The Last Daughter of Krypton - IC

[ChasNicollette]

Chloe

Merick grinned as he looked at Chloe.

"Lets roll." Merick held tightly to Chloe's hand. And in a moment they were gone. There was a swoosh as they exited and another as they reappeared in Smallville on top of the windmill "There will be plenty of time to go anywhere your heart desires. I promise. In the meantime, this is kinda romantic." Merick grinned and waved a hand out at the small town. "There is a fair amount of damage. But nothing that can't be fixed. With time."

Chloe held Merick's hand tightly. Very tightly.

Now would be a bad time to discover I'm afraid of heights, she decided, so I won't.

She gazed out over the town, shielding her eyes with one hand, the hand that wasn't clutching tightly to Merick's. Shielding her eyes against the wind, the kicked-up wind that spun the windmill full-tilt and caused it to sway a bit-- more than a bit --she took in the town.

"Yeah," she murmured softly, "I guess we're not Macondo after all. Smallville still firmly occupies a place on the map."

She tilted her head sideways and leaned it on Merick's shoulder, blowing air out through her lips as she gazed out at the town, laid out before them... a life-size map of the world...

"D'you know," she chuckled wryly, "all Smallville High students are required to perform 30 hours of community service? I bet if we could get every single Crow to throw in, spend their 30 hours rebuilding, we'd be shipshape again in like a month. Of course, a little bit of FEMA might help, but nothing like a little teenaged elbow grease."

She frowned, though, glancing up at that pinwheeling windmill, and then out at Metropolis' place in the skyline. Dark clouds were gathering, were crawling across the sky.

"That's weird," she mused. "I dunno if you remember this, when I checked the weather for our little rendezvous here, it said 'clear skies?' God bless the weather service, they try so hard, but they're not usually this wrong. (I guess meteorology's not an exact science, but what?)"

 

[Lunaramblings]

Merick smiled as Chloe rested her head on him. In this moment, he would face any threat. A thousand Zods, if after all was said and done her could feel what he felt in that moment.

"Well, I figure with what just us Outsiders can do we could certainly have a lot done in a short time. If you throw in help from the rest of the Crows, should be a piece of cake."

Merick eyed the skyline... it seemed to have darkened and become troublesome in record time. "That doesn't strike me as... kosher. I remember that it was supposed to be a nice clear day. That was kinda the point. Hmmm... I think we might want to get off this oversized lightning rod." Merick wrapped both arms around Chloe, hugging her to himself as he looked at the approaching storm.

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Wraith

I was smiling on the inside (no mouth in my armored form you know) as i walked up to the SUV. I had so many questions. What was it like to fly faster than any jet could go? How had Zod gone away, with a bang or with a whimper? Was tomorrow night good for her to go out on that date?

So many questions. And add another one, wasn't it supposed to be clear and in the high 60's today?

I saw Rose put her head down on the steering wheel and then the passenger turned her head around, and I saw the long blond hair and recognized who it was in the passenger seat.

So, Kara Kent was the last Daughter of Krypton. She had a beautiful smile.

Which changed in a instant to a look of fear and then hatred as she blurred into motion and came at me.

Oh Fuck!!


I tried to raise me hands up and started to try and stop the oncoming storm that was Kara Kent. "Ka.." was all I got out when her first blow landed on me, doubling me over.

The next few seconds were a flashback of when Zod had me at his mercy. My fingers instinctively formed into claws that could rip into Kryptonian flesh, maiming and tearing through skin and muscle. I stopped myself just in time from striking, but Kara wasn't holding back. I heard Rose in the background, then a crack like a sonic boom hit me and I was flying through the air, then through a wall and debris rained down over me as the weakened structure collapsed on top of me.

Like I said earlier, some days wouldn't go right if you paid them!

Everything hurt, but it wasn't as bad as Zod's beating. Kara had power, but not skill. No bones were broken, and the bruising would fade in a few hours. I slowly worked my hands up in front of me to blast the debris off me when I heard someone digging through the rubble, and stopped before I turned the wood into shrapnel and hut Rose, who was digging me out.

It only took her a few moments until I saw her beautiful face as the section of roof went flying. I could see tears if worry in her eyes and I knew I looked a fright. (well, even for me I looked a fright. If my damn armored form looked like a care bear misunderstanding like this wouldn't happen!)

I looked up at her tearstaind face and groaned as the first wave of pain hit me.

"When I get out of this we are painting a big smiley face on my chest. It's hard to be a Big Scary Monster when you have a big smiley face on your chest. Or maybe cute little kittens, or puppies. Something that says 'ask before beating'. "

 

[AmenRa]

The FM radio in the Audi was becoming fuzzy as the broadcast was broken throughout with static. The song that was playing was interupted by the tell-tale warning signal of the Emergency Broadcast System.

If Dr. Donald Blake had been listening instead of talking on his cell phone as he drove into Lowell County, he would have heard the message.

