Chapter 48: Forgotten Realm
Kara dove at the fleeing girl. She'd spotted the suspiciously acting young woman from the air after her confrontation with Danica. The alien beauty assumed that this was the missing sister that Danica mentioned. They were so close! The odd girls traveled low to the ground and were sticking mainly to the heavy trees, and thick foliage.
Danica and this girl were at exact opposite ends of Centro Park. I'd better check this out, she mused and slowed her speed to a simple float. The girl crouched behind an old memorial to some of Metropolis's soldiers that had been killed in various world wars.
It could be a bird of prey, the strange girl thought as she watched Kara's shadow cover the ground. Through a thicket, she observed the shadow slow but remain above ground. "Come out! I won't hurt you!" Kara offered to the hidden young woman.
Reluctantly, the girl emerged from the dark thicket. Kara was still hovering about three feet above the grass. "By the Gods! You are beautiful!" The girl said excitedly. Kara narrowed her big blue eyes. That wasn't exactly the reaction she was looking for, given Danica's failed assault.
Kara wrinkled her nose. There's that smell, again! She silently grimaced. These girls definitely need to be introduced to a bath or shower. "Please do not discipline me, m'lady!" The girl reached behind her back and pulled a shiny, silver broadsword with a gem-lined hilt, from its antique looking leather sheath. Kara took a step back.
Of course the sword wouldn't cut her thick alien skin, but she was afraid that the girl might hurt herself with it. "Discipline you?" Kara echoed. Suddenly the girl went down on one knee, and thrust the point of her sword into the base of the muddy glen. She glanced down at the dirt.
"Yes! Discipline me!" The girl seemed on the verge of tears. "I left Themyscira without the queen's permission!" She continued to avert her eyes. "Huh? What are you talking about?" Kara scratched her lengthy blonde hair, as she finally floated to the ground.
"Were you not sent here by Hippolita, to bring me home for punishment?" The girl coughed slightly as she spoke. "No! I don't have any idea what you mean. Your sister Danica was just here looking for you." Kara wondered when the girl would get back up to her feet.
"Danica was sent to retrieve me!" The girl gasped. "Then who are you?" Kara sighed. "I was about to ask you the same question." She was growing weary of dealing with these odd women. "I am Rachel. Daughter of Amarice, the Queen of the Northern Tribes."
Kara still had no clue as to what Rachel was talking about. "Okay."
"Are you not Athena, the goddess of wisdom and might?" Rachel finally made eye contact with Kara. "Uh…no…I'm Kara. I assume that you're talking about Greek Mythology."
Rachel stood up and in one smooth motion, held the broadsword point to Kara's throat. "Then you defy the gods!" Rachel snarled. "Only the gods fly above the Earth!"
"I thought that the yellow haired gods of the Aegean had returned, but now existed in the Man's World! Then, you are a demon that Hades has cast back out from the Underworld!" Rachel hissed, as her eyes took on a whole new, more menacing look.
"No!" Kara was losing patience. With a flick of her finger, she thrust Rachel's sword away from her throat, and it lurched from the young girl's hand, into the side of a nearby thick, tree trunk. Rachel gasped, now basically unarmed. Just then, Kara heard a blood-curdling yell.
Danica had somehow run across Centro Park, leapt up into the trees, and now dropped down to attack Rachel, all without Kara's noticing her. These girls were good! The alien beauty mused. Rachel somersaulted away from Danica, just as the broadsword swung past her head.
Rachel had positioned herself beneath the sword, and yanked it out of the tree with limited difficulty. The move was completed just in time to deflect Danica's blow, as she sliced through the air with her own sword. "You dishonor your clan by disobeying Queen Hippolita." Danica accused. "Wow! This takes sibling rivalry to a whole new level!" Kara remarked.
Danica thrust the blade near Rachel's bare midsection. The warrior narrowly avoided getting skewered. "Queen Hippolita is locked into the old ways!" Rachel hissed, returning a thrust of her own towards Danica's shoulder. She corkscrewed away in a neat acrobatic move. "She is stuck like a rock in a river, while the world flows around her." Rachel added.
"That is not your decision, Rachel!" Danica countered, as she advanced with a high level attack. Rachel deflected the downward thrust of the sword, and shoved Danica backwards. "I have made my choice!" Rachel argued. "I know the rules, that no one may return to Themyscira, once they have entered the Man's World." Danica swung her sword low near Rachel's feet.
The young warrior easily leapt over the swing, and back flipped neatly onto a nearby boulder. Danica was on her again. She was relentless. Kara watched in awe, promising to copy the female fighter's moves in case she needed to use them one day.
