Chapter IV: The Gene Pool Part 2
Karen had been laying in her glass prison for what felt like hours as she stared up at the red sun lamp. The High Preserver's mechanical servants had stitched up the wounds inflicted upon her in her fight with Binari, so now she could concentrate on an escape plan. As she stood up to pace around her cell to think, she removed the sheets from her cot and tied them around her bust and waist. Much to her embarrassment, she had been stripped of her outfit while unconscious so that the medical machine's could do their work.
It didn't help that Binari - the bounty hunter who had kidnapped her - was imprisoned right beside her. The Czarnian was taking a more direct approach in trying to escape as she bashed her shoulder against the glass. Due to the fact that she had no specific weakness such as red sun radiation or radonite, the High Preserver had bound her arms behind her back. To make matters worse for the Czarnian, a potent sleeping gas had been fed into her glass chamber every few minutes to keep her docile. Still, that didn't stop her from smashing her shoulder against the glass wall, shouting every profanity she knew as she did.
Karen rolled her eyes at the brute's arbitrary approach to solving the problem. As she continued to pace around her cell, she studied the walls for a crack or a crease that she could use to her advantage. But before she could find anything, several other lights suddenly flashed alive, illuminating multiple other glass enclosures. The Radonian's heart sank at the sight of so many animals being held against their will in such a cruel environment. Karen gasped in shock as the final light revealed her captor standing before her own prison.
"Good morning, Kara Zor-Ran." The High Preserver greeted, warmly, carrying a silver platter with food and a familiar outfit. With a wave of his hand, the glass opened up with a thin, rectangular hole, and the High Preserver slid the tray through it. The hole closed back up once the tray was in all the way. "I took the liberty of preparing you a delicious meal while my machine's repaired your uniform."
Karen angrily took the tray and wasted no time in putting her uniform back on. "Where are we?" She demanded.
"Just beyond Earth's orbit." The High Preserver replied, evenly. "Once we reach this solar system's asteroid field, we shall make the lightspeed jump to my home planet. There, I shall harvest your genetic code as I have with many others. And then, I shall have the perfect army to conquer this universe."
"'Others?'" Captain Hyper arched an eyebrow as she finished adjusting her uniform. "You've done this before?"
"Yes. You see, I have made it my life's mission to collect and preserve the genetics of every species in this universe..." He explained. "... ever since I served Darkanos."
"That's impossible." Captain Hyper remarked. "Emerald Man used the Infinity Rings to erase anyone who were loyal to Darkanos."
"I was there when he first destroyed his first planet… my planet. I served him out of fear, but I was never loyal to him." The High Preserver went on. "In secret, I collected the genetic coding of the likes of Appelaxians, Kronans, Daxamites, Shi'ar, Euphorans, and many more. For centuries, I have struggled to find the perfect formula to create the perfect being. One that is indestructible, powerful, and above all obedient. I began splicing non-sentient lifeforms into the mix for the latter quality, but there was still something missing. Now, I have the solar-based power of a Radonian, and the regenerative cells of a Czarnian. My army will be flawless. Under my command, they shall sever all inter-galactic ties until the only connection between worlds… is me. They will ensure that every planet in this universe stays in their place; and that the people of those worlds never draw blood in a senseless quest for power."
Captain Hyper sneered. "What you're trying to do is nothing short of universal authoritarianism!" She spat. "If you do this, you'll just be another Darkanos!"
"I did not bring you here for your opinions, Kara Zor-Ran." Her captor remarked as he turned to leave. "I suggest you eat what I have provided. It will be a long journey to my homeworld.
With that, Karen was left to brood in her prison. If she let the High Preserver take her away from Earth, he'd be able to take what he needed and more than likely execute her afterwards. She had no way to warn her cousin or the others in the Young Justice Avengers, and as long as she was trapped under the red sun lamp, she was helpless. Therefore, her first act was to escape her cell.
