Not my magical world
Chapter 13
Harry trudged through the trees, leaves crunching under his feet as Jani bounced slightly on his back with each step, his gaze locked on the blackhole facility about a mile away.
A chill wind stroked his neck and chest, causing goose pimples to rise on his skin, "One of these days, I'm going to have to find a way to get my full strength back," he shook his head.
Before that, Calisto had said something about this woman's parents being inside a portal. If there were more people as powerful as her, he needed to know what they were like before he met them; a smile tugged his lips. Luckily for him, he had someone to help him answer those questions.
On his next step, Harry's eyes flared a pale purple as he entered Jani's mind, his brows knitting together as he felt a slight resistance. 'If she has some psychic abilities, why didn't she fight against the mind control?'
He shook his head, 'Then again, it wasn't a psychic attack with those controls linking directly into her nervous system.'
–XX –
Harry appeared on a mountaintop, looking down into a rocky Valley. Snow crunched under his feet, and thin air bit into his skin, making him wonder how he could feel the sensations in a memory.
A crystalline building reminiscent of Japanese architecture sat in the valley below. Farther up, smaller crystal structures were set into the rock, all glittering in the red sun.
People dressed in different colored Gi moved in and out of the structures. Each had a mutation; a man had three eyes, and a woman had four arms. A young boy manipulated rock, while a little girl sent the wind dancing around her.
"Mutants, but not the human variety," he glanced up at the sun, shielding his eyes from its red light, "I'm definitely not on earth, so where am I?"
Suddenly, the woman Jani appeared next to him, her arms folded behind her back as she stared at the valley below. "You are on the planet krypton, in the valley of Juru, looking upon the people of Juru."
"If you are here, your psychic abilities are more powerful than I thought."
Jani inclined her head, "Thank you for the compliment."
"Not going to attack me?"
Jani shook her head, her dark hair flying around her, "I see no reason why I should; you're just looking for answers."
Harry glanced at her from the side, "I suppose you can help me with that."
Jani flashed him a flirtatious smirk, "I'll answer your questions if you answer mine."
Harry gestured for her to continue.
"You are on the planet Krypton, far beyond your galaxy. Krypton was an advanced society with everyone tested for a cast; they would fall into worker, religion, science, or military."
"By your tone, I'm assuming it no longer exists."
Jani continued to stare at the people below, "Our diviners said krypton would one day explode; we've been in the Phantom Zone so long, I'm not sure if it's happened yet."
Harry swallowed as a heavy silence settled between them. "So," he began clearing his throat, "what cast do your people fall into?"
Jani stiffened, and her hands curled into fists, causing her knuckles to turn a paler shade of purple. "We didn't fall into any cast, and we are outcasts because of our mutation. Krypton is a highly advanced race, but those advancements have made them stagnant and arrogant."
Harry nodded, a weight settling in his heart; he could tell where this was going.
If krypton discovered a genetic anomaly, they would use technology to correct it, but often that would result in death. So, those with a mutation would often hide on the streets or in the wild.
"It was like that for a long time until my father Nam found them," an image of a large muscular, purple-skinned man with a horn emerging from his forehead appeared before them.
"My father was a Kryptonian doctor who experimented on one of Krypton's most sacred animals and mutated himself. Scared of the repercussions, he journeyed into the city to steal what he needed to try to cure himself.
There, he met my mother, Nadira," a short woman with long wavy black hair, healthy pale skin, and blue eyes appeared beside Nam.
"My mother was a Psionic; my father found stealing food. She almost alerted the military, who acted as police for krypton. My father saved her, but not before she was injured. Using abilities he gained from his experiments, my father healed my mother."
"After my father healed my mother, she talked him into treating other undesirables." The image below them changed, shifting into a clean city street covered in shadow.
Mutants in torn skintight uniforms shifted into the shadow as Nam and Nadira moved down the street.
Harry watched Nadira speak, the words were lost on him, but the effects weren't. People moved out of the shadows and cautiously approached Nam. One by one, Nam treated everyone.
Jani began narrating again, "After learning of the secret society hidden on krypton, my father began helping my mother explore ruins to make a better life for the mutants. Together they discovered that early Kryptonians had studied magic before giving up on it for science."
"Though there was not much, my father and mother began working together to join Kryptonian science and its forgotten mysticism."
The image before them blurred again, and they returned to the mountaintop. "Eventually, they founded the village of Juru in the mountains of Juru."
They watched as crystal buildings grew from the ground or formed from the cliffs. "With the help of their new magical technology, my mother and father not only learned much more about genetic potential, but they also changed a Kryptonians inborn energy matrix."