"The National Weather Service advisory has issued a tornado warning for all of Lowell County. At fifteen minutes past the hour, a severe thunderstorm producing hail was moving East into Lowell County. Rotation within the storm clouds was detected on Doppler RADAR. This storm is currently moving East at 32 miles per hour. No tornados or funnel clouds have been reported on the ground, but their formation is likely. Stay tuned to this station for more information and updates."

And the song resumed, broken by static from the approaching storm's lightning strikes.

Don Blake continued his conversation:

"I know, I know, and that's probably the best idea," he said into the phone, "but you gotta remember, a laser can only fuse the skin and tissue back together if there is some kind of catalyst, almost like flux for an arc welder, to help the bonding."

He was quiet for a second as he looked out at the distant storm clouds. The sky was totally black to the East, with bright flashes of lightning. In the distance, over a cornfield, he could see the updraft of wind blowing harsh across the stalks. A tall windmill was spinning incredibly fast. He was heading straight into the storm.

"Reed," he said to the caller, "I gotta go, weather is getting bad. Tell Susan hello for me, and email me the report on your new surgical laser."

He ended the call. He then stopped the car, pulling it over to the side of the road. He got out, grabbing his walking stick, and hobbled to the front of the car.

The sky above him had gotten very, very dark. Lightning flashed seemingly every second. The Audi's automatic headlights had turned on, and their beams shone into the distance as pelts of hail crashed on the highway. As Blake looked on, the first tornado formed over the cornfield. With a roar like the sound of a jumbo jet taking off, the funnel cloud began to twist and spin its rope-like shape towards the windmill, barn, and house on the other side of the field.

Blake knew the twister would destroy these structures unless something was done to stop it.

No mortal man could alter the course of a storm.

"Damn," was all Blake could say. He shook his head, breathed a sigh, closed his eyes and opened them again. The tornado was still there, still moving, still angry.

Blake limped into the roadway in front of the Audi's headlights. He slowly, almost painfully knelt on the ground. He raised the old, gnarled walking stick above his head. Then, with a loud cry that was nearly muffled by the roar of nature ahead of him, he slammed its end into the ground.

And there sounded a thunder like no one on Earth had ever heard before.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Chloe

Further comparisons between Smallville and Macondo bubbled up involuntarily in Chloe's brain. For a girl whose driving force was expository prose, she did tend to lapse into poetic sentiment far too easily. She shook her head, and didn't resist when Merick hugged her close.

"One Hundred Years of Solitude," she murmured. "That town got taken out by a rainstorm that lasted four years. D'you think this is how it starts? A storm that lasts almost half a decade? Did I speak too soon?"

She closed her eyes.

Remembered hope.

And took a shuddery breath.

This town had Kara. This town had The Outsiders.

(This town had Merick.)

We've got your magical realism right here.

"Yeah," she murmured. "I don't exactly want to use up three bonus lives in quick succession, and I've never wanted to be electrocuted. So unless you think you can stop 1.21 gigawatts with those bubbles of yours, you better swooosh us someplace safe."

She glanced up at the sky, eyes open anew. "This looks like the kind of storm that can propel a domicile to Oz and kill a woman for her footwear. Maybe you can take us someplace with a storm cellar?"

 

[Lunaramblings]

Merick grinned ear to ear.

"Why Miss Sullivan, wanting to go someplace dark and private on only the first date? I never thought you were the type."

Merick hugged Chloe tight to his chest as he bent the world around them. In the blink of an eye they were standing in his cellar. "Ta-Da! Don't tell anyone I don't bring you to nice places." Merick shoved over a couple of boxes and through two very large beanbag chairs on the floor. "Let's bunker down." Merick pulled a blanket out of one of the boxes he had knocked over and smiled at Chloe.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Rose

"When I get out of this we are painting a big smiley face on my chest. It's hard to be a Big Scary Monster when you have a big smiley face on your chest. Or maybe cute little kittens, or puppies. Something that says 'ask before beating'. "

Rose grinned, she hiccuped, and she laughed at him through her unnerved little tears.

"No kidding," she chuckled, weary and relieved. "I mean, you look like Ned The Chainsaw Guy. Of course you're going to scare more than just baddies. (Heck, you scared me more than a little, first I saw you. Not that that's hard.)"

She reached out, and she hauled him to his feet with a tiny grunt of effort. She slung his arm over her shoulder and wrapped one arm around his waist, grasping his hip, helping him stand there beside her with her not-inconsiderable strength.

Blowing air through her lips, she smiled worriedly at Kyle. "(You're okay, though, right? I mean, it's not like she dropped a tank on you. I promise promise promise she didn't mean it, she's just had a hard day--)"

Out loud, though: "--Kara. This is, um. This is my boyfriend. This is Wraith. This is Kyle. He's my very favourite Bad-Ass Good Guy cliché."

...a chill chased its way down her spine, and she glanced upward worriedly.

The last time she'd felt a chill like that, an evil spirit had apparently swallowed the now-ex-principal's soul. And she'd worried that a twister was coming...

But no. This wasn't the work of the damned, not so far as she could tell.

This was normal oul' home-grown calamity.

