Pieces of the destroyed planet followed each other around the ancient red sun. The debris of billions of lives floated through the new asteroid belt. Cold, lifeless chunks of ground tumbled through eternity. Chunks of planet bounced off of each other and off of two glowing life forms.
Arisia prepared to drop out of hyperspace into a well-hidden safety zone. I envy the galaxy class metas. They don’t hop hyperspace like the rest of us. We have to drop out every fifteen minutes or so. They just plow straight through. Probably a good thing they’re all our side.
I’m glad Hal
Ah! There’s my drop point. It shouldn’t take me too much longer to get back to New Oa. She dropped out of hyperspace into normal space. Once in normal space, her ring’s communications circuits activated.
“Green Lantern Corps emergency. This is an automatic beacon. Request assistance for two sentients.”
Damn. That signal is pretty weak. Not only that, but it’s in miserable space. But there’s no way I’m going to ignore that beacon. Hope the Lair is listening. She spoke into her ring.
“Sentinel’s Lair, this is Arisia. I’ve got a problem.”
She waited for a response.
“Arisia, this is the Sentinel. What can we do for you?”
“Sir, I’ve got a Green Lantern Corps emergency beacon. I’m going to head for it, but I’d appreciate some help. Transmitting coordinates.”
She waited for a response.
“Arisia, that signal is coming from the remains of a planet we call Krypton. You’re only a hop away. Go ahead, but be very careful. This stinks like a trap. I can’t give you a ringing endorsement. Just don’t be jaded by your trip to Krypton.”
“Aye, sir! On my way! Arisia out!” He doesn’t trust the beacon any more than I do. He’s also suspicious about who might be listening in. Nice thing about the Lair – those people know what they’re doing. I won’t be there alone. I’ll wait a few minutes before I jump.
A plume of green disappeared into Hyperspace.
Arisia dropped out of Hyperspace.
What a miserable place. Such a proud culture and there’s nothing left.
Damn! Yellow Kayzik fighters. What are they doing here? Arisia slipped behind an asteroid.
“Okay, ring. Tell me a story. Why do our buddies care about this place?”
The ring responded.
“This area has been through a space/time distortion. That distortion has brought the beacons we seek into this reality. The ring bearers are not true Green Lanterns, but allies of the Corps of their reality. They are not far distant.”
Now all I have to do is figure out how I’m going to get there. This area of space is saturated with Kayzik. Probably smartest to wait until she gets here. Then it’s krispy Kayzik critter time!
“Miss me?” Arisia turned around to see a smiling green face. “Dad said you decided to take a tour of the Galaxy!”
“Cute, Jade.” Arisia frowned. “They’re two hundred miles straight through that fleet.” She pointed into the Kayzik fleet.
“And that fleet won’t even know we’ve been here.” Jade smiled thoughtfully. “Why pick a fight when we don’t have to?”
Jade took Arisia inside her Starheart-spawned shields and vanished.
“Lair, this is Jade. We’re on secure comms. We’re not using the rings.”
“Lair, this is Arisia. I’ve scanned them. They might be Daxamite or Kryptonian. I don’t know. They don’t look like anything else in the database.”
“This is Dr. Jenna.” They heard the Shantar doctor’s voice from the medical center. “How do they look?”
“I sure hope I look this good when I grow up!” Jade enthused. “Seriously, they don’t look injured. Dad, are you there?”
“Sure, Squirt!” They heard his voice.
“Look at this!” She sent holographic images back to the Lair over her secure comms. “Recognize that symbol?”
Alan Scott took in a sharp breath.
“A little too well. We’ll see you in a few. Give them a soft ride, but don’t touch either of them.”
The picture went out.
“Got it, Dad. Jade out.” The comms went silent.
Alan Scott frowned.
“Talk to us, Boss.” Selina
edged out from behind her Oracle console. Jay Garrick
entered the
“Jay, I need Barbara Gordon and right now. Take her up top.” Alan gestured.
“You’ve got her!” Jay Garrick vanished.
“Dr. Jenna. If I’m right, we’re about to receive at least one Kryptonian. Can you set up in one of the Xentronium shielded rooms? Dr. Fate can help you.”
“On my way, sir!” Dr.
Jenna dashed out of the
“Selina,” Alan turned, “how far out are Kira and Mary?”
Selina looked at her screen.
“Mary and Alanna are a ways out. It will be a while. Kira is off in the opposite direction. They’ll all be back soon, but not real soon. I don’t know who will be back first.”
“Damn.” Alan swore. “Let’s get up top. We’re following protocol. Nothing gets into the Lair until we’ve checked it out, first. I’m going to find Kent Nelson. We could use some help from the Shazam Wizard.”
“And Selina?” He smiled. “Good work! This protocol is playing out just the way you planned it.”
“Thanks, Boss!” She grinned as she turned back to her console. He vanished.
Barbara Gordon shivered in the winter wind.
“I still don’t understand.” She leaned across the railing. “Why did Alan ask for me?”
Jay Garrick sighed.
“All I know is that we have incoming. Alan wanted you here.”
Green Flame flashed. Kent Nelson and Diana stood to Alan’s sides. Alan pointed upwards.
“Incoming.” Another trail of green burned through the atmosphere.
The second Green Flame flashed.
“Over to you, Dad.” Jade stepped back.
“Kara?” Barbara asked. She reached to touch a blonde woman. A green shield blocked her.
“I’m sorry, Barbara.” Alan grimaced. “It might be. We don’t know yet. We certainly don’t know who the other woman is.” He stared down to a red haired woman with a white forelock. “She looks like a mutant called ‘Rogue’. Her power was to touch people and drain them of power and personality. We don’t know if that’s what happened here. I don’t plan to find out. Don’t touch either of them until we know more.”
Kent Nelson cast an examination spell.
“I think these are both Kryptonian variants. Neither is Terran. They don’t read the same as Kira, but they aren’t native to this universe. Their powers and abilities are a little different. They don’t seem to be vulnerable to red solar rays, but they have to breathe occasionally. Kira doesn’t need to.”
“Alan!” Barbara pleaded. “This is Kara! I know it is! I don’t know how, but she’s back from the dead!”
“Everything seems fine. I don’t see any mystical threats attached to either of them.”
“There is nothing too unusual about their power rings.” Arisia concentrated. “They are not meant to provide anything more than data and a breathing environment. There’s not a lot of power to them. Basically the same type of ring Jade has.” She looked up. “According to the rings, these people are a Kara Zor-El and a Rogue Zorel. They haven’t been in their universe very long. Other than that, I can’t get anything.”
“Barbara,” Alan looked over to her, “I won’t say that this isn’t your Kara Zor-El.” He grinned. “I can’t even tell you that no one comes back from the dead. Not with my history, or hers.” He pointed to Jade.
“And don’t you forget it!” Jade grinned. She smiled to reassure Barbara.
“But I do have to tell you it’s doubtful.” Alan watched the examination. “That said; they’re vouched for by the Guardians of Oa of their universe.” His comms beeped.
“Alan, we’re set up.” They heard Elise. “I won’t say it’s strong enough to hold Kryptonians, but it will sure slow them down.”
He nodded.
“Elise, we’ll be down in a minute. I wouldn’t bother with Kryptonite. Probably won’t work against them anyway.”
They heard silence, then:
“You know me too well.”
“I try.” Alan smiled.
“Alan!”
“I think they’ll wake up soon.” Dr. Jenna rechecked his displays. “Their life signs are strengthening.”
“I still don’t like this.” Elise frowned.
“Ma’am,” Arisia volunteered, “if you’d like to leave, I’ll take this watch.”
“No,” she brushed her hair away from her pointed ears,
“I’ll stay a while longer.” She sighed. “This station is my
responsibility. I think
“…her name was?”
