(Note: This story is a continuation of The Inheritors #23: To Restore a World: Part 1)
An emerald flash disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Faith noted her location with satisfaction and waved back to her companions before vanishing once more.
Kara held Scooter’s hand and smiled at the two Green Lanterns: Katma Tui and Kara’s son, Karik Gand.
Activating communications they hoped would work in the Multiverse, they flew towards Earth, until…
“Approaching Green Lanterns…You are requested to halt your approach and remain in position pending identification!”
The request came, not through their comms, but through the rings both Karik and Katma Tui wore, causing both to jerk to a halt in surprise.
“Damn.” Kara Gand swore softly. “I should have remembered.” When the others looked to her she explained. “When I was last here, I discovered that the United Sol System, as they call it since Venus and Mars were settled by refugees from Graxos and Tamaran, are basically in a state of war.”
“With each other?” Karik asked, looking around.
“No.” Kara shook her head. “They’ve been at war with the Khunds for almost eighteen years now, though it has only recently heated back up.”
“Then they are right to be cautious about unknowns approaching one of their worlds.” Katma nodded in approval.
“Yeah, well, your rings are broadcasting your identities…so, what are we going to do when they check up and discover their Katma is busy elsewhere…and there is no Karik Gand on the Green Lantern Rolls?”
Her question was answered almost immediately.
“Green Lanterns…you are identified as Katma Tui and Karik Gand of the Inheritors Universe.”
“The Inheritors universe?” Karik looked to his mother.
“That’s how they identify us…long story.”
“You are cleared to approach the JLS Satellite where you will be met. Please respond.”
“We acknowledge.” Katma answered instantly. “Be advised that we are accompanied by Kara Gand and her daughter, Scooter.” She paused and looked towards Kara before continuing. “We request that Kara Zor-El be contacted on a matter of utmost importance. A matter concerning not only her, but Kandor as well.”
There was a pause and then…
“Request noted, Green Lantern. We shall try to locate Superwoman and relay.”
“Thank you.” Katma turned to Kara. “Superwoman?”
“Well, she’s hardly a girl anymore.” Kara smiled. “But watch out…she’s just like me…or perhaps I’m just like her….” She waggled her eyebrows so that Katma, her long time friend, could not mistake her meaning.
“You are truly an evil person, Kara Gand.” Katma sighed, shaking her head. “Truly evil.”
“Welcome to the Multiverse.” The woman, identifying herself as Ms. Marvel, led them away from the air lock towards the lounge area. Either Katma or Karik could easily have phased them through the hull, but Kara had nixed that at once.
“When you are a guest, you go through the front door.”
“We were able to locate Superwoman and Andromeda.” Marvel was saying. “Unfortunately, they were a bit tied up so they sent their daughters and Arisia to meet you. They’re waiting in the lounge.”
The final set of doors slid open and Marvel ushered them in. She did not follow, allowing the door to close between them and her.
“Arisia!” Katma smiled as she stepped forward to clasp the hand of the Multiverse Sentinel. She had met the woman during her week stay in their universe and had seen her briefly during the preparations for what many believed to have been the first in a long string of battles to come in the Continuum War. “It is good to see you again. If some what disconcerting, considering Karik and I saw you just a few hours ago on our Oa.”
“You’ll get used to it.” Arisia laughed and Katma was pleased to see that the haunted look of the woman she had met was now gone, replaced by…acceptance, if not contentment.
“And I remember you.” Arisia bent down to look at the little girl that clung to Kara’s left hand. “Do you know me?”
“’Risia.” The girl replied, smiling shyly. “Different clothes.”
“She’s been around our Arisia, so seeing you dressed like that might be a bit confusing.” Kara smiled and motioned to Karik “You remember my son…” She began and stopped, one eyebrow rising.
The young Green Lantern stood transfixed, staring at the two figures coming up behind Arisia.
Arisia noted the look and turned, her smile widening.
“Of course you’ve met Carrie and Karen.” She said to Kara.
“Hi.” Karen stepped forward with a smile, reaching out to shake Kara’s hand. “Good to see you again.”
“And you.” Kara agreed. “And please don’t take this wrong, but I we really need to talk to your mother.”
“She’s kinda busy.” Carrie shrugged. “Public relations.”
“Hmmm?” Kara looked to Arisia.
“It seems there is a growing movement on Earth. Called Earth First.” Arisia explained. “They blame all the bad things that have happened to Earth on the presence of aliens and mutants.”
“That last one is what gets Rogue’s goat.” Carrie shook her head. “Though I guess it’s understandable.” She smiled. “So President Luthor convinced Kara and Rogue that doing some positive public relations events would be a good idea.”
“Luthor?”
“Lex Luthor is one of the good guys here, Katma.” Arisia explained.
“Oh.”
“So anyway, Mom and Rogue are involved.” Karen finished up. “We were helping out when your call was relayed and since they couldn’t get away at once, they sent us up instead.”
“We had already done our part anyway.” Carrie smirked. “Our job was to wow the young men and boys and inspire the girls.”
Kara Gand took in the skimpy outfits the girls wore and then glanced back towards her son.
“Yes, I gather you would do well at the wowing part.” She drawled. “Karik, dear, please wipe your chin…drooling is sooo unbecoming.”
Karik blushed a deep red and Arisia noted that, while Karen appeared appropriately amused, Carrie was just as red.
“Why not?” She thought to herself. “She’s almost eighteen and he appears to be in his early twenties.”
Karik was spared further embarrassment when the doors to the lounge slid open to reveal two new arrivals: Kara Zor-El and Rogue!
“Mommy?” Scooter’s confused question echoed Karik’s bewilderment. Though his mother had told him about this other Kara, there was nothing she could do to truly prepare either of them for their first sight of a woman that appeared, on the surface at least, to be an exact duplicate of their mother!
Only this one was dressed in a color scheme that, in their universe, was reserved for Superman and now, Superboy.
And she wore the big red S! The traditional symbol of the House of El!
It was only then that Karik realized that the twins also wore the emblems. Even the green-eyed woman with this other Kara wore a smaller version of the emblem!
“Scooter.” Kara bend down and scooped up her daughter. “Karik, Katma, I’d like you to meet Kara Zor-El. Superwoman.”
“Kara Gand.” Kara Zor-El smiled, looking to the little girl, then to Karik and then to Katma. “It is good to meet you all.” She looked back at Kara Gand. Taking the other’s hand in her own. “And it is good to see you recovered fully.”
The last time they had seen each other had been after their adventure in the MHR universe. Kara Gand had, along with herself and Rogue, been severely injured during the last battle. Kira Jor-El, the Supergirl from Alterverse, and the young Kara Zor-El from the Realm had been injured as well, but not nearly as badly the two elder Karas and Rogue.
“You look good, too.” Kara Gand noted. She released Kara’s hand and turned to Rogue, taking her hand in both of hers. “And you too…” She gave a quirky smile, her eyes gleaming mischievously. “We thought we had lost you…and believe me, I understand how She would have felt at that…I can see what she sees in you.”
Rogue blushed but nodded, noting as she did, that Karik was rolling his eyes.
“So what brings you to our neck of the woods?” Kara Zor-El asked, ushering everyone to a set of tables. “No problems, I hope.”
“We have our share.” Kara confided. “But I think we can deal with them.” She reached into a fold in her cloak and withdrew a small cube that drew instant gasps of recognition from her audience.
“That is a Kryptonian Data Cube.” Kara Zor-El observed. “A rather primitive one, since we stopped using them millennia before Krypton exploded.
“As did ours.” Kara Gand agreed. “Yet the Kryptonians of our universe began storing information on this cube when it was recent technology…and continued to store it here even after cube technology was otherwise obsolete. Fortunately, our computer people, both on Krypton and Daxam, made sure our tech was always backwards compatible.”
“Interesting.” Rogue had seated herself close to Kara Zor-El on her right, with Arisia taking a seat to Kara Z’s left. The twins braced them, Carrie being sure to make sure she was seated as close as possible to Karik while Karen seemed to be entranced by Scooter. “And I take it the information on that cube is the reason you wanted to see us. Obviously reading the data is not the problem.”
“Actually, what I want is to talk to your father.” Kara Gand looked at Kara Zor-El. “This is something I think your Kandorian Science Council should be made aware of. No, retrieving the data is not a problem. It’s what to do with that data once it has been retrieved.”
“You’ll want to talk to my mother.” Kara Zor-El mused. “Allura is the Chairman of the council, not Zor. But I am afraid you may have come to the wrong place.”
“Oh?” Kara tensed. The last thing she had expected was to be stonewalled by her Multiverse doppelganger.
“Kandor is no longer here.” Kara Zor-El explained, spreading her hands. “While we were off in MHR,” She gestured towards Arisia, “And while they were attempting to pull those worlds in to Multiverse, our Starheart pulled a fast one.”
“It enlarged Kandor.” Arisia took up the explanation, her voice uncharacteristically soft. “The Starheart cleansed Daxam and enlarged Kandor there!”
“What?” Kara Gand was halfway out of her seat, Katma’s hand on her arm, calming her.
“Daxam in this universe was a dead world, Kara.” Arisia explained. “By all indications, they killed themselves off in a series of wars centuries ago.”
“The planet was a radioactive wasteland.” Kara Zor-El nodded. “Yet the Starheart cleansed it completely, transported Kandor there, and enlarged it!”
Kara Gand settled back in her seat, both she and Karik digesting that bit of information, both aware that what had happened here, in Multiverse, could easily have happened in the their own. They were all too aware that the survival of Daxam had often swayed on a very thin edge. It seemed that, in other realities, more often than not, the Daxamites had failed the test…falling, in many cases, into total extinction.
