Disclaimer: All Characters/settings/trademarks referenced from Dragonball/Z/GT/Super & DC entertainment are the respective properties of their original creators.
A/N: So, real quick, I need to clarify some things about the DC being portrayed in this fic. I originally stated that my Kara is the N52 version and that will endure. However, as I haven't read much else of the N52 (aside from Batman), the overall universe for DC is going to be pretty much an amalgam constructed from my own research online, some of the animated series I've watched, and the various movies. It will be somewhat aligned with the vision of the N52, though, in that a major theme of that continuity was Superheroes being a fairly recent development met with a lot of distrust by the general public. On with the story.
"The Sun And The Moon"
Chapter Six: Rift
The morning of the launch, Trunks had gone to his mother to tell her what he had decided. The woman was rarely, if ever, nonplussed and she proved it yet again. She had laughed at him for being so serious and said she was happy that the two of them had finally made it official. Her putting Kara on the spot had been a ploy to knock over the last domino preventing their union and she said she'd never actually do anything that threatened to separate them. On the surface, he had been annoyed with her meddling but, deep down, he was grateful.
Some prodding revealed that she was already in the early stages of planning a man-made portal to Kara's universe but needed a closer analysis of the rift. It had been the real reason for the trip into space.
His mom had always been a true prodigy when it came to the practical implementation of fantastical ideas and this instance was likely to be no different. She had already been demonstrating her new abilities, granted by Dende, in the form of various "side projects" as she had referred to them. In reality, they were anything but. Take, for instance, her approach to the problem of street traffic and commuting; her solution was to eliminate the necessity for a personal car entirely. Orange Star, being the new hub of human civilization, had replaced street signs, crosswalks, and highways in favor of teleportation gateways inspired by Goku's Instant Transmission. And that was but one example of what she could do.
Her grand idea for the inter-dimensional portal to Kara's place of origin was her ninth symphony in the making. With the rationale that the earth on the other side was probably in a similar state to their own prior to the Twins, in regards to overpopulation and the scarcity of resources, she imagined a new economy based around the immigration of citizens from that earth and the advancement of humankind as an interstellar species on both sides of the window.
Trunks had never been more awed by her ambition. He hadn't been the only one, though. There was no shortage of people willing to volunteer for such an historic space voyage. King Cold's old ship, newly designated the Vision, had limited room for passengers in its current configuration, though. As a result, he, his mother, Kara, Gohan, and Mai were accompanied only by a small screw of twelve persons. The rest of the space on board the craft was taken up by highly sensitive and specialized equipment meant to dissect the rift and discover its inner workings.
When they had arrived at the coordinates, however, it had been to a scene none of them had expected. Instead of a minuscule tear, they were faced with an enormous gash in the universal fabric that was everything but innocuous. It was several thousand kilometers wide, jagged, and it's event horizon was surrounded by a chain of violent ionic storms. Through the most stable portion, they had a view into the other side and could see a blue dwarf star with a ring of debris orbiting it. Kara had told them it was the remains of her hometown, Argo City, confirming without a doubt that they were in the right place. His mother had immediately instructed Mai, who was in charge of piloting the ship, to park them in a stable orbit so she could begin running the necessary scans to assess just how bad the situation was.
Almost three weeks had passed since then, with nary a word from the woman about a prognosis. With little else to be done, and limited to such a confined space, Trunks and Kara spent the majority of their time either lightly sparring in the gravity room or hidden away inside their shared quarters doing other things which tested the limit of Trunks' ability to finely control Super Saiyan. It was in the midst of one those trysts that Bulma had finally reached out to address the bridge crew, via ship-wide intercom, to assemble for a debrief.
Trunks and Kara were both the last to arrive inside of the circular chamber, unaware of how disheveled they looked, but Gohan's quirked brow and Mai's smirk tipped them off. Luckily, Bulma was too focused on bringing up her presentation to add to their embarrassment.
"Gather round, everyone," she said, punching a series of keys that launched the holographic slide show. A three-dimensional projection of the rift and the surrounding space appeared before all of their faces. It was animated to show the undulations and expansion over a repeating time lapse. The loop was short but it depicted a significant growth within that limited range. "As you can see from this simulation, the rift is expanding exponentially. This short loop has been sped up to show you the progress it's made over the last nineteen days alone. If left unchecked, this thing would've reached the outer edge of our solar system in another six months. A month after that, everything up to Mars would've been swallowed up."