“Kara. Kara Zor-EL.” The voices faded in slowly. “Of course, he also said that she was supposed to be dead!”
No! Not again. Oh dear Rao, not again!
“Kara. Kara El. And I am not dead!” The effort to speak caused her to cough, a dry, hacking cough. “I am not dead!”
“What did she say?” The first voice, vaguely familiar, demanded. It, and the voice that answered, were both female.
“She’s awake! Quick, go get Alan and Barbara. They’ll be in…”
“I know. I’ll have them back here in a flash!”
“Here!” A third, younger sounding, female voice spoke up. “I got her some water!”
She felt rim of a cup pressed to her lips.
“Easy. Just a little.” The cool liquid eased her parched throat, though it was hard to heed the warning. She wanted to gulp the water down: her body aching for it.
She felt her head being lowered and realized only then that she was laying on a bed and some one had raised her head a bit to help her drink.
She cleared her throat and tried to speak again.
“El. My name is Kara El. I don’t use the Zor honorific anymore.” Her voice sounded weak even to her own ears. And why on earth was she talking about her name?
She opened her eyes, waited for them to swim slowly into focus, looked at the face looming over her own…and closed her eyes again. An Elf.
“Let me guess. I’m back in Otherverse at Ian’s tower.”
“Actually, it’s not a tower but a series of caves and small caverns. As for Ian and Otherverse…”
Kara opened her eyes again just in time to see the elf shrug. This time she took a moment to look around, moving her head slowly.
She was in an infirmary, that much was obvious. No matter what universe, no matter what planet, infirmaries always seemed to be the same.
A glance upward showed a makeshift unlit red lamp hanging over her bed. The elf followed her gaze and then smiled again.
“We were going to be as careful as possible.” She explained. “The last thing we needed was for an angry Kryptonian to wake up swinging. We discovered, much to our surprise, however, that you are unaffected by red sunlight.”
Kara nodded vaguely and then started to sit up, only to fall back again, clutching her forehead in both hands.
“Easy. You need to just take it easy for a bit. Your natural healing ability is at work, but you have to remain still till it gets done.” The Elf pressed a cold compress into her hands.
“Rogue….” Kara began.”
“Then Alan was right. The one with you is named Rogue. A mutant?”
“She’s here?” This time Kara did sit up, the sheet covering her falling away. “Where is she? Is she okay?”
“She’s fine.” Kara turned at the sound of the familiar voice she had heard while waking up. Arisia! An Arisia without a sign of the injuries Kara had seen before handing her off to Rogue to put in that airlock! “She’s in the next room over, in a containment field.”
“A what?”
“A containment field.” The elf explained, dragging Kara’s attention back to her. She had noticed the look in Kara’s eyes and knew that she had seen Arisia somewhere before…under other circumstances… “For her protection and ours. Alan said that, from what he remembered, her mutant ability was the ability to drain the powers and memories of others by skin to skin contact. So we just took precautions to make sure that didn’t happen by accident.”
Kara took a moment to digest this bit of news. Who ever this ‘Alan’ was, he knew about both her and Rogue, but not, it seemed, any of the most recent history.
“You have to get her out of that field!” She began. “If she wakes up and thinks she’s a prisoner…”
She was interrupted by a loud crashing noise and the sudden whooping of an alarm.
“…she’ll try to break out.” She finished.
The elf, her face suddenly serious, turned away.
“Alanna! Find out what’s going on. If it’s Rogue, warn everyone to stay out of her reach and try to get her to come in here!”
“On it!” The third voice answered.
For a moment, Kara wondered if she should ease the elf’s mind about Rogue. She finally decided against it. She wanted to see how they handled this. They had already made one mistake, though it was a mistake of ignorance, not incompetence.
The Elf turned back to her, smiling again, though it seemed as if, this time, the smile touched only her lips. Her eyes were serious. Deadly serious.
“Kara, I had hoped to let you both recover a bit but it seems your Rogue is forcing my hand.” She took a deep breath. “Earlier you mentioned Otherverse. We know Otherverse exists…that it is a parallel universe of our own, or rather now it is one of many parallel universes that we have been able to catalog. This is not Otherverse. The universe you are in now, Alan calls Alterverse.” Kara looked at the elf in shock. It was one thing for her father to pick a name out of the air to identify the one other Probability they could see before Otherverse was thrust into a new Continuum, But to discover that he had just by chance settled on the name the people of that Probability used was beyond belief.
“We don’t know how you got here, and frankly, that worries us.” The Elf continued. “You were found floating in a sector of space, well within Occupied territory, surrounded by the debris of a Kayzik fleet. A fleet we happen to know never existed here in this universe. And that worries us. There are too many questions and not many answers. And one thing we don’t need is for Rogue to….”
She was interrupted as the door to the room flew open. Kara saw Rogue, one hand clutching a bunched up sheet she had wrapped around her. Rogue moved towards the bed, stopping as the elf moved to stand between her and Kara.
“Woman, you will get out of my way or I will tear you in half!” Rogue growled.
“Rogue!” Kara called out. “It’s okay. These are friends…I think.” When the elf looked back at her, Kara nodded. “It’s okay.” She sighed. “I guess I should have told you. Whatever you heard about Rogue is out of date. She’s not a mutant any longer.” The elf frowned, uncomprehending. “She’s a full blooded Kryptonian. Like me.”
“No wonder that containment field didn’t hold her!” A familiar male voice laughed. They all turned to the doorway, Kara hastily pulling the sheet back up to her shoulders.
He was a blonde man, wearing a costume that Kara found to be vaguely familiar. Alan? Her eyes widened.
“Alan Scott?”
“Yes, but not the one you are thinking of, Kara.” The Sentinel smiled and entered the room, followed closely by a young woman in a blue suit sporting the EL family emblem and a red cape and …
Another woman squeezed past the others and rushed to Kara’s bedside.
“It can’t be you.” The Red head whispered, tears forming in her eyes. “I saw your body. I read your eulogy!”
“Barbara? Babs?”
“I guess that is your proof.” The elf looked over at Alan as Barbara Gordon gathered Kara in an embrace, holding on to her as if she would never let go.
“Actually, we never got a chance to use the Red solar ray lamps.” Alan was saying. “Dr. Jenna had already determined that they would be useless before we got you down to the infirmary.” He nodded towards Rogue. “He also said that you were both Kryptonian variants but from what I knew of Rogue’s…history…I chose not to take chances.”
“A wise choice.” Rogue conceded. “There was no way you could have known for sure.”
After Alan had left the room, allowing Kara and Rogue to get dressed, they had been shown to a well-equipped conference room. Once there a few introductions were made. Babs, Kara knew already and, from the looks of it, Babs was convinced that this was, indeed the Kara she had known. She never ventured far and was always touching her: finally getting a playful laugh from Kara.
“It’s me, Babs!” She smiled and touched her friend’s cheek, noting the tears in her eyes. “I’m not a ghost this time, thank Rao!” Kara had then introduced her to Rogue and didn’t pull any punches. She let it all out, explaining their relationship. It was not something Kara did often. Usually, she didn’t give a damn what people thought. But this was Babs! And the Kara Babs had known was one hundred percent heterosexual. She had waited for Babs to suddenly change her mind, to declare that she wasn’t ‘her’ Kara after all. Instead, Babs had thrown her arms around Rogue as if she were a long lost sister.
The young girl with the El family emblem, not many years older than the twins, if Kara was any judge, was introduced as Kira Jor-El, the last surviving daughter of Krypton in this Probability.
Kara had shaken the girl’s hand noting as she did so, that the girl had been watching her like a hawk since entering her infirmary room with Alan and Babs. And, again if she was any judge, she felt she knew what the girl’s problem was: A bad case of low self-confidence masked by an enormous display of temper and arrogance.
