AUTHORS NOTE: Hello Everyone! I hope you all are doing well, and thank you so much to everyone who reviewed and read the last chapter!
My apologies for the delay on this chapter – the holiday season took over my life, and I have been enjoying time with the family and boyfriend! Merry Christmas to you my friends! Please enjoy this much delayed chapter!
Chapter 8:
EARTH 38
Black foam poured from between her lips, making its way down her chin between the constant trail of coughing and gagging on her own saliva. Kara let out a pained moan, very aware of the bead of sweat that was making its way from the crown of her head to her brow. The masses of black web she'd been spewing before had long stopped, replaced by a constant stream of black fluid trying to make its way from her body. Every part of her body felt like it was about to explode, muscles twitching involuntary at the strain. Kara slowly and carefully drew her body into a ball – rocking back and forth slightly in attempt to control herself.
As soon as they'd returned to the DEO, J'onn had put her in solitary confinement – assuring her it was just until they could figure out what was wrong.
But Kara knew what was wrong, and a quick moment of self inspection had revealed the truth.
Kara Zor-El was infected. With the same thing that was slowly turning Mon-El into what Kaz-En had become. It hasn't been there last night, or this morning, but just below her collar bone was what had quickly become her worst nightmare.
The black spiralled mark that seemed to follow Voltor everywhere he went.
Kara let out another moan as she tried to keep her body in check. Everything in her was screaming to let go, to let the virus, or parasite, or whatever this was, take over. Tears fell down her cheeks, but she was unable to cry through the pain and black foam her body was currently creating.
Kara gulped back a ball of air, her emotions trying to take back control -but failing drastically. Kara choked immediately, retching coughs taking over her body as black liquid splattering across the glass of her cell. As she choked back air trying to calm her body, she collapsed back in the bed in exhaustion.
No one from the DEO had dare touch her yet – and she couldn't blame them. She was so out of control of her own body that she feared a single touch could break them. They also didn't know if this, whatever she had was contagious. They would probably wait until she was on the brink of death before they even considered touching her. As her breath continued to rasp in her chest, she looked over to see Alex staring at her through the window.
She was wearing that all to familiar, baby lamb about to have a nervous breakdown look. Kara tried to speak, but words failed her, and all that came out was a slur of gibberish.
"Kara..." She heard the brunette mumble quietly through the glass. The Kryptonian could tell she wanted to say more, to assure her that all would be well – but couldn't bring herself to lie. Alex folded her arms across her chest, as J'onn came up behind her, whispering in her ear. Kara watched, desperation coming over her as she watched two of her pillars turn and walk away.
Don't go, please, please don't go.
XXX
"What do you mean a worm hole is opening?" Alex asked, as she and J'onn left the room that was holding her sister.
"You know what I mean, you've seen them before."
"Well, yea I know, but do we know it's them? And it's not like we're exactly in any position to help them right now – we've got a pretty big problem of our own on hand right now." Alex spurted as she and J'onn made their way to the control room where the wormhole was opening.
"Yes, I know" J'onn said nodding, "We'll just have to tell them Supergirl is unavailable right now, and send them on their way."
Alex let out a sigh, as they approached the glowing blur of energy. The leaders fell into silence as they waited, hoping it was Barry and Cisco instead of another problem they didn't have time to deal with. The wormhole moved and shifted, two bodies breaking through the matter and appearing in front of them.
It was Barry and Cisco. Alex let out a breath of relief.
"Alex," Barry said immediately, rushing towards her and J'onn. "Where's Kara?"
The urgency in his voice made the agents stiffen, wondering what situation the speedster found himself in this time.
"Mr. Allen, good to see you again." J'onn responded even though Barry had addressed the aliens sister. "Supergirl isn't able to offer any help to you guys at the moment. We are dealing with somewhat of a situation of our own."
Barry was about to respond, when Cisco pushed forward, cutting him off.
"Look, J'onn-Martian-man...sir..." Cisco stuttered awkwardly. "Kara is in trouble, I had a vibe and she could be in danger."
Alex and J'onn looked at each other slowly, before nodding at each other in agreement.
