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All original characters and concepts are the property of Celgress.
Convergence Point – Episode Twenty-Seven: What You Leave Behind Part Five: The Quickening
By
Celgress
Apartment of Kara Kent Metropolis Missouri, late afternoon
Kara Kent tossed and turned fitfully in her bed. She had not been sleeping well lately. She felt off since her return from the Fortress of Solitude. Kara was about to get up and make herself a cup of hot cocoa the same type of drink the Kents made for her when she was under their care as a child. While legally only their "niece" she considered Martha Kent and the late Jonathan "Jon" Kent her Earth parents whom she loved dearly.
'Perhaps I should visit the farm soon? I could go on a date with Val. We'd both like that.' Kara thought. While she enjoyed her independence she admitted she also missed her adopted home in Kansas.
Before Kara could move, her closet door creaked open. Sickeningly familiar purple claws gripped the edge of the door. A frightening fang-filled face with glowing blue-white eyes peeked out.
Kara was paralyzed either literally or by fear. She could not move a muscle as the lumbering form of Onslaught approached her bed. "Y-You c-can't be here. We left you trapped in the P-Phantom Zone." Kara stammered.
"Daughter of Krypton for you there is no escape from me." Onslaught hissed leaning over her. His horrible face was less than an inch away. Their mouths almost touched as he again spoke. "No one can help you. No one can save you. I can smell you. I can taste you. You are mine." Onslaught's slimy prehensile tongue licked Kara's face. She screamed in terror.
"Zzzzt, zzzzt, I'm a superhero girl! I'm a superhero girl! Everyone all around the world, I'm a superhero girl, yay, yay!" Kara bolted upright in her bed hyperventilating. Her eyes darted around her bedroom. "Uh," She moaned getting her bearings. "I'm a superhero girl! I'm a superhero girl! Everyone all around the world, I'm a superhero girl, yay, yay!" Kara fumbled to find her smartphone which ended Dazzler's hit single Superhero Girls of the World. "Hello, Kara Kent speaking." She said.
"Kara it's Lois. Did I catch you at a bad time? You sound tired or something." Lois said.
"Nah, I'm fine, wazzup?" Kara asked.
"Something major is going down in Nevada near the Hoover Dam. Clark is still in Kansas dealing with things there. Can you watch Jon and Annie Parker while I check it out?" Lois said.
"Sure, I'd love to. I'll be right over." Kara said.
"Thanks, Kara, you're a lifesaver," Lois said. "See you soon. Oh, and no Osborn Plus for the kids. I don't like how their programming portrays the superhero lifestyle."
"Got it, no Osborn Plus," Kara said. She ran her free hand through her currently brown hair (thank you color changing molecules).
"See you soon, bye Kara," Lois said.
"Bye, Lois," Kara said ending the call.
Kara looked around her apartment apprehensively. 'It was just a bad dream, no a nightmare but nothing more.' Kara thought. Kara get to her feet and left her bedroom for a quick shower. While glancing at the bathroom mirror she thought her eyes briefly glinted purple but quickly dismissed that thought.
Outdoor Cafe
"Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice." Betty Ross said.
"Not need to thank me." Bruce Banner sitting down rather clumsily across from Betty. He nearly dropped a shopping bag on the ground out of which spilled a bright red fire truck. "Ah, sorry, it's a gift for my son Gerald. He loves fire trucks. He told me he wants to be a fireman when he grows up, of course, last month he told me he wanted to be a veterinarian and then before that a marine biologist." Bruce put the firetruck back into its bag and carefully placed the bag on the ground.
"Kids are so indecisive," Betty said.
"Whew, it is hot today. I'll need a drink soon I fear." Bruce said wiping sweat from his brow. His expression turned serious. "You said you're in trouble. How can I help?"
"I thought you'd never ask," Betty said with a smile. She was about to say more when Bruce's smartphone rang.
"It's work. I have to take this. I'll be back in a jiffy." Bruce said leaving his seat.
"Take your time," Betty said. Once Bruce was gone she produced a vial of glowing green liquid and poured it into one of the complimentary soft drinks a waiter had brought. She grinned thinking of her handy work when another waiter bumped into the table knocking both glasses onto the ground where they shattered. The contaminated cola frizzled dramatically. "What where you're going clutz!" Betty screeched.