The Elf, Kara and Rogue learned, was Alan’s mate in this Probability. An alien named Elise; her race had been battling the Kayzik since the beginning of time. Kara felt there was more to it than that but she could not fault any of them for not sharing everything with people that were, to them, an unknown quantity.
Now she turned her attention back to Alan, bringing her mind back to the business at hand.
“So know you know how we got here. And now we know that we don’t have to fear anymore Kayzik invasion fleets coming from Alterverse.”
“You don’t have to worry about the Kayzik at all.” It was Kira that spoke, some what bitterly.
“She’s right, actually.” Alan nodded in agreement. “Only the Kayzik in their home probability could send queens to other Probabilities. And that Kayzik hive no longer exists.” He spread his hands. “The Kayzik in that Probability were destroyed after the birth of this Continuum.”
“So your probability is all nice and safe while we still fight for our lives in this one.” Kira decided to have the last word.
“Every Probability has its good and bad points.” Kara said, looking pointedly at Kira. “Just like everything else in life. You just make the most of what you got and try to make it better. That’s why they call us heroes!”
“What would you know?” Kira stalked out. Though Kara watched her go, Rogue watched Alan and Elise and noted the worried glance they gave each other.
“Sounds like some one needed a few more trips behind the woodshed when they were growing up.” She remarked, looking at the ceiling. Kara turned her attention to Alan.
“I once had a friend warn me about another friend. He pointed out to me that her power, which if I am not mistaken pretty much matches yours, could be a dangerous thing. I am going to give you the same warning about that girl. I don’t know her and I don’t know what her problem is. But, I can tell you that if she doesn’t get a handle on it, she can be dangerous.”
“Kira is our problem and we’ll deal with it.” Elise answered before Alan could…a little more sharply than she intended. She continued a little softer. “Actually, I think her problem stems from the fact that we are still no closer to locating her twin brother.”
“Twin brother?” Kara’s hands tightened on the arm rests of her seat. Babs, sitting beside her, winced at the sound of crushing steel. “Kal El?”
“Yes.” Alan nodded. “We were able to locate the space craft that brought his matrix to Earth, but haven’t found the matrix.”
“Matrix?” Puzzled, Kara looked from Alan to Elise and back again.
“In this probability,” Alan recalled, “as in the probability that replaced yours, Kryptonians are gestated in a birthing matrix. Jor El sent it to earth so Kal could be born and survive here.”
“Born? You mean hatched!” Kara grimaced. “Sorry. Where I came from, Kal was an infant when he was sent to Earth.”
“I remember.” Alan waved it off. “Not a biggie. Different probabilities, different physical laws.” He shook his head. “I guess we should be thinking of what we do now! From what you’ve told us, you have two daughters to get back to! I know exactly how you feel!” He smiled.
Kara was silent for a moment. She could, she knew, simply reach into…she touched her jacket pocket and froze…Ian’s card was not there!
“When we went through the rift or whatever you want to call it, I had a card in this pocket.” She patted the pocket in question while looking directly at Elise. While she had the notion that Alan was in charge in this place, Elise had to be the person in charge of security. She glanced at her bare hands and then at Rogue’s. “We also had rings given to us by the Oans of our Probability. We’ll need that card and the rings back.”
“The rings are being recharged.” Elise answered, completely indifferent. “The card, however, seemed a bit strange. Kent Nelson, our friend, is studying it at the moment.”
Alan grinned.
“He’s hung up the mantle of Dr. Fate, but he’s still the best sorcerer I’ve ever met. It’s his job to keep us safe from the magic of our adversaries. He does his job well. He won’t harm your card unless he senses corruption in the magic.”
“I am afraid that is not acceptable.” Kara said, standing, causing everyone to tense. “I cannot allow anyone to tinker with what might be the only way we have of getting home. You will return it. NOW!”
Rogue tensed, at a loss to see this side of Kara. Usually she was the calm and collected one. Except for that short time there at the beginning…
“Kara.” She stood and touched her arm but she was looking at Elise. “I am sure, knowing its importance, they will return it. But they haven’t done anything we wouldn’t have done in their place. First and foremost, they have to see to the safety of their people and Probability!”
“Exactly.” Elise nodded,
though her eyes had narrowed. Finally she let out a deep breath. “I will
have
Rogue nearly choked and turned her head, hiding the sudden laughter in her eyes. Leave it to Ian to put safeguards on a playing card. All wizards and magic slingers had their own spheres of influence and in Ian’s, he was supreme, just as Dr. Strange was in his and, she imagined, this Kent Nelson was in his.
The tension diffused, Kara was just retaking her seat when another woman she recognized entered the room…Selina Kyle…Catwoman!
The woman didn’t pay her or Rogue the slightest attention, centering, instead, on Alan and Elise.
“Boss, we’ve got a problem!!!”
Selina stopped when she realized Kara and Rogue were both in the room. “Sorry I was so rude.” She extended a hand to Kara. “Selina Kyle.”
“She’s this world’s Batgirl.” Barbara nodded fondly. “She also runs the ‘Birds of Prey’. We provide this world’s full time defense.”
“I’m Kara and this is Rogue.” Kara shook her hand.
“Charmed.” Rogue smiled. “Now, what’s this about a problem?”
Selina waited for Alan’s approval. When he nodded, she moved over to a console. She activated a three dimensional display over the conference room table. A hologram of the Milky Way galaxy appeared.
“Here’s the problem.” She enlarged the view. “Here’s Krypton, where we found you.” Selina pointed. “Here’s the path of the discontinuity that dropped the two of you into our universe.” She drew an arc. “And this is where it’s headed.”
“Vega.” Kara observed. “A star system of twenty two inhabited worlds. What does this color overlay mean?”
“It means that area is in Kayzik controlled space...” Alan frowned, “Selina, what’s the activity like in that area?”
“Boss, the Kayzik are pulling out.” Selina pounded the display. “I’m still receiving data from Kori – we sent one of the Green Lanterns, Princess Koriand’r of Tamaran out to look.”
She pondered the data.
“According to her power ring, the fissure is going to hit the Vegan Sun and die out not soon after. Problem is we can’t stop it. It’s going to cause Vega to Nova.”
This sounds like a really bad Chevrolet commercial. Alan walked over to the display.
“How long do we have?”
“About seven hours.”
“Then let’s take a couple of hours of it to figure out what to do. I’ll get you the resources you need.” He tapped his comm. badge. “New Oa, this is Sentinel. I need…..”
Barbara motioned Kara and Rogue out of the room.
“Let’s give them room to work. I’ll show you the rest of the place.”
“Pleased to meet you.” The blue-skinned, black haired young woman greeted them. “I’m Alanna Scott; some call me the Shade.”
“Like Obsidian, only saner.” Barbara walked them into
the
“That’s Hal
“It should.” Kara answered with a smile. “Right, Babs?”
Alanna walked over to the small crowd.
Kira Jor-El stormed into the room. She pointedly avoided Kara. She headed to the entrance.
The two girls intercepted her. “Kira?” The older girl asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Get out of my way, Linda. Get out of my way before I knock you to the moon!”
The crowd started to separate. Linda shot a warning look to the Green Lanterns. Barbara placed a hand each on Kara and Rogue. She knew she could not hold them if they were insistent, but they would understand her intent. Kara would let this play out. “Kira.” Linda intoned firmly. “Don’t act like this. You could hurt someone.”
Kira’s anger flashed.
“Starting with you, you little bitch!” She backhanded Linda out of the Sentinel’s Lair.
She turned back to the crowd.
“Leave me alone! Stop laughing at me!” She glared at Helena Wayne. Krypto growled at her.
Barbara held onto Kara and Rogue.
