Chapter Two:
"Did you really think that this Fortress was just an echo of a dead man?" Kara asked.
The two of them appeared in the Fortress in a flash of light.
"Jor-El is just the conscience that he set along with you," Kara explained. "Whether or not he is active or not, that doesn't really matter."
Kara wasn't completely certain but there was something that told her that Jor-El remained active within this Fortress. It was just that hunch that she said.
"You need to think outside of the box that you've put yourself inside," Kara told him.
"Oh, and…I suppose that was the mark of a true Kryptonian," Clark told her.
Kara raised her eyebrow and shook her head. "Actually that's far from a mark of a true Kryptonian. But we're far from conventional. Your father wasn't good at taking directive for instance."
"Really?" Clark asked.
"My mother was worse and your mother had her moments," Kara explained and she placed her hand on Kal's. "Believe me, the ability to use the awesome power here is within you. I can only guide you. You united the stones. The Fortress should belong to you, if you embrace who you are, all of who you are."
Clark Kent frowned when he looked at the Fortress. He was extremely skeptical about whether or not this would even work. He waited for Kara's nod of approval.
"It's all on you, K….Clark," Kara said, reminding herself that he was touchy about the entire real name thing.
He touched his hand to the console of the Fortress. For a second he felt foolish and thought that Kara was wrong.
The Fortress blinked to life and several symbols appeared around him. It started to blink around him. He recognized everything, he understood every single word.
"Amazing," he whispered.
"It is pretty extraordinary," Kara agreed, and this was kind of mundane as far as Kryptonian technology went.
Mundane shouldn't be mistaken for not useful. The entire world exploded around them.
"Okay, let's see if I can pull up all of the information about the Phantom Zone," Clark commented and he closed his eyes. This was just like using some kind of high tech Internet search.
The database of the Fortress hummed to life.
Kara looked around and frowned. She looked at one of the crystals and it hummed.
She kept her eye on it, she knew that Jor-El was there even though he was mute.
'One of your trials,' Kara thought.
"And that's a lot of information on the Phantom Zone," Clark said and he frowned. "So, some of the most dangerous criminals in the universe were sent to a place where they would remain forever alive."
"Yes," Kara agreed.
"Where there was no way out," Clark said.
Kara had a shrewd idea where this was going. "Yes."
"Or so it seemed," Clark added.
"Yes," Kara continued.
Clark frowned deeply when he continued to talk. "But they found a way out of the Phantom Zone."
'Mostly because you had to open the gate because you got sent inside by Zod,' Clark thought to himself.
"And now they've been stewing for…..it could be even centuries by the time they got out of there, never aging a day, only left along with their hatred," Clark told her.
Kara thought this looked pretty dire when he thought about that. "That sounds bad."
"That sounds bad," Clark agreed with her. "And then, the House of El was responsible of the creation of the Phantom Zone, so that means that they'll come after me."
"And me," Kara said and Clark turned around to face her. "Technically my father, if he really was my father, was adopted."
"What do you mean if Zor-El was your father?" Clark asked.
"I don't know, its complicated, please don't make me explain it," Kara said and she continued. "But no one knew about the adoption thing, therefore I'm considered a heir. Technically I'm the heir to the line because I'm older, by Kryptonian law. Although it doesn't matter because it's a moot issue."
"Yes" Clark agreed. "It would be a moot issue given that the entire planet blew up."
Kara turned around for a second.
"I'm sorry," Clark told her, realizing that this might be a sore subject for her. "I forgot that by your point of view it just happened yesterday."
"I was in that ship for years, my last thought that it was a bad dream, and everything would be okay," Kara said. "But what we have to deal with, it's living a nightmare."
Kara's eyes averted to the crystal. That was not something that was missed by Clark.
"Why do you keep staring at that crystal?" Clark asked her.
"Jor-El, why don't you not be a stranger, and say hello," Kara said to the crystal. "You know, your son could use your input right now."
"I didn't know that you survived the demise of the planet," Jor-El commented to her.
"Yes, I did, I escaped, my father intended to escape with me, but…I managed to put an end to that," Kara commented to him. "I guess Lara didn't tell you what her plan was to make sure her son grew up. If it wasn't for an equipment failure on my ship, it would have worked. But I guess that it is flawed as your AI."