"I'm sorry ma'am." The waiter said he leaned in close and added. "You better come with me before I tell your friend you wanted to drug him." He grabbed Betty roughly by her right arm. She attempted to pull free but could not.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Betty said.
"Sure you do. That stuff you put in his soft drink was a gamma compound whipped up by the Leader. You two wanted to cause Banner to lose control for the Hulk to go on a rampage. You would have destroyed his life and that of his family including an innocent child's life." The waiter said. "Look it's eating through the walkway as we speak, potent stuff, huh?"
"Fine," Betty said getting up.
"Right this way please." The waiter said he led Betty into a deserted alleyway. When Bruce Banner returned he discovered Betty was nowhere to be found. Having no way to easily contact her (she had contacted him via an all but untraceable Internet service) he shrugged, gathered up his packages, and went home.
"How dare you!" Betty screamed.
"How dare I what, ruin your revenge scheme?" Old Superman said.
"He has no right being happy! He destroyed my life and my father's life! He then ran off with that Kryptonian slut!" Betty ranted.
"Each of us is responsible for our actions no one else." Old Superman said.
"Bullshit, you'll pay dearly for interfering! You won't like me when I'm angry!" Betty yelled. She hulked out ripping her sundress.
"You won't like me when I'm angry either." Old Superman said.
Old Superman grabbed Red She-Hulk around her waist. The pair flew into orbit. Red She-Hulk wailed on Old Superman until the pair reached the fiery surface of Venus.
"A change of venue won't save you." Red She-Hulk snarled.
"You're wrong. I know your type of Hulk cannot regulate its heat output. You'll collapse long before I will here on Venus." Old Superman said releasing Red She-Hulk.
"Arrrrggggggghh." Red She-Hulk growled throwing herself at Old Superman who absorbed all her might blows with barely a bruise.
"Let me show you something." Old Superman said. His body erupted in a dazzling golden glow that enveloped his skin and eyes. "I call this form One in a Million." One Million Old Superman easily dispatched Red She-Hulk with his yellow heat vision. She quickly tired from the heat.
"I hate you." Red She-Hulk said weakly before she reverted to Betty Ross.
"I pity you." Old Superman said reverting to his base form.
Old Superman picked up the unconscious Betty Ross and flew back to Earth. The Ice Box prison would keep her out of his hair and the Hulk's until things were hopefully resolved. If only he could solve poor Kara's problem or the Amazon situation so easily or quickly. The sad truth was he did not have enough time or resources to right every temporal wrong.
Southern Nevada, early evening
Locating the hijacked school bus had been easier than Ultrawoman thought. Lois decided after her alternate Amazonian upgrade that a new moniker was in order. Besides one day Kara or her future daughter (should she have one with Clark) might want to use the name Superwoman.
Ultrawoman stopped directly in front of the bus. She used her super strength to hold in on the road. "Release your hostages! This is over!" The blue-haired silver-eyed (thank you once again color changing molecules) commanded.
"Not a chance!" Punchline said. She burst from the front door of the bus emptying a machine gun into Ultrawoman. "Shoot her you fools! Hit her with everything you've got!"
"I'll butcher you, bitch!" Carnage threatened as he leaped over Punchline's head. The Joker meanwhile remained inside the bus.
Ultrawoman used her heat vision to blast away the troublesome alien-human hybrid. "Release the hostages!" She repeated her demand.
"I wish you wouldn't poke your nose in our business, bird." Said a masculine voice with a thick cockney accent. Ultrawoman whirled around to see Manchester Black standing in the middle of the road adorned in the signature black with red trim vestments of the Cult of Outer Darkness of which the Church of the Crimson Duo was an offshoot.
"If you don't back away I'll be forced to subdue you," Ultrawoman warned the new arrival. The cultists and Punchline continued to pelt her body with bullets as did a recovered Carnage with symbiotic material darts.
"Oui, ordering me to leave when I haven't done anything wrong yet that's not very heroic of you." Manchester Black said.
"State your business here, Manchester," Ultrawoman said.