"Normal Kryptonians could only gain power under certain types of sunlight, but the people of Juru changed to gain power under the red sun and transform that power into magical energy. Unfortunately, we could not do much with it other than enhance our physical capabilities."
Harry stared at the city, "Considering where your people ended up, I take it that those capabilities were viewed as a threat by the rest of Krypton."
"You would be correct," their vantage point blurred.
Men and women in black skintight suits covered in metal chest plates, metal boots, heavy gauntlets, and helmets marched up the hilltop surrounding the valley.
People of Juru flew out of the canyon, energy flying from their eyes to pierce armored chest plates or transform them to constrain their movements.
Blood flew in the air, staining the snow red.
Others lifted blocky tanks into the air and threw them back down the mountain, the crash of metal on stone echoing as it journeyed down.
Though the people of Juru were strong, they were invincible; a few fell from laser fire from blocky rifles, and their bodies fell into the canyon, a pool of blood spreading out on the ground as they impacted the earth.
Their deaths drove the people of Juru on. They began using their abilities. Lightning flashed in the sky, splitting tanks in half, and the snow turned into ice spikes that skewered soldiers.
A woman with empty eye sockets soared out of the canyon, many eyes floating around her body, each shooting beams and taking down multiple targets.
Harry watched the bloodshed, images of what he had seen in his home dimension flashing through his mind.
Movement caught Harry's attention.
A man in a black spandex uniform underneath a dark red robe with a yellow border climbed the hilltop, a strange oval-shaped cannon-like device strapped to his back. The band of gold on his brow shone as he crested the hill.
"This bloodshed must stop, the people of Juru were living in peace here, but the practices of magic and genetic manipulation violated Kryptonian law. The Juru must be punished."
"That is Jor-El," Jani said as the man slung the cannon off his back and aimed it down the valley. A screen at the back of the device lit up, and Harry moved closer, watching the device target every one of Juru.
"How are we seeing this? No one of Juru is up here, and I do not think you were born yet."
"A woman of Juru is a seer; she showed us what happened as it is an important moment in our history."
Together, they watched Jor-El fire into the canyon; as the people of Juru became immaterial ghosts, the world around them began to fade.
–XX –
Harry paused before the giant metal doors of the facility. Turning his head, he eyed Jani as she feigned sleeping, her head resting on his right shoulder. "If you're awake, that means you can walk."
Jani opened her eyes, a Cheshire grin spreading across her face as she batted her eyes at him. She grunted as Harry dropped her legs, forcing her to fall to the ground.
Pouting, she moved beside him, smoothing her Gi, "a little rude, you know."
"So is pretending to be asleep so I would carry you."
"You did shoot me full of electricity," she raised her hand, fingering the silver band around her neck, "could we take this off?"
Harry eyed her, "I don't know if I can trust you yet. Besides, all that does is stop you from absorbing solar energy."
"I was being mind-controlled."
"Hence why I shot you full of electricity." Stepping forward, pale purple light filled Harry's eyes as he put his fingers in the seam of the doors. Energy filled his veins as he pried them open, the metal screeching as it was forced apart.
Stepping inside, the smell of decay and old blood filled Harry's nose. He looked around, eyeing the bloodied bodies of scientists as they lay strewn across the floor. "They use you for security; I know that because I recognized your figure as the one that killed Robert Frank Senior. If you'd done this, I think all of them would have similar wounds." Harry's eyes flashed purple, "besides, they all died when you were fighting me, so do you know who did this?"
Jani stared at the bodies wide-eyed. Some were cut clean in half, their innards spilling out onto the concrete, while others were pried open, the bloodied ribs reaching for the sky as the stomach, intestines, lungs, and heart were exposed to the air.
Turning to the side, Jani vomited on the floor.
Ignoring the sounds of retching behind him, Harry's gaze locked onto an arm, the shoulder still attached, bloodied flesh draining from the joint. "My friend Callisto said she saw three people flying from the facility."
Jani nodded, "Kru-El, Leslie Lar, and Va-Kox. Each of them is a Kryptonians Scientist imprisoned for either unethical experiments, arms dealing, or attempted murder."
"Kryptonians," Harry said slowly, "so, their criminals who have powers like yours?"
"Yes."
Harry shook his head, "Not my problem. I'm only interested in making a home for mutants."
"If those three have their way, you will find that difficult. Va-Kox is particularly interested in mutants."
"I'll deal with that when the time comes." They entered a large room with a giant metal octagon on the far wall. Blue energy filled the octagon, into ghostly faces peered out of the world.
