Well, my cunning plan to have this posted before Halloween has gone up in smoke. -_- But I'm about halfway through, and I'm still glad to have done it in the first place, so the show goes on.
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue. There. All disclaimed.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X
Part 3: A Wicked Queen appears.
It had happened 4 years ago.
A pod appeared in Earth orbit. Not just any pod however; when the Man of Steel used the Computers in the Fortress of Solitude to scan it, he quickly realized said pod was Kryptonian in design.
Needless to say, no seconds were wasted when he went into space to retrieve it. What he found changed his life forever. He found her:
Kara Zor-El.
How do you tell a teenage girl that everything she knew was gone? That she is one of two survivors of a once prosperous world?
Simply answer: You don't. Superman never had to find out, because she was the one with news for him.
She revealed their connection: that she was his cousin, and that while Krypton was gone, a small contingent still lived due to her father, Zor-El.
The brother of Jor-El, Kal-El's father, Zor-El became aware of the formers research and realized the accuracy of it. Krypton was in fact doomed. The council, disbelieving Jor-El's claims dismantled nearly all his equipment, and kept him under House arrest in his lab. Jor-El was only able to perform two acts: using his incredible genius to build the pod that would carry his son to Earth, and sending all his data to his brother, who he hoped would be able to save others somehow.
On the second act, Zor-El Succeeded with flying colors. He prepared his own contingency plan: A modified Phantom Zone generator, and shifted the entirety of the Kryptonian city of Argo into the Survival Zone; an adjacent dimension to the Phantom Zone.
In this place, they were similar, but not quite like the Phantom Zone criminals. They still had solid form, but did not need food or water, and did not age. It was not much, but it was a chance for the Kryptonian race to survive. Zor-El's only regret was his inability to save his brother due to the council's stubbornness, and as a result he swore that if he ever got his people out of the Survival Zone, finding Kal-El would be his next action.
However his plans changed when Brainiac arrived. The Coluan super-villain had infiltrated Kryptonian society by using Technopathy to take control of the Supercomputer that ran day to day functions on Krypton. This was all part of it's modus operandus of assimilating all the knowledge of a world, taking a sample of the population, and then destroying it. When he became aware of Krypton's imminent destruction, Brainiac accelerated his plans, taking the city of Kandor and flying the coop so to speak(Ironically, in tracing his actions, Jor-el learned of the planet's destruction himself, meaning Brainiac quite inadvertently saved my Kryptonians).
When the villains learned of Argo, he took the opportunity to add more Kryptonians to his collection to improve his sample of Kryptonian culture. He easily pierced his way into the survival zone and made its inhabitants a part of Kandor. As for Zor-El, he'd been searching for a way to exit the zone himself with through the second part of his plan: a rocket similar to the one his brother created that would allow one person to leave and find help for their people. The Coluans' actions forced him to alter his plans, and Kara was placed in the pod, both as a way to save her life, and in hope of finding the assistance they needed.
Needless to say, Kal-El was in disbelief. There were other survivors of Krypton's destruction; never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined such a thing was possible. All they needed to do was find Brainiac. It would take time, but they (indent)would(indent) him.
As for Kara herself, she wasted no time in acclimating herself to her new abilities and adjusting to her new home. She read every Earth book she could find, in every language; she watched T.V.; she surfed the Internet; anything and everything she could. There was much to learn and she wanted to know everything there was to know about Earth. She just had a natural desire to learn, and she felt that maybe she might even pick up something that could help in saving the inhabitants of Kandor.
When she was learning, she was training to use her powers properly. Kal-El never intended for there to be a Supergirl, but she didn't intend to give him a choice. If she was going to help him take on Brainiac, she would need to be able to use her powers in high pressure situations, and being Supergirl would be a great way to ensure that. Plus she had his strong sense of justice: What was the point in having such power if she didn't use it to help people.
It was flying that she enjoyed the most. Of all the abilities she had been granted by the Earth's yellow sun, flight was the one she made the most use of. Any chance she got, any free time that came along, she took to the sky, dancing among the clouds like young goddess. She loved flying(and really, who could blame her). Nothing beat it. There was no force on this planet or any planet that got her heart pumping more...
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...!" That is, until she met the Terror Coaster.
"THIS IS GREAT!" Mary yelled at the top of her lungs. She clearly had a warped definition of "great". Kara couldn't really give a reply right away. She was still too busy screaming.
5 minutes later.
"Never again," Supergirl droned as she stumbled off the roller coaster, eyes wide. "Never again."
"Did anyone here disappear?" Mary asked, while trying hard not to laugh at her partner.
"No. Nothing happened, unless you count my heart stopping." Between bouts of abject terror, Supergirl had kept track of everyone who had gotten on the ride with them, and not one person was missing. "Oh, and in case you didn't hear me the first time, NEVER AGAIN!"