"I see, I see, you have no idea what's going on, what's at stake, do you, bird? Don't worry, I'll enlighten you. I'm Manchester Black a Low Prior in the Cult of Outer Darkness. I represent the vice of tyranny." Manchester Black said. A second shorter figure clad in identically colored but tattered vestments emerged from behind Manchester Black then a third figure also wearing the same vestments. "And these are my colleagues; Vermin the Low Prior of filth and Baron Mordo the Low Prior of arcane arts." On the ring figure of their right hand, each figure bore a clear lantern-type ring.
'Oh no,' Ultrawoman thought. 'Of all the bad luck. Three of the seven Low Priors. I'll need help if I'm to win.'
"Oui, we can kill you where you stand or you can fly off somewhere else bird your choice." Manchester Black said with a smirk.
"Not if I kill you three first!" Orange Goblin said showering the area with incendiary pumpkin bombs from her glider. She followed up her first barrage with a second barrage of pumpkin gas-filled bombs without missing a beat.
"Just great," Ultrawoman said choking back thick fumes. She squinted her eyes. "I can't see a thing."
Without any other option, Ultrawoman inhaled all the gas and then flew off using her super speed to disgorge it at a safe distance. When she returned, the place was a bigger war zone than before. The bus was overturned and on fire, Vermin had used his yellow-green energy-charged ring to summon and mutated a small army of dessert creatures to huge size, Manchester black was using his purple energy-charged ring to telekinetically hurl boulders at the still airborne Orange Goblin, and Baron Mordo was nowhere to be seen nor were Punchline, Carnage, & the Joker. Worse, she felt woozy from the gas that was no doubt highly toxic to normal people or perhaps was knock-out gas. Either way, She was unsteady on her feet. What else could possibly go wrong?
"Hi mom," Superboy said. He whooshed by knocking Manchest Black off his feet.
"We came to help," Spiderling said blinding Vermin with a globe of webbing.
"Kids what are you doing here! It isn't safe! Where is Supergirl!?" Ultrawoman asked in disbelief.
"She fell asleep," Spiderling said.
"And you snuck out," Ultrawoman said not at all happy while she disarmed the cultists, knocked away the creatures, and then provided cover so the remaining trapped children and teachers could flee.
"Sorry mom, we wanted to beat up some villains as superheroes do on streaming shows," Superboy said.
"Yeah," Spiderling said.
"Superhero lady, um, Miss Lang our teacher is missing. The creepy clown lady took her away." One of the girls said.
"Oui, I've had more than enough of you wankers." Manchester Black said. His purple ring glowed fiercely.
Ultrawoman's head felt like it was about to explode. She clutched her head doubling over in pain. She could barely think.
"I no longer have time. I need to rescue Lana Lang." Orange Goblin declared. The bottom of her glider opened. "My Supreme Pumpkin Bomb will finish you all!"
A massive obsidian flaming jack-o-lantern bomb was expelled from the glider. It plummeted to Earth. Orange Goblin was long gone before the bomb impacted Ultrawoman's back. She had no choice but to shield everyone from the blast. Weakened by her ingestion of gas and Manchester's psychic attack she was not fast enough or strong enough to deflect the bomb away in time. Despite Ultrawoman absorbing most of the blast enough energy remained to knock everyone off their feet temporarily stunning them.
"Oui, come Prior Vermin our work here is done. We should go help the efforts of Sister Punchline." Manchester Black said dusting off his vestments a few minutes later.
"Mom!" Superboy said. He and Spiderling ran to where Ultrawoman lay sprawled her tattered uniform burning in places from the explosion.
"Your mom is tough. I'll live, maybe." Ultrawoman said weakly flashing the kids a half smile. "Superboy, Spiderling help the civilians, get them to safety. I'll be alright." Ultrawoman wobbled to her feet. She retrieved a broken communicator from a hidden pocket. She swore under her breath. "Damn, I can't call for help. I'm in no condition to fight three priors from the Cult of Outer Darkness plus the Joker, Carnage, that crazy clown lady, and who knows how many cultists.
"Bark," Krypto greeted his mistress tail wagging happily.
"I'm happy to see you, boy," Ultrawoman said ruffling the fur on Krypto's head. "Go get Kal, boy. We need his help."