“I know you want to knock her senseless. Don’t. You’re part of the problem, not the solution. It’s your legend that terrifies her. She’s supposed to be this universe’s Supergirl, but she hasn’t had a chance to grow into it.”
Kara watched Kira’s expression
change from rage to fear to horror at what she had done. A glowing
green hand reached into the
“Jade.” Kara focused her X-Ray vision. “I remember the Earth-2 Jade. She was there at my final battle with the Anti-Monitor. Where Green Lantern goes, Jade is never too far behind. This one shrunk a little in the wash, though.” Jade had lost her Caucasian coloring. She had gained another companion.
Barbara Gordon smirked. That’s something I never thought I’d see: Linda Danvers taking Supergirl out to the wood shed!
“Kira,” Captain Marvel lectured, “that was completely unacceptable. I thought I’d trained you better than that!”
Jade rubbed her jaw. Ouch. She felt the Green Flame heal her as she headed back to the Lair.
“Mary!” Kira pleaded. “I can’t do this! I’m not a legend. I’m not going to be a legend. I’m just me!”
“Kira, you’re the only one who believes that’s so damned important. It isn’t.”
“You should talk!”
“Cut it out, Kira.”
“I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do!”
Mary sighed.
“That’s not your job. We plan, you execute. That’s what you do well. Don’t break what’s not broken.”
Jade touched down. Helena Wayne and Krypto dashed over to her.
“Well fellow, you don’t know me. But I sure remember you!” Kara scratched his ears. Krypto panted happily.
Jade shifted her burden.
“Gee, we’re honored to finally meet you. My Dad’s told
us so much about you.” Linda grinned while
Kara grinned.
“You know, I never thought I’d admit how much I miss my
cousin’s dog. But after the twins got adopted by the Otherverse Krypto….” She trailed off and then smiled at the girl. “My
daughters would envy you,
“Alan says he was meant for someone named Kal-El, but Krypto found me first.” She grinned. Excited, Krypto barked. His tail stirred up a breeze.
Rogue reached down to pet Krypto.
“I can tell he has a happy home.”
“And he keeps our home safe.” Jade smiled approvingly.
“Is Kira…?” Barbara started to ask.
“Mary is with her. I hope she’ll be OK.” Jade rubbed her jaw. “Ouch, I’d forgotten how strong she is.” She apologized. “Sorry you had to see that. Kira is usually the most gentle person you’d ever hope to meet. That’s the first time she’s ever done something like that. I’m worried about her.”
“Kara,” Barbara emphasized, “I do identify with Kira. She feels overshadowed. She tries hard, but she doesn’t give herself credit. And she’s faced with legends.”
“I’m lucky not to have to worry about that.” Jade added. “I’m happy just to have a home. And nice people who put up with me!”
“I better get you back to your Mom.” Jade smiled at
“In a pig’s eye.” Barbara smirked. “She’s the other half of Kira’s problem.”
“She does remind us of someone.” Kara smiled at Rogue. Someone green!
“She should.” Barbara emphasized. “Kira focused on her for a reason. Did you notice how the Green Lanterns treat her? That’s not an accident. I think it’s time I came clean about the Linda Danvers of this universe.”
“I still feel like an idiot.” Kira confided to Mary.
“You should. But you didn’t do any real harm. Now, what do you see?”
Kira used her telescopic and microscopic vision.
“Selina was exactly right. Subspace fissures. This area of space is getting worse. We’re not going to be able to stop it.”
They joined Koriand’r. She pointed to one of the planets.
“Tamaran. My family lives there.” Kori pointed towards the sun. “We have twenty two inhabited worlds circling this star. The Kayzik have decimated our peoples, but there are those of us who still dream of freedom.”
“This is ugly.” Mary frowned. “I’m not sure how we can protect the planets from an exploding sun.” She punched her comms. “Sentinel, this is Captain Marvel. It’s every bit as bad as we thought.”
Alanna Scott appeared from the shadows. She activated her communications device.
“I’ve been to the other side, Dad. The rift is healing. It just won’t heal before it gets to Vega.”
Kara El checked the computer readouts and studied the controls quickly.
“Mary’s not kidding.” She projected the hologram over the conference room table. “This thing is going to core Vega like an apple. It won’t collapse into a smaller sun, it will simply explode.”
Rogue counterchecked Kara’s calculations.
“Hon, this is just plain ugly. How do you stop something like this?”
“You don’t.” Kara scowled. “You ride it out and minimize the damage. Then, you salvage what’s left.”
Barbara entered the room.
“Conference in half an hour.
Take a look at the
Kara and Rogue used their X-Ray vision. Over a hundred
Green Lanterns crowded the
“A most direct approach.” K’ryssma remarked. “We certainly haven’t come up with anything better.”
Selina nodded.
“Think of it this way. We really have nothing to lose. Anything we save is a win. We can’t stop it. We can only mitigate the effects.”
Kara felt her Trump Card. Thankfully, it did not seem damaged by Kent Nelson’s testing. She looked around to the more than one hundred members of the rescue team.
Alan Scott floated above the crowd. He addressed the assembled team.
“This is the nastiest rescue mission I’ve ever seen. We’ve got a plan. It carries a lot of risk. But it has the only chance of success.”
He projected a hologram into the middle of the group.
“This is the path of the discontinuity. It will hit Vega in five hours. We have several jobs. The first is to keep the sun from going Nova. That’s something only Kara and Rogue could do. They have to stabilize that sun while it burns at Nova heat. They have to do it at super speed while the sun is suffering from the discontinuity. Kira, Captain Marvel, Kori, Kilowog, and K’ryssma will be scrounging for raw materials. Kara and Rogue will use those materials to replace what’s being displaced from Vega. The Green Lanterns will stabilize the planets – you’ll keep the worlds from either freezing or overheating. We’re assigning four to a planet. In the mean time, we also have to duck any stray Kayzik patrols.”
A voice in the crowd piped up.
“And what are you going to be doing, Sentinel?”
Alan Scott frowned.
“Jade and I have the fun part of the job. We have to stop the solar flares before they get to you. Those solar flares will be pure yellow energy.”
“Any other questions? No? We go in thirty minutes. That’s a wrap.”
The crowd began to disperse.
“Hold it, Alan!” Kara pushed through. Rogue, right behind her, felt a bit of tension. Kara had focused her command voice on the senior commander of all Shantar Empire Resistance forces throughout the occupied territories. To see this unknown blonde woman making noises that even remotely sounded like an order rankled. “I would like you to send Kira with us!”
“What?” Kira was flabbergasted. Alan, looking from her back to Kara, finally nodded. He understood the real message. He would play it out.
“Done, though perhaps I should have Jade….”
“No offense, Alan.” Kara drew herself up. “But if three Kryptonians can’t handle this then your little girl won’t be much help.”
Rogue sighed, watching the Green Lanterns around them bristle. Jade’s good humor surprised her.
“Sounds good to me!” Jade surprised them by agreeing. She had caught Kara’s wink. “They’re going to need all the power they can get! Besides, Dad, we have to catch those solar flares. Even you can’t project that much power in so many places at once.”
The Sentinel smiled. He understood the message. Kara knew he understood what she and Jade were trying to do. He addressed Kara.
“Do you ever win arguments with your children?” His eyes sparkled. “I don’t.”
Kara felt the tension in the room melt away. His smile held as he addressed the room.
“This plan isn’t perfect, but it’s the best we’ve got. I’ll do anything I can to improve our odds of success. You are all putting yourselves in harm’s way. I’m going to do anything I can to make sure we all come home again.” He turned to Kira.
“It’s time for you to join the Kryptonian mafia. Kara’s right. Working with them is where you can make the most difference. We’ll divert a couple of Green Lanterns to backfill Mary’s task force.”