Karen leaned against the glass wall as she gazed at the menagerie of extraterrestrial animals. Once she spotted a horned quadruped, she got an idea. Picking up the silver tray from the floor, she angled it to reflect the light from her red sun lamp towards the animal's eyes. Just as she'd hoped, the beast became irritated and got down into a charging position. "Sorry, big fellah." Karen whispered, softly. "But you're my ticket out of here."
Sure enough, the beast became angry enough to break through its own enclosure and charge at the glass chamber that held Captain Hyper. She ducked out of the way just as her unwitting rescuer smashed her cage to pieces. Thankfully, the glass was thick enough to leave the beast disoriented and forget about her. Karen stepped out of her chamber and away from the sun lamps weakening radiation, only to cut herself on a piece of broken glass. She pulled off her glove and inspected the cut; it was healing faster than a human's would, but the fact that she got cut at all indicated that she was still recovering from the red sun radiation. She decided that she would have to find a ship.
"Hey! Colonel Hyper!"
Karen groaned and turned to face the Czarnian bounty hunter still in her own glass prison. "It's Captain Hyper." She corrected. "What do you want?"
"Well, I was hoping you could do me a solid and let me outta here." Binari smiled. "I'd do it myself, but this gas they keep pumpin' in here is really keepin' me down."
"Yeah, I think I'll pass." Karen waved her off and set out down the hall.
"Hey! You can't just leave me here!" Binari shouted. "And what about that High Preserver bastich?! You're just gonna let him get away?!"
"No, of course not." Karen shrugged with a sly smirk as she watched Binari's temper trigger the gas again. "Once I'm back on Earth, I'll talk to my friend in the Green Nova Corps and have them take him down. Oh, but don't worry; I'll be sure to tell him all about you and how you kidnapped me. Hope you like prison food."
"Alright, fine! Walk away, you little keezy-fem!" Binari fumed through coughs as the gas continued to flood her chamber. "But mark my words; wherever I'm locked up, I am gonna get out! It might take weeks! It might take years! But I will get free! And the first thing I'm gonna do when I get out is head straight back to that backwater planet you love so much, and burn every mouth-breathin' bastich on that miserable rock to a crisp!"
Karen had stopped walking halfway through the bounty hunter's rant. She knew that the Czarnian was powerful and resourceful enough to make good on her threat. Additionally, she was nowhere near at full strength thanks to the red sun lamp and it wouldn't hurt to have some extra muscle. With an exasperated sigh, the Woman of Might pivoted on her heels and headed back towards Binari's chamber and gently tapped her knuckles against the glass to get her attention.
"If I let you out…" She began with her arms crossed. "Do you promise to leave Earth and everyone on it alone?"
"Y-yeah… I swear…" Binari coughed as she fell to her knees from exhaustion.
"You promise?"
"The Main Maiden's word… is her creed…"
With that, Captain Hyper placed her hand against the glass and shut her eyes to concentrate. At last, she channeled enough plasma into her palm to shatter the glass. She ducked out of the way as the glass shards littered the floor and the gas dissipated in the air. Binari collapsed, face-first, onto the ground with a loud gasp. Once she caught her breath, the bounty hunter charged her own plasma into her restraints until the metal melted off of her hands. Captain Hyper extended her hand to help Binari up.
"Thanks." Binari smiled before punching Hyper across the chin.
Karen grunted as she hit the ground. "What was that for?!" She groaned, rubbing her tender flesh.
"Didn't want you to think I was goin' soft on ya." Binari smirked.
Karen decided to let it go as she got back on her feet. "Look, neither of us are at full strength, yet. If we want to get out of here, we're going to have to work together."
Binari reluctantly nodded in agreement as she made her way over to the wall where her chain and hook were being kept. "Alright. If we can get to my bike, I could get us back to Earth before this ship takes off to who-knows-where."
"Okay. But we'll need to be quiet." Karen shushed.
Binari seemed offended. "My middle name is 'quiet.'" She remarked, rattling her chain.
Karen cringed and checked to make sure no one had heard them. Sure enough, an ear-piercing siren wailed as a blinding red light flashed from down the hall. The Radonian glared at her temporary ally. "Yeah, and I'm guessing your last name is 'comma-not.'"