Mary sighed. Their plan did not seem to be working. There had been no signs of anyone being taken so far, and they had checked multiple hotspots. All while having Supergirl monitor what they could not see with her super-senses. And yet no luck at all.
"Should we try splitting up? Supergirl's voice brought Mary out of her thoughts.
"No," the brunette responded while shaking her head, "I think it's best if we stay together. Without knowing what we're up against, splitting up may not be wise, even if we cover more ground." Mary had known even before meeting Supergirl that there was a chance of being among the kidnapped herself. It hadn't worried her too much, but she got the feeling that whoever was behind this, that person or persons should not be face alone.
"Alright then." Kara replied. "Then we should head to the next spot," she stopped looking a bit nervous, "No more Roller Coasters." This finally got Mary laughing uncontrollably.
"Not funny." Kara deadpanned.
"But... you can fly..." Despite being unable to hold her laughter, Mary avoided being too loud. After all, they didn't want anyone to hear them. All this would be for nothing if they gave themselves away after all.
As they headed off to the next disappearance hot-spot, they had little idea that things weren't as quiet as they seemed.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Status report." The imposing figure entered the room, looming over the second person who'd been sitting down and watching the monitors.
"We've gathered some useful samples this year." A second voice piped up. There was a pause as specific monitors were highlighted, with some showing people who'd already been taken, while others showed those who were still enjoying the carnival, and ripe for the picking. "Usually we can only find on or two subjects who have any potential, but this year has produced a record crop."
"How so?" The standing figure questioned.
"At least 90 subjects, all across different categories. Some of them are quite exceptional as well." Not only that, but we're still collecting more even as we speak. If things continue without interference, we may be looking at at least 200 subjects this year."
"Hmm." The standing one was both impressed and worried. 200 might be a bit too much, but if the subjects were that good, they couldn't miss this opportunity. They might not have another chance.
"Excellent. Continue with your work." The standing one turned to leave.
"Wait." The monitor watched spoke again. "There is one more thing." The monitors all changed, now focused on the disguised Mary Marvel and Supergirl. " These two are peculiar. They've been trying to go under the radar and avoid detection. I suspect we've finally drawn the attention of this world's protectors in spite of our precautions."
"I see." It was inevitable that they'd be noticed. But this... there was possible gain from this. "It's not an issue. We've been preparing for such things." Despite the darkness that permeated the room, it was clear the larger one was smiling. "In fact, we may be able to make this work for us."
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
"...so it turns out he thought Zephyrus was a girl!"
"How do you mistake a male god for a girl?"
Mary and Supergirl were at the latest hot spot for disappearances, the Ferris Wheel. Not inside on of the cars, as the lines had been too long. Instead they'd just flown to the top and sat on the highest car, observing the whole carnival.
There were still no strange occurrences to report. No one had been taken from what they could tell, even though Kara had been watching and listening almost every moment. This didn't deter either her or Mary however; they would catch a break eventually. So while they passed the time and waited to see if anything happened on the Ferris Wheel, small talk had drifted in an odd direction. Mary began giving a lecture on her power source.
Supergirl should have known it would be an odd conversation when Mary began her tale with "A Wizard did it."
Selene for Grace, with allows Mary to stay calm in even the most harrowing situations, and provides coordinated movements.
Hippolyta for Strength(she really wanted to meet Wonder Woman because of that), provided her with incredible physical might.
Artemis for Skill(It used to be Ariadne, but Artemis made far more sense, being a Goddess of the hunt and all. Hunting does take great skill) which let her all her abilities to their greatest potential, and granted her impressive hand to hand skills.
Zephyrus' Fleetness(though not his girlyness) which bestowed her with flight and speed.
Aphrodite's(After insisting to the the Wizard that she was a better choice than Aurora) Beauty, untarnishable no matter what is thrown at it, and making her as good as invulnerable.
And finally, MInerva's Wisdom. Nothing much to be said there.
"And as such, that's why the Marvel Family is the coolest Superhero Family in existence."
Kara shook her head. "Yeah, I think not. You guys have a worm wearing Coke bottle glasses as a rogue. Nobody can be cool with that one on their plate."
"Mister Mind is a legitimate threat!" Mary countered. "Besides, what about that Mxyzptlk guy?"
"He can warp reality. So he's not lame(even if he is an idiot). Besides you have the Lieutenants Marvels."
"Fine then! You have the Superman Emergency Squad. Tiny doppelgängers are really weird and we everybody knows it!"
As so on.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
While this...fascinating argument went on, the Halloween Carnival continued. The Tunnel of (twisted)Love was receiving quite a few visitors. It was also one of the few rides not on the list Mary had brought with her.
A young man and his Girlfriend sat in one of the boats, coasting along in the water. They'd come to Binderville to enjoy themselves like everyone else(except the Superheroes), but...
