The Last Daughter of Krypton - IC

[TearsoftheWorld]

Kara -

"It is indeed good to see you, Kelex. I have no doubt you will serve Kara Zor-El as well as you did her father."

"As long as I function... no harm will come to the daughter of Zor-El," Kelex stated proudly.

"Though, Kelex, if you would update your catalogue? I have discarded my traditional patronymic for the name of my husband's house. I would be called Raya-Sen, now."

"Of course," Kelex added, turning to address the wife of Var-Sen. "My congratulations to the both of you," the robot finished.

"This is the original reason for my mission to Earth," Var-Sen explained to Kara as he pulled a crystal out from his coat pocket. "This crystal was designed to add its contents to the Fortress' database. It contains a complete catalogue of the flora and fauna of Sanctuary, as well as information on the planet's rotation cycle, seasons, all that kind of thing."

"Wow. Really?"

""It also contains data pertaining to the use of Gate technology, like the one that allows us to travel between there and here. Should the Fortress see fit to construct a Gate, then it will do so of its own accord. I would caution, however, against using this technology indiscriminately. Transportation between this world and another is possible, but so is transportation to other dimensions, such as the Phantom Zone.".

Kara looked at the crystal, and even she was left in awe of the kind of power and capabilities that it held within it. The realm of possibilities locked within a tiny crystal... such a small little object.

Wisely she handed it off to Kelex, who hovered away into another room inside the Fortress to place it in safe keeping.

Var-Sen then turned to his wife. "Now that the mission is complete, and the crystal has been delivered, shall we return to our world?"

"Indubitably." Raya responded.

"Oh. Yeah. The real world."

"With school in it. And Kyle's... Yeah. 'Our world.'"

"Yeah. My parents are probably worried sick," Kara reasoned. She walked up to Var-Sen and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him close.

"I wish you didn't have to go. It was nice finally having... knowing that there are others like me out there. I'll miss you," the teenage Kryptonian added before she finally pulled herself away. She also hugged Raya, thinking her like a big sister. The young girl didn't want any of them to leave, but she knew that they had a lot of work to do.

And they'd be back.

She was sure of it.

The flight back to Smallville would be a tough one, but there was much to do. Much to rebuild. And classes...

Her parents WERE going to kill her for missing classes.

- I will not say: "Do not weep; for not all tears are an evil" - ​

 

[Lunaramblings]

Ceri's words made Thor smile. He held her eyes for a moment, then, as Chloe called to him he turned to her.

"It does this old soul to see you once again as well, Chloe Sullivan."

And then to Johnathan and Martha Kent.

"I do not trespass upon your land with ill thought," he told them, "and it is with apologies that I make my appearance suddenly to those unprepared.

He looked the Kents over closely. He placed a hand gently on Johnathan's shoulder. "Well met," he said.

He then turned to Chloe. "It is unfortunate that I may not stay long," he explained, "for I have much work to be done. If it suits the lord of this land," he stated, removing his hand from Johnathan's shoulder and bowing his head in respect, "though I shall stay until she arrives.

Merick grinned at the Thunder God. Merick extended an arm, sheathed in writhing emerald energies, in a matter of seconds, Merick had managed to form a hammer from the very same energies. Merick kneels to the ground, "Oh Thor, Mighty God of Thunder," Merick taps the haft of his hammer to the ground. "have you been fighting the forces of Darkness?" Merick grins foolishly beneath the emerald armor.

Merick stands and the hammer dissipates. "Sweet... didn't actually know I could do that... wasn't perfect, but it did look like a hammer... can't wait to show this to Grampa Edmund..."

 

[Lunaramblings]

Sandra Wu-San after watching David Cain leave ran towards the people in the hall finding Pete Ross, Edmund Tennyson and Dale Tennyson, There on the floor laid Paul Gordon. She blinked a few times and surveyed The room.

The Chinese girl then remarks, "Um I was about to say there is a crater down the hall but it looks like there is another crisis here. Need any help?"

She then levels her gaze at Edmund, "I recognise Pete and Dr. Tennyson but who are you and why are you standing on Mr. Gordon's desk?"

"She's astute," Jamie smirked delightedly, sliding his hands into his pockets, "very astute. Don't you think she's astute? (I saw the crater already, it's a bit of a whopper, ennit?)"

He leaned sideways a bit, next to Sandra's head, as though confessing a secret: "This... is Eddie. Say ''ello, Eddie.' And Eddie, being somewhat light on his feet and somewhat wiry in regards to strength, has provided us a wonderful demonstration of inertia. Now, being astute, and I can tell you're astute, I don't need to tell you what inertia is."

"Hello Eddie." Edmund nodded at the young girl before hopping off the desk.

That smirk danced on his lips.

"And I don't need to tell you that Eddie's standing there all dramatic like Johnny Depp on a car in Cry-Baby means he might need to work on his brakes."

"I will have you know that my brakes are just fine. Didn't know the situation, took the higher ground. Tactical advantage is all."

Pete grinned. "Okay, Mister G, time to put your trousers back on. There's a lady present."

"Yeah, wouldn't want to risk my pension and all... by the way Pete, you ever thought about med school? You seem like this first aid thing was a walk in the park. You need a reference let me know." Paul Gordon got to his feet and redressed quickly.

He nodded solemnly to Sandra. "'Sup?"

"Come to think of it," Jamie mused, moving closer to Paul, and offering him a hand up... "That's an excellent question. You've a bit of static about you, Paul. You all right?"

"Who? Me? Ah, I think I am okay. I mean, must've been a shockwave or something from whatever made that crater down the hall, must've knocked me off balance, hit my head, then here we are. No problem. I am fine."

"Not so sure Paul. You have no trauma injuries. Listen, why don't you come by the new office later, I know I am not exactly supposed to do this, but I have this new world class MRI machine, let me give you a scan, make sure everything is okay."

"I am fine. Scout's honor." Paul held up his hand in a traditional Boy Scout Salute.

"Alright Paul. Everyone okay?" Dale looked at the newcomer, smiling he nodded. "Anyone else down that you saw?"

 

[Lunaramblings]

Time is a funny thing. Space is a funnier thing yet. To most these are inextricably linked, to most these are linear truths that none can change. For an Immortal, these are nothing. Lu Yan had lived a long time. Truthfully, he could not remember ever having not lived. And he would live longer still. Lu Yan enjoyed traveling above all else. And that is what he was doing as he walked through one door, in the Middle Kingdom, and into a bar in Metropolis. In his travels his clothes changed, taking on the appearance of those any typical man might be seen wearing in a bar. Lu Yan smiles as he sits at the bar and orders a Dos Equis.

For several hours Lu is content to drink and laugh. As the night is coming to a close he feels the pull. Often times Immortals are drawn to a place. Often times an Immortal is pulled to the places where the world is meant to change. To observe and usher in the changes that the world goes through. On this night, he feels pulled toward a small town. Toward Smallville, a place where he has met an interesting young man, a place that he feels now is in the midst of a tumult.

As Lu Yan steps out of the bar, he finds himself in a scene of mayhem. A scene that he fears might mean he is too late.

