New Justice: Trail of the League
Disclaimer: as usual.
Finding Jay
"Kara!" Chris yelled, running to where Kara was talking to some employees. She was preparing for Laurel who was showing up later that day to talk some business, being the CEO of Queen Consolidates now. "Kara?" Chris repeated, to get her attention.
"Yes, Chris?" Kara asked with a patient smile, turning to her cousin as her employees moved off to do what she had asked of them.
"Do something about your girlfriend!" Chris demanded making Kara pause and raise an eyebrow. "Come…" Chris took Kara's hand, leading her back to Kent House and into the living room where boxes were literally all over the living room. Random objects and books were littered over the room and Rae was smiling as she looked at one of the books she was holding.
"Kara, I found it," Rae said as Kara was looking around. Since the triple date with Wally, Tally, Iris and Eddie, Rae had been trying to figure out about this new enemy of theirs. Savitar, who had severely injured her. For the last few days it had become an obsession, of sorts, especially with the Grant-Fosters having left for vacation and she had no outfit, so not being able to go out as Flash yet.
"What is all this?" Kara asked, calmer than Chris but still confused at the mess.
"My dad's possession. All of them." Rae said. "I had to go to a storage locker to get some of the journals I did not have in my room. Every journal he ever made is in here. Plus, some other stuff."
"Why?" Kara asked, confused as she picked up a baby blanket from one of the boxes. This was clearly Rae's old one but must have been in Jay's boxes of stuff.
"The name. Savitar," Rae said. "I knew I had heard it somewhere."
"Where's my whiteboard?" Kara instead asked, noticing the whiteboard was not where she had left it.
"Oh. Um…." Rae paused a moment, looking around and finding the white board, which had been hanging on the wall, had fallen off – probably when she had been tossing things out of boxes. Rae picked it up and hung it back up. "Um… sorry… It got a little… messed up." The writing that had been on it was now scrambled, and some parts erased.
"Rae…" Kara moaned, clearly getting annoyed at Rae's carelessness, and Chris had a smirk. "This was my calculations for population!" Rae looked at Kara, not sure what she meant by that. "For our new reptile house. Smaller creatures, Kryptonian snakes and stuff that we had not been able to do before because we didn't have the proper place which we are building now – this is a big project, and everything was on this board!"
"Oh, shit… I'm sorry," Rae said, knowing she had made a big mistake here. Kara's animals meant everything to her. Rae never wanted to mess with the operation of the Sanctuary – she loved this place as well. She felt at home here. "I didn't mean to."
"Why is this here and not at your place?" Kara asked, running a hand through her hair now.
"Uncle Henry and Aunt Nora had someone coming over to make sure they are fit foster parents," Rae explained, "and I'm not bringing this to Watchtower or Home Base." Rae, while she loved her League, didn't want to bring her father's personal belongings there. It felt wrong for some reason. Besides, Adam and Winn were making costumes at Home Base and Rae was staying away.
"Next time, just be more careful," Kara said, looking at the whiteboard with a sigh. She wanted Rae to feel at home here and comfortable, but it was also her home. The whiteboard wasn't that bad though. She could fix it. She had a good memory, after all.
"I will," Rae said, hugged Kara and kissing her cheek. "I think that was our first fight."
"I think you're right," Kara said, kissing Rae, not noticing the look Chris gave. Chris had been a bit of a brat towards Rae since they officially got together. "So, did you find something?"
"Yes," Rae said, holding up the journal in her hands. It was opened to a page.
Kara took it and started reading out loud. "'Rae started walking today, well actually running. She went at super speed…'"
"Skip to the end," Rae said with a small smile, making Kara chuckle.
"'Rae seems to get the hang of being on two feet. But as I was chasing her, another speedster showed up and held her,'" Kara paused as she looked up at Rae, then back down at the page. "'I was concerned but the man introduced himself as Max Mercury. He said he had met several different versions of me as he was running through the multiverse and time itself. He said he was looking for something but didn't reveal what it was. Through talking he told me a rumor he had heard – I had heard it before, but never paid too much attention to it. Rumors of a god. The god of speed. A man named Savitar. We had a good laugh about it. It seemed impossible.'"
"Not much to go on," Kara said, after reading, looking up in concern at Rae.
"No, which is why I need to talk to him," Rae said.
"Who? Max Mercury?" Kara asked, looking back down at the page.
"No," Rae said not, even sure where she would find this Max. "No, my dad."
"Time travel?" Kara asked, concerned now.
"I never suggested time travel," Rae said. "Look at the pages. My dad said he had heard those rumors before and this Max had contact with other Jays."
"You want to talk to Paranormal?" Kara asked, it being the only world she knew of with a Jay but knew from the look Rae gave that was a no. Rae really had a thing against Paranormal which Kara only partially understood – they got under her skin in a way Kara had not seen since she met her. Not even her Barry had gotten Rae in that mood. She knew they had their own Kryptonian Sanctuary and was still a bit weirded out by the sound of their Kara from Kayla, but it wasn't anything as personal as this was to Rae.
"No," Rae said, taking out her communicator from her pants pocket. She was wearing jeans and a Flash t-shirt. "Adam put information about the other worlds in the communicators – by the way, remind me to yell at him. He put my break up video with Frankie in the communicator." Kara had to chuckle at that. "Anyway, look, Alien Earth. The description has not been updated in a while, but it says the real home to Jay Garrick found on Wells. I can call them."
With that, Rae ran and put Clark, who had been playing with Marble, Dizzy, and Misty, in his Flash outfit. She was standing, wearing her helmet and her goggles but still in her normal clothes, having no outfit to change into herself. "Got to go to Home Base," Rae put her dad's journal on the table.
"Chris, go with Rae," Kara said before Rae could run off, making all pause. Rae looked confused at that.
"What? No!" Chris said crossing his arms defiantly.
Kara glanced at her cousin at this, then took Chris aside. "Look, I want you to go with Rae. I can't, and she's a little obsessive over this," Kara said quietly, and then put a hand on Chris's shoulder. "Besides, you're important to me and she's also important to me. I want you to spend some time with her." It had not taken Kara long to see Chris's attitude was negative towards Rae. She wanted that fixed and thought going out with Rae would be good way to do that. "Keep her safe. For me. Please."