"Shut up and run." Binari snorted.
After twenty minutes of running, the duo found a fork in the hallway. One way led to the ship's control room, and the other way led to the hangar. They headed towards the hangar, but once they arrived, they were greeted by a trio of bounty hunters waiting for them. "There you are." The one in the middle sneered. "Now, tell me where my brother is so I can turn him in to Lord Jargus!"
"Oh, yeah. I forgot about him." Binari shoved her companion towards the other bounty hunters and ran off. "Hey, Major Hyper! Take care of these creeps while I go get him!"
"Hey!" Karen managed to evade the bounty hunters' laser blasts just in time. Fortunately, she was prepared for such a situation. Gargoyle, Black Cat, Thunder Woman, the Flag, and even Hyperman had insisted that every member of the YJA received some form of unarmed combat long before the Infinity Crisis. As the heaviest of the trio lunged at her, Karen grabbed his wrist, pulled him towards her, and used her legs to push him away. Unfortunately, the other two quickly opened fire on her, forcing her to retreat back down the hall.
With the siren still on full blast, the High Preserver's security drones finally caught up to her. She used this to her advantage; sliding under the drones just as they fired. Their blasts struck the bounty hunters, giving her a bit more distance from them. At last, she found herself back in the prison room, looking for a weapon she could use to defend herself. She hid behind one of the glass cages to catch her breath. As she peeked around it to check her surroundings, she spotted something inside the cage that made her smile. She quickly returned to her feet and made her way to the cage's control terminal and opened the cage's door.
But just as she was about to go in, she heard someone behind her. She lifted her arms up in surrender as she turned to face the three bounty hunters. "Here's something I never thought I'd get to see…" Bertax - the leader of the trio - smirked. "A Radonian at my mercy. Killing you will make me famous."
Karen looked over her shoulder as an animal's screech echoed from within the cage. "Guys, listen-"
"Oh! You were gonna try to lure us into that cage and let a blood thirsty beast do your dirty work for you!" Bertax surmised. "Well, I think I'll let you go in first!" With that, he pushed the depowered super heroine into the cage as they heard the animal getting closer. Karen spotted something rustling in a nearby bush...
… and a small, flightless bird popped out and brushed against her leg, affectionately.
"That's a blood thirsty beast?" The bounty hunter scratched his head in confusion.
"Not quite." Karen smiled as she stroked the bird's head. "It's a dodo. A species of bird that was thought to be extinct on the planet Earth." Karen smiled as she gazed up at the yellow sun lamp. The bounty hunters slowly backed away in fear as they saw their would-be victim rise to her feet, absorbing the radiation into her hyper-charged cells. At last, Captain Hyper cracked her knuckles, letting sparks of plasma sprinkle around her feet. She levitated into the air and flew towards the trio who sought her death. As expected, their lasers did nothing to her as she knocked them all to the ground in a single swipe. She then used her hyper-breath to freeze them in place while she headed back to the hangar.
At the same time, Binari had found Beryl on the command deck and dragged him back to the cargo bay. "Heh, heh, heh. Easy money." She snickered to herself. Unfortunately, she was cut off once more. This time, by the High Preserver, himself.
"No! I will not be denied my army!" He bellowed, shrugging off his cape. Binari threw Beryl aside and charged at the elder alien with her hook and chain. But the Preserver had many tricks up his sleeve, including a highly advanced weapons system built into his suit of armor. The Czarinian steel of Binari's hook did little damage to his armor, and her plasma was absorbed into his suit's power cells. With his hands outstretched, he redirected her plasma back at her. Her flesh regenerated as quickly as it burned away, but there was little she could do to defend herself. "If you will not wait in a gaseous cell, then I'll just keep burning you until I've harvested enough of your genetic code!" He declared.
Just then, Captain Hyper flew into the hangar and kicked the High Preserver away. "Go! Get out of here!" She shouted to Binari. "Once you're free, contact the Green Nova Corps!"