And just as often, they had learned that timing was everything. If the Daxamites killed themselves off before settling Krypton, it changed the entire outcome of many realities. Many of which, even now, wilted under the darkness against which no hero rose to fight.
Kara shook herself out of those thoughts and tried to bring her mind back on track just in time to realize she had missed something Kara Zor-El had said.
“I’m sorry.” She took a breath. “Hearing that Daxam was a dead world was a bit…disconcerting.” She paused. “Wait a minute…how could they have killed themselves off centuries ago? This reality had a Lar Gand!”
“Time Dilation.” Arisia explained. “Lar Gand, though biologically young, was chronologically centuries old before he reached Krypton, where he was warned off by Jor-El. Jor furnished him with star charts, and aided in a quick refit of his ships engines. Not enough to allow the swift travel from Krypton to Earth that Kal enjoyed, but enough to allow him to reach earth in about 16 earth years after leaving Krypton.”
“That’s why he had a stasis unit on his ship!” Karen noted, surprising Kara Gand. “Like our uncle Lar’s Daxam, the Daxam of this Probability had begun recovering from the latest war that had blasted them back to the Stone Age, thus they had not yet rediscovered many of the scientific advancements they had had in the past.”
Kara Gand bit her lip, refusing to get emotional, though once again the longing for her own Lar…her husband and the father of her children threatened to bubble up. She found strength in the stone face of her son and quickly changed the subject.
She turned back to Kara Zor-El
“What was that you were saying about Kandor and problems?”
Kara Zor-El gave her an understanding smile and answered the question.
“Their gene-pool.” She said. “With the numerous deaths when we crossed over from Otherverse, the population of Kandor may have fallen below a viable level.”
“How many are there left?” Katma spoke up.
“Less than twenty thousand.” Rogue answered. “And many are beyond child bearing years. The real young were the hardest hit during the transfer. Right now Allura and Zor are trying to convince the science council that they might not have a choice but to resort to cloning to assure survival. I am afraid they have not had much success. The notion of cloning is…abhorrent…to them.”
“And how do you feel about it?” Katma asked, casting a sidelong glance at her Kara.
Kara Zor-El shrugged.
“I was pretty young when Krypton exploded and, say whatever you like, life in
“Wait a minute!” Kara Gand held up a hand, her face showing her astonishment. “You remember Krypton? You were there when it exploded?”
“Of course.” Kara answered in a matter of fact tone. “I was probably about Scooters age…maybe a bit younger, I’m not quite sure. I only have fragments of memories. Like visiting Uncle Jor and Aunt Lara. Bouncing baby Kal on my lap. Playing with a little white puppy….”
“We thought you were born afterwards. In
“Hardly.” Kara Zor-El laughed. “If that had been the case, I would have been even younger when I was sent to Earth.”
“But…Superman was older than you!” Karen insisted…and
then the light dawned. “Oh...” She looked at Carrie. “Time dilation again. Time slowed down for the people
of
“Right.” Kara Zor-El nodded.
“And that would explain why Zor and Allura appear to be only a few years older than Superman was at the time!” Carrie finished.
“How can you tell?” Every one turned to look at Katma. “Seriously…look at them!” Katma was talking to Arisia now. “Look at your Kara! How old would you say she is?”
Arisia studied Kara Zor-El and then shrugged. “If put on the spot I would have to say no older than her early thirties.”
“Try closer to sixty, in Terran years.” Kara Zor-El laughed. “Good point Katma. Yes, our Kryptonians do have longer life spans than Terrans and retain a youthful appearance during the majority of that life.”
“How?” Katma pounced on it.
“Not a fountain of youth, I promise you.” Kara smiled. “Just advanced medical technology. Long ago, our medical research scientists induced a minor alteration of the Kryptonian DNA. A regeneration factor that speeded healing, resisted sickness, and cleansed the system.”
“That last alone would go a long way in extending the life span.” Carrie nodded, her face serious. Karik looked at her, then at her ‘sister’, and the back to Kara Zor-El.
“She’s just showing off.” Kara laughed. “Whatever you do, don’t get them started on multi-dimensional physics. They’ll talk your ear off.”
“Hmmmph.” Karen snorted, but she was smiling. “That regen factor. That is our super-regen?”
“Right.” Kara Zor-El nodded. “Along with everything else, it was boosted tremendously under the yellow sun. So long as it is powered, there’s really no telling how long we can live and maintain close to our current appearances.”
“Super-Regen.” Rogue grimaced. “Gotta love it. It made me the woman I am today!”
That got a laugh and then Kara Gand stopped.
“Hmmm. I don’t know if your theory works, Kara.” She mused. “In our universe, Daxamites do have somewhat extended life spans, but I don’t recall any similar DNA alteration being done to our people.”
“She has a point.” Arisia pointed out. “Lar is from your reality, and the Daxam he came from was no longer as advanced as your Krypton…yet he has this Super-Regen as well.”
“Great.” Kara Zor-El frowned. “Just blew my theory out of the water.”
More laughter and Kara Gand looked down at the cube in her hands, thoughtful. When she looked back up, there was a gleam in her eyes.
“I think we need to go to Daxam.” She said, holding the cube up. “I think we have something here that might help them!”
“You’re sure they won’t hurt her?”
Kara Gand kept a skeptical eye on the two large animals, one
a white wolf and the other a white panther, as they romped in the living room
of Kara Zor-El’s home in
“They’re fascinated by her.” Karen laughed then paused, a scandalous look on her face. “Pantha! That was not nice!”
“Huh?” Karik looked back and forth between the girl and the cat. “You can talk to it?”
“Her.” Karen corrected. “And yes. I can talk to Pantha the same way Carrie can talk to Fang.”
“And what did she say?” Kara Gand demanded.
“Uh…” Karen sighed. “She said that the little one was safer with her and Fang that she ever would be with some one with only two legs and no teeth. Only she didn’t put it quite that…nicely.”
“No….” Kara stopped and then broke out in laughter. “Touché, Pantha.” She chuckled. The big cat flicked her tail towards Kara Gand and then turned her attention back to the delighted little girl.
“I see the beastly duo are keeping you amused.” Kara Zor-El shook her head as she and Rogue walked in. “We’re ready to take off. We’ve let people know that we’re going to be off planet for a while.” She turned to Katma and Karik. “How about you two? It is certain you are going to be here past twenty-four hours.”
“No problem.” Katma held up a hand in which a personal green lantern appeared. “We brought our batteries with us just in case.” She looked towards Arisia. “And yes, we have already ascertained that our batteries can draw on your Great Battery.”
“Good.” Kara Zor-El nodded. “The two of you and Arisia will have to supply transportation and life support for Kara, the Twins and Scooter when we reach the Daxam system.” She smiled. “And you might have to provide it for Rogue, and myself on the return trip if we stay under that red sun too long.”
“I don’t think that will be a problem.” Katma looked to Arisia and Karik for affirming nods before answering.
“Good. Then let’s get going.”
As everyone filed out of the living room, heading for the
tunnel that would allow them to exit the
“I don’t want to sound like a worry wart but about Karik….” She let it trail off.
“He’ll do fine.” Kara Gand assured her. “He’s still training, but Katma says he has the potential to be one of the best, if not the best, Green Lanterns in our history.”
She followed the others, thus missing Kara Zor-El’s slight frown.
“Greatest Green Lanterns.” The Multiverse Superwoman mused. “That’s what they said about Hal Jordon…before he became Parallax.” She shook her head, for once thankful that there were some things she had not lived to see in her original universe. Pushing that thought away, she followed her counter part. She wondered if she should warn the other Kara about Daxam…and who was there!
“This is your first visit?” Karik asked.
The two girls he was hauling in a green glowing globe nodded.
“Mom…Kara…and Rogue have been here once but….” Karen trailed off.
“They didn’t want you along?” Karik frowned. Just when he was starting to think this other Kara was more like his mother than he could believe possible….
“No. That’s not it.” Carrie cut into his thoughts, shaking her head. “They offered to bring us, even had a space cruiser ready so that we could travel together…” She paused and then continued in a rush. “We decided not to. Frankly, we were scared.”
Karik turned to look back at the girls. It had not
taken him long to learn how to tell them apart. Their clothing, of
course, was the easiest way. Carrie tended to wear colors similar to the
traditional Superman ensemble while Karen combined that with white. In
honor of her world’s Kara Zor-El, she claimed. On her world, though
history was almost identical to Carrie’s, Kara Zor-El had not been
Supergirl. Instead, she had become Powergirl. From her description,
Her Powergirl’s costume had been a combination of white, blue, red, and yellow.
Her Powergirl had worn the stylized S to show that she was, indeed part of the
El family. Karen had been a bit shocked to meet the Powergirl of the
Multiverse Probability 5. A
Aside from the clothes, however, there was little to tell Carrie and Karen apart. Until you looked at the hair. Carrie tended to wear hers shorter than Karen.
“What did you have to be scared of?” Karik finally asked.
“Grandparents.”
Karik turned to see Rogue sliding closer. Though they had entered the influence of the Daxamite Red Sun, neither Rogue nor Kara Zor-El had exhibited any power decrease. The slight green glow that outlined their forms, Arisia had informed him, was simple life support. Kryptonians, and Daxamites, from this Kara’s reality could only survive so long in the vast reaches of space. They didn’t need space suits to protect them from the cold and the absolute vacuum. But they did need to breathe!
“Grandparents?” Karik looked at the one time mutant and then glanced back at the girls.
“We never had any.” Karen explained while Carrie glowered. “Our mothers were clones of Kara so we never had any other relatives.”
“They are afraid that, now that they are enlarged and have a whole new world to worry about, that the El family won’t accept them.” Rogue said, giving the girls a rueful look.
