisement pamphlets. She took a moment to think about the last time she was in a hotel...it had been ages. She had maybe used a seedy highway hotel while she was on the run from somebody, but never a fancy place like this. The fact that she could afford to stay here if she wanted to made her feel good.

There was a noise behind her. She spun around quickly, her fingers glowing fuchsia in preparation for attack. But when she spun, there was just an old man in front of her. He was leaning both hands on a cane, looking at her in a blank stare. She hadn't heard him come in, and he didn't seem to be threatening. "Who are you?" she asked, stepping a step back until her backside was up against the table.

"My name is Gruu," he said calmly. He had a long, drawn out white beard hanging off of his face. His glasses were dim, like a mix between reading spectacles and sunglasses. "It's nice to finally meet you, Claire."

"My name is Blink," she said defensively. She didn't know this person, and she didn't like his using her given name. It was a privilege he hadn't earned. "How did you get in here? I didn't hear you come in."

"That's because I didn't," he said mysterious. She squinted her eyes in confusion. "Who is to say that I am here at all?"

Blink understood what he said the moment he said it, but he felt the need to prove it anyway. The old telepath shifted her perception of the room, causing the walls to melt away and leave them in an atmosphere similar to space. This void was purple and black, the lights whirling around them as if they were caught in a wormhole. She had to admit, inwardly, that it was beautiful. On the outside, though, she snarled. "Get out of my head."

"I just want to talk, Claire. And I felt this was the best way to discuss what I had to offer. I wanted to give you something familiar." Through-out the show, he didn't move at all. The old man remained looking forward at her, hands on the wooden walking stick.

The light show did feel familiar to her. She had spent years defending her multiverse against monsters and villains of all shapes and sizes. This particular portal they were in felt just like the one she used before. It would send her to new timelines and planets, all across the universe. She had traveled more then anyone in the entire multiverse. This light show around her did make her feel a bit at home - but on the negative, it also reminded her of how far away from home she really was. She wasn't sure there actually was a thing called home anymore.

The old man continued to talk. "I didn't know how you react upon us meeting. This way I can tell you what I have to say, and if you choose to leave, then you can leave."

Claire was busy looking around, admiring the sight of the inter-dimensional portal around them. Of course she it wasn't real. He was telepathic, like the leader of the X-Men she had been apart of. He had burrowed into her brain and found this memory to calm her down. But it still made her fingers tingle, looking at it. "I don't like people messing with my head," she said plainly.

"It was nessecary. Now...will you listen to me?"

Blink finally turned around to face the man. "Let's start with who you are. Is that even your real form?"

The man finally seemed to react. He looked up at her through tired eyes, and finally nodded his head. "Yes, this is my real form. As for who I am..." she noticed he had spoke slowly and deliberately, as if he was pondering his words as he said that. "My name, as I said, is Gruu. I am the head of a company here in Coruscant that creates technological advancement through Omnilium. Your communicator that I gifted you is one such example of GruuTech."

Blink couldn't help but look down at her watch, which also doubled as her communicated. Sure enough, it had a fancy 'G' logo up above the screen, showing that he was telling the truth. "That's all very interesting," she said sarcastically, "But what does that have to do with me? None of that explains why you led me to a hotel room and then fed images into my brain."

"I've spent the majority of my life - both here and my original world - creating technology to better the universe." He seemed to reflect a little bit, his voice getting quieter. "It's never enough. The dark always seem to find a way to come out on top. The good always have the tougher time. So I started to do something different. To turn the tide towards the light. I've created and funded highly trained teams under GruuTech. Mercenary teams, that operate outside of the law to protect the weak and stop evil."

Blink squinted her eyes again, until they were just green slits. This old guy, a CEO of a successful corporation, was creating his own private army. "If you're fighting for good and all that, why are you operating outside of the law? Why not just fund the police form?"

"Because in my experience, government and police are not mutually exclusive with 'good' and 'fair.'"

Claire nodded. It was a true statement. She had seen her fair share of corrupt militaries. "Where do I come into it? Why me?"

"I was there at the Dante's Abyss pre-show. I was recruiting for my fifth team. The last team." He smiled a bit, which was the first time she had seen any real expression from him. "You were perfect. I looked into your mind and I saw some of the things you've done. The people you've led came from completely different universes and fought together for a single, unified goal. The keep the universe safe. That's exactly what I need. I have four highly skills teams all over the Omniverse. You're the last piece of the puzzle. The last leader to create the last team. And together we'll make the Omniverse a better place."

It took a moment for Blink to completely absorb the speech that Gruu was giving her. She could appreciate that he sounded genuine and like he actually believed it, but it sounded ridiculous. It sounded almost too good to be true. "So you want me..." she couldn't help but crack up a little bit, breaking a giggle. "Lead like a superhero team? Here?"

"Why not? It's what you're good at."

"Listen," she said, still smiling at the sillyness of the situation. "I appreciate the offer. If it's true at all, I think it's a good thing you're doing. But you're just some old guy that makes fancy gadgets and reads people's minds without asking permission. I'm not about to put any kind of faith in you. I've been doing this Omniverse thing for like...a week. Less. I don't know enough about anything here to start protecting it. I don't even know if I want to stay."

Gruu nodded. He didn't seem to be terrible upset. "That's alright, Claire. I understand. I hope you find what you're looking for."

She hadn't expected him to be so polite about it. Before she could open her mouth to respond, everything suddenly changed. The vortex around her vanished and she was left in an empty hotel room. Back were the tables and the windows and the big bed. Gone was the old man that had been conversing with her. "That's it?" She asked, surprised that it was over so soon.

The pink mutant turned to try to find some kind of clue of what just happened. Anything to prove it wasn't a hallucination. She found it on the end table where she had previously found the advertising pamphlets. They were still there, but near them was a single sticky note pressed against the table. 'If you change your mind,' it said, 'Come back to this room.'

She looked up at the mirror in front of her. It was the first time she really got a good look at herself since arriving at Coruscant. Her bright green garbs matched the color of her glowing eyes. She had met this mysterious man and she turned him down. She was annoyed at how quickly he accepted her denial - maybe he had expected it. But now that he was out of her life, she had to figure out what to do now.

Blink headed out of the room and back downstairs, this time utilizing the stairs. She walked outside of the Luna Moor Inn and glanced up at the sky. She admired the light show that was the third tier of a sprawling city. The lack of an actual sky didn't stop it from looking so natural and beautiful. It didn't feel like home, but still felt good. She felt secure and safe in a bed with four walls for the first time in a long time.

Behind her, she could feel something move. She turned and laid eyes on a familiar sight. The big, burly bald man known as Rufus, this time with back-up in the form of a black woman featuring a hilariously large afro. "Hello, again," she said, clutching a small shotgun in one hand. Blink quickly backed up, planning to teleport away. "I told you that I wasn't going to stop."

"And I told you," she countered, "that you'll never--oof!" she grunted as she turned around, planning on portaling away in high style, but instead slammed right into a sharp fist. She didn't see exactly who threw it before she was on the ground, clutching her jaw. "Motherf--aaagh!" She screamed, caught in mid-profanity by a zap from what she assumed was a taser. She twisted and convulted as the electricity shot up her spine and caused all of her nerves to tingle.

She looked up, struggling to crawl onto all fours. "I just need you to meet someone. You coulda done this the easy way."

Blink was about to say something sarcastic and rude, but the dark-skinned woman next to Rufus brought her foot down on the pink mutant's face, silencing her and blackening her vision.