"Maybe you guys can make nice," she fretted, eyes as wide as could be, "after we abscond to underground safety? Legendary Uncle Dai had us a storm cellar dug..."

As if to drive the point home, thunder clapped in the surprisingly near distance, and Rose flinched reflexively against Wraith's side.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Chloe

"Our first date was nice and public, thank you very much," Chloe regarded Merick with a dubious but delighted half-grin. "Or was our time at The Talon so bland and unmemorable that you've already relegated it to the retcon bin?"

Chloe's smile grew fainter, the light in her eyes more roguish. "But this isn't the first time I've been whisked into a boy's basement. There was this one guy a few years ago-- he didn't have beanbags, he had an actual couch--"

She chuckled faintly. "Not the best kisser in the world, I've since discovered. But he kept his hands to himself, like a perfect gentleman, and I'm sure there have been far worse initiations into the wide wild-eyed world of hour-long makeout sessions."

Chloe didn't sit down immediately, she strolled over to the wall and tried to get on tip-toe on a little step-stool to try and peer out the thin pane of a basement window, see what was going on outside.

"I've been staring Death in the face," she murmured, "for a lot longer than just today and yesterday. People don't like it when you ask the wrong kind of questions. I've come so close to dying so many times... not counting the actual dying... sometimes I just want to feel alive instead. (Maybe sometimes I look for Life in all the wrong places.)"

She slipped down from the step-stool and hugged herself and smiled a faint lopsided smile.

"Please don't think less of me," she murmured, "now that I've poked holes in your carefully-constructed psychological profile of Chloe Sullivan."

 

[Lunaramblings]

Merick smiled warmly at Chloe.

"I didn't want to be so bold as to call The Talon a real date. And I try not to make assumptions or evaluations about people. Tend to just turn out all topsy-turvy." Merick's smile widened, slightly Cheshire, "Besides, I would rather spend as much time getting to know you as I can, rather than make guesses and hope I got it right. And, Chloe, every moment I have known you I have thought more and more of you. Now come over and relax. I think we have both chased enough Death for one day. Besides, I hear cuddling is the in thing. And, if a tornado is going to come rip us all to shreds, or a flood of Biblical proportions is going to wipe us off the map, I would sure hate to die not having gotten the chance to cuddle with you in these lovely bean bags. I mean, that there, like IS my bucket list."

 

[AmenRa]

Nature did not know Chandler's Field, or that at the top of the windmill there one could see the distant skyline of Metropolis on a clear day.

Today was not such a day, as the mighty fury of the tornado bore down upon this field, the very windmill that had sparked so many young lovers’ kiss directly in its path. And, beyond the windmill, a barn stood where livestock whinnied and cried out at the approaching twister's roar.

As things are with nature, unpredictability and chaos theory in full force and form, a second twister split from the first. This one turned 90 degrees, skipping and spinning across the highway towards the distant fields of the Kents, Potters, and the settlement of houses along the outskirt roads of Miller's Bend.

But the lightning strike that had just a few seconds ago struck the road in front of an Audi TT did nothing more than rip open space/time and bridge the gap between There and Here. The resulting thunder clap was not a natural phenomenon, but rather the sound that heralded the arrival of The Mighty Thor.

The frail and weak mortal Don Blake was no more, and now in his place stood the Norse god of thunder, Thor. He was cloaked in red that billowed in the wind, and chain mail and blue/black plate armor that now glistened in the driving rain. Below the armor, the belt Megingjord adorned his waist, crafted of bronze and steel. Bronze and steel armored boots were cast upon his legs and feet, while upon his head rested a great silvered winged helm. In his right hand he held Mjolnir, the war hammer crafted by Odin of the mystical Ur that only he could wield.

“if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor”

He stood roughly 6 feet, 6 inches tall, and weighed well near 250 lbs of muscled strength. His eyes were blue, like the sky, or like the blue held within the Seas of Asgard. His long blonde hair and beard now soaked by the rain, Thor turned to look at the newly formed tornado that had split from the first. As it was with the rotation of the clouds that held it, this one was more powerful, and moving quicker towards the homestead of McCrimmon.

Thor heaved Mjolnir upward, himself being pulled along behind the war hammer like the tail of a comet. Thor landed firmly upon the ground just beyond the farmhouse of Dai McCrimmon’s estate. He paid heed to the two girls standing there, one with hair of red and the other with hair of gold. Thor did not interest himself in the Wraith, for he knew such creatures oft accompanied storms like this, having themselves been spawned from the Shadows that such storms bring. He would deal with the ShadowSpawn soon enough, but now he must show the world why he was the God of Thunder.

“Be not afraid,” he told Rose and Kara, “for this day thou art championed by Thor!”

The Son of Odin then knelt upon the ground, and holding Mjolnir by its shaft, he tamped the handle lightly on the dirt.

The twister stopped, the rain stopped, the wind, everything stopped. Frozen, as if the very molecules that made up the weather had themselves been held still by the hand of a god.

And indeed, they had.