"Well it's a good thing we got here when we did, then," Gohan said.
"How do we stop it?" Mai asked.
"Very simply, actually. We just need to cut it off from it's power source. If we do that, it will collapse in on itself. Only thing is, it'll have to be done from the other side. That's where you two come in," Bulma said as she turned to look at her son and his girlfriend.
"You want us to do it?" Trunks asked.
"We'll be stuck there once it closes, won't we?" Kara said. It was more a statement of realization than a question.
"Yes and yes," Bulma replied. "However, as I've already told Trunks, I had plans to establish a permanent gateway long before we actually set out on this voyage. You might be stuck for a while, but it will only be for as long as it takes me to build an inter-dimensional wormhole projector and establish a stable connection. For practical purposes, it will be better to build one back on earth anyway. Coming all the way out here was just my way of gathering the necessary data to duplicate the phenomenon."
Trunks and Kara glanced at each other for what appeared to be a silent conversation. The two teenagers entwined hands then, nodding in agreement, before returning their gazes to Bulma. "You can count on us," Trunks said.
"Good. Follow me."
OoooooO
The inside of the space pod was cramped for the two full-grown teenagers. Luckily, they didn't mind having their bodies squished up against each other.
Trunks had nearly forgotten about Goku's confiscated ship from his first trip to the past since it had been so long. It made sense for them to use it, though. They were going to need faster-than-light transportation to Kara's earth once the Kryptonian hyperspace portal powering the rift was destroyed.
They had each said their goodbyes before launching the craft, with both emphasizing their well wishes to Gohan and Mai. It was likely they were going to miss the birth of the couple's first child in their absence. Trunks' mother had assured them that she had all the data necessary to formulate a working equation and that most of her work would be spent on sourcing the rare elements to build/power such a gateway. She had also given him a special capsule that she explained would function as a beacon for her to lock onto when she was ready to activate the thing.
A slight turbulence shook the craft as they crossed it's event horizon while an aurora light show danced outside of the hatch porthole. When they emerged on the other side, they steered it to a safe distance and activated the atmospheric shield so the door could be safely opened. Kara scooted herself off of her lover's lap to give him a view clear enough to launch a ki blast at the portal. In one shot, all of the energy emitters were vaporized and the rift collapsed.
When the debris cleared, they closed the hatch and input the coordinates to earth. Kara got comfortable on Trunks' lap as he wrapped his arms around her and they settled in for an extended ride.
OoooooO
Washington D.C.
Tuesday October 18th, 2016
The crowd outside of the Lincoln Memorial was massive despite the gray clouds gathering in the afternoon skies above and the national weather center's warning of a tropical storm blowing in from the southeast. If anything, the threats of inclement weather had served to bring out only the most ardent political activists. Lex Luthor stared out at them as he waited in the wings for one of his campaign surrogates to introduce him. Very soon, he would take his place at the podium and deliver a speech to rally his base.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to present to you the soon-to-be President of these United States of America – mister Alexander Joseph Luthor!"
Lex put on his best media friendly smile as he strolled onto center stage while waving graciously at the spectators. He shook his presenter's hand, patting the man on the shoulder, before taking his place at the elevated podium. "Thank you, so much, everyone," he said, after clearing his throat and adjusting his suit tie. "I'm honored and humbled by this tremendous showing of support. It's only because of you that this campaign- no, this movement, has come this far. You, the people, not only made all of this possible but are, in fact, the very reason this team and I have come together. So, before I continue, I would like to applaud all of you for being active and standing up for what you believe in!" Lex punctuated his exclamation with actual applause which was immediately reciprocated by the throng of voters. The roar persisted for well over a minute and seemed as if it would carry on for much longer lest he fail to bring them all to order. He did have a speech to get on with, after all. He raised his hands in a gesture meant to signal a break in cheer but the roar only seemed to get louder.
It was a few moments before he, and everyone else, realized that the growing crescendo wasn't coming from the massive assembly of human beings. Everyone went silent, himself included, as they all looked to the skies with growing apprehension. Then, in an abrupt display, a huge fireball burst through the blanket of clouds at near supersonic speed and zoomed overhead at a dangerously low altitude. Before their eyes, the comet-like object crashed into the Washington monument, taking the tower out in a blaze, before digging a trench into the earth that sent up plumes of dirt and smoke.
