Parallel Earths and alternate realities, once a theoretical possibility had become a reality, if not widely known amongst the population of many realities. Utilising his super speed and the young abilities of Cisco Ramon, a powerful Meta-Human within his own right, Barry Allen had begun to visit different realities and versions of Earth. Many of which appeared as an almost replica of what was known as Earth-1, yet others had appeared as either technologically advanced or primitive by comparison. Utilising his abilities 'The Flash', to fight the criminal element in his own reality, an invasion by a powerful alien species known as 'The Dominators' had forced The Flash to utilise his abilities to assemble an a force of Meta-Humans, warriors and Heroes from across his own planet to aide in the fight with the alien force, although one key piece remained absent in his plan to defend his city and the planet, the highly powerful abilities of a young woman he had once met on a mirror image of Earth, a new reality he had accidentally entered, Earth-38. Combined with a vessel from Earth-1's distant future and the almost god-like powers of an alien from Earth-38, the invasion of Earth-1 was finally thwarted although the remnants of that activity had echoed across the planet to reach the last bastion of a once believed dead race of humanoid beings and a deadly threat to the future of Earth-1.
The House of El, Rising.
A day not unlike any other with The Flash in pursuit of yet another Meta-Human, a man with the seemingly impossible power of flight through the streets of Central City, skimming the tops of cars creating explosions within the windows of the buildings and cars due to the high speed of the flight of the unknown Meta-Human. Pushing his abilities to almost breaking point, The Flash remained in close pursuit leaving a trail of orange energy in his wake as he attempted to maintain his pursuit of the unknown Meta-Human while the citizens of the streets ran for cover from the explosions of glass falling around them in the wake of the super-sonic flight. Weaving through the city with expert ease while maintaining his position at the center of the street, the unknown Meta-Human appeared to stop instantly before turning towards his pursuer while the streak of orange energy dissipated behind the Scarlet Speedster as he slid to a quick stop.
"I was hoping that you would eventually keep up with me…FLASH!" Called out the Meta-Human male, as he hovered above cars and frightened citizens.
"Who are you?"
"My name is not important FLASH! What is important however, is one question. Where is she?"
"Where is who?"
"Do not play games with me Flash! I am in no mood for your games, where is she? Tell me or I will rip apart this world until I find her" The Meta-Human called out, instantly.
"Who are you talking about?" Cried out the Flash, for all to hear.
"Wrong answer!"
Seemingly diving towards the Flash, with his fists clenched and aimed out before him, the Meta-Human instantly broke through the sound-barrier creating an explosion of the remaining glass on the buildings to shatter and fall upon the frightened on-lookers. Static filled the eyes of The Flash as he turned instantly to run as fast as his legs could push him through the streets with the unusual Meta-Human in close pursuit, leaving behind a wake of Orange energy as a trail to follow for the powerful man.
"Barry, What is happening?" Called out a voice in his ear.
"I'm a little busy right now, he is fast… maybe faster than me… Hang on?"
Turning instantly to face the Meta-Human, a mere flicker of light appeared between the two instantly, within the power of the Speed-Force, The Flash saw a young man in his twenties intercept his pursuer instantly only to crash into a large building and much to his shock, beams of blue energy exploded from inside of the building before a loud crack of super-sonic flight echoed through the streets once again.
"Barry, Report?!"
"Ah, I'm not sure what I'm seeing?" Cried out The Flash instantly while a young male appeared from inside of the building and hovered before him.
"My name is Jared, you are known as… The Flash? we need your help" His strong and confidant voice called out through the streets.
"You're…?"
"Yes, I am. But, this is a conversation for elsewhere. If you lead? I will follow closely. I give you my word, I mean you or this city and it's people no Harm sir"
S.T.A.R Labs, a once center of Scientific and Technological Advanced Research Laboratory and responsible for the creation of the Meta-Human crisis, now home to The Flash and his team of almost Vigilantes, working within the law to combat the growth of Meta-Humans and to protect not only Central City, but the planet itself from the plague of powerful beings from their path of destruction. Pacing the room before those bound by their own personal code of honour to protect the city and the planet, the young and unusual man known only to them as Jared seemed to smile slightly at the technology around him as he moved slowly in silence while the team whispered amongst themselves, whispers which caused him to laugh as he turned to face them.
"You know, I can hear all of you?"
"From over there? Impressive hearing" Called out Cisco Ramon.
"Yes I can, and for the record? I have a mother and a father whom had married before I was born sir"
"I'm sorry… Jared is it?"