"Fine," Chris said with a sigh, and turned to Rae. "Give me a minute to get my armor on." Chris moved, heading up to his room where he kept the Kryptonian Battle Armor he was using as his super suit. It was the same one James wore before he'd been comatose a while back. It was rightfully Chris's though, so he'd never felt guilt over taking it. Besides, the suit had been altered, now showing the House of El in red on his chest, and a red cape. Superman's cape.
"Come on," Rae said, having an idea on what Kara was doing as they left.
-New Justice-
Adam and Winn were showing Caitlin what they had designed so far for her suit; explaining to her the costume and the things they had added.
That was when Rae and Chris came in with Clark by their side. "Rae! Good timing, we need to show you…" Adam paused as Rae raised her hand to him.
"Not now," Rae said as she went to the multiverse system. She leaned on the desk and dialed for Alien Earth on the computer. She had only done this before with Karry, but the system was pretty straight forward. She waited for an answer which never came. "Gees…. What's the point of this if no one uses it?" Rae complained as she clicked off.
"They might be busy? You can try again later," Chris said, thinking he had gotten out of this one easily.
"Or I can go there," Rae said with a smile, making Chris's mouth drop open and Clark bark as Rae went back to the zap tunnel and Chris ran in after her.
"What's going on there?" Caitlin asked, confused. She had an interview for a teaching position at a university but had some time before hand, so she figured she would come here and see what Adam and Winn had been working on for a few days. She hadn't expected to see Rae or Superboy.
"World hopping," Winn said. "Takes a bit to get used to."
"And we're done here," Adam said, having seen they needed to make some alternations to the costume to fit Caitlin. "We will have both costumes done by tonight." Adam and Winn gave each other a smirk, going back to all the fabric they had as Caitlin looked on in bemusement.
-New Justice-
Frankie was sitting at the counter drinking coffee and looking at a newspaper when he saw the flash of light, and before him was standing Rae with her dog. "You know, you can't just run in here whenever you want," Frankie said, hearing a noise to see Chris enter by the window.
"The pie guy?" Chris asked, having seen the video but not having met him as he was created by Replicate after Frankie had left the League. Frankie gave a glare at being called that. "Why are we here?"
"Because I need to world hop," Rae said.
"No," Frankie said with a smirk, leaning back in his chair. "The worlds are meant to be separate, you know this, and now I am not a member of the League, you have no control over what I do. I will not take you to another world."
Rae raised an eyebrow and gave her own smirk, having guessed she'd get this reaction from him. "Gypsy!" She yelled out, and Gypsy came out of the next room. "Is that my shirt?" Rae asked, noticing the shirt Gypsy was wearing – a night shirt Rae had been looking for for a while. She must have left it here when she had moved out.
Gypsy looked down. "Oh, you know I think it is. I've been wondering where I got this," Gypsy said with a big shrug. "It's very comfy."
"Yeah well, I need your help again world hopping," Rae said, deciding to drop the shirt thing. Gypsy had been the one to take her world hopping to go to Karry for the first birthday party. Frankie might not like world hopping, but he was not the only one who could on this Earth. And Gypsy was a lot easier to get a ride from. Besides, she liked the woman, despite everything.
"Ah, he's being an ass," Gypsy said with an eye roll. She had been trying to get Frankie to loosen up lately, but it was a difficult one. "Can I keep the shirt?"
"Sure," Rae said, not caring enough about the shirt now.
"Let me get changed," Gypsy said, going back into the room and coming back out a moment later in her normal bounty hunter outfit. "So where are we going?"
Frankie had remained seated, looking shocked at the events unfolding. "Wait, since when are you two friends?" Frankie asked, shaking his head and waving his hand for attention. "I thought you two did not like each other because… um…"
"You?" Rae asked with a laugh as Frankie paused, clearly not wanting to bring up his own cheating past. "Gypsy taking you from me was probably the best thing that happened to me." Gypsy smiled herself as Rae showed her on her communicator where they were going. Alien Earth. Gypsy opened a portal. "Chris, in or out?"
"Kara asked me to follow you," Chris said noncommittedly, going through the portal.
"Clark!" Rae called, and she and Clark went through the portal. Gypsy blew Frankie a kiss before disappearing into the portal and it closed.
"My girlfriend and my now-gay ex are friends," Frankie said to himself, looking at where they had been before shaking his head. "Not right that." Frankie turned back to the newspaper he had in front of him before realizing something. "Wait, why was Rae not wearing her outfit…?" He knew she hadn't turned up for that thing with the President, but not being in the League now, he didn't know the details.
-Alien Earth-
"Jay, you've got to go a little faster," Jay heard Winn's voice in his ear as he ran. Jay was running after a specially made device. "Supergirl's hands are full and Superman and Valor are too far out, taking care of something else."
"Your father made this good! Going as fast…" Jay paused as a light by passed him and right to the device he had been chasing, grabbing it as she did. The girl stopped, holding the device in her hands and Jay stopped in front of her now. The girl somehow looked slightly familiar; she was wearing the same helmet as Jay, and a pair of goggled but not a speedster's outfit.
For her part, Rae stared at Jay with a smile. She had seen Paranormal Jay, but the anniversary of her father's death had been hanging over her then and the knowledge it was that world fault hadn't help. This felt different.
"Hi," Rae said. "What is this?" She lifted the device up a little unsure what she was holding.
"A bomb," Jay said, suddenly concerned as a young boy wearing black and red armor and the House of El symbol on it appeared with another girl in a black bodysuit. A dog wearing a similar outfit to Jay himself, and a helmet that also looked like the one on Jay's head, ran next to her feet.
"No it's not," Rae said, scanning the device with her goggles. There was no heat signature on it at all. Rae went and pulled a wire, so sure of herself. The thing opened, pouring chocolate syrup everywhere that Rae dropped the machine. The syrup had gone everywhere and Rae and Jay used their powers phase through it. A sign popped out, simply saying 'Got you!'.
"This was a decoy," Jay said into his coms with a sigh.
"Here too," Kara's voice was heard.
