The Last Daughter of Krypton - IC

[TearsoftheWorld]

"I still can't believe that Smallville was hit with another shower. It just doesn't sit right," Jonathan remarked as he and his family moved from the cellar and into their house. The television stations were jam packed with news reports, covering as many angles and incidents as they could.

Jonathan flipped the remote down onto the couch as he walked into the kitchen. Kara was sitting at the table and Martha was pouring a glass of iced tea.

"What do you think happened?" Kara asked, wondering if her parents might have any ideas.

"I don't know, hunny. We'll just... have to wait and see, that's all."

Jonathan sounded a bit tired, but it was probably just the combination of working for most of the day and then the sudden panic that the shower brought on. Thankfully nothing had happened at their farm, so they could continue living just as they had done before.

Martha nodded at her husband and set the glass down in front of her daughter before rubbing her shoulders gently.

Kara picked up the glass and rolled it in her hands.

"Dad I'm sorry about earlier."

"You mean about running off after I had said no?" Jonathan asked sternly. Martha gave her husband a look that pretty much read 'Oh give her a break'. Jonathan noted the look in wife's eyes and then relaxed a little.

"You're mother and I..."

"We support your decision," Martha said, cutting her husband off. Kara looked up with a somewhat hopeful look, but she knew that her father wasn't entirely pleased with what she had done.

But still... at least he wasn't being pissy about it.

"That means a lot to me," Kara said with a smile.

"Just promise us that you'll be extra careful when out on that field. If anything happens..."

"Nothing will happen. I can control my abilities," Kara said.

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Wraith

I looked over at Merick. "You can call me Wraith."

I walked over to Rose and mer mom then. Rose was pale, but looked unhurt. Her mother, though, was a mass of bruises and was definitely hurt pretty bad.

"We need to get out of here. I'm pretty sure whatever crashed here was tracked coming in, and we could be under a satellite at any moment."

I looked over at Rose's dad, who was torn, disheveled, but by the gleam in his eye he was having the time of his life.

"Sir, lets make for the cave, and from there we can figure out what to do next. Whatever went in there did what it wanted to do, and I think your the man to figure out what it was."


I looked down at Rose's mom again. "Ma'am, do you need help?"

 

[Lunaramblings]

Merick

Merick grinned at the shadow figure before him. "Dang, sweet threads and a super hero moniker. I feel a bit inferior." Merick reached out his hand, still grinning like a fool, "Merick Tennylson. Pleased to meet ya."

Merick surveyed the site as he started to feel better. Looking over the rag tag misfits surrounding him. As his eyes passed over the McCrimmons he suddenly realized he left his parents somewhere in Oklahoma. "Damn. Be right back!" Merick tipped his hat to the gathered and then there was the soft swoosh of air collapsing around him. He was gone no more than a few seconds before his return. With him were Dale and Marcy.

"Son you really have a lot of explaining to do. I thought you were dead. Oh... uh... hi. Ceri? Rose? What are you guys... oh boy. Who's tall dark and gloomy of here? Merick? Dale was lost. He had been so focused watching Merick he had no idea who the others were. Now, however, his son's friend, her mother, a stranger, a monster and a boy Dale didn't know by name, were all standing here like it was a sunday picnic.

"Dad, listen. Now really isn't the time. Wraith, your right. We should move our little block party elsewhere."

Marcy Tennylson stood motionless, still in shock. She looked from the black form her son had just addressed as Wraith, then to her son, to Ceri McCrimmon whom she thought she knew rather well, but apparently she was wrong on that count. Her entire world had gone topsy turvy in a matter of minutes.

Dale Tennylson however was gathering himself. He knew from his time in the military, that they were most likely being watched by now. He also knew that he didn't want his son's ability to become public knowledge. "Merick, listen, no more of that, whatever it was you've been doing. Not out here. Not when their are likely to be several satellite imaging systems al focused on this little town. I need to get to the office. I need to make sure everything is okay. Shirley went home early, but Gar was still there. God I hope he is okay. Let's get into the caves, then if your up to it son, I would fancy a lift to the office."

Merick grinned. Marcy glared. Dale grinned right back at his son.

"Sounds good. Everyone alright to move?" Merick straightened his fedora and fixed the twist hs lapel had suffered.

 

[Superman1496]

Bruce walked down the road, trying to figure out exactly what had just happened. The set of events ran in his mind.

Bruce walked down the street alone. He soon stopped. The previous events must have been messing with his mind. He thought he had heard something behind him.

The first thought was that it was one of those people from the fallen object. He didn't look behind him, rather, walked towards a set of trees.

Footsteps, light as they were, followed suit. Bruce hid behind a tree waiting for the person to come through. The footsteps were getting closer. Bruce saw a shadow forming.

Without noticing who was coming around the tree, Bruce took a shot at his chest. His forearm was caught in the air, and bent backwards. Bruce kicked his leg up towards the kidneys, and knocked the man to the ground.

Henri Ducard landed on his hands and knees, catching his breath. He looked up to see Bruce Wayne standing over him.

Bravo Mr. Wayne. Bravo. Ducard said through his heavy breathing. But, I would rather talk to you right now then fight. He added.

Bruce, shocked at who it was, put his hand out in front of Ducard to help him up. Ducard got to his feet and brushed himself off. He was still wearing his solid black suit. Almost like Mr. Smith.

You were following me? Why? Bruce asked.

Well, you called me to tell me we were leaving. A meteor shower hits, of course I want to check up on you. Ducard said.

Bruce could see in his eyes that he was lying. But about what?

What can you tell me about my parents death? Bruce said, bluntly.

Ducard smiled, and put his hand on his shoulder. Bruce, the past is the past. Your parents died at the hands of a vicious young killer. Ducard said. Now, shall we get to the house? He added as he began to head off to the road.

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

OOC: Just a silly little filler post, my brain's still too active. Song lyrics are from Fiction (Before It's Too Late) by Goo Goo Dolls
===

I wandered through fiction to look for the truth
Burried beneath all the lies.
And I stood at a distance to feel who you are
Hiding myself in your eyes.

