Supergirl: Identity

[TearsoftheWorld]

Kara Zor-El

Dressed now in clothes that far outshone the ragged old coat she had "borrowed", Kara looked up to the sky as her ears picked up the sound of travelers moving quickly in the distance. Turning around, her clear blue eyes suddenly looked on the tall form of Kal-El of Krypton and a young woman that Kara recognized from Gotham.

She did not immediately recognize the grownup version of her cousin, having less remembered him to be just a young infant.

But the way this man proudly displayed the House of El on his chest...

And the bearing and composure that he carried with himself...

(Not to mention the way Diana referred to him as Kal-El)

It had to be Kal-El.

For the first time since she arrived on the planet Earth (which wasn't that long ago), Kara Zor-El smiled. She wore then the bright smile that would often cheer up her aunt and uncle whenever she went to visit them on Krypton, trying to help them out with whatever duties they required of her. For the most part that came down to watching over her baby cousin, but now it seemed that Kal-El had outgrown her, and she felt like a child compared to him.

Moving swiftly past Diana and the other Amazonians, Kara came up to where Kal-El remained hovering above the ground.

"Kal-El?" she asked, her voice a mixture of both joy and hope.

"I thought... I thought you would be younger," Kara spoke, and she knew that her Kryptonian words would not be lost on him like they were on the others.

"The Kal-El I knew was just a sweet baby. A boy who'd laugh if you tickled his feet," she added, reminiscing a little of when she'd watch over him on Krypton, trying to keep him from disturbing the work of his parents.

 

[LuckyVic]

Moving swiftly past Diana and the other Amazonians, Kara came up to where Kal-El remained hovering above the ground.

"Kal-El?" she asked, her voice a mixture of both joy and hope.

"I thought... I thought you would be younger," Kara spoke, and she knew that her Kryptonian words would not be lost on him like they were on the others.

"The Kal-El I knew was just a sweet baby. A boy who'd laugh if you tickled his feet," she added, reminiscing a little of when she'd watch over him on Krypton, trying to keep him from disturbing the work of his parents.

Clark smiled [Yes I am Kal-El of Krypton.] he told her His voice strong and calm. He knew he hadn't met her before, so how did she know him. But even as he thought that he also thought maybe it was the recognition of the symbol of the House of El that he wore on his chest.

But what through him for a loop was the comment about the tickling of his feet. It was something Ma Kent had told him from time to time as well, even though he really wasn't ticklish anymore. [How could you know that?] he asked her. How could she know something about him when he was a baby, she was young enough to be his baby sister. [And forgive me, but who are you?] he asked
her.

OOC: The above has been translated from Kryptonian

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

Kara Zor-El couldn't blame her cousin for not recognizing her. The last time she had seen him he was only a few years old, barely able to recognize even his parents. She could remember him playing with a few devices that his father created for his amusement, and even when they broke Kal-El still smiled and laughed.

Nothing ever seemed to phase him.

He looked far older now, almost as if time had passed Kara by. What exactly happened that would have caused such a difference? Did her ship get lost or taken off course?

Something must have gone wrong.

Way wrong.

"This might sound strange, Kal-El," Kara began, "but my name is Kara Zor-El. Your father and my father were brothers." she explained.

"My father sent me in a ship right after you left Krypton. He told me we would be on the same trajectory, but something must have happened to my ship," Kara added, though the last part was more of a thought said out loud to herself.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl

Diana opened her mouth to permit Kal-El his landing, but then closed her mouth, and glanced to Phillipus, deferring.

"Welcome to Themyscira, Superman," Phillipus greeted The Icon with a nod of her head. "Feel free to rest yourself upon our humble soil. Few men are permitted here, but gods walk here freely."

Diana gazed at him for a moment, her own blue eyes flickering from The Girl to The Man, back and forth, listening to the musical mathematics of their language and wondering what they were saying.

(They did not seem ill at ease, not in the slightest. The Girl seemed bemused and earnest, and Kal-El seemed surprised and delighted.)

This was. This was good. She hoped against all hope that this would work out for him. Kal-El... "Clark." He was so lonely.

Surrounded by all the love of the world, he was still lonely in that way that mattered to men of great character: he had no love by his side, not directly.

