Kara awoke to the smell of bacon and stretched. She was, she noted, alone in the guest bedroom.
After her outburst the previous evening, she had been unable to go to sleep in the bed that she and Rogue normally shared. Especially after effectively banishing Rogue from that bed for the night.
She had needed the alone time to cool down, but she had to admit…she had become dependent on Rogue. Or rather, they had become dependent on each other…the same way any couple becomes somewhat dependent on each other.
When she had slipped into the guest bed with Rogue, there had been no words spoken. They had simply held each other and drifted off to sleep.
Not knowing who was in the house, Kara moved at super-speed, flashing out of the guest room and into the master bedroom faster than even the Fortress monitoring system could have followed. Once there, she showered quickly and donned a respectable house robe and made her way in a more sedate manner to the large kitchen that often served as a family focus point within the home.
She was surprised to find Stephanie Strange in front of the stove while Rogue perched on one of the stools before the kitchen’s bar/island, nursing a steaming cup of coffee.
Stephanie had turned just in time to catch the look of incredulity on Kara’s face and waved a two pronged fork on which she had skewered a piece of bacon at her.
“What? Didn’t think I could cook?” She demanded.
“I didn’t say a word.” Kara tried for a smile and knew that she had only partially succeeded. She poured herself a cup of coffee and wondered, not for the first time, how it was she had come to have such different tastes than the other Kara Zor-Els that inhabited the Continuum. To the best of her knowledge, she was the only one that despised tea unless it was ice cold and loaded down with sugar. The rest would take tea over coffee any day.
She was aware that she was letting her mind fixate on nonsensical things in order to avoid facing the repercussions of her outbursts from the night before. She squared her shoulders and took a stool beside Rogue.
“Where is everyone else?” She asked.
“Well, Jenny and Arisia were going to join us for breakfast this morning…but one of those blue skinned guys appeared and asked them to come to Oa.”
“A Guardian asked?” Kara’s eyebrows rose in astonishment.
“Yeah.” Rogue barked a short laugh. “Though it looked as if was actually painful. I get the impression these Guardians aren’t used to asking.”
“They’re getting better at it.” Kara nodded. Unbidden, the memory of several lifeless bodies of Guardians floating in space came to mind. The lifeless bodies of those that sacrificed themselves in an attempt to rectify past mistakes when they worked with Senturia to instantly terraform both Venus and Mars. She shook the image away and took a sip of her coffee, looking at Rogue over the rim of her cup.
“So where are the Twins?” She asked as she lowered the cup, deciding to take the bull by the horns.
“We sent them and Motherboard to Earth 10 to talk to Reed Richards.” Stephanie answered when it became apparent that Rogue wasn’t going to.
“About what?” Kara tried to keep her tone neutral.
“They think they came up with a method that would allow Motherboard to accompany them on their Sorority missions.” Stephanie responded. “I encouraged them to go talk it over with Reed Richards.” She shook her head. “Sometimes I think that Reed and Lex Luthor are the only people we know that can keep up with those girls.”
“You’re probably right.” Rogue agreed. “I know they run rings around me when they go all tech on me.”
“Querl was the same way. Smartest man I have ever known…and yet sometimes the simple things seemed to escape his attention.” Kara gave a short laugh and then sobered. “But about this Sorority thing….” She began before Rogue cut her off.
“It’s not up to us, Kara.” She stated, locking eyes with her mate.
“Not….” Kara began, only to be cut off again.
“How old are the Twins, Kara?” Rogue demanded. “And I don’t mean temporally. We have no clue how long Mordru kept them in suspended animation. We know they were fifteen when they were rescued. And they have been with us for six years now. That makes them twenty-one.”
“I don’t see what that has to do with anything.” Kara huffed.
“It has everything to do with it.” Rogue pointed out. “In case it has escaped your attention, that makes them young women…not little girls. Not teeny-boppers. Not minors in need of adult supervision. Young women fully capable of making their own decisions. Good or bad…but still their own.” She took a breath. “The point is this, Kara. THEY DON’T NEED OUR PERMISSION ANYMORE!” She thrust a finger down on the counter with each word with enough force that Stephanie was afraid she was going to smash it. “They have been gracious enough to ask for our advice, and they have been thoughtful enough to keep us apprised of their actions. But the truth is, they don’t even have to do that. And if you keep up with this, you are going to drive them away.”