"Jani," a woman cried, and Harry recognized her from Jani's memories as Nadira.
"Mother," Jani cried, sprinting toward the portal.
As Jani was reunited with her parents, Harry looked around the room.
Silver cables snaked across the floor and hooked into the bottom of the octagon. More lines ran from the side of the octagon and into large racks containing blinking circuit boards.
A control panel sat about 6 feet away from the portal on a thin stand.
Rectangular screens hung from the ceiling, each showing a different scene inside the portal.
Harry moved forward, his eyes taking in the barren rocky landscapes of what Jani called the Phantom zone and the intangible figures floating around. Moving to a screen at the room's far end, Harry stared at a temple-like structure reminiscent of Japanese architecture.
Men, women, and children in Gi's moved around the temple, going about their daily lives. These specters seemed more solid than the others, and he even saw a few babies on women's hips or cradled in men's arms.
"Those are the people of Juru," Jani said as she stopped beside him, "with our magical knowledge, we built a semblance of life in the Phantom Zone, even if we didn't age there."
"Inspiring to see people build a life even in the bleakest places."
"We were lucky Jor-El sent our village into the Phantom Zone, and even luckier, it landed on solid ground."
Harry turned to her as Callisto moved to stand beside him, "I take it you want your people out of the Phantom Zone?"
Jani nodded.
Harry turned to Callisto, "What do you think?"
Callisto's eyebrows shot up, "You're asking me?" She questioned, incredulity in her voice.
He nodded to the portal, "You've talked to them. I haven't."
"And you've probably read her mind," she gestured to Jani.
A self-deprecating smile spread across Harry's face, "You are learning."
Calisto shook her head, "They don't seem like bad people."
"From Jani's memories," he nodded to the woman, "They seemed peaceful from what I saw. They were in the Phantom Zone for being different, just like we are being persecuted for our mutant gene."
"Seems pretty clear then."
"It would be if they didn't become so powerful under sunlight."
"I didn't think you would want to be prejudiced."
Harry jerked back, "I'm not."
"What would you call wanting to keep a people imprisoned because of their genes?"
Harry looked down, "They're so strong; they could rule us all."
Calisto nodded, "They could, but is it right to keep them somewhere they don't belong because of what they might do?"
Harry straightened, purple energy filling his eyes, "Guess I better get started then." Moving past Callisto and Jani, Harry stared at the room hard.
People of purple energy slowly phased into the room, going about tasks unknown to Harry.
Moving across the room, Harry stopped before the portal controls, watching its technician work, paying attention to each key they pressed. Stepping into the image, Harry's body stiffened as the memories left on the technology flowed through his mind.
After the knowledge settled, his power faded, the pale purple images winked out of existence, and he looked around the room, "It's odd."
"What's odd?" Jani asked.
"There are bodies throughout this place, so many in fact that death is heavy in the air, but this room is spotless."
Jani looked around her, her eyes glowing with pale light, "That is interesting, but I would like to free my people from their prison."
"Right," Harry's hands began slowly moving over the controls.
Calisto moved up behind Harry as the images on the TV screens shifted, "Hold it right there."
"What," Harry's hands paused on the controls as he stepped back to stare at the screens. At least a dozen lab-coat-covered bodies were floating between the Phantom Zone's landmasses.
"Good eye, but why is there no blood?"
Callisto's eyes flicked between the screens as she chewed on one corner of her lip, "I can't see much, but from what I can tell from here. Some of these people were killed methodically and cleanly, while others were torn apart curiously like they were trying to find out what made them tick."
"I'm assuming the bloody bodies spread throughout the facility came from the curious individual."
"That would be my guess."
"It had to be the people you saw flying away."
"Probably."
"You know they are Kryptonians like Jani and her people. Do you still think it's safe to let them out?"
"I'm not saying it's safe, just that it's the right thing to do."
"Fair enough," Harry moved to the controls, "but after this, we need to look for Frank Junior."
Callisto grimaced, "I completely forgot about Junior."
"So did I until just now."
Moving to the controls, Harry's fingers danced across them before freezing. Leaning forward, he eyed something on the small screen, "Well, we have a problem."
Jani and Callisto moved closer, peering over his shoulder.
"What is it?" Calisto asked.
"There are 150,000 Juru in the Phantom Zone plus the small village they live in. If I want to free them all, we'll need a space much larger than this," he gestured around. "The problem with this is the portal is attached to the wall."
"Can you," Calisto gestured at the machine, "condense it with your mojo?"