"Yes sir, it is. Perhaps I should start at the top, as you would say?"
"A good place. I think I know what you are, but that is impossible" The Flash called out, as he stepped forwards, his face still covered by his mask.
"You know that I can see through your mask right? I know who you are Barry Allen. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me, on my honour sir. Many years ago, my home world was ripping itself apart and as such? One man called for an evacuation, it fell upon deaf ears as you would say. But not all ignored his cries, some… built ships and moved out into space. I was a child, born in the void of space before my people landed here, close to your planet's southern pole. We knew that the indigenous species of this world would not accept us and as such? we quickly discovered that we had abilities here, the power of flight amongst other things. Within a year? We had established a colony very deep beneath the ice and called all of our own kind whom had escaped our world to come forwards and join us…"
"You are from…?"
"Yes, my parents where born on that world that you know of Flash. Within a year? Two more Pods arrived, an infant child and a young girl. I was little more than eight Earth years old at the time. With no parents and no family on this world? They where raised by my aunt, they took their place amongst the scholars of our people but five years ago? She disappeared from our colony, leaving behind her Cousin whom had been raised as her brother, in many ways. Several of your months ago? An image appeared on your news broadcasts of a young woman with the power of flight, the crest on her chest…"
"Supergirl?" Barry called out, in shock.
"Yes. Her birth name is Kara Zor-El. Upon seeing her image, her cousin Kal-El began looking for her, he has left our colony. The Counsel of Elders has charted me with the task of returning Kal-El back to the Colony. For weeks, I have tracked him across this planet until I found him here in pursuit of you Flash. It is my belief that he believes that you know where his Cousin is, if he comes for you? He will kill you, all of you to find Kara Zor-El"
"You don't understand…" Caitlin Snow called out, slowly.
"Yes, I do Ma'am. I know of your interaction with an alternate reality, I spoke freely with a friend of yours calling himself 'The Green Arrow', he explained everything to me. He also told me that you may be able to make contact with the other Kara? Like myself, Kal draws power from the yellow sun this planet orbits but he has become fuelled by his own anger and has become more powerful than I alone can challenge. Our previous encounter caught him by surprise, he will not fall for that again"
"The Dark-Side of the Force!"
"If I understand you correctly Mister Ramon? Yes. The Council of Elders will offer no assistance and that is why I must request that you make contact with… Super-Girl, as you call her. I have attempted to locate the Kara Zor-El of this Earth and so far? I have found nothing. With your permission? I shall await your decision at the hanger owned by yourself sir"
"If you have been here, for all of this time then…"
"It is simple Mister Allen, interfering with the development of other species once again? Is against our heights laws which had been installed upon our arrival on this world. But I for one believe that my people can learn so much from your people. I await your decision, but my time is growing short as he now knows that I am in this city and will begin to hunt myself also"
"Jared, is he really that powerful?"
"Mister Ramon, in many ways? Yes. Kal was the youngest survivor of Krypton. His father was one of my people's most respected Scientists and some believe that one day Kal will take his rightful place as a leader amongst our people. He is trained to protect our people as am I, but Kal is and always has been the stronger of the both of us. As I had said Sirs, Ma'am? I will await your answer"
A colony of super-beings living in the frozen wastelands of the Southern Pole on Earth, deep beneath the ice had become an incredible prospect for those at S.T.A.R Labs. After the accidental discovery of Earth-38 and his initial meeting with a refugee of Krypton, the unmistakable thoughts of why no Kryptonions had ever been discovered on Earth had become something of a background thought for the young Forensic Scientist turned Hero of Central City and his followers. Now the prospect of an entire colony hidden away in Antarctica was an incredible thought, more so for the distant friend he had made with one of the few remaining survivors of Krypton on the distant Earth. It took only moments to agree with the man known as Jared as searches of the computer revealed the one known as Kal-El's presence across the planet, often followed by destruction. Once again returning to Earth-38 in search of the powerful young woman he had been sent to locate, her almost joy at the prospect of finding more of her own kind had overtaken her need to protect her city as she had once again returned to what she knew as Earth-1, although to Kara Zor-El, her own Earth was Earth-1 in her own eyes.
"Are you certain about this Barry? Where is he?"
"He said that he would meet us here, perhaps…" Barry Allen replied slowly before a voice echoed through the large hanger.