"Come with us." J'onn said, leading them through the DEO. Barry and Cisco walked quickly in order to keep up with the pace Alex and J'onn were keeping. As they approached the room where Kara was being held flashing lights and sirens broke through the room, and people began running around in commotion.
"It's Supergirl." The agent that had been charged with watching Kara yelled in their direction, causing the four to break into a run. Somehow Kara had fallen from the bed Alex had last seen her laying on, body shaking violently as black foam slowly seeped from her mouth, eyes rolling into the back of her head. The tiles on the floor cracked with her moment, the room vibrating ever so slightly.
"Damn it J'onn we have to help her." Alex insisted, uninjured hand moving to press the button that opened the door. The Martian grabbed her wrist before she could release the lock.
"You cant, Alex." J'onn demanded. "We don't know what that thing is, or if its contagious. We cant risk breaking quarantine. Imagine what would happen if that thing started taking over the DEO, let alone the entire city."
Alex face flashed red with anger, but she knew what the green martian said was true. That would be absolutely catastrophic.
"It's not contagious." Cisco said urgently, his voice breaking the silent war that was happening between Alex and J'onn.
"It's true." Barry confirmed, causing everyone to fall silent listening. "We've been dealing with the same thing on our earth...sort of..."
Barry took a good look at Kara, observing the black veins and foam she was currently spewing. With Mon-El the veins had been primarily under his skin, and he'd experienced bleeding from the eyes, rather than this black foam that Kara had going on. Barry lowered an eyebrow in thought, wondering at the possibilities. Had Kara been infected with something else? Where they presenting differently because of their slightly different physiology? Was Kara just that much further into the infection?
"Mr. Allen." J'onn's voice brought him back from his thoughts. "Any information you have would be appreciated."
"Right..." Barry trailed, trying to pull his thoughts into a coherent form. His eyes fell to Kara, whose shaking had suddenly grown more intense, before her entire body hit the floor in a slump, as she fell into unconsciousness.
"Mr. Allen," J'onn said again, "Are you sure this is the same thing you are dealing with. If I go in there, do I put an entire city at risk?"
"Uhhh...well..." Barry said rubbing the back of his head uncertainly.
"Mr Allen!"
"Uh right...does she had a black spiral thing on her anywhere?"
"Yes, on her shoulder." Alex said desperately looking at J'onn, who nodded quickly pressing the button and entering the room. The martian rushed forward to Kara, feeling for her breath.
"She's alive." He said relief laced in his tone. "Lets get her to the med bay."
J'onn carefully picked her up, cradling her in his arms for the second time in much to short a time period, before he lead the group out of the room and towards the med bay.
"Uh...you should know though that its...but its presenting somewhat different than it did with Mon-El, he -"
"I'm sorry," Alex interrupted. "Did you just say Mon-El? Barry, do you know where Mon-El is?"
"Well, funny story actually." Cisco answered for the speeder as J'onn carefully put Kara down on a bed in their destination. As Cisco spoke Alex grabbed a cloth, carefully cleaning Kara off. "I kind of had this vibe, of what looked like Kara's pod, so we brought it to our earth and..."
"Wait – so you mean to tell me that you guys have known where Mon-El was this entire time, and no one bothered to tell us?" Alex gasped, suddenly feeling even more protective of her little sister.
"We wanted to," Barry insisted, leaving out the fact that Mon-El had been hesitant to reveal his location. "But we've been kind of dealing with this weird alien thing, and then this parasite so..."
"Wait," J'onn interrupted. "This thing is a parasite?"
"Yes, and we've got a cure back on our earth."
XXX – EARTH 1
Mon-El couldn't stop pacing. Ever since Barry and Cisco left, all he could do was wander around star labs anxiously. It had been the toughest thing he'd ever done – to let them go without him, but even with his fancy new supersuit he wasn't protected from the led in the atmosphere on their earth. So they had left, promising to make sure to take care of the woman he loved.
That was supposed to be his job.
Mon-El groaned in frustration, wandering over to a computer screen, where we tapped the mouse to check the time. 3:22 AM. It had been hours since they'd left.
Defeated he plunked down in the chair in front of the desk, which rolled upon impact. He picked up a pen from the desk tapping it on the armrest of the chair in agitation as he used his feet to spin around the room.
