As the trio looked around, getting their bearing and taking in their new surroundings, the two men felt the icy chill of the extreme cold hit them like thousands of needles on their skin.
"This isn't ice," Batman remarked, his breath coming out in a fog.
"What do you mean?" Linda asked.
"If this was ice," Batman replied, "the light would be refracting a certain way." He walked over and put his hand on the wall. "This material is crystal designed to mimic ice, just like the caves were designed to mimic rock. My guess is the entire structure is made of the same material." He tried to cover up the brief, reflexive shiver, but Linda noticed.
"You gonna be okay?" she asked.
"We have more important things to worry about," Batman replied curtly.
Zachary waved his left hand, and a small blue flame appeared above his palm. "Esu sight emalf ot mraw su morf nihtiw," he said before the flame split into two; one hovered in front of his chest while the other quickly floated over to Bruce's. Both flames exploded, their light disappearing into both men. "Better?"
Batman narrowed his eyes. "Where do we go?" he asked gruffly.
"The main control room," Linda said. "That's where Clark'll be." She headed toward the only doorway leading out; the two men followed. They had just reached the doorway when a large robot appeared, floating in front of them. It was humanoid in appearance, with a legless metallic torso, arms, hands (and fingers), and head. Its 'face'-a black screen with a large white light-stared at the trio.
"Kara Zor-El," it said in a mechanical male voice, "you have returned."
"Kelex," Linda replied, startled. She paused in confusion, furrowing her eyebrows. "How did I know that?"
"You had me constructed when you built the Fortress," Kelex responded. "I have been fulfilling my programming as per your instructions."
"I programmed you?" Linda asked slowly, trying to rack her brain; Kelex seemed familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.
"Yes," Kelex answered. "Before you departed, you were insistent that I remember my primary objective."
"And what is your primary objective?" Linda asked.
"To preserve the Fortress of the House of El," Kelex replied as its facial light turned from white to crimson red, swiveling its head to look at both Batman and Zachary. "Rest assured the intruders will be destroyed." The red light glowed brighter, but Linda quickly fired her heat vision at the robot; the heat beams its head. Kelex's head sparked with small explosions where the beams made contact; the lights darkened as Kelex fell to the floor and didn't move again.
Linda stared at the lifeless robotic body, almost as if she was heartbroken by her action. "I'm sorry," she whispered. She paused before shaking her head, composing herself, a look of determination on her face. "Let's go." She hurried out of the room with Batman and Zachary close behind, leading them down the crystalline corridor. After a few moments, the trio entered a large cavern with a high ceiling; they stopped and took it all in.
The cavern was immense, the size and shape of a football stadium, except it was made entirely of the ice-like crystals. Pillars, stalactites, and stalagmites, made of the same material, were sporadically around the cavern. Various doorways were located around the perimeter, obviously leading to other areas, but the most striking feature was off to one side. Four giant statues-two women standing in front of two men-held a giant globe between them; all four of them were dressed in Kryptonian robes, with the El symbol on their chests. Linda stared at them, eyebrows creased in confusion.
"Do you know them?" Zachary asked.
"I don't know," Linda replied slowly. "I've never seen them before, but...I feel like I should."
"Stay focused," Batman said curtly. "Our mission is to stop Clark."
"That's not going to happen" a new voice echoed loudly. The trio quickly looked down, tensing, as a figure walked out from a doorway under the globe. It was Superman, but he wore a black skin tight suit, boots, and cape; across his chest was a stylized, blood red Kryptonian Z. He looked at Linda with a cold smile that made her shudder inwardly. "Just so you know, the countdown has already begun-it started as soon as Kal-El tried to access the console." He started toward Linda, but Batman and Zachary moved in front of her protectively. Superman stopped, his smile fading, but he kept his eyes on the young girl. "We all know the only way to save this miserable planet is for you to stop that countdown."
"Then get out of my way," Linda threatened, "or else."
Superman chuckled. "I don't know whether to be impressed by your tenacity or annoyed by your stupidity."
"As I recall," Zachary said, fists glowing a light blue as he clenched them together, "the last time we met, I blasted you into the next county." Suddenly, the trio was hit from the side with multiple energy blasts. They were violently thrown to the side, crashing hard into the far wall; they crumpled to the floor, groaning softly.
"That hurt," Linda muttered as they slowly looked up. Several robots, similar to Kele, surrounded them, their face lights all red and glowing, poised to fire again.
"Contrary to what you might think," Superman said as he floated over, hovering slightly above the floor, "I don't want this world to be destroyed any more than you."
"You have a funny way of showing that," Batman muttered.
"In order for Krypton and our people to flourish," Superman continued, "sacrifices must be made."
"Is that what the genocide of the human race is to you?" Batman asked as the trio slowly rose to their feet. "Sacrifices?"
"For the continued existence of Krypton," Superman replied, "yes."
"Krypton was destroyed years ago," Linda said, frowning, "and what's left of 'our people' is here in this room."
"Most civilizations began from humble origins, Krypton included," Superman stated. "Humans believe Adam and Eve were the parents of the human race, just as there were parents that started our race on the old Krypton." He gave Linda a disturbing, almost leering expression. "Through the House of El, the Kryptonian race will begin anew."