“Because we’re not really Kara’s daughters.” Carrie snapped, instantly biting her lip. She then continued in a less confrontational tone. “We’re daughters of Clones. Clones from other realities, at that. There’s no true relation. We’re as much Zor and Allura’s granddaughters as Zal is their son!”
“It is a different situation.” Rogue shook her head. “Zor and Allura accept that Zal-El is the son of their counterparts in another reality, but he is a grown man. Zor is more than willing to impart what fatherly advice Zal may wish, but he will not force it on him. Zor and Allura will not try to take the place of Zal’s true parents. But they have accepted him as part of the El Family.” She turned and looked directly at Karik. “Just as they have accepted Kira Jor-El of Alterverse, and Lanie of Probability 2, and, even without meeting him, Sam of your universe!”
Karik tried to digest that bit of news and finally decided that he would leave that one to his mother. Instead he turned back to the girls.
“I’m sorry, but it doesn’t make sense.” He said. “Why would they not accept you as Granddaughters if they have accepted your Kara as their daughter?”
“But she is their daughter!” Carrie snorted, as if Karik were being intentionally dim.
“No.” Karik shook his head. “If what I have heard is right, then she isn’t their daughter. The mind and the spirit might be, but that body is…was…the body of a clone…a clone that had a child that is identical to the two of you.”
“Valeria.” Karen mused. “We lost touch with her when the ripple transported us from Otherverse to this Multiverse. When we finally figured out how to get back to Otherverse, we learned that she and her adoptive father, Dr. Doom, had disappeared at the same time.” She shook her head, “But you might have a point about Kara being their daughter.”
“If they can accept her…” Carrie nodded slowly, letting the sentence hang.
MVP-1 #16
“Well, they seem to be getting along.” Katma remarked, looking over at the younger ones. Behind her, another green globe trailed, this one holding Kara Gand and Scooter. Kara Zor-El flew alongside, the ring she wore giving her a faint green outline like Rogue and allowing her to communicate with her Inheritor counterpart.
Arisia, flying beside the Inheritor Green Lantern glanced over at Karik, Rogue, and the girls and smiled.
“Yes. Your Karik did seem a bit taken with them…and I am almost positive that Carrie was equally smitten.” She laughed softly.
“Great.” The Green Lantern muttered. “That’s all I need for a trainee. A love sick puppy.”
“Well, it’s not like they can just pop in to see each other whenever they wish.” Arisia tried to help.
“True.” Katma turned and cast an appraising eye over the Multiverse Sentinel. So much like the Arisia of her own reality…and yet so different. “And what of you, Arisia Fentura? Are you happy here?”
Arisia hesitated.
“I am content.” She answered after a moment. “True, I do miss Lanie and the people of Probability Two, but Lanie is a grown woman now. And I have found something here that I never had there. A place! I belong here, Katma.” She looked over at the red skinned woman. “And I am no longer Arisia Fentura. I am now Arisia Gand.”
Katma almost faltered, her green energy flickering enough to cause Kara Gand to look towards her with concern. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she went back to her conversation with Kara Zor-El.
Katma glanced back and then looked straight ahead.
“You formed a union with this Lar Gand and…Jennifer?” It was hard for her to picture Lar Gand with anyone other than Kara.
“No.” Arisia did not laugh but she did give a slight sad smile. “We have not formed a triad. Though Jennifer had let me know that she is no longer against the notion.” She went on to explain what had happened with Jennifer and Lar’s baby. (Note: See MVP1 #15) “I almost took her up on it…and then began to wonder if it was what she truly wanted or whether she was merely reacting out of gratitude. And I am not sure that Lar is ready for such a complication. I believe he has his hands full with Jenny as it is.”
“What about this Senturia person I’ve heard about?” Katma pressed, wondering, even as she did, why she was pressing so hard. “I heard that you share thoughts or something like that when you and Jennifer merge to form Senturia. If that’s the case, wouldn’t you know her true motives if you merged?”
“It’s not exactly that simple, but basically, you are correct.” Arisia agreed. “I could know, if were to seek the information during the meld. And I think that is what scares me.”
“Scared to discover that you are right?”
“Yes. And just as scared to discover that I am not.” She smiled again, shaking her head. “But we have had no reason to form Senturia since that time. It is not something we do on a mere whim. Forming Senturia is not always…comfortable. And it is extremely draining. We can maintain the form for only a short time…and then must spend double that time recovering.”
“Doesn’t sound too useful.” Katma frowned.
“Oh, it is useful, if the need arises. But only as a last resort…and then only if it is something that Senturia can handle and complete. If there is a problem remaining after we separate, then we would, indeed, be in trouble.”
“So you are scared to learn the offer was only made out of gratitude…and just as scared to learn that it was not.” Katma shook her head. “So how did you wind up a Gand?”
“I was not given a choice.” Arisia did laugh now. “Since that baby is now as much mine as it is Jennifer and Lar’s, they insisted that her parents all be of the Gand family. So while we have not formed a triad, I have been officially adopted into the Gand family. That offer I could and did accept. For they are indeed my family now.”
“And if the situation develops later?” Katma asked.
“We will, as the Terrans say, cross that bridge when we come to it.” She now gave a sly smile. “Besides, I have my own distractions.”
“Whoa-ho!” Katma cackled. “What’s this?”
“I have acquired a…well, in crude Terran vernacular, a boy toy.”
“A boy….” Katma could not finish, her words trailing off in sputters of laughter.
“Yes.” Arisia nodded. “It seems, in all the confusion of transporting the Graxian and Tamaran refugees to the Sol system, we did not notice that the Ring of the Green Lantern Arisia, the Arisia native to this Probability, the Arisia that died at almost the same instant that I was deposited here, sought out and selected a new master. A young Terran named Kyle Raynor. ”
“From Earth?” Katma shook her head. “But Arisia isn’t….wasn’t from that sector.” She paused as something else Arisia had said hit her. “Refugees?”
“That entire sector is a dead sector of space now.” Arisia’s tone was flat, emotionless as she quickly explained the situation to the Green Lantern from the Inheritor’s Universe. The fact that she had to explain reminded the Graxian Sentinel that this Katma was not the one she knew. True, they had met….but a single week was not truly enough time to come to know some one…no matter how similar she might be to the Katma of Probability 2. Or the Katma of this Probability, for that matter. She gave her head a slight shake and forced a smile.
“Iin any case, Kyle Raynor is in training. What we have we both know is neither serious nor permanent. But it is…enjoyable.”
“Training?”
“Training.” Arisia’s smile was big now. “He is training with our Tomar-Re…and Katma Tui.”
“HA!” Katma snorted. “If your Katma is half the bitch I am when it comes to training, it’s a wonder your…boy toy…is up to the task! She will run him near to death.”
“She does.” Arisia nodded. “And rightfully so.” Now she blushed a deeper shade of gold. “But I assure you he is, even so, up…to the task.”
MVP-1 #16
“Are you sure you are up to this?” Kara Zor-El was asking her counterpart.
Kara Gand relaxed in the green globe, holding a sleeping Scooter in her arms and gazed at Kara Zor-El thoughtfully.
“It was not the easiest thing in the world to see your Lar Gand, but I understand that he is not my Lar.” She shook her head. “He may look like my Lar, but there are too many differences. The way he acts, the way he talks. That is not my husband.”
“What about Scooter and Karik?” Kara Z asked. “Will they understand as well?”
“Karik, yes.” Kara G nodded. “But Scooter? I don’t know. She surprises me sometimes when she shows how quick she is…but I just don’t know. Perhaps, if possible, it might be best to limit exposure to him.”
“Probably so.” Kara nodded. “But there may be times when that is not possible. Lar is working closely with my father here lately.” She shrugged. “It’s like he’s become obsessed with helping out the Kandorians.”
“Is it that, or is he looking for a place to retire?” Kara G wondered.
“That might be.” Kara agreed. “Daxam is home after all. And he has been insinuating that he is about ready to hang up his cape.” She sighed. “I just hope he thinks it through carefully.”
“You do not wish him to retire?” Kara G asked.
“It’s not that.” Kara responded. “It’s the where. Jenny’s home is Earth. And the last of the Graxioans of this probability are now colonizing Mars. So the Sol system is Arisia’s home now as well. And both have made it clear that the Sol system is to be their base of operations.”
“A problem indeed.” Kara G nodded.
“And not an easy one to solve.” Kara snorted. “By Rao, if anyone has a right to retire, it is Lar.” She quickly gave Kara G a run down of Lar’s history and waited for the other woman’s reaction.”
“So he has two sets of memories…one of which spans well over a thousand years.” Kara G mused, though her eyes were far away, as if she were not really thinking of the Multiverse Lar.
“What are you thinking?” Kara demanded.
“This Phantom Zone you spoke of.” Kara G admitted. “I do not know why, but as you spoke, I had a vision of my Lar. Trapped in such a place…waiting. Waiting until some one could free him.” She shook her head. “But we have no such Zone in our reality. Not that I am aware of.”
“Don’t be too sure.” Kara scowled. “Tell me. Have you and Lar ever had any dealings with a planet named Baaldur? Or a witch named Glorith?”
“Yes.” Kara G hissed. “Though witch is not what I would call her. She was truly a little bitch…but hardly older than my other son.”
“Hmmm. In most of the realities I have seen, Glorith of Baaldur develops a fixation on Lar Gand and will stop at nothing to make him hers.”
“And if she cannot?” Kara G demanded.
“She will try to kill him to keep him from anyone else.” Kara confirmed. “and in at least three realities I have seen she has banished him to the Phantom Zone. Though that is not what it is called in those universes. There, in those universes and others like them, they call it the Twilight Dimension!”
Kara G’s head snapped up, her eyes blazing.
