New Justice and Karry Prime: Crisis of the League
Disclaimer: As usual, I own nothing but the idea – and Rae.
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Lantern Failure
Rae stood in Watchtower looking over her League.
She had assembled the entire Justice League in order to tell them what she knew of Crisis and what she had to do – they were definitely shocked as Rae explained the death warning.
"The only way for me to find out more is to work for the speed force," Rae now added. "She can call me whenever she wants, but it means I can't lead you against these Kryptonians. I will be putting myself on away so Supergirl and White Canary can officially lead the League without me."
Rae noticed the long faces at this. "Look, I put you guys together. You can do this without me," Rae stated, and saw the nods and the doubts. She didn't know what else to say to calm them down but didn't have to think of more as a portal opened, surprising people.
"Speak of the speed force… Okay, that's for me," Rae knew immediately that it was the speed force as she put her helmet on. "Clarky, you have to stay here." Clarky gave a moan at that.
"Good luck," Kara said as Rae walked through the portal and disappeared. Kara took a breath at this.
"Right. Everyone. I know I am not Rae, but these are Kryptonians." Kara stated. "I have led you before."
"I trust you," Mon said, and Chris gave his cousin a nod – he was in the League now after all. Everyone gave nod though, trusting Kara to lead them. It was a new energy in the room.
"Rafe wants to help," Caitlin added in.
"Well as Rae could say we could always use an extra nerd…" Kara frowned, causing some laughs. "But for now, I need to go get some information. Keep an eye out for an increased alien present." With that, Kara went and opened a zap tunnel to leave.
-New Justice-
Rae came into the speed force and saw Prime Barry coming out of another portal.
"Hey," Barry said to Rae, putting an arm around her. "This was fast. Only been a day!"
"Yeah," Rae said as they walked. "Where is… never mind." Rae noticed the figure of Nora standing there waiting for them. They were in the park again.
"Sorry to pull you here so soon and away from important meetings," the speed force said, addressing both of them. "I wasn't expecting needing you as fast as this, but I have sensed a disruption on a world. I have had to move my plans for this world forward. You know of them." The speed force pointed at Rae.
"I do?" Rae asked; the last world had been a completely new world to both of them. So, it seemed like their help wasn't just going to be new worlds.
"I believe you still owe them from that Nazi War," the speed force said.
"I paid back Amazonian and Different Power. So that leaves Basic, Survivor, and Lantern," Rae said, listing them off.
"The last one," the speed force said. "Lantern. As usual, a little background: The Rachel Garrick of that world's natural connection to me never developed completely, so she needed a little push. I was waiting until she was older, but then the Green Lantern Corp choose her, and she accepted – and then Barry was found by a Blue Lantern ring that had been scattered on the planet during a war. With those things on their fingers, I cannot make them speedsters – they are blocked from me. Nevertheless, I decided to make Wally one."
"So, what's the problem?" Barry asked. His Wally, and even Jesse, were on par with himself – especially with he and Harry training them every so often.
"Well, Wally – and indeed Jesse – are a bit like Jay Garrick. They are good enough, biologically, to be able to connect to me and the right personality type I enjoy, but they are not perfect. They are not you two," the speed force said. "You don't understand how perfect biologically you two are. Natural born speedsters like Rae are able to take higher speeds then ones I make, but Rachel Garrick can handle even more than others. Barry, you might not be born naturally, but you're so good biologically that you could equal some natural born speedsters. You two are perfect. But what's coming for Lantern Earth needs a perfect speedster, because only a perfect speedster could stop it, and even survive. You need to get your alternates to take off those rings. Rachel Garrick would be better, since she does not need concussing before taking her full speed, but if you can get Barry instead, I'll figure out how to keep him awake long enough. Preferably, of course, I would like both of them to become my children."
"So, we take off their rings?" Rae asked, thinking this would be easy.
"No, they need to take it off willingly. They have to reject the power. You must convince them," the speed force said, opening a portal. "I warn you, this one is very time sensitive. If you don't complete it by a certain point I'll have to grab you out. Danger is fast approaching, so be quick."
"It's kind of what we do," Barry stated, giving Rae a nod as they went through the portal.