Kira tensed. She prepared to protest. Then she watched Mary nod with a smile. Kira seemed to deflate. She walked over to stand behind Kara and Rogue.
“Okay then.” Alan clapped his hands together. “We move out in twenty minutes.”
He moved off to confer with Elise, Jade and a few members of the GL Corps while Kara gathered Rogue and Kira and moved off to the side. She had seen Babs waiting for the meeting to break up. Babs had seemed a bit anxious.
“Kara, this isn’t going to work.” Barbara blurted softly as the three Kryptonians joined her.
“What do you mean?” Rogue demanded.
“She’s talking about Alan’s plan.” Kara guessed. Kira looked at her, wondering how she could possibly know.
“Right.” Barbara nodded. “I was looking over the computer models he and the others were using. I think they have underestimated the power of this…this discontinuity rift…and its effect on the Vegan Star.” She shook her head. “Kara, that thing is going to blow and there is nothing you or any one can do to stop it.”
“We have to tell Alan!” Kira blurted. “Maybe you’re wrong….but he has to be told.”
“He already knows.” Kara announced, making a soothing motion with her hand. “But he has no other options. He has to try or sit back and watch all those worlds die.”
“But…” Kira began, stopping as Rogue put a hand on her shoulder.
“But why try if he knows it won’t work?” She finished for the younger Kryptonian. She smiled mirthlessly. “It’s what we do, my dear. It’s just what we do. We do the best we can with what we have.” She smiled. “The possible is easy. We just have to work a little harder to do the impossible.”
“Whatever we accomplish, we will be able to save some, if not all.” Kara was grim now. “We may just have to content ourselves with that unless…” She stopped, her eyes taking on a far away look. “Rogue, take Kira and make sure we’re ready to go. Babs, come with me.”
She led Barbara out of the hanger and around to the back, making sure no one was around.
“Kara, I know that look!” Barbara frowned. “What are you up to?”
“Not much.” Kara smiled, removing the trump card from her jacket pocket. “I just want to introduce you to some one.”
Barbara watched in amazement.
“It’s time!” Alan called out. “Let’s head out.”
Kara nodded to herself and then willed the ring she wore to activate. Kira watched as a light green glow sprang up around both Kara and Rogue.
“Unlike you, we have to breathe every so often.” Rogue explained. “Either that or we start to experience oxygen deprivation. And frankly, I can’t stand face masks.” She winked.
“There’s the signal!” Kara announced, watching Alan. “C’mon you two, Let’s grab some sky!” And, putting actions to words, she leapt upward.
“Grab some sky?” Kira looked at Rogue who shrugged.
“You have to remember, most of her life was spent in the seventies and eighties on her Earth. She still has a habit of using phrases popular back then.”
“If you say so.” Kira shook her head, trying to decide which of the two was more confusing. Together, she and Rogue flashed upward, quickly catching up to and trailing Kara.
“Babs was right!” Rogue called out. She paused as she smashed a hunk of exploding star stuff into millions of particles. “Nothing is working. We’re fighting a losing battle here, Kara. This sun is going to go and we are not going to stop it.”
“We can’t just give up!” Kira was aghast! This was the Legend? Ready to give up?
“You’re right, we can’t.” Kara agreed with her. She spun and kicked as a glob of glowing material shot outward, blasting it into pieces small enough for the Lanterns to handle as it flashed past. “But one thing we are always learning and that is to improvise. If a plan isn’t working, you always try to have a back up plan, or you modify to the one you have. In this case, we are going to do both.”
The senior staff listened in on the task force conversations uneasily . What on Earth was Kara talking about? Earlier, Elise had searched for Barbara Gordon, wanting her nearby to explain what she though Kara might be thinking. Unfortunately, the redhead had been nowhere to be found.
“Alan!” Kara’s voice issued from the speakers. “We’re losing it. I think it’s time for plan two!”
“Plan two?” Kira looked at Rogue who merely shrugged.
“I think you’re right.” Alan agreed. “All hands, New orders.” His voice rang out, making Elise smile. A true leader. “Kara, Kira, and Rogue will attempt to create a vortex around and over the star, channeling the explosive power out and over the planetary plane. Jade and I will combine our power to aid in that. The GL’s will backstop. They’ll catch anything that might get past us. Captain Marvel and Koriand’r will tackle anything that gets past the GLs. Questions?”
Elise had a lot of questions but bit her lip. What Alan was saying was that Kara, Kira, and Rogue would be moving around the star at incomprehensible speeds, speeds that they could only achieve by using the gravity of the star itself. They would, in effect, be creating a tunnel or, better yet, a gun barrel, for the star to shoot through. But, for a time, it meant they would be deep within the star itself.
“We’re ready, Kara.” Alan’s voice sounded over the comms.
“Right.” Kara’s voice was calm and cool. “Let’s do this. Babs, it’s time!”
“Babs?” Elise frowned. That was Kara’s nickname for Barbara Gordon. What could she possibly…
“Commander!” Selina Kyle called out. “We’re reading a high power disturbance near the Lair!”
At the same moment Kent Nelson materialized.
“High power indeed!” He headed for Selina’s console. “Can’t I even visit my Grandson in peace?” He activated his comms. “Dr. Fate, what are you seeing?”
They heard Dr. Fate through their Comms.
“Nabu senses a door that has opened and closed. Nothing more, nothing less. Something has appeared and is leaving Earth. Odd!”
“Confirmed!!” Selina called out before anyone else could answer. “I have
traffic heading off planet! They’re…” She stopped and turned from her
screen to look past
At that moment, the control room door opened and Barbara Gordon stepped in.
“Report! Now!” Elise’s rage hit Barbara in a voice as cold as Hades. Her rage chilled only slightly at the sight of the man in black and silver that stepped in behind Barbara. Her eyes narrowed as she realized she had seen this man before…on the face of the card Kara had been carrying!
“This isn’t working!” Jade shouted out. “We’re pouring enough power into it, but the damned rift isn’t sealing!”
Alanna Scott manifested inside her sister’s shields.
“This is even worse than we thought! The rift isn’t affecting just two universes. There’s a third one involved. That one is just protoplasmic goo! You’re not just trying to fix Vega, you’re having to fight the pure Hell of that other dimension.”
“Other than that Mrs. Lincoln,” Jade growled, “how was the play? Dad, did you get that?”
“Mary, this is Alan. Stand down your team. We don’t need to feed this monster. Redeploy the Green Lanterns to the outer worlds.”
Jade and the Sentinel played an extremely dangerous game. Raw power was not the issue. It was the mental strain of the extremely complex construct she held in place with the Sentinel. The power she projected now, flowing and overlapping Alan’s, helped create a funnel that was giving shape to a controlled explosion. Kara, Kira, and Rogue were forcing the energy of the sun to go out through the funnel and away from the inhabited worlds. Rather than allowing the sun to naturally nova, they were beating it to the punch.
They had had to alter their original plans a bit. While Captain Marvel and the others continued to feed material into the sun, the three Kryptonians were spinning it…. accelerating its rotation, causing it to throw out planet sized chunks of itself.
Had this been a system with no planets already in existence, Kara, Kira and Rogue would have been helping the planet to give birth to a new solar system. Now, however, the huge chunks would only threaten the existing system.
That is what Alan and Jade were trying to avoid. By using their combined power to deflect everything that shot out up and over the system’s ecliptic plane, they were basically tossing the star stuff together, forming a second, smaller star. They were turning the Vega system into a Binary system!
It would save planets from immediate destruction, but not save them entirely. Eventually, the new binary system would cause changes in system gravity; causing major shifts in the orbits of every planet. That would drastically change the weather patterns for all the planets. Some few, those closest to the suns, would very quickly become uninhabitable. The team would next have to quickly readjust the orbits of all of the doomed inner worlds. They would not have much longer to readjust the orbits of the outer worlds.