He and Lois had tried so many times to make it work. Between Kenny Braverman and Lex Luthor and Bloodsport and Lori Lemaris...

Wonder Woman believed that Kal-El and Lois were soulmates, but at this point in their lives, it seemed that they were the companion kind of soulmates rather than the romantic kind. There were many kinds of soulmates, and not all of them romantic.

(Donna, for instance, Wonder Woman's twin sister, was her soulmate in a very real sense: she had been crafted out of a part of Diana's own soul. They were sibling soulmates, and while Diana understood Donna's reasons for going out into deepest space, searching... Diana missed her sister terribly.)

Lois had kept Kal's secret diligently, but every time they had tried to make it work romantically, engagements or weddings, Destiny had thrown the poor Man of Steel a vicious curve.

This had been one of the things they had discussed, off the record, when Lois had spent that day with her recently. Mutual friendship with The Last Scion of El.

Lois had wondered, really, if Diana harboured feelings for The Man. But... no. Not really. They had kissed, the second time they had met.

Kal had kissed her, and he'd told her that he'd been thinking about her all day.

It had been an extremely proficient kiss, and the memory of it still made Diana's lips tingle somewhat. And it made her wonder from time to time, what it would be like to have someone kiss you on a regular basis, and tell you, on a regular basis, that you were on their mind.

...Diana and Kal had decided to be friends.

But the idea was still there. And the possibility was still there.

Kal was such a mystery. And so was his heart.

But here, it seemed, was a kind of happiness for him. One of his own people.

Too young for Kal, Diana was sure. Kal was old-fashioned in that respect. But still. He wasn't quite alone in The Universe if other Kryptonians yet lived.

She beckoned Cassie over to her, who obeyed quickly.

"How do you think it's going?" she pondered.

"They're not hitting each other," Cassie noted. "Which, when superpeople meet, usually if they're going to hit each other that happens right away."

"Very astute," Diana murmured, with a rueful chuckle. "But you think it's going well?"

"Sure, I guess," Cassie nodded.

"Good," Diana nodded, and glanced up at the Eastern sky as The Sun began to creep over the horizon.

"Day is coming," she thought aloud, "and as much as I would prefer to be here to greet Helios and his Apollonic light, I have things to do still which are not unrelated to night."

"You're leaving?" Cassie blinked. "But--?"

"I shall try to not be long," Diana assured her. "I'm trusting you to be ready in case things go wrong. I am always being told I need to delegate more. I'm trusting you. (Call Kon, if you think that you require back-up.)"

She glanced up at Superman, though still she was speaking to Cassie. "I'm trusting you. And you are in good hands."

"Okay," Cassie nodded nervously, grasping one end of her lightning-infused lasso. "Um. Batman told me that he would meet us here."

"All the more reason for me to think this situation well in hand," Diana chuckled softly. "(Though if Batman gets out of hand, I'm sure Artemis will happily subdue him for us.)"

"What?" Cassie blinked, and then blushed. "Oh. Ewh. She's got a thing for him, huh?"

Diana sighed, and shook her head, a tiny little smirk on her lips. "I think it's the voice."

And then she flew off, and Cassie waved to her as she went.

Then Cassie turned, and smiled awkwardly at Artemis, a short distance away.

Oblivious, Artemis arched an eyebrow. "Cassandra. What?"

Cassie just shook her head and watched The Kryptonians, and kept her thoughts to herself. Ewh, Artemis. Just, ewh.

Artemis just grunted, and followed Cassie's example in regarding the reunion.

Diana, meanwhile, soared further up the terraced mountainside of Paradise Island, looking for a particular temple...

She had only discovered this place's presence very recently. She'd never known about it in her childhood. Indeed, the temple's entrance was recessed into the side of mountain in such a fashion that even a sharp-eyed individual like herself could barely make it out unless they were looking straight at it.

A marking above the surprisingly small entrance to the surprisingly small structure, carved into dark marble, depicted a mountain rising out of the clouds. Not one other indication existed as to this doorway's purpose.

Diana ducked slightly to move through the entrance-- that was how small it was, and how tall she was --and did so with a modicum of confidence. This place would not have even appeared to her, not even if she'd been looking right at it, would not appear to anyone unless their reasons for seeking it out had been deemed valid.