“But I’m….”
“NO.” Rogue shook her head. “You are not their mother. The only child that body of yours has had is now living in the Inheritor’s Universe…and the last time you saw each other, it was apparent there was no love lost between you. And now you seem as bound and determined to chase off the Twins…just like you did Valeria!”
“Her name is Kira.” Kara grated. “And how dare you suggest that I caused the friction between….”
“Can it, Kara.” Rogue waved off the argument. “Her name is Valeria…that is her chosen name…the name her adoptive father gave her. And yes….the friction was your fault. Because you insisted on treating her like a little girl…because you tried to force her to accept you as her mother.”
“But I…”
“You are NOT, Kara. That body may be…but that is the only link. The mind and soul that inhabit that body are not those of her mother. And for that, from what she was willing to share, we can be grateful.”
Rogue forced Kara to put her coffee cup down and took hold of her hands.
“Kara, Love. These two, Karen and Carrie. Kori and Kari. Have treated you as their mother. They have given you that respect and have called you mother. But you must realize that they KNOW that you are not really their mother any more than I am. Don’t push them away from us by trying to hold on too tight. Let them go Kara. Trust them to make the right decisions. Yes, they are going to screw up. Hell, WE still screw up occasionally. Let them learn from those mistakes. We can be there when they need us….but we can’t control them. We can’t baby them. Let them go, Kara. They’ll come to us when they need us….but if you push them away, where will they go?”
There was a moment of silence as Kara swallowed heavily, her eyes downcast.
“I – I guess I owe them an apology.” Kara gulped, her hands gripping Rogue tightly.
“That would be a good start.” Rogue answered softly, nodding slightly.
“And Ki….Valeria as well.” Kara finished.
Stephanie watched with dismay as one of the most powerful women in several universe crumbled into tears before her eyes!
“Okay, see if that clears it up a bit.”
Reed’s voice was the first thing Kara and Rogue heard as they stepped through the door to the Satellite control room.
“That’s almost got it.” Karen’s voice answered.
Looking around, Kara could see that both girls were standing before the main console, on either side of the seated Motherboard. A hand snaking up over the back of the console gave away Reed Richards position.
“Working hard, I see.” Rogue said, announcing their presence. She glanced around again, shaking her head at the numerous consoles and screens that had sprang up in the control room since Motherboard had taken over. “I swear, I’ve seen less elaborate equipment in a Star Trek Movie.”
Motherboard half turned in her chair to respond and Rogue held up a hand.
“Don’t explain…I doubt I could understand it anyway.” She quipped.
Karen stifled a giggle and Carrie snorted her derision.
“Come off it.” She pointed a finger at Rogue. “You know you absorbed Mom’s abilities and memories…and according to the archives we found in that belt we got from Querl, she was able to keep up with him.’
“That’s overstating the case by a long shot.” Kara laughed. “I was only able to keep up when he slowed down to a snail’s crawl.”
“Besides,” Rogue affected a hurt look. “I only got her powers and memories….not her intelligence.”
“Or lack there of, judging by my latest endeavors.” Kara decided the time was appropriate for her apology. “Girls, I’m sorry…I…”
She trailed off as both girls came to her, hugging her tightly. Then they stepped back, almost as if they had orchestrated the movement.
“Kara.” It was Karen that spoke first and Kara gulped. It had been a long time since either of the girls had addressed her as anything but Mom. “We understand. You may not be our birth mother…but you have treated us as if we really were your daughters. And I guess that means that you get to worry like one.”
“Besides,” Carrie continued. “you might have gone a bit over board last night, but you did make some good points.” She scowled and looked down at the ground. “What you said about Querl fits us as well, I think.” She looked up. “We know we have some of Querl’s arrogance when it comes to intelligence, but we also know that we don’t have his knowledge base. And we sometimes miss the obvious.”
“We think that is where Motherboard…and Sorority can help us. But….”
“But?” Kara restrained her self from saying any thing else.
“But we don’t trust Kent…and we think Sorority needs something else….or someone else.”
“Oh? Have you got anyone in mind?”
“As a matter of fact, we do.”
Karen moved over and stood beside Motherboard again as the green skinned human computer performed her technical magic. Several small holographic images appeared and both Kara and Rogue stepped forward to look them over. Finally Kara pointed to one.
