[AMY IN DISPATCH (2025)] CHAPTER FOUR
Room Three’s door slid open with a soft electronic hiss as they approached.
Inside was a compact but well-equipped office. It had a circular table at one side, three chairs arranged around it, a ceiling projector, a built-in holographic display, and a wall-mounted emergency button that said, In Case of Paradox, Press Once and Brace. A stack of forms sat on a nearby counter beside a jar labeled, Free Pen - Please Do Not Eat.
Panacea paused, offended by the warning. “I wasn’t going to eat the pens.”
Blonde Blazer raised a brow.
“…Without using my powers,” Panacea muttered.
Before she could escalate the debate, a voice thankfully called loudly:
“Please take a seat wherever you like!”
A woman in a sleek navy suit stood behind the curved desk. Her black hair was braided tightly down her back, and her ID badge read: Dr. Selene Marris, Dimensional Analysis & Drift Affairs – Senior Specialist.
Panacea whispered, “Whoa, so professional!” Though it came out less of a whisper and more as a shout.
Still, Dr. Marris smiled as they sat. “Welcome to the Dimensional Analysis & Drift Affairs,” she said, “also known as, the DADA. We specialize in assisting individuals who have found themselves displaced from their native reality, voluntarily or otherwise.”
Panacea raised a hand immediately. “Hi! Uh, I’m the otherwise.”
“Yes,” Blonde Blazer confirmed dryly. “Quite decisively the otherwise.”
Dr. Marris tapped something on her tablet. “Not a problem at all. We’re here to help you transition safely and determine how stable your arrival event was. But first, I’m going to need your name, designation if any, and a brief summary of how you got here.”
Panacea swallowed any last crumbs that remained on her tongue, and sat up straighter. She cleared her throat loudly.
“Right. Okay. My name is Panacea; real name Amy Dallon. I’m from Earth-Bet. I’m a hero, and I heal people. I also may have, possibly, hypothetically, definitely gotten sucked through space-time like a piece of wet spaghetti and flung here without asking.”
Blonde Blazer blinked. “…Wet spaghetti?”
Panacea nodded astutely. “The physics of it felt very… noodly.”
Nodding to herself, Dr. Marris took some notes. “Thank you for your candor. It is quite refreshing.” She looked up, pausing to give Panacea a professional smile. “You don't know how many people think lying would help them, or that we would use their information for nefarious purposes.”
The young woman beamed. Blonde Blazer, on the other hand, was impressed that anyone could say the word noodly with a straight face.
“Now then,” Dr. Marris continued, “let’s begin with the preliminary stability scan. This should tell us whether your presence here is temporary, semi-permanent, or… well, something we’ll need extra paperwork for.”
Panacea whispered to Blonde Blazer, “I don’t like when professionals say paperwork like that.”
“Neither do I,” she replied, for the first time in agreement with her.
Dr. Marris pressed a button, and a soft thrum filled the room as the holographic scanner powered up. She gestured for Panacea to stand in front of it.
“And don’t worry,” she added. “This is painless.”
Panacea, who had just eaten seventeen or so different kinds of snacks, nodded confidently.“ I can handle painless.”
The scanner projected a faint line of light at her, and despite her earlier words, she immediately tensed.
“Wait! Is this going to make me glow weirdly? Because if I glow weirdly, I need a mirror. And possibly reassurance. Wait.” She paused thoughtfully. “Do I get insurance?”
In lieu of a response, the line split into a series of concentric rings of light that swept over Panacea from head to toe. She tensed even further, wide-eyed, hands hovering in midair as if afraid to move lest she interrupt the scan.
Blonde Blazer watched the storm of expressions flicker across her face. It was almost impressive.
“It’s just a scan,” she said quietly. “Relax.”
“I am relaxed,” Panacea whispered back, visibly trembling.
“You are vibrating,” Blonde Blazer retorted.
“That’s how I relax!”
The rings of light passed over Panacea again, then shifted in color, from purple to blue to an admittedly unsettling shade of green that made her flinch.
“Is that normal?” she hissed.
Dr. Marris nodded calmly. “Completely.”
“It looks like nausea.”
“Dimensional nausea, yes.”
Panacea whimpered softly.
Finally, with a soft chime, the scanner shut down. The holographic display flashed, forming a rotating wireframe model of Panacea, and around her, a web of distortion lines.
Dr. Marris leaned forward, studying it carefully. Blonde Blazer crossed, waiting for the verdict while Panacea held her breath.
After a full ten seconds of analysis - the young woman had counted - Dr. Marris tapped the screen and exhaled softly.
“Well,” she said. “The good news is that you’re not going to cause the destruction of this world or a paradox due to the origin problem.”
Panacea sagged in visible relief, hands dropping. “Oh thank god, I do not want that on my conscience.”
“That was… on the table?” Blonde Blazer asked.
“Every third case,” Dr. Marris answered.
Panacea made a noise Blonde Blazer could only describe as a tiny, terrified squeak.
“And the other good news,” Dr. Marris continued, “your energy signature is highly unstable.”
Panacea blinked. “That sounds like bad news.”
“It depends,” she replied. “Unstable signatures tend to dissipate. So in other words, your presence here is temporary.”
Panacea’s mouth opened, closed, then opened again.
“Temporary,” she repeated. “As in… I'm going home?”