“It seems I may need to place a call to a certain witch when I return to my reality!” She snapped.
“She may be innocent.” Kara cautioned, “But it wouldn’t hurt to check it out. But for now…” She motioned forward to the ever-growing planet they approached and Kara G turned just in time to see a green flare streak from the atmosphere, speeding in their direction.
“The welcoming committee.” Kara nodded. “So I think you might want to calm down a bit and get ready to make your pitch to my Mother and the Science Council.”
“Indeed.”
Zor-El turned the cube over and over in his hands. He looked up at Kara Gand and gave a whimsical smile.
“You said you came seeking advice from our Science Council. You need not have bothered. I can tell you exactly what those old fools will say.”
“Zor!” Allura glared at her husband. “Just remember that I am the head of that council of ‘fools’!”
“Bah.” Zor handed the cube back to Kara Gand and turned to his wife. “Allura, You know as well as I what we are facing here. You’ve seen the projections.” He looked at his daughter. “It seems the Science Council is never willing to believe what the House of El tells it! Not on Krypton, not on Rokyn, and not here.”
Karik, watching from a distance with the twins and scooter, took a moment to note that neither Zor nor Allura, both almost identical versions of his mother’s parents, looked old enough to have a daughter Kara’s age. There might, he mused, be something to her theory after all.
“There’s no way you can make them understand what this is?” Kara Gand was not about to give up. “This cubes holds the DNA imprints of every single Kryptonian of my universe!”
“Actually, it probably does not hold them all.” Zor turned back to her. “But it would be safe to say that it holds the imprints of every Kryptonian that lived at the time they learned to make the imprints and those that came after.” He shrugged. “If I could read it, I could probably tell you for sure.” He spread his hands. “But I’m afraid we don’t have that technology.” He then addressed her other point. “But the Science Council would not care. You must understand, to us, cloning is not something that is done. Our clone wars put an end to that.”
“Clone wars?”
“Clone Wars.” Kara Zor-El nodded, remembering her history. “An event that occurred several centuries ago.”
“Since then, cloning of humans has been proscribed!” Zor nodded. He gestured towards the cube. “That data cube, to our council, will appear to be the embodiment of cloning.”
“Mom, you have got to make the council see that this may be the only way to insure the survival of the Kandorians!” Kara Zor-El almost pleaded.
While she, Kara Gand, Zor, and Allura spoke, the others in the large living room of Zor and Allura’s home stood apart, taking it all in.
Until, that is, Scooter squealed and squirmed away from Kara Gand.
“DADDY!”
Lar Gand had stepped into the room and, at the shrill cry, stopped, confusion registering on his face as the little girl raced across the room and leapt into his arms.
Kara Gand turned, her face going pale. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath to calm herself and then opened them to see Lar looking at her. She mouthed the girl’s name and made herself turn back to Zor.
“Scooter.” Lar went to one knee, prying the girl from his neck to balance her on his other knee.
Though he had been as prepared as he could for seeing this man that looked like his father but was not, Karik had gone pale as well at first sight. Now, however, he began to bristle. He took a single step away from the twins, Katma, and Rogue towards the man and his sister…stopping when a hand took a vise like grip on his arm.
“No.” Rogue shook her head, speaking softly. “Leave them be.”
“That man is not her father!” Karik croaked, turning to her.
“No. He isn’t.” Rogue agreed. “You know that. Your mother knows that. And more importantly, he knows that. But what harm does it do your sister for him to humor her? What harm does it do for him to give her, if only for a short time, what she has been wishing for?”
Karik’s face softened as her words sunk in and he turned back to watch.
“She’s never met him.” He confided. “She’s only seen holograms.”
“Perhaps,” Katma whispered in his ear. “It would do you good as well to talk to him. You do not have to pretend he is your father but….” She trailed off as Karik looked at her.
“C’mon.” Sounding uncharacteristically gentle, Carrie took his hand and pulled him towards Lar and Scooter.
Rogue breathed a sigh of relief…and then tensed once again as she looked across the room. Both Jenny and Arisia had just entered through another entrance…and froze at the sight. Rogue saw the anguish that clouded Jenny’s face, just before the one time She-Hulk whirled and pushed past Arisia back the way they had come.
Arisia cast a final look towards Lar and then caught Rogue’s eye. She gave an almost imperceptible nod and turned to follow Jenny out.
“There was no jealousy there.” Katma whispered to Rogue.
“No.” Rogue shook her head. “No jealousy. Just…pain.”
MVP-1 #16
“Jenny, wait!”
Arisia had to jog to catch up to the green skinned woman. She took the weeping woman’s arm and led her to the adjoined rooms Allura had assigned to them for their use. She pushed Jenny in and ordered the computers to lock all doors, allowing absolutely no entrance without her express permission until further notice.
That taken care of, she ushered Jenny into the suites’ refresh room. She did not bother stripping her before shoving her into the shower and turning on the water. She stepped in with her, pulling her close as the warm, soothing water streamed over them.
“Shhhh.” She whispered, slightly rocking the sobbing Jenny.
Jenny shook her head.
“Not jealous.” She hiccupped. “Just seeing him with that little girl…”
“I know.” Arisia soothed, “I know. I felt it too.” Jenny pulled away, pushing Arisia out to arm’s length, searching her face.
“You did.” She whispered. “Why? Why can’t we have our little girl?”
“You know why.” Arisia sighed. She then did something that caught Jenny by surprise.
“What…” Jenny’s eyes grew wide as green energy flooded the shower stall.
“Something we should have done some time ago.” Arisia soothed.
In another moment, a single entity stood beneath the running waters, her tears mingling freely with the shower water.
MVP-1 #16
“…so it was decided to bring this before you and ask your advice.”
Kara Gand wound down her spiel and waited for the assembled council to address her.
“Ahem.” Allura Zor-El cleared her throat. It was an unusual situation at best. Here, standing before the council, was a woman from another reality that, to all appearances, was an exact duplicate of her daughter. Had not her daughter been standing at the woman’s side, she imagined that many of the council would be accusing her of some form of trickery.
As it was, many were still in a state of bewilderment.
“You would think none of them had ever heard of alternate realities.” Allura had told her husband shaking her head. “Even after all we have been through, they still can’t seem to grasp the notion.”
“Perhaps it is not so much that, as it is what this Kara Gand brought with her.” Zor, uncharacteristically, defended the council of which his wife was the Chair. “An Artifact from another Krypton! And, from what Kara Gand has told us, an artifact that originated in Kryptonopolis!”
“It’s more than an artifact, Zor.” Lar had corrected. “It’s a data cube.” “A data cube we can’t access.” Zor shook his head. “Oh, I imagine we could eventually cobble together something that would allow us to access the data, but it would take time. That technology is so ancient it is almost alien.”
“Perhaps….” Lar got a far off look in his eyes. “Perhaps there might be something we can use in the ruins.”
“Hmmmm?”
“The ruins.” Lar repeated, waving a hand towards the west.
Though the Starheart had cleaned the planet, it had left the ruins of the ancient Daxamites untouched. One such area of ruins lay a short distance from the area where the Starheart had chosen to enlarge Kandor.
“Kim-El and I have been combing through them and there is some intact computer equipment we might be able to salvage. Some of it looks similar to this data cube.”
“Kim?” Zor had raised his eyebrows. Kim was the son of his nephew, Don-El. “And Don is okay with that?”
“Ha. Don would be out there with us, if he could.” Lar had laughed. “Besides, as both he and Kim have told me, Kim is old enough to make up his own mind. Right now they are discussing him getting his own place.”
“What?” Zor was not easily shocked but this came close. “His own place? But he is still a minor!”
“By your standards, Zor.” Lar countered gently. “But Don and most of his generation have been swayed over the years by Earth culture.”
“True.” Zor sighed. He then brightened. “Well, I always said we Kryptonians could get too entrenched in our traditions. Sometimes it’s good to shake things up.” He shook his head and got back on topic.
“We can work on deciphering the data cube.” Zor nodded. “But first, we have to get this by the council.”
“And try to pry Kim away from a certain set of twin girls.” Lar had laughed.
And so the council had been assembled and Kara Gand made her pitch.
“Let me make sure we are absolutely clear on this.” Allura now spoke, not only to Kara Gand, but to the Council members as well. “This data cube holds the DNA imprints of the Kryptonians of your universe?”
“It does.” Kara nodded. “The complete sequences encoded and stored. From these imprints we believe it is possible to produce…”
“A clone!” One council member snapped. Rather than snap back, Kara Gand looked directly at the council member.
“A living, breathing Kryptonian.” She finished. “Using the matrix technology that our Kryptonians used, we can produce exact duplicates of the originals. Clones, if you must.”
“It would seem to me…” One council member leaned forward. “…that if it is possible to produce a clone, then it would be possible to create a unique individual, as well.”
Kara Gand was not the only one that turned to the Council woman in surprise.
“True, cloning is frowned upon in our society.” She spread her hands and looked around at the other council members. “But that does not mean that we have neglected research in genetics.” She pointed towards Kara Gand. “If, as this woman says, they are able to produce duplicates from these imprints, it should not be that much more difficult to have a computer take these imprints, sort them for compatibility, and then combine them in random pairs to produce…children.”
“Children with a data cube for a mother and father?” The first council member snorted.
“Children whose mother and father are the original imprints from which they are…descended, I suppose you could say.” The Councilwoman stood her ground. She turned to Allura. “If there is any way possible that we could obtain a copy of this data cube, it would be invaluable. I am certain that it would be no hard task to find willing couples to adopt children produced in such a manner. Or even women that would be more than willing to act as surrogate mothers, if they knew the child they bore would be theirs!” She pointed her finger at the first council member to speak but she spoke to them all. “I and my colleagues have tried to tell you that our gene pool has fallen below the viable level to maintain a colony. In short, that means that we will eventually die out.” Now she pointed back to Kara Gand. “With that data cube, we could assure our survival.”