Thor stood, and reaching out, he made a gesture with his hand. It was a simple gesture, and the clouds that had formed the tornadoes began to dissipate, and blue sky could be seen breaking through.

His work finished, the Mighty Thor turned to those that stood near. He looked to each in turn, his blue eyed gaze settling on The Wraith.

“What hell hath spawned thee? " Thor asked, pointing his magical hammer at Wraith like it was a sword. Thor sensed no evil from the creature, which perplexed him. “Speak, demon, or Mjolnir shall cleave thee intwain!".

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

After her last punch sent the Wraith crashing into the garage, Kara remained hovering over the ground, her rage almost completely overriding her senses. She was an agent of impulse, her fists balled up as she prepared to throw herself back at him. She had thought about using the Crystal to send him back, but she wanted to make him (or her) pay for threatening her friends.

"KARA! Stop! Please... please, hang on, he's not as bad as he-- let's be rational--"

Before Kara could move a muscle, Rose had bounded out of the car and... ran to the defense of the escaped victim from the Phantom Zone?

"Wait... what?" Kara asked, a look of pure confusion on her face.

"That's a phant-"

"He looks so scary but he's such a good guy. Guys say 'bros before hos' and-and-and I guess girls should say 'gals before pals' but-but-but he's a really a good guy you don't gotta hurt him."

Kara Zor-El touched back down upon the ground, and the last ray of sunlight poured through the looming clouds overhead before dimming out. The young Kryptonian was left scratching her head, though she recovered her senses by the time Rose had brought Kyle back outside. The garage itself was in pretty bad shape, but it wasn't beyond repairing.

"--Kara. This is, um. This is my boyfriend. This is Wraith. This is Kyle. He's my very favourite Bad-Ass Good Guy cliché."

Kara felt like an idiot, and her face became flushed with embarrassment.

"Sorry about that. I just... I thought you were a phantom. And I thought about Rose... I'm sorry," Kara apologized, pushing aside some of her blond hair. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and the grey clouds above took on an even darker visage.

It was a sight that was all too familiar with the residents of Kansas.

What would happen next, however, was something that was incredibly not familiar with most residents of Kansas. Seemingly out of nowhere there appeared a rather bulky looking man,the kind that you read about in old history books on Vikings and such. In recent days, Kara learned that she came from an alien race, was sent to Earth to survive her planets destruction, fought against superpowered villains, and even survived the Phantom Zone.

So when this strange man revealed himself to be the Norse god Thor... Kara took it with a grain of salt. His ability to practically halt the advances of nature probably helped smooth things over, and Kara was more than happy to have the sun smiling overhead again.

She was not, however, happy when Thor pointed his mighty weapon at one of her friends. In a flash she moved in between the mighty god and Kyle, her arms extended outwards to form a somewhat protective barrier between the opposing sides.

"Hold up a sec," Kara said quickly.

She felt rather silly doing this, as just a short while ago she was the one threatening Kyle with destruction.

"No one's going to be cleaving anyone. Not while I'm around," Kara said defiantly.

In her head she wasn't even sure she could lay a finger on the god, but she'd try anyways.

"So... why not put the hammer down and we can uh... talk about this. Please?"

 

[AmenRa]

Thor

With her hand outstretched, the Son of Odin saw upon her wrist the bracelet given to her by Zor-El.

And, upon this bracelet, the Kryptonian symbol of the House of El.

A symbol also known once to a great people that had lived centuries ago. A people who had long since forgotten the gods they served, but yet had not forgotten the prophecies given to them.

Thor, himself, knew the stories of legend.

With widened eyes he saw the symbol, and in a low whisper he read it.

"Va'n", he said. "austrvegr spá."

He stepped back, not sure he could believe what he saw.

And she pled for the life of the demon, which confirmed Thor's feelings that this one meant no harm to him or the other dwellers of Midgard.

She was a blonde haired woman-child with blue eyes. She could easily have passed for one of Odin's Swordmaidens, of whom he called sister, and they were named the Valkyrie.

She had moved with such speed and grace that he almost believed her to be one of Odin's daughters. Yet he knew she was not of Asgard, and not of Midgard, nor did she hail from the halls of Valhalla, where the brave live forever.

The prophecy fulfilled? The Traveler come? A great evil loosed upon Midgard? Doomsday?

He must consult with those who would know.

"Stand thee back!" he exclaimed as he twirled the hammer by its unbreakable strap. He released it, then caught it again, and he soared high into the sky.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Chloe

Chloe pondered this for a moment.

And quietly, ladylike, she kicked off her shoes.

She sat down upon one of the beanbags and hugged her legs to her chest so that her sock-clad feet were on the bag with her, and she turned her face a little sideways and rested her cheek upon her knees. She looked at Merick and she smiled a tiny little smile.

"You're way too young," Chloe pointed out, "to have a 'bucket list.' What, did you listen to that one Tim McGraw song too many times and get all melancholy?"

She closed her eyes and she chuckled faintly.

