AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry I haven't updated this story in so long, I've been
busy with other things. For one thing my first original novel is now out
and available for purchase (check out www.shadow-dancing.com for details on
that) and there is also that hindering thing called work.
Anyway, in this part I'll finally give the first hints as to where our heroes actually ended up and who the bad guys are. Just to narrow it down a little, all characters are still owned by DC, but not all of them are necessarily part of the DC mainstream universe.
Enjoy!
####
Part 8: Familiar Stranger
#
"This could be interesting," the man in front of the TV said, scratching his chin, which was covered with beard stubble. A moment later he got annoyed with it. A short burst of concentration sufficed to make flames burst forth from his finger, which he moved across his cheeks like a razorblade to burn off the stubble. His skin remained untouched.
His eyes never left the screen, which showed the flying woman.
A moment later a slight buzzing noise drew his attention and he removed a small device he carried on his belt. It looked almost like a cell phone, but when he activated it a small hologram sprang into being in front of him, showing the face of an older man.
"I assume you saw."
"Must be that genius level intellect of yours at work, Randall. It's only all over TV." He paused for a moment, looking at the screen again. "How do we want to handle this?"
A small smile graced the older man's face. "Unsurprisingly Jacob voted for immediate sanction."
"That isn't the worst idea I ever heard, you know? Not everyone can catch an airplane and carry it safely to the ground. Whoever this woman is, she must be quite powerful."
"Indeed. Which is why Kim and I agree that a direct confrontation should be carefully prepared. Odds are this is connected to that interdimensional disturbance we picked up some months ago. The vibration patterns involved correspond with..."
"Please spare me the techno babble. You have a plan, I'm sure."
The hologram chuckled. "William, have you ever known me to be without a plan?"
"Oh, I don't know. I think that little incident on the Luna trajectory came as something of a surprise to you, didn't it?"
"Granted. Anyway, a few hours before this remarkable woman made her appearance one of our people informed me about something else. Someone else, rather. Someone who doesn't belong here, either. I believe, William, we might be able to kill two birds with one stone here."
A grin grew on William's face as he listened to the plan his colleague had come up with. It promised to be very interesting.
#
"Maybe this doesn't have to be a complete disaster," Dick muttered, more to himself than to any of the three women currently in the room with him. Ever since the news broadcast Kara had been depressed, Helena restless, and Diana ... well, he still didn't quite know what to make of Diana. She had changed a lot from the woman he had known from his numerous adventures with Earth-1's Justice League. Seeing all her sisters murdered, or their doppelgangers from this world rather, had instilled her with a simmering rage he found himself quite weary of.
"What do you mean?" Kara asked, looking up at him. She could certainly use a little silver lining right now.
"If our theories about this world are correct," Dick elaborated, "if there is really someone or something here that has, for whatever reason, actively prevented super beings from coming into existence ..."
"Then we have just given them their worst nightmare," Helena finished, catching on to his thoughts. "A fully-powered super being, right there on national TV. Out in the open for everyone to see."
Kara nodded, understanding. "It might just provoke them into doing something stupid. Something that will lead us to them."
"Or it might lead them to do something drastic," Diana countered. "They destroyed an entire island with thousands of people on it to prevent this world's version of me from going out into the light of the public. Who is to say they won't do something similar or worse now?"
Diana was clenching and unclenching her fists as she spoke, something that didn't exactly calm Dick down.
"They would have to be extremely stupid for that, Diana. The genie is out of the bottle; by now the entire world has seen these pictures. What are they going to do? Kill everyone?"
Uncomfortable silence reigned for a moment as they all considered that question. It wasn't as rhetoric as Dick had meant it to be.
"If we assume that we are dealing with a somewhat intelligent foe," he continued, hoping to dispel the grim mood he had just brought upon them, "then the only logical thing to do for him or them is to make sure that you," he pointed at Kara, "are never seen again. If there are no repeat performances then the whole thing will soon be written off as some kind of curiosity. People forget quickly."
"Meaning they'll have to find and kill me," Kara concluded, rising to her feet with a look of anger on her face. "Let them try."
"Don't throw caution to the wind, Kara," Helena interjected. "What- or whoever has manipulated this world, we can safely assume that they are quite powerful. You're tough, but you're not unbeatable."