-New Justice-
Kara arrived on the Kryptonian Island with Clarky and Krypto; she was in her normal clothes, deciding not to come as Supergirl since the island was open to the public now – the zap tunnel was in a private area near where Ha-Pri lived, but Ha wasn't there, so Kara went searching.
"Ha?" Kara called out to him when she saw him talking to another person Kara recognized. "And Katherine Leftwich!" Katherine Leftwich had been a vet at the Sanctuary, but Kara had chosen her to train to take charge of the Island.
"Ms. Lane," Katherine said with a smile.
"Hi," Kara said to her. "Ha, I need you."
"Sure, thing. We'll talk later, Ms. Leftwich," Ha said smiling as he and Kara walked away to talk somewhere private. "What do you need, Kara?"
"I need information on the House of Zod," Kara said to Ha.
"Zod?" Ha mused. "You could just go to the Fortress," Ha knew about the Fortress of Solitude, as Kara had shown him the place and he'd very much enjoyed it.
"I thought it better to come to an expert," Kara smirked, and Ha smiled, leading Kara to the Hall of Houses – a monument designed to honor the different Noble Houses of Krypton. Kara smiled at all the house symbols; the House of El was there in a favored position and more noticeable than others. It was the most famous house on Earth so the most popular of exhibits.
Luckily, the hall was empty at the moment since they opened it up later in the day.
"Zod is over here," Ha said, indicating Kara to the left. In a corner, not as grand but still recognizable was Zod – a symbol that looked like a claw reaching down from the top of the insignia. "Well, here it is," Ha stated solemnly, "once almost as important of a House as El; near the end of Krypton's life, the Zod family had become dishonored, lost and some, imprisoned."
"Ha, I know," Kara said, amused at the tour he seemed to be giving her. "The thing is, we're having trouble with a member."
"Ah," Ha said. "I think I know who. Bring up Dru," Ha told the system, and a holographic image of a dark-skinned man showed. "Dru-Zod, technically married into the House of Zod. He was a rankless who married Lyta Zod, taking the Zod name. He was power-hungry though as he tried to overtake the council and become a ruler of Krypton. He needed support of a majority of the highest houses. Luckily, it was the House of El that stood against him and got support of others houses to keep the council in place and stopped the rebellion. Dru and his alleys were banished from Krypton. This is actually what Disney wants to make a movie from."
"Probably because it ends on Earth," Kara nodded, making Ha turn to her. "Dru and his allies attacked Earth. Superman and the Justice League stopped him. He's dead."
"I've got to update this history," Ha muttered thoughtfully, not having been aware of that. Kara smiled at this.
"I am looking for two members actually," Kara informed Ha. "Both in Fort Rozz at the time Krypton exploded."
"This doesn't sound good," Ha said, and Kara gave Ha a nod. "But I think I know who you're looking for – if Dru tainted the name of Zod, it was his sons who completely destroyed the house." The hologram changed into two men who fit the description Rae had given Kara and the rest of the League: a darker man with long hair and a bearded, and a similarly tanned man who appeared almost hairless, albeit with the most unusual eyes.
"Quex-Zod and Weg-Zod," Ha sighed.
-New Justice-
Rae and Barry came out of the portal in STAR Labs of Lantern Earth. There was no one else there.
"Okay, I'll take my alternate. You take yours," Barry stated, and Rae rolled her eyes but nodded, figuring that was best. She didn't like other hers.
Before she could answer, and before Barry could leave, a door opened and Barry, Jesse, and Wally came in, all pausing at seeing the doubles.
"Erm, hi! I'm from New Justice," Rae said. "Remember, you came to help us with Nazis."
"Oh yeah," Lantern Barry said with a nod. "Don't tell me they came back?" There was a smile on his face as he said it though.
"No," Rae said, confusing him. "Myself and Prime Barry here are on a mission. He'll inform you. Where's my alternate?"
"Probably in her apartment with Tru," Jesse said, and Rae ran out only to return a moment later, looking coy as Prime Barry chuckled.
"Where would that be?" Rae asked.
"I can give you an address." Jesse wrote an address on a piece of paper and handed it to Rae, who looked at it before running out again.
"Alright," Prime Barry said taking a seat as eyes turned to him. "We're here on an important mission from the speed force."
"Ah, so, you're here for me," Wally said, a smile coming onto his face.