“That’s…” She began.
“The Batgirl from 25th century Otherverse.” Carrie nodded. “She may not be as experienced as some, but she has the tech base to keep up with Chasity.”
“And this?” She pointed to the next figure.
“The Batgirl from the Inheritors’ Universe.” Karen explained, and then pointed to the next figure. “and this is Barbara Gordon…the Batgirl from Probability 4.”
“She would be just a few years older than the rest of you.” Kara nodded. “Plus she would have the experience you would need. But not quite the tech base.”
“Excuse me for pointing this out.” Rogue finally chimed in. “But all of these have one draw back…they couldn’t keep up with the rest of you powerhouses.”
“Not entirely true.” Karen held up a large silver ring with a stylized S on the face.
“S for Sorority, I assume?” Kara arched an eyebrow.
“Exactly.” Carrie nodded. “we got the idea from your descriptions of the Legion of Super-Hero Flight Rings. These will allow flight and communications and limited life support.”
“Limited?”
“Energy usage.” Karen explained. “They can be constantly recharged with Green Lantern Cosmic energy…but we haven’t quite figured out how to do it with the Mystical energy Jade uses.”
“Understandable.” Kara nodded. “Magic was definitely not one of Querl’s strong points.”
“The rings also provide one other benefit.” Reed called out. His head popped up over the console on an elongated neck. “Though why they bothered to come to me, I don’t know. I was certain that this would be something they could have handled on their own.”
“It was Rogue’s idea.” Karen answered.
“Believe it or not, there are still things they don’t know.” Rogue laughed, looking sidelong at Kara.
“Riiiight.” Reed looked back and forth between the twins and Kara and Rogue. “They can build inter-dimensional portals but they need help with some simple programming.”
“I would hesitate to describe creating a proxy version of myself as simple programming.” Motherboard spoke up.
“Hmmmm?” Kara hoped she did not look as lost as she felt. “Did I miss something?”
“When Stephanie basically forbad Motherboard to travel with Sorority as she did, she and the twins came up with a possible alternative.” Rogue explained. “That’s why I sent them to Reed. To find out if it was truly feasible.”
“Feasible.” Kara nodded. “That explains everything.” She glared at Rogue and then the others. “Now, if some one doesn’t explain….”
“It’s simple, really.” Karen began, again holding up the Ring. “Watch.” She pressed a spot on the side of the ring and Kara stepped back as a green skinned figure materialized in front of her.
“Motherboard?”
“Motherboard 1.0, to be exact.” Reed responded. “When the twins told me about Stephanie’s misgivings about Motherboard being stored in an energy form, we figured out something that would let Motherboard remain here, but allow Sorority to take her along at the same time.”
“A hologram?” Rogue raised an eyebrow. “That doesn’t seem to be very….innovative.”
“Motherboard 1.0 is more than a hologram.” Reed smiled and pointed to the ring Karen held. “I got the idea from Lord Ian and the Computer that Motherboard was modeled from.” His head and arm disappeared as they retracted and an instant later Reed stepped from behind the console, handing Kara a ring identical to the one Karen was now placing on her finger. “We can furnish one of these to each of the members of Sorority.”
“You copied Celia?” Kara gave the ring a dubious look as she referred to the name Ian had used for his magical super computer. “Though I do believe Celia was housed in a magical bracelet.”
“Actually, no. We didn’t really copy Celia.” Reed admitted. “These rings are merely temporary storage units.”
“For that?” Rogue looked as dubious as Kara as she pointed to the hologram.
“In a manner of speaking.” Both women spun as Tony Stark entered the control room from another access hatch. It was apparent that he was taking over the explanation before Reed could launch into one so in-depth it would go over everyone else’s head. “Of course, Motherboard will have to… I guess the best way to put it would be, download a copy of herself into one of the rings. Once that is done, MB 1.0 will be able to move freely between the rings….much as a computer moves from process to process.”
“Which would make it appear as if she were present in all of the rings at the same time.” Kara nodded, understanding.
“Exactly.” Tony said. “And distance is not a factor…nor is location within the Continuum.”
“And how did you work that one out?” Rogue demanded.
“Actually, I helped on that one.” Rouge turned as Stephanie Strange stepped in to the control room behind them. “I’ve also added a few fail-safe measures.”
Neither Kara nor Rouge said anything; they merely looked at the young woman until she continued.