Kara managed to restrain the urge to put her fist through the wall. She was so tired of just sitting around on this strange world. Here she was, one of the most powerful superbeings ever, and all she could do was interview people who should be her friends yet didn't even know her and sit around on her behind.
She looked over at Diana and knew that the other woman more than shared her feelings. They had to do something or they would go mad from all this uncertainty and inactivity.
"Our best bet is to lure our enemy out," Dick proposed. "If we assume they'll be looking for Kara, maybe we can drop a few hints as to her whereabouts and hope that they'll come knocking on our ..."
He was cut off by a knock on the door.
For a long moment everyone froze, looking at the door, then exchanged some quick glances full of anxiety.
"No way," Helena said.
"Don't get spooked, people! It's just a coincidence." Dick didn't add the 'I hope' that was quite loud in his thoughts.
Diana didn't say anything, but her body language changed as she readied herself for a fight. Kara needed a moment to overcome her confusion, then did what she should have done the moment the knock sounded. She squinted her eyes and activated her x-ray vision.
Contrary to popular belief she couldn't simply look through walls as if there were big holes in them. Her eyes simply switched spectra until she saw in the Roentgen range, the world around her turning into a tapestry composed of the same little x-ray pictures doctors looked at every day.
The door turned transparent to her eyes and she spotted the person standing behind it. She couldn't see his face, of course, but it was quite obviously a man, a human man, and he was alone. He carried a briefcase with some kind of electronic equipment inside and a gun in what she assumed was a shoulder holster, but apart from that there was nothing extraordinary about him.
Kara quickly relayed the information to the others.
"Dick, Helena," Diana quickly ordered, "stay behind Kara and me! Just in case he gets the idea of using that gun of his."
The two non-powered heroes seemed a bit reluctant to take a step back, but quickly saw the wisdom of letting the two powerhouses among them take the brunt of whatever initial attack might be coming their way.
Kara and Diana shared one final glance, then Kara quickly stepped forward and opened the door.
Seeing the face of the man on the other side of the door caused her to freeze all over again.
"May I come in?" Bruce Wayne asked her with the barest hint of a smile on his lips. "I believe we have quite a lot to talk about."
TO BE CONTINUED
Anyway, in this part I'll finally give the first hints as to where our heroes actually ended up and who the bad guys are. Just to narrow it down a little, all characters are still owned by DC, but not all of them are necessarily part of the DC mainstream universe.
Enjoy!
####
Part 8: Familiar Stranger
#
"This could be interesting," the man in front of the TV said, scratching his chin, which was covered with beard stubble. A moment later he got annoyed with it. A short burst of concentration sufficed to make flames burst forth from his finger, which he moved across his cheeks like a razorblade to burn off the stubble. His skin remained untouched.
His eyes never left the screen, which showed the flying woman.
A moment later a slight buzzing noise drew his attention and he removed a small device he carried on his belt. It looked almost like a cell phone, but when he activated it a small hologram sprang into being in front of him, showing the face of an older man.
"I assume you saw."
"Must be that genius level intellect of yours at work, Randall. It's only all over TV." He paused for a moment, looking at the screen again. "How do we want to handle this?"
A small smile graced the older man's face. "Unsurprisingly Jacob voted for immediate sanction."
"That isn't the worst idea I ever heard, you know? Not everyone can catch an airplane and carry it safely to the ground. Whoever this woman is, she must be quite powerful."
"Indeed. Which is why Kim and I agree that a direct confrontation should be carefully prepared. Odds are this is connected to that interdimensional disturbance we picked up some months ago. The vibration patterns involved correspond with..."
"Please spare me the techno babble. You have a plan, I'm sure."
The hologram chuckled. "William, have you ever known me to be without a plan?"
"Oh, I don't know. I think that little incident on the Luna trajectory came as something of a surprise to you, didn't it?"
"Granted. Anyway, a few hours before this remarkable woman made her appearance one of our people informed me about something else. Someone else, rather. Someone who doesn't belong here, either. I believe, William, we might be able to kill two birds with one stone here."
A grin grew on William's face as he listened to the plan his colleague had come up with. It promised to be very interesting.