“That is all well and good, Teora Dak-Tu.” Allura soothed. “However, Kara Gand is here to ask our advice. She did not come here to give us this cube, but to ask our opinion on how THEY should use it.”
“Actually.” Kara Gand smiled now. “That’s a copy. We have the original in our universe. That one you can keep.”
There was a general gasp as her words registered.
“And I believe that you have already told me what we should do.” She finished thoughtfully. When Allura motioned for her to continue, she went on.
“We could easily have taken all of these and simply reproduced the individuals with the original gene sequences.” She said. “But even if they were physical duplications of the originals, they would be different people. They would merely look like the originals. Their experiences, their educations, all the major and minor differences would cause them to turn out differently. And your notion of combining imprints would work as well.”
“Work for what?” Allura asked.
“With these, we could restore our Kryptonians!” Kara Gand announced. “Krypton was not the only habitable planet in the Rao system. Nor was it the most stable.”
“It would be a major undertaking.” Allura warned. “But I can see how it would work. Especially if you move slowly. Daxamites who are barren could be persuaded to migrate to the new world…and raise the children as their own.”
“Then it would be nothing more than a colony of Daxam.” The First councilmember to speak pointed out.
“Yes. Yes it would.” Kara Gand agreed. “There is no way we can restore the Kryptonians as they were.”
“Nor should you.” Allura pointed out. “Their time is gone. The best you will be able to do would be to recreate Kryptonians as a race. But socially? They will be Daxamites until they are independent of Daxam. And that should not be rushed.”
“Here then is our advice.” Allura announced after a short discussion amongst the council members. “We would advise against recreating the individuals whose imprints are stored on the cube. We would, rather, advise you to combine them, as our head geneticist, Teora, has suggested for us, to produce unique individuals. We would also advise that you do not, in the future, discourage intermingling.”
“Intermingling?”
“The joining of Daxamite and Kryptonian bloodlines.” Teora explained. “Though it would take some research, there is every reason to believe that careful mixtures of the bloodlines could result in immunity against Kryptonite, in the case of the Kryptonians and against lead in the case of the Daxamites.”
Kara Gand was silent as that sank home, her thoughts on the two of her children that were, indeed, susceptible to the dreadful lead poisoning that was every true Daxamite’s bane. She would have turned to look at her son had she not already been aware that he was out there, in the nearby dead city, scrounging with this Probability’s Lar Gand, Kim-El, and the Twins. Being unpowered as they all were under the red sun, Karik’s green energy ring would be a handy thing on such an expedition.
He would also have a better chance than anyone else to recognize what they would need. Lar, despite being a Daxamite himself, would be the best guide the Kandorians had here, but his Daxam was in another reality and far in the past.
Discussion continued until, thankfully, Allura called a break for the day. Discussions would resume in the morning.
MVP-1 #16
“I have not seen your Jenny or Arisia all day.” Katma remarked to Rogue as they filed out of the council room behind Allura and the two Karas.
“I saw them early this morning.” Rogue whispered back. “They formed Senturia, last night.” She shrugged.
Katma was thoughtful. Rogue did not elaborate further and she was beginning to think that this was the norm for this somewhat strange woman. So very obviously a Kryptonian, but just as obviously Earth Human as well.
What would have pushed them into merging to form Senturia? Had it been her talk with Arisia earlier? Could they have gotten comfort out of their merged misery?
As they stepped out of the council building, Katma looked up, catching a flash of green dropping through the atmosphere. Rogue followed her gaze, squinting slightly.
“Rayner.” She said, frowning slightly.
“You disapprove?” Katma looked back to the one time mutant.
“Not really.” Rogue shook her head. “I just don’t like to see people used.” Her mouth snapped shut, as if regretting her words and she quickened her step to catch up to her Kara.
Katma paused, looking after her, and then looking back in to the red tinged sky.
Though she did not know these people well, she knew enough already to make a guess as to what Rogue was referring.
She did not disapprove of Arisia’s…dalliances…with Rayner. Did she think Arisia was using Earth’s newest Green Lantern, though? Using him as a substitute for that which she felt she could not have? A relationship with Lar and Jenny? And what would happen when Arisia no longer found enjoyment in her dalliances?. What would she do then?
Katma shrugged and pushed the thoughts from her mind, stepping up her pace to catch up with the others.
MVP-1 #16
“Talk to me.”
Lar lay on his side, the sheets of the bed pushed down to his waist, his upper body glistening lightly with sweat, his breathing settling down after his exertion.
Jenny lay face down on the bed beside him; her green upper body bared as well, as Lar’s fingers traced soft circles on her back. Now she turned her head on the pillow to face him.
For the thousandth time Lar marveled at how beautiful she was, her dark green hair splayed out on the pillow, framing her face. Short bangs plastered to her sweat-beaded forehead.
She closed her eyes and gave a little sigh, wiggling in the bed under his fingers.
“It was nothing.” She said finally, opening her eyes again.
“Nothing.” Lar shook his head, bending down to gently kiss her ear. “It was Scooter, wasn’t it?”
“I wasn’t jealous, Lar.” Jenny started to push up but Lar’s hand on her back kept her in place.
“Shhh. I know.” He told her. “I felt it too. I looked at her and I saw what Jensia might have been.” He forced a smile. “Without the green skin, of course.”
“What Jensia still will be.” Jenny insisted. “We just won’t get to know her.”
“But she’ll still be our little girl.” Lar murmured. “And there is nothing that says we can’t have other children.”
“Other….?” Jenny pushed against Lar’s hand, the tremendous strength that had been her legacy as She-Hulk easily over coming his unpowered effort to pin her in place, flipping over onto her back. “Adoption.” Lar shrugged. “When they start working with human Kryptonians, they are going to need adoptive parents.”
His hand, now resting on her stomach, began to caress again, this time moving up over her chest.
“Mmmmm.” Jenny squirmed, forcing away the uneasy feeling that had crept into her mind at Lar’s words. “You keep that up and you’re going to get in trouble!”
“Promises Promises!” Lar smirked, his hand sliding down her belly, beneath the gathered sheets.
Jenny gasped, her back arching…
MVP-1 #16
Arisia lay in her bed, the sheets pulled up to her neck. Not due to the cold, but rather for simple comfort. Almost as if the sheets were a barrier. Security blankets.
Beside her, Kyle Rayner snored softly, one arm flung out over her midsection.
Moving slowly, she gently lifted his arm and moved it to his side.
For a moment, she studied his face, her expression nothing close to the face she had shown him just a short time earlier. Then, the face she had worn had been one full of apparent joy, barely contained hunger, and obvious need.
Now her face was pensive, almost sorrowful.
Gently she touched his sleeping face, softly brushing a bit of hair from his damp forehead.
Her feelings were a jumble, but that did not prevent her from realizing that she was using him. Nor did it prevent her from seeing that he, for his part, was falling in love.
She turned back, staring up at the ceiling, not really seeing anything as she tried to sort the tangled emotions.
It had been hard, closing part of her self off from the Senturia melding, but necessary.
She and Jenny had not merged to form Senturia since their ordeal, for it could be called nothing else, on Themyscira. Since then, there had been little time for either of them to sort out their feelings, to work through the strain. Of course Jenny had Lar to help mute some of the pain. And while they had, indeed, adopted her into the Gand family…It had stopped there. Arisia had told Katma the truth in that. It had been she that had put on the brakes. Even as Lar and Jenny welcomed her, she had drifted away. No…she had not drifted…she had ran. She knew that gratitude only went so far…and no matter what Jenny wanted or felt obligated to do….there was no hiding the fact that there was and probably always would be a reluctance to share Lar or enter into an emotional or physical relationship with her. That much she had learned from their merging earlier in the day.. And though Jenny hid it well, Arisia knew that it was tearing the one time She-Hulk up inside.
And yet the merger had been needed. Not to battle an enemy or some other earth-shattering disaster, but merely to help Jenny pull herself together.
While the merger into Senturia did not automatically allow either of them to read the other’s thoughts totally, it was, they were learning, increasingly difficult to control exactly what was revealed.
Memories, feelings, thoughts that had existed prior to their first merger were still intact and unavailable without permission to the combined being. It was the memories and feelings that developed after that first merger that became more and more difficult to hide.
But it could be done and so Arisia had done earlier. She had compartmentalized her feelings, shutting them behind a mental barrier against just such an occurrence. With all that Jenny was feeling, she was in no condition to deal with Arisia’s conflicted emotions.
Oh she could share with her the pain she had felt seeing Lar with Scooter. That could be understood, because she had, that day on Themyscira, become irrevocably tied to them through Jensia.
Like it or not, and in the time since neither Jenny nor Lar had given any indication they resented her involvement , her DNA had been intimately combined with theirs to reform and cleanse Jensia.
That little girl…the girl none of them would live to see born, was now, every bit as much her daughter as she was theirs.
When the merger ended, Jenny was calm again. She had hugged Arisia to her and, to the surprise of them both, gently kissed her.
Laughing, Arisia had pushed the one time green giantess out of the shower, ordering her to dry herself up and go find Lar.
Jenny had obeyed, giving Arisia a grateful look as she exited the refresher.
Arisia spoke softly, knowing the room’s system would pick up her words and ordered the doors unlocked to allow Jenny to leave and had then waited until she heard the out door swish open and then closed before allowing herself to crumble in the shower, huddled beneath the rapidly cooling water pouring over her, crying softly.
It was in that moment of weakness, when she felt that she might do something that could possibly strain her relationship with Jenny and Lar that she used her power to communicate across the vast distance of space to Oa…and Kyle came. As she knew he would.