 

[AmenRa]

Once More Into The Breech

"I wish you didn't have to go. It was nice finally having... knowing that there are others like me out there. I'll miss you," the teenage Kryptonian added before she finally pulled herself away.

Var-Sen held her close, held her tight. "I, too, will miss you," he replied to her. He held her gaze for a moment. "I am proud of you, Kara Zor-El. And a little sad, for now you are growing up and no longer the small girl I once held in my arms in your father's laboratory. He would indeed be proud of you."

He released her, and after she and Raya had said their goodbyes, he stepped close to Rose. He held her eyes for a moment as well, then broke into a lopsided grin. He grasped her in a hug. "I miss you already," he whispered. "Smile when you hold the stone I gave you and know that I am thinking of you."

He took his wife's hand.

"If you would permit me, Kelex?" he asked as he rearranged a crystal on the Fortress' console.

Behind them, shimmering light appeared arranged in a perfect circle.

The Gate had been opened.

Var-Sen turned once more prior to stepping through. "Tell Chloe to always look deeper," he said.

And then he was gone.

 

[Varshanka]

A newcomer walks the Halls.

Moving with discretion and secrecy, the newcomer, slipped back into the school, hiding in plain sight as she walked the halls once more. Her heart beating rapidly as she strove to repress the cold heat the was within. The heat that screamed to be free. That ached to wreak havoc and lose the dogs of Kaos.

Instead, she kept herself in check, her teeth grinding, her jaw clenching. She’d returned the equine to it’s pasture, and now she returned to her own pasture. A school of mischief and malcontents. But she could feel the shining beacons of calm and peace within it. She could feel them, and was drawn to them, even as she was repulsed by their pureness. Their Innocence.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Rose and Raya. "Further up and further in."

"I wish you didn't have to go. It was nice finally having... knowing that there are others like me out there. I'll miss you," the teenage Kryptonian added before she finally pulled herself away.

Var-Sen held her close, held her tight. "I, too, will miss you," he replied to her. He held her gaze for a moment. "I am proud of you, Kara Zor-El. And a little sad, for now you are growing up and no longer the small girl I once held in my arms in your father's laboratory. He would indeed be proud of you."

Quietly, sheepishly, Rose rubbed the back of her head, and chuckled softly, having seen that small child once in telepathic holography, having seen that laboratory, she found that she couldn't help but agree with her one-time professor.

'Proud,' she decided, wouldn't begin to cover it. And I get the feeling. Like this stone in my hand. Kara's just getting warmed up.

But then Raya was placing her hand on Rose's shoulder and Rose blinked.

Raya nodded to her solemnly. Not a word was spoken.

"Th-thank you," Rose murmured, hesitant, "for The Fastball Special. It meant a lot to me."

Raya's lip curved in a gentle, respectful nigh-invisible smile. "Of course."

But then Var-Sen was done hugging Kara and Raya moved to her side instead.

"Say what you will about the crimson crystal," Raya pointed out, "in unleashing your instincts it proved how formidable a warrior you are. Do not fear those instincts. Do not, of course, let them control you, but you should also trust them in times of dire emergency."

Raya, too, took Kara in her arms and hugged her, in the custom of Earth. "Fare you well, Last Daughter of Krypton."

And she released Kara, and nodded to her. Solemnly. In the custom of their mutual birthworld.

...after she and Raya had said their goodbyes, he stepped close to Rose. He held her eyes for a moment as well, then broke into a lopsided grin. He grasped her in a hug. "I miss you already," he whispered. "Smile when you hold the stone I gave you and know that I am thinking of you."

Rose found herself gazing into the blue eyes of The Man in Black and she wondered if all Kryptonians had eyes so blue, bluer even than her arctic-sky eyes. And then she couldn't help but grin, his grin was almost as infectious as Pete or Mer's, and then she was enfolded in arms that could crush mountains.

She hugged him back as tight as she could and she didn't have to worry about hurting him in the least. "I will, sir. I promise to use this artefact only for good. (And I'll miss you, though having a souvenir takes the edge off.)"

Moving away from Kara, Raya reunited with Var-Sen.

He took his wife's hand.

"If you would permit me, Kelex?" he asked as he rearranged a crystal on the Fortress' console.

Behind them, shimmering light appeared arranged in a perfect circle.

The Gate had been opened.

Var-Sen turned once more prior to stepping through. "Tell Chloe to always look deeper," he said.

"Of-of-of," Rose mumbled, "of course."

As they stepped into the gleaming portal that was The Gate, Raya glanced at her husband and frowned softly, and leaned in close, and murmured wonderingly: "What does it mean: 'Fastball Special?'"

Catching this murmur with ears not entirely dull, Rose broke into a beaming grin.

And then he was gone.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Matthew. "Recovering the Satellites."

Moving with discretion and secrecy, the newcomer, slipped back into the school, hiding in plain sight as she walked the halls once more. Her heart beating rapidly as she strove to repress the cold heat the was within. The heat that screamed to be free. That ached to wreak havoc and lose the dogs of Kaos.

Instead, she kept herself in check, her teeth grinding, her jaw clenching. She’d returned the equine to it’s pasture, and now she returned to her own pasture. A school of mischief and malcontents. But she could feel the shining beacons of calm and peace within it. She could feel them, and was drawn to them, even as she was repulsed by their pureness. Their Innocence.

Keeping his distance, Matthew the Raven flew along after The Newcomer, alternating beats of his wings with rising and gliding on the winter wind, circling like the carrion bird he had become.

Once he had been human. The husband of a beautiful woman. But he'd lost that in a terrible accident, drunken driving, his fault. But instead of being taken into Death's chilly grasp, he'd been offered a chance. A chance.

Dream required a Raven. One Raven at a time, but always one Raven. And Matthew, much to his occasional bewilderment, had become that blackbird.

He had been Morpheus' Raven when Morpheus had been Dream and as Morpheus died and Daniel was made manifest as the incarnation of Dream, Matthew remained to show the new kid the ropes. A Companion, of a sort.

Matthew knew a thing or two about dying and otherworldly creatures and nightmares who preyed on the eyes of the living and the waking. Matthew knew a thing or two about being a fish out of water and ushering rookies through standard operating procedure.

Perhaps this made him perfect to keep an eye on The Newcomer.

Or perhaps there were none perfect for this.

He fluttered and settled upon a branch of a tree not far from the football field and carefully watched. Waited for The Newcomer to exit anew.

And though he felt a queasiness in his bones to behold her, he remembered that even The Corinthian had received a second chance and that nightmares weren't always all bad.

He blinked beady black eyes at Smallville High and waited. And watched.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Jamie, Pete, and Cam's Sandra Wu-San, with apologies to Varshanka.

Sandra Wu-San after watching David Cain leave ran towards the people in the hall finding Pete Ross, Edmund Tennyson and Dale Tennyson, There on the floor laid Paul Gordon. She blinked a few times and surveyed The room.

The Chinese girl then remarks, "Um I was about to say there is a crater down the hall but it looks like there is another crisis here. Need any help?"

She then levels her gaze at Edmund, "I recognise Pete and Dr. Tennyson but who are you and why are you standing on Mr. Gordon's desk?"