And hold on before it's too late.
We'll run 'til we leave this behind.
Don't fall, just be who you are
It's all that we need in our lives.

Kara sat up in the loft of the barn, her feet resting up ontop of a small locker that was on the floor. She held a softball in her hand, softly tossing it up to herself. When it would land in her palm she would look at its seems. A few hours ago she made a few runs through the town, making sure no one else was hurt.

The shower had rained down destruction to several homes, but the great people of Smallville would rebuild.

"Kara?"

Turning her head to the side, Kara saw her mother climb up the wooden steps that led up to her 'Fortress of Solitude'

"Hey Mom," Kara said, acknowledging her presence.

"Dinner'll be ready soon. You coming down?"

"Yeah."

Kara tossed the softball back up in the air again.

And the risk that might break you's
The one that would save
A life you don't live is still lost.
So stand on the edge with me.
Hold back your fear and see
Nothing is real 'til it's gone.

Hold on before it's too late.
We'll run 'til we leave this behind.
Don't fall, just be who you are
It's all that we need in our lives.

Live like you mean it.
Love 'til you feel it.
Its all that we need in our lives.
So stand on the edge with me.
Hold back your fear and see.
Nothing is real 'til its gone.

Hold on before its too late.
Until we leave this behind.
Don’t fall just be who you are.
Its all that we need in our lives.

Hold on before its too late.
Until we leave this behind.
Don’t fall just be who you are.
Its all that we need in our lives.
Its all that we need in our lives.
Its all that I need in my life.

 

[Wyldfire]

Diana drove the last nail in the barn roof in. The meteor shower had been spectacular to watch but the damage to the farm had been pretty bad. Mister Trevor, or Max as he'd told her to call him, took it in stride though. He'd told her of the last time this had happened and that this time wasn't as bad as that had been. She had trouble believing that. The barn had several holes in it and there had been a small fire as well. Max didn't know how bad the fire could have been if Diana hadn't been as fast as she'd been in getting it out. The corn field was going to need a lot of work too, and two of the cows had died from being hit by a couple of the tiny meteors.

She'd just arrived in Smallville three days ago and was getting acquanted with her host. He was an interesting man, but to Diana all men were interesting seeing as she'd never had contact with any until now. She knew she had to aclimatize to men quickly, seeing as she would be attending high school in another day or two and gawking or making a social error wouldn't help her at all.

She put the tools back in their box and lowered that down from the roof. Then on impulse she looked around quickly to make sure no one was watching and stepped off the roof doing a flip as she fell to the ground, landing lightly on her feet.