"Iru esti," Linda growled before thrusting her hands out. Superman and the robots were violently tossed in all directions, smashing into pillars and walls nearby. Knowing that both Batman and Zachary would take over, Linda leapt into the air and flew off through the doorway Superman had come out of; she glanced back briefly to see both Zachary and Batman springing into action.
The young girl zoomed through the doorway and found herself in another room. It was like the main cavern, but much smaller. There was nothing in it except a large console on the far end that looked like an ice sculpture of a state-of-the-art computer system. Linda landed in front of it and looked at the monitor. It flashed large symbols on a screen in Kryptonese, symbols the teenager recognized as a countdown nearing the end.
"Identify yourself," a computer voice emanated from the console.
"Kara Zor-El," Linda replied impatiently. "I order this countdown to be stopped immediately!"
"Voice command not recognized," the voice replied. "Manual override is required."
"Really?" Linda said incredulously. She quickly scanned the numerous buttons, racking her brain. She began typing furiously, pressing a combination of symbols on the console, muttering Kryptonian swear words under her breath. After a few moments, she finished and pressed a large button nearby; the countdown on the screen immediately stopped.
"Manual override accepted."
Linda breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank Rao," she said softly.
"Linda!"
The teenager jerked her head in the direction she'd just come from, recognizing Zachary's voice; she leapt into the air and flew back to the cavern. She landed near the magician, seeing blue light pouring out of his hands and surrounding Clark as her cousin lay curled on the floor, writhing in pain as Bruce stood over Clark, a small piece of kryptonite in his hand.
"Did you stop the countdown?" Zachary asked, never taking his eyes off Clark as he kept his magic focused.
"Yeah," Linda said, staying as far from Batman as possible. "What about Clark?"
"Working on it," Zachary replied. "Are you ready?"
"You're serious about Torquasm Vo?" Linda asked, incredulously.
"We can't hold him here indefinitely without killing him," the magician said, "and you can't overpower him with sheer strength. Torquasm Vo is the only way to save him."
"And I already said I can't," Linda retorted. "I couldn't stay focused."
"You can," Zachary said as he kept his eyes focused on containing her cousin, "and you must." He glanced over and saw the sheer terror in Linda's eyes; his hardened expression softened a bit as his voice became more gentle. "Linda, I know you don't have any reason to listen to me, like me, or trust me right now, but pretend like we're back in class."
"How is that going to help?" Linda asked in panicked anger. "This isn't some art project due at the end of the week. If I fail here, Clark or myself-or all of us-could die."
"Can we hurry this along?" Batman shouted impatiently. "Clark's not going to last much longer with this amount of exposure."
"Linda, I've seen how you work in class," Zachary said genuinely. "You don't focus on the grade or the time or anything else. You make that assignment a part of you, bring it into your soul, making it your whole world until it becomes your only focus-and you never fail when you do that." He glanced at her briefly. "You can do this. I know you can."
Linda stared at him for a few moments. She didn't like how he'd deceived her for months-in fact, she almost hated him right now-but what he said was true: besides the people she loved on Earth, nothing mattered more to her than art; it wasn't just a hobby she happened to excel at. Determined, she scanned the area, knowing she needed as quiet a place as possible that was as close to her cousin as she could get. She scanned the area, until her eyes fell on the best area. Leaping into the air, she flew to the top of the globe, crossing her legs as she landed delicately on the crystalline structure. The young girl tried to block out the sounds around her as she racked her brain, hoping she could remember what Rok-Var had taught her.
"Koncedu al mi fokuson," Linda whispered, "kiun mi bezonas por venki mian malamikon." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she closed her eyes. She could still hear the noises, feel the fear inside of her, and her thoughts drifted to the people she loved; she could see their faces in front of her as her heart pounded in her ears. Clear your mind, girl!
The teenager cursed softly, refocusing. She forced every thought from her mind, every emotion, as she slowed her breathing. Her heartbeat softened as her head cleared of every thought but the one she needed to see. A feeling of weightlessness started at the tips of her fingers and toes, slowly spreading through the rest of her body. Linda felt a sense of calm, like she was falling asleep, but her mind was still as alert as if she were awake. After a few moments, the young girl slowly opened her eyes and gasped softly.
The entire Fortress and everything in it had disappeared, and Linda found herself in the middle of a forest clearing. There were grasses and trees and rocks, like a typical Earth forest, but that's where the similarities ended. The grass was various shades of purple, the trees-alien in structure and shape-were pink, green, and orange with splashes of brightly-colored leaves, and the rocks were decorated with splashes of every color in the rainbow. A colossal red sun shone down in the orange-red sky, bathing everything in a reddish hue. Linda glanced down and saw that even her clothes had been replaced with the attire J'onn had seen when he entered her mind after the red kryptonite incident.
"Impressive."
Linda whirled around, and her eyes widened as she saw her father-not Clark or Superman-emerge from the trees, stopping fifty feet from her. He looked younger than she remembered, and he wore his black suit with the Kryptonian Z emblazoned across his chest, and he smiled cruelly at the young girl.
"Zor-El," Linda said, clenching her fists defensively.
(End of Chapter 8)