"Actually, sorry, but no, Wally," Prime Barry stated, disappointing the man, and confusing him.
"But I'm the only speedster," Wally pointed out. "Except Jay, but he's retired."
"That's not it," Prime Barry said looked to Lantern Barry. "I'm here for you."
"Me?" Lantern Barry asked. "But I'm not a speedster."
"That's the point," Prime Barry stated. "You could be. You need to take off your Lantern ring and let the speed force make you a speedster."
"That'd be a hard no," Lantern Barry said. Prime Barry sighed at this as he stood once more – the speed force did say this would be hard, but he couldn't help it if he tried a direct approach first.
"Look, I get you being resistant, but this is important – there's a crisis coming and it's coming for this Earth sooner than others. This Earth needs a speedster fast enough to save it and sorry Wally, but apparently you can't be faster than me or Rae," Prime Barry said, glancing to Wally whose mouth was open a little at this.
"I'm a Lantern," Lantern Barry proclaimed. "Me and Jesse work together. We work together so well that we can handle anything together." Lantern Barry slipped a hand around Jesse's own, causing Prime Barry to pause. That was weird. He expected Jesse to be with Wally – they usually were on most world, especially his own.
"Hang on, you two are together?" Prime Barry asked.
"Getting married," Jesse said, kissing her Barry and making Prime Barry frown – he had never pictured a version of himself with Jesse. "Our wedding is coming up and our plans involve our Lantern powers. Pink and blue together and you know what pink and blue make?"
"Light purple?" Prime Barry said with a shrug.
"A perfect pair," Jesse said back, the two kissing.
"Right," Prime Barry muttered as he looked away from this scene, to Wally who looked put off now. He didn't quite know where to go with this now.
-New Justice-
Rae ran into the apartment, surprising Lantern Earth's Rae, and her friend.
"Hey," Rae stated, as the other blinked at her. Where to begin?
"You're from that other world," her alternate cut to the chase, pointing at Rae.
"Erm, yeah. New Justice," Rae said. "What's your nickname here?"
"Rachie," Rachie answered.
"Okay. Right to business. Rachie, the speed force sent me here," Rae said confusing the girl. "You have to take off that ring and reject the Lantern powers to become a speedster."
"And why on Earth would I do that?" Rachie asked, looking affronted. Already Rachie was annoying Rae.
"Because it's the only way to save your world," Rae pushed on. "And if we share anything in common, you will do anything to save your world. You were born to be a speedster – the only reason you're not is because you took that ring. Now, you need to take your place."
"My place is with the Lantern Corp," Rachie said shaking her head and folding her arm. "And I can solve any matter as a Lantern."
"Besides, Lanterns are respected throughout the galaxy – especially the green," the man with her Rae remembered as Tru, Mon and Kayla's son, said.
"Respect isn't going to get you far in this Crisis," Rae snapped, wanting out of this. She wished Prime Barry had taken on her double while she dealt with Lantern Barry. "Besides, Lanterns are not all they are cracked up to be."
"I'm sorry, but you break into my apartment and ask me to take away my right as a Lantern. Why exactly do you think I would be so forthright?" Rachie stated, glaring at Rae. It seemed the dislike of one another was mutual.
"Look, I don't have a lot of time," Rae snapped as Tru took a step forward, but Rae ignored him. "This world – the whole multiverse – is in danger, and your Lantern powers are going to be pretty useless when it comes."
"My powers are actually better then stupid speedsters!" Rachie snapped. "For one, you can't phase through the Lantern power."
"That's because it is energy!" Rae groaned. "But that energy needs to be recharged. Mine does not and I can do many things. I run faster than you can travel. I can make air into a physical barrier and even time travel."
"Urgh, I've had enough of you," Rachie scowled, holding up her hand and a green light came around Rae, holding her in place lifting her in the air.
"Hey!" Rae shouted, really annoying at this double now.
"Rachie…?" Tru spoke, unsure of this.
"If being a speedster is so great, get pass that!" Rachie ignored Tru as she actually laughed at Rae.
Rae scowled, but vibrated her cells in hope. She knew it was impossible to phase through this energy. But then she had an idea. It was just energy and she could make energy too. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on her powers fully – she was the fastest speedster and she knew it.