After putting the toolbox back in the barn she started the old motorcycle that Max had told her she could use and rode out to the field where Max was.

~~~~~~~~~~

Max Trevor heard the bike coming closer. He smiled to himself at the sound of it. It was good to hear his brothers bike again. He'd maintained it in his lost brother's memory, and when he'd agreed to host this exchange student he'd hoped it would be a young man who could appreciate it. He'd almost been heartbroken when he'd found out it would be a girl, but he'd been saved the heartbreak when he showed her the bike as an option to get around on and she'd happily accepted it. Thinking about Diana he smiled again. He had worried that she would be an average girl and wouldn't like living on a farm out in the middle of nowhere, but again he'd been pleasantly surprised. She was definately a tomboy. And handy with the tasks around the farm. He'd let her cry on his shoulder when she found the cows that had been hit in the meteor shower, even though he knew she'd deny it if it ever came up in public. She was headstrong, and that was just fine.

He knew he was going to have an arguement with her when he told her he wanted her to take tomorrow off to go out and see the town or maybe go down the road a ways and meet the neighbors. Maybe she and the Kent girl would become friends. Kara was a good kid and Max was sure that Diana could do a lot worse in choices of friends.

He was pulled from his thoughts by Diana's question "Need any help Max?"

He gave her a smile and said "No, I think I've gotten this fence as fixed as it can be. You ready for dinner?"

Diana smiled "That would be wonderful. May we have mashed potatoes with that speckled white gravy again? I've never had anything like that before."

Max laughed at this. He'd made that gravy in hopes she wouldn't hate it too much and now found himself worrying for her waistline. Too much of the red eye gravy would kill that beautiful figure of hers in no time. "I guess we can Diana, but it's not something you want to eat too often. Not good for your heart," he said still chuckling. "I'll meet you back at the house and I'll show you how to cook up a fried chicken dinner."

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

Kara was still sitting up in the loft by the time dinner was ready. She just didn't feel like moving, or doing much of anything really. Another meteor shower had struck the town of Smallville, and she couldn't help shake the feeling that it was her fault somehow.

"Kara."

Lifting her head up Kara looked around, wondering who was calling her name. It wasn't her parents voices, so she was more than slightly confused. A young girl was standing on the wooden steps that led up to the loft, and Kara recognized her as the girl from softball practice.

Michelle... something.

Standing up Kara smiled at her. A visit from a classmate from school was the last thing she expected to happen. She thought everyone would be busy trying to recover from the onslaught of the meteors.

"Hi," Kara said with a curious smile on her face. "what's up?"

"You have to help me..." Michelle said before she disappeared. Kara saw her vanish before her own eyes, and she was left wondering what was going on.

===

Michelle sat locked in a cage down in the basement of her house, and she hoped that her message to Kara had gotten to her in time. A bright light suddenly filled the room and she heard a door close.

"Time to eat, sweetheart," Michelle's father said as he set a tray down beside her cage.

===

"She just disappeared," Kara said as she sat at the dinner table. Martha was busy putting food out on the table and Jonathan was pouring some drinks.

"You mean like an illusion?" Martha asked, intruiged by the incident. She had learned to be a bit more believing in these matters, as her own daughter was a girl from some unknown planet.

Hell they still had the ship.

"I don't know. One minute she was standing on the steps, she said that I had to help her, and then by the time dad came inside she was gone."

Kara lowered her eyes for a moment

"I think it might have something to do with her parents," Kara said. Jonathan looked at her curiously, and Kara explained the incident earlier at the softball field.

"When we were leaving the field she saw her parents waiting by their car. She walked over to them without saying a word. She seemed pretty scared."

"Well I don't think we should call the cops just yet. It might not be her folks that's she's afraid of," Jonathan suggested.

Kara nodded her head, but she had already made up her mind to pay a visit to her house tomorrow after practice.

She wanted to help her.

 

[Superman1496]

Bruce and Ducard arrived at the house to see Alfred working on a window that had been blown out.

I think we need to postpone this expidition of yours Ducard. Bruce said as they stepped out of the car.

I thought you might say that Bruce. Ducard said as they walked up to the front door.

Alfred opened up the door. Master Wayne, it's good to see you're not hurt. And hello again, Mr. Ducard. Alfred greeted, his voice not as cheery as he talked to Ducard.

Alfred, I'm going to get a tool belt from the shed out back and help you out. Mr. Ducard, I'll call you when I'm ready. Bruce said leaving to the back.

Ducard looked at his young protoge and then turned and walked to his car. Alfred called from behind him.

Mr. Ducard, I would hope that your plans with Thomas Wayne has nothing to do with young Master Bruce. I would surely hate to see Master Bruce take matters into his own hands and stop you. He said.

Ducard smiled at the old man. Ah my friend, you see a spirit in Bruce that is strong. That's exactly what I need from him. Take care Alfred, it's always a pleasure. Ducard said sarcastically, noting that for the first time ever, Alfred had just semi-threatened someone.


-------------------


Bruce strapped his grappling gear onto the roof of the house, and pulled himself up and began to ascend the side of the house. His white shirt flapped in the slight breeze.

On the roof, there was one large hole that went in to the house, but right back out on the side. Bruce began to work on repairing the hole as Alfred joined him working on the wall.

As Bruce and Alfred worked, Bruce had mentioned to his Gentleman that he wanted to help the town by donating money for wood and supplies.

After all, Bruce needed to set himself up as a good person in this town. He didn't want to be revered by people as a snobby rich kid.

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

Ladies and Gentleman... Red Kryptonite makes its debut

Smallville Medical Center was completely packed with people, some injured severely by the meteor shower, while others suffered only minor scratches. Yet their lives had all been affected somehow, be it their homes destroyed or a loved one lost. It seemed like the influx of people into the hospital had finally died down, and the doctors no longer had to rush around like chickens with their heads cut off as they scrambled to accomodate everyone they could.

In one of the operating rooms, one of the nurses managed to extract a small fragment of a meteor that had embedded itself into a patients body. Blood slowly oozed out of his body as she took the small shard out, noting its deep, ruby red coloration.

"What's that?" one of the doctors asked as he came into the operating room with a clipboard.

"It was lodged in his side when we started working on him," the nurse said. The doctor put on a pair of gloves and he picked up the small fragment, turning it around in his hand.