"I could, but I need to look for Junior."
"If you can free my parents," Jani began, "they will be able to condense the portal while you look for your missing friend."
"All right," isolating the images of Nadira and Nam, Harry pressed a button on the keyboard. Turning, he watched blue light burst from the portal, and two figures emerged from the energy.
Nadira of Juru sprinted forward as she finished forming, her arms flying out to wrap around her daughter. As they hugged, Harry checked her against the image Jani had shown him.
She was 5'8", slender, with wavy black hair that stopped in the middle of her back, healthy pale skin, and blue eyes. A dark purple Gi accented by a dark green border showed off her curves.
Satisfied, Harry turned his attention to Nam.
Nam of Juru was 6'1" tall with broad shoulders, heavily muscled arms, purple skin, yellow eyes, and a curved horn emerging from his forehead. A dark beard covered a blocky face with a strong jaw.
He was dressed in a yellow Gi with no sleeves, and bandages were wrapped around his arms and ankles.
Harry stepped forward, staring into Nam's yellow eyes.
For a moment, they just stood there, sizing each other up.
"Your daughter tells me you can minimize that portal to get the rest of your people out of the Phantom Zone when we find enough space."
A smile curved Nam's lips as he slowly shook his head, "She always had faith in me, but this technology is different than what I'm used to. I'll have to learn about it first, and I don't think we have time for that."
Harry pressed his lips together. If he helped them, they could help him make a safe place for mutants. They were genetically different on their planet and knew the persecution the mutants would face, but with their power, should he take the risk?
For a moment, indecision danced in his eyes before vanishing, "I can reconfigure the technology, but if I do, would your people share what they knew of technology and genetics with me? Surely you have someone in Juru that is technologically knowledgeable."
"You would do that even being suspicious of us?"
Harry raised an eyebrow, and Nam nodded at Nadira, "my wife is Psionic. With you so close, she thought checking you out was prudent."
"As a friend said, I can't be suspicious of you just because you're different, so I'm giving you a bit of faith."
Nam inclined his head, "I think we could do that."
"We have a deal then," Harry said, shaking Nam's hand. Turning away, Harry's eyes flashed purple as he ensured Nam was honest with him. 'They don't seem like bad people,' he thought as he approached the door.
"Callisto, I'm going to look for Junior. Are you coming, or do you want to stay here?"
Callisto tore her gaze away from the TV screens, "I have seen enough dead bodies. You go ahead."
Nam cleared his throat, "If you don't mind, I would like to look around."
Harry gestured over his shoulder, and Nam jogged to meet him.
–XX –
Harry and Nam moved down the hallway, their eyes flicking to the bodies strewn across the floor. Blood pooled beneath them in different spots from perfectly circular holes.
"If Callisto is right, these people were killed by the more methodical of the trio that escaped the facility."
Nam nodded, "Then it would be Kru-El or Leslie Lar."
"You know them?"
"A little."
"What do you think their motives are now that they have escaped?"
"Neither is the type to confront anyone directly. Though they have powers under the sun of this world, they would much rather strike from the shadows and prove their superior intelligence."
"What about the other one, Va-Kox?"
Nam glanced at him, the light above reflecting in his yellow eyes, "You did learn a lot from Jani. Va-Kox is the one we'll have to worry about; he is insane."
Coming to an intersection, Harry sent a pulse of power through his feet. As the energy swept down the hallway, a three-dimensional image of the building formed in his mind. He could sense some radioactive energy, but this place was so heavily shielded that it was hard to pinpoint its location.
Harry turned to Nam, "Jani told me about him mutating the sea life of Krypton."
Nam nodded, "He's the type to kidnap genetic anomalies and," he grimaced, "play with them."
"Looks like I'll have my work cut out for me."
"You mean we will have our work cut out for us."
Harry raised an eyebrow.
"This is a Kryptonian problem, which means Kryptonians need to help fix it. Plus, my wife shared your memories with me. I know you're not of this world, just as we are not of this universe. I know what you built and are trying to do here; we of Juru want in."
"Why?"
"I know that you want to make the mutants stronger. We can help with that, we've seen your magical knowledge, and we believe we can help both people come together into something new."
Harry stared at him for a long moment, "If I give you a little magical energy, can you help me find my friend?"
"Are you sure you can trust me?"
"Trust has to start somewhere."
"Do it then."
Pale purple energy flared around Harry's body. Slowly, he reached forward and placed his hand on Nam's shoulder. Nam's eyes widened as the purple flames dancing around Harry's body became tendrils.