He came to a sliding stop in front of the pile of clothes Caitlin had left him ages ago. Perhaps she was right, he should change out of his super suit and get some rest. Letting out a sigh he picked up the black t shirt and grey joggers she had left him, briefly wondering who they'd once belonged to before he doddled into the change room he'd used earlier and changed from his supersuit to the new clothes.
Sock footed, he padded his way into the medbay, and pushed himself onto the bed. He let out a sigh that he wasn't sure was relief or stress, laying back and closing his eyes. As his breathing began to even out, his world became black, before slowly fading into another one...
CREPIDOZIA
Mon-El sighed as he breathed in the fresh scent of salt, momentarily forgetting all the stress and worries of the past hours. He was back in the dream land again, on the beach that he had been on the first time he'd met Kara here. The Daxamite looked around anxiously hoping to find the woman he was searching for.
Their bed was missing this time, no where to be found in the beach horizon. Eventually though he spotted her – sitting in the sand in the distance.
"Kara!" He yelled, coming into a quick jog. His heart fluttered in anticipation of being near her, but as he approached worry flooded his chest. She sat there on her knees, staring absently onto her hands, as her body rocked back and forth slightly. Mon-El stooped to his knees next to her, taking in her appearance.
His normally indestructible warrior was covered in bruises, that were barely visible beneath the rigid black veins that covered her body. The normally bright and cheerful skin of her cheek was a paled grey, and clammy with sweat.
"Mon?" She asked, breath rasping with the word. His grey eyes met faded, exhausted blue comets.
"I'm here." He assured her, taking her hands in his.
"You're okay. I thought I'd lost you..." She wheezed sadly. Mon-El frowned. He didn't remember exactly what had happened after their kisses last time, when everything had faded to black for him...but he was amazed that she was still worrying for him in this moment.
"Yea, I'm okay babe." He assured her, watching as she smiled at him weakly. "How are you doing?"
"I've seen better days..." She admitted weakly fighting the gently sway of her body. "I think...I might be in trouble here..."
Her eyes fluttered shut, and body began to fall backwards, Mon-El jumping to catch her just in time. Mon-El wrapped his arms around her, cradling her body against his chest.
"You're gonna be okay baby." He promised, rocking her slightly as she shivered against him. "Barry and Cisco are coming for you."
She nodded slightly, swallowing back dry saliva.
"I'm so cold..." she said weakly, looking up at him with tired eyes. "So cold..."
Mon-El caressed her arms gently, bringing his lips down to meet hers. As their lips touched, Kara's tired body faded from existence, leaving Mon-El sitting alone and scared on the beach.
EARTH 38:
Kara blinked her eyes open slightly, cringing at the brightness of the lights above her. She could hear muffled voices talking in the background.
"Dhm Murph..." she mumbled, trying to speak but unable to form coherent words in her current state. Everything around her morphed in and out of focus, her entire body ablaze. She smiled slightly, when her eyes landed on the blurred figure of what could only be Barry – Mon-El had been right. Barry was here to save her. Kara tried to move her arm, to reach him, but he was too far away and she only managed to knock a glass of water off the end table next to her onto the floor. The crash of the impact got the attention of everyone in the room, and soon she had three people hovering over her. Again she tried to speak, but only gibberish fell from her lips.
"Kara." A voice she recognized as Alex said, and the blonde grunted in response. "Barry and Cisco are here. They have a cure for you on their earth, so we're going to take you there, so you can get better, okay?"
Kara let out a pained moan in response, as Alex touched her face gently.
"Gosh she's burning up." Alex said, worriedly. "Based on what we saw happen to Kaz-En, I think we need to do this as quickly as possible."
Barry and Cisco nodded in agreement. They had spent the last hour sharing everything they knew about their current situation. From the weird alien parasites and their cures, to the dreams Kara and Mon-El had been sharing, to the ability and the little history they knew of the Crepidozian's. Specifically their ability to connect minds, and take over bodies as a host.
They were just waiting for J'onn to return with the Kyrptonite needles and vials of Kara's blood they kept locked very securely in the building, and then they could go. For the first time Alex was glad J'onn had insisted on keeping those two things – things that she herself had deemed to dangerous to risk keeping – in case of emergency such as this.