Clark thought for one weird moment that Kara was going to fry the crystal out of sheer principle.
"There have been a release of several fugitives from the Phantom Zone," Kara commented.
"Yes, it is as I feared," Jor-El agreed, putting his personal distaste for the girl away for a second. "If Kal-El managed to start his training, none of this would have occurred."
"If you would have explained to me why I needed your direction, none of this would have occurred," Clark said and he felt his temper rise.
Jor-El's influence always caused him a few problems.
"I see that time has not caused you to grow less irrational, but the fate of humanity rests in your hands," Jor-El told him.
"And it won't rest in his hands alone," Kara told him. "Like it or not, we're the last of Krypton, the last that the planet has left. The only hope that Earth has of dispensing with the Phantom Zoners."
"You face criminals that have destroyed planets in their bloodlust," Jor-El warned both of them.
"We'll deal with it," Clark commented and he looked at him.
"Very well, this will be a battle that you will fight if you think that you are ready," Jor-El said to him.
Clark got on the defense. "There's no being ready about it. There's something that has to be done. It's not because I have a destiny, it's because it's a choice that I have to make. And I'm going to make the right one."
Jor-El remained silent for seconds and he went dead.
"You know, I wouldn't blame you if you pulled his crystal out of the wall and stomped on it," Kara said.
"Don't think that I haven't thought of it," Clark said crossly.
Kara sighed. "But he does have a point, we're facing a battle here. What powers do you have?"
"Heat vision, X-Ray vision, super speed, super hearing, super strength," Clark said and he sneezed suddenly. "Huh, that never happened."
"Okay, heat vision, X-Ray, super speed, super hearing, super strength, pretty much the basic starter set that you should have gotten, save one," Kara told him.
"And I can leap tall buildings in a single bound," Clark told her.
"Flight, Clark, flight, you know, up, up, and away," Kara said, throwing her hands back in exasperation.
Clark blinked after a second and shook his head. Flight was a tricky one. He had been grounded as a Kryptonian.
"I haven't figured that one," Clark told her.
"Okay, that's…..odd," Kara said. During her training, flight was the first power that she mastered. It made her feel liberated, it made her feel free.
"Why do you think that's odd?" Clark asked her and he adopted a mostly defensive stance.
"Well, I think that we all progress at different speeds," Kara said, choosing her words carefully.
"Are you trying to say…"
"Kal-El, please let me finish and try and figure out why you haven't mastered the most rudimentary power that a Kryptonian can manage," Kara said and she ran her hand over her hair.
"That's not fair…"
"No it isn't, you're only to a fraction of your potential," Kara said to him. "You're capable of much more than you are. Some day you'll be able to move mountains and punch planets out of orbit."
"Why would I want to punch planets out of orbit?" Clark asked her.
The thought of it seemed extremely outlandish.
"You never know when it might come in handy," Kara said evasively and she sighed again. "I suppose that it will come to you eventually. But…..just close your eyes and visualize yourself flying."
Clark didn't think that it was that happy of a visual to be honest. He wasn't that fussed about flying. He'd prefer if he could keep his feet firmly on the ground if he could manage to do that.
Kara could sense his body language. She gently wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him.
Clark could feel a bit light headed at her scene. He couldn't really pinpoint what it was but it was something that caused him to be relaxed.
"Mental block, it happens, you got to overcome it though," Kara told him gently, and she leaned against him.
Clark felt something soft press against his back when she leaned against him.
"Sorry," Kara said, she thought that she might have invaded Clark's personal bubble a bit too much.
"Don't be," Clark said and he looked out into the open. He wished he could fly to the highest heights but there was something that held him back from achieving that greatest achievement.
"I really am," Kara said, biting down on her lip firmly and she really wished that she could cause some kind of breakthrough for Kal-El, but it just wasn't happening for him.
"Maybe I should think happy thoughts," Clark told her.
Kara frowned. "I think that would be funny if I got the reference."
Kara thought that they would need all of the help that they could get against the Phantoms. The blonde looked around and wondered where they were.
They could be anywhere on the planet. They might have caused havoc already.
Clark thought along the same line that she did. "We got to find out if anything out of the ordinary can happen…..can the Fortress track the Phantoms?"