Lightning came around her body, expanding around the green.
"Rachie, let her go!" Tru yelled but there was an explosion and Rae got thrown into another wall while the two got thrown into the other.
"There!" Rae said taking a deep breath. That had been exhausting. She hardly ever tapped into her full powers before.
"That proves nothing," Rachie growled, getting up quickly. "Face facts, I will never give up being a Lantern! I was chosen by the Corp and by Kara. Now get out of my house!"
Before Rae could respond, more green energy hit her and sent her flying out of the window, landing in the street below.
"Urgh. There is a reason I hate my alternates…" Rae moaned, getting up now.
-New Justice-
Back on New Justice, Kara was looking at the holograms of the Zod brothers, remembering what Rae and Poe had said.
"Yes… That's got to be them," Kara mused with a nod.
"Quex and his young brother Weg. After Dru-Zod was banished, they tried to take revenge on the council and Krypton itself for rejecting them. Their plot killed many and could have destroyed Krypton early," Ha sighed. "They were sentenced by your mother."
"Yeah that's going to become a common link," Kara said. "What's up with Quex? His skin is so much lighter than everyone else in his family."
"He was born a year before Lyta married Dru, a natural birth at the time when we only did births by artificial wombs," Ha said.
"An oops," Kara nodded. "So, is he not Dru's son?"
"Not biologically," Ha shook his head. "But no one knew who his biological father was. Rumors at the time was he was just an unknown, someone with no house; others thought it was a man from a rival house but both refusing to come forward due to the stain it would be on both Houses. Some simply believed Lyta never told the father."
"What will they do here?" Kara asked, biting her lip as she turned to Ha.
"I don't know," Ha frowned. "Krypton is long dead. There's no reason for revenge – unless they go after you for the actions of your mother." Kara groaned at that. From what Poe had said, it seemed legit they were going after her for Alura's acts.
"Well, thanks Ha," Kara said, turning and hugging the man.
"You know, there is one other thing odd about Quex and Weg;'s sentencing," Ha spoke, making Kara paused. "The House of Zod requested a private audience with the House of El to make a final plea for a lighter sentence."
"Is that really so odd?" Kara asked.
"No Noble houses did it all the time. Although Alura was known for not accounting a criminal's House when prosecuting them," Ha said. "The odd part is the House of El accepted the meeting." Kara frowned. "To borrow the human phrase: there was no love lost between the House of El and House of Zod. Rivals, for as long as I can remember, for as long as our history goes back. They did meet but whatever Lyta said in that meeting, Quex was pretty sure it was going to get them off. Hold on a moment we have a recording of the sentencing. Many records were sent in the arc ship that contained the original DNA samples for the animals in your Sanctuary." Kara nodded at that as Ha moved over to an interactive holographic screen nearby
The images of Quex and Weg vanished as a new hologram showed, like an interactive TV show around them: Quex and Weg standing in separate forcefield, Alura was before them and Kara recognized the man who had come to her, standing behind Alura. Poe.
"I have heard the final pleas from Lyta," Alura said, standing before them and Kara could see the smirk on Quex's face. Ha was right: Quex thought he was going to be let off. "And they did not move me!"
"But!" Quex started, suddenly shocked.
"Silence!" Alura snapped, and the forcefield around Quex changed colors to make it he could not be heard. "Your defense has failed. Your pleas have failed; the evidence is clear; the crimes you have committed are unforgivable. I sentence you to life in Fort Rozz."
The recording ended there and Clarky and Krypto both gave a bark at that – the two having remained quiet until then.
"Any idea what Lyta said…?" Kara asked.
"No," Ha shook his head. "By this time, I wasn't close to the Els anymore – and since it was an El meeting and Astra was a Ze, even she probably never knew."
"Would my mom's assistant have known?" Kara asked.
"Probably," Ha said with a nod.
"Thank you, Ha," Kara said hugging the man again. "Can I get some of this information on a handheld?"
"Not a problem," Ha said.
"Oh, and Ha… would you be an uncle to my daughter?" Kara asked, remembering she wanted to ask this too.
"When you have a daug…?" Ha paused and then smirked, getting what Kara meant. "Of course." Ha hugged Kara and kissed her cheek as they went to walk out.