And she had used him. Taking him to her bed to drown out the sounds and the feelings emanating from the adjoining room.
Now, as she lay there, looking within herself, she had to admit, she did not like what she saw. For she knew she would continue to use him until he came to realize that she would never be able to return the feelings he was developing for her. And then? Then she would find some one else…anyone. Another distraction…another tool to use.
Her words from the previous day returned to haunt her and she wondered if she had been lying…not only to Katma, but to herself:
“I have found something here that I never had there. A place! I belong here, Katma.”
She squeezed her eyes shut as a faint sound came from the other room, pulling the sheets up tighter under her chin.
MVP-1 #16
Kara Gand was in heaven!
She and Kara Zor-El were alone in the Allura’s kitchen, eating a quick breakfast of traditional Kryptonian cuisine that Kara Zor-El had thrown together.
Both of them had awoken in their separate rooms to discover that they had been abandoned. Everyone else, it seemed, had risen earlier and taken off. Allura had left a note telling them to help themselves to anything they wanted for breakfast.
Closing her eyes, she savored the food she had just placed in her mouth.
“Rao, it’s been ages since I’ve had Skrrit.” She paused in her chewing, swallowed, and opened her eyes, looking at Kara Zor-El’s bemused expression. “But I’ve never had Skrrit, have I?” She finished.
Kara Zor-El shook her head.
“From what you’ve told me, I would imagine this is the first time you’ve ever had any true Kryptonian cooking.” She said. “But those memories of yours, faint as they may be, say you have…and baked Skrrit was one of my…our…favorite breakfast dishes.”
She paused, shaking her head again.
“We’re not too different, you and I. You realize that?”
“Probably.” Kara Gand nodded. “But let’s hear it anyway.”
“Well,” Kara Zor-El laughed, leaning back in her chair. “We both have the memories of Kara Zor-El. Yet neither of us is in the body Kara Zor-El was born in. You were born a Daxamite and have a life time of memories of that existence. To you, Kara Zor-El is more or less a past life experience. And me? I am the mind and spirit of Kara Zor-El. Transplanted into this body.”
“Well, it’s the age thing that throws me off a bit.” Kara Gand admitted, jabbing her fork in her duplicate’s direction.
“How do you mean?”
“Well look at us.” Kara Gand spread her arms. I would say we are about the same age, wouldn’t you?”
“Give or take a few years, depending on how your Kryptonians aged.” Kara Zor-El nodded.
“Well, that is the problem.” Kara Gand actually smiled. “That means I have lived that many years as a Daxamite.”
“Which means your past life as…me…had to have been years before that.” Kara Zor-El returned the smile. “Easily explained. Look at our Probability Nine. After Crisis, time restarted there. As it must have in your Reality.”
Kara Gand was saved from replying as the door to the kitchen area slid open.
“It’s about time you two woke up.” Rogue remarked as she walked in. She made her way to Kara Zor-El, kissed her lightly on the lips and stole her last bite of baked Skrrit. “Mmmmmm.” She closed her eyes. “Do you know…”
“You haven’t had Skrrit either!” Kara Zor-El laughed. “Those are my memories fooling you.”
“Whatever.” Rogue sighed. “It’s still delicious.” She eyed Kara Gand’s plate and gave another sigh as that Kara quickly speared the last piece on her fork and popped it in her mouth. “Well, I was sent to wake you two up.”
“What’s up?” Kara Zor-El asked.
“Well, Lar and the others found something in the ruins.” Rogue informed her. “They’re attempting to put what they found to work right now and I was sent to get you two.”
“They’re already setting up?” Kara Gand sat up straight, looking back and forth between Kara and Rogue. “Where? And does that mean your Council has come to a decision on what to do?”
“Yes and no.” Rogue responded cryptically. “I’ll let Allura fill you in on that. As for where, right here in the El compound.”
The EL compound. The original Kandor homestead founded by Zor-El’s older brother…Jor-El’s twin, Nim-El. A spacious affair that could easily house several generations of the El family, each family unit living in their own extravagant quarters. Granted the quarters Zor and Allura called home were a bit more extravagant than most but not by much.
“The
“Right.” Rogue nodded. “But we better get going before Allura has Don-El sic the Kandorian Police on us.”
“I guess that means breakfast is over.” Kara Gand laughed, pushing away from the table and standing. “Let me brush my teeth and I will be right out.” She disappeared in the direction of the rooms that had been assigned to her family while Rogue followed Kara Zor-El to their rooms so Kara could perform the same task.
As the kitchen door closed behind them, Rogue touched Kara’s arm, stopping her.
“I don’t know if you noticed. But Arisia called Kyle from Oa. He spent the night. He was gone by the time I woke up. So was Arisia.”
“Rogue, whether we approve or disapprove, both Arisia and Kyle are adults. It is not our business, my love.”
“She’s using him!” Rogue countered. “And both of us know why!”
“No. We THINK we know.” Kara shook her head. “But even if we were sure, dear, we would have no right to interfere. We can’t get in the middle of this.”
“Why the hell not?” Rogue’s tone said she knew Kara was right…had known it from the beginning. She was merely voicing her thoughts, getting it off her chest. “Jenny had no problem butting into our lives.”
“And aren’t we glad she did?” Kara smiled and pulled Rogue to her. “But that was different and you know it. Now come on…we don’t want Mom calling Don-El!”
MVP-1 #16
“Mommy!” The first sight that
caught Kara Gand’s eyes as she walked through main entrance of the
Scooter tugged on Jenny’s hand, getting her attention and then pulling her toward the newly arrived trio.
When they got closer, Scooter released Jenny’s hand and ran to her mother.
“Come see what they’re doing!” The little girl demanded, “Come see!”
“I’ll be right there, baby girl.” Kara bent down and hugged the girl and then turned her around and gave her a little push. “You go ahead and we’ll be right behind you.”
Scooter laughed and skipped on ahead.
Kara Gand straightened, drawing a breath.
“I’m sorry if…”
“No need.” Jenny smiled, reaching out a hand to take one of Kara Gand’s. “She’s delightful. She’s been no problem at all.”
Kara Gand was at a loss for words.
“Don’t worry.” Rogue whispered, coming up beside her. “Scooter knows that Lar is not her daddy. She doesn’t understand it completely, but she’s worked it out in her own way. She’s extremely bright for her age. So she’s imitating the twins.”
Kara Gand turned and looked at her.
“She’s calling him Uncle Mon. She thinks he’s her daddy’s brother.” Jenny drew her attention back. That makes me Aunt Jenny.” She paused. “It was Lar’s idea. Around her, no one is to call him Lar. Instead, he’s Mon-El. He’s comfortable with either name. The twins usually call him Uncle Lar, but they have been pretty good about making it Uncle Mon around Scooter. And I think it has helped Karik deal with it a bit better. At least that is what Katma is telling me.”
Kara Gand nodded slowly and then cupped the hand she still held between both of hers.
“Thank you.” She was able to choke out. “I admit I was a bit worried about confusing her.” She paused, wondering if she should say anything and finally decided to take the plunge. “I …I am sorry to hear…”
“Shhhh.” Jenny shook her head. “We’re dealing with it.” She said. “Jensia is beyond us now. The best we can do now is go on…and…well…it will never be easy…and we will never forget her…but we, none of us…are going to stop living.”
Kara Gand squeezed Jenny’s hand and let it go as the green woman turned away.
“Now come on. They’re in the main hall and what they have done already is nothing short of miraculous.”
“And what exactly have they done?” Kara Zor-El demanded, relieved that the situation had ended as it had.
“You have to see it, Kara. Now come on.”
She led the trio through a series of rooms, pausing before a set of double sliding doors.
“Prepare to be impressed!” she said. She touched a control on the wall and the doors parted.
“Rao!” Kara Zor-El breathed as they stepped into the busy, brightly lit, cavernous room.
Equipment lined the walls and people bustled here and there. Machinery outlined in green floated into place and they knew both Karik and Katma were hard at work.
“That’s Teora Dak-Tu!” Kara Zor-El exclaimed, pointing.
The geneticist, as if Kara’s pointing had some how alerted her, turned and spied them. She spoke a few words to the group she had been addressing, waited for them all to nod their understanding, and then started making her way towards them.
“She’s been here all night.” Jenny laughed. “When Mon and Karik told her what they had found, she wouldn’t wait for the morning. She had people start moving the equipment in right then and there! Even when Mon told her he was taking the rest of the night off!” She shook her head. “It would have been easier if she had waited until your Katma, Karik, Arisia and I had gotten some rest. Then we could have saved them a lot of labor.” She frowned slightly and Rogue sighed inwardly, seeing a dull flicker in Jenny’s eyes when she mentioned Arisia. Kara Gand’s raised eyebrows showed that she had caught it as well but she said nothing. “As it was, they had a lot moved this morning when we got here. Mon was impressed and the twins started having fits. They just knew the movers had damaged something in the moving.”
“What…what is all this?” Kara Zor-El cut in quickly to forestall further discussion about Arisia.
“This…” Teora answered as she walked up. “…is a gift from Rao.” She waved a hand to take everything in. “It was sheer genius to send Karik with Lar to sift through those ruins. They found all of this in an underground bunker. Hardened to protect it from the bombing, but hardly a match for Karik’s ring.”
“Okaaaay.” Kara Zor-El drawled. “So what is it?”
“Just from a glance, I would have to say this came from a genetic research facility.” Kara Gand looked at Teora. “Judging by the styles, I would even go further and say it was a governmental facility.”
“It was.” Teora acknowledged. “From the records we have been able to decipher it was some how connected with the war effort. They were, it seems, working to find some biological weapon that would allow them to kill the enemy but would not then turn on them.”