"Before I die," she decided, "I want to have a Daily Planet byline all to myself. That's worth more to me than any Pulitzer. I wanna see Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. I wanna go for a ride in one of those prop-driven crop dusters, like the ones in Illusions by Richard Bach. And I wanna plant a huge long kiss on Jesse McCartney's lips because I love his beautiful soul."

She opened one eye, mischief glinting there in its iridescent depths, impishness tickling the corner of her mouth. "I don't care how steady we end up going, Tennylson, you're not taking that one from me."

 

[ChasNicollette]

Rose

That could have gone worse.

Maybe.

Kara could have punched him through the house, f'rinstance.

Or dropkicked him through my new car. (God, I hope Professor Smith has Act of Alien Insurance on his wheels.)

Or actually hurt Kyle. (I hope he's not worse than he looks, he looks okayish, I hope he's not trying to be all bravado-y to try and impress me.)

It could have gone worse. And just as Rose had suspected, Kara was just feeling punchy 'cause she'd had a rough one-score-and-four hours.

"Sorry about that. I just... I thought you were a phantom. And I thought about Rose... I'm sorry," Kara apologized, pushing aside some of her blond hair.

Rose grinned hopefully at Kyle. It seemed like protectiveness of friends and loved ones was something he could get behind; she really hoped he didn't bear a grudge.

...she was distracted enough by this that she lost track of how stormy the sky was getting and then--

--and then there was a funnel cloud weaving its way towards her house, this place of beloved history and Rose's heart was in her throat and she was holding up her arm in front of her face as the debris whipped about--

Oh yay.

Shoulda known.

Moment I thought the words 'that could have gone worse'--

But then a towering mass of a goldilocked man powered down from the sky, and proclaimed himself to be a Norse myth made incarnate. And then made a serious argument towards his deserving that name and title... by stopping the tornado in its tracks, and then dispersing it on the four winds.

The chill stopped crawling Rose's spine, and she hugged Wraith a little tighter.

He was. This guy was. He was an actual god. An actual actual god.

(Actual gods were almost cooler than actual aliens. Rose decided to call it a draw.)

"'Great Muppety Odin,'" she breathed, eyes way way wide.

But then he, He, this great god of storm and, erm, drang...

He pointed his big fuck-off mallet at Kyle and bellowed a very threatening bellow. Rose's eyes slammed into a furious squint.

(You'd think gods would be enlightened enough to not judge by appearances. Doesn't he know a chick who's half dead? Like, literally?

Well, I don't care what his name is, he'll be thore all over when I'm done with him, he lays one raindrop on my boyfriend--)

But the she, She, this beautiful woman of cornfields and stardust...

'I say thee nay.'

She stared down the god who'd sundered the thunderheads, defending Kyle to him, and with a whisper and a whirlwind off he flew, his hammer's momentum implausibly hauling him up through the winds.

Rose blinked quietly. And shook her head.

"Speaking of bad-ass," she mumbled, "Kara, that was. That was. Made of Win. You scared off Vincent D'Onofrio, attitude problem and all! (Was that really him, though? Like, Him him?)"

Then she glanced at Kyle, made a worried face. "And you. We totally need to get you into Homid form, or at least Glabro. Your Crinos form keeps inciting The Delirium in folk."

 

[Lunaramblings]

Merick settled down beside Chloe and smiled at her. "I ain't really the jealous type. If you really need to lay one on some has-been popstar... well, I think I can deal with that. At least s'long as I can steal a smooch on occassion." Merick wrapped his arms around Chloe and pulled the blanket over them. "Anywhere... anytime. I will say... I may not be wanting to go back to Germany anytime soon though... I kinda broke a church. But anywhere else is all yours." Merick leaned down and softly kissed Chloe's forehead. "You're the best."

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Wraith

I leaned onto Rose as she lifted me up from the debris of the shed. "I'm OK beautiful, Kara, unlike Zod, was not trying to kill me. Just a little banged up is all."

Still leaning on Rose a little I walked over to a pretty embarrassed Kara Kent. She was fiddling with her hair and looking at me a little shyly.

"It's OK Kara. I know how I look in this form and it is not a look that will sell Girl Scout cookies. You were protecting Rose. thats always good in my book."

Then the skies exploded in a sound so powerful I felt it. I looked over in the distance and saw a blur, which quickly manifested itself into the worlds most powerful LARP player, or the real deal.

And the way I was getting Really Bad Vibes from this guy, he was the real deal!

I made to move myself between him and Rose when he lifted the hammer and just.. told it all to stop. If I listened I could almost feel the energy pouring out of him.

Raindrops just stopped in midair, and the clouds and tornadoes disappeared. Yep, this guy was for real.

Two gods in one day. If I was a gambling man (and old enough to gamble) I would head to Morton's Grocery and buy me a ticket.

Then his next words froze me in my tracks.

“What hell hath spawned thee? " The being spoke in a voice that further proved that he was not born in Kansas. “Speak, demon, or Mjolnir shall cleave thee intwain!".

Crap! if I got out of THIS alive I was going to hire the best PR guy I could find to give me a makeover!!!