-New Justice-
Back on Lantern Earth, Rae found Barry sitting outside the Labs – she knew it was Prime Barry from the outfit. He looked defeated.
"You know, there was one flaw in this 'I take my alternate and you take your alternate plan'," Rae said sitting next to Barry on the floor. "I want to bang my head through a wall."
"Just to be clear, your head or your alternates head?" Barry smirked, turning to look at her.
"I was thinking mine but you're right. My alternate's head would be far more enjoyable," Rae said and Barry chuckled.
"I'd lecture you on that, but after speaking to Besse I get the feeling," Barry sighed, leaning his head back against the wall.
"Besse?" Rae asked. "Did you talk to a cow or something?"
"No," Barry laughed at this. "Barry and Jesse – they are a couple, so Besse. I made it up to keep some sanity."
"What is it with your worlds and couple names?" Rae asked, rolling her eyes. "It didn't go well for you then?"
"Like talking to a brick wall," Barry moaned. "They're getting married and they want their Lantern powers then. I couldn't care less that Jesse is a Lantern too, but this Barry… I mean, I tried to show him how cool it was to be a speedster, but he challenged me every step of the way with his Lantern crap."
"Ditto," Rae groaned.
"You know, I thought I liked Lanterns, I mean Kal is a Lantern back home and he's awesome, but I never realized how stubborn they must be when it comes to their rings. Hell, even my Kal was happy enough to take off his ring once to give Kara the power," Barry stated.
"How did you manage to do that?" Rae frowned.
"I didn't. Kara did," Barry shrugged.
"Well, apparently this world's Kara chose Rae to be a Lantern…" Rae muttered. "You know, I'm beginning to think that the speed force sent the wrong people here – should have sent our Karas instead," Rae chuckled, not sure whether she was joking or not.
"So, we both struck out. What do we do now?" Barry asked, looking at Rae
"Well, we could destroy the central power core of the Lantern rings," Rae thought. "But it takes a few days for the rings to run out of power all together and I don't know where the central power core is."
"Is that even possible?" Barry asked, frowning.
"Yeah, happened on my Earth," Rae said. "No more Green Lanterns."
"Damn, my Kal wouldn't like that," Barry said. "But I don't think that's really a doable plan, especially as there's a time limit on this."
"No, not really," a new voice spoke and in a flash of green, a new Green Lantern appeared.
"Kara!" Barry jumped up, recognizing the older Kara instantly – he had been bonded by the older Kara on his Krypton. He knew her face well.
"Wow, you always look good, Kara," Rae said with a smirk, standing too.
"I got a call from my Rachie and my Barry," Lantern Kara folded her arms. "They told me what you two were trying to do. They asked me to come here to ask you to leave."
"But–" both Barry and Rae instantly protested.
"Why do you think there is a 'but'?" Kara glared.
"I know my wife," Barry and Rae said together. "Will you stop that?" The two turned to look at each other as they said that in unison.
"Talk about Borg," Barry said with a chuckle.
"I am both of your wives?" Kara paused, seeming confused.
"We're from two different Earths," Rae said, holding out a hand so she and Barry didn't copy each other again. "We're extremely close though, and I am married to my Kara and he with his. The way you look…. the way your voice is. You're just not here to tell us to leave."
Kara gave a soft nod.
"True. I want to know more," Kara said, "about what you were telling my Rachie and Barry."
The two looked at each other and then nodded. Telling this Kara all about the coming Crisis might be the key to convince her to get this world's Barry and Rachie to take their rings off.
"There's a Crisis coming," Rae started, "The whole multiverse in in threat and speedsters are the key to stop it."
"The speed force recruited us to help worlds," Barry added, "to strengthen those who are weaker in the hope of making the multiverse strong enough to withstand this Crisis.
"Barry and Raes are the strongest candidates to be true speedsters," Rae concluded. "The ones on this world would have been had it not been for the Lantern rings choosing them first. Wally and Jesse are good seconds, but for this, it has to be Barry and Rae. They're the only hope this world has."
There was a moment of silence as Lantern Kara took this information in with a frown.
"And you trust this speed force?" Kara finally spoke.
"Yes," Barry stated.
"The speed force is a part of us," Rae added for Kara. "She, in her own way, cares for us like her children. She saved my life more than once. She has the best intentions."