By now, Clark had heard the commotion, and responded to the clanging antiquated weapons. He zipped up beside Kara, scattering dust and debris in every direction. "Kara! What on Earth is going on here? Why aren't you stopping them?" He chastised loudly.
"I thought it was kind of cool." Kara sniped, purposely to irritate her cousin. "Kind of cool?" Clark was livid. "Stop it!" He barked, and sped in between the two warring girls. He grabbed both of their swords by the blade, and tossed the girls into a soft, muddy patch of weeds and grass.
Both girls were on their feet in seconds, assuming an attack posture, flanking Clark on either side. Now that was impressive, Kara silently praised. They circled Clark like a pair of hungry lionesses. Kara snickered, and sat down cross-legged on a grassy knoll. "This ought to be good." She said aloud, smiling brightly. "Let's go cuz!" She playfully cheered Clark on.
Clark tossed the girls' swords above a hedgerow and into a nearby dip in the landscape. "I don't want to hurt you girls." He warned. Clark was greeted by sarcastic laughter.
"You worry about us, Man?" Rachel snickered. "You should worry about yourself." Danica finished the taunt with a vicious kick toward Clark's head. He easily deflected it, but was surprised at the strength of her blow.
With that, the girls forgot about fighting each other, and concentrated on attacking Clark. Kara chewed on a piece of reedy grass as she watched and waited for her cousin to battle the upset young women. She had longed to actually see Clark fight, and admire his moves.
Rachel kicked high at Clark's cheek and he turned his head just in time to receive a full fisted punch to the jaw by Danica. He actually felt that hit, too. Naturally, the blow wouldn't draw blood, but Clark quickly concluded that he was not fighting ordinary humans.
Clark wondered if Kara had been exposed to red kryptonite. It wasn't like her to allow a fight to go on as this one had done. It was as if she didn't care. Rachel snapped Clark back to reality by hitting him with a forearm to the throat. He felt a minor tinge, but Rachel howled in pain.
Danica kicked at Clark low, going down into a leg whip. He also felt a slight tingle of pain from that blow, though Danica yowled, holding her shin in agony. Clark was losing patience. Lois was hot on the trail of his secret identity, and now he was afraid to injure the rowdy girls.
It was time to put a stop to this melee. Rachel got in one good left cross, that would've impacted Clark's nose, had he not stopped it with the palm of his hand. Rachel yelped, and shook her injured wrist gingerly. "Enough!" Clark growled.
He grabbed each girl by her midsection, and carried them off, leaping over a tree-lined ridge, and unceremoniously dumped them in the park's retention pond. "No man may handle an Amazon this way!" Danica shouted. "Cool off!" Clark ordered. "Amazon?" Kara repeated. She'd leapt over the ridge right after Clark.
"By the sword of Hephaestus! It's like Ares himself has returned to the Man's World." Danica snarled. "Amazon?" Clark echoed his cousin's surprise. "I thought that they were a myth." Kara chuckled. "Yeah, like aliens from outer space?" She asked sarcastically.
Rachel stood in the shallow, scum-covered pond, dripping wet. Danica fumed, as she attempted to step out of the pond, Rachel shoved her back in. "That explains the odd clothing, unique aroma, and bad attitudes." Kara commented. "What are they doing here?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." Clark admitted. "We have to get them out of here before they kill someone, or each other." Kara shrugged. "What do we do with two angry, wet, young Amazons, anyway?" Clark had no idea. "I suppose we can talk to Chloe." He offered.
"This one may even be beyond the realm of the maven of all things weird or unexplained." Kara said as she offered a hand to Rachel, who surprisingly, took it. Danica helped herself out of the pond, ignoring Clark's lengthy reach. She stared deadly daggers at him.
"We must retrieve our sacred swords." Danica said in a much calmer tone. "Only if you keep them in their sheaths." Clark threatened. Rachel narrowed her eyes. "Agreed." Kara snickered, finding the whole scene to be ludicrous.
"This may be the first time in history that a man has told a woman to keep her sword in its sheath." She commented. "Funny." Clark glanced at his troublesome cousin. The four of them located the fallen weapons.
"Don't give me a hard time, Kal, or I'll tell Lois that you got your butt kicked by a couple of girls." Kara's eyes sparkled as she teased Clark. Rachel actually smiled briefly, though Danica kept her scowl going. "I did not get my butt kicked." Clark defended.
"I just didn't want them to get hurt." Clark made sure that the girls sheathed their swords. They couldn't very well just leave them lying in the park. "Keep telling yourself that, Kal." Kara continued to ride him. Now, Rachel actually chuckled. Danica, meanwhile, kept moving her head from side to side, looking for a chance to escape.