"Over here as well," Clark's voice was heard. "Me and Valor are heading back to the DEO."
"Me too," Kara said again, sounding frustrated to Jay.
"Okay," Jay said. "And I'm bringing some guests with me." Jay took a step closer to Rae. "Who are you?"
Rae smiled, remembering a similar circumstance when she had originally gone to Karry. Only this time she was not wearing her outfit. "I'm the Flash," Rae said. "At least, I am of my world." Rae took a step closer, guessing this Jay did not have her. Paranormal Jay had recognized her right away after all but this one hadn't. "This is Superboy," Superboy gave a nod, crossing his arms, "Gypsy, and Flash Pup." Clark barked as his superhero name was called. "And I've come here to see you." Jay raised an eyebrow but noticed the public looking on in curiosity. This was not the place.
"Follow me," Jay said with a nod, turning, having no doubt this girl could keep up, and as they ran he noticed Superboy in the air above them and Flash Pup running just behind them. He didn't know where the Gypsy woman went.
-New Justice-
Kara was in her Sanctuary, outside the house, waiting. She didn't wait long as she saw Laurel come up and, running just ahead of her, was Arthur – Aquaman's son, who Laurel had officially adopted. "Kara!" Arthur said, jumping at Kara and giving her a hug, surprising the Kryptonian. Kara had not seen Arthur much since he moved to land. "Can I swim in the tanks?"
Laurel was giving a smirk and Kara had a feeling this was behind the hug; with Atlantis wanting the boy, he was not allowed in the ocean and pools were a lot smaller than he was used to. The tanks were much larger, after all. "Not while the park is open," Kara stated simply, "But after we close for the night, and if your mom agrees, I see no reason why not." Arthur turned to Laurel at that.
"We'll see," Laurel said, making no promises. "Show the way."
Kara knew what Laurel wanted to see and led Laurel to where Reptile House was being built, explaining the species that would go in it as well as they walked.
"Good," Laurel said after the explanation, knowing this small Reptile House would become popular. "But we do have one other thing to talk about." They were in the non-dangerous section and Laurel was keeping an eye on Arthur, who was playing with the animals. Krypto was by the boy as well. Keeping eyes on him.
"The idea of rides?" Kara said. She wasn't completely against adding a ride or two. "We can't put anything too big in here." That was the thing; she would not take space away from the animals.
"I know," Laurel said. "But we have been doing some surveys and have some ideas. People love seeing the Kryptonian animals and plants, but they want to experience other cultural things as well. The religion of Krypton. What the planet was like…" Kara gave a smile. She had nothing against showing humans her home's culture. "But we do know this place was made for the animals. So… remember the idea of opening a second location on an island?"
"Yeah," Kara said, nodding and wondering where this was going.
"Well, buying an island and putting a dome over the whole island would be too expensive," Laurel said. "But we could make smaller houses, like this reptile house where we would put certain animals. This way, this place can expand on more animals and make the rest of the island a Kryptonian Cultural Center. Rides and shows and other things, all focusing on the wider Kryptonian culture. Of course, our own hotels as well as restaurants."
Kara gave a smirk as Laurel took out a tablet to show her the starting ideas. Designs and specs. "Before we do this though," Laurel said, "there are two things we want to do here to prepare for it."
"What?" Kara asked, liking the ideas so far.
"One thing is one ride here," Laurel said pushing a button on her tablet. "A Kryptonian Merry Go Round. Instead of just horses, we include some other Kryptonian animals including your Natus."
"I think we can work in one ride," Kara said, smiling at the designs. Laurel had really worked on this pitch. The Queens business might own half the Sanctuary, but Kara was sole owner of the other half, so she had to be on board with any changes.
"And the other thing is…," Laurel said pausing now. "Food." Kara raised an eyebrow at this. "I know we don't exactly have a restaurant in here. You only sell fruits and other snake items. I was thinking occasionally, a pop-up restaurant. Not all the time – once a week or month. And you can make humanoid Kryptonian dishes with our human meat replacing any Kryptonian meats that you ate. And obviously vegetarian substitutes so to cover all bases for our public."
"And who would cook?" Kara asked.
"Well… you're the only one with any knowledge of these dishes," Laurel said thoughtfully.
"And I don't cook," Kara said. "It's not a bad idea, I give you that, but that one will need more time. Someone's got to experiment with cooking with Kryptonian fruits and vegetable and herbs and figuring out what to substitute. I would have to try it all to see how close it is."
"Okay, some time on that one," Laurel said. "But if you're okay with the ride I can get it made next week."
Kara gave a smile, but before she could say anything a familiar voice caught her attention. It belonged to a woman she recognized from TV as Cat Grant – a man Kara assumed was her husband was next to her and two kids were playing with some cats. The boy not able to see, but his head turned towards them, and it was almost like he was looking at Laurel.
"When Rae said Cat Grant was going on vacation to a few places with her family I did not expect them to come here!" Kara said, shocked. "Maybe I should do something nice for them? For Rae..."
Laurel gave a smirk. "Maybe we sho…" Laurel didn't finish her sentence as there was a flash of blue and before them was a completely metallic-looking man, it's eyes seeming to shine blue as he held up his hand right at Kara.
"Where is she?" The voice growled, and Kara knew it was Savitar in front of her.
-Alien Earth-
Rae stopped in the DEO with Jay and groaned, seeing her feet on fire. She easily put it out with her hands as dog-Clark used freeze breath on her feet. "I should have asked this before we left…" Rae heard and saw Gypsy appear out of one of her portals. "Where's your Flash outfit?"
"It got completely destroyed," Chris said, seeming to find it amusing as this-Earth's Kara came in behind him, giving the visitors a look.
"I don't want to talk about it," Rae mumbled sadly, still upset about her outfit but gave this Earth's Kara a look – she was wearing the same outfit as Karry Kara, the blue shirt instead of the white Rae was so used to now.
"You better have known that was not a bomb," J'onn J'onzz said coming up in his human form, but Rae did not recognize him – her J'onn having used a different human face.
"Are you the leader around here?" Rae asked, hearing the tone he was using. That was an order not a request.