“Should that fail or the signal be cut off,” she pointed to the monitoring console, “Motherboard will sound the alarm.”
“Can’t Motherboard simply access the energy copy of herself?” Rouge asked.
“We thought of that.” Tony shook his head. “While we can monitor and follow the members in Sorority, Motherboard will not be able to actually contact them or her energy copy once they are outside this Probability.”
“So even if they remain in the Multiverse, if they are not in this Probability, then we have no actual way of contacting them.” Kara mused, an unhappy look on her face. “We can monitor their location.”
“Correct.” Reed conceded.
“Speaking of Motherboard…where is she?” Rogue wondered aloud, causing Stephanie to laugh. When the Hologram Motherboard had appeared, the one seated at the Console had vanished.
“That was actually a test of Motherboard 1.0.” Reed answered.
“The real Motherboard is taking a walk with Babs.” Tony smiled. “It seems Motherboard is fascinated with her condition.”
“Condition?” Kara looked at Stephanie and then back to Tony. “What condition? What’s wrong with Babs?”
“You didn’t know?” Tony looked genuinely surprised.
“Obviously I don’t.” Kara grumbled. “What condition?”
“She’s pregnant!” Tony announced, bouncing up and down on his heels, his face glowing with husbandly and fatherly pride. He sobered rather quickly. “Though it doesn’t seem to be progressing like a normal pregnancy.”
Kara looked over to Stephanie…the self appointed physician to heroes.
“The best guess is that it is result of her experience with Senturia while she was on Themyscira.” Stephanie shrugged. “There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong, other than the fact that the pregnancy seems to be somewhat accelerated. “
“Somewhat accelerated.” Tony snorted. “Pushing what should take about nine months into about four. Somewhat accelerated, my ass.”
Kara, alarmed now, turned back to Stephanie.
“True.” Stephanie admitted, shrugging. “It doesn’t seem to be having an adverse affect on the babies but it is draining on her. We’ve been able to keep her as healthy as possible with supplements and frequent visits to Themyscira.” She paused and looked at Tony. “Soon she’ll have to go to Themyscira and stay until after the delivery.”
“Babies?” Rogue had pushed away from the wall she had been leaning on and joined the conversation.
“Triplets.” Tony shook his head, his worry plain. “We think, anyway.”
“I take it you don’t approve of her going to Themyscira,” Kara remarked, careful to keep her tone neutral.
“It just galls the hell out of me that we have all this advanced science….some of the best brains in the world right here in this damned room….and we have to turn to magic to keep my wife alive.” He realized what he said and turned to Stephanie. “No offense, Dr. Strange.”
“None taken.” Stephanie laughed, walking over to link her arm through Tony’s. “But how often do I have to tell you…Dr. Strange was….er…is….my father.”
“I know, Steph.” Tony sighed, patting the young mystic’s arm. “This is just making me crazy.”
Stephanie’s face grew serious and she took Tony’s face between her hands, forcing him to look in her eyes.
“I know….and don’t worry….we’ll get Babs through this….I promise!”
“Wait a minute.” Rogue cut in. “what do you mean, ‘Triplets, you think’?”
“Because we can’t get clear sonograms. One minute the pictures will show three babies…the next, only one. When we listen for a heart beat…sometimes we’ll hear three separate beats…the next minute…one.” Tony explained. “As I said…it’s making me crazy!”
MVP1-21
“Do you think Jenny or Arisia know about Babs?” Kara and Rogue were flying over Metropolis at a leisurely pace when Rogue asked the question.
Leaving the Twins and the brain crew on the Satellite to continue their progress, the two had taken off for one of their periodic patrols.
So far it was a quiet fall morning, though this was not surprising since they had checked the monitors before leaving the Fortress. There was nothing happening on any of the three inhabited worlds of the Sol System that was not already being taken care of by local officials or one or two of the multitude of heroes that had come out of the woodwork during the last Khund invasion.
In short, there seemed to be no call for their particular services at the moment.
“I doubt it.” Kara replied, flying closer so that conversation would be easier. “But I imagine they’ll both throw fits when they get back from Oa.”