I tried again (unsuccessfully) to put myself between chuckles and Rose when a flash of blond hair and red jacked put herself between us and Thor.

"Hold up a sec," Kara said . "No one's going to be cleaving anyone. Not while I'm around, so, why not put the hammer down and we can uh... talk about this. Please?"

Funny thing is he stopped. Stopped dead and looked down at Kara, standing tall between us. He looked down at Kara, and said something I didn't catch, then he was off, flying off into the distance at a speed unmatched by man.

(frikin everyone but me & Merick can fly around here!!)

Rose let out a breath she had been holding when the God left.

"Speaking of bad-ass," she mumbled, "Kara, that was. That was. Made of Win. You scared off Vincent D'Onofrio, attitude problem and all! (Was that really him, though? Like, Him him?)"

Then she glanced at me, concern in her eyes. "And you. We totally need to get you into Homid form, or at least Glabro. Your Crinos form keeps inciting The Delirium in folk."

"As you wish My Lady."

Shadows swirled around me and when they parted I stood at Roses side once again a boy, not the monster most people thought I was.

"No hard feelings Kara, I think you just saved me from another thrashing."

 

[ChasNicollette]

Raya

The hologram of Zor-El faded to be replaced by a still picture taken sometime in Zor-El's lab on Krypton. The Fortress had obviously reproduced the still holo from its memory crystals. The picture showed Var-Sen and Raya, both looking over a table of scientific instruments, with Zor-El standing slightly behind them. It appeared Zor-El was teaching them something, and they both were intently listening as they worked.

Var-Sen broke out into a grin, and at the same time he swallowed hard to keep from breaking into tears.

Raya glanced back at him, and gently reached out and touched his shoulder, smiling softly at his tears. Then she turned her gaze back to the holograph, and with a flicker of dawning realisation, she remembered what day that was.

That was. Yes.

You were explaining to us how a stabilised network of wormholes-- 'stargates?' --could be used to traverse history as well as distance. Archaeological tourism had always been a hobby of Kryptonians, but so few of us understood the principles involved, so many of us just took the physics for granted.

You sent us to a place called Rokyn by way of demonstration, a godsend of a world. (That was a lovely afternoon.)

Perhaps this is where J'onn will find us a place to settle down? Our own little colony... 'New Krypton,' or perhaps 'New Kandor?'

She smiled a secret little smile to herself, and she took Var-Sen's hand in hers.

Zor-El spoke, "I am sure you are full of questions, as you both always have been. Go ahead and ask, for after this time you will no longer be able to visit here until Kara has fulfilled her destiny."

Raya's smile faded. She had thought... they could establish a strata-space transmitter, consult with The Fortress in occasions of great need... but on top of that, to see Zor-El "in person," whenever she wished... or perhaps just from time to time...

But no. The silver-haired genius was not wrong.

This was Kara's time now. And Krypton had meddled enough with the course of Earth's history. Too many of Rao's children traipsing about in Sol's light, and Earth would never learn to stand on its own two feet. This, most of all, was Kara's mission.

To teach them to stand on their own, and to catch them when they fell.

But maybe Raya and Var-Sen could have a mission of their own?

Squeezing Var-Sen's hand, she spoke up: "Would you have us watch over another world, as Kara watches over this one? Surely, there are many globes spinning in the galaxies that may also be in danger of sharing Krypton's fate. Shall we protect one of these?"

 

[ChasNicollette]

Chloe

Chloe half-lidded her eyes.

Merick was warm. And the blanket was nice.

She'd been dead earlier, and being dead tended to involve a drop in body temperature. Warm was good.

His lips had left a little patch of cool on her forehead. Cool was good, too.

"I read a Glamour once," she admitted with chagrin. "I was bored out of my skull one day in The Torch office, and the girl who writes for The Pom-Pom Parade had brought in the latest issue. (She left it behind when she was out with mono. Again.) Anyway, one of the articles claimed-- and I have no reason to doubt the validity of this --that a key to a committed relationship is each party having a List of Five. Which is to say, a list of five celebrities with whom it would be okay to have a torrid kissyface and not get in trouble. So I guess Jesse McCartney is one of mine. And, uh, Brandon Routh. And Sean Patrick Flanery. (And two more to be named later.)"

Chloe wrapped her arms around Merick's waist inside the blanket's embrace.

She smiled a woozy, weary little smile. "I peg you for a Mila Kunis fan. In fact, I bet you--"

Her eyes snapped wide. "Wait, what? You broke a church?"

She sat back a bit and stared at him, though she did not withdraw completely from the blanket. "Okay. So. When I go to Moscow, you're staying home. Because I am not risking you 'breaking' Saint Basil's."

Slow, slow, she shook her head. "'Nobody steps on a church in my town.'"

 

[Lunaramblings]

Merick started laughing at Chloe's response.