"She's astute," Jamie smirked delightedly, sliding his hands into his pockets, "very astute. Don't you think she's astute? (I saw the crater already, it's a bit of a whopper, ennit?)"

He leaned sideways a bit, next to Sandra's head, as though confessing a secret: "This... is Eddie. Say ''ello, Eddie.' And Eddie, being somewhat light on his feet and somewhat wiry in regards to strength, has provided us a wonderful demonstration of inertia. Now, being astute, and I can tell you're astute, I don't need to tell you what inertia is."

"Hello Eddie." Edmund nodded at the young girl before hopping off the desk.

Sandra continued gazing at "Eddie" with a not-unreasonable modicum of incredulity. "Oh. Oh, yes, I get your joke. Ni hao ma, Eddie. I am Sandra Wu-San."

That smirk danced on his lips.

"And I don't need to tell you that Eddie's standing there all dramatic like Johnny Depp on a car in Cry-Baby means he might need to work on his brakes."

"I will have you know that my brakes are just fine. Didn't know the situation, took the higher ground. Tactical advantage is all."

Jamie scoffed, bemused. "Oh, please. We both know that only works in bad Star Wars prequels. 'You were The Chosen One and will eventually kill nearly all The Jedi living but oh, look, I'm up a slight incline from you and I've lopped off all your remaining limbs.'"

Pete grinned. "Okay, Mister G, time to put your trousers back on. There's a lady present."

"Yeah, wouldn't want to risk my pension and all... by the way Pete, you ever thought about med school? You seem like this first aid thing was a walk in the park. You need a reference let me know." Paul Gordon got to his feet and redressed quickly.

Pete blinked in surprise. "Yeah, I've thought about med school. Ma wants me to go into the new family business, but I-- yeah. Gracias, sir. Might just take you up on that."

He nodded solemnly to Sandra. "'Sup?"

Sandra reflected that she had never quite understood the etymology of that greeting. Weighing the information at hand, she decided that, like 'ni hao ma,' this ''sup?' must be a seeking after the health and well-being of the person, asking if they had eaten today. "Supped." And thus she nodded, firmly.

"Yes," she declared. "And you?"

Pete stared. "Uh, sure."

"Come to think of it," Jamie mused, moving closer to Paul, and offering him a hand up... "That's an excellent question. You've a bit of static about you, Paul. You all right?"

"Who? Me? Ah, I think I am okay. I mean, must've been a shockwave or something from whatever made that crater down the hall, must've knocked me off balance, hit my head, then here we are. No problem. I am fine."

"Not so sure Paul. You have no trauma injuries. Listen, why don't you come by the new office later, I know I am not exactly supposed to do this, but I have this new world class MRI machine, let me give you a scan, make sure everything is okay."

"I am fine. Scout's honor." Paul held up his hand in a traditional Boy Scout Salute.

"Alright Paul. Everyone okay?" Dale looked at the newcomer, smiling he nodded. "Anyone else down that you saw?"

Sandra shook her head briskly, quietly. "I do not believe so. I was preoccupied with the crater."

Jamie pursed his lips, darkening somewhat with what he'd seen there.

"Quite right, too."

He had told that deputy a goodly number of things, and all of them were true.

But he hadn't told the deputy about the footprint. There in the exploded restroom, there had been a footprint smeared upon the tile going in, a footprint consistent with the build and gait of a female student... but there was no such footprint going out. Instead, the footprint going out was massive, consistent with a much heavier creature, stride-length suggesting a six-foot height like his own.

And the exiting footprint wasn't smeared. It was seared. It had left burn marks, and had melted its way into the tile.

Jamie needed to talk to the Tennylson men and Pete about what he'd seen, but understandably couldn't do so in front of Paul Gordon or young Sandra.

He ran his tongue over his teeth, and nodded, and repeated himself: "Quite right, too."

 

[ChasNicollette]

Lex. "This means war."

Misty approached Lex and as soon as she was close enough she got inside the car not taking care to smooth her skirt and and get in in a ladylike manner. It revealed a good portion of her cream colored thighs but nothing that would truly embarass her. She was to distraught to care of such things and if Lex noticed she wasn't wouldn't know she was so lost in what she had learned from the boy.

Lex neatly averted his eyes before he would witness anything... compromising.

It was to his benefit if Misty believed he harboured some sort of infatuation with the girl. But there were certain lines he would not cross.

For her, he could be a gentleman.

After all, he reflected as he glanced away and then back again, back at her face, he wanted her for her mind, not her body. Perhaps suitors of her own age demographic could not describe their wanting to date her in such glowing terminology.

"I understand Lex. You have many reasons to remain anonymous I'm sure."

"You do understand," Lex nodded, smiling affectionately at her. "I thought you might."

Misty then began to tear up as she revealed what she had learned from the young boy.

Lex sat. Quietly. His fingers were steepled against his brow as he drank deeply of her words, as he digested and deciphered.

When he'd fought alongside these beings against The General, his ability to see had been limited. And when he'd been able to see again, his fixation on recovering The Elements of Power from the shattered Black Ship had been such that he had not taken the opportunity to observe those around him when he might have.

He had seen one man, an Englishman who claimed to have a gift of magic. But then the accursed dragonslayer had detonated a flash-bang in his face and he had been beaten unconscious and then blindfolded, whatever would keep him from learning secrets.

He knew the face of a beast he'd nicknamed Abraxas, and the woman Greystone was aiding and abetting them somehow, she had thus far fended off all his attempts to use LuthorCorp resources to bring her down or bring her in.

But while he had worn that accursedly ineffectual armour, he had seen a glimpse of golden hair. Like that of an angel.

There had been female voices as well as male, young and old, but they all had seemed deferent to the golden girl.

And the boy.

The boy whose mind Misty had examined had beheld the fringes of a fight that raged almost outside reality, but he remembered one thing with a clarity. He remembered a golden girl.

"This proves it," he growled softly, "this goes beyond coincidence. They're here."

He nodded firmly and smiled with a kind of predatory ferocity and genuine eye-shining gratitude at Misty, clasping her shoulder and squeezing it firmly as he looked her in her tear-stained eyes.

"Thank you. You have no idea how much this validates my work. But I need you to keep hunting. Now that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are here in Smallville, I need to know what they want from this place, from these people. Can you do this for me? Can you go and search the minds of Smallville for hints as to their hidden identities? A sleeper cell, at work in our very own town."

He shook his head and withdrew from her.

As Misty had talked, Cliff had pulled up outside, and Lex glanced at the limousine with a quiet quickness before returning his gaze to Misty's.

"Start with the school. The thoughts of the young-- present company excepted --are chaotic and undisciplined, if any in their number are posing as students here, their minds should be more likely to let slip secrets. Can you do this for me?"

 

[ChasNicollette]

Ceri and Chloe with Camerindrake's Damian and Dinah. Dispensing with pleasantries.

Ceri's words made Thor smile. He held her eyes for a moment, then, as Chloe called to him he turned to her.

"It does this old soul to see you once again as well, Chloe Sullivan."

Chloe grinned softly. "Oh, really. So old? What's time to an Aesir? You are not yet begun in years."