He set it back down on the table, deciding to send it to the lab for further analysis.

 

[camerindrake]

METROPOLIS 2200 central time

Behind a building in downtown Metropolis, in a the dark dank alley a lightning storm out of nowhere seams to occur. the lightning circles only one point in the alley. A flash of white light flashes and two people stand at the point of the lightning storm once it had subsided. The woman, a blond in leather pants and loose sleeveless top runs over to one of the many trashcans in the corner of the alley and begins to heave. The young man stands straight back wearing a deep dark gray, almost black in the night sky, nearly skin tight shirt, black aviator pants, black leather boots, a long gray duster that matches his shirt, but most notably is the deep brown utility harness around his waist. His demeanor is almost to calm.

After the woman quits heaving she wipes her chin with the back of her hand and with a deep Irish accent of her native Monaghan county says, "Damn, Damian , is the boom tube always that damn painful. I mean where in the bloody hell did you find the bloody thing."

Damian Wayne, a young man no older than 18, with black hair cut relatively short, and a dark completion, much like that of his mother, Talia Head, but the deep blue piercing eyes of his father and the signature jawline of the Wayne family, looks over to the woman and responds with a voice that sounds like gravel as it is stepped on by a work boot, "My father had it beside the dismantled OMAC number one, Dinah Lance, if you must know."

Dinah Lance better known as Black Canary stands up finally. The roots of her hair showing her blond wasn't completely natural but her eyes a bright blue but unlike Damian she isn't wearing anything that resembles her uniform of justice. She says, "Cheeky bastard aren't ya."

Damian's eyes narrow but for a second before he answers, "More along the lines of direct." He then begins to walk off.

Dinah fallows him and as soon as she catches up asks, "Why am i here anyways"

"Simple, Dinah, the Justice League would want someone to keep an eye on me and I need a parental figure when we set up our alias'. So how about it Mom." Damian answers with a matter of fact tone until he says mom where he puts a sarcastic emphasis and one of the creepiest smiles that Dinah had ever seen.

"K'ay, then, where to now, o great detective. And Damian, dont ever smile like that again. Normal eighteen year olds don't have that sinister of smiles," responds Dinah trying not to visibly shake from his gaze.

Damian walks quietly for a moment before he speeks trying to not use the voice that has become second nature for him, "I was never normal Dinah, and first we go to the library to use the computer."

Dinah is taken back by his answers for a moment. He was being bluntly honest with her. For a man who most of the Justice League believes killed his own father to take the mantle of the bat, he was being very up front with her. So she follows not knowing what to say next. Other than the obvious, "What city are we in?"

Damian simply replys "Metropolis"

 

[Superman1496]

Bruce set the 2x4 across the roof, and began nailing it in.

So, are your friends still coming over tonight sa', or are the present circumstances changing matters a bit much? Alfred asked looking above at Bruce through the hole.

Bruce didn't even begin to think about what was going to happen. He didn't think of any of it.

But he suddenly thought of Chloe. He didn't know what happened to her. He quickly pulled out his cell phone to try and call her, but a message came over the line saying that the network was busy.

Alfred, I'm going to go to the hospital. I hope you can take care of this. Bruce said descending from the roof. I have to find out if she's ok. He added.

Bruce took his belt off. For some reason, he loved the utility belt. Always had what he needed, and he could just reach into the pouch and grab it.

Alfred tossed Bruce a set of keys. Here you go sa', take the Corvette, get there fast. Alfred said smiling. And don't worry about the mess, I'm sure it'll be here when you get back. He joked.

Bruce ran to the car, and sped down the road, occasionally dodging craters and holes in the road.

At Smallville Medical Center, Bruce ran inside to see sheer pandamoniom. Doctors were busling everywhere, and people where scattered everywhere. Some seemed ok, others bleeding.

Bruce walked up to the front desk. I need to know what room Chloe Sullivan is in please. Bruce said, looking around.

I'm sorry sir, but there's no one here under that name. You said Chloe Sullivan, right? The attendant asked.

Bruce ignored the question and went looking through the Centers lobby. He couldn't find her.

Please sir, I need help. a voice came from behind him. He turned to see a young woman bleeding from her head and shoulder.

I'm not a doctor, but I'll see what I can do. Bruce said as he went looking for a doctor. But, they were all busy. He saw one walking out of a set of doors pushing a cart with a deeply colored red rock sitting on top.

Excuse me doc, there's a woman who needs serious help here. Bruce said, trying to get the doctors attention. The doctor just shrugged him off.

Bruce stepped infront of the cart, blocking it from moving. Hey, there is a woman in serious condition. You can't give her a wrap for her head or anything? He asked.

The doctor looked at him, and finally let out a sigh. Do you know how to wrap someone up? The doctor asked. Upon seeing Bruce's head nod, she continued. Take these keys, go to that door right over there, and get out some gauze and some bandages. If I could I would help, but I have to analyze this. The doctor said.

Bruce stepped out of the way, and let the doctor go. He hurried to the closet where he found a large supply of gauze wraps, and some ointment medications. Bruce grabbed a couple wraps and some ointment, and went back to the lady on the floor.

Thank you sir. Thank you so much. The woman said as he sat down in front of her.

Don't mention it. This might sting a little though. Bruce said as he began to clean the wounds on the ladies head.

All the while, he could not stop thinking of where Chloe was, and if she was alright. He had to go and find her.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Rose, Ceri, Jamie, and Pete

"I was going to call myself 'Omnitherm,'" Rose muttered. "But I don't have an outfit to wear. I need goggles. And I'm really not sure 'Omnitherm' has the right ring to it. Work in progress."

Rose was still more than a little bit in shock.

For now, catastrophic events had gone onto that ever-helpful back-burner.

She would deal with things later. For now, her subconscious would do the heavy lifting.

Her conscious mind was too busy hugging Merick with delight when he awoke, good as new or very nearly. Her conscious mind was too busy dealing with the idea that her mother knew some kind of kung fu. Her conscious mind was too busy fretting that her dad would embarrass her in front of this boy that she liked.

Rose hoisted Ceri to her feet with a soft grunt.

Ceri dusted herself off a bit, and nodded to the chivalrous-seeming lad in the dark attire and the mythic-level armour. "Thanks enough, 'Wraith,'" she nodded softly. "But I've reserves to me yet. Always could take a hit."

"She ain't whistlin' Dixie, cuzzin," Jamie remarked with a sidelong grin and a playfully mimicked backwoods Appalachian accent, before reverting to his more traditional British tones: "There was this thing in Blackpool, mutant growth hormone, lad tried to bash her one with a pillarbox. Showed him a thing or two, she did. Oh, and Leeds!"