"Yeah, see, after I caught the falling guy... it pretty much took everything I had left... and I had to counter his momentum by pushing him away and kinda taking his momentum into myself... anyway... I was pretty sure I was gonna die... but instead, I think it was reflex, I swooshed. So, next I know I am falling through the roof of this church. Right in the middle of a sermon I smash into the alter. That was when I lost my glowy armor stuff and I sat up and looked around, and for some reason all I could say was Ich bin ein Berliner. Which, literally translated means, I am a donut. Kennedy said that once. Don't ask how I know where I was... still a bit lost on that one. But yeah... so thats when I got outta there and net I knew I was talking to The Old Dude again, then Death and her homies showed up. This has really been a very full day." Merick laughed a little more before looking deep into Chloe's eyes. "And Chloe... you make Mila Kunis look like a hag. She aint got nothin on you. I swear.

With that Merick leaned in and attempted to plant just a small peck on Chloe's beautiful lips... all the while hoping her right hook wasn't as powerful as her pen...

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

Kara Zor-El

Kara looked out at the stern and rugged face of Thor, and she honestly hoped that she wouldn't have to test her might against the fabled Norse God of Thunder. Kara hadn't exactly fared well in her fight against General Zod, and had ended up making an unscheduled trip to the Phantom Zone because of it. She was fairly certain that a similar outcome wouldn't be the case, but stranger things had happened recently.

With her arms outstretched, Kara saw a bewildered look come across the elder gods face, and she couldn't really understand what he said with a hushed voice.

Va'n austrvegr spá?

'I need to brush up on my foreign dialects,' Kara thought to herself.

She let her arms fall down once Thor "commanded" them to stand back, and she watched with a curious sense of wonder as he departed from their presence, using his hammer to fly up into the air.

Smallville... home of Meteor Freaks, Alien travelers, and a few brief appearances by the God of Thunder.

"I'm really confused..." Kara said as she scratched her head again. She turned around and shrugged her shoulders after Thor left, though a part of her was curious to see where he was headed.

Back home, she imagined.

Wherever that was.

"I guess that was him. I mean I can't really say. I've never met the God of Thunder before, so I don't really have a lot to compare him with," Kara said. "But I suppose when you consider that I'm an alien, meeting the real Thor probably isn't out of the realm of possibilities," she added before smiling over at Kyle, whom had just transformed back into a more familiar form.

"No biggie. I think that a large smiley face probably would have smoothed things over a bit. And I prefer kittens over puppies," she added.

Kara had remarkable hearing, and it was a power that she had gotten fairly used to. Perhaps if she would listen more and punch less... she probably wouldn't get into so many fights.

 

[AmenRa]

The Fortress of Solitude

[Squeezing Var-Sen's hand, she spoke up: "Would you have us watch over another world, as Kara watches over this one? Surely, there are many globes spinning in the galaxies that may also be in danger of sharing Krypton's fate. Shall we protect one of these?"

The hologram of Zor-El was quiet for a moment, then its visage smiled softly as the artificial intelligence formulated a response to Raya's question.

"That destiny, your destiny, Raya Ro-Zan, is not for me to choose. You and Var-Sen shall make your own destiny among a world of your choosing. There are great resources available here in this Fortress, as well with your ally J'onn J'onzz. Consult with him and together you shall find your place among the stars. There are indeed many worlds that would benefit from your knowledge, strength, and guidance. Perhaps the legend of Nightwing and Flamebird shall be reborn in a new legacy. You must choose wisely," Zor-El admonished them both, "for the path you take shall be the only path for you to walk the rest of your eternity."

The AI, the consciousness of Zor-El, waited patiently for another question.

 

[AmenRa]

Some things had to be attended to immediately, and some things had to wait, regardless of how seemingly important they may be.

Of the latter, the Thunder God knew that only Odin could put him on the path to unraveling the truth behind the prophecy told by the ancient people of the North.

Remnants of the legend assaulted Thor's mind, but even so he could not piece it together. It was probable that the story was not his to know in the first place, and he had likely heard Bauldur or Sif relate the tale around Odin's table and a flask of mead.

Also, though, there was the immediate issue of the mortal Don Blake, with whom Thor was inextricably bound by Odin's whim.

And thus, the Mighty Thor returned to the mortal form of the surgeon, only to find a gust of wind from the very tornado Thor had denied had taken its toll on his car. The Audi sat partially in the ditch beside the cornfield, mud caked around it where it had slid.

Blake tried in vain several times to drive the car out of the mud, but he only succeeded in making it stick deeper into the slippery sludge.

He exited the car, cursed several times, then took out his cell phone and stared at it.

He didn't know who to call.

Looking around, he saw several houses within walking distance between the highway and cornfields. He gave a shrug and a sigh, and headed towards the one opposite the large windmill, the one owned by McCrimmon.

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Wraith

I stood straighter under my own power (hopefully Rose didn't notice the wince. Not as bad as after Zod's beating, but i definitely was tender!) and reached down, taking Roses hand in mine.

It felt.. natural. Like I had always done that.

"No biggie. I think that a large smiley face probably would have smoothed things over a bit. And I prefer kittens over puppies." Kara quipped.