But there was something about him. Something different. He had... he had been through a lot. Chloe had literally been to Death's Door and perhaps that had nudged her perceptions slightly. Traumatic events could age even a god.

All the same, Thor was in good spirits, or seemed so. And Chloe took solace in that.

And then to Johnathan and Martha Kent.

"I do not trespass upon your land with ill thought," he told them, "and it is with apologies that I make my appearance suddenly to those unprepared.

He looked the Kents over closely. He placed a hand gently on Johnathan's shoulder. "Well met," he said.

He then turned to Chloe. "It is unfortunate that I may not stay long," he explained, "for I have much work to be done. If it suits the lord of this land," he stated, removing his hand from Johnathan's shoulder and bowing his head in respect, "though I shall stay until she arrives."

Chloe pondered that for a moment. And wondered what sort of work Thor had need to do. Perhaps The Watchtower could be of use to him once again?

Merick grinned at the Thunder God. Merick extended an arm, sheathed in writhing emerald energies, in a matter of seconds, Merick had managed to form a hammer from the very same energies. Merick kneels to the ground, "Oh Thor, Mighty God of Thunder," Merick taps the haft of his hammer to the ground. "have you been fighting the forces of Darkness?" Merick grins foolishly beneath the emerald armor.

Ceri arched an eyebrow. Well, that's a new trick.

Merick stands and the hammer dissipates. "Sweet... didn't actually know I could do that... wasn't perfect, but it did look like a hammer... can't wait to show this to Grampa Edmund..."

Chloe grinned softly, secretly amazed at the resourcefulness and creativity her boyfriend displayed, showing off his hidden depths. "A fitting tribute, eh, Thunderer? A Norse god has no objection to graven images, I hope?"

"Plasma manipulation," Damian corrected.

Chloe hesitated. "Well, yes. It's not strictly-- graven."

"While the colour of the plasma superficially resembles Starheart or Lantern energy," Damian mused, tapping his chin, "the make-up of the energy itself more resembles that used by Toni Monetti, at least according to files."

"Yeh have, of course," Ceri cleared her throat, speaking again to Thor, changing the subject, "met The Black Hood before, taking a mysterious dark warrior legacy and turning it to good. Yeh may not have met his minder, Dinah, of the great Gaels of Ireland."

Dinah inclined her head to Thor. "Pleased tae make yuir acquaintance," she drawled respectfully.

She then gave Damian a significant look, to which Damian did not immediately seem to react, he only stared at her from behind that implacable visor. Then, Damian looked pointedly at Thor.

"Good to see you again," he declared, as though politeness was something he had to practise in the mirror every morning.

 

[AmenRa]

With This Hammer I Shall Lead.....

Merick grinned at the Thunder God. Merick extended an arm, sheathed in writhing emerald energies, in a matter of seconds, Merick had managed to form a hammer from the very same energies. Merick kneels to the ground, "Oh Thor, Mighty God of Thunder," Merick taps the haft of his hammer to the ground. "have you been fighting the forces of Darkness?" Merick grins foolishly beneath the emerald armor.

Ceri arched an eyebrow. Well, that's a new trick.

Merick stands and the hammer dissipates. "Sweet... didn't actually know I could do that... wasn't perfect, but it did look like a hammer... can't wait to show this to Grampa Edmund..."

Thor watched him with a bemused expression, and then he nodded his head to the young man. "Indeed, the forces of evil are always ready to do battle, and I stand in their way," he said with no hint of modesty or exaggeration.

Chloe grinned softly, secretly amazed at the resourcefulness and creativity her boyfriend displayed, showing off his hidden depths. "A fitting tribute, eh, Thunderer? A Norse god has no objection to graven images, I hope?"

"This one does not," he answered her, "though my father would have called it a useless display of power, I call it a welcome greeting and tribute." He cupped his chin for a moment, then with laughter in his eyes to Merick he said, "should you choose to call upon such power, you will be called a god as well, and perhaps even have a day of the week named after you, too."

Thursday.

Thor's Day.

"Yeh have, of course," Ceri cleared her throat, speaking again to Thor, changing the subject, "met The Black Hood before, taking a mysterious dark warrior legacy and turning it to good. Yeh may not have met his minder, Dinah, of the great Gaels of Ireland."

Dinah inclined her head to Thor. "Pleased tae make yuir acquaintance," she drawled respectfully.

"And I, yours, Lady of the Emerald Isle."

She then gave Damian a significant look, to which Damian did not immediately seem to react, he only stared at her from behind that implacable visor. Then, Damian looked pointedly at Thor.

"Good to see you again," he declared, as though politeness was something he had to practise in the mirror every morning.

Thor returned the greeting with a bow of his head. He then fixed Chloe and Ceri with a gaze of blue, blue eyes.

"I was lost. Mjolnir was bereft of me. It took Blake through a long hardship to find this hammer and return it to me," he told them, "as Ragnarok has once again past, I am the last of the Aesir to step foot upon Midgard. I alone am the holder and keeper of the Odinpower, and I alone once again wield the hammer Mjolnir.

"The task set before me now is one of rebuilding. I have brought forth Asgard upon the plains of Oklahoma. It stands now empty, save for me. In time, I shall locate my brethren and Asgard will once again be whole.

"I shall soon take my leave of you to continue my task," he explained, "but should you need me, should you face a challenge or need my counsel you need but call to me, and I will come.

"And I will bring with me all the fury of the storm."

 

[Lunaramblings]

Merick grinned at the Thunder God. Merick extended an arm, sheathed in writhing emerald energies, in a matter of seconds, Merick had managed to form a hammer from the very same energies. Merick kneels to the ground, "Oh Thor, Mighty God of Thunder," Merick taps the haft of his hammer to the ground. "have you been fighting the forces of Darkness?" Merick grins foolishly beneath the emerald armor.[/I]

Ceri arched an eyebrow. Well, that's a new trick.

Merick stands and the hammer dissipates. "Sweet... didn't actually know I could do that... wasn't perfect, but it did look like a hammer... can't wait to show this to Grampa Edmund..."

Thor watched him with a bemused expression, and then he nodded his head to the young man. "Indeed, the forces of evil are always ready to do battle, and I stand in their way," he said with no hint of modesty or exaggeration.

Chloe grinned softly, secretly amazed at the resourcefulness and creativity her boyfriend displayed, showing off his hidden depths. "A fitting tribute, eh, Thunderer? A Norse god has no objection to graven images, I hope?"

"This one does not," he answered her, "though my father would have called it a useless display of power, I call it a welcome greeting and tribute." He cupped his chin for a moment, then with laughter in his eyes to Merick he said, "should you choose to call upon such power, you will be called a god as well, and perhaps even have a day of the week named after you, too."

"Useless display of power? Huh. Well, okay. I could give 'im that. But come on... it was pretty cool. Wonder how detailed I can make it... I am definately going to have to work on this thing..." Merick grins as he lowers his armor. "A day huh... as long as it isn't Monday. Monday sucks. Plus there's that old rhyme, "Solomon Grundy, Born on a Monday," not sure why, but Gramps used to talk about that all the time. Guess maybe it was his favorite. I could totally go for like Saturday, plus, seriously, I mean, Saturn already has a freakin' planet and a car. Course, the car leaves a little to be desired, but still, its the point."