The High Preserver tackled Captain Hyper from behind, giving Binari her chance to escape. But before revving up her space-cycle, Binari looked back at Captain Hyper as she struggled against the High Preserver. The Radonian had freed her from captivity and now she was about to abandon her. With a tired sigh, Binari glanced over at her prey. "You're a lucky guy, Beryl." She smirked. "You get to witness my one good deed of the century."
Beryl smiled, hopefully. "You're gonna let me go?"
"Ha, you're funny." Binari snorted as she strapped her prey to the seat of her space-cycle and armed herself with her hook and chain. "Hey, Commander Hyper!"
"It's Captain!" Karen shouted back, clearly annoyed.
"Whatever! Just get clear!" The bounty hunter charged at her traitorous client from behind, tackling him once Karen had ducked out of the way. "Don't bother with the plasma. The bastich just absorbs it like a battery."
That gave Captain Hyper another idea. "Then that means… there's a limit to the amount of energy it can take!"
Aiming both her fists at the High Preserver, she poured all of her energy into sending her plasma energy directly at his suit. Getting the idea, Binari added her own plasma. As they hoped, the suit overloaded and exploded, sending shards of metal in multiple directions. One piece managed to pierce the hull of the ship, causing a vacuum to pull the three combatants towards the wall. Binari dug her hook into the floor with the chain wrapped around her arm as she grabbed Captain Hyper by the ankle with her free hand. Their captor hadn't been so fortunate and soon found himself pulled against the wall by space's suction.
Karen cringed as the High Preserver screamed in agony from the pressure of the vacuum pulling him apart. At last, the would-be conqueror was sucked out into the cold void of space and the two super-powered women were once again struggling against the vacuum. Together, they managed to use their plasma bolts to fuse the hole in the wall shut.
With the worst over, the duo took a moment to catch their breaths before Binari broke the silence. "Ya need a ride?"
Karen chuckled. "No thanks. I'm going to see if I can fly this ship back to Earth. My cousin has a special place there that'll help us take care of these animals."
"Ugh, you are a girl scout." Binari gagged as she wrapped up her chain.
"And you'll keep your promise?" Karen asked, sternly.
"Yeah, yeah." Binari rolled her eyes and mounted her space-cycle. "Earth and every bastich on it are off-limits. Although, if ya ask me, their politics are gonna kill 'em way before I do."
Planet Earth. Chicago, IL. Two Hours Later.
"Thanks again for taking in those animals, Kal." Karen said into her phone as she flew back into her room. "I really appreciate it… yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Couple hours under the sun and I'll be back at full strength… yeah, I'll see you and Lois next month. Listen, I gotta go, I've got plans tonight... Okay, love you, too. Buh-bye."
Karen hung up her phone and was just about to change into her clothes when Raquel walked in. "Captain Hyper!" She shouted and ran to hug her. "You're back! What happened?"
Karen cleared her throat. "Uh, well, I managed to strike a deal with the woman who abducted me and came back to Earth. Sorry to give you such a scare. Uh, did you get my ship opened up?"
Raquel laughed. "Nah. I've been too worried about you to even try. Not that it really matters. I still can't find anything strong enough to… hang on… I got an idea…" She smiled and dragged her friend back to the lab. Once they arrived, the engineer handed Captain Hyper another crowbar and pointed her to the area in which to pry it open. With little effort, she was able to pop off a small sheet of the hull without damaging the technology underneath.
"Whoa!" Captain Hyper beamed as she studied the crowbar in her grasp. "Is this the same crowbar Binari used?"
"Hell yeah!" Raquel cheered. "Nearly took my head off, but look's like I got the last laugh!" Just then, she checked her watch and cursed herself. "Oh, shit! Sorry, Captain, but this is gonna have to wait until tomorrow. I got plans with my roommate, and I always keep a promise. See you later!"
Karen waved Raquel off until she was out of sight. She then used her hyper-speed to race back to her room, change into her civilian clothes, and meet Raquel in the common area. That night, the two friends celebrated their new friendship with many chicken wings and cheesy karaoke songs.
To Be Continued!
Next Chapter: The Fury of Firehawk!