She stood there in the darkness for a moment, darkness which seemed to reach back forever.

And then she turned, and went straight back out the way she'd come.

And stepped not out into the twilit dawn of Themyscira, but the great golden light of Olympus.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Wonder Woman: "Up Up Up Up Up Up"

Sometimes a blossom opens from a bud.

The bud is often unslightly, greens and browns more often reserved for swamp grass and mud, though it's not without a certain geometric charm.

But then, with the touch of Spring, the bud cracks its unappealing shell and reveals petals, ever-expanding folds of pink or red or white or any colour in the rainbow, reaching down into seeming layers of infinity.

Nested within that bloom is the promise of life, pistils and stamens, the next generation... but unless you peer very closely indeed, that promise can elude you, a secret well-tended, well-kept.

This is not unlike traveling from Earth to Olympus.

The world of Earth is beautiful indeed.

But stepping out from that temple gateway and straightening to gaze upon The Citadel of The Gods, Diana saw a whole new level of beauty. Gravity and other merely incontrovertible principles seemed suspended, as walls of pristine white swirled up and up and up and up, touched by golden light and decorated with grass of emerald green. No building seemed built on quite the same plane as the others, and some buildings cropped out from the sides of others in defiance of three-dimensional modes of thinking.

Each palace, each temple, was more beautiful than the one before it.

And among those palaces and temples were secrets of Life and Truth undreamed of by Man. Though even here, they were nearly impossible to decipher.

Diana had called this home for a time.

She stood there in its warm breezes for a moment, and she closed her blue blue eyes and stretched her arms out wide.

It was very much like Coming Home.

"GANGWAY!" a cry resounded at the top of its lungs, and as Diana's eyes snapped open she was already moving, bounding off the path and landing in a warrior's crouch in the middle of a carefully-tended lawn.

Battle was not unheard of even in these hallowed realms, after all!

The instant before she touched down, a blur flashed past her at speeds beyond even her comprehension.

And then it zipped back into her line of sight and stopped. Grinning.

"Hermes!" she beamed with delight as she straightened to stand. "Sacred Messenger, how fare you?"

"Feels good to be alive, again," the boyish trickster grinned, eyebrows waggling beneath the helmet he wore, petasus wings golden against the silver steel of the skullcap. "Thanks for that, by the way."

Diana grinned, and bowed her head respectfully. "I only wish I had been granted leave to save you sooner."

"Ain't no thing but a chicken wing," He pushed that helmet back up onto his head at a jaunty angle with his caduceus and smirked at her appreciatively, his long brown hair spilling around his bronzed shoulders. "I owe you dinner, 'kay? Thank you properly."

He waggled his eyebrows, leaned in a little closer. "And I do mean... properly."

Diana scrunched one eye shut, chuckling. "Hermes."

Hermes blinked, confused. "Uhm. What?"

"It is good to know," Diana grinned, "that Death has not changed you."

Hermes grinned from ear to ear. "Back at ya, doll."

Diana put her hands on her hips. "Have you seen my mother anywhere in your travels?"

Hermes made a face. "All the Major Arcana are at The Palace Athene."

He smirked faintly: "(You like that? 'Palace Athene.' I came up with that, like, ages ago.)"

"(It's very witty,)" Diana opined, with just the slightest roll of her eyes.

The Herald and Healer grew slightly more serious, then. "Athena's got everyone gathered for a morning meeting. I guess The Underworld's still in an uproar from your last visit. Hades is pissed. I think they're going to be in there for awhile."

Hermes straightened his helmet and, standing on one leg, awkwardly scratched at one of the talaria wings cropping out from the ankles of his sandaled feet. "(Big changes lately. I sure hope Big Papa Zeus is enjoying his little retirement. Athena's a good boss, but she's... tenacious.)"

Diana turned her head, gazed up up up towards The Palace Athene. "You expect that they will be some time, then?"

"Yeah," Hermes nodded, both feet back on the ground. "I'd sorta count on it. You wanna grab a snack or something? I know this great place across the way in Asgard, right near The Rainbow Bridge? (I promise I'm not trying again to get you drunk.)"

Diana shook her head, smiling. You really are incorrigible.

Out loud, she murmured: "I think I shall sit, and I shall wait."