XXX EARTH 1
"Mon-El." A voice said, the person it belonged to shaking his shoulder gently.
"Mmmm?" He mumbled, cracking one eye open.
"It's almost time for your meeting with Lancet." The same voice, he could only describe as nagging, reminded him gently.
"Lancet...?" Mon-El mumbled, rolling the unfamiliar name over his tongue sleepily. Caitlin rolled her eyes.
"Yea, you remember that guy, blue alien, likes to call you prince and claim you'll fulfill all his ancient prophecies."
Mon-Els eyes popped open. Oh yea, that guy.
"Right." He yawned, as he swung his legs off the edge of the bed and brought himself to seated position. "Guess I better get ready."
Mon-El grinned at her, despite everything, before shooting into super speed, only to reappear in his supersuit a moment later.
"I take it your on coms for this one?" He asked, adjusting the cap of his suit around his forehead.
"Sure am!"
XXX
Mon-El landed on the street corner he had encountered Lancet and the other aliens just the day before. As suspected, the tall blue alien was already there, standing proudly as passers by looked at him with curiosity.
"Your highness." Lancet greeted with a slight bow of the chest.
"Please, call me Mon-El." The Daxamite suggested in attempt to remove the title from himself.
"Of course, Prince Mon-El." Lancet smiled, as if he knew what Mon-El was trying to do, but refused to play his games. Mon-El smiled cheekily, nodding at the mans redirection.
"And what should I call you, sir? Surely you have a title among your people, as their leader?"
"Ah, but I am not their leader, only standing in to care for our people until you and Kara can take your rightful place."
Kara? Mon-El frowned slightly, eyebrows coming together in thought. What did she have to do with this?
"Please, your majesty, the humans are staring. Allow me to show you to our camp, and there all secrets will be revealed. Our people are eager to see you again."
Mon-El paused for a moment in thought. This could easily be a set up, people forcing him to a secluded area, so they could do away with him. Or take him to the Daxamites so they could have their revenge. Despite this, Mon-El found himself nodding, speaking quietly into his coms.
"Caitlin, make sure GPS is working, I'm heading with Lancet to their camp."
"GPS is good to go! Though if anything happens, try to remember I'm not equipped to do anything so you'll have to wait until Barry is back."
"Right...it will be fine." He said aloud, unsure if he was telling her more than he was himself, before turning to the blue alien. "Where to?"
"Roman, the Haldite you encountered yesterday is waiting for us on the roof. We can either take the elevator in this building, or you can leap us there. I don't have powers to get us there."
"What powers do you have?" Mon-El asked curiously.
"Only that of the mind and the sword, my prince." Lancet replied proudly, with the slight tilt of his head.
"Er...right, very good." Mon-El said awkwardly, still uncomfortable at the title. "I can take us to the roof?"
Lancet nodded, moving his hand to the hilt of us sword, steadying it as Mon-El grabbed a hold of him and jumped smoothly to the roof of the sky scraper.
The two aliens landed gracefully on the concrete, where Roman was pacing the roof anxiously.
"Why you bring bad man back?" The Haldite asked, glaring in Mon-El's direction uncertainly.
"Roman, this is Prince Mon-El, of the prophecy. He didn't mean to hurt you."
"Why try kill Me?" His voice rumbled, a low tremble echoing off of the concrete.
"I didn't mean to scare you, Roman." Mon-El tried to explain, hoping to regain the aliens trust. "I wouldn't have let anything happen to you, but I needed to get you to the ground, so we could talk to your people. I'm sorry."
Roman paused for a moment, taking a minute to understand the Daxamite's words before letting out a low huff.
"I forgive Prince."
"Thanks you" Mon-El nodded, moving to pat Roman on the neck.
"We must take Prince Mon-El back to camp." Lancet instructed, as he climbed onto Romans back. For a moment the Haldite eyed Mon-El suspiciously, remembering the last the prince had been on his back, before nodding in agreement. The red and blue alien lowered his two front legs to the ground, making it easier for Mon-El to climb onto the aliens back.
"Thank you Roman." He said, settling behind Lancet, holding onto the handles the flying device Roman was wearing tightly.
"I go now." Roman said bluntly, before jumping into midair, the engine of the Daxamite invention starting up at the sudden movement. The three aliens flew over the city, surely getting the attention of the citizens walking the streets below.