Thursday.

Thor's Day.

"Yeh have, of course," Ceri cleared her throat, speaking again to Thor, changing the subject, "met The Black Hood before, taking a mysterious dark warrior legacy and turning it to good. Yeh may not have met his minder, Dinah, of the great Gaels of Ireland."

Dinah inclined her head to Thor. "Pleased tae make yuir acquaintance," she drawled respectfully.

"And I, yours, Lady of the Emerald Isle."

She then gave Damian a significant look, to which Damian did not immediately seem to react, he only stared at her from behind that implacable visor. Then, Damian looked pointedly at Thor.

"Good to see you again," he declared, as though politeness was something he had to practise in the mirror every morning.

Merick nonchalantly leans toward Thor. "We call him Pouty McAntisocial. Ok, by we I mean me. And only just now. But trust me, it fits. Dude has a better pout than R-Patts and Kristin Stewart combined."

Thor returned the greeting with a bow of his head. He then fixed Chloe and Ceri with a gaze of blue, blue eyes.

"I was lost. Mjolnir was bereft of me. It took Blake through a long hardship to find this hammer and return it to me," he told them, "as Ragnarok has once again past, I am the last of the Aesir to step foot upon Midgard. I alone am the holder and keeper of the Odinpower, and I alone once again wield the hammer Mjolnir.

"It sucks when you lose stuff, once, I lost my remote... I never did find it. But s'all good, I got a new TV, I kinda had to. I tried changing the channel with a little of the ol' green energy mojo... It's cool, I have much better aim and control now. I guess that actually has nothing to do with what you said. My bad. Anyone got a YooHoo?"

"The task set before me now is one of rebuilding. I have brought forth Asgard upon the plains of Oklahoma. It stands now empty, save for me. In time, I shall locate my brethren and Asgard will once again be whole.

"I shall soon take my leave of you to continue my task," he explained, "but should you need me, should you face a challenge or need my counsel you need but call to me, and I will come.

"And I will bring with me all the fury of the storm."

Merick disappeared for a split second before reappearing on the other side of Chloe with a YooHoo and a bendy straw in each hand. Merick pops the top on one and then the other and puts the straws in. Merick swooshes to Kyle's side. Still grinning like a fool he extends one to Kyle. "Sorry bout the face. I mean, I guess I could only improve it, but I shouldn'ta slugged you. We cool?"

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

Kara Zor-El

"If you would permit me, Kelex?" he asked as he rearranged a crystal on the Fortress' console.

Under most circumstances Kelex would not have permitted anyone but his Master to touch the crystals that operated the Fortress of Solitude. There were few alive that knew their functions and even fewer who knew how to manipulate them.

Given the circumstances, Kelex was willing to make an exception. He stepped aside as Var-Sen used the crystals in the central console to create a gateway to take them back towards Sanctuary.

Kara sighed after Raya and her husband stepped through the gate and disappeared, and once more Kara felt alone. There were so few of them left that she didn't want any of them to go. But they had an important mission of their own to accomplish and see to fruition.

Earth was under Kara's protection.

There was still much to be done to prepare her for that role. She gave Kelex the crystal that Var-Sen had given her and he in turn placed it into the power console and allowed the Fortress to absorb the information like a sponge.

Kara walked over to Rose and smiled.

"Ready to go home?"

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

The Kent Farm

"I do not trespass upon your land with ill thought," he told them, "and it is with apologies that I make my appearance suddenly to those unprepared.

He looked the Kents over closely. He placed a hand gently on Johnathan's shoulder. "Well met," he said.

Jonathan Kent wasn't exactly a colossus of a man, but he was considered fairly tall when compared to his peers. Standing in front of the Thunder god, though, he felt more like an ant than a man. The small world they lived in would never return. Farming was one thing, but raising an alien as a daughter and greeting legends was an entirely different matter.

"It is unfortunate that I may not stay long," Thor explained, "for I have much work to be done. If it suits the lord of this land though I shall stay until she arrives."

"You're welcome to stay as long as you'd like. I'm sure Kara and Rose will be back soon."

Martha gave her husband a reassuring squeeze before she turned to leave. There was quite a bit of work to do around the house, and they planned to have a long talk with their daughter over what had happened, even considering the extraordinary circumstances surrounding it all. They just couldn't keep sweeping things under the rug.

A fresh start was one thing, but Kara needed to be taught to take responsibility for what she had done.

Every action had its consequences.

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Wraith

I felt and heard Mer arrive before he spoke. While my hearing wasn't as enhanced as Rose or Kara, I was still pretty damn hard to sneak up on.

"Sorry bout the face. I mean, I guess I could only improve it, but I shouldn'ta slugged you. We cool?"

I took the drink from him and took a sip. "We were never not cool bro. Family's sometimes fight, but they always stay family."

I took another drink and held the bottle up in front of me. "You know I don't have to eat or drink. Hell, you watched me down three liters of Wild Turkey that one time when we were testing to see if I could get drunk." I took another sip.

"That was pretty bad. I can still taste you know. So out of all the liquids in the world, how the hell did you get addicted to this stuff? I think the booze tasted better."

I finished the drink and put the cap back on it. "Were cool amigo. I'm just glad Chloe is OK, along with the Kent's. Besides, you kept Rose sane when Shadow kidnapped me for ten days back in October. I can't pay you back for that one."

I stood up and looked over at the God and my friends. "Lets go see what His Almighty over there wants. Hopefuly the girls get back soon and I can get where I need to be."


I don't know why, but Thor frikin Odinson made my hair stand up on end. It's like we had met before, and it was not a pleasant experience.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Rose.

Kara walked over to Rose and smiled.

Rose, in turn, was still grinning, and turned her grinning gaze to her friend.

"Ready to go home?"

Rose nodded easily, tucking a weatherbeaten wartorn lock of hair back behind her ear.

It was so good to have her back.

There was still... a nagging. A worry that this might happen again. Who could blame her? There was more of that red rock out there. And Kara had been... horrifyingly capable of damage and mayhem.

She'd microwaved Kyle and J'onn both and Var-Sen had had the snot beat out of him.

But. God.

It was just so... reassuring... to have her back. Double-K. With her soul back in the driver's seat.

And she couldn't stop grinning.

"Yeah," Rose nodded.

She turned to Kelex for a moment and bowed respectfully, appreciatively to him. She'd always had a soft spot for artificial life. Golemns and Pinnochio and Neo-Sapiens and androids...

And then, taking a deep breath, she extended Kara her hand.

"Geronimo."

 

[AmenRa]

Letters From Home

It had been too late to return to the school, so J’onn J’onzz went instead to his favorite after-the-day’s work coffee shop, The Talon.

He ordered a cup of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee and picked up a copy of the latest Science Weekly publications. He sat back in an overstuffed chair and peered at the front cover of the magazine.