Hermes nodded, though he did seem slightly disappointed. "Hey, that's cool. Catch you on the flipside?"

"I am looking forward to it," Diana smiled. Truthfully.

And then in a blur of togas and muscle and sun-browned skin, Hermes was gone.

Diana approached The Palace Athene, and sat upon a marble bench she had once shared with a troubled priest named Donald Morris.

She sat, alone with her thoughts in The Citadel of The Gods. And she said a little prayer of thanksgiving that Athena had granted her a measure of the goddess' infinite Patience along with her Wisdom.

 

[LuckyVic]

"This might sound strange, Kal-El," Kara began, "but my name is Kara Zor-El. Your father and my father were brothers." she explained.

"My father sent me in a ship right after you left Krypton. He told me we would be on the same trajectory, but something must have happened to my ship," Kara added, though the last part was more of a thought said out loud to herself.

"Your right it does sound strange. But in over the twenty years that I've been here on Earth I have seen far stranger things." he told her. He still wasn't sure if he believed her or not. But as he told her, stranger things had happened. But something just felt as if she were telling him the truth. It was there in his gut. "There are about a thousand different things that I want to ask you, and I'm sure that you have the same. And in time we'll get our answers I'm sure." he told her confidently.

Among those questions he had was whether or not they were really related. He was sure that he could have Prof. Hamilton look her over. He had checked him out so often he could tell. But he wasn't sure if he wanted anyone else to know that there was another Kryptonian around, much less she was family to Superman, at least not yet. He could also use the advanced technolgy at the fortress, along with the robots, to give her an examination. In fact the technology at the Fortress might even better. Since he might even be able to tell if she was from this reality or another. After all he had been through something like this before.

 

[Lunaramblings]

There was a flash of purple and gold just behind Diana.

"Diana? How good to see you. There seems to be much at hand. Why am I not surprised to find you at it's heart. You are well I trust.

Doctor Fate levitated before Diana.

 

[Lunaramblings]

As Bruce redonned his suit and cowl, he went over a mental list of options. He needed to get to Themyscira. He needed to get there fast. And his jet was trashed. He could take a corporate jet and parachute onto the island. He could take a helicopter, but both were too slow. He looked at the harness sitting nearby.

It took a lot of juice out of it even for smaller jaunts. But Scott had warned him that it could make a long distance jump, but that doing so would probably cause it to explode.

Batman pulled the cowl over his rugged features as he made his decision. Batman lifted the harness and put it back on. He toggled a few dials and then was gone.

Over the ocean, just northeast of Themyscira, there is an explosion, as Batman arrived in the sky. He quickly severed the harness just before detonation. Quickly he flicks his cape into a glider-like form and starts soaring toward the island several miles away. As he began to descend he sets off small rockets in his boots, providing the final push to the island.

Landing, he nods to Artemis and the gathered ladies.

"The Detective wishes to visit Diana. With your welcome of course." Batman takes a knee. While he finds the ordeal obnoxious, he is knowledgable enough to know better than to be discourteous.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Wonder Girl and The Amazons

The whine of small booster jets was quite audible to keen warrior ears. Many of the women had gathered to see the sight, to puzzle at the speech of the two beings from beyond the stars as they confided in each other, as they felt each other out. These women looked up and muttered sharply, wondering at the possibility that this, too, was a threat.

Spears were gripped.

Artemis drew her sword once more.

And then one patch of night peeled away from the great expanse of dawning sky.

The Batman touched down, and he nodded, and he knelt: "The Detective wishes to visit Diana. With your welcome of course."

Artemis' lip quirked, and her eyes lidded halfway, and she lowered her sword but did not put it away.

Phillipus, meanwhile, strode to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder, and smiled a delighted smile. "Rise, Hunter of Shadows and Righter of Wrongs. Stand you not on stale ceremony. Stand you on rights earned in the fire and the steel of battle. Gods walk Themyscira freely, but you are a man who has challenged gods. Rise."

Awkwardly, tiredly, Cassie put her hands in her pockets and smiled lopsidedly at Batman.

"He's talking with the new girl. Don't worry, you haven't missed any violence or anything. Diana had some errands to run, I guess? She said she'd try to not be long."