Lex reached for his coat pocket, where his phone had been furiously vibrating the whole time, and withdrew it to find the home screen flooded with unanswered text notifications. He thumbed his passcode and scrolled quickly through the thread. They were all messages relayed from Mercy. DOD says UFO inside US airspace. Fighter jets have been scrambled already. Radio chatter suggests a landing site on the eastern seaboard somewhere between North Carolina and Maryland. Getting the car warmed up. Be ready to evacuate backstage. Lex, where are you? Lex! He had been so busy working the crowd that he'd totally ignored the damn thing. So it was aliens? As if they hadn't had enough of those already. Still, such a thing was a perfect fit for his agenda. He dialed Mercy and told her to bring him his briefcase. A smart man always came prepared.
Pandemonium had completely taken over the audience at this point. People were screaming, crying, and crawling all over each other to try and get away before something worse happened. The noise and wind from the approaching military helicopters didn't help the situation much either. When Lex saw his young personal bodyguard appear from behind the stage, lugging a rather hefty piece of luggage that was nowhere close to being an actual briefcase, he ran over to meet her with a smirk on his face. The "briefcase" was an ace up his sleeve; containing the broken down components of his newest and most streamlined exo-suit. This was his chance to test it in the field for the first time.
OoooooO
Trunks and Kara had been awoken from hypersleep by the blaring of alarms just in time for the first missile to impact their pod. Two more had struck home before they had gotten their wits about them and Trunks took manual control of their flight. Luckily, the ship had been sturdy enough to handle the bombardment without coming apart. However, when Trunks tried to evade the attack jets they had discovered that the manual function had been damaged. Their crash landing in a crowded area had, therefore, been unavoidable.
A small electrical fire burst to life inside the tiny cabin of the pod, upon striking earth, and forced Kara to kick the door open so they could escape the smoke. Neither of them was much worse for wear but, when Trunks tried to hit the button that would force the ship back into a capsulized state – it began to spark with electrical discharge. It was going to blow any second and there were hundreds, if not thousands, of bystanders within range. Thinking quickly, Kara hoisted the pod above her head and hurled it into the sky with all of her might. It exploded a moment later. The resulting concussive wave almost knocked the surrounding helicopters out of the air.
"That was too close," Kara said, wiping the sweat from her brow. She was still running on ki but could feel her body already starting to drink up the sun rays breaking through the clouds.
Trunks grinned at her. "Nice save."
"Thank-" Kara's was cutoff by a small explosion detonating against the side of her head that same moment. The blast itself was barely enough to move her head and didn't hurt her. However, the resulting cloud of neon green smoke she inhaled brought her to her knees. She was overcome with a fit of coughs at the same time.
"Kara!" Trunks shouted, in concern, as she crouched beside her.
"Well, well, well... look what we have here. Another Kryptonian and a sympathizer."
Trunks threw his attention toward the voice and, looking up, saw a bald man in a suit of green and purple armor hovering several yards away from them. It was a mechanical suit with lights flashing and servos whirring – like something out of a science fiction movie. The man inside was glaring down at his girlfriend with a confident sneer. It was unsettling to say the least.
"Can you stand?" he whispered into Kara's ear. She nodded her head after managing to gain control of her breathing. "Good," he said, using himself as a prop to help her regain her footing.
"Ah ah, I don't think so," the armored man said before lifting a hand and blasting them both with a high powered energy beam.
They were both blown away and sent bouncing across the razed earth left by their crash landing. Trunks easily recovered to his feet but when he glanced over to Kara, she was face down on the ground and her hair was already caked with dirt and blood. "You son of a bitch!" he shouted, glaring at the man.
"Careful, son. That wasn't even a quarter of my power. I'm actually surprised your Kryptonian friend went down that easily. I've never seen one so weak. If you value her life, you'll stand down."
"Who are you!?" Trunks shouted, sliding into a defensive stance while glancing at Kara from his peripherals.
"I'm a defender of the people," the man replied in a very calm and collected manner. "And you are an unwelcome trespasser. Look at the destruction you've already caused. I would ask that you surrender yourself to the authorities so they can deport you from this planet or else face the wrath of humanity. This is the only warning you'll get from me."