“Wait a minute.” Kara Zor-El’s eyebrows rose as Kara Gand’s had earlier. “A biological weapon that would affect the enemy but not them? That would mean…”
“That the enemy was not Daxamite in origin.” Teora nodded. “It seems that the Daxamites did not kill themselves off after all. Some one else did it for them. And we think we may even know who.” Her eyes narrowed. “From the records, it appears at least one of the enemy forces attacking Daxam were Khunds!”
“Khunds.” Kara Zor-El growled. “It appears they have run up quite a debt.”
“And it’s about time the bill collector paid a visit!” Rogue hissed.
“Remember.” Teora cautioned. “We still have no clue WHY the Khunds were attacking Daxam. And though we have not discovered who their allies were, we know they were not alone. This all happened thousands of years ago. For all we know, the Daxamites could have been trying to conquer the universe…and various races banded together to stop them.”
“That could be entirely possible.” Kara Gand agreed. “During its various stages, Daxam has been extremely imperialistic from time to time. At least our Daxam was.”
“As was this one.” Teora nodded. “However, that does not mean we can not turn their abandoned equipment to our purposes. For instance….” She led them to a completed section of equipment that was already up and running. “Thanks to the Twins, we have these ancient computers running and have already slaved them into more modern versions. With these, we have already been able to read the Cube.”
“You’ve already read it?” Kara Gand’s interest sharpened.
“We have.” Teora smiled, turning to her. “And I am afraid whoever told you what was on the cube did not tell you the whole story.”
“Really?”
“Oh yes.” Teora nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, it is indeed a repository for the encoded patterns of Kryptonians. But it is also a repository for the entire genome. The basic pattern from which new individuals can be extracted. And it does not end there. We have also found the genomes of what appears to be every species of plant and animal life that existed on Krypton at the time they began to encode the genomes!”
Kara Gand’s head was spinning.
“That means we could recreate Krypton. Completely.”
“Theoretically, yes.” Teora nodded. “Your ecologists would have to determine what effects introducing Kryptonian life forms would have on the environment of your target planet, however.”
“But it is something we can make use of here and now.”
The group turned to see Zor-El approaching. Behind him were the twins, both wearing grease-stained Kryptonian work over-alls and both with smears of grease and dirt on their hands and faces. With them, walking hand in hand with Karen, Kara noted with a sardonic smile, was a young blonde man she had never seen, though it was apparent in his features that he was part of the El family. Putting two and two together she realized this must be Kim-El, Don-El’s younger son. Both girls looked exhausted.
“How could you use it?” Kara Gand asked as Zor joined their group.
“The Starheart may have cleansed this world of radiation and furnished it with a suitable atmosphere. But it seems that is all it was able to do. This is, for all practical purposes, a barren world. We and the plant and animal life that came with us from Kandor are the only living things on this planet.” Zor explained. “Even the seas are devoid of major lifeforms. The most this planet can boast is small variety of microbes. With the genomes stored on this cube, and with the proper equipment, we can reseed this planet. And that is something that will have to be done quickly. Without suitable plant coverage, we will eventually deplete the breathable oxygen in the atmosphere. With the genomes stored on this cube, we can do what the creators intended.”
“Intended?” Kara looked blank.
“Oh, that is something else we discovered.” Teora announced. “This cube was not created out of arrogant pride. This cube was meant to be a sort of safety deposit box. A way to preserve Kryptonian life. The intent was to maintain the cube and then use it in the event of some disaster, natural or not, that made it necessary to restock the world with life. Or to allow the introduction of Kryptonian life on another planet should Krypton prove to be uninhabitable after the disaster.” She shook her head. “They could not foresee such a cataclysmic event as the complete obliteration of the planet! No. This cube was meant to be an ark. A way to save what could be saved. Unfortunately, it would require that some one be alive to use it.”
“And what have you two been doing?” Kara Zor-El asked the girls, looking back and forth between them and Kim-El.
“A lot of this equipment had to be rebuilt almost from scratch.” Carrie answered. “Talk about slow. It’s much easier and quicker with our powers on Earth.”
“Perhaps.” Zor laughed, hugging both girls to him . “But you have done a fabulous job.” He looked at his daughter. “These two and La…er…Mon…have done wonders. They are the ones responsible for getting this old equipment up and running as well as tying them into our current computer system. Because of them, we have been able to transfer the entire contents of the cube to a more modern medium.” He gave them both reproving looks, however. “I think, though, it is time for them to take a break.” He turned to his daughter. “The gravity is starting to get to them.”
Kara Zor-El nodded, looking at the girls. It was understandable. Though they had the basic Kryptonian genetic make up, neither had ever been exposed, while unpowered, to the heavy gravity a world like Daxam…or Krypton…could generate. Unprotected light-gravity worlders would be in extreme pain the moment they entered the gravity well. Feeling as if the very atmosphere were trying to crush them. And they would be right. With in a matter of hours, they would be dead. The Green Lanterns, Jenny, and Arisia had their rings and cosmic power that effectively protected them without any conscious effort on their part. The twins had no such protection.
“Oh, I’ve already had Allura check them out.” Zor assured her. “They are fine. It is just something they have to get used to.” Now he smiled. “They have the proper density and physical configuration to handle the heavy gravity, despite being only half Kryptonian. But they will have to build up the muscles if they intend to remain in this gravity, unpowered, for long periods of time. As it stands now…they are not much stronger than Scooter here.”
That got laughs from everyone.
“Not that either young Karik or Kim-El here let them do anything strenuous.” Zor raised an eyebrow at his great nephew while the boy and the twins all blushed. He then turned back to the adults. “But enough of this.” He fixed both Kara Gand and Teora with glares. “The two of you are scheduled to appear before the council. Now. So we had best be on our way.”
Both women grimaced, neither willing to leave the scene of such activity, but both recognizing the need.
“You go on.” Kara Zor-El told her. “We’ll watch over things here and take care of Scooter.”
Kara Gand nodded and followed Zor and Teora out.
“As for you two.” Rogue gave the twins her best glare. “I think you have been overdoing it. I want you both to go back to our quarters and draw baths. Make it deep enough to float. I want you both to relax in the tub for at least two hours. Perhaps that will give you a bit of relief from the gravity.”
“We’ll look like prunes!” Karen complained.
“I am sure Kim-El won’t mind.” Rogue drawled, secretly amused to see both Karen and Kim-El blush. “Now git.” As the trio started off, Rogue reached out and snagged Kim-El’s collar. “Not you, boyo.” She pulled him back and pushed him in Karik’s direction. “Why don’t you go see where you can help?”
“Protective, aren’t we?” Kara laughed, watching the sullen young man walk off.
“Damn straight.” Rogue sniffed. “I know how you Kryptonians are.”
“You Kryptonians? Last I checked, you were every bit as Kryptonian as I!” Kara pretended outrage.
“I might be.” Rogue admitted. “And I might even think like one now. But I was raised a good ol’ southern gal. You can’t shake that in just a couple of years.”
“No, I guess not.” Kara nodded. She then reached up and, in a rare moment of public display, caressed Rogue’s cheek. “I’m glad you were able to accept some changes, though. It has made life much better. For me, at least.”
“And me.” Rogue smiled, clasping the hand on her cheek under her own. “But just remember, those girls have been Earth raised as well. They may have been taught Kryptonian morals and values, but they’ve also been overly exposed to the mores and values of western civilization on Earth.”
“A good point.” Kara agreed. “One we probably should keep in mind.”
“Would you two knock it off or get a room?” Jenny hissed at them in mock anger.
“Jealous?” Rogue sneered. “From the sounds last night, I would say you have no right.”
“Sounds?” Jenny blushed a deep green. “How….”
“You forget, Rogue and I are the only Kryptonians here that haven’t lost their powers. Not yet at least. Though if we don’t head home in a few days, we’ll start to lose them.” Kara responded.
“Powers….oh. Super-hearing.” Jenny shook her head. “You…”
“Ah ah!” Rogue wagged a finger at her and then pointed down at the small face looking up at them. “Little ears!”
“Oohh!” Jenny gave them a glare, took Scooter’s hand in her own, and walked off. She turned, however, after a few feet and gave them a wink over her shoulder.
“Well, are we going to stand here all day or do we lend a hand?” Kara asked, she headed off towards the person she had pegged as Teora’s assistance to see where she would do the most good.
Rogue watched her walk off and shook her head.
What she really wanted to do was track down Arisia and find out what was going on in that head of hers. But, as Kara had said, it was not their place to interfere. With a sigh, she followed Kara.
MVP-1 #16
“…Matrix technology will take a while to decipher and then adapt to our own, we can begin immediately with the production of seeds for plant life and begin the process of spreading the seed.”
“Will that work?” A councilman demanded after Teora gave her spiel. “Will the plants be able to grow if the planet is barren?”
“The term barren is, in this case, misleading.” Teora explained. “There is indeed life on the planet. Microscopic life. The ground is surprisingly fertile around the world and the oceans do contain enough microscopic life for the introduction of plants and small fish species. The larger species will have to wait until the smaller ones expand. The same goes with all the other non-plant life forms. Of course, that takes us back to the Matrix technology. We have to get an understanding of that before we can even think about introducing non plant life forms.”
“Do we have to understand this…matrix technology…before we can use these…patterns…to increase our own gene pool?” Another councilman asked.
“No.” Teora looked towards him. “Or rather, we think not. While we won’t be able to recreate any of the specific patterns stored on the cube, we can use the genome to create what the people of Earth called test-tube babies. There are, however, some problems.”
“Problems?” Kara Gand spoke up from her position in the center of the council room.