Roman took them away from the city, eventually leading them to an abandoned field in the countryside. Lancet reached forward, pushing a button on Romans back, and suddenly they broke through an invisible shield that was hiding the alien camp from the prying eyes of the world. It was technology beyond what Mon-El had ever seen before – but reminded him of the invisibility cloak Harry Potter used in those books that Kara adored.
Roman hit the ground at a run, before bringing himself to a stop, skidding along the grass.
"Thank you Roman." Lancet smiled, jumping off the aliens back. Mon-El followed suit, eyes taking in the view of the camp these aliens had created. "You can go now Roman, enjoy the rest of your day."
Roman thanked Lancet, before lolly gagging his way towards the giant space ship that was sitting unknown to the rest of the world in the giant field. Mon-El felt his heart pound in his chest, as he took in the site.
Aliens of all different species were running around the camp, working together peacefully. Tents were set up all around, and people were cooking over fires, laughing as they worked. It was all very primitive. Along the edge of the camp a group of children, including the green Martian girl he'd met yesterday, were kicking a ball around gleefully.
"You must have many questions." Lancet smiled as he began to walk, Mon-El following instinctively.
"Just one or two." Mon-El said, unable to hold the sarcasm back.
"Have you heard of the war of redemption?" Lancet asked, as they approached a small tent near the ships entrances. Mon-El stilled behind him, the question taking him by surprise.
"Of course." He said honestly, ducking into the tent after Lancet. The truth was, he barely knew anything about the war of redemption. It was a Great War, between Daxam, Krypton and a planet called Crepidozia. The history of such a war had been removed from most of Daxamite history, and most children grew up never knowing of it. However, being the prince he had had... special access to historical archives. Mon-El had been about 15 when he had been caught snooping through the archives, and come across a very vague description of the War of Redemption – his father had been furious and forebode him to ever ask about the war again.
"What do you know?" Lancet asked, gesturing for Mon-El to sit down.
"Not much." Mon-El said honestly, placing himself in one of the two chairs in the tent, Lancet taking the one next to him. "Just that it was the only time in the history of Daxam, that we worked along side Krypton, to defeat a common enemy, Crepidozia. My family was very...protective of the history of the War of Redemption. I found some documents on it when I was about 15 but my father caught me and destroyed them before I could finish reading it them."
Lancet nodded knowingly, moving to retrieve a book he had kept in the bag next to his bed.
"That doesn't surprise me." He said, sitting down next to him, brushing the dust off the book. "There is a lot of history here, and it's time you knew everything, Prince Mon-El."
The blue alien carefully opened the book, which creaked gently under his touch. The pages were clearly old, but strong - able to withstand the test of time.
"This is one do the books of my people, the Almiateas, have you heard of us?" Mon-El shook his head, curiously growing within him. "That doesn't surprise me. Your parents would have gone to great lengths to keep these truths from you. Kara's parents as well."
Mon-El blinked at him, eyeing the book warily. Lancet nodded, continuing on.
"Many, many years ago my people were revered among the galaxies as prophets. Aliens would come from planets you've never even heard of just to hear even a peasant speak of their planet. You see Mon-El, while you and Kara have gifts of the body, we had gifts of the mind. We could see the future. Many years ago, before you were born, a prophecy was written, do you care to hear?"
Nervously Mon-El nodded, watching intensely as Lancet brought the book slightly closer to his face and began to read.
"And then they will finally unite,
Brought together by a well of stars
Coming together to unite galaxies
As our king and our queen
For it has been foretold,
The out worlds will no longer be at war
A time is coming, when all nations will see peace
Where men of all kinds will walk united
As one species, instead of many
Where we will live in harmony
For there are two,
Destined to walk us here, to bring us to our destiny
Under the rule of the last prince of Daxam
And the last daughter of Krypton,
A hero revered by all.
They will reunite all nations
They will restore what war has destroyed
The king and queen of all alien kind."