Trunks got the sense that this guy's threats were anything but empty. Though, as a Super Saiyan, he doubted his ability to actually harm him. It was Kara he was really worried about. She'd been injured to the point of bloodshed and this aggressor seemed to know more about her species than either of them did. It was obvious that poison gas had been tailored specifically to injure her. He could probably have taken this guy out easily but he couldn't risk leaving Kara untended. So, the next instant, he made a show of slowly raising his hands into the sign of surrender - which gave the enemy pause enough for Trunks to quickly flip his hands down to the side of his face, close his eyes, and yell out "Solar Flare!"
When Trunks reopened his eyes and saw it had achieved the desired effect, he zipped right over to Kara, scooped her into his arms, and then blasted into the sky. The helicopters immediately launched missiles at them, which he easily dodged as he increased his altitude and got above the clouds. When the fired projectiles changed course to pursue, he shifted Kara to one arm so he could use the other hand to blast them out of the sky. Unfortunately, just when he thought is was over, a trio of fighter jets pierced through the blanket and started hailing them with both missiles as well as machine gun fire. Kara cried out in pain and was jarred back into semi-consciousness when she took a grazing hit to the leg. Trunks cursed out loud. His body wasn't big enough to completely shield her from the storm of high caliber bullets. With a sharp intake of breath, he ignited his golden aura and thrust them into supersonic speed. The aircraft tried to pursue but Trunks was just too fast.
He flew until the gray skies completely disappeared on the horizon behind them and then began to scan the ground for a suitably isolated place to land where he could patch Kara up without being disturbed. It was farmlands below them as far as the eye could see so he picked a random barn (a big red one) to stow away in. As soon as they got inside, he found her a spot to rest atop a bale of hay and was careful to not disturb the bloody gash of her exposed thigh. He watched her groggily sit up from a side glance as he pulled out his capsule case to look for the first-aid kit. "Hey, take it easy, okay? You're in bad shape."
"I'll live," Kara said, wincing slightly as she flexed her wounded leg. She reached a hand up to touch her throbbing head and came away with a bit of fresh blood. "Who was that guy, anyway?"
"I didn't get a name. He seemed to be familiar with Kryptonians, though. Seems to have some kind of grudge too. Do you know what that green gas he used was? I've never seen you get dropped so fast."
"Yeah, I think so. The last time I felt this specific sort of pain was in the presence of kryptonite. It's a radioactive element from my homeworld. It makes me ill and saps all of my strength. I had no idea the humans on this planet had the ability to weaponize it, though."
"Hm... that's a pretty big weakness. How in the hell did they even manage to figure out something like that?" he asked, finally finding the capsule he was looking for. He tossed it onto the ground and, when the smoke cleared, popped open the metal box to begin digging around for some disinfectant and bandages.
"My cousin, Kal. He was living here a long time before I arrived and has been going around doing heroics for a few years, I think. There's no shortage of bad people among this society. At least, that's the impression I got during my brief interaction with it before I wound up on your doorstep. He's probably got enemies with a lot of resources at their disposal."
"I guess that bald guy was one of them, then," Trunks said as he opened a bottle of rubbing alcohol and dunked a cotton brush into it. "This might sting a bit."
Kara hissed through her teeth as he started dabbing her wounds with the burning substance. It was over fairly quickly and the ointment he applied to the inside of the gauze helped a lot. It was unlikely she was gonna need the wrappings for very long, though, since she could already feel the effects of the gas beginning to wear off. Once her strength fully returned, a bit of sunlight would help her wounds close on their own. "Thank you," she said, mustering an endearing smile.
Trunks moved in close to give her a quick peck on the lips before he went back to close up the first-aid box. "So, what now?"
Kara blew out a sigh. She honestly wasn't sure where to go from here. Kal had found her on his own last time around. If they got in touch with him, she was sure he'd be willing to help them. The worldkiller situation was no longer an issue she needed to be concerned about, at least. It was pretty obvious the humans were still in charge of their own planet. She'd have to thank Kal for handling things in her absence. Surely, there was no one else powerful enough to have stopped Reign from carrying out her threats. "We need to find my cousin. He'll be able to help us."
"Okay, how do we do that?" Trunks asked.
"I... don't know, to be honest," she admitted.
"You said he was into heroics, right?" At Kara's nod, Trunks went on. "Well, then, he's gotta be famous. Or, at least, well known enough for us to go ask some local people about him. There's gotta be some friendly folks who'd be willing to point us in the right direction."
Kara's eyes lit up at that. "You're right! He saves people all over the world so we should be able to ask anyone. He wears armor like mine so it shouldn't be hard getting help from his fans once they see me."
