Daiki looked around the new story world he had stepped into and sighed. He was still in the wrong place.

    He stood on the sidewalk of a paved street, a metropolis of steel and concrete skyscrapers rising around him. Passers-by turned to look at him in curiosity. The streets were packed with honking traffic, the exhaust fouling the air. The buildings sported signs with the names of shops and advertisements for their wares.

    Daiki’s heart fell. The signs were all in English. He couldn’t read a single one of them. As his eyes scanned the shop windows, he saw a flag with a blue square full of stars in the top corner, surrounded by red and white stripes. That settled it – he was somewhere in America.

    “I really need some street clothes,” Daiki muttered. At least he was in a city. There was probably a store that would sell them. Just his luck that he could neither speak the language nor had any American money. And, he had a day before he could move on to the next story world.

    At least he had some money – Natsuki had seen to that. He just needed to find a place where he could change it into dollars. And for that, he needed a guide. He sighed again. There was nothing else for it – he was going to have to make a spectacle of himself.

    “Excuse me!” he shouted. “Does anybody speak Japanese?”

    The people around him stared and moved on.

    “I am from Japan and I need help!” Daiki shouted. “Does anybody speak Japanese?”

    Some of the passers-by pointed at him and said something in English that he couldn’t understand. Diaki shook his head and leaned against the wall. He needed to think. This was clearly a story world where nobody spoke Japanese, so communicating with anything other than gestures and facial expressions was out of the question. He also needed a place to stay for the night, and that required money. So, he needed a place to exchange money, and a hotel.

    Daiki smiled. Banks and hotels couldn’t be that different between Japan and America, could they? So, all he had to do to find them was look in the window. Bank first, and then a hotel.

    Daiki got up and stretched. It looked like a big city. A lot of windows to look into. He started walking and looking, ignoring the mutterings of the people around him. Besides, it wasn’t like he didn’t know what they were probably saying – it couldn’t be that often that they saw some strange person in leather armour and a cloak wandering around their city.

    That said, they did seem a bit less surprised about it than he would have expected.

    Daiki lost track of how many windows he had peered into before he saw it. He grinned. A teller, bullet-proof glass, lines of people, and what appeared to be a safe at the back. This was a bank.

    He opened the glass door and stepped inside. The customers looked at him with interest, a couple stepping away with caution in their eyes. Makes sense, Daiki thought. I am standing in a bank wearing armour and a sword. Best not to make any sudden moves.

    The line moved slowly, but it did move. Daiki stood quietly, trying to appear non-threatening whenever the guards might be looking. Finally, a teller motioned him forward.

    Daiki stepped forward and took a deep breath. He pointed to himself and said, “Japanese.” Then he took a quarter of the thousand Yen bills Natsuki had given him and put them on the table. Then he pointed at the table beside the table and said, “Dollars.”

     Please let him understand, Daiki prayed. Please let him not think this is a robbery.

    The teller looked puzzled for a moment and then smiled and said something in English with the words “Yen” and “dollars.” He took the Yen and counted them, and then typed something into the computer. After a couple of minutes, the teller put four ten dollar bills, a five dollar bill, and some change on the table. Daiki sighed in relief. Changing money, accomplished.

    Daiki picked up the money and then furrowed his brow. Wait a moment – what would $45 and change buy him, anyway? That seemed a bit...small...for a hotel room in an American city. He’d better change some more.

    He was reaching for the wad of bills Natsuki had given him when the world exploded around him.

    Daiki found himself on his knees, his ears ringing. The floor-length glass windows and door to the street had shattered from the blast. From outside, he could hear the screams of the crowd, followed by a deep, deafening laughter. A beam of energy raked the sidewalk outside.

    Crouching, Daiki made his way towards the entry, careful not to touch any shards of glass. He made what he hoped were soothing motions to the customers as he passed, and then he looked out at the street.

    A giant of a man, at least twelve feet tall, sauntered down the street. He was clad in a bright red body suit with a radiation warning sign blazoned in yellow across his chest. What appeared to be a laser cannon was mounted on his head.

    The cannon on the giant’s head fired, blasting a nearby car into flames and smoke. The giant laughed and made a lengthy declaration in English with the tone of a challenge. Daiki only understood two words.