"And she's the closest thing to a god we could ever meet," Barry added. Kara turned at this, and the two could tell she was upset. Barry stepped forward though and putting a hand to her. "What's wrong?"
"I know you two are telling the truth," Kara said. "And… I picked Rachie. I gave her the ring, I trained her. If she needs to be a speedster to save this Earth it's my fault she is not…" Kara turned around, but her face was unreadable.
"It's not your fault," Rae said. "She wanted it, but she needs to be a speedster now."
"I am her mentor," Kara said with a nod. "I will talk to her – see if I can get her to take off the power ring. It will be a loss for the Corp, but maybe it's where she is meant to be."
Rae and Barry gave a sigh of relief and smile, not noticing the change in atmosphere around them. They had Kara on their side. That was the best way to get to this Earth's Rachel, and then maybe Rachie could get through to Barry. They had done what the speed force wanted.
Or at least they were close to doing it.
"Is that the speed force's doing?" Kara asked, bringing the two speedsters back as they looked up – Kara was pointing to the sky.
The sky had turned a deep hew of red.
"No," Rae was the one to speak.
"Please tell me that's normal though?" Barry asked but this Kara shook her head.
The Earth shook at this as Rae took her goggles out put them on.
"Wow, this is bad! The readings on these things are going crazy," Rae stated.
"Give me," Barry said, taking the goggles with speed and putting them on as the ground beneath them started to shake more violently. "Something's heading this way…" he added, seeing the wavefront coming via the goggles.
Suddenly, the sky was full of Lanterns, all of various colors as they moved to protect the planet. Barry took off the googles to look at Kara, but she was gone. He then looked to Rae, but then looked back at the sky, looking at the readings Rae's goggles were giving.
"We were too late," Rae realized, her voice hardly above a whisper as she watched the Lanterns who had taken the lead vanish into the redness that was coming
"It's anti-matter," Barry, however, was saying, looking at the readings on Rae's goggles. "A speedster could stop it though. With each other's speed we could… but damn, we would have to be vibrating at the same frequency as this world or…."
A portal opened besides them, but Barry was too distracted to noticed. Rae realized what was happening and put a hand on Barry's arm, yanking him into the portal with her. With that, the two were back in the speed force.
"What?! Rae!" Barry whipped off the goggles, throwing them into Rae's hand. "We could–"
"There was nothing you could do," Barry paused as the speed force, in her Nora form, appeared before them, realizing he and Rae were back at the park. "It was too late, there wasn't enough time. It came too soon. When your first attempt to get them to take the rings off failed… I am sorry. I had to try to save them, to make them my children – but now you know how serious this is."
"What… what exactly was that?" Barry asked, pointing behind himself to where the portal to Lantern had been.
"A wave of anti-matter sent by the Anti-Monitor," the speed force stated. "Crisis."
"Wait, you said it wouldn't happen until next year!" Rae turned, horrorstruck to the speed force now. "Leona…"
"Is safe," the speed force raised her hands at this. "The multiverse is complicated – it's not straightforward. For many worlds, Crisis is yet to come but for some, it is happening. Think of an earth quake. Sometimes before the major event there are foreshocks. That was a foreshock to crisis."
"What happened to Lantern?" Barry asked, thinking he knew the answer though.
"It is gone," the speed force stated. "This is why your missions are so important. The weaker worlds will be picked off first."
"Weaker worlds…?" Rae whispered.
"Weaker worlds," the speed force repeated. "I am sorry you didn't help them in time, but now you know. But now… it's time for you to go home," with that, the speed force opened two portals. "Prepare yourselves. The missions will only get harder – both physically and mentally. Especially now you know the consequences of failure."
The two looked at each other, both somewhat defeated, but they then walked through their own portals, back home.
-New Justice-
Since leaving Ha and the Kryptonian Island, Kara and the dogs had decided to patrol around, trying to find any evidence of any of the prisoners, but nothing came up by eyesight or by the Justice League system. They were being sneaky.
Deciding to come home, she walked into the house to find a pleasant smell – she knew Rae was home and her emotions were all over the place. Walking into the kitchen she found Rae decorating a large cake. Chris sat there eating parts of another one.
"What happened to dinner?" Kara asked.