“You’re telling me?” Rogue snorted. Ever since her intervention on Themyscira, both of the Sentinels had treated Barbra Gordon as if she were a long-lost beloved sister. Rogue shook her head and glanced over at her partner. “I’m still trying to figure out when Jenny and Arisia started jumping when the Guardians call?” Rogue demanded. “I know that Jenny has no ill will towards them…but Guardians are not among Arisia’s favorite people.”
“I think she has getting over that.” Kara answered. “Or rather, I think she has come to the conclusion that the Guardians of this Probability are not the same as those in her own Probability. Besides, you did say the Guardian asked.”
Rogue digested that for a moment, recalling that Arisia….this Arisia….was not native to the Probability that was quickly becoming known as Earth-1 but was, rather, from Earth-2.
“That doesn’t make sense.” Rogue said after a moment. “Earths One, Two, and Three were the same world up until about twenty years ago.”
“True…..but the Probability device that split that Earth into three different Probabilities also caused changes in the histories of all three worlds.” Kara explained. “Take a look at pictures of the Arisia that called this Probability home and look at our Arisia. You can’t really tell a difference. But our Arisia is at least ten years older than the other Arisia would have been.”
The Original Arisia of Probability or Earth 1 had never become a Sentinel. She had, instead, remained a Green Lantern….and she had died the very day that the New Arisia arrived, killed by the same yellow ring wielders that had chased the New Arisia into this Probability.
It was that event, more than anything else that had caused Jenny and Arisia to journey to Oa as soon as the Khund invasion of Earth had been stopped, to cleanse, once and for all, a taint in the Great Battery that had, they discovered, been caused by the very device that split one reality into three.
Rogue was about the reply again when the rings both she and Kara wore lit up with a green glow.
“Speak of the devils.” She quipped instead. Jenny had provided the rings to them, as well as to the twins, to allow them to communicate over long distances. The rings also provided life support for the Kryptonians during long missions in space.
Unlike the Kryptonians in other sectors of the Continuum, it seemed the Kryptonians of the Multiverse, with the exception of the Superman from Earth-4, could only function so long in the vacuum of space with out some type of life support.
A trade off, Kara had once thought when she had done a little research. They might not be able to survive in space as along….but with the exception of the Superman of Earth-9, the Kryptonians in the Multiverse were among the most powerful in the Continuum. And as far as speed went, only Zal of Otherverse had proven to be faster.
It was not, however, the voice of either Jenny or Arisia that they heard, but rather that of Motherboard.
“Kara, Rogue. Ambassador El has sent an emergency communiqué requesting your presence on Daxam as soon as possible!”
MVP1-21
Even for powered Kryptonians, the trip to Daxam was not instantaneous. First Kara and Rogue had to let people know they were leaving the Earth. Though they had not been entirely pleased, the twins had agreed keep an eye on things while they were gone. They had then launched into space, picking up speed as they headed towards the outer system where they could safely enter hyperspace. While they were more than capable of entering hyperspace the instant they left the ground, it had become known that entering hyperspace too deep within the gravity well of a planet or solar system could cause catastrophic repercussions on the planetary or solar body. At least one nova in a thankfully unoccupied system had been caused by entering hyperspace too deep within the solar gravity well. The safest distance, it appeared, was at least thee AU, or three times the distance from Sol to Earth, from the solar body.
In the early days of space exploration, traveling the required distance would have taken weeks or months or even years. But for the Kryptonians, who could, under their own power, reach speeds approaching, but never quite reaching, the speed of light, the journey was reduced to hours.
Once in hyperspace, travel was still not instant. Though vast distances could be crossed in fractions of the time, that distance still had to be crossed. Thus a trip from Earth to Daxam took nearly a full 24 hours for the Kryptonians. Somehow, Green Lanterns and the Sentinels could cover even vaster distances in fractions of the time…but of course, they used their green energy to bend and twist space and time in ways that a simple Kryptonian couldn’t.
To Kara, it still felt strange to be able to fly into the El Complex in Kandor City under her own power. For years, she had gotten used to the fact that she would lose her powers the instant she came under the influence of a Red Sun….yet ever since she and Rogue had encountered the Silver Surfer, their bodies had been changed. For some time, until the Ripple that had deposited them in the Multiverse, Red Suns had no longer had an effect on them. And even now, after the Ripple, it still took at least two weeks before they would even begin to feel the power draining effects of the Red Sun of Daxam.
“Something’s going on.” Rogue remarked as they descended towards the main court yard of the Family complex.