Now even this plan had become impossible to execute. The team had no way to tell just how much star stuff was being passed from the other universe. They would have to find a way to force the extra star stuff away from Vega.
Alan and Jade redoubled their efforts. The concentration, the joint focus of their wills, showed in the strain in the faces.
“KARA!” Rogue yelled out, forgetting that her words were being carried to her team mate via the ring she wore. She remembered, however, before continuing. “There’s something wrong here.”
Kara, intent on her course, couldn’t risk pausing to look.
“What is it?” She demanded.
“I know this is going to sound ridiculous, but it’s the only way I can explain it.” Rogue’s voice came back. “There’s a hot spot deeper in. And I am not talking about the sun itself. This is something else. Something far hotter. Kara, Whatever it is, I don’t think even we could stand up to it.”
Kira, listening in, used her telescopic and x-ray vision together to look deeper into the star.
“I see it.” She called out. “Its like a white spot in a sea of yellow!” She paused and then decided. “I’ll check it out!”
“NO! Kira!” Kara’s shouted command came too late as the young Alterverse Kryptonian veered inward.
“Kara?” Alan’s voice, showing the strain, came over the comm. Unit. “What’s going on in there?”
Kara explained as quickly as she could while scanning with telescopic and x-ray vision to locate the errant youngster.
“You have got to get her out of there.” Alanna’s voice cut in. “Rogue was right. You Krypts might be able to handle it for a few moments at most before it toasts you!”
“Incoming!” Mary’s voice called out at the same moment. “Alan you are not going to believe this!”
“Hi there! Mind if we join this party?” The familiar male voice caused Kara to smile with relief. A relief that she did not have the leisure to relish.
“Lar Gand, Get your ass in here!” She ordered. “Where’s Jenny?”
“I’m here!” The one time She-Hulk answered. “We brought help.”
“Good, we’re going to need it. Jenny, you get with Alan and Jade, I think you’ll know who they are, and co-ordinate with them. Lar, I need you in here with us, now.”
“And here I am.’ Lar, dressed in his traditional Daxam uniform, fell in to formation beside Kara who quickly explained the situation.
“You’re going to have to keep up my part.” She finished. “You and Rogue should be able to keep it stable until I get back.”
“And where the hell are you going?” Rogue asked, the suspicious tone of her voice saying she already knew the answer.
“I’m going after Kira. No arguments, we haven’t got time. Just do what you have to do and let me worry about Kira and myself.”
“Kara, I overheard you.” Alanna’s voice cut in. “You haven’t got much time. If you are going to do anything, you better do it quick. I think Dad is just about ready to pull you out of there.”
“When Alan gives the word, Rogue and Lar will come out, I’ll come out when I have Kira.”
And with that, Kara swerved upward and then down, diving deeper and deeper into the star’s massive nuclear furnace.
“Damn hard-headed bi…” Rogue grumbled. Lar smiled grimly, knowing that Rogue’s harshness was just her way of hiding her worry and fear.
“Introductions can wait until later.” Jenny called out as she neared Alan Scott. “I’m a friend of Kara’s and I brought some of our universe’s Green Lantern’s to help. They’re conferring with yours at the moment. Now what can I do?”
Alan answered without hesitation.
“You can add your will force and powers to ours! Help us to contain this thing!” Kara had told him about Jennifer Walters. Her power, although originally sourced from Oan power, did not suffer the yellow weakness. The three most powerful Green Lanterns of three universes would make their stand, together.
“You got it!” was the instant reply.
Jennifer Walters studied what this Alan and the green girl were doing and took a deep breath. She had never, in her short career as a Green Lantern, tried anything this complex. Once she thought she had it figured out, she slowly extended her energy, snaking it outward to come up behind the cone constructed by Jade and Alan and slowly merge with it.
That was the intent, at least. There was no way any of them could have foreseen the results as Jenny’s energies made contact with and then flowed into and around Alan and Jade’s.
Deep with in the star, Lar flew back from what he saw. Despite the apparent impossibilities, a steady green energy shined so brilliantly it outshone the comparatively dim star shine.
“DAD!” Alanna’s voice rung out, full of concern, followed by the confused babble of multitudes of Green Lantern’s.
“Jenny!” Lar called out. “What’s going on out there? Jenny?”
Even if Jenny could have heard Lar’s concerned voice, she could not have responded.
The instant her energy touched the energy projected by Alan and Jade, she and they had frozen, energy pouring forth in wave after wave.
“Okay kid, where in Rao’s name are you?” Kara muttered as she dove still deeper into the heart of the star. Just ahead she could see the ‘white spot’ Rogue had mentioned but, as yet, had seen no sign of…wait!
Kara clinched her teeth and willed herself to an even faster speed, quickly catching up to the Alterverse Supergirl.
“Kira, we have to get out of here.” She commanded as she drew abreast of the youngster. “Alanna says we can’t survive whatever that is.”
“But if we can find a way to stop it…” Kira continued on, determined.
“We can’t.” Kara told her, easily keeping up. “Kira, one thing that is equally as important as doing what we can, is knowing what we can’t.”
“But all those people…those planets…”
“All have a hell of a lot better chance of living because of what we have already done.” Kara told her. “They…uggghhh!”
The white plasmatic pulse flashed outward from the ‘white spot’ just barely touching Kara. That touch was enough. Kara floundered, tumbling out of control, deeper and deeper towards what Alanna had called a gateway into a hellish dimension.
“Kara!” Kira was stunned. “Rogue! Alan! Kara’s hurt!” There was no reply. Realizing that she was on her own, she gritting her teeth and sped off after the tumbling Kara. Catching up to the older Kryptonian, she wrapped her arms around her mid-drift and kept going. Another bolt of plasma sizzled by her, and another, yet still she persisted, knowing that, if a simple graze could render Kara unconscious, then a full hit would mean instant, painless death.
She curved every so slightly, only then aware that the gravity pull from that white spot was already far more than this star, on its own, could every hope to generate. She shuddered as the implications of that hit her.
Soon she was straining with every ounce of her being, as if by sheer force of will she could break the gravitational hold the white spot had so subtly placed upon her.
And then she was free, shooting up and out, moving past the corona and into clear space with Kara before slowing.
“Alan! Rogue!” She called, frantic. “Kara’s hurt!”
“Actually, I’m just a little stunned.” Kara’s voice cut in immediately. “What is the status?”
“Kara, Lar and I are coming out! Something screw is happening with Jenny, Jade, and Alan.” Rogue’s voice came back.
“Alan?” Kara called tentatively. “Alanna, what’s going on?” She then demanded when she got no response.
“I don’t know!” Kara would not have called Alanna’s voice panicky, but it was coming close. “All three of them are just…. floating there. Wait…OH MY GOD!”
Kara grabbed Kira’s arm and pulled, racing for the spot she had last seen Alan. When she got there, she paused. She floated between Kira and Alanna, watching the impossible.
Jade, Jenny, and Alan were drawing closer, and their very bodies began to merge together.
“JENNY!”
“Lar, No!” Kara all but tackled the red and blue clad Daxamite as he strove to reach the merging trio. “We don’t know what’s going on. We could hurt one or all of them if we interfere!”
Soon, all the watchers could see was a bright green oval where Alan, Jenny and Jade had been.
The watched in astonishment as three pillars of energy shot forth, two towards the star and one towards the newly forming star.
Using x-ray vision, Kara saw one of the two beams slice the star open exposing the white spot Kira had tried to reach, The second beam struck the spot and poured massive amounts of energy into it. The third column of energy seemed to grasp the second star and pull it inward, as if it were going to put it back where it came from.