#
"Maybe this doesn't have to be a complete disaster," Dick muttered, more to himself than to any of the three women currently in the room with him. Ever since the news broadcast Kara had been depressed, Helena restless, and Diana ... well, he still didn't quite know what to make of Diana. She had changed a lot from the woman he had known from his numerous adventures with Earth-1's Justice League. Seeing all her sisters murdered, or their doppelgangers from this world rather, had instilled her with a simmering rage he found himself quite weary of.
"What do you mean?" Kara asked, looking up at him. She could certainly use a little silver lining right now.
"If our theories about this world are correct," Dick elaborated, "if there is really someone or something here that has, for whatever reason, actively prevented super beings from coming into existence ..."
"Then we have just given them their worst nightmare," Helena finished, catching on to his thoughts. "A fully-powered super being, right there on national TV. Out in the open for everyone to see."
Kara nodded, understanding. "It might just provoke them into doing something stupid. Something that will lead us to them."
"Or it might lead them to do something drastic," Diana countered. "They destroyed an entire island with thousands of people on it to prevent this world's version of me from going out into the light of the public. Who is to say they won't do something similar or worse now?"
Diana was clenching and unclenching her fists as she spoke, something that didn't exactly calm Dick down.
"They would have to be extremely stupid for that, Diana. The genie is out of the bottle; by now the entire world has seen these pictures. What are they going to do? Kill everyone?"
Uncomfortable silence reigned for a moment as they all considered that question. It wasn't as rhetoric as Dick had meant it to be.
"If we assume that we are dealing with a somewhat intelligent foe," he continued, hoping to dispel the grim mood he had just brought upon them, "then the only logical thing to do for him or them is to make sure that you," he pointed at Kara, "are never seen again. If there are no repeat performances then the whole thing will soon be written off as some kind of curiosity. People forget quickly."
"Meaning they'll have to find and kill me," Kara concluded, rising to her feet with a look of anger on her face. "Let them try."
"Don't throw caution to the wind, Kara," Helena interjected. "What- or whoever has manipulated this world, we can safely assume that they are quite powerful. You're tough, but you're not unbeatable."
Kara managed to restrain the urge to put her fist through the wall. She was so tired of just sitting around on this strange world. Here she was, one of the most powerful superbeings ever, and all she could do was interview people who should be her friends yet didn't even know her and sit around on her behind.
She looked over at Diana and knew that the other woman more than shared her feelings. They had to do something or they would go mad from all this uncertainty and inactivity.
"Our best bet is to lure our enemy out," Dick proposed. "If we assume they'll be looking for Kara, maybe we can drop a few hints as to her whereabouts and hope that they'll come knocking on our ..."
He was cut off by a knock on the door.
For a long moment everyone froze, looking at the door, then exchanged some quick glances full of anxiety.
"No way," Helena said.
"Don't get spooked, people! It's just a coincidence." Dick didn't add the 'I hope' that was quite loud in his thoughts.
Diana didn't say anything, but her body language changed as she readied herself for a fight. Kara needed a moment to overcome her confusion, then did what she should have done the moment the knock sounded. She squinted her eyes and activated her x-ray vision.
Contrary to popular belief she couldn't simply look through walls as if there were big holes in them. Her eyes simply switched spectra until she saw in the Roentgen range, the world around her turning into a tapestry composed of the same little x-ray pictures doctors looked at every day.
The door turned transparent to her eyes and she spotted the person standing behind it. She couldn't see his face, of course, but it was quite obviously a man, a human man, and he was alone. He carried a briefcase with some kind of electronic equipment inside and a gun in what she assumed was a shoulder holster, but apart from that there was nothing extraordinary about him.
Kara quickly relayed the information to the others.
"Dick, Helena," Diana quickly ordered, "stay behind Kara and me! Just in case he gets the idea of using that gun of his."
The two non-powered heroes seemed a bit reluctant to take a step back, but quickly saw the wisdom of letting the two powerhouses among them take the brunt of whatever initial attack might be coming their way.
Kara and Diana shared one final glance, then Kara quickly stepped forward and opened the door.
Seeing the face of the man on the other side of the door caused her to freeze all over again.
"May I come in?" Bruce Wayne asked her with the barest hint of a smile on his lips. "I believe we have quite a lot to talk about."
TO BE CONTINUED