While the members of the League-minus Batman and Flash (he was recovering on the Kents' couch, his leg propped up gently on some pillows) but with the addition of both Hawkman and Green Lantern-worked to repair the damage (again) to the Kent Farm, everyone else convened in the living room to deal with Jayson Potter.
The art teacher stood near the front window, looking around the room. Every person there stared at him, tense-those with abilities stood more defensively, ready to strike if necessary-while those without simply stared at him coldly; it was almost amusing, but he knew wisecracks wouldn't help the already tense situation.
"Who are you?" Jonathan asked as he stood next to his wife and daughter near the piano, arms folded as he stared at Potter; his jaw was set, and it was taking every bit of strength to remain as calm as he was. "What do you want?"
"Zachary Zatara," Batman answered, never taking his eyes off the newcomer. "Cousin of Zatanna Zatara, nephew of Giovanni Zatara." Everyone looked at Batman, surprised (including 'Potter'), but Batman ignored them. "You spoke backwards magic, something only a Zatara can do successfully."
Zachary quickly recovered, nodding. "I can see why Zatanna admires you so much, Batman. Your deductive skills are quite impressive." He glanced back at Jonathan. "I don't want anything, Mr. Kent. I'm only here as a protector of the House of El." He could tell from their expressions that they weren't expecting that response. "Look, I know you have a lot of questions, but unfortunately, we don't have time to go into details. You'll just have to-"
"Trust you?" Linda snarked.
"Yes," Zachary said calmly.
"Give us one good reason why we should," Martha said, her expression hard and set.
Zachary looked right at Linda. "Li oferti ili aspekti cxe la cxielo kaj levi ilia al la stelo," he said. Linda's expression changed, her eyes widening slightly, her mouth open.
"You know about the caves?" Jimmy said in shocked awe as he recognized the spoken words.
"The caves," Zachary answered, "the room you and Miss Kent discovered," he looked at Linda, "where you were while you were missing and what you were doing, and where Clark currently is right now."
"How do we know you didn't cause this yourself?" Jonathan demanded. "Just because you recite some symbols off a cave doesn't mean we should trust you. For all we know, you could've been the one to take Linda in the first place, and this is-"
"He didn't take me," Linda interrupted, studying the magician intently.
"How do you know?" Martha asked.
"I scanned his mind," Linda answered unapologetically, "and for all his lies, he's being honest about that."
"Yeah, well," Gar said from his spot near the TV, "when this is over, you still have a lot of explaining to do, dude."
"Yeah, but not to you, beast boy," Zachary snarked. Gar curled his lips and let out an animalistic growl as he advanced toward the magician, but Jimmy put a hand on his chest.
"He's not worth it, Gar," he said. Gar stayed where he was but still glared at the magician.
"Talk," Linda demanded. "What happened to me last night?"
"Do you remember when Clark's ship exploded in two-thousand three?" Zachary asked the Kents.
"What does that have to do with this?" Jonathan asked.
"That's where it all began," Zachary answered. "The ship had an internal system on it connected to the caves. As you know, it originally called to Clark, so he could begin his journey to rule the planet."
"And Clark destroyed the ship with the kryptonite key," Martha replied. "There was nothing left."
"Not on Earth," Zachary corrected. "The internal system was propelled into the upper atmosphere; it had been damaged from the kryptonite, but it still had enough energy to shield itself from detection by Earth technology and cycle into a kind of hibernation while it repaired itself. Ten years later, Linda activated the system when she accessed the hidden room in the cave."
"Clark said it was Jor-El that called to him," Jimmy said. "So, how come now it was Linda's father that took control of both of them?"
"The system was designed with the purpose of making sure a member of the House of El would fulfill its mission of ruling over Earth," Zachary replied. "It simply recognized Linda as a member of the House of El, and manifested itself as Zor-El."
"But in order for it to manifest into the image of either Clark's father or mine," Linda said, "that programming has to be done at the source-which I'm assuming is the caves-and then they have to be connected to any extensions, such as the ships."
"That would be accurate, yes," Zachary said.
"Then who programmed my father into the caves?" Linda demanded.