Rogue was, Kara saw, correct. As they swooped downward, it was easy to see that the complex was a beehive of activity. Vehicles and people were moving at a frantic pace.
“Rogue…those people are armed!” Kara gasped as she picked out details.
“Just about everyone has been deputized by the Kandorian Police.” Zor El explained after they had landed and, surprisingly, been held until they were tentatively identified.
“In Roa’s name what is going on, Dad?” Kara demanded. “These people know who Rogue and I are…..”
“It’ll be easier to show you.” Zor had replied. He had then led them directly to the Infirmary Wing of the Complex. He had paused by a closed and guarded entrance and turned to them. “This isn’t going to be easy, Kara.” Then, without waiting for a reply, had nodded to the guards. One turned to open the entrance while the other kept her weapon trained on Kara and Rogue.
“Honey, if you don’t want me to take that away from you and wrap it….” Rogue began, only to be cut off by Zor.
“Not now, Rogue. These soldiers are acting on orders from Nim-El…with my agreement.”
“What?” Rogue looked at Zor as if she had never seen him before.
“You are both powered at the moment.” He told them. “Those weapons contain Kryptonite rounds. In a moment, you will understand the need.” He ushered them into the room and stood behind them when they stopped, taking in the site that greeted them.
“Oh my god.” Rogue whispered, her eyes widening in horror.
“Lar!” Kara breathed.
There, hanging in an enclosed stasis unit, was Lar Gand, his body torn and scarred.
“He’s been tortured!” Rogue’s fists were clenched at her side as she whirled to face Zor. Instantly the guards’ weapons centered on her.
“Not by us.” Zor held up a hand, diffusing the situation.
“What the hell is going on?” Kara demanded, her eyes flashing. “This is why you were called back to Daxam, wasn’t it?”
“It was Don-El that made the request for me to return to Daxam,” Zor nodded.
“Cousin Don?” Kara perked up. Don-El, the eldest son of Nim-El, Zor’s older brother, was well known, not only because he was an exact mirror image of Kal-El, but because he was also the Kandorian Police Commissioner.
Zor nodded taking a deep breath. “Before Lord Ian departed the Multiverse, it seems he recruited both Don-El, here on Daxam, and James Olsen on Earth to continue an investigation that he obviously discovered he would not be able to finish. They were to continue this investigation in secret and then report their findings to me…at which point we would come to you girls and figure out what needed to be done.”
“Glorith!” Kara snarled. “That’s all it could have been. He was going to track her down and take care of her…but then he and the Citadel got booted from the Multiverse.”
“Wait a minute!” Rogue looked back and forth between Zor and Kara. “I’ve heard you talk about this Glorith person before. Didn’t she have a thing for Lar?”
“If Ian wasn’t able to take care of her, then she still does.” Kara nodded. She looked at Zor, her glare demanding that he continue.
“Well, it appears the both James Olsen and Don had discovered something.” He said. “But nothing like what they expected.” He turned to look at the stasis unit. “James was able to trace Glorith, with help from Nightwing and Flamebird, to a lair in Gotham City. Glorith was gone…but she obviously never expected the lair to be discovered.”
“Arrogance was always one of Glorith’s weaknesses.” Kara nodded. “She always overestimated herself and underestimated everyone else.”
“Well, that is obviously the case here.” Zor grimaced. “She was using the lair as a storage facility. It’s where she kept those possessions she had obviously acquired since arriving.”
“Spill it, Dad.” Kara spoke softly, as if she already had a clue about what he was going to say next.
“James Olsen found a way to get into the Lair…and found a stasis unit, this stasis unit….occupied by Lar Gand!”
“Could it have been Kara Gand’s Lar?” Rogue demanded, thinking of Kara’s counterpart in the Inheritors’ Universe.
“It’s our Lar.” Zor shook his head. “We called in Reed Richard from Probability 10 to run some tests. He confirmed it.”
“You knew about this before you left Earth.” Kara accused.
“I did.” Zor nodded. “And yes, I swore everyone to secrecy. The last thing we needed was for you or Jenny to get a hint of this with all you had going on…and until we put the final pieces together here.”
“How…..” Rogue shook her head. Jenny had been a friend for a long time, even longer than either of them had known Kara and now her chest with tight with the pain she knew Jenny would feel if she were here….and would feel when she learned of this.