"My name is Jared, of the House Kor. Forgive me for staring at you Miss, but you look exactly the same as the woman I had been raised with for many years" Jared replied as he stepped into the hanger, his boots tapping on the solid ground beneath his feet. "I see from the mark on the ground that you have been here before. The House of El is an honoured one amongst our people"
"You're from Krypton, how many are left?"
"A few thousand, I was born on a ship which launched several years before… the disaster. Jor-El saved many of our kind with his warnings, and for that? We are forever in the debt of your house Miss Zor-El"
"Call me Kara" She replied, while slowly walking towards him wearing her usual blue and red suit.
"Forgive me Miss, but I can not. The Kara I once knew is perhaps long dead by now, she was my friend. I can neither call you Super-Girl also, your costume is… an almost insult to our people. Although! I understand why you wear such a costume on your world, a symbol to it's people. Please forgive me if I sound blunt? But our time is short. Has Flash explained everything to you as I hope he had?"
"Kal is looking for… Me?" She replied with a frown.
"I believe so, his abilities are growing by the minute. He would have killed The Flash had I not interfered…"
"Can I see…?"
"I'm sorry, as an outsider? You may not permitted to enter the Colony, although your heritage will be a factor, you are from Krypton and perhaps the last to see that dying world with your own eyes. If you will assist me in locating and stopping Kal-El? I will speak with the Council of Elders personally in your favour, but you are still young in comparison, I would say roughly early to mid twenties by the Earth Calendar?"
"I am, why is that a factor Jared?" Replied Kara Zor-El slowly.
"The Kara I grew up with? Arrived here with her infant cousin, Kal. They where raised as brother and sister and as my cousins. The Kara that I knew? Is in her mid forties, Earth calendar. I can see that Mister Allen has questions? Our people age differently here on Earth. All aside Miss Zor-El, will you assist me in locating Kal-El before he grows beyond our control?"
"Of course. I know Kal…" She replied slowly as she extended her hand in agreement.
"No my young friend, you don't know this Kal-El. When Kara left? He fought the Council to look for her, he broke with traditions and our laws to leave our colony and search for her, he even asked me to join him but I could not betray our people. My task is to find him and bring him back, willing or not and by any means"
"You mean kill him?" Barry Allen replied instantly.
"Those are my orders, but I can no more harm my adopted Cousin and friend anymore than I can harm myself. I am familiar with this world and it's people and I will abide by it's laws, first we need to get Miss Zor-El some suitable clothing, something that will not stand out to much. Tell me Zor-El, how many Earth languages do you speak fluently?"
"Languages?"
"I thought as much, your training is underdeveloped like that of a child. Kal, speaks almost all languages which will make it easier for him to blend in anywhere he chooses, I speak many myself. You will require training but we do not have the time… find something suitable to wear. Then we must begin our search…"
Rather than using their abilities of flight through Central City or running at speed alongside The Flash, walking at a human pace was the chosen mode of transport through the streets of Central City while those working alongside of The Flash monitored the news reports both live broadcasts and internet traffic in search of the Kryptonion loose amongst the city. Feeling the hot yellow on their skin as if charge their batteries, in some way, while the feeling that Jared was not telling the two the entire truth about the situation at hand as he was holding something back which had troubled the young woman from a different Reality.
"You don't speak much, do you Jared?"
"Only when needed. The Earth language of English was never my strongest point. If I may ask, do you remember your home, your first home?" He said slowly, careful not to name the place amongst the Humans they walked past.
"All of the time, I still dream of that place every night"
"You sleep every night? You know that you don't need to do that right, we can go for weeks without sleep if needed"
"I know, but I tried to assimilate into their ways when I was younger"
"You where raised by one of them, that must have been difficult for you, ignoring who you truly are" Jared replied slowly.
"When I came to… my Earth" Kara whispered. "I was met by Kal, my pod was sent off course, when I arrived? He found me and he was fully grown. He placed me with a family that he trusted and they raised me as their own, their daughter Alex accepted me as her sister"
"In a way, I envy you. I was not permitted to leave the Colony until two years ago… it was the first time I felt the sun on my face. My people feared the abilities this sun gives to us. Kara was always interested in the possibilities" He replied with a fond smile.
"What was she like, your Kara?" Barry Allen replied as he stepped to their side.
"Actually? A lot like you, beautiful and one of the few people to make me laugh with a simple look in her eyes. If my Kara is still alive somewhere? We have to find her…"
"Because you love her?" Kara Zor-El replied, as Jared looked up to the sun with a smile.
