This little one shot takes place during the events of Infinite Crisis, way before the first chapter of The World According to Peter Parker and Karen Starr.
As of late, Power Girl's day has been extremely bizarre. One moment she gets ambushed by Psycho Pirate in her own apartment and she's fighting hallucinations of various supervillains on the street, the next she is saved by what looks to be an elderly version of Superman. Then the two of them fly to a cave in the polar icecaps where she meets a man with red hair and a gold armored jumpsuit and a "Superboy". The elderly Superman begins to explain everything to Power Girl, the beginning of the multiverse all the way to the big crisis that put an end to it. This Superman also told her about how he and his Lois Lane had to retreat to a pocket dimension now that his Earth no longer exists, yet he was still able to see what this "New Earth" he left behind was like…he didn't like what he saw. A certain darkness began to loom around this new universe, warping the lives of its heroes. Some died while others had just lost their way. It was because of this, that this Superman decided to leave his pocket dimension and make things right again…of course, that wasn't the only reason why he left. During his time in the pocket dimension, his Lois began to fall ill and now she's dying. This Superman believed that if he were to bring back his old Earth, maybe she'll be cured of her illness. It was worth a shot. Upon meeting the dying Lois, once Power Girl began to make physical contact with the woman, long forgotten memories begin to flood back into her mind. She started to remember everything about her past life. How this Superman and Lois took her in and raised her like she was their daughter, all the family dinners, the stories they used to tell her about how they met, her old friends and past adventures, everything. Ever since the recent appearance of Supergirl, Power Girl had been questioning her very existence. Was she really Superman's cousin? Is she even from Krypton? Turns out that the answer to both of those questions were yes, but in a different form. She herself is actually from another Earth, simply named, "Earth-2" and Kal-L, which is the name of this Superman, is her actual cousin. Everything Psycho Pirate had told her was true. Go figure.
Power Girl is now sitting down on the bed that Lois is laying in trying to process everything that just happened. Kal-L is standing beside her waiting for her to say something.
"It all makes sense now," Power Girl finally spoke. "When this Earth's Kara Zor-El showed up, my powers begin to fluctuate, and when we made physical contact they started to go haywire."
Kal-L nods, "Alex said it was the natural order fighting for control."
"And my Atlantean origin?" Power Girl now asks.
"We crafted that story so we could protect you," says Lois. "We didn't want you to feel lonely your whole life." Then the ailing woman smiles. "Although, it seems like in the last year we didn't have to worry about that."
Power Girl looks at the ground and blushes. She knew exactly what Lois was talking about, and by the look on Kal-L's face, he does too.
"Kara, is there something you want to tell us?" the elderly Man of Steel asks with a smile.
Power Girl blushes even harder, "I…may be seeing someone."
"Oh, we are well aware dear," says Lois. "Clark and I have been watching you for quite some time. I gotta say, your boyfriend is quite the stud. He reminds me so much of your cousin."
Power Girl chuckles, "Yeah, he can be a total dork sometimes. His name is Peter Parker. Of course, the rest of the world know him as Spider Man." The blonde felt comfortable telling her foster parents who her boyfriend is. This is Superman she's talking to after all. If there's anyone she trusts more than anything in the world it's him, doesn't matter which Earth he's from.
Kal-L puts his hand under his chin and begins to think about something.
Power Girl notices this, "What is it Kal?"
"What? Oh, I was just thinking about what I remember about our Earth," the elderly Man of Steel responds. "I remember there being a Spider Man that used to exist sometime in the 1930s. He used to prowl around the streets of New York similar to how Batman operates."
Power Girl's eyes widened, "You think that could possibly be Peter's Earth-2 counterpart?"
"I'm not sure. This Spider Man was said to be an urban legend. No one knows much about him."
"So Kara, tell me more about Peter," says Lois. "What's he like?"
Power Girl chuckles, begins to blush again and smiles, "Well, he got his powers when he was fifteen. He was bitten by an irradiated spider, and has been in the superhero game since. His uncle was murdered by a burglar and it ended up being the same crook that he let get away days prior. He blamed himself for what happened and he vowed never to make the same mistake again."