ANCIENT ARTIFACTS UNCOVERED IN ANTARTICA

There was a photo of what appeared to be very old pottery-type fragments. There was writing, or symbols on them. J’onn peered closer. He gasped out loud, then looked around to see if anyone had heard him. No one had paid him any mind, so he opened the magazine and thumbed quickly to the article.
The article informed him that a scientific expedition studying the millennia old ice of the Ross Ice Shelf found these pieces of stone buried within the ice. At first, the researchers believed them to be alien because of the strange symbols carved on them, apparently a language which no one has been able to translate. The researchers concluded, however, the pieces were from South America, carved by the natives years ago, then washed away in a great flood to be collected in the ice of the Ross Ice Shelf.

If they only knew how right their first assumption had been.

There were more, detailed photos of the pieces within the article. As J’onn looked, he formed his own theory about them. The language of the symbols, a kind of geometric flowing script, he could easily decipher.

It was the language of Mal’ecan’dra.

The language of Mars.

J’onn surmised these pieces had once been part of a stone wall where surveyors from his home world had written an account of their journey. He noted the article provided a web link that promised more photographs.

The Martian Manhunter, in his Professor Jones identity, found an empty Wi-Fi terminal. He logged onto the Science Weekly webpage, and located the link for the article.

He did find more photos, but none that were really more descriptive than those in the magazine. Except for one. One photo of one of the pieces contained the Martian words Z’onn Z’orr.

Z’onn Z’orr had been a stronghold established by a group of White Martians many thousands of years ago. It had been believed the base had been destroyed by the Manhunters after it was discovered the White Martians were using it as an outpost from which to abduct and study humans.

The pieces could be remnants of the base.

But, what if they weren’t?

What if Z’onn Z’orr still existed?

There was only one way J’onn was going to know the answer.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Chloe and Ceri with Camerindrake's Dinah and Damian.

Merick grinned at the Thunder God. Merick extended an arm, sheathed in writhing emerald energies, in a matter of seconds, Merick had managed to form a hammer from the very same energies. Merick kneels to the ground, "Oh Thor, Mighty God of Thunder," Merick taps the haft of his hammer to the ground. "have you been fighting the forces of Darkness?" Merick grins foolishly beneath the emerald armor.

Merick stands and the hammer dissipates. "Sweet... didn't actually know I could do that... wasn't perfect, but it did look like a hammer... can't wait to show this to Grampa Edmund..."

Thor watched him with a bemused expression, and then he nodded his head to the young man. "Indeed, the forces of evil are always ready to do battle, and I stand in their way," he said with no hint of modesty or exaggeration.

Chloe grinned softly, secretly amazed at the resourcefulness and creativity her boyfriend displayed, showing off his hidden depths. "A fitting tribute, eh, Thunderer? A Norse god has no objection to graven images, I hope?"

"Plasma manipulation," Damian corrected.

Chloe hesitated. "Well, yes. It's not strictly-- graven."

"While the colour of the plasma superficially resembles Starheart or Lantern energy," Damian mused, tapping his chin, "the make-up of the energy itself more resembles that used by Toni Monetti, at least according to files."

Thor had decided, evidently, that nitpicking plasma physics and the letter of the law of The Ten Commandments was counterproductive to the conversation.

"This one does not," he answered her, "though my father would have called it a useless display of power, I call it a welcome greeting and tribute." He cupped his chin for a moment, then with laughter in his eyes to Merick he said, "should you choose to call upon such power, you will be called a god as well, and perhaps even have a day of the week named after you, too."

Chloe grinned to herself. Mersday. I like it.

"Useless display of power? Huh. Well, okay. I could give 'im that. But come on... it was pretty cool. Wonder how detailed I can make it... I am definately going to have to work on this thing..." Merick grins as he lowers his armor. "A day huh... as long as it isn't Monday. Monday sucks. Plus there's that old rhyme, "Solomon Grundy, Born on a Monday," not sure why, but Gramps used to talk about that all the time. Guess maybe it was his favorite. I could totally go for like Saturday, plus, seriously, I mean, Saturn already has a freakin' planet and a car. Course, the car leaves a little to be desired, but still, its the point."

Ceri cleared her throat, arching her eyebrows. "'Tempt not the gods, lest they appear.' (Present company excepted, of course.) Besides, is it really wise for us to vex a god of dance given what's coming up this Friday? (Not to mention Saturnalia.)"

Chloe couldn't help but keep laughing, grinning, only Merick could change the subject even more easily and randomly than he could switch locations. To say nothing of him being a god of justice? And the harvest. Who wants to get killed by a sickle?

She paused, and then smirked a lopsided little smirk. (Granted, Mer' could probably run rings around him...)

Chloe had to admit that was quite a mental image. If she said so herself.

"Yeh have, of course," Ceri cleared her throat, speaking again to Thor, changing the subject, "met The Black Hood before, taking a mysterious dark warrior legacy and turning it to good. Yeh may not have met his minder, Dinah, of the great Gaels of Ireland."

Dinah inclined her head to Thor. "Pleased tae make yuir acquaintance," she drawled respectfully.

"And I, yours, Lady of the Emerald Isle."

She then gave Damian a significant look, to which Damian did not immediately seem to react, he only stared at her from behind that implacable visor. Then, Damian looked pointedly at Thor.

"Good to see you again," he declared, as though politeness was something he had to practise in the mirror every morning.

Thor returned the greeting with a bow of his head.

Merick nonchalantly leans toward Thor. "We call him Pouty McAntisocial. Ok, by we I mean me. And only just now. But trust me, it fits. Dude has a better pout than R-Patts and Kristin Stewart combined."

"F'r a lad who claims not to enjoy the Twilight franchise," Dinah noted with nary a bat of an eye, "ye sure do namedrop it an awful lot."

"Celebrity fixation," Damian intoned, as though unaware that Dinah was teasing. "Interesting. Preliminary indication of compromised mental integrity?"

Chloe covered her face with her hand. "Oh, not this again."

Thankfully, Thor seemed less than interested in their bantering.

He then fixed Chloe and Ceri with a gaze of blue, blue eyes.

Ceri stood up a bit straighter and, suddenly aware of the eyes of a god upon her, Chloe dropped her hand from her gaze.

"I was lost. Mjolnir was bereft of me. It took Blake through a long hardship to find this hammer and return it to me," he told them, "as Ragnarok has once again past, I am the last of the Aesir to step foot upon Midgard. I alone am the holder and keeper of the Odinpower, and I alone once again wield the hammer Mjolnir.

"It sucks when you lose stuff, once, I lost my remote... I never did find it. But s'all good, I got a new TV, I kinda had to. I tried changing the channel with a little of the ol' green energy mojo... It's cool, I have much better aim and control now. I guess that actually has nothing to do with what you said. My bad. Anyone got a YooHoo?"

Ceri glanced at Chloe. Chloe shrugged, as if to say: At least his self-awareness is improving?

Ceri swung her glance to Merick and shrugged. "Sorry, Yoohoo's off."

"The task set before me now is one of rebuilding. I have brought forth Asgard upon the plains of Oklahoma. It stands now empty, save for me. In time, I shall locate my brethren and Asgard will once again be whole.

This gave Ceri a bit of a chill. But not an unpleasant one.