"I am the Director of the DEO," J'onn said, and Rae rolled her eyes. She hated government agencies, and on her Earth the government gave the Justice League free range. She didn't have to deal with them and when they mixed they normally answered to her. It was one of the reason she hated Paranormal, with their version, POD.
Rae took off her goggles. "These could see there was no heat source," Rae explained. "You can look them over, Stopwatch, catch." Rae noticed Winn at the computers and tossed the goggles at him, which hit into him. He barely managed to grab them before they hit the floor. "Stopwatch?" Rae gave Winn a look, used to her Winn being better at that.
"Ow," Winn complained, a little sarcastically.
"What are you calling him?" Kara Danvers asked, having remained quiet until that moment.
"It is his superhero name, right?" Rae asked, looking at Winn and seeming unsure now, a smile coning across his face though at this.
"I am a superhero on your Earth?" Winn said, getting excited. "Yes!" Winn punched the air with a smile and Rae had to smile at this. Maybe he was not a superhero, but he was the same nerd she knew.
"What are you doing here?" J'onn continued.
"I need a word with your Jay. And I called. You did not answer," Rae said, turning to the alternate of her father who had been looking over her quietly. Rae gave a smile for some reason, seeming nervous.
"Okay, my bad," Winn said, holding up a hand. "I didn't get the chance to see who was calling – I thought it was Prime and we were busy so figured we would call back later," Rae had to raise an eyebrow and smile; it seemed Prime got around.
"Who are you?" Jay asked, having tried to figure it out. He had been staring at Rae the entire time. It didn't go unnoticed by Rae, who was unsure where to even begin with this version of her father.
"Rachel Joan Garrick," Rae said, making Jay take a step back. "But everyone calls me Rae."
Jay seemed stunned as his mind obviously turned this over. "Are you 23?" Rae nodded. "And were you born on January 1st after your mom died in a car crash?" Rae nodded again. "You're Roland."
"Who?" Rae asked, confused.
"My son," Jay said. "Roland. I was so protective of him. He wanted to be a hero, but I wouldn't let him. When he was 13… he tried to take on the Trickster. Before I could save him he… well, he died. But you're his alternate and a hero?" Jay took a step forward, putting a hand on Rae's face. "You look a lot like him." Jay eyes were glistening with tears now, Rae bringing up a bad memory and Rae felt bad, but she also had to explain her own history.
"I took on the Trickster when I was 13 too," Rae said, remembering the events of her first time as the Flash. "It was my first take-down as the Flash. Taking over your shoes. My father died when I was one. My Uncle Henry and Aunt Nora raised me."
"Uncle," Jay said, remembering Prime Barry's story of him being Henry Allen counterpart. "That makes sense. But what can I…?"
Before Jay could, finish two men walked in. Rae recognized the Superman suit, but the man in it was slightly different. He had the same general look but was not exactly the same as the man Rae knew. That was interesting. "Is that…?" Chris spoke up, pointing at the Superman as dog-Clark's eyes caught an orange cat and started to bark.
"Clark, down. No chasing the cat," Rae yelled at her dog, who backed down, but her eyes were still on the men.
"Clark?" This Earth's Clark Kent asked with a confused smile.
"Yeah," Rae said. "Name after our Clark Kent. Although you look slightly different to him. Not bad though, Clark." The sting of seeing an alternate version of her mentor with the different look was less. It wasn't like Karry's Clark, who was the same.
Rae eyes turned to the man next to Clark though. "Valor," Rae smiled at her old friend, who raised an eyebrow. "Mon El, Prince of Daxam. You look… young." The Mon-El who had died on her Earth had been slightly older, but this Mon looked exactly like the Mon she had seen in the past not so long ago. "And no beard. You look good." Rae had mourned her League long ago that seeing their alternates alive and well only made her happy now that they existed somewhere. Alive. If her world could not have them, at least other worlds had them, protecting their worlds.
Kara moved towards Mon. "Should I be worried?" Kara asked, putting her arms around her boyfriend.
"Oh no," Rae said shaking her head. "He's an old friend who's dead on my Earth. I never had any interest in him."
"Yeah, she prefers you," Chris said, both his and Rae's eyes on Kara. "Taking all your time up…" Chris stomped off and Rae suddenly realized what Chris problem with her was. She was taking Kara away from him! She'd never wanted that.
"Oh," Rae said suddenly feeling bad as the pieces came together. "I really need to a word with you," she addressed Jay now, "but I got to take care of my girlfriend's little cousin first..." Rae moved off after Chris.
"Girlfriend?" Alex Danvers came up with a smirk, looking at Kara. Streaky the Supercat had went to hide on Kara shoulder as dog-Clark was wagging his tail, looking up at them. "I got to meet that Kara…"
-New Justice-
Kara Lane stood in front of Savitar not moving. "Tell me where she is!" Savitar repeated. "Or I kill you and your animals!"
"You have bigger problems than knowing where whoever you are looking for is," Kara said cryptically, knowing he was looking for Rae but not going to say it. Savitar seemed to laugh at that. "Look around you! The animals are upset." Kara's hand was behind her back, using her cellphone without looking at it. Laurel raised an eyebrow, keeping an arm protectively around Arthur now, wondering where Kara was going with this.
It was true though. With the presence of Savitar, the dog packs had gathered, Bruno at the lead. The cats were together hissing. Monkeys were coming from the trees nearby, with Beppo up front and center. Horses were moving. The animal knew Savitar was a threat and were gatherings. All hearing it. All coming towards the intruder who threatened their home. "You have come into their home. Threatened them and me. They are not happy…"
Savitar laughed again though, Kara glad they were near an area away from the public, so as not to lead any sort of evacuation. She knew what she needed to do though. "They are powerless!" Savitar continued. "Everything here is powerless! It what makes this place so great."
"Yeah… about that…" Kara said, pushing a button on her phone. The red lights turned off, letting the natural sunlight outside the dome shine in, the red glow suddenly gone as yellow sun spotlights also turned on – a safety precaution. "Not anymore." With the yellow lights, both natural and artificial, the animals started powering up, their eyes all started to glow with heat vision, knowing to protect their home. Kara gave Krypto a look and Krypto knew it meant 'stay back'. He could not reveal he was Superdog. "They are powerful… and mad."
