"IDIC, Part 5" is the 17th issue of IDW Publishing's Boldly Go series of comics set in the Kelvin timeline. It is also the fifth part of the IDIC miniseries.
Description[]
- IDIC Part 5 of 6! It's the penultimate chapter of IDIC, the blockbuster Star Trek comics event! Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations has introduced us to myriad versions of the beloved Enterprise crew… but the villain behind it all now threatens to wipe out all realities!
- Previously in Star Trek: Boldly Go… Captain Kirks and Enterprise crews from multiple realities were scattered across infinite dimensions by a mysterious force. Three of those Kirks found themselves in no-win scenarios. They perished. But death is not the end.
Summary[]
James T. Kirk is roused from slumber by Gary Mitchell, his fellow cadet taunting him for sleeping in. Kirk is confused by what he believes to have been an unusually vivid dream before Gary drags him off to a test. As the two walk across the campus of Starfleet Academy, Kirk is bemused that there is literally no one else anywhere. Gary brushes off these concerns and ushers Kirk into the room...where Kirk's jaw drops at the sight of countless versions of himself. The already high tensions in the room are broken by The Orphan and a fistfight breaks out amongst the Kirks with the "prime" Kirk remembering everything, including Gary Mitchell's death. Eyes glowing, Gary changes their attire to captain's uniforms and says he "got better" after dying. Since then he's been growing exponentially more powerful every nanosecond but has been plagued by the metaphorical itch that is Kirk. And now is the time to scratch.
Snapping his fingers, Gary teleports he and Kirk onto the USS Enterprise, still commanded by Kirk just George Kirk instead of James. In this reality, George never served on the USS Kelvin and survived to command the Enterprise. Though shocked to see his father, Kirk soon regains his bearings and demands to know what Gary wants. Unamused, Gary snaps his fingers again and takes them back to Earth. An Earth ruled by the Romulans. Gary has gained the ability to travel to all the various timelines of the multiverse and has learned that everything sentient lifeforms hold dear...is utterly meaningless. Case in point, Kirk asking about his crew. An exasperated Gary throws up his hands at Kirk's material concerns and describes more timelines such as the Enterprise running on mushrooms or everyone they know being fictional characters before Kirk again reiterates his question of what Gary wants.
Sarcastically, Gary asks to be thanked. He did save Kirk from death at Simon Grayson's hands, a scenario he deliberately placed Kirk in just to watch him lose. He intended to do that to all Kirks but a minority, such as a version of Jane Tiberia Kirk that managed to topple the Borg, achieved victory despite the odds.
Gary snaps his fingers again and whisks the two off to Delta Vega, where Kirk questions that if there are infinite Kirks, Spocks, Romulans and Enterprises...where are all the Garys? Gary answers that he wiped them out, he is now the one Gary Mitchell, he is now god. Kirk disbelieves this as there must logically be an infinite number of Garys who achieved equal power but Gary has long since transcended linear logic before he answers his friend's question. He wants Kirk to admit he was wrong and shows him the past. When Kirk and Spock first defeated Gary. The two relive Kirk killing Gary before they appear at the funeral and the launching of the corpse into space. Gary is scornful, both of his human self denying the power and believing Kirk wrote him off as just another monster he put down to save his precious crew. Downtrodden, Kirk denies the accusations. He thinks of Gary every day and every day, he runs the scenario through his head again, trying to find an outcome that would have ended with everyone alive and happy. Kirk confesses that that day, he lost. He lost because by killing Gary, he capitulated to the no-win scenario. Because denying the existence of such scenarios has never been about saving face or his ego, it has been to save his crew.
Unconvinced, Gary teleports them to his coffin. This is the part Kirk missed, the part where Gary came back to life. Finally at his limit, Kirk outright calls Gary pathetic. He has omnipotence and all he can do is whine. If Kirk had even a fraction of Gary's power, he could be so much better. Gary sees right through the ruse, a pathetic attempt into goading Gary to surrender to Kirk enough power to slay him. Though Kirk found it worth a shot anyway, Gary is intrigued by the suggestion. Glowing with energy, he bestows a portion of his power onto Kirk declaring "may the best god win".
References[]
Characters[]
- James T. Kirk • Gary Mitchell • The Orphan • Jane Tiberia Kirk • JTK-1701 • George Samuel Kirk, Sr. • Hikaru Sulu • Simon Grayson • Spock (female) • Jaylah • Spock • Montgomery Scott • Nyota Uhura
Starships and vehicles[]
Locations[]
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
Appendices[]
Related media[]
- TOS comic: "IDW Star Trek, Issue 2" - The issue in which Gary Mitchell was killed and buried by Kirk, which this storyline serves as a sequel to.
Images[]
Covers[]
Connections[]
Timeline[]
| previous comic: Boldly Go, Issue 16 |
The Original Series (Boldly Go) | next comic: Boldly Go, Issue 18 |
|---|
External link[]
- IDIC, Part 5 article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.