The Midvale Girls
The further adventures of the teenaged Alex and Kara Danvers
Metamorphosis
Chapter 4
"Come on, we can talk along the way," said Brainy before turning and heading off at a brisk walk.
Alex looked at Kara. She appeared to be mostly her old self again. Kara moved to follow the green boy and she didn't seem to be having any trouble keeping up and had even grabbed up her backpack with one hand. After slipping hers back on, Alex started moving, too. She quickened her pace to a jog to catch up. Once the boy saw they were able to keep up, he also increased his pace.
"Where are we going?" asked Alex, as they passed out of the entry room and entered another that was filled with workbenches covered with a variety of equipment, some looked chemical, some looked electrical, and she had no idea what some of it was.
"The hangar level," replied Brainiac 5. "The spaceship is prepped and standing by."
"Spaceship?" echoed Alex, her step faltering for a moment. "Why do we need a spaceship? Where are we going?"
"You need to go to the world of Venegar because that's where the Emerald Eye of Ekron is located."
"How far away is that?" asked Alex, unable to keep the trepidation out of her voice.
"Seventy-three thousand light-years, give or take. But the distance isn't important with the hyper-dimensional drive. It will take thirty-seven minutes to get there whether the distance is five light-years, seventy-three thousand, or all the way to the next galaxy."
Seventy-three thousand light-years. Alex's calculus wasn't strong, but she had done well in AP Physics. She understood what a light-year was well enough to know it was a very, very great distance. And Brainy wanted her to travel seventy-three thousand freaking light-years.
They were already a thousand years from home, but at least they were still on Earth. Traveling half way across the galaxy shouldn't be any more intimidating, but somehow it was.
Alex ground to a halt, forcing the others to stop with her.
"I . . . I don't think I can do this," she said with a shake of her head.
Brainiac 5 looked at her for a moment, but his eyes seemed to be looking straight through her as though at something in the far distance. He appeared to be lost in thought. Or perhaps it was like when he reconfigured the lights in the first room and his attention was temporarily elsewhere.
Finally, after about five seconds, his eyes came into focus. "Alex, we need your help. Every minute we delay increases the odds that the Earth gets destroyed."
"I'm sorry. I just don't understand what is going on and it is suddenly overwhelming. I mean barely twenty minutes ago I had never heard of the Legion of Superheroes or the 31st Century. Now I'm here and you want me to travel halfway across the galaxy." Alex usually wasn't overly emotional, but now she almost felt ready to cry.
Brainy looked to Lyle. "What did you tell them about the situation?"
"Me? I didn't tell them anything, because you didn't tell me anything. Don't put this situation on me."
Brainy let out an exasperated sigh. "Okay. Let me give you the two minute synopsis. But can we at least keep walking while I explain?"
Alex closed her eyes for five seconds as she fought back tears, took a couple of deep breaths, and then nodded. "Okay, but I haven't agreed to anything."
"Fair enough," said Brainy and then he started walking. "The interstellar warlord Mongul is carving a path of destruction across the galaxy. He has managed to gain control of an ancient Sun-Eater, a device that can destroy stars. It was created by a long forgotten race millions of years ago. It envelops a star, absorbing all its solar energy. This causes the star to compress in size but doesn't significantly reduce its mass. As a result, the dying star, regardless of its original size, goes supernova. The Sun-Eater harnesses most of the nova-blast's thermal energy to travel to its next destination, but the remainder is still enough to fry all of the star's planets.
"Mongul has already used it to destroy six United Planet stars, which is how we've learn as much as we have about how the Sun-Eater works. His next target is the Earth's sun and he will be in position to deploy the Sun-Eater in three days."
"What does this have to do with me going to a planet halfway across the galaxy? You said its name was Venegar, right?"
"Yeah. Based on my research, Mongul has to be controlling the Sun-Eater using a device built by the Controllers, what we call the race who created the Sun-Eaters as their true name has been lost. Salu Digby, one of our members, is our best hope of infiltrating Mongul's fortress planetoid and gaining control of the device to divert the Sun-Eater's course before it reaches the Solar System. Unfortunately, she is trapped inside the Emerald Eye of Ekron, which is on Venegar."
"And why would you possibly think I would be able to get her out of this Eye thing? Me, a girl from the 21st Century?" asked Alex.
They had now crossed to the far side of the giant laboratory room. Another doorway melted open and Brainy directed them through. The next room was tiny by comparison, no more than ten by ten feet. Once Brainy, Lyle, Alex, Kara, and the Triplicate Girls were crowded inside, the door reformed and then the floor began to vibrate – not unlike an elevator back home. From the acceleration, it was obvious they were moving up to some higher level within the Clubhouse.