    “Captain Infinite.”

    A lump rose in Daiki’s throat. He was in Captain Infinite’s story world. But Captain Infinite – who had returned to calling himself Matthew Markham in that final battle in which he fought at Daiki’s side – was dead. He had died saving the Tokyo of their creators from being destroyed by a failing power source from another story world.

    There was no help coming.

    Daiki grimaced. If this really was an Captain Infinite’s story and this was an attack by a supervillain, then he was the closest thing to a superhero they had. And he wasn’t bulletproof. He definitely wasn’t laser-proof. So trying to brute force his way through this wasn’t an option.

    The supervillain laughed again and called out for Captain Infinite. The head-mounted laser blasted out the side of a jewelry store across the street.

    Daiki looked back at the bank customers, most of them shaking in fear. He swallowed. The laser probably had a cool-down time, just like the abilities of the Black Sword. So, that would give him a window in which he could attack.

    Daiki nodded. It wasn’t a great plan, or even a good plan, but it was a plan. Take out the laser cannon, and then do what he could against the supervillain. The cannon fired, vapourizing a car. Daiki started to count.

    The cannon fired again, taking out the frontage of another shop. Five seconds. Daiki shook his head and drew the Black Sword from its scabbard. That wasn’t a lot of time, but it was all he had. He went through the sword’s interface, selecting the “Shooting star thrust” attack.

    The giant walked past the shattered window. Daiki crouched down, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible as he passed. Sweat trickled down his brow. He resisted the urge to wipe it away. No movement. Stay still. Athena isn’t here to cover me.

    The giant passed by. Daiki heard the cannon fire. He leapt out onto the street, sword extended. “Shooting star thrust!” he intoned. A blast of energy struck out from the sword, streaking towards the laser cannon on the giant’s head.

    Time slowed to a crawl. The blast clipped the side of the cannon, knocking it askew. Smoke began to rise from it as it sparked. The giant turned and grabbed Daiki by the armour and slammed him into the wall of a building, bellowing something at him in English as he pressed him into the concrete.

    “I’m sorry,” Daiki gasped. “I don’t understand you.”

    The giant sneered at him and raised his other hand to strike, his fingers curling into a fist. The fist accelerated towards his face.

    The world exploded in a flash of silver and black.

    Daiki blinked. The fist hadn’t landed. Instead the giant was grinning and looking at a figure who had just landed on the street with enough force to crack the pavement. Daiki’s eye widened.

    It was Captain Infinite.

    Captain Infinite said something in English. The giant laughed and roared a challenge, letting go of Daiki. Daiki hit the concrete sidewalk, knocking the wind out of him for the second time. He staggered to his feet to see Captain Infinite grab the giant and throw him into a building. Daiki leaned against the wall, breathing hard, trying to catch his breath.

    He heard more than saw the battle move around the corner to another street. There was a loud crash, and then silence.

    Daiki blinked. Silence. The fight must be over.

    He shook his head – it was still fuzzy from when he had been slammed into the building. The fight was over. He could scabbard the Black Sword. He slid it back into its sheath and took a deep breath.

    Captain Infinite descended to the ground in front of him, smiled and said something in English.

    “I’m sorry,” Daiki said. “I don’t understand. I only speak Japanese.”

    Captain Infinite cocked his head. “Japanese?” he said with perfect pronunciation. “That’s a language I haven’t had to use in a while. I haven’t been to Japan since the ‘80s. You’re a long way from home, friend.”

    Daiki closed his eyes for a moment, trying to organize his thoughts. “You’re alive.”

    Captain Infinite grinned. “Last I checked. You probably saved a lot of people there, friend. Are you a superhero from out of town?”

    “Not really, I guess?” Daiki replied. “I didn’t think any help was coming, so...”

    “Well, I’m happy to say that you were wrong, but I think those citizens are grateful for what you did regardless,” Captain Infinite said. “I’m Captain Infinite. Please call me ‘Cap.’ What’s your name?”

    “I’m Daiki Yamato,” Daiki said. “Matt, how are you alive?”