Rose had been about to apply ice to the bruises on her mother's face, but instead she stared aghast at her father, fingers tingling with blue-white lightning as they hovered there halfway to anywhere.

"'Blackpool?'" she repeated, dumbfounded. "'Leeds?'"

Jamie beamed. "Did I ever tell you how I met your mum?"

"She was your hairdresser," Rose replied, a little blankly, and gestured with emphasis to Jamie's distinctive fauxhawk-esque hairstyle. "She, uh, invented your version of the -- the 'quiff.'"

"Oh, no," Jamie gestured dismissively. "That wasn't it at all."

Ceri shook her aching head. "Later."

Jamie nodded without missing a beat. "Oh, well, yes, that did happen. But it happened later."

Ceri grunted, and clutched Jamie's arm. "No, James," she murmured. "We'll tell her. Later. For now, though... 'Eye in The Sky,' isn't it?"

Jamie arched an eyebrow, glanced skyward. "Right. Yes."

He thrust a pair of fingers on his right hand up towards the sky, the traditional British two-fingered salute, just in case someone was already watching.

Then he grinned at Dale and Marcy Tennylson. "Unscathed, are we?" he winked, then darted off towards The Caves. "Molto bene!"

Pete was leaning against the wall of The Cave, in a bit of shock himself.

They hadn't stopped the oozy black guy with the scary smile. He'd evapourated, but they hadn't stopped him.

After all that... had they still lost?

A scrawny white dude sprinted by him. "'Ello!"

Pete blinked. "Wait. What?"

He followed after the scrawny white fellow, only to find the guy standing in the shaft of light provided by the new skylight...

The guy was wearing glasses, and he had a look on his face like he'd stubbed his toe on God's front doorstep.

He was amazed, and he was embarrassed.

"You 'kay?" Pete frowned, not sure what to make of this newcomer.

Jamie Hamilton ran his hands through his mussed-up brown hair.

"No," he murmured softly, letting his dark dark eyes dart furtively over the writings and the contours of The Cave. "I'm rubbish. Which is to say... I'm rubbish with terrestrial languages. But. Not all of these writings?"

He gestured to the walls with an upraised index finger. "Not all of these writings are terrestrial, are they?"

Pete wasn't quite sure what to say to that.

Rose made a face at Dale and Marcy, an apologetic face. "Would one of you mind helping me mum?"

Rose glanced about. She couldn't see Bruce anywhere. She needed to thank him for. For using the Kryptonite.

She needed to talk to him. "Only if you don't mind?" she pleaded. "There's something I need to go and do."

 

[ChasNicollette]

Raya and Lar

"Well," Lar replied, "for my part, I lay dying in an Earthling facility, poisoned nigh unto death, when a mysterious white light came along and prolonged my existence by depositing me here."

He nodded to Raya. "As for the lady here--"

--but then Raya, without a word and without hesitation, took Var-Sen's face in both of her hands and kissed him, fiercely, needfully, delightedly, girlishly. Such behaviour was decidedly un-Kryptonian, but Lar figured they made exceptions for moments of extreme import.

"--well," Lar pondered, as Raya took quite a while to finish locking lips with the newcomer, "she's far too much of a lady to talk with her mouth full."

He looked away, though, gave the two of them a shard of privacy.

He and Raya shared a tent, and a bed, but only out of necessity. They'd never. (Not that he hadn't thought about it more than once.) They'd never let their collective guard down long enough to become lovers. Raya hadn't especially; Lar had begun to suspect that Kryptonians had a genetic inability to relax.

But Raya had also mentioned that, having shunned her father-- Ro-Zan --and her father's house to help the brilliant Zor-El pursue his scientific findings, she had encountered, more than once, one of Zor-El's greatest friends and colleagues. Var-Sen.

She had ever found him aesthetically pleasing, and his intellect and strength of character had each been admirable. She had ever respected him, and with respect, she had quietly nursed other feelings as well.

Feelings she had not had opportunity to express until this moment, as before she had been too young.

Lar felt a little embarrassed, not unreasonably. And he felt a little disappointed, even though he'd known from the start that he and Raya had not been meant to be.

Raya came back up for oxygen, a little flushed, pressing her forehead to Var-Sen's and wincing abashedly. "I," she began to apologise, to explain, and then she shook her head. She had been asked a question. Social matters would be secondary.

She sat back a bit.

"I had been assisting Zor-El in his laboratory," she described, "when the end came, when cracks formed in Krypton's unmarred surface and fires of every colour poured out. His wife insisted that she stay by his side, but he had time enough to push me through the portal into The Phantom Zone. 'Even half a life,' he said to me, 'is opportunity for survival.'"

She glanced about, not unruefully. "Had I a chance to converse with Zor-El once more," she remarked, "I would ask him to elucidate for me his definition of 'survival.'"

But then she hesitated. "Not, of course, that I am ungrateful."

 

[ChasNicollette]

Lex and Emil (and Meyer & Boyajian)

Emil helped catch the elder billionaire easily enough, his bionic hand catching hold of Lionel's forearm, even as his human hand snagged the back of Lionel's shirt-collar.

Meyer was at Lionel's side an instant later, helping the mad doctor support the ruthless tycoon. "Sir? Sir, are you copasetic?"

'He's here,' that cajoling little voice echoed in Emil's head. 'He is awake.'

Mankind is not yet ready; the voice instructed sternly. You have not yet prepared the armies of Man. Discover the nature of the threat, that you might all the better dispose of it.

Boyajian scratched his head. "I don't understand," he lamented. "Who's here?"

Lex frowned. "Does this have something to do with your renewed obsession with those Caves? The meteors; what does it have to do with the meteors?"

Emil gave Lionel's arm a squeeze with his metal hand. "Ignore them, Lionel," he murmured into Lionel's ear, a harsh hush. "Speak his name to me. The one who is arrived. Speak his name."

 

[Lunaramblings]

Merick

Merick helped his parents into the cave. He was still tired but by now he was beginning to get a second wind. Merick was intrigued. He had never met Rose's father. He seemed like a good man though. Seemed to be very intelligent.

Merick looked around the cave. Once he was certain everyone was safe, he returned to his father's side. "You had a trip to make? The office right?"

Dale looked at his son. The boy he raised had been washed away. What stood before him was a young man. A good, righteous young man. "Yeah. I want to make sure everything is okay. So how does this work?" Dale looked eagerly at his son. More than a little bit like a kid looking at the Ferris Wheel.

"Well, to be honest I have no idea. I just kinda fold the fabric of space. Like folding a map. I don't really get how I do it be it seems to work well enough. Merick smiled sheepishly, "oh, Snap! You meant, how do we go, like do we hold hands, or whatever. Yeah Dad, I just need your hand. Hold on tight." Merick and Dale joined hands. In an instant there was a Swoosh.