Mon-El swallowed back the lump that had formed in his throat, as he slowly absorbed the words Lancet had said. He hadn't been ready for that. The Daxamite stood, bringing his hands to his hips as he paced in thought. All moisture had gone from his mouth, and he licked his lips anxiously trying to figure out how to respond. Mon-El suddenly wished more than ever than Kara was here, she'd know how to respond to this sudden...news. Mon-El cleared his throat, hoping that the action would bring back his ability to speak.
He had a million questions and didn't want to hear any of the answers – but at the same time he desperately wanted to hear them. How had these people found him? How long had they been following him and Kara? Was this all some sort of sick joke? Mon-El's heart started to pound, as he rubbed the stubble on his chin.
"Mon-El." A voice suddenly appeared in his coms, and he straightened up listening carefully. "You need to get back here, the wormhole has opened up."
Mon-El gulped, the words Caitlin spoke reverberating in his heart.
"Mon-El?" Caitlin repeated, "did you hear me?"
"Yes." Mon-El swallows nervously, activating his coms. "I'll be right there."
"Everything alright your highness?" Lancet asked, back straightening, hand coming to the hilt of his sword.
"Yes, it's..." He hesitated to speak, unsure if he wanted Lancet to know the truth given the prophecy that he'd just been told.
"Kara?" The blue alien asked, concern writing its self on his face. Despite himself, he felt himself nodding slowly. "Then we will come with you. We must defend her."
"No!" Mon-El nearly shouted, panicked. There were still too many unanswered questions, too many unknowns and uncertainties. The last thing he needed was Kara going into a sudden panic because these people believed she was meant to be their queen. Plus, with Cisco's vibe, and his most recent dream, he wasn't even sure that Kara would be conscious when he got to her. "There's not an active threat. I have more questions that need to be answered before I bring her into this."
"Of course." Lancet nodded his head slightly, gesturing Mon-El to go. Mon-El sighed in relief, thankful that his position as their prince had the desired authority.
"Your highness." Lancet called after him, as he moved to leave the tent. Hesitantly Mon-El turned back, giving Lancet the opportunity to speak. "Please, do not abandon us. Our people have been searching far to long to see you take leave. They would be crushed."
"I'll return." Mon-El found himself saying, despite the fact that everything in his body was telling him to run away from his impending throne. Lancet smiled satisfied, and the Daxamite fled from the tent, rushing back to Star Labs as quickly as he could.
He moved faster than he ever thought possible, skidding to a stop next to where Caitlin was standing in front of the wormhole. He was surprised they hadn't come through yet. Mon-El whipped off the cap of his supersuit, breath tight in his chest as 5 figures appeared in front of them. The expected Barry and Cisco along with Alex, J'onn and Kara, who was lying limply in J'onns arms. Mon-El darted foreword, his heart clenching in his chest at the sight of his beloved.
She didn't look well. Her usually bright skin was pale and clammy, and she was covered from head to toe in the black veins that had started to appear on him only days before. Hey entire body was shaking slightly, and Mon-El could tell that even with his alien super strength J'onn was starting to struggle to handle the force of her movements.
"Let me." He said, gesturing to the Martian that he wanted to take her from him. J'onn nodded, and the two men carefully transferred her to his arms.
"Mon?" A shaky voice whispered, blue eyes fluttering open for a brief moment before her head fell against him limply.
"I'm here." The Daxamite said quietly into her ear, as he adjusted his grip on her. Kara's skin felt like ice against his skin, as her body continued to tremble uncontrollably against him. Even in her weakened state she was unbelievably strong, but thankfully Mon-El had lots of experience handling Kara when she was trembling and losing control. Of course that was usually in a much more pleasurable setting...
Mon-El cleared his throat to bring his thoughts back to present.
"Where should I take her?" He asked Caitlin.
"Uh, let's take her into the med bay." She said, unable to take her eyes off the alien woman. This was way worse than Mon-El had been...
"Right." Mon-El nodded, adjusting the blonde in his arms before heading towards the med bay, cape swishing dramatically behind him. The rest of the group followed him uneasily, watching as Mon-El carefully placed her down on the bed. He frowned slightly when he realized she was wearing very torn apart work clothes, except he could see the house of El crest exposed on her chest.
How exactly had this all happened?
AUTHORS NOTE:
Thank you all for reading! I hope you are all having a great 2019 so far! Please take a moment to review, I love hearing your thoughts!