He tensed as they reared back and stabbed into his body. He gasped as his body drank in the energy. The world slowed down around him, and his mind cleared. Vitality filled his body, and he stood straighter, feeling like a weight had been removed from him after decades.
The feeling settled as Harry removed his hand.
"I can see why you were nervous about us. With strength like this, we could cause trouble."
"You'll get stronger the longer you spend under the sun. Now, can you help me find my friend? I put a memory of him in your mind while I charged you up."
"Maybe it's you we should be afraid of," the color of Nam's irises faded as the walls around him became intangible under his newly enhanced vision.
Moving past Harry, Nam stepped down the left hallway, "Follow me."
Walking down the hallway, they passed rooms covered in thick dust. Lights flickered as they moved down the hallway, elongating their shadows across the metal walls.
They stopped before a vault door with a rotating lock.
Nam pointed to the door, "He's in there, but I must warn you it's not pretty."
"Do you want to test yourself, or do you want me to open it?"
"With what's on the other side of that door, I would rather you open it."
Stepping forward, pale purple energy flowed through Harry's veins as his muscles bulged, stretching his skin taught. His heart hammered as he grabbed hold of the dial and pulled, veins bulging against his skin as he strained.
For a moment, nothing happened then the sound of metal creaking began to Echo down the hallway.
"Backup."
Nam backed up, his eyes locked on Harry, noting the energy veins running through Harry's body.
Only a fourth were lit up; the rest were either mangled or dim, a strange black energy crackling around them.
With a pinging sound, screws popped from the hinges, bouncing down the hallway as they ricocheted off the wall. The door swung open, scraping across the concrete floor.
Harry backed away as the door opened, the energy fading from his veins.
His eyes widened as he caught sight of Robert Frank Junior, his mouthwatering unpleasantly.
Sitting in a molded metal recess was the torso of Robert Frank Junior. Blood ran down the walls from severed stumps packed full of glowing wires.
"Oh, Junior, what did they do to you?"
Junior stared forward, his pale blue eyes glazed over, his mouth hanging open. Drool ran down his chin to drip onto his broad chest.
Harry turned to Nam, "You're a doctor; can you heal him?"
Nam stepped forward, his yellow eyes eyeing the severed limbs. "If we could get him down, I could take care of the open wounds, but regenerating the limbs would be beyond me."
Harry released a breath, "Get ready to stop him from bleeding to death. I'll take care of the rest." With a gesture, the wires tore free of Junior's body, and the man released a keening whine as he dropped toward the floor.
Nam moved forward, his horn glowing a pale green as he knelt beside Junior's body.
Harry knelt on Junior's opposite side, pale purple energy filling his eyes as he placed his hands on Junior's chest.
Nam watched the purple energy flow through Junior's veins before stopping at the stumps. Sweat began to pop on Harry's forehead as the limbs slowly regenerated.
Turning away from Harry, Nam focused on the wounds he could heal. 'Definitely, someone we need to watch out for.'
–XX –
Three figures floated above the Trask company headquarters, a company that was secretly designing technology to take out mutants.
"Are you sure this is the right place?" Kru-El asked as he floated into the moonlight.
He was 5'11" tall and thin, with wiry muscles, a narrow face with a prominent chin, slick back dark hair, blue eyes, and a thin mustache. The blue spandex he wore highlighted his lack of muscle in the moonlight.
"I'm sure," Leslie Lar moved beside him, her wavy blonde hair cascading down her back. Stray hairs fluttered in the wind.
Kru-El glanced at her, admiring her body. She was 5'4" tall, slender, and curvy, with thick wavy blonde hair, slightly tanned skin, and blue eyes. She wore a dark green gown that highlighted the feminine curves of her body.
'This is precisely the place we need, a place to show our brilliance, a place to accomplish our goals.'
They both stared down at the building, imagining what they could accomplish with its resources.
Both turned at the sound of a high-pitched giggle.
Va-Kox giggled, a broad smile on his face. His six-foot frame was half hidden by a long Brown coat, "Fun, fun, fun," he chanted, his long messy reddish-brown hair falling over his face, hiding his green eyes from view. He drummed his fingers together, "more things to cut, more people to pull apart," he closed his eyes, inhaling deeply through his nose, "more screams to savor."
Kru-El leaned close to Leslie, "Are you sure we need him?"
"He is the best geneticist we've got."
"He's the only one we've got."
"Exactly!"
Sighing, Kru-El drifted toward Trask Enterprises, his features shifting as he drew closer to the building, "Let's just get this over with."