 

[ChasNicollette]

Wonder Woman

Diana sat up a little bit straighter as The Ankh, the Ancient Egyptian symbol for Everlasting Life, took shape in the air...

And from this symbol's glowing embrace emerged one of the greatest forces for balance that Magic had ever known. She was a little taken aback, at first, that he strolled so freely onto Olympus, but then again, Doctor Fate lived in a tower with a great many doors, doors to all manner of times and places and planes of existence.

(She wouldn't be surprised if he had a door onto New Genesis, or onto The Rock of Eternity, or even Mxyzptlk's Fifth Dimension. Mount Olympus, perhaps, was a matter of course.)

As to how he had known she had wished to speak with him...

Well. They did not call Fate's mystical benefactor Nabu The Wise for nothing. His knowledge was often just as extensive as it was inscrutable.

She smiled softly at the golden-helmed sorcerer, and she moved sideways upon the bench to permit him room if he wanted to join her in sitting.

"Hello, Doctor," she greeted him. "I am as well as can be expected, under the circumstances, thank you very much for asking. I hope that the same is true for you?"

Arms crossed over her stomach, Diana scrutinised Fate.

"It seems I have had several mysteries visited upon me at once," she explained. "And some may or may not be more easily solved than others. (Hopefully, Kal is solving one of them right now, but that is neither here nor there.)

"You can communicate with your predecessors using the amulet you wear, is that right?" she mused. "The Amulet of Anubis? Because I need to ask you about Doctor Fate's activities during World War Two."

 

[Lunaramblings]

Batman looked at Artemis with respect. Truth be told, Batman often felt more akin to these warriors than he did most others. They did what must be done. They did not fear facing great odds. They reveled in it. They, among all the peoples Batman had met, were honorable.

"Glad to meet again Artemis. Thank you for the welcome. Is there anymore you can tell me of this... girl?" Batman stood watching the two Kryptonians talking. His mind instantly analyzing every move. Every mannerism. Looking for a tell. Irritatedly, he was forced to concede he saw none. However, it is entirely possible that the girl has been superbly trained.

"Kal-El! A word please."

 

[Lunaramblings]

Doctor Fate declined the seat on the bench, instead he folds his legs into an "indian position" and continues to levitate.

"For an old friend I am willing to do as I can. What knowledge do you seek? If my predecessor is willing I will impart that which he grants."

Doctor Fate reached into the aether. Faces and voices were all around. Previous bearers of the Mantle. Doctor Fate found the one to which he wished to speak.

I have an inquiry. Diana of Themyscira, The Wonder Women, seeks your wisdom and knowledge.

I will do that which I feel I must. Proceed.

"Whenever you wish Diana."

 

[ChasNicollette]

Wonder Woman

"Whenever you wish Diana."

"I know not with whom I speak," Diana spoke up, loud and clear, as she did not know through how many voices in the helm Fate would have to strive to hear her. "But, I believe that this question is addressed to the Doctor Fate called Kent Nelson. I recently exchanged pleasantries with a darksome fellow who claimed to be an associate of yours. He fought alongside you during World War 2, on a secretive team formed independently of The Justice Society of America. He seemed truthful, but I remain dubious: Did you do battle, brothers in arms, with a man known as 'Wraith?'"

 

[Lunaramblings]

Doctor Fate sat before Diana. Yes, I was once Kent Nelson. And yes. I knew Wraith quite well. He used to call me Buckethead, And I called him Nephilim. He was a valiant warrior, and a good friend. Did he seem well? Is there more you wish to know?"

 

[LuckyVic]

Batman looked at Artemis with respect. Truth be told, Batman often felt more akin to these warriors than he did most others. They did what must be done. They did not fear facing great odds. They reveled in it. They, among all the peoples Batman had met, were honorable.

"Glad to meet again Artemis. Thank you for the welcome. Is there anymore you can tell me of this... girl?" Batman stood watching the two Kryptonians talking. His mind instantly analyzing every move. Every mannerism. Looking for a tell. Irritatedly, he was forced to concede he saw none. However, it is entirely possible that the girl has been superbly trained.

"Kal-El! A word please."