"I do. Although raised together for many years, Kara and I where bonded when I reached the age and she was to be my wife. Now do you understand?" Jared replied slowly, as he looked down at the almost mirror image of his Kara.
"I do, and I am sorry. I thought that…"
"If you can forgive me, we can start over? My name is Jared Kor, it is a pleasure to meet you Kara, Supergirl" He said with a slight smile. "Seeing you as young as you are? Brings back memories, so many memories of my Kara"
"I understand. I remember the ways of our people… if your Kara is alive? We will find her and Kal together"
"I am glad to hear you say that Kara. If you where looking for Kal, where would you first go to look for him?"
"Easy. His home address. What he calls The Fortress of Solitude close to the Northern Pole" She replied with a smile. "Uncle Jor-El placed a crystal in his pod to create a… home away from home"
"I know the crystal however? That place does not exist here Kara. Anywhere else?"
Similarities yet, differences between the two worlds could be to much to mention, development of cities across the planet had taken their own unique path which had become a point of interest for the three searching for Kal along with attempting to discover when the two realities took a different path from each other. Although their histories remained almost identical, obvious differences had been clearly visible to the young woman out of her own reality with certain technologies slightly more advanced and yet others less advanced, could the separation of realities be nothing more than a person turning to their left and meet their fate or to turn right to survive? Or perhaps even the arrival of the survivors of Krypton on Earth when in her own reality, only a handful survived the destruction of her home world.
For days, the search for Kal-El had resulted in nothing but rumours and false testimonies as she began to wander about her home reality and her disappearance. Had the enemies of her new life's work stepped forwards to create havoc on her home city, would the D.E.O cope with her absence after relying on Supergirl to fight the so called 'Forces of Evil', and what of her own Kal-El, Superman, would he begin to look for her as her this Kal-El had begun to look for her his own missing cousin? Searching through the database at S.T.A.R Labs to search for any sign of the one known as 'Superman', at Kara's own request, an uncomfortable feeling echoed through the group as Jared and Kara seemed to sit in the furthest corner swapping stories in their native language while laughing and joking.
"I don't trust him!" Barry called out instantly.
"You know, he can probably hear you?" Replied Barry's adoptive father.
"I know that Joe. But, I still don't trust him. I get the feeling that he is holding something back"
"Of course I am Flash, and I can hear you, we both can…" Jared called out, from the furthest corner of the room. "For my people? Interfering with… Humanity is against our highest laws established when we arrived here. Humanity has a predetermined destiny, you have the potential to be something amazing, all of you do and we can not interfere with that as my friend maybe doing…"
"Why is that against your laws? Oh, I'm just running a few ideas here… why are your people hiding?" A strange man called out, as he entered the room, spinning drum-sticks around his fingers.
"If their technology is anything like back on Krypton? It's centuries ahead" Kara replied as she laughed at the previous joke in her native language.
"This world, makes our people powerful. With the energy from your yellow sun? there is nothing that can stop one of our kind from either ripping apart this world or being worshipped as Gods. As you have previously seen from Kara's defence of this world? Our strength is almost limitless, your weapons are useless against our kind and with other abilities that the young Kara here has yet to discover? Our people are powerful beyond belief… wait a minute…?" Jared replied, as he closed his eyes and focused on a memory from his own past. "… Ordan the Elder once left our colony for several weeks only to return weak. He is the eldest of our people, his mind are failing him, yet he claimed that he was captured by Humans. I was a child at the time and not permitted to speak with him, but I… what is the word, sneaked?" He said to Kara as she nodded. "I sneaked away to speak with him. His claim was that someone had experimented on him, attempting to find the source of his powers for their own needs"
"How?" Called out the unusual man with a smile, as he sipped on a large paper cup of coffee.
"He said that a green and glowing crystal made him weak, it caused him pain throughout his body and weakened him to the point where they had taken his blood and samples of his tissue… what was it that he said…?"
"They wanted another sample from someone younger?" Kara replied as she stood slowly at Jared's side.
"Kara? My Kara I mean… if they have her…"
"Shouldn't you find your friend then? If he is looking for her, maybe they may already have their eyes on him?" The strange man replied with a smile, as he sipped on his coffee once again.
"It's a place to start. But first? I need to speak with Ordan. Well Kara, it looks like you are going to meet your people sooner than I thought… but not dressed in those trousers and blouse. Do you still have that costume?"
"I never take it off!" Kara replied with a large smile as she pulled open her blouse to reveal the Symbol of the House of El on her chest.
"Mister Allen? You must remain here in your City, we shall return soon"