That, Kara realized instantly, was exactly what was going to happen.
“Everyone, cover your eyes! Look away from the star! Green Lanterns, do what you can to put a dark shield between the star and the inner most inhabited planets! Team Krypton, We’ve got to help block the radiation! Super speed flight patterns between the Sun and its planets, now!” Kara then shielded her own eyes. She, Rogue, Lar, Kira, and Mary began their high speed flights around the star. They could feel the radiation bouncing off their bodies.
Not even the Kryptonians could look into the brilliance. An impossible green energy hauled the smaller new star back towards it parent. Then, with a final fling, the green tendril hurled it straight into the path of the beam striking the white spot. The smaller star flashed inward, its outer edges skimming the peeled back edges of the larger, parent star as it crashed towards the white spot.
“I wish I knew what the hell was happening!” Rogue grouched, resisting the temptation to slow down, turn, and watch.
“They’re going to try to blow the breach closed with the smaller star.” Alanna answered the question. She had averted her eyes as well, but not before she felt she understood what was going to happen. “If it works, then we’ll have stopped the rift and saved this system!”
Space around them glared brighter, almost white and then dimmed.
Kara turned as she flew, careful not to slow down. Her eyes widened at the sight before them. The star burned brightly. It looked every bit as normal as it had before the rift, burning steadily and even more brightly than before. Its surface bubbled with no more than its usual activity. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned nearby space. There was no sign of the Green ovoid, but where it had been, three figures now floated unceremoniously in space. Kara knew that Jenny’s Parallax energy would provide her life support. She was gratified to see Alan safe within Jade’s extended shields.
Kara realized how lucky Alan had been. Jade’s last conscious thought had been to protect him. The entity that dwelled within her carried out her wish: even now. Otherwise, Alan Scott would have died instantly when the ovoid ended – his shields lost with his consciousness.
“Kira, Rogue, on me!” She commanded, flashing towards the figures. “Captain Marvel, I’m leaving you in charge of this mess here! Help the Green Lantern’s mop up, we’re taking these three straight back to Earth! Lar, you stick with Captain Marvel. Don’t worry, we’ll take care of all three of them.”
They answered quickly. Despite their misgivings, they were professionals. They would do what needed to be done. That left Kara with just one chore.
“But I can’t….” Kira started to say, only to be cut off by Kara.
“You can’t what?” She closed in on Jenny’s inert form just as Rogue scooped up Jade, leaving Kira to tentatively take hold of Alan’s limp body. “Don’t be shy gir!” Kara scolded. “Grab him and stay close to Rogue. This is going to be a team effort You are going to have to stick near Rogue to make sure Alan stays in Jade’s protective shields. If you don’t, he’ll die!”
“But…”
“If I hear one more ‘but’….” Kara trailed off and then started up again. “Kira, you can do it. You’ve done things even I haven’t attempted. Yet you are scared to death you are not good enough, or that you are going to fail. Where in Rao’s name did you loose all your self confidence? You’re a Kryptonian! Act like it!”
“B….He’s the Sentinel!” Kira blurted. “If he dies….”
“He won’t.” Rogue cut in. “Girl, you are not going to let him die. We know what you people think of him here, but frankly, to me, you have already saved something more precious to Jenny, Lar, and me than Alan Scott!”
“I didn’t…”
“What in Rao’s name do you think you did back there at the star!” Kara snickered.
“But I didn’t…”
“Listen Kira, you have these mixed up ideas of what you can and can’t do. Rather than believe what you tell yourself, why not believe in what you have done. You got us out of that deadly white spot. And you did it by reflex, by calculating the only safe path out of there. Then you executed your plan with out thinking about it….just like any super powered Kryptonian. If you hadn’t, we would have been toast.”
“But how…” Kira pulled up short, realization striking her. “You weren’t unconscious at all!” She accused. “You could have gotten us out any time you wanted!” She then hurried to make sure she kept close to Rogue.
“Maybe.” Kara conceded. “But you are the one that did it, not me. You needed to learn that you could do it and you did. You did exactly as I would have done.”
Rogue, listening to the exchange, could only smile as she realized that Kara was getting in practice for the years ahead as, together, they would train the twins.
“Perhaps, Kira, you’ve been around the Daxamites and Terrans too long. You’ve forgotten what it is to be a Kryptonian. I think you need to remember that!”
Alanna overheard the entire conversation. She smiled as the three Kryptonians flashed into hyperspace. Kara, you’re a bit of a con artist. You know as well as I do that Kira couldn’t pull Dad out of Jade’s shields if she tried. But I’ll never tell.
“There’s not a thing wrong with any of them!” Dr. Jenna announced. Then he cast a critical eye towards Jennifer Walters. “Though the amount of Gamma Radiation in that one threw me for a loop. Wasn’t expecting that!”
They, Alan, Kara, Rogue, Elise, a man who had been introduced to Alan as Lord Ian Patrick of Otherverse, and the others were gathered in the conference room as Dr. Jenna gave his report.
“Other than a mutual case of memory loss, all three are completely healthy!” He concluded.
“You still can’t remember a thing?” Elise asked, casting a worried glance at Alan.
“Nothing.” He shook his head. “I remember Jennifer arriving and starting to add her will and power to ours. The next thing I recall is waking up here in the infirmary.” Both Jade and Jenny echoed him.
“What do you think happened?” Alanna asked.
“I have studied Jennifer Walters.” Ian spoke for the first time, “I believe that it was not a case of power levels. I believe all three of you tap into primal forces of some type…but your control of those forces is limited by your humanity! You are limited in what you can conceive, and by that, how much power you can manipulate. As a merged being, your control increased exponentially. You were able to overcome your human limitations. You controlled and focused magnitudes greater power than any one or two of you could even conceive of handling alone.”
Alan exchanged a glance with the Amberite. They both looked over to Jade. She scowled. Then she nodded.
They had their answer. The entity inside her had never lost consciousness. It merely confirmed what it observed.
“But perhaps it is best that we have those self imposed limitations.” Alan said after a moment. “What’s that old saying? Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely? I think the temptation would be far too great to fix things to our own liking if we had that much power.” He exchanged a glance with Jenny. She nodded.
“Alan’s right.” She conceded. “For a short time, I held that much power and the temptation was there. Frankly, I would rather go back to being plain ol’ beautiful big mean and green than to have to face that kind of temptation again!”
Alan turned to Kara.
“I take it you are about ready to head home?”
“Just about.” Kara nodded. “Ian has already taken the GL’s back to the Multiverse Earth 1. We’ll leave here, stop off in Otherverse to save Zal El from my daughters and then we’ll be going home.”
It had been something to see the Multiverse Earth 1 Green Lanterns escorted back to Earth by their Alterverse counterparts, with Captain Marvel, Alanna, and Lar leading the way.
The Vega system had been saved, but it had cost. Most of the outer planets had escaped major damage, but the innermost had been hit hard. Kara had shuddered, thinking of what would have happened had not the Green Lantern’s been there.
The star itself was changed. Heavier than it had been before, its gravitational pull stronger. The Green Lanterns had proved their worth – they had realigned all of the worlds into new orbits. They repaired the inner worlds as best they could – all still sustained sentient life. The star still burned and it still poured forth its life giving energy upon the inhabited worlds.
“You could stay!” Kira surprised everyone by blurting. Kara looked at her, smiling softly.
“I don’t think that would be wise.” She told the younger Kryptonian. “Alan and Elise have their way of doing things and I have mine. One thing this universe cannot afford right now is more conflict amongst its leaders. Besides, if I were to leave Multiverse Earth 1, it would be to return to Otherverse. I am where I am needed most, just as you are where you are needed.” She winked. “Besides, I think all these crazy green energy people need at least one sane Kryptonian around to keep them in line.”