Savitar looked around as the dogs got closer and shots of heat visions came at him from all angles. Savitar started dodging the shots and ran, with the animals following him. He was fast, but Kara was not impressed. Rae had said he was faster than her, but she had seen Rae move faster. Maybe dodging the animals was slowing this Savitar down. The animals stopped chasing though when he ran through the wall and out of the Sanctuary.
"And I think he learned his lesson," Laurel said, having been chuckling slightly. "Never mess with the Sanctuary."
"Yeah," Kara said going into her cellphone and putting back on the red lights. As the red lights came back on she felt her own powers disappear and let out a sigh of relief. It would have been hard to stop herself wanting to protect her animals too with her powers switched on
"That was so cool." She turned to see the Grant-Fosters still nearby, not having moved at the appearance of the speedster. She paused as Joel let go of his children, having held them close when Savitar had turned up. "Carter, I wish you could see it," Dawn continued.
"Ms. Grant," Kara said, shaking herself and walking up to them. "Kara Lane, I am the head vet around here. I'm sorry you had to see that."
"Never. That was impressive, Miss Lane. Any relation to…?"
"She's my foster mom," Kara said cutting Cat off, knowing she was going to ask if Kara was related to Lois. "Now, I'm willing to give you a statement," Kara was looking around; not many guests were in this section because of the construction of Reptile House. The Grants must have followed the dog pack here. If Cat Grant was willing to work with them, they could lessen the effect of the breach here. "I can make it worth your while."
"And how?" Cat asked. She was a news woman, giving the facts, and by the facts as she knew it, was that a speedster was looking for someone, and Kara had turned off the red lights, and powered the Kryptonian animals with yellow light.
"I have no idea who that man was looking for. He's an unknown to me. And I want that to be clear in the article you write," Kara said; it was a lie, obviously, as Savitar was looking for Rae, but she needed to cover the tracks. Make sure this did not get out. No one could connect the dots.
"I have no reason to doubt you," Cat said simply.
"Okay then, how about I bring your kids on a special tour?" Kara said. "Besides, Rae would never forgive me if I did not."
"You know Rae?" Dawn said, eyes lighting up with excitement.
"How else do you think she gets those Kryptonian fruits?" Carter asked with a smirk. He knew for a fact who this woman must be now. He couldn't 'see' her, not being a meta human, but this Kara was Supergirl
"Come," Kara said, giving Laurel a smile who had grabbed Arthur, going to take him probably to look at some animals. "And Ms. Queen," she called to Laurel, who turned to look at her. "I'll all go for the merry-go-round," she hadn't had the time to give the all-clear to Laurel before the Grant-Fosters turned up, and Savitar. Laurel nodded at that.
-Alien Earth.
Chris had walked away, only to stop in the hallway, putting a hand on the wall to calm himself. Rae really annoying him right now.
"Chris?" Rae said coming up and standing next to him. "I get it."
"You get what?" Chris asked, not looking at her.
"That while you look like a teenager, you're really only a few months old. That Kara is like your mom," Rae said. "And I am the one dating her. And we did not think about the effect of our relationship on you before we started this." Rae put a tentative hand on Chris's shoulder. "And I'm sorry we didn't think of you. We didn't include you more during these last few months as we were figuring out our relationships. We love each other though, and that's not changing."
"And about me?" Chris asked.
"Our relationship doesn't change you," Rae said reasonably. "You're her cousin, her family – and family means everything to Kara. You have a different relationship with her and I want to be your friend. Like I was Clark's. Please? We don't have to be enemies. I don't want to take Kara away from you. I would never do that." Rae was serious, and Chris looked at her at that.
"I guess I have been a little…" Chris paused, and Rae smiled, putting an arm around him.
"When we get back home we'll talk properly," Rae said. "but now I have…" an alarm sounded. "Seriously? Come on, let's see what that is." Rae and Chris moved off, running back into the main room. "What did I run in to?"
"A villain team up," Kara answered for her. "Trickster, Toyman, Livewire, and Lex Luthor."
"They broke Siobhan out of jail too," Alex said, the new information coming across their screens as she spoke.
"So, your Justice League will take care of it," Rae said simply, and everyone looked at her at that. Rae's hand went to the necklace Kara had given her as she saw the look on this Kara's face. Alex gave it a strange look though.
"Justice League?" Jay was the first one who asked.
"A team of superheroes who work together… oh gees you don't have one either," Rae said, realizing this world must be Justice League-less. Like Prime, sort of. It meant the heroes worked alone and teamed up sometimes. They also seemed to work with, or for, the government.
"I got Lex," Clark said with a nod and then was off. The name Lex Luthor Rae hadn't heard of in a long while but remembered it now: the man who had killed Clark's adoptive parents on her world, and Clark had killed him in rebuttal. Either some, or all of that, history had not happened here though, and Lex Luthor was a major baddie.
"Me and Streaky have Livewire," Kara said, kissing Mon's cheek and the two Kryptonians were gone.
"Trickster is mine," Jay said, a look in his eyes – the man had killed his son, and the speedster was gone. This villain was always personal for him.
"I guess that leaves me with Toyman," Mon said. "Any requests, Winn?"
"Give my father hell," Winn said, and Mon ran out.
"That's… that's not how a Justice League works," Rae said, seeing each hero take a certain villain and making no plans. Gypsy giggled.
"No League here. No rules like yours," Gypsy voiced, but Rae sighed at this. She wasn't used to worlds without a Justice League. Perhaps that was why she liked Karry so much?
"Who's this Siobhan?" Rae now asked, turning to J'onn, but it was Alex who brought up a video of a woman, screaming her lungs out and causing serious damage. "Oh, like Laurel and Dinah."
"Silver Banshee she goes by," Alex said.
"Well so long as everyone is taking a villain…" Rae stated, turning to Chris. "Superboy, what do you say you and me have some bonding time?" Chris gave a smirk at that, and a nod. "Stopwatch, going to need my goggles back."
Winn smirked, still loving being called this Stopwatch, even if he did not have a power and handed the goggles back. "Going to need this," Winn said, taking earplugs out of a draw. Rae took a pair and so did Chris.