“Magic, obviously.” Kara snarled.
“Reed called in Dr. Strange to confirm it and to see what could be done.” Zor nodded. “They’re still working on it.”
“What pieces have been put together here?” Kara demanded before Rogue could comment.
“It seems that when James entered the lair, he set off some magical alarm. From the reports I have from Don, the Lar on Daxam reacted violently and simply….vanished.”
“Oh my god.” Both Kara and Rogue grew a pale. “When…..”
For a moment Zor considered acting as if he did not understand the question and rejected it.
“From what we have been able to discover, Glorith snared Lar after he returned to Earth after discovering Kandor had been enlarged on Daxam…just before you returned from Themyscira.” He told it bluntly.
“Before……” Kara closed her eyes. “That means all that time on Daxam…all …..”
“It wasn’t Lar.” Zor nodded, “It was Glorith masquerading as Lar.”
“Oh my God…..” Rogue put her hand to her mouth then lowered it, clenched in a fist of rage. “That bitch…..”
“Calm down, Rogue.” Zor spoke harshly, locking eyes with the one time mutant. “Yes, Jenny is going to be devastated…but we have larger problems to deal with. Glorith was not working alone.” He shook his head. “I won’t pretend to understand how Don-El and James Olsen put it together, but between what was discovered on Earth and the clues the fake Lar left here, they were able to come up with a name that meant nothing to them…but which I know you will recognize.”
Kara nodded, putting it together before Zor could complete his explanation.
“Qward!” She snarled.
“Qward.” Zor nodded. “And if they could replace Lar…then who else could they have replaced? Who can we trust?”
“We’re going.” It was not a question but rather a statement of fact. Kara gave a sigh of frustration as she faced two very determined daughters.
After getting more information on Lar’s condition for Zor and a promise that the Daxamite authorities would continue to investigate, Kara and Rogue had made the decision that this was news that could not wait and could not be delivered via the ring communicators to either Jenny or Arisia. They would return to Earth and if the Sentinels had not yet returned then they would travel to Oa.
As it stood, they even had a good reason. No sooner had they reached the Sol System then their rings had flared to life.
They had both listened as Arisia’s voice sounded in her ears.
“Kara….Rogue…This is Arisia….We need you on Oa...They’ve found the Hunter-Killer fleet…..and we could use some help. Arisia out!”
After Arisia’s message, they had poured on the speed, racing to their Colorado Fortress.
Once there, they had established communications with Lex Luthor to inform him that she and Rogue were back but would be leaving immediately for an indefinite time, explaining their reasoning.
She had mentioned nothing about Lar and, after she had closed the connections, turned around, she was glad she hadn’t. Standing in the door way, arms crossed, Carrie and Karen stood, determined looks on their faces. Behind them stood Rogue.
“Girls….I am not playing over protective mother here.” She said. “We simply don’t have any Intel at this moment. We have no idea where the fleet is and if it is anywhere near a red sun…you will be powerless.”
“Great.” Carrie smirked. “It will give us an opportunity to test out our Sorority Rings.”
Kara opened her mouth to argue but, seeing Rogue’s stern look, instead gave a reluctant nod.
“Understand this.” Rogue cut in before the twins could respond, causing them to turn to see her. “Kara is in charge of this until she hands it over to some one else. You will act accordingly. I hear anything that sounds like a whine or an argument to any order she gives and I will personally kick your butts all the way back to Earth. Got that?”
“Got it.” Carrie promised.
“Each team has a leader, girls.” Rogue softened her tone. “That leader may change according to the mission, but there can only be one. Your team cannot be a debating society. Do you understand?”
Both girls nodded and Kara told them to go get ready for immediate departure.
“We’ll stop off at the JLA HQ long enough for you to download Motherboard 1.0.”
The girls disappeared and Kara and Rogue looked at each other. Kara was about to speak when the communication screen lit up. It was Lex Luthor.
“Kara, Rogue. I know you don’t have specifics, but I have ordered a small fleet of support ships made ready to accompany you to Oa. They may slow you down a bit, but I think you will need them.” He held up a hand when Rogue started to argue and went on. “They may not be able to fight the Hunter Killers, but they can offer a tremendous amount in aid during and after you’ve kicked their asses.”
“Thanks for the optimism, Mr. President.” Kara laughed. “We’ll be happy to have them.”