“Uh, Ma’am.” A tech poked his head into the conference room and singled out Elise.
“What is it?” She demanded, half rising from her chair.
“We’re not quite sure.” The tech looked a bit confused. “The computers are….well…they’re acting a bit funny.”
“What do you mean by funny?”
“Uh well…we just kept getting reports of intrusions into the main data core…by no one.”
“Excuse me?”
“The computers kept reporting that no one was trying to access the main data core.”
“Let me get this straight.” Elise stood, frowning. “The computer is reporting a non-specific intrusion?” She stopped and shook her head.
“Ma’am, the computers are programmed to spontaneously report if any sign of intrusion is detected. They are not programmed to spontaneously report that everything is in order.”
Kara, listening in, shot a glance at Ian just in time to see him give his left wrist a sharp shake. His poet shirt slid down to reveal the techno-bracer he always wore. She smiled, understanding completely. Celia was playing around in the Lair’s Computer systems, gathering all the data she could. Though she was good at what she did, the technology was somewhat alien and she was bound to trip an alert. When she did, she simply told the computer it had seen no one. So the computer dutifully reported that No One was in the system. Cute. Elise, somewhat psychic, frowned and glanced at Ian then looked back at the tech.
“Keep an eye on it.” She told him. “I don’t think you will have any further reports like that one.”
Of course not. Kara had to smile. Celia never let the same trap catch her twice. By now she had free reign and the Lair’s Computer would never even know it. Kara doubted very much that Ian’s rebuke would stop his sentient computer companion from nosing around. She just wouldn’t tell him what she discovered. Not right away, at least. Besides, Celia had discovered something far more interesting – the combined data banks of the Guardians, available through any Green Lantern’s ring.
Ian whispered something to Jenny and she nodded, moving closer to Kara.
“Ian is going to take us back first.” She told her. “One of these days, you are going to have to tell me how you knew about the Guardians and how you knew they would come when you called.”
“I just remembered the Guardians of my home universe.” Kara told her. “So I knew these Guardians could not be much different. But they do tend to bluff a little better.” She smiled. “I take it you and they have come to an understanding?”
“Yeah.” Jenny nodded and then took a deep breath. “Kara, Lar and I are going to be staying on Oa for a while. I am going to train with them, even though I won’t be a regular Lantern, I will at least learn everything I can about using this power. I need to learn how to use it effectively, instead of just going by the seat of my pants all the time.”
“Actually, I think that is a good idea.” Kara surprised her. “We’ll miss you, but when you come back, you’ll be the best damned Green Lantern there is.” She grinned menacingly.
She glanced over to where Jade sat on the shoulders of a huge Green Lantern. It seemed pleased to have her there. Kara searched her memory for a name - Kilowog. It began to speak to Jenny. Kara was surprised at the kindness in its voice.
“Miss, I done trained thousands o’ Green Lanterns. When ya do that, ya learn a few things. First thing ya learn is that Green Lanterns come in all kinds o’ shapes and sizes. Second t’ing ya learn is that when someone carries da power, it’s ‘cause someone thought they wuz worthy to carry it.” He touched Jade’s hand. “And it ain’t always the Guardians. Da Sentinel – he’s a Green Lantern and he always will be. My liddle rugrat up here, she always will be. And as long as you understand whot it means to be a Green Lantern, you will be, too.”
“I think what my long winded friend is trying to say,” Hal
Jenny found herself in the middle of a sea of green.
Minutes later, just before Ian escorted them home, Jenny and Lar approached Alan. Jenny held out an empty. A brief flash and a green ring materialized in her palm.
“This is a copy of the ring that was given me.” She told him. “It holds all the information on the Hal Jordon that became Parallax. I thought you might want it.” She moved aside as Lar held up a small vial.
“Your Dr. Jenna can be quite a persuasive person.” He said. “We don’t know if it will do any good, but here is a sample of my blood. In it you will find traces of the permanent lead antidote that Reed Richards developed for me. Maybe you can use it to help the Daxamites of this Probability.” He shook his head. “It’s strange to finally feel what Kal must have felt, as a survivor of a planet that no longer exists. In the Multiverse Probabilities, at least the ones we are aware of, the Daxamites finally succeeded in killing themselves off. It comforts me to know your Daxam survives. When it comes time to free it, let me know how I can help.”
“I will.” Alan took the ring and the vial. “Thank you, both.”
Ian waited for his last passengers – Kara and Rogue.
“We’re going to miss you, Kara.” Kira had walked out with them, along with Elise, Babs, and Alan.
Kara stopped and turned, regarding the young Kryptonian. Young, in years perhaps, but they shared the same genetic patterns. Over twice her age, Kara hardly looked more than five to ten years older.
“Kira Jor-El, it was a pleasure.” She smiled. “I don’t know if Alan told you, but Jor El was my uncle. That makes you my cousin, in whatever probability you’re in.” She hugged the young Supergirl and stepped back. “You take care, and remember, you’re a Kryptonian and a member of the House of El.” She winked. “We don’t live up to legends, we make them.” She then turned towards everyone else.
“If you don’t mind,” Kara told everyone, “I’d like to take a little time to talk with Babs before Ian gets back.”
As Kara and Barbara left the room, Rogue was aware of Alan watching her.
“I’m glad they found each other. I know that they were just very close friends.” Alan remarked.
“I have all of Kara’s memories of Barbara. They were very close…the best of friends.” Rogue smiled and tapped her temple with a finger. “But what they shared is not the same as what is between Kara and me. I’m not worried.”
“Babs, come with us!” Kara pleaded. “Damn it, you are the only person, the only one, of my reality that even remembers that I ever existed.”
“Kara, the same is true for me.” Barbara Gordon answered. “I was replaced as well. We all were, in some way or another. But I can’t. Not yet anyway. These are good people and I owe them something. I’m still needed here.” She smiled proudly. “Wasn’t that what you just told Kira? That we are where we are supposed to be?”
“No fair, using my own argument against me!” Kara protested, smiling sadly.
“Hey, At least I know you’re alive.” Babs laughed. “And you know that I’m going to be here.”
“I guess that will have to be good enough.” Kara hugged her friend closely.
“Enough or you’re going to get Rogue jealous. That I don’t want to see!” Babs joked, wiping tears from her cheek.
“Are we ready to depart?” Ian asked. Rogue stood beside him.
“RAO!” Kara whirled. She had to restrain her self from lashing out. Rogue hugged Barbara and then stepped up beside Kara. Both women were surprised, however, when Ian stepped away from them and up to Barbara.
“I can’t pretend to know you.” He told her softly. “But I know Kara. For reasons of my own, I want to see her happy.” He reached into his jacket and retrieved duplicate of the card Kara kept in her jacket. “Take this. You know how it works. If ever you wish to go to Kara, just contact me. I will take you to her.”
Barbara nodded wordlessly, holding the trump as Ian stepped back and took Kara’s hand, indicating that she, in turn should take Rogue’s. Then with a final nod to Barbara Gordon, they were gone. They seemingly stepping forward into…nothingness.
Kira flew towards the moon. Once there, she looked back to the small world that had become her home. She considered the lessons of the day.
The unseen observer watched. You will never show the promise of your people! You could not begin to comprehend my power. You will never know what I have done to you. I have won! At last!
Kara looked at the face of the body in the casket, tears streaming down her cheeks. Without thinking, she reached out and pulled Karen close. Through tear filled eyes, she glared across the casket at Ian.
"You knew, you bastard! You knew and you didn't tell me!"
Rogue slumped nearby. Her head rested on the casket, crying. Sherri Pennison's arm lay over her shoulder.
Be sure to read the following upcoming stories:
Jake H’s Otherverse story:
Chapter 3: To All Things: An End