"We have coms in. Connect to them. Flash Pup, come," Rae said before she, Chris, and Flash Pup ran out of the DEO.
"Who does she think she is?" J'onn asked angrily as Winn connected to her coms. She hadn't worked with them and was annoying him with her authoritative attitude.
"I think she's the leader of the Justice League," Winn spoke up in response. Liking this title. It could use improvement though.
"J'onn?" Alex said, ready to run out herself.
"Go," J'onn said, and Alex was gone, quickly assigning a team of agents as she did.
…
Rae appeared on the scene, noticing the others fighting their chosen targets.
"Hey! Rip-off Canary," Rae called to get Siobhan's attention.
"What, are you the new Kid Flash?" Siobhan mocked, seeing the helmet and goggles. "Need a different outfit."
"Hey!" Rae said pointing a finger. "The outfit is a touchy subject." Siobhan smirked, then let out a scream. Rae was fine because of the ear plugs, but Clark whimpered. His super-hearing not helping here. Chris came up behind Siobhan and pushed her.
"Flash Pup," Rae bent down, but Clark was fine. Rae noticed Mon fighting against a man who seemed to be using toys as his weapons. Mon had a shield, which seemed to be reflecting the blasts. "Go help Valor!" Rae pointed at Mon and Flash Pup gave a bark before heading over.
Chris was easily taking on Siobhan, whose power did not work on Chris with the earplug in. "Superboy!" Rae said. "Take your thumb out of the fist. That's a sure-fire way to break your thumb." She showed him a clenched fist, with her thumb over the index finger instead of inside the hand.
"My thumb cannot break," Chris pointed out.
"It can if you're fighting an opponent who as indestructible as you," Rae said, taking Siobhan's arm and holding her. "Now, fist." Chris held up his fist. "Thumb." Chris removed his thumb from inside the fist. "And now knock her out." Chris punched Siobhan, knocking the Banshee out as trucks came around the corner, and Alex jumped out. Rae removed the ear plugs and so did Chris with the Banshee down now.
"I'll take her," Alex said, putting cuffs on Siobhan and putting her in the truck.
"That was fun," Chris said, smiling at Rae. Kara had shown him some moves, but possibly had not noticed the fist-thing.
"I've been a superhero a lot longer than your cousin has," Rae said. "I can show you a thing or two." Rae looked up at a sound. Lex Luthor, who was wearing some type of supersuit, and Livewire, had managed to get Kara and Superman connected to some type of machine. It was a large machine that had been there since Rae had gotten there, although it hadn't been a priority to her, with a couple of places for people over a control ledge. Kara and Superman were dragged into places by some type of wires that had somehow plugged into them. The orange cat in a cape was thrown backwards and Rae ran to catch her – running up a building and catching the cat before she hit into it, before running back down.
Superman and Kara screamed out – the machine seemed to be taking something from them. This must be whatever the villains were planning. The reason behind the distraction earlier and the chaos here. All to get this machine ready and the heroes into it. The Toyman tried to get Mon into a similar machine, but Flash Pup had bitten his leg and Mon hit him hard with the shield. Blood came out of Toyman's head from the impact as Mon backed away from the device.
The wires acted like they had a life of their own as they seemed to move and somehow grabbed hold of Chris instead of Mon. "Chris!" Rae yelled, running over for Chris but the device had taken him and dragged him into the bigger machine next to Kara and Clark. Chris yelled out in pain. "No!" Rae said seeing red. No one hurt Kara's little cousin. Not on her watch. Toyman gave a laugh and used some device of his to fly away from the heroes, joining Livewire at a safer distance, but Rae wasn't paying attention now.
Trickster tried to get Jay into a similar machine, but a flash of green and the Trickster was out. "J'onn!" Rae said as Jay and J'onn joined the group. "Man, am I glad this world has a you." J'onn raised an eyebrow, Rae still not realizing it was the same man she had been talking to earlier.
"I'm going to go get Kara," Alex said.
"No," Rae said, wanting more than anything to run up that machine and grab Chris. A younger her would have done it in a second and would likely have been beaten for it. She learned again, recently when she had encountered Savitar to always call in her team, to get back up. "We got into this because each hero decided to take a villain and not work together. Meanwhile the villains were working together. We need to work together."
"Hate to say but she's right. We learned in the past working together is always better," J'onn said. "So, leader of the Justice League, what's your plan?"
Flash Pup barked and Streaky meowed as Rae looked at them. "Stopwatch," Rae said. "You might not have your superpower here, but I need your nerd power." Mon and Jay looked at each other at that.
"What?" Winn asked over the coms.
"What would happen if me and your Flash here threw a lighting bolt at heat vision?" Rae asked.
"An explosion," Winn said right away.
"Then that's what we're going to do. And Gypsy I need you," Rae said and with that a portal opened before them, Gypsy stepping out. "Here's the plan."
…
Streaky and Flash Pup flew up into the air. "They are sending in the super pets," Lex said as a joke as both Kryptonians heated up their eyes and hit a heat vision right down on the floor. "What…?"
That was when they saw the flashes around the heat vison and saw a lightning bolt hit into heat vision. The heat vision exploded, sending a shock wave right at the villains. Lex Luthor, Toyman, and Livewire all went to investigate what was going on, but the two speedsters stood there, smirking. They had managed to duck for cover in time, so the explosion did not hurt them. Flash Pup and Streaky joining them on the street.
"You think that will stop us?" Lex said. "The machine is nearly powered!"
"You know I never got to fight side by side with my father before," Rae said, ignoring Lex and giving Jay a look. "Mine was dead long before I could."
"I never fought side by side with my son, well my not adopted son – I've fought beside Malcolm a lot – but it will be an honor to fight with my daughter," Jay said with a smirk and the two ran around the villains. Rae went for the Toyman and Jay went at Luthor. The pair hit into the villains, pummeling them into each other. Both Kryptonian pets went right at Livewire.
….
Gypsy had created a portal right to the ledge on the machine where their people were attached. She, J'onn, and Mon all came out of it. Gypsy went right for Chris, using her vibes to free him and take the weaken boy out of his holdings. Mon used his shield to break Kara free while J'onn simply broke apart what was holding Superman.