"Honey, do you think we made a mistake with our costumes?" The girl, dressed as She-Ra asked. She looked over at her Boyfriend, who was currently garbed as He-Man.
"...Yeah... a little more thought might have been prudent." He shook his head. At least they hadn't used their first option: Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. "But enough about that. There's something I want to give to you." Needless to say, this made his girlfriend very excited.
"OH MY GOD! ARE YOU PROPOSING?! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" She couldn't contain her excitement and squealed in delight...
...only for those squeals to turn into screams of fear when a strange portal opened up in front of them...
...And then nothing. It was so quick, no-one would have caught it...
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Hoppy the Marvel Bunny and Talky Tawny."
"The Super-pets. All of them, even the Monkey."
Before Supergirl could make a rebuttal, her head whipped to the left. Mary was surprise for a moment, but quickly caught on. The Ferris wheel car they were sitting on shook as it took off.
"Gah! Ice Cream in my eye! Ice Cream in my eye! What the hell?!"
They may have shook it a bit too much for the poor sap actually inside the car.
"Is this the place?" Mary asked once they had come to a stop.
"Yeah. Someone screamed here." Supergirl answered. She had caught tiny bits of the conversation, and been mostly uninterested until the girl started squealing. It had changed from uncontained glee to utter fear in a moment, but then it just...
It just stopped. It's like all the sound was drowned out. "I have a bad feeling about this." Supergirl whispered. "It's like something just pulled all the noise out of the area. It was just drowned out by something, but I can't figure out what." That wasn't the only thing. There was a-lot of lead lining the walls. She couldn't see in.
"This place isn't on my list either" Mary added. Had they been checking the wrong places this whole time? How many had been taken while they were in the wrong spots?
They ignored the looks people gave them(along with one or two people saying they had nothing to be ashamed of) as they took their seats on the last boat.
"Keep you eyes open for anything suspicious." Mary commented. "Ears too."
Kara only nodded. Although from the looks of things, it might not be what she would hear, but what she would not hear that acted as a warning. She watched for whatever it was that drowned out the earlier sound of screaming. For a while it seemed like nothing would happen. They had been too late again.
Then... well it was hard to describe what happened next. There was silence. Complete silence. Supergirl, who was used to being able to hear a pin drop two continents away, realized that she could no longer hear (underline)anything(underline); not the sound of running water, or the boat creaking, or even something as simple as her own breathing.
She turned to Mary, and noticed her partner had closed her eyes and opened her mouth wide. She was yelling at the top of her lungs, but no noise came out. Mary stopped, and Kara shrugged, indicating she'd not heard a single thing. Now Supergirl was definitely sure she knew why it seemed like the sound of that girl screaming had cut off before.
That wasn't the end of it however. Then they saw it. A flash of light.
A portal. Its shape and pattern were immediately recognizable.
A Boom Tube.
They were pulled in with little fan-fare.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"WHAT'S GOING ON?!"
"WHERE IS THIS PLACE?!"
"DAMMITYOUCANTDOTHISTOMEMYBOY FRIENDJUSTPROPOSED!"
"I'm Batman."
A cacophony of voices rang out; some were frightened, some were angry, a few wondered if this was an elaborate Halloween prank. And one guy was Batman.
Among all that emotion, suddenly, Dorothy Gale and Alice Liddell appeared, landing in a pile of limbs right in the middle of all those people.
"HEY! I THINK ...oh. I can hear myself again!" Supergirl quickly realized the sound had returned.
"You two alright?" A boy in Samurai armor and another person, slightly older and dressed a a cop helped them to their feet.
"Yes, we're just fine." As she answered, Mary examined the area they were in. They clearly weren't in the Tunnel of Love anymore. In fact considering they have travelled by Boom Tube, it was likely they weren't even on Earth anymore. Boom Tubes meant the New gods, and to be more precise...
"Hello Children!" A new voice cut through all the chatter and drew everyone's attention. A large and imposing figure stood high above the captured fair goers, looking down on them from a balcony. It was a woman; old, decrepit, and looking like the illegitimate love child of a troll and an ogre. She wore strange body armor on her body, and a smile on her face. Well, more like a mockery of a smile. It looked like she was trying to come off as warm and motherly, and failing. There was no goodness in this woman.
Despite this, she still deemed to call herself Granny Goodness: The Nanny from Hell, or to be exact Apokalips. The place Hell wishes it could be.
Only two people among all those gathered in the large alcove understood just how bad things had gotten.
"Holy Moley."
"Great Rao."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
I'm enjoying this. Sharing my tales with the world. Whether it's something the world cares about is another story, but I still gotta try. Eventually, you must put yourself out there. Until the next chapter. Read and review...sometime in this century if possible.
...It'd be nice. I'll even give you a cookie. (Note: There will not be any cookies).