"If only it was that simple," Kara said and Clark's face fell. "What you can do is pinpoint any problem areas…any mass murders…"
"And I'll find my Phantoms," Clark said, and he wasted too much time already. He turned over to the Fortress computer and frowned. "I just hope that they haven't hurt too many people."
Kara commented in a soft voice, "I hope that they didn't as well."
Her sigh escaped and she waited to see Clark who was able to find anything.
These criminals they ranged from brutish barbarians to criminal masterminds. Kara could only begin to guess what their intentions are for as long as they were outside of the Phantom Zone.
"I'd ask if there's any luck," Kara whispered lightly in his ear.
"There isn't," Clark told her, but then he frowned. "Wait a minute, I've got something."
"What?" Kara asked, not wanting to be waiting in suspense.
Clark paused and stared at the image. He tried to figure out a way to blow it up.
"Could you enhance the image?" Clark asked the Fortress. He added as an afterthought. "Please."
The image popped up on the screen. It was extremely faint still despite the enhancements of the Fortress. His keen vision was able to pinpoint what he needed to see and he frowned deeply.
"You've got to be kidding me," Clark muttered underneath his breath.
"What?" Kara asked with interest.
"It's Raya!" Clark yelled, unable to believe it.
He thought that she gave her life to save him from the Phantoms. So he could escape from the Phantom Zone unscathed.
"Raya?" Kara asked in confusion. It struck her instantly. "You don't mean the girl that followed Jor-El around like a lost puppy dog?"
Lara joked that she would keep Raya as a pet and gift her to Kal-El when he became an adult. Kara amused herself from the memory of a happier time. It was part of what kept her sane and gave her hope that everything was going to come out okay.
"She became his lab assistant eventually, or that's what she said, Jor-El sent her to the Phantom Zone," Clark told her, acting is if the man or rather the AI wasn't in the room to begin with.
"Hmmm," Kara muttered underneath her breath.
Clark was dumbstruck. "Was that a good hmmm or a bad hmmm?"
"No, just a hmmm, but I suppose that the man himself wouldn't want to enlighten us on his intentions," Kara said, her arms folded over each other. Jor-El remained silent as could be. "Yeah, I didn't think he would."
Kara sighed.
"We're going to have to find her, because her being alone on Earth is just as dangerous as any of us being alone here," Clark said to her.
Kara understood what Clark meant suddenly. There was a lot to say about there being strength in numbers and Kara felt that she understood that one hundred percent.
"So, are we waiting for anything in particular?" Kara asked.
Clark shook his head, now was the time for decisive action. He could worry about hashing things out later.
Raya shook her head, the cobwebs slowly clearing from her mind. The fact that she spent so much time in the Phantom Zone weighed on her. Most people who weren't already insane most certainly were with the exposure in the Zone. It was not a place that was intended for anyone but the most hardened of criminals.
You had to be as wicked as the worst to even survive in there. Raya somehow kept herself in check by remembering that she was sent in there for a reason. She couldn't even fathom what Jor-El thought or if he believed that his son would go down the road that he did. Now that he did, Raya felt a desire to help him in any way that she could.
She was on Earth and the yellow sun radiation just slowly took its hold on her. She couldn't recall off hand how long it took to be empowered completely.
The fact she moved from one end of the field to the next at super speed encouraged her. She didn't know where she would go from here.
Her hearing was sharp and she heard the sounds of a busy city. It wasn't exactly like Krypton for obvious reasons. It was close enough to breed familiarity to her.
'After all of the time in the Phantom Zone, any sound other than the one that could end your life is welcomed,' she thought to herself. The blonde stepped forward into the light.
She had a good idea where Kal-El would be there.
She had to find him before one of the Phantoms found him. They would be after his blood just for the sheer principle of it.
That would be the least of what they were after. The whispers of the Phantom Zone of being the one to take down the House of El were constant. Raya kept a low profile because of that. If anyone discovered her connection, that could be a problem.
She stopped and paused, she could have sworn that she saw something.
"I figured that we'd be running into each other soon. Earth's a long way from the Phantom Zone, isn't it?"
Raya blinked suddenly and she looked up. She spotted the young man approaching her and she couldn't believe it.
"So, you found me," Raya said and she thought that it would make things a lot easier.
Clark smiled when he approached her. He could tell the blonde looked a bit disoriented. She might have held it together better than someone else did.