“Yes.” Teora looked to her. “We have been able to study the Kryptonian human genome to some degree already, and it appears there are some slight biological differences between your Kryptonians and ours.”
“That makes sense.” Kara Gand nodded. “We have reason to believe that your DNA would more closely match that of your Probability 4 Kryptonians. While our Kryptonians would more closely match those of your Probability 9. We know there is a slight difference because Sam’s DNA, as well as that of mine and Scooter’s, more closely resemble yours than it does the Kryptonians of our reality.”
“I have people working on it right now.” Teora continued. “And from the preliminary results I received just before I came to this council, we believe that we can, now that the genome has been copied into a more modern data storage, manipulate the structure prior to production, so that the outcome would be compatible with our DNA.” She turned back to Kara Gand. “I realize that you can not stay long. But I was told to inform you that you may, if you desire, take back a modern copy of your data, as well as any findings we come up with before your departure.”
“We would appreciate that.” Kara Gand nodded.
The council turned their discussion to practical matters, picking Kara’s brain for all she could tell them.
When the council adjourned, hours later, Kara Gand, Allura, and Teora were escorted back to the El compound. All three were mentally, if not physically, exhausted.
MVP-1 #16
“It’s Hiseth.” Allura explained over an early breakfast the following morning.
Kara Gand had thought to return to her own reality the previous day, after the council had adjourned. Her plans had changed upon Zor’s mysterious request upon their return to the El compound.
She had awoken to find elaborate Kryptonian style tunics laid out for her and Scooter. Karik, she soon discovered, was no where to be found.
“Zor had a task for him.” Was all Allura would say as she served a light breakfast.
The grand table now held Rogue, Kara Zor-El, the twins, Lar…no MON-El, and Jenny. An empty spot with a cleaned plate near Jenny insinuated that Arisia had returned some time during the night, had already eaten, and left the table.
“Holy day.” Kara Gand dragged the translation up from the hazy memories of her past life. Here, in this decidedly Kryptonian atmosphere, it was so much easier. It would, in fact, probably be too easy to lose herself in that past life.
“Yes.” Allura nodded. “It was our hope, Zor’s and mine, that you, all of you, would join us on this day. It looks to be a special one.”
“I haven’t been to church in years.” Rogue laughed.
After breakfast, and after all had dressed, they had made
their way to the El compound
They were shown to seats and Kara Gand raised an eyebrow when she noted that the ushers were careful to put Karen and Carrie in seats that braced an aisle.
More people filed in and Kara was amazed to see such numbers. She had been aware that the El compound was big, but surely the El Family it self was not so large. Kara Zor-El, seated beside her on one side, was whispering an explanation to Jenny and she nodded as the memories of the past resurfaced.
“The El Family consists of several sub families.” Kara Zor-El was telling Jenny. “The Ze and Zee (she pronounced them Za and See) families, the Tu family, and several others. Most aligned by marriage or choice.”
“With Zor being the feudal lord?” Jenny asked.
“That would be Uncle Nim.” Kara shook her head. “And it is similar to a feudal lord, but not exactly the same. Nim doesn’t have that kind of power. Perhaps, in past ages, he would have. But those days were long gone before Nim’s great great grandfather was born.”
The priest took his place behind the podium at the front of the auditorium and Kara Gand gave him her full attention.
The preliminary ceremony was little more than what her memories told her were the basic ritual observances. Naturally everything was in Kryptonian. Thankfully the linguistic shift between the Daxamite and Kryptonian languages was so slight she was able to follow along with out having to rely on those hazy memories for translations.
When the Priest finished, stepped down and moved in front of the podium and spoke a few unfamiliar words, she sat up straighter. There was no Daxamite equivalent to the words so she dredged up the meaning from those memories and turned to Kara Zor-El, her eyebrows raised in surprise.
“A Naming?” She asked. “I thought those were private affairs.”
“Usually they are.” Kara Zor-El whispered back, her face full of prideful anticipation. “But this is a special occasion. Shhhh. Watch.”
The Priest waited for the murmuring to subside, holding up both hands.
“Escorts, present your charges!”
His command, sharp and clear, echoed through the auditorium and Kara Gand gasped as Kim-El and her own son, Karik, marched down the aisle, their Kryptonian style tunics resplendent in their black, red, and gold colors.
The young men came to a halt in the aisle between the twins and turned. Karik to the left to face the stunned Carrie and Kim-El to the right to face the equally bewildered Karen.
They extended their hands in unison, as if they had rehearsed for hours and aided the confused girls to their feet and then slowly escorted them toward the front of the auditorium, stopping as they came face to face with the Priest.
“Who will speak for these?” The Priest demanded, ignoring the quartet before him.
“I will!”
Heads turned as Zor-El strode down the aisle, accompanied by Allura.
Both were dressed in the formal blue colors they both favored and, to Kara Zor-El’s eyes, looked more splendid than she had ever seen them.
Zor and Allura moved at a steady pace down the aisle, separating as they come up behind the quartet to move around them.
Zor spoke to the Priest who nodded and then turned back to the audience.
“Zor of the House of El has asked to be allowed to speak for these. So let it be!” The Priest turned and moved back, allowing Zor and Allura to take his place.
Zor nodded to Kim-El and Karik and waited until the young men had each turned and bowed to the girl he had escorted and then stepped back, turning to walk back up the aisle. They both took the seats the girls had so recently occupied.
“It is an ancient custom that we invoke today!” Zor intoned as Allura turned to take a small box the priest had returned to hold out to her. “A Naming! In ages past, where there was need or desire, a father could adopt the children of his daughters, if they had no fathers of their own to give them a Name.”
Briefly Zor outlined the histories of the astonished girls. He then turned and removed two red and yellow medallions. Symbols of the House of El. He waited until Allura had handed the box back to the Priest and then let her take one.
“While no symbols or ceremony are necessary, for these girls, daughters of our daughter, whatever the circumstances, are our flesh and blood. They are family. But sometimes, in the dark times, it is good to be able to hold something in your hands…and know that you are not alone. That you do, indeed, have family.” He paused and then his voice took on a sharper tone.
“Carrie Louise Dox!” he intoned, his steel grey eyes locking with Carrie’s. “Though such will be your name among those of Earth. From this day forward, in the list of names of the House of El, until the day you marry, you shall be known as Kari (Kara Gand noted that the pronunciation was ‘Car-ee’ rather than ‘care-ee’) Zor-El. A daughter of the House of El!” He draped the medallion of the stunned girl’s neck and stepped back.
“Karen Lacy Dox!” Allura now spoke, catching Karen’s eyes as she spoke the girl’s full name. “Though such will remain your name among those of Earth, should you so choose, from this day forward, in the list of names of the House of El, until the day you marry, you shall be known as Kori Zor-El! A daughter of the House of El!” As Zor had done with Carrie, Allura now draped the medallion over Karen’s neck.
Together, Zor and Allura turned the girls to face the audience.
“Let it be known that I, Zor-El, do formally claim these girls, Kari and Kori, are members of our House. Daughters of our daughter.”
Zor and Allura led the girls slowly down the center aisle, pausing here and there as well wishers greeted the girls.
When they finally reached empty seats, all eyes returned to the front and Kara Zor-El gasped as another man stood.
“Nim-El!” She told Kara Gand, not waiting to see if the other’s hazy memories would produce the name. “Zor-El’s older brother and twin of Jor-El!”
“I had to fight my younger brother for this honor.” Nim-El began with out fan-fare. “I figured he and my departed twin, Jor, had garnished enough. It’s time for me to get a little.”
This was greeting with a smattering of laughter.
“Will the Escort present his charge?” He called out.
Kara Gand started as a hand lightly touched her shoulder and she turned to see Lar Gand, impressive in his traditional Daxamite dress garb, holding out a hand towards her.
Confused, Kara took the hand and allowed Lar to gently pull her to her feet and lead her down the aisle.
“This wasn’t my idea.” Lar whispered as they walked. “I hope this doesn’t upset you too much.”
Kara Gand offered no answer as they came to a stop before the man Kara Zor-El had named as Nim-El.
Nim nodded slightly to Lar and waited for him to withdraw.
“This person might need a bit of explanation.” Nim-El addressed the audience. “We, all of us, are aware of the many different realities that exist, not only in our original universe, but here in this new Multiverse as well. And we know that there are realities beyond this Multiverse. Otherverse, where some of our kindred yet remain, is one such reality. This woman, and those that accompanied her, is from another such reality.”
Quickly Nim outlined where Kara had come from and why she had come.
“We, all of us, owe those of this other reality, this Inheritors’ Universe, a great debt. One that I am afraid we may never be able to repay. But we can acknowledge it…and offer our gratitude.”
He turned to Kara Gand.
“Kara Gand, unlike my brother, I cannot adopt you into my household, seeing that you are already married. But at the same time, I am aware of who and what you once were. And I am aware that Rao, in his infinite wisdom, has seen fit to allow you to recall that past life. In that past life, in yet another reality, one that is gone as if it never existed, you were the daughter of Zor-El. Another Zor-El.” This last was added as an aside to the audience. “You were Kara Zor-El.”
He paused.
“That being the case, it seemed natural that we show our gratitude in a way that honored that past life while honoring all that you have done in this life and have done for us.”
The priest stepped forward again, holding an open box. Nim reached into the box and pulled out a silver colored amulet, shaped in the form of the family crest.
“Kara Gand, you are hearby named an honorary member of the House of El…at least in this reality. Complete with all the responsibility and privileges that come with such membership. Welcome…and from all of us…thank you!”
He draped the amulet over her neck and turned her to face the crowd
“Let us all welcome Kara Gand…of the House of El!”
The end of To Restore a World
-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2004 by Dylan Clearbrook
-- and may not be reprinted without permission.