Chapter Thirty-Four: Broken Mirror
Struggling to hold back the grief, tears flowed steadily and silently down immobile faces. The sky was dark and grey. The grief in the air hung like a thick, wool blanket, draped over all of them. There were no smiles from the remembrance of Jonathan Kent, stories which they remembered about the good times they'd had. Only sorrow over the loss of a wonderful soul, husband and father. It felt as if time itself was standing still; that this was just a horrible nightmare that the family wanted to wake up from.
As the coffin was lowered people draped in black stood around it. Martha was crying hysterically in her sons chest, and Clark was holding her as tight as he possibly could without hurting her. His own face was streaked with tears but he bit back any sob that threatened to escape and instead stared at the newly dug grave.
Seeing Clark like that made her heart as barren as the moors on a desolate winter morn. She didn't know what to do in this kind of situation... If it were her she'd want to be left alone but Clark was different. She lifted her arm to touch his shoulder but winced before she could. For the most part her hands had healed quickly but a few of the more delicate bones were still mending.
The priest had already recited the sermon and a few people had gotten up to speak about their love for Jonathan; Clark was one of them. It was the hardest thing in the world watching him struggle to form words at the stand...
Worst of all, Silvia felt responsible for all of it. Even a few days after the funeral she still felt like it was her fault. She should have been able to stop it... somehow.
To enter the cemetery she had to skirt around a pile of brown frosted leaves, the innumerable flashing fragments shone in the brilliant wintry light, for today there was no weather; no wind, no cloud, just subzero temperatures. Even the leaf stems laid white and sharp.
Ahead the path glistened like white quartz, yet ice crystals on weary concrete is all it was. All this beauty over everything dead. And here she was to add to it with a bunch of pink roses in her recovered and gloved hand. She paused, her breath rising in visible puffs, then she remembered why she had returned. At the funeral she barely had an opportunity to pay her respects... She had felt too guilty. She was here to correct that.
She placed the roses on Jonathan's grave, right next to the new tombstone. His was the most cared for in the entire cemetery, though she figured that was because he had only been buried for five days.
Silvia was just in the middle of confessing her guilt when something zapped in front of her. Was that lightening?... It happened again, and again until finally a figure appeared amongst the bolts.
"Flash?" Silvia questioned, though he didn't exactly look like him. Even with his mask on he looked a little older than the Flash that she knew.
"Silvia." He said lowly and this at least confirmed that he was who she thought he was. "Clark's in trouble. You have to help him."
Panic built like an unstoppable snowball in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't concentrate on anything else. Her heart was starting to beat harder and faster, adrenaline levels rising. Clark had already been through so much, she had done everything she possibly could to comfort him but she still worried that it wasn't enough.
"Of course! Take me to him, now." She said so quickly that it was barely understandable.
"I will, but you have to put this on first." He pulled something out of the bag he was carrying... an outfit of some kind. The fabric wasn't anything she'd seen before and it was weaved in odd patterns. "It'll stop you from being torn apart by the speed."
Silvia didn't hesitate for a second. She tore off a layer of her casual clothes, leaving only the new white costume she had 'borrowed' from that hideout. She yanked the outfit from Flash and slipped it on over the top.
"There, lets go." She said hurriedly.
Flash shook his head and held out something else, only this time it was much smaller. "Take this as well."
Silvia picked it up from his palm and stared at the small pill in her hand. She raised an eyebrow then looked up at Flash skeptically. "I'm not taking some random tablet."
"You're going to need it. Trust me." This time the age in his voice was a little more obvious. He sounded older than he should have.
"It's not going to make me old is it? I mean, dude, what happened to you?"
"I promise this will all be explained soon but for now I need you to take that pill. If you don't you'll die, and Clark needs you alive."
Silvia's breath became hollow at the decision before her. She knew it was a bad idea to comply with some half-stranger... but the risk of losing Clark was too heart wrenching. She placed the tablet on her tongue and gulped it down with nothing but saliva to assist it down her throat.
Flash pulled one final thing from his bag... a helmet of some kind. He motioned for her to put her regular mask on and she followed the instructions without question. She was too worried about Clark to delay any longer.
Flash finally secured the helmet on her head, clipping it under her chin and picking her up in arms much stronger than the Flash she knew.
The world around her blurred into nothing but lightening, each bolt striking down on her but she couldn't feel a thing. It didn't take long before Flash skidded to a halt and placed Silvia down in the middle of Metropolis... only it wasn't the Metropolis she remembered.
It looked like every single structure had been rebuilt but in odd designs. Some towers slanted, others were asymmetrical. The most shocking of all was the statue right in front of her... It was Superman standing on top of the world.
"Wh-Where... am I?" Silvia blurted out, mind still trying to grip onto what she was seeing.
"Metropolis... Our Metropolis." Flash answered honestly.
"Are you kidding? This isn't Metropolis...not even close."
"It's not yours. Ours meaning mine...and everyone else here. Short version is...this is an alternate universe, an alternate Earth, and it needs your help."
Silvia sternly replied "What are you talking about? Where's Clark? You said he's in trouble."
"He is. We all are." Flash said, unclipping her helmet and taking it off only to reveal her white mask.
Silvia huffed. "Explain, and make it fast."
"Like I said, this is a parallel Earth. I'm Barry Allen...but not the one you know." Flash sighed at the look of confusion that flashed over Silvia's face. "This world is similar to yours, but slightly different. You with me?"