Marcy Tennylson sat on a rock near where the others were gathered. She was very confused. Her whole world had been stood, rather unceremoniously, on it's ear. Her son had strange super powers, her husband did some strange psychic trance, her long dead son may yet be alive, and as if that wasn't enough, the sky was just falling, and her hairdresser, confidant, and all around best friend, was apparently on par with Bruce Lee or James Bond. This was not a good day.

Marcy looked at Ceri pleadingly. "So, I guess you do a little more than Pilates to keep in shape? And is this your ex then?" Marcy nodded in Jamie's direction. "Don't suppose anyone could fill me in? I am at a bit of a loss?


Outside Dale Tennylson's office there was quite a mess. The entire building was neary destroyed. Dale didn't care. He was looking for only one thing. His assistant, Gar. Gar, should have been here. He had been when the shit hit the fan. Dale, couldn't find him though. The other strange thing is that Dale didn't find any dead animals either. There had been 16 animals staying in the recover area. All seemed to be gone. Dale was very confused. Very tired. Gar, he figured, must have gotten all the animals out then taken off. That's all there is to it. Dale surveyed the damage. The building was a total loss. But he had insurance, and they would rebuild. "Listen son, I need to be here for a bit. Go on back to the cave. Looks like my car is in decent enough condition. I will meet you guys at home.

Merick saw the loss in his father's eyes. The worry. "Sure Dad. On my way. Merick swiftly folded back to the caves.

"Anything I can do to help? Is everyone ok?

 

[camerindrake]

Metropolis Central Library 2230

Damian and Dinah walk up to the library shortly after the transit with the boom tube. As they begin up the steps Dinah is shaking her head and speaks out about the taxis in Metropolis, "Bloody taxi drivers need their damn license revoked. Seriously, how many times were we nearly killed by those blasted yellow things they call cars? I mean it Damian how many times?"

Damian closes his eyes and counts to himself. He opens his eyes and looks to her and responds, "You have been going on about the taxis for the last twenty-five minutes. You consistently have tried to jaywalk every crosswalk we came to. Also they have had green light when you have done so. Do you understand the concept of a crosswalk."

Dinah stops for a moment taken back by the unexpected outburst. Usually Damian is so cool and calculated that you would think he had ice water in his vanes. Though when she thought back it reminded her about the first time she met his father, the original Batman. He went off on her in a very much the same manner about calling his car the Batmobile. He looked directly at her after she questioned the word Batmobile. Looked like he hadn't shaved in three days now that she thinks back. However he gritted his teeth and pointed at her and stated, "Not one word. I have taken enough grief about calling my goddamn car the goddamn Batmobile. I'm the goddamn BATMAN and i can call my goddamn car whatever the hell i want to call it." This after he had blew off steam about Clark not even knowing he could fly yet. He was bounding around like a superhuman kangaroo. So to think about it Damian does have his fathers temper.

Dinah then responds back, "Sorryyyyy! Usually in Gotham, they at least stop and you can exchange one finger solutes and go on your way."

Damian just shakes his head and heads on into library. Dinah follows and asks, "Might i ask why we are here anyways?"

Damian points to the quiet sign as he walks up to the librarian. He then asks, "Where is the computer lab? I have something I need to print out for a school project, and i am so running late," giving his best Tim Drake impression down to the head tilt and boyish smile.

The librarian looks him up and down and shrugs for a tic and then points to the glass encased room full of multicolored towers and flat screen monitors. Damian gives her the boyish smile again and thanks her. She smacks her gum and responds with a whatever. Damian then walks off and as soon as he and Dinah are alone in the glass encased room, he turns to her.

"We are about to bend the law to get ourselves new identities. As you most likely can guess either there are two others with our very names and matching nationalized citizen cards or we do not exist. So we need to exist if we are going to stay for any amount of time. Also I need to get some intelligence on what is the actual situation on who is who and what is what," Damian finally explains to Dinah.

"Why is that?" Dinah asks crossing her arms.

Damian sits at one of the computers and grabs a flash drive out of his utility harness he was hiding with his gray duster. He places it in the usb port of the giant green tower and answers, "In the multiverse not everything is the same as it is in our universe. I remember reading in one of my fathers logs that in one universe instead of it being Superman and Batman, it was Superwoman and Batwoman. Identical DNA but double Y instead of XY. Superwoman was Lois Lane and Batwoman was actually the one we call the Huntress. in another Universe father was Owlman and part of the Crime Syndicate of America with Clark who was Ultraman. The list gets stranger think of this what if though the year number is the same but time progressed differently. on what we fondly call Earth 2 its still the year it is on our Earth but father had died of old age and Dick was in his mid fourties and instead of me taking the mantle of Batman Selenas daughter was the Huntress. same year but everyone was born earlier. That is why we need the intel." Damian says all of this as he works on the computer. He then stops and says, "This is unexpected."

"What is it?" Dinah asks bending over to see the screen.

"Kara is here not Clark," Damian answers halfway dumbstruck.

Dinah looks at him oddly and asks, "And that means?"

"There is a first for everything to happen in the multiverse and oddly enough I am going to see my father in high school, and at Smallville High" Damian says finding the irony of it all.

Damian types a few more things on the computer and pulls out his PDA and types the account to the League of Shadows furthest networked bank account in the computer and sets up his siphon to a new account he created at Smallville Bank and Trust. He then buys them a home 30 minutes from Smallville and two and a half hours to Metropolis.

"Alright lets go," Damian says as he gets up and pulls the flash drive putting it back in his utility harness.

"Where to?" Dinah asks.

"The Black Canary, to see Weasel." Damian states.

"How do you know he will be there?" Dinah asks with a very plain sound of disgust at the knowledge of where they are going.

"Its a steady constant. Weasel is an extraplaniar entity much like the Specter. He just happens to deal with the more disreputable work of multiverse travel," Damian states back as they leave the Computer Lab.

 

[AmenRa]

Var-Sen did not pull back after Raya had finished her kiss, he simply stayed there, with his eyes closed, and felt her.

The Phantom Zone should have been a place of despair, yet he found himself happy. Even though he was bruised and battered, and weak and tired, he was content.

Zor-El had pushed her into the Zone to save her from destruction. Zor-El himself could have made the journey, but he did not. He had stayed behind. Var-Sen had no doubts that his friend and teacher had worked up to the very end on a method to reverse the planet's impending doom.