"The man you call Zor-El," Zachary stated. Everyone stared at him, almost like they didn't believe him. "I don't know all the details, but both he and Jor-El travelled to Earth in nineteen sixty-one, and during that time they were programmed into the caves."
"You said you knew where Linda had been when she was missing," Jonathan said after a few moments. "Where was she?"
"The Fortress, I'm guessing," Zachary answered. "The one she built."
"What?" Linda asked, confused.
"It's what the 'Stronghold' means in the caves," Zachary said. Linda still looked bewildered, and the magician sighed, frustrated. "Look, I don't mean to sound rude, but there isn't much time, and Linda needs to remember everything she did during those missing ten hours."
"Already tried, Merlin," Cisco muttered. "Didn't exactly work."
"You haven't tried everything," Zachary retorted. He raised his hands in Linda's direction as a blue light surrounded them. "Rebmemer esoht gnissim sruoh." He waved his hands, and a blue light suddenly surrounded Linda. She immediately shouted and grabbed the sides of her head as she fell to her knees, setting off a domino effect around the room:
Cisco thrust his hand at Zachary, opening a breach under his feet. Zachary shouted as he fell through the breach, and the blue light around Linda disappeared; another breached appeared on the ceiling, and Zachary fell through, landing hard on the living room floor. Disoriented for a moment, Zachary looked up to see Jacob pointing his weapon right at his head and Batman had a razor-lined Batarang in his hand, ready to throw. Zachary glanced over and saw the Kents and Jimmy kneeling with Linda as she stayed on the floor, eyes squeezed shut. Cisco and Gar-and even Barry (though he leaned on his good leg, barely able to stand)-stood protectively in front of them.
"You realize I could immobilize all of you if I truly wanted," Zachary said, unfazed.
"Not all of us."
Everyone turned and saw Diana, J'onn, Firestorm, Hawkman, Green Arrow, and Green Lantern armed in their various manners and standing defensively at the both entrances into the living room.
"Looks like we joined the party just in time," Green Arrow said, keeping an arrow trained on the magician. "Just FYI: everything's been repaired; we even arranged for a replacement vehicle for Agent Olsen."
"What did you do to her?" Jimmy demanded angrily as he leapt to his feet and pushed past everyone, making a beeline right for the magician. He tried brushing past Jacob, but the agent managed to quickly holster his weapon and hold his son back; he was surprised he actually had to strain and set his feet to stay balanced.
"Can I get up?" Zachary asked, annoyed.
"Make one move," Diana replied, "and it will be the last thing you do."
"Let him up." Everyone looked over as Linda slowly got to her feet, looking serious. "We have bigger things to worry about."
"You remember what happened," Zachary stated.
"Unfortunately," Linda said.
"What makes you so sure he can be trusted?" Jonathan asked.
"Because he showed me what happened," Linda replied.
"What did you see?" Martha asked.
"After I was struck in the thunderstorm, I fell to the ground," Linda recalled slowly as she extracted the once-hidden memories. "I think I was over Colorado, I can't tell; no one saw me. When I recovered, I felt the tattoo on my neck...and then it was if I had my father's voice in my head. It was like I was compelled to do what he wanted me to."
"What did you do?" Jonathan asked.
"I flew back here, got the key from my drawer, went to the cave, accessed the hidden room, then teleported out. I ended up in this large...room; it looked like the room I teleported from, complete with the same symbols, but it was made entirely of ice. There was a door leading out, I walked out and went down this tunnel until I came to another room. It was also made of ice, but larger, and there was a console of ice on one side; it had all these crystals in it. I'd never seen it before, but I knew it was some kind of computer or something. I walked over and started moving some of those crystals-and then everything started shifting and moving around me until…."
"Until what?" Martha asked.
"Until I built it," Linda answered.
"Build what?" Jimmy asked.
"The Fortress," Linda replied. "It's kind of like a base of operations where Clark-or I-would single-handedly 'rule' over Earth; that's where Clark is right now."
"And that's why we need to stop him," Zachary spoke up as he slowly got to his feet, making sure not to make any sudden moves; those with abilities still were poised, ready to attack if necessary, "and soon."
"Why the urgency?" Batman asked.