Clark and kara had been talking, Clark had told her about his life on Earth, some of the things he had seen. He got so caught up in his Kryptonian conversation that he almost didn't notice the new visitor. He looked and saw that it was Bruce. He also remembered what Wonder Girl had told him. So before Kara could act. "Don't worry about him, believe it or not he's actually a friend. If you'll excuse me a moment I need to talk with him." he told her.


Clark walked over to Bruce a few feet away from Kara. Not that this distance would have stopped her from hearing them. Fortuantely she didn't know english, as such their conversation would be private. "What have you learned so far?" he asked the detective.

 

[Lunaramblings]

Batman regarded Clark.

Sometimes Clark could be foolishly naive. Unable to see that there are more cards in play then those that are on the table. It was possibly Clark's biggest weakness. And, at times his greatest strength.

Clark believed in the good within all people. Batman believed that there is no reason to believe in a persons goodness until they prove it to you. Batman regarded Clark with no small amount of frustration.

"I didn't mean to interrupt the mutual love association over here, but have you considered your situation here? You don't find it odd that this girl, seemingly Kryptonian, happens to crash into a place where she can immediately be sheparded to you? This very well could be some plan set in motion by Luthor. Or Darkseid, Brainiac, Vandal Savage, Grodd... any one or any combination of them could have put this together. For once be cautious. You don't know if you can trust her yet."

Batman continues to stare down Clark.

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

Kara Zor-El felt like wrapping her arms around her cousin and giving him a hug, but he didn't seem to be quite as happy at seeing her as she was in seeing him. Perhaps his time on Earth had dulled down his sense, or maybe he was just being what she was not: an adult. Kal had certainly grown older, and from the looks of it, stronger.

After a little bit of conversing in Kryptonian, Kara noticed the sudden arrival of the hooded figure from earlier that day.

His black wings and cold stare (not to mention his treatment of her earlier) angered the young Kryptonian, but Kal-El seemed to trust him.

Or at least he seemed to acknowledge his presence as being non-threatening.

As Kal-El walked away from her, Kara folded her arms and watched them both with intensity. If this human was to try anything funny she'd be on him faster than he could blink.

Kara Zor-El just simply did not trust the Batman.

 

[Wyldfire]

Oracle.

The telemetry data was grinding away. Possibilities were being churned out of the mix. It was hours or days from being done. Barbara turned her attention briefly to Huntress.

Huntress had arrived on the scene of the building that had went up in a column of fire. There hadn't been anything there worth her attention or worth Hell's desire to hurt. She had given Huntress the order to pack it in for the night. She had promised her operative the information on the drug shipment by the next night. That had placated her enough to get her to head in for the night.

She turned her attention back to Batman's request. "Okay Mister Mystery, let's see what we can do about you. Just be a good little rabbit and don't make this too difficult." she said as she went to her search results.

The initial results were almost less than useful. He had been sighted last night near the big incident but after that not much. Then there was the Man bat sighting, but that just felt wrong.

Oracle brought up a split screen with a file shot of the true Man Bat in nearly the same profile as the newest. She slowly merged the two pictures. Even to her eye it wasn't a match. But to make sure, she brought up everything on the Man Bat from her limited access to the Bat computer's files.

Doctor Kirk Langstrom was nowhere near Gotham. So that ruled out Man Bat. Using the image she began another search adding to the image text from the eye witness report. The search engines began to wind up for the search.

As they did Barbara wheeled herself over to where the coffee pot was and poured herself a cup, throwing in more sugar than she normally would with a bit of cream. The sugar and fat would give her the energy she would need to see things out.

as she returned to the system the engines had found two or three possibilities. Obsidian was right out. He was with the J.S.A. and on a tight leash after the last time he'd snapped.

One of the other results was Ragman, but Ragman was out of Gotham now with the Shadowpact, so that cut him out probably. She did however make the decision to contact Zatana to verify this.

The third was interesting. It was a reference to a book published in 1940. "Deities and Daemons: The rise of the Supermen". She brought up an E-mail server for an alias of her own. Bernadette Gibson, a purveyor of rare books. Alias' were something she had gotten all of the Birds to create as information gathering resources. She composed a request to Old Bernie Goldberg, a book seller that tended to be able to find almost anything Bernadette had ever asked for. She'd probably have the book in her possession within a day or two.