Silvia shook her head, mouth hanging half open. "Not really."
Flash groaned, waving his arms in a 'forget about it' kind of way. "The important thing is this isn't your Earth but we need you just the same."
"Why don't you just get this universe's version of me...?" Silvia questioned, not entirely sure if she understood the current situation.
"Trust me when I say that's impossible."
"I came here to help Clark... My Clark. It's starting to sound incredibly complicated." Silvia gritted her teeth, trying to grab the helmet back but Flash was obviously too fast. "Take me home."
"Your only way back is through me...and I'm not taking you anywhere just yet. You don't understand what's at stake here." One second later and Flash was also holding the outfit.
Silvia glanced down to find her costume revealed once more. She grumbled.
"Everyone we're up against here has taken that pill I gave you. It enhances durability." He said.
"Did I really need it? You know my powers, right?"
"Well...now you could be hit by Superman and not die instantly."
"Oh..." Silvia blinked at the man. "Not that Superman would ever hit someone with his full strength anyway."
Flash's gaze dropped to the ground and he chewed his lip, like he was regretting saying too much. "Maybe not your Superman... Not yet."
Silvia's brow furrowed. What did he mean by that? She didn't care what version he was, Superman would never do that... Clark would never.
"Look, it doesn't matter. What's important is that if you don't help Clark then we'll be forced to do something else. We'll have to find a way to lock him up...Bruce is even considering sending him to the Phantom Zone." Flash sounded rushed, constantly looking around for any signs of movement.
"Lock him up...!? Clark? Are you serious? What aren't you telling me?" She couldn't understand... Why would they want to arrest Clark? The question bounced around her skull but she didn't get the chance to ask.
Without explanation Flash tossed her an earpiece. "Put it on quickly. We'll be in touch." And then he was gone.
"H-Hey! Wait!" Silvia yelled into the empty air but there was no reply. Flash was probably long gone by now.
She was alone in the middle of a city she knew but didn't recognise... At least she thought she was. It wasn't long after she'd put the ear piece on under her mask when she heard people approaching.
"What's the point of this?" A rather cold, husky voice complained. "Like we're gonna find anyone outta line..."
"Lighten up, Frost." Someone else spoke in a tone that sounded more like a purr. "It could be worse. We could be dead."
The closer they came the more Silvia could identify them. One was wearing full black with ears on her mask and long nails extruding from her gloves. The other had skin with a purplish tinge and hair styled up in a Mohawk. She had seen both of them during the prison escape... Catwoman and Killer Frost.
Silvia still didn't know what Flash wanted her to help with... but she could bet villains wandering around the street was one of them. She jumped out at them, raising her fists with a growl.
"You guys look like you're searching for a fight." She snapped and both of the women stopped in their tracks.
"Does she look familiar to you?" Frost pondered, ice beginning to form around her fists.
"Yeah... She's wearing Reaper's old costume!" Catwoman hissed with amusement. "Ooh, the big boss isn't going to like that."
"Let's rip it off her frozen corpse then."
"You can try." Silvia spat back, visibly preparing for a fight.
There was stillness on both sides. If hatred was visible the air would have been scarlet. Then suddenly movement, so much force in every blow. Silvia rained blows onto Catwoman as if she meant to smash her into the very earth and Catwoman clawed at the air in the hopes of scratching her.
These punches should have been breaking her jaw... At least dislocating it, but she kept bouncing back. These pills really were effective. The distracting thought blocked out Killer Frost until she blew a harsh wind of ice and snow in her direction. The force lifted Silvia off of her feet and sent her crushing into a corner shop. It should have hurt... but it didn't.
When the two women saw Silvia arise unharmed and ready to fight they sighed.
"Who gave this imposter the pill?" Catwoman said.
Killer Frost shrugged, forming a sharp arrow of ice and getting ready to throw it at her. "Who cares."
The icicle came pummelling in Silvia's direction, she gasped and dove out of its way. It missed her by mere inches.
"Celebrate while you can, I'm just getting warmed up." Frost cackled, starting on another weapon of ice.
Before she could complete it something enveloped her target. Silvia suddenly couldn't move... all she could do was struggle as if trapped inside a tight cylinder. She glanced down to see her body engulfed by some kind of black magic.
"Don't kill her yet." Came a voice so dark that even the sound sent a chill up Silvia's spine. She glanced upward to see the owner of the eerie melody. She was covered by a cloak that Silvia couldn't quite tell the colour of. It looked black... but also dark purple. She had the hood up so her face was completely obscured but her skin appeared red like a bad sunburn. "The boss will want to deal with this personally."
The woman was somehow familiar... She had seen someone similar when she was doing that background check on Starfire... Raven was her name, she thought, however the version from her world had skin as pale as Silvia's not anything as odd as this.
"They wouldn't have been able to kill me." Silvia snapped. "You came just in time to witness their downfall."
"I don't doubt it." She answered in that demonic voice. "But when the boss sees who you've been impersonating you won't live long enough to do so."
Silvia was lifted into the air, being dragged behind Raven as she lead her through the remade Metropolis. Killer Frost floated at the very end and Catwoman followed on foot. Silvia could feel the magic crawling up and gripping her mind until it blanked out completely. Darkness was her only sight and her body constantly felt like it was falling.