"We have them," J'onn said in to com as Gypsy opened another portal. This time to the DEO. "Blow it."
…
Alex and other DEO agents used the cover of the explosion and the distraction the Flashes were providing to go around the machine with explosives.
"Move off," Alex said having the button to set the explosion and she did.
…
"You will not defeat us," Lex mocked. Rae and Jay had been tag-teaming him and the Toyman, running around them at speeds and dodging attacks, getting their own attacks in when they could. Clark and Streaky were having fun dodging Livewire. That was when they heard the explosion and all the villains turned to see their machine breaking apart.
"Actually, we were just the distraction," Rae said with a smirk, hearing on her com that Chris was fine and wanted to get out and fight again. Rae had to smile at her girlfriend's little cousin. One day he would be a great hero, like the man who his DNA came from. Rae would make sure of it if it was the last thing she did.
"Whatever that was supposed to do," Jay said, pointing at the remains of the machine with a smirk. "It's gone now." Clark and Streaky, not to be outdone, barked and hissed their opinions at this.
"DEO," Alex said coming up with agents who had guns out. "Hands in the air."
"Later boys," Livewire said, vanishing in a flash of light and escaping as electricity through a nearby streetlight.
"Yeah, bye," Lex said, using his super suit to fly off, leaving Toyman behind who smartly put his hands in the air.
Flash Pup jumped onto Rae's shoulder and Streaky went onto the other one, giving Rae a nudge. "Seems you two are getting along now," Rae said to the animals. "But to your DEO place-thing."
…
A minute or so later, everyone was sitting around the medical wing of the DEO. Kara, Chris, and Superman were all taking in some solar energy – it seemed that the machine was designed to take their solar energy to use for power. What for, the group did not know. Mon had his arm around Kara and was kissing the top of her head. Rae could see the love in their eyes: Kara and Mon were together here. Rae was used to seeing Kara with someone else, usually Barry, so it was not too weird for her to see her girlfriend with a man.
Rae herself was sitting beside Gypsy. She had checked over Chris when she came in, but the boy seemed a bit embarrassed he had been captured. Rae had given him a smirk and told him that it happened to the best of them.
"Well everyone is locked up. Luthor and Livewire are still free," Alex said, walking in.
"I think I should thank you," J'onn said, back in his human form which had shocked Rae for a moment, but Rae had shook it off. The man was a shape shifter after all. He didn't always need to take the same human face. "If you hadn't showed up…"
"Well, I did show up for a personal reason," Rae said, eyes on Jay again. "But you should really consider making your own League. Having all superheroes under one leadership. It's helpful."
"You know, a Legion of Superheroes might be good," Mon said, a smirk at the name. wanting to be different and not copy the term Justice League. "We have everyone here."
"Legion, now that's a cool name," Winn pointed out, in the medical wing himself, watching on.
"We also have Malcolm," Jay added, thinking of his adopted son who was busy. Jay was not too sure what he was doing, but Jay had a feeling it was something to do with a girl.
"Laurel," Kara added. "And her sister Sara is becoming a vigilante. I think."
"Diana," Superman said, thinking of Wonder Woman. "Too bad we didn't do this before Talia Al Gaul set off a nuke in Gotham. We could have included Bruce."
"All you need is a leader," Rae said ignoring the comment to Gotham even though she was a little curious. She was smirking at seeing the beginning of a Justice League form. Even if it was not going to go by the same name, it was still something special. The Justice League was something she was passionate about, but she had not been there when hers had originally formed. This was a special moment for this world, a moment people did not know was happening but in the future would be thankful it had.
Eyes in the room went to J'onn at this.
"No," J'onn said shaking his head. "I've got the DEO. That's enough." J'onn smiled putting a hand on Superman's shoulder. "Clark, I think this is a job for you."
Clark seemed shocked for a moment as everyone seemed to agree. "Only if Kara will be my second," Clark said, and Kara smiled and nodded.
"I think it's time we take care of the real reason why you're here," Jay said, turning to Rae. "So, what did you need your old man for?" Jay wanted more than anything to help this girl. This girl who was an alternate of his son. A son he could not save.
Rae nodded, seeing it was time for business. "Have you ever heard of a man named Savitar?" Rae asked.
"The god of speed?" Jay asked. "You're listening to rumors. He doesn't exist."
"He nearly killed me a couple of days ago," Rae said, shocking Jay who took a step back. "I need to know who he is"
Jay shook his head, still taking this in. "I can tell you the rumors… He's said to be the first speedster ever made; no one knows what Earth he comes from or who he is, but he's said to be the fastest speedster of them all. If he's come after you it's because you're getting fast enough to challenge him – and from what I've seen, you are pretty fast. Probably the fastest speedster in the known multiverse," Jay said, giving his daughter a smirk. Proud of her speed, but Rae shook her head.
"No, this was personal," Rae said. "He hated me." There was something wrong with the rumors. Some piece of information they did not have.
"I wish I could tell you more," Jay said honestly. "But that's all Max Mercury told me years ago." Rae momentarily wondered who Max Mercury was. The name coming out again; first the diary and now her father's alternative.
"Thank you," Rae said. The rumors might not be complete, but any bit of information was useful. "It was nice working with you." Rae was telling the truth; this man was different from Paranormal Jay to her. This man felt more like she thought her father would feel like. She truthfully felt a connection to him. It was nice.
"I am glad to see some version of my son exists out there," Jay said, bringing Rae into a hug. "If you ever need me again…"
"I know where to find you. Gypsy, let's go home," Rae said. With a final nod to the others, now silent, in the medical wing, Rae turned to Gypsy, who opened a portal.
Rae let Chris lean against her as they disappeared through it.
"Kara?" Alex said after a moment. "Did you realize Rae was wearing your mom's necklace?"
"Yeah," Kara said after a moment, taking her own necklace out from underneath her costume. The exact same one Rae was wearing.
"Did you not find that weird?" Alex asked.
"No," Kara said shaking her head. "She's dating her Kara. I would give the necklace to someone I loved too." Kara kissed Mon at that. "Weirder a version of me is with a girl truthfully. No offense, but I don't have any attraction to females."