Var-Sen looked at Raya as she pressed her forehead against his. He pulled back from her, taking her shoulders in his hands. There had been many times in Zor-El's lab when he wanted to tell her more than just quantuum equations or crystaline theories. There had been times when she had handed him an instrument, or had him confirm her calculations that their hands had touched, and he knew. Var-Sen smiled a weak smile and pulled her to him as he sat on the black ground. He rested his head against her chest and drifted off to sleep.

 

[AmenRa]

Emil gave Lionel's arm a squeeze with his metal hand. "Ignore them, Lionel," he murmured into Lionel's ear, a harsh hush. "Speak his name to me. The one who is arrived. Speak his name."

Lionel shook his head. There wasn't a name, only a symbol. He would write it out later, draw it, so that someone could read it. Lionel knew of one here that could read it, that would know what it meant, that would be able to speak the name.

Lionel shook his head. "There is a bottle of 75 year old Highland single malt around here somewhere," he said.

And then he brushed the hands off him.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Ceri and Jamie

Jamie trotted out into the middle of The Cave floor, stood dead in the centre of it, with arms straight out to either side. His palms flat against the air, he turned in a slow, slow circle, the eyes behind his glasses alive with an eager kind of chaos, his fingers twitching slightly every so often as they splayed...

His lips moved but no sound came out.

Ceri fished in the inside pocket of her jacket and came up with a tiny jar of Motrin. She shook her head sadly when only two and a half pills tumbled out into her palm, but saying a small prayer of thanks-- those two and a half were better than none --she downed the ibuprofen without liquid.

She smiled weakly at Marcy.

Having secrets is ever an inconvenience, she reflected. But having secrets suddenly revealed is ever so much more of one. Less of an inconvenience, though, than keeping my secret and watching my daughter get her pretty face bashed in.

"I still do the Pilates," Ceri noted, as she put the little jar away. "But I thought. What's the harm in a little cardio kickboxing on the side? Hedge m' bet."

She ran her tongue over her teeth and was pleasantly surprised to find that none were loose or missing.

"The thing of it was, though," she explained further, segueing, "I learned cardio kickboxing in Thailand, and they don't fool about when it comes to kickboxing."

She hung her head for a moment, hiding the bruised portion of her face behind a curtain of black hair.

"Marcy," she whispered. "Have you ever had a job at the same time you've had a calling? Worked one thing and devoted your life to another? Going to hair school took two years of me life. But I've been training to break evil men in half since before I could walk."

Her fingers parted the curtain, and she gazed across the cavern at Jamie.

"That's me ex," she murmured. "That's James, though he'll have you call him Jamie. And he's well enough. A good man. But it's..."

She trailed off, as she watched him pace around the room, gazing at the paintings on the wall, watched him scrutinising alien symbols and Kawatche glyphs alike with a frown of concentration and with wordless soundless self-conversation fluttered on his lips.

She watched him.

"It's like he has two hearts," she sighed. "And one of them's perfectly human, perfectly normal, the heart of a good kind loving man. But the other heart, the bigger of the two... that's the heart whose beat really drives him, whose pulse sings in his veins. The other heart only beats when he's tilting at windmills and charging into darkness to learn a tidbit of something new. The other heart only beats when he's solving a mystery, cracking open secrets of The Universe, and to Hell with the consequence, to Hell with the cost."

Her lip curled sadly. "I have a sort of history," she mused, "loving men like that."

Jamie stood gazing into The Console Room, taking particular note of the shape of the indentation in the top of The Console, The Altar, whatever it was. The shape of the indentation was the same of the shape of The Crystal that John Smith had thrown to Rose, the one that Jamie had caught, though the indentation was clearly sized for something else.

A single crystal sat there already, part of an unfinished jigsaw, and Jamie stared hard at this through the lenses of his glasses before jogging back to the middle of the room.

And he was standing there again, hands out to his sides, when Merick reappeared.

"Anything I can do to help?" Merick wondered helpfully. "Is everyone ok?"

Jamie nodded slowly, though he didn't turn around and look at the young lad.

"You can help me," Jamie murmured distractedly, "by having another one of those cool chocolatey beverages and getting your metabolism back on straight. But don't go anywhere for a mo', eh?"

Jamie gathered his hands into fists, mumbling silently again for a second, and brought those fists slowly to his chest like pulling hard on cords that were trying unsuccessfully to tear him in half.

"I like your description," he mused in Merick's general direction, "of teletransportation. (Seems like between you and shadowy oul' Grueflutter there, everyone in this blessed town can teleport except me. Five minutes with a faulty vortex manipulator and I'll set that to rights.) Essentially? That's what's just happened here, though far more complex and scary and powerful."

Jamie hopped up and down in place, once, twice, thrice, staring up at the ceiling as he did so, his face a mask of focus and determination. His glasses bounced a bit on his nose, and he straightened those glasses.

"Electrogravitic," he muttered. "Ever so very clever. Ever so very clever."

He crouched a bit, and touched a fingertip to The Cave floor.

"Techno-geomantic," he suggested as he glanced over his shoulder at Merick. "You've heard of ley-lines, have you? Lines of force that criss-cross the surface of The Earth, supposedly serving as the boundaries between this world and the next? Well. It turns out, through sheer cosmic coincidence-- and no, I don't really think it's a coincidence --this particular location in Kansas is a big bundled up mass of ley-lines. (Magickal types must go stark staring bonkers 'round here.) This cave is perfectly positioned to tap into the electrical field of the planet, as well as its gravitational pull, to peel open those ley-lines, essentially folding back the corners of the map."

He sniffed softly, flaring his nostrils, puffing a bit of cave dust. "'Here is the church, and here is the steeple;'" he murmured. "'Open the door and here are the people.'"

He straightened somewhat suddenly, and strode into the downward beam of the skylight, shoving his hands into his pockets as he squinted up into the light.

"It's really quite clever," he admitted, "the closest example to a perpetual motion engine I've ever properly seen, very efficient. Basically, so long as The Earth is turning in space, so long as it exerts gravity, so long as its iron core is still creating a stable electromagnetic field, this Cave will have power. It won't run forever, but it'll be close enough. Billions of years are pretty close to forever when you're dealing with minuscule carbon-based organisms like you and me. (Makes you wonder what else this baby can do.)"

He glanced back over at Merick, brow furrowed, eyebrows bunched.

"They turned the key in the ignition," he mused. "Gave it a kick-start. And they peeled back the corners of the map. Like your little 'Tomorrow People' routine, folding space. But unlike you, they're not just folding bits of this space into other bits of this space. They're folding different spaces together. And to do that... that takes either the most elegant spaciotemporal resonance array to do, or they're bludgeoning their way across the dimensional barrier with a big fuck-off hammer, and I don't have to tell you? I hope it's the elegant one. The hammer would be bad for all of us. Very Bad."