"Because if we don't," Linda replied, "then the world will be destroyed." Everyone stared at her.
"Uh..you wanna run that by us again?" Flash said slowly.
"Kryptonian technology has a certain failsafe implemented into it," Linda explained. "The architect of any program or system is the one that controls the security of that particular program or system; essentially, as the architect of the Fortress, I decide who has access to both the structure and the system itself."
"Does Clark have access to the Fortress?" Batman asked.
"Yes, but not the system in the Fortress," Linda said. "If he tries to access it before I can give him clearance, it will trigger a system shutdown; for all we know, he could have already activated it."
"That's a good thing," Green Lantern remarked. "That's what we want."
"Once the system fully shuts down," Linda continued, "it will cause a thermonuclear explosion in the area." There was stunned silence and looks of disbelief.
"Are we talking 'Hiroshima' or something bigger?" Jimmy asked after a few moments.
"Something closer to an ELE," Linda said.
"ELE?" Jonathan asked.
"Extinction Level Event," Cisco whispered, looking almost terrified.
"Okay, scratch what I just said," Green Lantern replied lamely.
"Why in the hell did your people put their version of a planet-destroying Three Mile Island on our planet?" Cisco looked at Linda, incredulous.
"So, because I was brainwashed into building something," Linda said frustrated, "I should have all these answers about it?! Well, I don't, okay?!" She tried hard to keep her composure, but she blinked back a few tears. Cisco immediately felt guilty, his expression softening, but he kept quiet.
"The why doesn't matter right now," Diana replied calmly but firmly. "Right now, we have to stop Clark from activating the shutdown sequence or stop it if he already has."
"We won't be able to," Batman spoke up.
"Love the vote of confidence, Bruce," Green Lantern muttered sarcastically. "Look, just because Clark wiped the floor with you earlier, it doesn't mean-"
"It has nothing to do with ability," Batman interrupted. "If you'd been paying attention, Linda said only the person who activated the system or program controls the security."
"And since Linda created the Fortress," J'onn continued, "she is the only one who can stop the shutdown."
"No, out of the question," Jonathan said, frowning. "Linda is not going back to that damned place."
"Surely Linda could tell you what to do instead," Martha added, trying not to sound desperate.
"That's not how this works," Zachary replied curtly.
"So, essentially you're saying a sixteen-year-old girl is the only difference between staying alive or total annihilation," Barry said, looking troubled.
"Surely that can't be the only choice here," Diana added. Everyone started arguing with each other, talking loudly, offering their opinions or protests. The room was quickly filled with a cacophony of arguing.
"ENOUGH!"
The voices stopped talking instantly as the young female voice reverberated through the room. Everyone looked over and saw Linda frowning, her eyes bright with tears that she held back with all her strength.
"I'll go, okay?" Linda said, frustrated. "My family is responsible for this...so it's my responsibility to stop it."
"Linda, you can't," Jimmy insisted as he hurried over to her.
"What choice do I have, Jimmy? You want me to just let everyone die if there's even a small chance I can stop it?"
"No, of course not, but…," Jimmy took a deep breath, "how do you plan on stopping Clark? He overpowered you the last time you fought him-he overpowered everyone except Houdini over here."
"Oh, that's easy," Zachary answered. "Torquasm Vo." Everyone looked at him, confused, and he didn't miss the brief narrowing of Linda's eyes.
"What is Torquasm Vo?" Martha asked.
"It's an ancient Kryptonian martial art," Linda explained, never taking her eyes off Zachary. "It's a kind of mental discipline, like a psychic meditative state Kryptonians could reach to fight each other."
"How effective is it?" Barry asked.
"Quite effective-if you know what you're doing: you can protect yourself against all kinds of attacks and even warp reality to fight your opponent. Rok-Var tried to teach me a few times."
"How did it work out?" Gar asked.
Linda paused. "I had a hard time maintaining focus."
"Because I'm sure you doubted yourself," Zachary replied bluntly, "just like you're doubting yourself right now." Linda opened her mouth to protest, but the magician wasn't done. "You have the means to end this, Linda, but if you don't trust your own abilities, we might as well just sit down, do nothing, and wait for Earth to end right now."