"I saw a small town not too far from this farm when we passed overhead. We can start there," Trunks said.
OoooooO
The young Super Saiyan alighted softly onto the paved lot of the Gas N Go fueling station that was situated on a corner lot bordering a mainstreet intersection. His Kryptonian companion was right behind him. There were plenty of patrons (farmers by the looks of them) parked beside the gas pumps with pickup trucks prevailing over passenger cars and nearly all of them dropped what they were doing to stare slack-jawed at the spectacle of their arrival. Trunks put on his most friendly smile before addressing Kara from the side of his mouth. "Follow my lead, okay?"
Kara nodded, schooling her features to match his, and stayed close as he approached an overweight man in blue overalls who had been in the midst of pumping fuel into his white pickup truck.
"Excuse me, Sir," Trunks said, in his most polite tone. "If it's not too much trouble, could I ask you for directions?"
The man blinked slowly, failing to reply, and simply continued to stare at Kara who was standing right behind him.
Trunks soldiered on. "We're looking for Kal-El. My friend here is his cousin and she hasn't seen him in a long time so we were hoping you could tell us where we might find him." Trunks kept up his friendly facade until he noticed the man's face morph into a fear stricken expression. He tried to backpedal and bumped into the bed of his truck while making a distinct whimpering noise. "Hey, buddy, are you okay?"
"D-Don't... hurt me!" the man yelled, hysterically.
Trunks was beyond perplexed. A quick glance at Kara confirmed she was feeling the same way. "Sir, nobody's going to hurt you, I promise. I just want to find my cousin. If you could just point us in the right direction, we'll get out of your hair," Kara said.
"Stay back, demon!" the man shouted. "Someone call the cops!"
That was when Trunks finally noticed the other bystanders. Their faces and body language mimicked this man's. They were all scared to death. It didn't make sense, though. They hadn't been outwardly aggressive or threatening in the slightest. If anything, Kara's obvious association to her cousin should have put them at ease. What the hell was going on?
"Linda! What did I say about walking around in cosplay while out in public? People will think you're weird. Kenny, you should know better than to indulge her in these sorts of hobbies."
Trunks and Kara both turned to the source of the sudden disturbance. It was an older brunette woman with streaks of gray coloring her hair and clad in a faded blue jeans/plaid blouse combo. She seemed to defy the state of her fellow patrons by marching right up to the pair of teens and sticking her face in close enough proximity for them to smell the light dusting of perfume she had on. "Play along," she whispered. "You two are in danger if you don't. I'm a friend, I promise."
It took a second for Trunks to process that but, when he did, he made a show of shrugging his shoulders and laughing it off. "Oh, jeez, come on granny. You never let us have any fun. Isn't that right, Linda?" he asked, straining to maintain his goofy grin as he turned to look at Kara.
"Oh... uh, right. Yeah. What a drag," she replied, somewhat lamely.
"I'm not letting you two off that easy. Come on, I'm taking you home," the woman said, grabbing both of them by the wrists and making a show of dragging them back to her minivan. "Get in there and behave yourselves," she added, rather loudly, before slamming the sliding door shut after they had seated themselves in the back. The speed with which she backed out of the parking stall and peeled out of the lot was astonishing.
It was more than a minute and a good distance from the sparsely populated town center, before anyone worked up the nerve to speak. It was Kara who broke the ice. "So... what just happened?"
"I just rescued you guys. I guarantee that little act isn't gonna fool anyone for long, though. They'll probably have the security camera footage of us all over the news within a couple of hours. I need to get us all disguises and we need to get off the grid as soon as possible. I've got some clothes at home that you two can change into to become a little less obvious."
"I'm sorry, who are you again?" Trunks asked.
"Martha Kent. Nice to meet you," the woman replied, briefly making eye contact with them both from the rear view mirror.
Trunks and Kara glanced at one another while donning similar expressions of bewilderment.
"I recognize that look," Martha said, dividing her attention between them and the road ahead. "You can relax, though. I know you're really Clark's cousin. He told me about you before he... well, I got a pretty good description of you from him in case you ever turned up again. I'm sorry, Clark is his earth name – you probably didn't know that. I raised Kal-El from the time he was a baby. My late husband and I adopted him. He never mentioned your brother, though," she added, indicating Trunks.