"How did you two meet?" Lois now asks.
"It was about two years ago, our JSA early warning system detected a disturbance. We all saw on the monitors that Spidey was in a scuffle with the Sinister Six, a team consisting of six of his worst enemies, all of them having some kind of beef with him. We were able to jump in just in time to help him and we all beat them. During our battle with the six, Peter and I were having a little playful back and forth. Even back then I was attracted to his sense of humor. *chuckles* We sort of bonded after that and became really good friends ever since."
"When did you start to have feelings for him?" asks Lois.
Power Girl begins to smile warmly, "It was when I was at my lowest point. My powers were going into a flux and I was starting to question my very existence. For the longest time I thought I was the cousin of this Earth's Superman, but when the other Kara showed up I started to see that maybe that's not the case. I started to have doubts about my purpose. Did I even have a purpose? Am I just some unknown doppelganger with no past or a reason for even being here?...Am I truly alone? Everyone knew exactly how I felt at the moment, but they all didn't know what to say, all of them except for one person. Peter was the first and only person who was truly there for me. He never cared about who I was in the past or where I came from. He told me that none of that really matters to him. What matters is that I'm here now and he's willing to accept what's right in front of him. He said that I wasn't alone, that I was never alone to begin with. He then promised that he will still help me find out who I really am, and he said no matter what happens he will always be there for me and that he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. It was at that moment I realized, while it's clear that I like him a lot, maybe my feelings for him are much deeper than that."
Kal-L and Lois smiled at this.
"This Peter seems like a very kind young man," the elderly Man of Steel spoke up.
Power Girl smiles, "He is the kindest, bravest and most caring man I have ever met. He's the only one who truly understands me, who appreciates me for who I am…make me feel like I'm worth something. Whenever I'm around him, it's like all of my doubts and insecurities are thrown out the window. His humor and goofball personality always seems to lift my worries, like everything was going to be okay. He makes me feel…hopeful." She looks up at Kal-L. "Kal, you say there's no hope for this Earth. I hate to say this to you, but I think you're wrong. While it is true that there's darkness in the world, I've known plenty of people who don't let that kind of darkness consume them. Peter is one of them. One thing I've learned about him from my year of dating him is that, despite his happy go lucky nature, he too has dealt with a chalk-full of tragedy. He lost his uncle, his first true love, his best friend becomes a super villain and he ends up dying too, he even wore a costume that brought out his negative emotions. But he was able to overcome ALL of that and still keep a smile on his face. He knows what it's like to feel insecure, but he never really lets those insecurities consume him. Though he'll never admit it, that's why he tends to crack jokes all the time. He uses it as a defense mechanism to hide all of his dark thoughts. It's like a second mask to him. In a way, I can kinda relate to that."
Kal-L took in everything his cousin/niece had just said to him and begins to look down in thought.
"Can I ask you a question Kal?" Power Girl continues.
The elderly Man of Steel looks up at her, "Sure."
"If we bring back our Earth, what happens to this one?"
Kal-L begins to think about that, "You know…Alex never actually told me about the ramifications. I'll have to ask him about that later."
The blonde heroine nods, "Well, until I get a straight answer, I'm gonna have to think about it."
Kal-L nods in understanding, "You and Lois can continue to do some more catching up. There's something I need to take care of."
Power Girl nods and watches her cousin/uncle leave the room.
As he leaves the cave, Kal-L begins to think about everything Power Girl said about the love of her life. If what she says is true, then maybe this universe isn't all bad. Maybe there truly is a handful of good people out there. However, he's still determined to restore his Earth so he could cure Lois of her illness. Though his cousin/niece made a good point. If Earth-2 gets restored, what happens to this one? That's a question he'll have to ask Alex on a later date. Right now, he needs to visit an old friend.
He takes off to Gotham City.
And with that this shot comes to a close.
For those of you wondering who Kal-L was talking about regarding Peter's Earth-2 counterpart, it was, in fact, Spider Man Noir. I figured since Earth-2 was more or less "The Golden Age" of the DC Universe, it was appropriate that I throw in a Spider Man that was from that era.
Be sure to leave a comment telling me what you think, and if I should make more. Until next time...