He pursed his lips and clenched his teeth and he plucked his glasses off of his nose.

"Thing of it is, though," he tutted, "if they're really using a technological version of geomancy to create an 'in' door here, they'd have to use a different geographical location, a different bundle of ley-lines for the 'out,' just by the very nature of The Earth's polar forces. So things could have gone in here-- fair exchange is no robbery --but they'd have come out somewhere else."

He blinked as he put his glasses away.

"Something came through," he whispered, taking a moment to dwell on the horror and the majesty of that thought.

Then he stuck his hands back in his pockets and glanced at Merick's feet.

"Nice shoes," he nodded, very much impressed at Merick's vintage-style Converses. "Where'd'you think I could get a pair of those?"

 

[AmenRa]

Infiltration was the key. At first it would be quiet upheaval of necessary systems. Satellites, telecommunications, the Internet, land and fiber optic based data systems, all would feel subtle changes, subtle shifts.

But to start this, it had to begin in a much simpler aspect. One such, upon the orders of its master, was to assume the form of a human, a homo sapien, the species indigenous to Earth. In order to infiltrate their substructure, it would have to work among them and learn them.

The more it learned about them, the more easily its master would be able to control them.

Subjugation was easy. Show them enough force, and it was easy to persuade them to kneel.

But strike them where there weaknesses lie and domination would soon ensue.

And this is why BRAINIAC was now known as Professor Milton Fine.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Pete

Pete looked more and more haggard.

The Science Guy's proclamation that something had come through rang in his heart like a bell tolling evil omens across the land.

Like the roar of a lion echoing across the savanna, a lion whose blood boiled with disease and whose mind roiled with madness, this news boded ill indeed.

Pete just wanted to wrap his hands around a steering wheel and ditch this place, leave it in the dust. Leave it in the space-dust.

Maybe he'd go to Chicago, get a job at a hospital, drive an ambulance. He'd have to lie about his age, of course, but he could swing that.

He wanted to run. He wanted to hide. And these thoughts made him sick inside. Because running and hiding meant leaving people he loved behind.

People he loved. No sign of the big green guy, no sign of the guy what had promised to keep Chloe safe. And how that boded, he didn't even want to think...

Pete jogged over to The Wraith, over to Kyle. "Dude," he whispered softly, harshly, "where'd McCrimmon go? Did she say if she was going to look for Chloe?"

 

[ChasNicollette]

Lex and Emil (and Meyer & Boyajian)

Meyer flinched.

Again he thought of the reptile that lived at Lionel's core. He wondered if-- the day being young, yet --he would yet survive that reptile, or if he'd just pushed things too far.

Emil smiled faintly.

He hadn't been told the name, the identity of this obstacle to The Future, his Future. But that didn't mean he couldn't find it out by other means.

He removed his glasses and he put his hands in his pockets and he bided his time.

Boyajian looked confused. This was a perfectly natural expression for him, and it almost seemed like the expression of confusion had been invented expressly for his use.

Lex strolled over to a cabinet, reached up, procured three tulip glasses, and then extracted a bottle of Loch Lomond.

Without more than the faintest hint of ritual, Lex deftly splashed a two-ounce dram into each of the three glasses, neat and undiluted.

Capping the bottle, he offered one glass to Emil, and another to Lionel, saving the last of the three for himself.

"Here's mud in your eye," he murmured, smiling without smiling.

What is it about you, Dad, Lex wondered, as he sipped his glass, that you can be completely senile and still be the sanest man in the room?

 

[AmenRa]

He returned with Chloe Sullivan limp in his arms. She was sleeping steadily, and he had maneuvered through the air so as not to wake her.

He landed lightly and layed her upon the grass near the cave's entrance. He then stood, and he lifted his nose and smelled the air, sniffing it like a dog might catch the scent of a thief.

But J'onn J'onzz smelled the remnants of a transportation portal.

He closed his eyes and felt the echoes. He saw Var-Sen toss Zor-El's crystal to Rose and be caught by her father. He saw Athyr die. He saw Var-Sen fall into the Phantom Zone.

He then balled his hands into fists and smacked one against the other's now open palm. A small shock wave escaped and reverberated through the hillside.

He flew into the cave and saw it was full of people. He pushed Jamie out of the way without any explanation. He then snatched the crystal from the console and projected a force field against those that had gathered. They were pushed against the far wall as, with one hand, the Martian Manhunter activated the keyhole that would seal the console room.

Once done, he faced Jamie and Ceri and the others.

"You must never return to this place," he told them, "until such time as it has been cleansed. There are remnants here, trace elements of the Construct that used the console to open the Gate, and they are dangerous."

His eyes flared red.

"Mark my words and obey me," the Martian Manhunter told them. He looked pointedly at Jamie. "The little one there has a destiny to fulfill. Give her the crystal."

 

[Superman1496]

Bruce sped down the road like a Bat out of Hell. The Corvette engine roaring under the hood.

He had to find Chloe. He had to make sure she was ok.

And, in the back of his mind, he seemed amazed that he was so worried about someone he didn't know so much.

Racing down the road, he slowed down and quickly stopped near the Kawatchi Caves. He opened the door, and without even closing it, ran towards the cave.

CHLOE!? Bruce yelled as he walked up to the cave. CHLOE!? He continued as he stopped at the cave entrance.

He didn't like the feeling he had standing there, but knew he had to go in.

 

[Lunaramblings]

Merick

Marcy sat there numbly. Listening to Ceri's explaination. She was amazed. "I played guitar in college. Always wanted to be in a chick band. Suppose that really isnt the same though."


Merick stood listening intently. While not really a science buff he did understand a thing or two about folding space. Merick reached into his jacket and produced a fruit roll up. Strawberry. His favorite.

"Neat trick. So, if they are basically doing what I do but on a larger scale, is there some way for us to tap in and follow? I mean with out breaking the fabric of reality?" Merick started to chew on his fruit roll up regarding Jamie like some would regard the Dalai Lama. "I reckon it might be too late anyway. I mean not likely the are going to stop for tea when they come out the other side is it? Still. Would be one hell of a trick. I am so gonna have to learn that one. Merick grinned a little. He finished his fruit roll up when he heard Pete speak.

"She had just left the Talon not long before the shower hit. Any one try to call her?" Merick was getting a bad feeling. God he hoped she was okay.