"Skipping in favor of this," Rae said and Kara raised an eyebrow. "Fine, I'll make some mac and cheese as well…" Rae continued to decorate the cake as Chris eyed it and Clarky rubbed against his mistress, glad she was home.
"Something going on?" Kara asked, taking the tool out of Rae's hand.
"I'll let you know once Barry texts me," Rae said. "What about you? Something up?" Kara took out the device Ha gave her and brought up the holoimage of the two Zod members. "Hey, the House of Zod brothers!"
"Quex," Kara said, pointing at the older one. "And Weg."
"Weg? Seriously? What does that stand for? Weird eye guy," Rae chuckled, and Kara actually laughed at the joke. The gray/silver eye color was rare, even on Krypton after all. "Any idea what the warning from Poe was?"
"Might have had something to do with a plea their mother gave to my house before their sentencing, but what was said was private," Kara said, with a shrug. "Seems they have every reason to hate me and the House of El."
"Quex seemed more fascinated you survived than mad," Rae said, remembering that as her cellphone binged. She looked at the text and then groaned.
"Now will you tell me?" Kara asked.
"Barry and I failed," Rae said, stopping completely to look at Kara now. "We couldn't do what the speed force wanted – and we learned the consequences of failing."
"The speed force did something to you?" Kara asked, afraid. The speed force always seemed to love Rae.
"No," Rae said shaking her head. "She was understanding, but Lantern World – the ones who helped us with Nazis – they're gone. We failed and the world we were sent to was destroyed. If we had been successful it could still be there. My alternate and Barry's alternate could have saved it..." Kara was shocked. "This isn't a game Kara. Billions of lives are gone now..."
Kara put her arms around Rae and brought her close as Clarky and Krypto rubbed against them.
"This will be the last time," Kara whispered. "You won't fail again."
"How do you know?" Rae asked.
"Because I know you and Barry - the two of you don't take failure well. But together you'll make a great team," Kara said. "Protect the multiverse. I got our world." Rae nodded kissing Kara cheek. She needed that confident boost.
-New Justice-
On Prime Earth, Barry was sitting on the deck of his and Kara's beach house, overlooking the ocean and the setting sun. He had Skylar, his eighteen-month old little girl, in his lap as she giggled at Powie who was splashing about in the pool. He had just texted Rae on New Justice – despite what the speed force had told him, he had to get Cisco to check and double-check.
But Lantern Earth was gone. Vibe had checked it, and even Vibe Junior on Mutant Earth had checked it. He felt hollow at doing such a bad job.
"Barry?" He looked around to see Kara had entered the house, heading straight to him. "I feel your grief. The mission?" She sat next to her husband on the adjoining beach chair as Powie got out of the pool and shook off, Skye laughing and clapping at the water going everywhere as the dog then moved over to the baby, to lick her affectionately.
"We failed. The Barry and Rae there were… difficult and now the world is gone," Barry sighed.
"Gone?" Kara paused at this.
"I asked Cisco and his Mutant double to check. It's gone. There was this anti-matter wave…" Barry sighed as Skye jumped from his lap and to Kara, who grabbed her daughter to hold. "I can't let that happen to us. To you and Skye…" he looked at the pair of them as Powie whined, feeling Barry's sadness too as she put her head in his lap.
"You won't fail again," Kara stated defiantly, a small smile on her face as Barry frowned. "Because I know you and Rae – you don't take defeat well, but together you make a great team," Kara stated. "You need to take it more seriously going forward, to do your very hardest. You two, you can protect the multiverse and our families."
Barry smiled weakly at this as he stood to give his wife and daughter a kiss. "I don't deserve you," he stated, jokingly.
"Well you have me and you've got this mission in the bag," Kara stated, standing up. "Now, Colin and Polly will be back soon with ribs and burgers. We're having a barbecue."
"Nice," Barry chuckled as he took his daughter back from Kara. He knew she was right – and he would do anything to protect his family.
Post Chapter Note: Well, we hope you enjoyed this and yes, we destroyed Lantern Earth. A world needed to be killed, and Lantern was one Millie lost passion for almost instantly – especially since we decided to stop using Lanterns, so we figured why not.
Anyway, please REVIEW.
Karry Master and Beta OUT!