I chuckled. "Kittens it is then. I'll see if I can grab a stencil of some kind later. Thanks for the backup again Kara. Every instinct in me was screaming that that guy WAS Thor, Norse god of Thunder. And to think Roswell used to have a rep. Smallville is home to no less than three billionaires, a beautiful alien with a wicked right hook, and another beautiful woman that commands the elements. Roswell is so yesterday! Oh, and me, whatever I end up being after I really learn what I can do."

 

[ChasNicollette]

Chloe

Cry havoc.

And let slip the dogs of uninvited physical contact.

Just like when Kyle had hugged her in The Torch oh so very long ago (she had been tired, then, what was she now?) Chloe initially tensed when Merick pressed his lips to hers, if only for the merest of moments. Her eyes had settled down from being as wide as they had been, while he was waxing motormouthy about taking out the church...

(Honestly, the idea that Merick had some subconscious awareness of his whereabouts suggested some sort of internal compass or rangefinder or maybe even a GPS, aspects of his powers of which even he wasn't yet aware, and this presented interesting avenues for investigation. Did he have an internal chronometer, too?

And really, what else could he have said in that situation?

She decided that Launchpad McQuack himself, the real Launchpad, couldn't have handled that crash-landing better. 'Any landing you can walk away from...')

...her eyes had settled, but now they were wide again, wide as can be.

For a moment, she was all feminism and injustice and how dare you.

...but then the moment passed. And she licked her lips, and she reached out and she touched his cheek.

Because the moment was warm and friendly. And they had just been talking about kissing.

Part of her was out-of-control worried that because she'd just confessed to sometimes running pell-mell into situations that got her into trouble, Merick was being a card-carrying porcine Y-chromosome and taking advantage of that pell-mellishness. Especially since his power would always allow him to stay one teleported step ahead of her consequences.

But Merick was a good guy.

And he was... expressive.

(Again she thought of Bruce. She couldn't help it.

Bruce could be the best man in the whole wide world, a heart of gold wrapped up in layers of dragonslayer armour. But more than once now, he had been about to... to say things... and hadn't said them. Would that how it would always be with him?

She wasn't going to fight a man to get him to love her, and chemistry only went so far.

And Bruce had places to be.

Far be it from Chloe Sullivan to keep Bruce Wayne from going to places he had to be.

And Merick.

Merick, Merick, Merick.

His heart of gold was unhidden. And sometimes, unbidden, that unhidden heart would get him into more than a little trouble.

But he was a friend. And he was a Freak -- they had certain mysteries in common. And he was as brave as could be expected. And they shared this... this experience in the mystical, flouncing about in the collective unconscious of mankind and stumbling across anthropomorphisations of concepts that defied description.

Chloe had a hunch-- a journalista had to trust her hunches --that while Bruce Wayne was going places that no-one could follow, maybe she and Merick might be going to the same place.)

All of this flew through her super-lucent brain in a matter of mere moments, and when the moments passed, the muscles that had tensed found themselves unclenching, and she found herself smiling a soft little intrigued little smile.

Her voice was quiet, and Merick would perhaps have to strain to hear her:

"First warning," she breathed, "you might not know this. But Pete'll be the first to tell you. I'm something... of a control freak. I like to be in charge of things. The last editor of the paper, when he passed me The Torch, he joked that it would never be enough for me to be a Managing Editor, that I would have to be a micro-Managing Editor. This is a part of myself I'm trying to deal with, but you may run into it more than once along the way. And I'm sorry."

She licked her lips, and continued: "Having confessed that? Having confessed that I am trying not to be a person that always always has to be in charge?"

Her hand slid from his cheek and 'round to the back of his head, wove into his hair.

"Having confessed that," she explained, eyes half-lidded and full of smoke that knew no colour and yet knew every colour, "this is how we kiss."

And she showed him. She pulled him toward her by the back of his head and she tilted her head just so and she pursed her lips just so and with the perfect perfect mix of passion and precision she showed him how she liked to be kissed. She showed him how she liked to kiss.

And it was a hundred years or thirty seconds later that she drew away again, giddy and grinning and pink in the cheeks, eyes bereft of smoke but full of light.

"Did you get that?" she murmured. "Or should I show you again?"

 

[Lunaramblings]

Merick gazed like he had just had the greatest moment of his life... and in his mind... he had.

"Ummm... well... I think I got it... but can we go again just to make sure? I mean, practice makes perfect and all." Merick smiled. Warm and true. He didn't understand why or how... but for the first time in as long as he could remember, he felt whole and real. No longer drifting in a sea of pop-culture induced mania, he was here. He was now. And this is what mattered.

Silently he made an oath as his tongue danced over his lips. No matter what. No matter the trouble to come in their future, or the places they would go, Chloe Sullivan would never be alone. Never. She would always carry a piece of his heart with her.

Merick didn't know how to explain any of this. He did have this thought however...

"This so beats hanging upside-down in the rain, or on a table top over cake. Or even, even Bueller. Even Bueller can't top this and that dude tops near about everything... because this is real. This is life. And I am more than ready to live it."

"Thank you ma'am, may I have another?"