Linda bristled, fighting every urge to tackle him and punch his head off. "Mi malamas vin," she muttered.
"Duly noted," Zachary replied. "Are we ready to go?"
"Whoa, whoa, who says you're going with her?" Green Arrow spoke up. "The League can handle this without your help."
"How sure are you?" Zachary undeterred. "A smaller party is less likely to be detected, and we all know Clark will not go down easily. Linda will need someone to keep Clark at bay while she shuts down the system, and I'm the only one here who can do that effectively." He paused. "Also, on the off chance Linda gets corrupted again, I'll be able to deal with her as well. But if you're willing to risk the fate of the planet and all the people on it-and you're confident you can get past Kryptonian security without being killed-be my guest." He glanced around the room and could tell that pretty much everyone there wanted to argue with him but there was nothing to argue; he was right. Everyone looked expectantly at Linda.
"Bruce comes with us," she said after a few moments. Zachary opened his mouth but Linda stopped him. "If anything happens to me, you're going to have two brainwashed, superpowered Kryptonians; you will need backup, and Bruce is the only one here I trust to do what's necessary." She turned to Batman. "You still carry that kryptonite?"
"Always," Batman replied.
"Good," Linda said. She glanced at her parents, and she countenance faltered a little; she opened her mouth but couldn't say anything. Jonathan and Martha just nodded, trying not to lose their composure. She nodded in return before heading past her parents, but she stopped when she felt someone grab her hand. She stopped and turned around, seeing Jimmy looking at her, concern written all over his face, his fingers wrapped around hers. Jimmy opened his mouth, but Linda beat him. "I'll be fine." She turned as she felt her hand slip through his, and she swallowed the lump in her throat as she headed toward the kitchen door. "Let's go."
Batman and Zachary followed close behind Linda as the trio made their way into the cave. The unlikely trio had remained silent from the moment they'd left the Kent Farm, but everything that had been bottled up in Linda's mind started spilling out as they neared their destination.
"Tests." Linda said. "Getting their driver's license, dating, passing their classes, curfews. That's what most teenagers worry about. Me? I have to deal with stopping my brainwashed cousin and shutting down a system that was designed to destroy an entire planet and kill all seven billion of its inhabitants-and I don't get a second chance if I screw up the first time."
"Well, if it's any comfort," Zachary said drolly, "if you don't stop it, no one will be worrying about anything anyway."
"Who are you really?" Linda asked. "How do you know so much about Krypton?"
"I already told you," Zachary replied.
"No, you told everyone a nice story," Linda retorted, "but I know Torquasm Vo is seriously ancient-Rok-Var said it was considered archaic even before Krypton exploded."
"The information was given to me as was all the information I received as a protector of the House of El," Zachary replied.
"And considering my family members were a bunch of psychopaths-Clark aside-I'm still not sure that's a good thing." She glanced at Batman. "You're loquacious as usual, Bruce."
"Why should I talk?" Batman asked. "You're doing enough talking for the entire League." Linda glared at him as the trio reached the main area of the caves. "You mentioned needing your key to access the Fortress."
"Not here," Linda replied as she walked over to the octagonal slot surrounded by four rings of symbols and covered the slot with her right palm. The slot glowed, and surrounding symbols lit up, slowly rotating clockwise. Linda touched the symbols she remembered, each glowing in blue, yellow, and red, respectively. The sound of gears grinding echoed as the symbols rotated into place; the symbol on the back wall glowed, and the wall split to reveal the circular chamber. The trio headed into the room, and Bruce and Zachary looked around while Linda stayed near the entrance. "Stand in the center ring."
The two men followed her instruction as she looked to her right; she tilted her head as she stared at the blank wall, then waved her right hand. An invisible door slid aside, revealing a hidden compartment in the wall-as Linda's key inside. She grabbed the key, then put it in the slot. A loud click echoed through the chamber and Linda hurried over to the center with the two men as the symbols and the ring lit up, surrounding the trio with blue light. There was a bright flash, then the light disappeared. The three of them looked around, finding themselves in a room made completely of ice; their breath came out in foggy mists.
"We're here," Linda replied.
(End of Chapter 7)