"Yes, and just in time before someone else did," Clark told her and he approached her.
Raya was still dressed in the same clothes that she wore in the Phantom Zone and she looked extremely conspicuous because of that fact.
"We're going to have to get you back to the Fortress, and get you a change of clothes so you blend in a lot better," another voice said and Raya realized that they weren't alone. "Because, I think you're able to figure out that unless you're going to a costume party or something, you won't be able to blend in here."
"Kara, is that you?" Raya asked in a surprised voice.
"Yes, it's me," Kara said and she smiled. "So, I've got to ask you a question."
Raya was all ears.
"Jor-El didn't fill you with tales about how I was coming to Earth to kill Kal-El and how he should be protected at all costs because of his destiny," Kara said and Raya blinked and shook her head. "Because, you know that I shouldn't be confused with my father….who might have done such a thing if it interfered with his plans."
"Jor-El's father instigated a lot of that trouble," Raya said calmly, not holding Kara accountable for anything that happened in that family feud. "But…..Kal-El didn't mention anything about you."
"This is recent, she just came out of the ship," Clark informed her and the three of them prepared to make the trip to the Fortress. "Just in time."
"Agreed," Raya said, nodding her head.
"I wished I was out of there much sooner," Kara commented. "I would have been able to guide him through his roughest years and would have been able to train him through certain things that he needs to know."
Raya understood what she was talking about, even though she could tell that the Last Son of Krypton was out of the loop.
That would be an extremely fun education when they got around to it.
"We're all that's left that isn't a resident in the Phantom Zone," Raya commented.
"As far as we know," Clark said and Kara nodded in agreement.
"As far as we know," Kara said, there had bene rumors, whispers about Krypton forming some kind of colony away from the Planet.
She hadn't been able to confirm or deny that fact one way or another. To be honest if they were still out there, they had likely moved on in their own way after the planet's demise. They found their home and Kara found hers.
"But, regardless every second that these Phantoms remain on this planet, the humans here could be in dire danger and they won't even know about it," Raya warned them. "Not all of the criminals in there are those Shadow Wraiths. Some of them can blend in and others can warp the minds of people."
Clark looked up into the sky and stared out into the wide world that was.
"We start finding them and bringing them down…..and we need a way to bring them back into the Phantom Zone," Clark told them and he was open for suggestions. His father's crystal sucked Zod's essence from Lex, but would that work for full bodied Zoners?
"You still have it, don't you?" Raya asked him and he nodded. "Then it should work."
Clark tricked Zod into position because of the man's arrogance. Something told him that it wasn't going to work that easily.
"Your solar reserves are more than ours are, so you should be stronger," Raya informed him.
"Unless there's something holding him back," Kara interjected after a second.
Clark figured that he should embrace who he was fully. It was a start. He closed his eyes and got into a moment.
"I am Clark Kent," he muttered underneath his breath. "I am also Kal-El. I can be both."
"Yes, you can," Kara agreed with him and she took his hand and squeezed it firmly.
Raya's eyes followed and she sensed a deep connection between the two of them. It was hard to explain how she sensed it, it was just that she sensed it.
"So, are you ready?" Raya asked him.
"Do I have a choice?" Clark asked.
"You always do," Kara interjected. "But, I think that you won't let yourself live with making the wrong choice."
Clark laughed, it was almost like she knew him already.
"You get that from your mother," Kara said and she leaned in, giving him a soft kiss on the cheek.
Clark felt her lips touch his cheek and he felt a sudden burst of warmth spread over his body.
Raya watched him and frowned. Kara caught the front.
"Sorry Raya, I forgot that you'd like to be involved," Kara said and she stepped over and gave Raya a light kiss on the cheek as well.
Raya smiled. "You haven't changed much."
"Well to be fair, I've been in stasis, and I don't think that I could change much in a day," Kara said and Clark cleared his throat. "Yeah, I think we've wasted way too much time."
Clark's phone interrupted their attempts to go off. He figured that he had been off for at least a day or more by this point. He was honestly surprised that some kind of search party wasn't performed.
"I better answer that, I don't want people freaking out," Clark told both of them and they nodded in understanding. He answered the phone. "Oh, hi, Chloe, you're never going to believe what happened to me today."
To Be Continued.