"Brother?" Kara repeated. "Oh no... Trunks is... he's not... we're not..."
"We're actually together," Trunks supplied.
"Oh... I didn't realize. I guess you're both pretty lucky to have each other then," Martha said with sincerity and a smile. "I suppose the two of you can restart the Kryptonian race all on your own."
"I'm actually Saiyan," Trunks replied.
"Right," Martha replied, filing that away for later. "Well, they didn't teach about aliens when I was in school so I hope you can forgive my lack of knowledge."
"Um... can you tell me why everyone was so afraid of us?" Kara asked.
Martha sighed and remained silent for several long seconds. "Aliens aren't exactly on good terms with humanity right now – especially ones from Krypton. And the fact that you're from the house of El definitely makes it even worse. That "S" on your chest might as well be a bullseye."
"What's a bullseye?" Kara asked.
"It's a target," Trunks said, to which Kara made a silent "oh" with her mouth. "Why is Kara's family crest a target?"
"That's a long story," Martha said. "Probably longer than we have time for right now. Listen, you'll get your answers for everything soon enough. But first, we all need to disappear before the authorities can catch up to us."
The rest of the car ride was mostly silent after that. Martha took them to her home which turned out to be a farm house out in the same rural area where the two teens had originally sought shelter. They spent less than ten minutes in there; just long enough for the alien pair to strip out of their preferred clothing and don new outfits consisting of local garments. Afterward, Trunks was clad in blue jeans, plaid, and work boots (similar to Martha) while Kara had slid on a pair of Daisy Dukes, a cutoff white tee-shirt that exposed her midriff, and cowboy boots. Both were given baseball caps and sunglasses to disguise their identifying features. Martha treated her hair and face similarly. They also left her minivan behind in favor of squeezing into an old red single cab pickup truck that had been covered in a tarp. Martha said it was still registered to her late husband so it wouldn't immediately be associated with her. She assured them that they only needed to evade law enforcement long enough for a trusted associate of hers to arrange for them to go underground. She'd already used a burner phone in front of them to speak with this mysterious contact. As a result, they were soon on their way from Kansas to the neighboring state of Oklahoma.
In the entire three subsequent hours they spent on the highway, Martha refused to launch into a complete explanation for why all of this cloak and dagger was necessary. She merely alluded to something bad happening with a group called the Justice League; a team of heroes that Kara's cousin had apparently been a part of at some point. She managed to placate them until they arrived at a parking garage located inside of the Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City where they ditched the truck in favor of getting into a blacked out suv with a shady looking, but well dressed and clean cut, young man behind the wheel. His features were obscured by a hat and dark sunglasses. When asked about his identity, the driver had merely replied that his code name was Nightwing. After that, another bout of silence (mostly awkward) reigned all the way until they got into Rhode Island.
OoooooO
Happy Harbor, Rhode Island
Mount Justice
Kara and Trunks were made to wait inside a small room with a table and chairs at it's center as soon as they had been brought into the hidden base. With a single mirrored window on one wall, it felt an awful lot like an interrogation room. Trunks hadn't really been able to appreciate the overall sophistication of the mountain's interior since Nightwing had given both he and Kara blindfolds prior to escorting them in. It was an understandable precaution, but the guy had to know Kara could just x-ray vision through hers. Trunks figured it was just a test to see if they would humor him so neither bothered to protest. Thankfully, they weren't forced to wait too long.
A man, dressed in a dark gray jumpsuit and black cape with a cowl over top of his face, entered the room less than fifteen minutes from their arrival. He was joined by a chiseled brunette woman clad in red, white, and blue armor which left a lot of skin exposed. Trunks was particularly intrigued by the woman since she had a sword strapped to her back and a surprisingly high power level. The newly arrived pair took seats opposite the two teens.
"I'm Batman. This is Wonder Woman," Batman said, gesturing to himself and then the woman. His voice was deep and his tone all business. "Welcome to Mount Justice. Martha has briefed me on the events of the last twelve hours. I'd like to hear your version. Wonder Woman is here to make sure we get the truth."
The woman in question stood up in response to Batman's reference. She pulled a golden lasso off of her belt and began to unravel it while she walked to Trunks and Kara's side of the table. "Don't worry," Wonder Woman said. "It's completely painless as long as you don't resist," she added as she readied the noose.
"We've got nothing to hide," Kara replied, with aplomb.