"Why would I be offended? You're straight," Alex shrugged.
"At least she's not with Barry," Mon said with a smirk, enjoying a world where Kara was not with a Barry Allen.
"She's still technically with the Flash," Jay pointed out, making the smirk on Mon face drop.
-New Justice-
Rae, Gypsy, and Chris came out in Home Base, Rae smiling and thankful Gypsy brought them here.
"Thank you," Rae said to Gypsy.
"My pleasure," Gypsy said, opening a portal to go home.
Rae noticed Kara was in Home Base and paused. "What's going on?"
"Chris are you okay?" Kara asked, noticing Chris seemed weaker.
"I had a little… encounter," Chris said. "Rae saved me with the heroes there."
Kara gave a little smile as she brought her cousin into a hug. She had not expected Chris to get hurt, but it seemed sending the two off together had done what she wanted: It had bonded them. Rae smiled at Kara too.
"I'd never let anything hurt him," Rae said seriously, and Kara gave a nod. "But what are you doing here?"
"Well, I gave the Grants a tour of the Sanctuary," Kara said, and Rae raised an eyebrow. She had not expected the Grants to go there. "And came here to tell you Savitar expected the same."
"What?" Rae asked, shocked. "Savitar came to the Sanctuary? But… I…" Rae did not know what to say. She had gone to a different world looking for information and Savitar had just appeared expecting her to be with Kara.
"I turned the lights yellow. He rightfully ran away from hundreds of Kryptonian animals with powers," Kara said with a smirk.
"I would too," Rae said giving a small laugh. So, the man did have fears? Surely that meant he was not a god. "And I think Chris should stay in the yellow sun for a bit, so I'm taking him home to make him a home cooked dinner. Thinking ribs, corn and potatoes. Oh, and a pie for desert. You like pie?"
"Not in my face," Chris said with a laugh and Rae stuck out a tongue as Clark barked.
"Have fun, I should go back to the Sanctuary," Kara said, glad her cousin and girlfriend were bonding.
"Hold on," Adam spoke up and he walked out with Caitlin. She was wearing a yellow and orange outfit, with yellow pants and shirt, it had orange in the middle with a yellow belt. The boots were orange and she had orange around the neck. To top it off, she had a helmet in her hands, which as she put it on, Rae noticed it had a glass front, covering her face.
"So?" Caitlin said, putting on orange gloves and lighting up her hands. The fire appeared around the gloves without burning them.
"Glove are designed to focuses and help control the fire," Adam said, seeming proud of his achievement. He had been having fun trying to design a way for Caitlin's flames to be focused better. "The helmet is a bit like your goggles as well."
"Not bad," Rae said, nodding approvingly at the costume. Caitlin looked like one of them now.
"And…" Winn now spoke, coming out with a mannequin with a costume on it. Her extra helmet and goggles were on the top. "Yours," Rae didn't seem as impressed by this costume as she cocked her head at it. It was all red and a completely different design to what she was use too. No blue pants, for a start. The red was a darker red with a lightning bolt was on the outfit, exactly where her old one was – and that was the only similarity. "We put in a lot of gadgets in for you."
"We made an instruction manual," Adam said happily, taking out a large stack of paper from a draw.
"By the way, what is your helmet made of? We cannot figure it out…" Winn said, looking at the helmet now. He and Adam had run tests on it, but the test had all come out negative. He had no idea what type of metal this helmet was.
Rae did not answer as she grabbed her helmet and goggles off the mannequin and ran out, opening a zap tunnel. Clark and Chris went to follow her.
"She didn't seem impressed," Adam said, noticing that.
"You should have played it safe, gone with the same outfit. If it's not broken…" Kara commented, a small smirk on her face. She kind of did like the outfit, but she knew what Rae was like.
"Don't fix it," Winn finished, annoyed that their hard work may have come to nothing. He sighed.
-New Justice-
Henry and Nora were showing the woman from social services around the house, showing them where they would room a foster child. Their house was big enough.
"This room is locked," the lady noted as she tried a doorknob.
"That's our daughter's room," Henry said, having added a lock like they talked about. This way Rae had a place for all her Flash stuff.
"Does she live here?" The lady asked.
"Yes, she does," Nora said, a little worried now.
"I am going to have to talk to her too," The lady said as Clark came running up the stairs, pawing at the door. He then turned to the two and barked, clearly upset the door was closed. Thankfully, Rae had changed him out of the outfit.
"Clark!" Henry said. "That means… Rae!" Henry yelled out the last part. Rae had to be home for Clark to be here.
"Yeah?" Rae voice was heard.
"We're coming down and we have company," Henry called.
"Oh crap," Rae said by the stove, remembering Henry and Nora were having the person from social services here today to approve them to foster meta human children. Rae saw Clark's Flash Pup outfit on the table and Chris's armor in the living room. She ran, grabbed them, and managed to get them into her room by running up the side of the house and through the window, and then back at the stove before the three entered the kitchen.
"Hey!" Rae gave a smile as though, hoping everything appeared normal.
"This is Rae," Nora said. "Our daughter." Rae smiled at that. "Rae, this is Carol Tyler from social services."
"Hi," Rae said. "This is Chris." Rae introduced Chris. "My girlfriend's cousin. He was helping me with something today, so I promised to cook for him in return."
"Hi," Chris said, with a wave.
"So, you cook?" Carol asked.
"I'm a chef," Rae said. "I work for Cat Grant as her personal cook."
"I knew you were familiar," Carol said. "You threw a pie in a guy's face." Rae moaned as everyone else laughed. "I saw the video."
"Well, I'm making more than enough for everyone. Please, sit," Rae said, turning back to her cooking. She had already put a rub on the ribs, but they needed to cook for some time. She had the potatoes boiling and she was working on ingredients for a pie. Henry and Nora smiled a relieved grin at one another at the human scene, no speed to be seen.
"You know, Rae is pretty cool," Chris said with a smile and Rae had to smile herself. Seemed his attitude problem was gone.
Post Chapter Note: So, you got a visit to Alien Earth. Not one of our more used Earths, but it's a fun one.
Hope you enjoyed.
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Karry Master OUT!