"I created this machine I call the Improbability Engine. It comes up with solutions when no solutions seem possible. When I asked it how to get Salu out of the Emerald Eye, it came up with your name and it said you had to physically touch the Eye while wearing a suit made of Kryptonite to cloud the Eye's perception of you . . . "
"Wait a second," interrupted Alex. "I have to be wearing a suit of Kryptonite?" Her eyes darted to Kara and she could see the Kryptonian girl turn pale and this was after just barely recovering from her exposure to the newly-red sun.
Brianiac 5 didn't miss this silent exchange between the two quasi-sisters. "If you try to touch it without the Kryptonite suit, the Eye will most likely take control of your mind if not outright kill you, as it is a powerful semi-sentient weapon."
Brainy paused for a moment before continuing, "From what we know, the Eye originally was a prototype for the Green Lantern power rings. It allows the owner to create force constructs using the power of their mind. It also gives the owner the power of flight. Like I said, it has many of the same attributes as a power ring. However whereas the power ring can only act at the command of the wearer, something went wrong with the Eye and it has a will of its own. Over time, it seduces the owner's mind to ultimately do its bidding instead."
Alex nearly interrupted him again at the Green Lantern reference, but then remembered seeing several news clips about a new Superhero of that name who had been spotted recently. So far, he had mostly been seen around Coast City and wasn't nearly as well-known as Superman. She didn't know anything about his abilities or their source, but perhaps it was this power ring thing Brainy was talking about.
Quickly, she turned her attention back to the green boy.
"The kryptonite suit is an absolute necessity if you are to get close to the Eye without it seducing you, too. I understand your concerns about Kara's safety. She can remain in a shielded compartment of the ship or she can simply remain here at the Clubhouse. Lyle and Triplicate Girl can pilot the ship and provide guidance for finding the Eye."
Alex looked at Kara and could read the girl's fear on her face. During one of his visits, Clark told them about going up against Lex Luthor when he had control of a chunk of kryptonite and how Clark had felt like he was dying. But then the expression on Kara's face hardened into one of stolid determination. "Alex, I'll go with you. Even if I can't be with you while you are wearing the suit, I'll be there for moral support. And you never know, maybe once we are there, I may still be able to do something to make a difference."
Alex nodded and turned back to Brainy. "I still don't understand why it needs to be me that does this."
Brainy just threw a helpless shrug, like he wasn't happy about the situation. "I can't really explain, as I don't understand it either. Simply touching the Eye shouldn't release Salu. But the Improbability Engine says if you do it, she will be released. There must be some kind of connection between the two of you, but it is hard to see what it could possibly be since you are from another millennia and Salu is not even human, but an Imskian from Imsk. But sometimes we just have to have faith."
The elevator had stopped moving about fifteen seconds earlier, but it wasn't until Brainy stopped speaking that a doorway formed. Through it, they could see a large space which filled the entire diameter of the clubhouse on this level. The ceiling had to be fifty feet high. It contained at least a dozen flying craft in a variety of sizes and styles from small single-person racers to several with the general length of a Gulfstream G5 business jet except with stubby wings and a fuselage at least three times larger in diameter. Brainy headed in the direction of one of these larger craft.
As they followed Brainy over to the spaceship, Kara reached over and clasped Alex's hand. "The decision whether to do this will have to be yours. But know, whatever you decide, I'll support you."
Alex nodded gratefully.
Then she frowned when Lyle interjected, "Just remember the lives of forty-three billion people may depend on what you do."
"Gee thanks, Lyle, way to guilt-trip me into a decision."
Lyle shrugged. "We may just be a bunch of kids, but sometimes we have to step up and do our part to make a difference."
They had reached the craft. A boarding ramp was already extended down to the floor in front of them.
"Well, Alex, what is it going to be? Are you ready to join the Big Leagues or are you going to chicken out?" asked Brainiac 5.
Alex swept her gaze from Brainy to Kara to Lyle to the Triplicate Girl. Then she realized she was simply stalling; there was only one real option.
"I'm in."
"Excellent," said Brainy with a grin. "Well, then, it is best if you guys were off. The sooner you retrieve Salu, the more time she will have to infiltrate Mongul's planetoid and gain control of the Sun-Eater."
"You're not coming with us?" asked Alex. Brainiac 5 was clearly the leader of the Legion or at least the most leader-like of the members she had met so far. She would feel a lot more comfortable if he was along.
"Sorry, my place is here at the Clubhouse. Several other groups are trying to delay Mongul and I need to coordinate their activities. And I'm working on several contingency plans. However I will maintain radio contact at least until you proceed down into the underground caverns."
Great, underground caverns, thought Alex. She wondered how much else they weren't telling her so she wouldn't back out. Brainiac 5 did seem to dole out the bare minimum amount of information.
But it already felt too late to back out. Therefore Alex just turned and led the way up the ramp.