    Cap’s face clouded. “‘Matt’? Where did you hear that name?”

    Daiki winced. Of course – the information stream. There would have been a new edition of Captain Infinite’s comic book, and a replacement version of Cap would have been created by the information stream update when people read it – a version who had never met him or been to the world of his creators.

    Daiki looked at Cap. Cap stared back, expectant.

    “We fought together in a battle,” Daiki said. “It was in another world. You called yourself Matthew Markham there. You – that version of you – died.”

    “I see,” Cap said. “I think you and I have a great deal to discuss, Daiki Yamato. How do you feel about flying?”

It was all Daiki could do not to fall to his knees and kiss the ground when they landed. Daiki had never been carried in the air by somebody while travelling at near-supersonic speed. It had been the most exhilarating and terrifying experience of his life.

    Daiki looked around. They were on the patio of a cabin by a lake, surrounded by trees and bushes.

    Cap unlocked and opened the door. “Please, come inside. Make yourself at home.” Daiki followed him in. The living room was homely, with bookcases lining the wall and a small television on a stand in one corner. Framed photographs lined another wall, most in colour, but some in black and white.

    “Don’t mind me,” Cap said, disappearing into what Daiki assumed to be the bedroom. “I’m just getting into civvies.”

    “What about that...whatever he was?” Daiki asked. “Is it okay to just leave him there?”

    “The state I left him in, it will take him a couple of hours to wake up,” Cap called back. “By then, the authorities will have him in custody. The rest is up to the courts.”

    Daiki moved over to look at the bookshelf. Each book he pulled out had a picture of some famous person on it. He couldn’t read the titles, but they looked like biographies.

    “That’s better,” Cap said, emerging in a blue button-down shirt and tan slacks. “So, you said that you fought beside me...no, you said you fought beside a version of me.”

    “It’s hard to explain,” Daiki said, putting the book he was holding back on the shelf.

    “You called me by a name I haven’t used in over forty years,” Cap said. “Try me.”

    “There was a war in the world that created our worlds,” Daiki said. “You and I were both on the side trying to protect our creators. That you died, but in this world he was replaced by...well...you.”

    “I get the feeling you’re not talking about some religious thing,” Cap said. “You weren’t in heaven with God and the angels – this is something else.”

    “These are all story worlds,” Daiki said. “My world, your world, they’re all stories created by people in another world. And, it turns out that you can accidentally fall into that world of the creators. We’re in a comic book right now.”

    “So let me get this straight,” Cap said. “I fell into this ‘world of the creators’ of yours, died there, and then a replacement me was created here.”

    “That’s pretty much it, Matt.”

    Cap held up his hand. “Please...please don’t call me that. I stopped using the name Matthew Markham for a reason. That’s not who I am anymore. Just call me ‘Cap’.”

    “I’m sorry,” Daiki said, bowing. “It won’t happen again.”

    Cap smiled. “No worries. I won’t lie, Daiki Yamato, I’m really not sure how to take this, or if I even believe it. But, you are far too young to have ever heard the name Matthew Markham, and that means that you must have known me, and whatever me you knew started using that name again.”

    “I don’t know the circumstances,” Daiki said. “I was one of the last people to join your side, so I was just there for a day before the final battle of the war. There was this woman there, though, named Alice Matson, and you two seemed to be pretty close. I can’t be sure, but I think she was at least a little bit in love with you.”

    Cap smiled, his eyes sad. “That would have gone nowhere fast. If I tried to passionately embrace somebody, I’d crush their spine. Romance isn’t a thing I get to have in my life.”

    “I’m sorry to hear that.”

    Cap shrugged. “We lead the lives we’ve got. Mine is fighting supervillains, reading biographies, and watching television.” Cap smiled for a moment. “So, that version of me died, did he?”

    “Yes,” Daiki said. “He got a power source from another world out to sea before it could explode. He probably saved millions of people.”

    “That sounds like a thing I’d do,” Cap said. “Lucky guy – he got to be mortal. Wish it had been me.”

    Daiki meandered to the wall of photos. A black and white group photo caught his eye. Daiki looked closer. Cap was standing to the left among a group of soldiers, all in old American uniforms.