She brought up one of her phone services and dialed a number, leaving the message for Zatana to get back to her asap, in regards to the disposition of Ragman, then went to making a preliminary report to give to Batman.

 

[LuckyVic]

Batman regarded Clark.

Sometimes Clark could be foolishly naive. Unable to see that there are more cards in play then those that are on the table. It was possibly Clark's biggest weakness. And, at times his greatest strength.

Clark believed in the good within all people. Batman believed that there is no reason to believe in a persons goodness until they prove it to you. Batman regarded Clark with no small amount of frustration.

"I didn't mean to interrupt the mutual love association over here, but have you considered your situation here? You don't find it odd that this girl, seemingly Kryptonian, happens to crash into a place where she can immediately be sheparded to you? This very well could be some plan set in motion by Luthor. Or Darkseid, Brainiac, Vandal Savage, Grodd... any one or any combination of them could have put this together. For once be cautious. You don't know if you can trust her yet."

Batman continues to stare down Clark.

"I plan on being cautious." he told Bruce. "There are some things that she told me that I'll need to check in on. And yes I've thought about all those possibilities that you mentioned as well as others. For instance the fact that she clains she's my cousin. However improbable, it might be the truth. As such there are only a few ways I can think of to verify her story. And since I don't want her existence revealed to the world as yet, I'll not be taking her to STAR labs or Prof. Hamilton. Which leaves me one more place. So I'll be taking her to the Fortress. There I can examine her and determine at least some of what's going on here." he told Batman.

He knew Bruce was being cautious, but Bruce believed in having people prove themselves first. While he was a little more willing to take things on faith. Maybe it was his Smallville upbrining, but the reason really didn't matter to him. It was a fact. "See what you can determine on your end. Her ship might possess some clues, especially if we can reverse it's trajectory." he suggested. Although knowing Bruce, he was probably already working on that or something like that.

 

[Lunaramblings]

Batman looked to the girl. "You realize this may all very well be a trap. Oracle is looking into things. If this is a trap, is it really the best idea to have her at The Fortress? She is safe here. Perhaps Diana could watch over her. Just until we find out the truth. Batman looked over to the girl. He could tell she didn't like him. He didn't much care.

"Clark, you have to be careful what you say. She could be simply telling you what you most want to here. Isn't this very thing your greatest dream? To find other Kryptonians? To find your Real family?"

 

[ChasNicollette]

Wonder Woman

Doctor Fate sat before Diana. Yes, I was once Kent Nelson. And yes. I knew Wraith quite well. He used to call me Buckethead, And I called him Nephilim. He was a valiant warrior, and a good friend. Did he seem well? Is there more you wish to know?"

Diana digested this for a moment.

Her mother, too, had been a member of The JSA, and she had commented that Kent Nelson had always been something of an enigma, coming and going seemingly as he pleased... He would always come through in the end, always appear where and when he was needed most, but there had always been an air of mystery about him.

There was something about that helmet, The Helm of Nabu The Wise. When men or women donned that helmet, they were rarely ever the same. (Perhaps this had been why Jared Stevens had not worn it as a helmet, but had crafted its metals into other forms... he had not wanted to give himself wholly over to its influences.)

"Wraith seemed well enough," she murmured, her face its own mask of engima. "The fact that you and yours vouch for him counts for much."

She looked at him sidelong, though, and her voice took on an aura of omen, of import: "I can only wonder, since we are on the topic of affectionate nicknames... what did Wraith call the woman named 'Phedra?'"

 

[Lunaramblings]

A soft mournful chuckle issues from beneath the golden Helmet of Nabu.

"Lover. Friend. His soulmate. His and Phedre's relationship was complex. When he lost her he left these worlds for a long time. However, try as we might, we will always come back to our fate. Sooner or later.

Doctor Fate moves and takes the place on the bench beside Diana.

"As you well know Diana, love is a mighty thing. It is capable of great good, or great evil. I have seen many a man broken by the loss of his love. Wraith, was one of them. He left for a Realm to which he owes a certain allegiance. He spent a long time there trying to recover from his loss. In the end he made his peace. And he has returned. I hope peace has truly found him."

 

[ChasNicollette]

Zatanna: "All The Things She Said"

The West Coast was about three hours ahead of the East, and thus, as early in the morning as it was with The Sun dawning over The Atlantic, it was even earlier out bordering The Pacific.