Samllville Kansas, a short time later
"I can't believe that old coot made us take out the garbage before we can leave." Nature Girl complained.
"He isn't so bad. I sort of enjoy working here." Curse said.
"Gee, thanks for the support, Trudi." Nature Girl said making sure to emphasize her companion's new nickname while tossing one trash bag into an industrial dumpster followed by a second. "Traitor, a few kind words, and you're a good little girl, huh?"
"Maybe I'm tired of being bad. Being bad hasn't gotten me anything in life. And for your information, Trudi is a nice name it sounds pretty." Curse said. Nature Girl stifled a laugh. "Are you laughing at me?"
"Why ever would I laugh at you, Trudi?" Nature Girl said while grinning.
"You are laughing at me. I thought you were my best friend?" Curse said tears welling up in her eyes.
"I thought so too until I was replaced by Harland Sanders." Nature Girl said.
"Harland is nice to me. He's nice to both of us," Curse said.
"He sure is, for a slave driver," Nature Girl said.
"You don't like him because you're lazy," Curse said wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Take that back!" Nature Girl demanded.
"No, it's true," Curse said.
"Hey, pipe down. I'm trying to sleep." A boy about their age said. He was curled up next to the dumpster. Neither girl had noticed him until now.
"Who are you!?" Curse exclaimed.
"Yuck, you stink. Are you homeless?" Nature Girl said covering her nose.
"So what if I am?" The boy said getting to his feet.
"Why are you dressed like Aladdin?" Curse asked.
"It's all I could find when I escaped from the circus." The boy snapped.
"Hey, no need to be hostile." Nature Girl said. "We're trying to be nice."
"You could have fooled me." The boy said.
"What's your name anyway?" Nature Girl said. "I'm Lin this is my friend Cu-,"
"Trudi, nice to meet you," Curse said cutting off Nature Girl. She extended her hand which the boy reluctantly shook.
"I'm, ah, Anil Aziz." The boy finally said thinking of his real name Annihilus.
"Time to go," Superman said landing gently beside the trio. "Who is your new friend?"
"Anil Aziz, sir," Anil said.
"We found him sleeping by this dumpster." Nature Girl said. Anil glared at her but said nothing.
"Can we take him with us?" Curse asked hopefully.
"Of course, if he wants to come. Anil, would you like to accompany us to the farm of my friends the Kent Family?" Superman asked.
"Sure," Anil said after a few seconds of hesitation.
"Wonderful, but Mr. Stinky is getting a bath as soon as we get there." Nature Girl said.
"It's decided. You'll come with us. I'm sure you will get along tremulously with my friend dear old Martha Kent. This experience will make something of you I guarantee" Superman said taking Anil's hand in his own. "Don't worry if you need help. I will closely watch your progress every step of the way."
Anil felt a chill although it was a balmy night following a blazing hot day. There was something about the look in Superman's eyes something oddly familiar that disturbed him deeply. "I-I'll do my best, sir. I-I promise" He managed.
A field about forty miles northeast of Smallville
Krypto whined as he dug ferociously at the base of the grounded UFO. He knew his master was in danger grave danger. He redoubled his efforts. Hidden from TV crews on the opposite side of the oval no one noticed the swarm of tendrils that silently snaked around the unlucky super canine pulling him inside.
Hoover Dam Southern Nevada
"One wrong move I'll decapitate you," Punchline said. She was atop Lana a kukri at the teacher's throat. "You've caused me a great deal of trouble. Thanks to you opening the emergency escape hatch those kiddos escaped. I doubt you'll be enough of an offering for our sacrificial rite but we'll find out together." Punchline roughly got up pulling Lana to her feet.
"She's pure of spirit. She might do." Baron Mordo said. Around him stood a small group of cultists who escaped the defeat of the larger party.
"Excellent," Punchline said. "Let's take her inside, divine ones. The time of your ascension to godhood grows nigh."
"Goodie, goodie gumdrops," The Joker laughed. He and Carnage manhandled Lana taking her inside the dam facility.
To Be Continued
Next – Power of the Phoenix
Author's Note – I changed Gwen's dual identity from Red Goblin to Orange Goblin because orange is a direct inversion of green. Orange fits better thematically.