“Good. I’ve ordered up a shuttle to meet you at the JLA Satellite. Lex Out.”
As the communication ended, Kara turned back to find that the girls had rejoined them.
“Okay, here is the deal.” She told them. “We’ll finalize plans once we know the entire situation. Until then, I want you two riding heard on this fleet Lex has given us. He may be right, we may need them after the battle is over so we can’t let anything happen to them.”
The girls thought on that a moment and then nodded.
Anticipating Kara’s needs, Motherboard had serviced the Shuttle Lex had sent up in Dock Three of the JL Satellite and was standing at the foot of the loading ramp when Kara, Rogue, and the twins arrived.
To Kara’s surprise, there were others present as well.
“Carol?” Kara and Rogue approached the woman that, in another world, had been one of Rogue’s most bitter enemies, despite the fact that they had ended up fighting on the same side.
“You get Jenny to furnish me with those green Life support doo dads and I can help you out.” Carol Danvers, aka Ms. Marvel had replied. “And if you end up on Daxam, I can help out there as well…I won’t be affected by the Red Sun or the gravity.”
“You’re in.” Rogue had smiled and touched the woman on the shoulder before Kara could respond. To her credit, Carol Danvers didn’t even flinch, even though she had learned the full story behind Rogue from her counter part on Earth 10. Truth be known, she was more than a little disgusted at the depths THAT Carol Danvers had fallen to. Of all the weaknesses she knew she had, alcoholism had not been one of them.
“NO. Absolutely not!” Kara was saying to another pair of individuals. In his red and yellow Ironman suit, Tony Stark stood quietly beside a visibly pregnant Barbara Gordon.
“It isn’t really your call, Kara.” Babs smiled to take the sting out of her voice.
“Since most of the ships that Lex called up are operated by Stark Industries.” Tony added. Since he couldn’t really shrug in his suit, he spread his hands in a ‘what can you do’ gesture.
“That I can handle.” Kara told him, not taking her eyes away from Babs. “I am not going to jeopardize your babies on this, though.”
“Again, not your call, Kara.” Babs’ eyes had steel in them now. “I may not be able to fly around and smash things, but I can damn sure be of use on one of the hospital ships.”
“She does have the knowledge and the ability, Kara.”
Kara turned as another figure entered the docking bay.
“Stephanie?”
“I’m a Doctor, Kara. Your doctor, to be exact. And Rogue’s, and the twins, and Babs, and just about everyone else in this bay. Are you going to tell me that I can’t go?” She leaned in close. “Before you try, let me clue you in on a little secret…in this case, I outrank you….”
Kara actually sputtered incoherently for a moment. To the amusement of everyone else.
“Babs is qualified as an EMT. I can use her, Kara. And besides, if she is there, I can keep a closer eye on her.”
“Fine.” Kara grumbled, motioning everyone to board the shuttle. “Any more surprises I should be aware of?”
“Hmmm. Other than Koriand’r is already waiting for us with the fleet…I don’t think so.” Someone that sound suspiciously like a very smug Barbara Gordon quipped as the shuttle doors slid shut.
-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2010 by Dylan Clearbrook
-- and may not be reprinted without permission.
-- The Continuum Worlds Concept is a joint creation of
-- Dylan Clearbrook and Eldric. Otherverse, Multiverse,
-- and Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes, as depicted in the
-- Continuum Worlds, are original creations of Dylan Clearbrook.
-- Alterverse and The Inheritors, as depicted in the Continuum Worlds,
-- are original creations of Eldric.
-- The Realm and The Web of Shadows, as depicted in the Continuum Worlds,
-- are original creations of John P. and Jason G./ Andrew Shields respectively.
-- Terra-verse, as depicted in the Continuum Worlds,
-- is an original creation of DTO.
-- DCM: The Mergiing, as depicted in the Continuum Worlds,
-- is an original creation of Chip Caroon and the stories therein remain
-- the property of the respective writers.
-- Some characters in Continuum Worlds stories are original creations
-- of Dylan Clearbrook, Eldric, Michael Liebhart, Jake H., Jason G.,
-- Andrew Shields, Kyle M., Brian, John P., DTO, or Jason Froikin and may not
-- be used without express permission of the respective author.
-- All DC characters are property of D.C. Comics.
-- All Marvel characters are property of Marvel Comics.