The rebuilding of Asgard on the plains of the mortal plane was... unprecedented. It would be like actually climbing Mount Olympus and finding Zeus... or climbing Mount Sinai and meeting Moses on his way down.

And he was locating his brethren. Ceri wondered. Where was he locating them?

"I shall soon take my leave of you to continue my task," he explained, "but should you need me, should you face a challenge or need my counsel you need but call to me, and I will come.

"And I will bring with me all the fury of the storm."

Chloe squinted at him, feeling a rumble in her bones at the promise of his thunder.

"I believe I do not speak out of turn," Chloe offered him, "when I say that this godly oath goes both ways. I know not what form your search may take, but know that I have searched far and wide for great and terrible things. And should you need a help in searching and researching, I will do all that is in my power to assist you. I may not have fury of the storm, but I've got the power of the press, and that's not nothing."

Mer' retrieved two bottles of Yoohoo, practically a metabolic ambrosia for his powerset, and then vanished off somewhere. For a moment, Chloe wondered...

...and then recalled the quiet bonding ways of men who mislike apologising in front of other men, and wondered if Mer' wasn't burying a hatchet or two with Kyle.

What'd I tell you?

Man of honour.

Dinah had drawn close to Damian, her voice was low. "We would do well tae establish an alibi. Not tae mention dipping into our reserve funds to pay f'r some repairs. Perhaps buyin' The Talon from Nell Potter and absolving The Maria Stark Foundation of its maintenance costs? And fixin' up Ceri's vehicle, Kara did quite a number on it."

Damian considered this, and murmured in reply. "I have been meaning to investigate Smallville's insurance policies. And making anonymous charitable donations to rebuild the town would prevent either Luthor from doing the same with fanfare and attention-getting."

He glanced at Jonathan and Martha. "Perhaps we could also offer to cover the damage to the farm."

Dinah smiled faintly at that. "Ye're welcome tae try. Jonathan Kent is proud and stubborn in any timeline. Any man strong enough to raise a Kryptonian f'r a daughter'd be more stubborn even than you."

Damian grunted. "Hh. Take your point."

Ceri moved closer to them, having caught their hushed chatter if not the words exchanged. "Yeh lot have something yeh want to tell us?" she wondered, with an eyebrow arched, her own voice still kept low.

Damian stared at her for a long moment, his thoughts kept his own.

Ceri frowned at that unreadable helmet covering an often-unreadable face. "DC?"

Damian didn't bother to shake his head. "Just thinking about what day it is."

Ceri narrowed her eyes. "...right."

 

[AmenRa]

The Mighty Thor

As Wraith approached, Thor made a nod of respect.

This creature of Shadow reminded the thunder god of a time spent in a dark abyss, with nothing but an empty waste to wander, and demons, reavers there that tormented him and called for his surrender.

"I believe I do not speak out of turn," Chloe offered him, "when I say that this godly oath goes both ways. I know not what form your search may take, but know that I have searched far and wide for great and terrible things. And should you need a help in searching and researching, I will do all that is in my power to assist you. I may not have fury of the storm, but I've got the power of the press, and that's not nothing."

"You have my gratitude for your offer, Chloe Sullivan," he told her. "My brothers and sisters are but sleeping, and they must awaken. They do not know their true selves, and have spent their last days among you as a mortal. One by one we will find them and bring them back home, back to Asgard."

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

Kara Zor-El extended her hand outward and entwined her fingers with Rose's before she began to soar upwards. The Fortress of Solitude began to shrink as they moved off into the distance, and soon it was little more than a shining star glittering in a cold, desolate world. Her home away from home away from a home she could never visit. Eventually Kara dropped her hands and let Rose fly on her own, but she never left her friend behind.

It would take a little while before they would reach the warmer climate of the States, but that was alright with Kara.

She enjoyed flying.

It was extraordinarily peaceful.

And now she had someone to share it with.

"You know, I was just thinking about how all this started. And now... look at where we are. It's amazing. We're both flying..."

High above the Earth but far below the heavens, the wind carried all sorts of interesting sounds: roaring engines, children crying and, less commonly, adults crying. Kara Zor-El, the Last Daughter of Krypton, could hear all that and more. But what caused the teenage Kryptonian to stop mid air was the faint sound of an explosion down below. Kara couldn't quite make out what had happened, but it had to be serious.

Hopefully one day she'd be able to train herself to sift through all the noise and discern what was going on.

"Something's happened," Kara said as she took off towards the ground, using the rising black smoke as a cover for her descent. Raging flames had nearly consumed a large residential building, and the firefighters on the scene were having a hard time getting things under control. Not only that, but there were reports of a small family still trapped inside. Despite their extensive training and protective gear, the firefighters could only do so much to remedy the situation.

The situation was growing more hopeless, and for every inch of progress they were set back three feet.

"See what you can do about those flames. I'm going inside," Kara said to Rose before she ran towards the house. She hopped over the protective barricades, raced past the police officers and firemen outside and then rushed inside. Using her x-ray vision, Kara endured the sweltering heat to discern the location of the family trapped on another floor. Another explosion rocked the side of the building where the kids were located, but Kara was able to use her body to shield them from harm when part of the ceiling collapsed.

"Come on. You're safe now," Kara said with as warm a smile as she could muster, pushing aside several beams and using her incredible strength to create an emergency exit.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Rose.

Kara Zor-El extended her hand outward and entwined her fingers with Rose's before she began to soar upwards. The Fortress of Solitude began to shrink as they moved off into the distance, and soon it was little more than a shining star glittering in a cold, desolate world. Eventually Kara dropped her hands and let Rose fly on her own, but she never left her friend behind.

It would take a little while before they would reach the warmer climate of the States, but that was alright with Kara.

It surprised Rose a little. She'd been so used to her max airspeed of eighty mph being way too slow for the faster-than-a-speeding-bullet set, and had resigned herself to another few moments of being tangled up in the wind with her eyes squinted shut.

But it looked like Kara had decided to give Rose a break from that, taking what her father would doubtless call "the slow path," and Rose was all kinds of grateful.

There was a serenity to this. Malcolm Reynolds pun intended.

'You can't take the sky from me.'

As placid and sanctified as any church. And Rose was secretly certain her mother would agree.

"You know, I was just thinking about how all this started. And now... look at where we are. It's amazing. We're both flying..."

Rose knew where this had started for her. It hadn't really started on a train-track, car theft and kidnapping and boom. It had started on a rooftop, reconnecting with an acquaintance and fast becoming friends.

"Gravity," Rose grinned softly, rolling onto her back like Peter Pan and folding her fingers behind her head, flying onwards, "shmavity."

It had started with a snippet of lyrics, a quote from a song, which, to be honest, was not unusual for Rose. But she'd remember that line 'till the end of her days.

'I wanna have that same last dream again, the one where I wake up, and I'm alive...'

The beginning, for Rose, had not been one single event but a convergent series of smaller events.

Moving to Smallville when she was five. Getting hit by a train. Sitting on the roof with Kara. Stumbling helplessly into beautiful beloved Kyle with his bioluminescent eyes. And sprinting pell-mell after the newly-empowered Var-Sen and hugging him at an altitude not dissimilar to this.