Dr. Marris nodded. “The connection between you and your home dimension isn't severed, but rather… stretched, for lack of a better term. With proper equipment and time, we should be able to locate the origin point of your displacement and begin working on a return.”
Panacea covered her mouth with both hands, eyes going glassy.
“Home…” she whispered. “I—I might actually—oh god—”
Blonde Blazer’s chest tightened at the sudden wave of raw emotion on the young woman’s face, and she went to stand beside her.
Dr. Marris continued gently. “It won't be immediate. We will also need information about your world, and items from it, to attune our equipment to your dimension’s frequency.”
Panacea nodded rapidly, every nod harder than the last. “I—I have things! I have my—my clothes—sort of—I mean, it’s in tatters, but it is here—”
“It should be enough,” Dr. Marris said.
Panacea let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding for several minutes.
Blonde Blazer rubbed her arm reassuringly. “You’ll get home.”
Panacea sniffled. “Thank you. I—I didn't know if… I didn't know if I’d be stuck here.”
Dr. Marris gave her another small smile. “You’re not stuck. You’re simply misplaced.”
Panacea laughed, if a little hysterically. “That’s… very comforting?”
“In my line of work,” Dr. Marris said, “it is.”
She pressed another button, and a sleek badge appeared from an electronic safe. It read, Dimensional Visitor - Temporary.
She slid it across to Panacea, who accepted it almost reverently, as if she’d just been handed a great treasure.
“One last thing,” Dr. Marris said. “While you’re here, you’ll need a guardian assigned. Someone with the clearance and stability, financial and otherwise, to help you navigate our world safely.”
Blonde Blazer straightened. “I’m already assigned to her.”
Panacea whipped around and stared at her with wide eyes that might as well have been filled with stars and sparkles.
“YOU ARE?!”
Blonde Blazer nodded, suddenly aware of the intensity of that grateful gaze. “Yes. I’ll be responsible for you until we get you back where you belong.”
Panacea clasped her hands dramatically. “This is the greatest day of my life!”
Blonde Blazer sighed. “Let’s not make it weird.”
“Too late!” Panacea sang.
Dr. Marris chuckled softly and stood. “You are free to go. We will be in touch when we need your clothes. Until then, try not to cause any paradox.”
Panacea saluted. “No promises!”
Blonde Blazer caught her wrist mid-salute. “Ignore her. There will be promises.”
They stepped out into the hallway, Panacea practically skipping. For the first time since Blonde Blazer met the young woman, she seemed lighter.
“Come on,” Blonde Blazer said, starting toward the exit. “Let’s get you settled.”
Panacea grinned. “And snacks?”
“…And snacks.”
Panacea fist-pumped like she’d just won a championship while Blonde Blazer shook her head, smiling despite herself.
The night air outside the DADA building was cool and crisp, the earlier rain having left the pavement shining beneath the streetlights. Panacea practically skipped down the steps, her cloak bouncing behind her like a flag of triumph.
Blonde Blazer followed at a calmer pace, watching the younger woman with a mix of fondness and resignation.
“Okay!” Panacea said brightly, spinning on her heel once they reached the bottom. “Next stop—your place! I promise I won’t eat your house.”
Blonde Blazer paused. “…Why would that be a possibility?”
Panacea shrugged. “Sugar cravings. Emotional instability. Destiny. Who knows?”
Blonde Blazer stared. “You’re joking.”
“...Probably. We’ll see where things take us.”
There was a moment of wind and quiet between them, the city’s sounds oddly muffled around the building. Then, with a small breath, Panacea reached up.
“I guess… if we’re going to be living together for a bit, we should probably do this properly,” she said.
She took hold of her hood and pushed it back, letting it fall fully off her head.
Her hair spilled out in a slightly frizzy dark-brown wave. Without the hood shadowing her features, she suddenly looked so much younger, less like a superhero and more like a teenager trying her best not to fall apart.
“My name’s Amy,” she said softly. “Amy Dallon.”
Blonde Blazer blinked, surprised not by the name - she had heard it earlier - but by the simple, vulnerable sincerity behind it.
Slowly, she reached up as well.
With a practiced tug, she took off her mask, letting it rest around her neck. The cool air brushed against her face, and she met Amy’s eyes without the barrier between them.
“I’m Mandy,” she said. “Mandy Torres.”
Amy’s face lit up immediately, like someone had switched on a lamp behind her eyes.
“Mandy,” she repeated, as if testing the shape of the name on her tongue. “That suits you.”
Mandy huffed a quiet laugh. “And Amy suits you as well.”
Amy rocked on her heels, smiling wide. “Well. Nice to officially meet you, Mandy.”
Mandy extended a hand. “Nice to officially meet you too, Amy.”
Amy looked at the hand, then at Mandy’s face… then lunged forward and hugged her tightly.
“OH—!” Mandy froze mid-step.
“Thank you. Really.” Amy said into her shoulder, voice muffled.
Mandy stood rigid for a second before sighing and patting her back.
After detaching herself, Amy then pointed dramatically upward. “To your home?”
Mandy shook her head, but she was smiling again as she wore back her mask and slipped an arm under Amy’s knees.
“Yes, Amy,” she said, lifting her easily. “To my home.”
Amy squeaked. “I WAS EMOTIONALLY PREPARED AND YET SOMEHOW STILL NOT PHYSICALLY READY—”
And with a rush of wind and the faint echo of laughter, they lifted into the night sky together.