But Zatanna Zatara had never been known to keep normal hours. And neither had her house... Shadowcrest had never been known to keep normal geography, let alone a reasonable schedule.

(For instance, when her father, Giovanni "John" Zatara, had ruled this roost, it had been a manse on the outskirts of Gotham City, not altogether far from a certain Wayne Manour.

But now, the house stood in San Francisco, as it had stood for the last seven years, beachfront property with a nice view of the bridge.)

She sat upon the living room couch, one leg hunched up to her chest as she painted her toenails a glossy black to match her long, raven-dark hair... not to mention the old-school top hat she often wore.

Cradled between her shoulder and her ear, her cellphone bore silent gentle witness to a lover's diatribe.

"--And then, the very next night," Zatanna scowled, "I catch him, drunk off his ass, methodically urinating in every potted plant in the house. He was cackling like a madman, and bellowing, 'let's see yeh sprout up unexpected in me 'ouse again, yeh leafy great bogseat!'"

"Oh, for God's sake," Grace replied, horrified. "(If Roy ever tried pulling shit like that?) Men can be such goddamned barbarians. Kinda makes you wonder how they ever survived in the wild."

"I know, right?" Zatanna snarled, shaking her head, disbelievingly.

"Speaking of which," Grace pondered, "where is The Bastard sleeping tonight?"

"I teleported him to Blackfriars Station," Zatanna muttered, as if this were some circle of Hell not chronicled by Dante, and there was something in the sound of the sorceress' voice that made powerhouse Grace Choi opt to not press the issue.

Before their conversation could continue, however, Zatanna's cellphone chirped at her, and she blinked. At this wee hour of the morning?

Ruefully, she shook her head. God, I just thought the word 'wee.' I am spending way too much time amongst The British.

She glanced at the face of the phone, and realised she had an incoming text message. From, of all people, The Great and Powerful Oracle.

Quickly, she returned the phone to her ear. "Grace, I gotta take this. Thanks for letting me vent."

"Anytime, girlfriend," Grace chuckled. "I was just getting outta work anyway. Bar closed hours ago, but there was a little extra cleanup tonight. I gotta little vampire's blood on the walls when I was beating the shit out of him."

"No rest for the wicked, right?" Zatanna grinned.

"S'right, girl," Grace chortled, "I knew you'd feel me. Anyhoo, dream sweet, don't let the bedbugs get to second base."

"G'night, Grace," Zatanna chuckled, and then takked the "end" key.

"Smaerd teews," she added quietly, half to herself.

And then she read Oracle's message.

'Request 20 on Rory "Ragman" Regan. ASAP, please and thank you.'

Zatanna arched a bemused eyebrow. So I'm the Minister of Magic now, am I?

She sighed dismally, and rubbed her forehead. Yes. I need to make more American friends.

And then she texted back: 'Ragman's been in Prague last few weeks, I think it's a Golem-related thing. Nightshade's with him. Dare I ask why you ask?'

 

[ChasNicollette]

Wonder Woman

"'Peace,'" Diana murmured softly, sadly, "is almost as hard to come by in life as is Truth. It seems I bear a resemblance to his lost love, and seeing me awakened a number of old memories for him. I should... apologise to him for this, when next I see him."

She arched an eyebrow, forcing herself to continue despite her brokenhearted compassion for the demon-man: "I don't suppose you know... if I am at all connected with Phedre? There's enough similarities that... that I cannot help but wrestle with curiosity. He knew not the mystery of her origins. Do you?"

 

[LuckyVic]

"That is completely possible Bruce." Clark admited. "However at the Fortress I'll be able to determine if she is a member of my family or not. Since it only responds to members of my house. Also if it does turn out to be a trap of some sort it's better to have a confrontation with another Kryptonian out there then anywhere else in order to avoid civilan casualties." Clark added.

If this was a trap there were defenses in the fortress that he could use against her. However if she was a member of the House of El the fortress would welcome her fully. The problem was what if she was a member of the House of El and still meant to do harm. It was another one of those possibilities, but Clark didn't think so. He did believe her story, and even though he had long ago come to terms that he was the last Kryptonian, he felt his heart sore at the thought of no longer being that.