But the core moment in all of that was that rooftop in the gathering gloaming dark. With Kara.

She had existed in the real world. But in this world, this world that was too good to be true (though this was not without cost), this was where she lived. With Kara.

She'd woken up, and so had Kara, and she was alive, and so was Kara.

...but then Kara hesitated in her flight and Rose, too, paused... the explosion had been faint to Kara's ears and thus far beyond Rose's threshold of perception, but there was a look of focused intensity on Kara's face that was unmistakable.

Rose watched, and waited, though this only took an eighth of a moment.

"Something's happened," Kara said as she took off towards the ground, using the rising black smoke as a cover for her descent. Raging flames had nearly consumed a large residential building, and the firefighters on the scene were having a hard time getting things under control. Not only that, but there were reports of a small family still trapped inside. Despite their extensive training and protective gear, the firefighters could only do so much to remedy the situation.

The situation was growing more hopeless, and for every inch of progress they were set back three feet.

Squinting through the blackness of the smoke and the rising of the cinders, Rose did her best to pursue.

She landed beside Kara, coughing emphatically. I really need to get a good pair of goggles. And maybe a rebreather mask.

But first things first.

"See what you can do about those flames. I'm going inside," Kara said to Rose before she ran towards the house. She hopped over the protective barricades, raced past the police officers and firemen outside and then rushed inside.

Rose narrowed her eyes, thinking hard, thinking desperately. She did the math.

Technically, she could endure the heat of the flames, but only Kara could shrug off the poison of the smoke and see through the miasma.

There was also the matter of their identities.

She reached out a hand which crackled with blue-white lightning, and hauled a fistful of the water hurtling from one of those hoses, brought it to herself. And with an exertion of will, the droplets cascaded around her, freezing into hovering, dancing, prismatic panels of ice, distorting and refracting the light around her to offer her a modicum of decency given the crispy-fried nature of her clothes, and also to mask her face.

And then, she reached out both hands. And the crackling grew, the lightning crawling up both arms and visiting itself upon her eyes, she pushed the water and she pulled it...

The firemen were already getting driven back but all of a sudden their hoses began to rail against them, shoving them back out of the way as though now made great tentacles, curling and furling and pushing and shoving, until they staggered back against the police and the barricades.

Rose shot up into the air, carrying her sparkly, fractious disguise with her, hurtled up, returning to the billows of smoke...

An explosion rocked the north face of the building and this buffeted Rose in the air, made her ears ring, but she gritted her teeth and kept flying.

"Okay," she muttered to herself through those gritted teeth. "New trick."

And then the crackling blue-white light along her arms gave way to molten, seething gold, though her eyes still sparked with the arctic electrics...

...and she began not to generate flame, but to manipulate it.

To redirect it.

She glowed like a small sun in the smoke, a ball of light wreathed in darkness as she ramped her powers up and up and up and up like wrestling that rainstorm in China she called upon every last spark of that flame, every last vestige of that murderous heat... and she dragged it outwards.

Sweat poured down Rose's brow as she crafted and shaped the fire, and the fire itself guttered and leapt and snapped and sparked its defiance.

The fire poured out of windows and out of doors and just as Kara cracked open her emergency exit the flame formed around the building like The Walls of Jericho, blocking Kara and the family both from view as they stumbled out.

The fire encircled the house like a cordon, leaping up like a wall of impenetrable force and keeping the driven-back fire-fighters from getting closer.

Rose hovered there in the sky, maintaining the wall, redirecting the heat, keeping the family and the rescue workers from being burned all while keeping the most of them from seeing Kara's face.

And she whistled to Kara, a sound only Kara could perceive over the thund'rous noise of the flames and the hoses and the sirens and the shouting.

Beckoned to her.

Fly straight up, Rose seemed to say, through her gritted teeth and unwavering gaze.

I'll lock the door on the way out.

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

Although her clothes had been singed by the flames, Kara remained unharmed, and, thankfully, so too was the small family that had been trapped inside. They were coughing from all the smoke, but once Kara got them outside they could receive some proper attention from the medics. Throwing aside one of the beams, Kara then punched a hole through a wall and made the makeshift passageway large enough for them to fit through.

"Hold on tight."

It was a pretty decent drop towards the ground, so Kara had them wrap their arms around her neck as she flew them towards the ground, landing safely and being shielded by the very flames that had once threatened their very lives.

The very forces of the world were being bent and manipulated around them; flames crackled and licked at the air but never harmed a single hair on any of their heads.

The power that Rose wielded surprised even Kara. It was truly remarkable how far they'd come along, and in such a short amount of time. It made her wonder how much stronger they'd get once they'd receive some proper training.

"Go. Go!" Kara said quickly, letting the parents get a hold of their kids and guide them towards the paramedics off in the distance. By the time one of the children looked back, Kara had already left.

High up in the sky, well beyond point of recognition without the aid of a telescope, Kara Zor-El smiled as the humans scrambled to piece together what the hell had just happened. One minute they were fighting a losing battle, and the next everyone was safe and the fire had just... acted so bizarrely.

But one thing they could all agree on was that they had truly witnessed a miracle. It would have been easy for Kara to go back down and tell everyone that it was she and Rose that had helped them out, but now wasn't the time, nor was Kara one to gloat.

It was time to go back home.

There was quite a bit of explaining to do.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Chloe. Oracular.

"You have my gratitude for your offer, Chloe Sullivan," he told her. "My brothers and sisters are but sleeping, and they must awaken. They do not know their true selves, and have spent their last days among you as a mortal. One by one we will find them and bring them back home, back to Asgard."

Chloe nodded quietly, regarding Wraith and wondering what was said in that brief talk of men, but focused anew on Thor.

"I know what it is to walk through this life in a dream," she replied, "and I know what it is to search for your true self, and I know what it is to awaken those who have been laid to rest. If you need me on your quest, Mighty Thunderer. I will be here."

 

[ChasNicollette]

Rose.

By the time one of the children looked back, Kara had already left.

Rose's eyes weren't fast enough to see Kara move.

Very few eyes were.

But when Kara vanished, Rose saw the puff of ash and soil from the ground where she swiftly departed, and that was enough.

Rose turned in space and banked towards the sky and she floored it as hard and fast as she could up up up up up and away...

...and as she flew away, she again harnessed that fire that danced around the perimeter of the building.

She dragged it up with her, hauled it hard, and as she flew, as she soar'd away, the flame billowed and condensed and pillared up after her, twisting into a triune helix of golden-bright ribbons that wooshed and split the sky...

...and then burst, harmlessly, into fistfuls of firelight which scattered and dispersed on the way down.

High up in the sky, well beyond point of recognition without the aid of a telescope, Kara Zor-El smiled as the humans scrambled to piece together what the hell had just happened. One minute they were fighting a losing battle, and the next everyone was safe and the fire had just... acted so bizarrely.

...hovering beside Kara, her hair wafting on the high-altitude winds like blood in the water as opposed to the molten yellow sunlight that were Kara's tresses, she coughed out a burst of smoke like she'd swallowed a cigarette.

And she smiled softly.

"No rest for the wicked, huh?"

It was time to go back home.

There was quite a bit of explaining to do.