Wonder Woman placed the lasso over the Kryptonian's shoulders first and spoke the words to activate it. "The power of the lasso compels you to speak truth." Trunks observed with wonderment openly on display as the item loosely restraining his girlfriend began to glow with energy that was definitely not ki.
"What is your name and where do you come from?" Batman asked, after resting his elbows on the table and steepling his hands.
"I am Kara Zor-El of Krypton. I came from another version of Earth with Trunks," Kara replied, indicating the Saiyan with a glance of her eyes.
"And you're Superman's cousin?" Batman shot back without missing a beat.
"Who?" Kara asked.
Batman cleared his throat and tried again. "Kal-El. He's your blood relative?"
"Yes."
"Why are you here? What are your intentions?"
"I came to assist my cousin in the defense of this planet, and it's people, believing it to be under attack from an old Kryptonian super weapon on the loose. Both Trunks and I have already neutralized a greater threat to his Earth. We have experience dealing with this sort of thing."
That gave Batman pause. He reached a gloved hand up to rub his clean shaven chin and visibly contemplated Kara's words for a good minute before continuing. "Your ship crashed in our nation's capital and caused a lot of damage. I gather that it wasn't your intention to do so. What happened?"
"Your military's aircraft engaged us upon entering the atmosphere. We were sedated and unable to evade when it happened. The damage disabled the manual controls and made it impossible to avoid the populated area. Did anyone die?"
"No, not yet. There's a few in critical but stable condition, though."
"That's a relief," Trunks interjected.
"Your concern is admirable," Batman stated, briefly diverting his attention to the Saiyan. "Now, Kara, I have one last question for you; would you fight to defend this planet even if it meant turning against your own family?"
Kara didn't immediately reply. Such a thing had never crossed her mind and, thus, an answer wasn't readily available. Though the lasso compelled her to reveal her truth, she found she could not decide what she would do in that situation. She felt the grip tighten slightly, after a time, and finally relented. "I don't know."
Batman glanced up at Wonder Woman and received a shrug from her. "She's telling the truth," the woman said.
"Hn. That's not a reassuring answer. Still... it's one I can understand," Batman said. "Alright, then, it's your turn now," he added, indicating Trunks with a nod of his head. Wonder Woman responded by untying Kara and then ensnaring her boyfriend. "What is your name, how did you get here, and where is this other version of earth that Kara mentioned?"
"My name's Trunks Briefs. My home is on the other side of a space rift caused by malfunctioning Kryptonian technology. I don't have a technical explanation for the anomaly. That's something that only my mother can provide."
"Your mother is an astrophysicist?"
"Yes and no. She's an intellectual genius with an advanced understanding of several different scientific fields of study. She's also pretty ambitious and does things on a grand scale for the betterment of all mankind. It's because of her that Kara and I are sitting here with you."
"Would she be willing to work with us?"
"Most likely, yes. You'll have to wait to meet her, though. We had to close the rift because it was out of control and posed a threat to both sides. My mom stayed behind to work on establishing a stable portal. She didn't give me an eta, so it could be awhile."
"Fair enough," Batman replied before switching gears. "Martha said you called yourself a Saiyan. What is a Saiyan exactly?"
"I'm only half Saiyan. My mother is human. Saiyans are an extinct warrior race that were wiped out by the intergalactic tyrant they used to serve. I am one of only two survivors. Both of us are half human."
"Sounds like there's a story there. For now, I'll settle for a summary of your abilities."
"Speed, strength, energy projection and flight - comparable to a Kryptonian under the effect of a yellow sun."
"Weaknesses?" Batman asked.
Trunks instantly knew what the man was alluding to. "Saiyans don't have a Kryptonite. We are still subject to the traditional pitfalls, though – injury, fatigue, overexertion, etcetera. Satisfied?"
"Not really. I've been forced to lower my standards as of late, though, so I can live with that," Batman replied, succinctly, before nodding to Wonder Woman once again. She withdrew the lasso and rejoined him on his side of the table. "Now, as a courtesy, I'll do my best to answer any questions you have for me."
Trunks noticed Kara looking quite apprehensive and gave her closest hand a squeeze to let her know she could go first. She gave him a grateful glance before squaring her shoulders and looking Batman directly in the eyes. "What happened to Kal? And what's with all of the hate and fear for the house of El?"
"That's a loaded question. One I don't have a complete explanation for," Batman admitted. "And certainly one you're not going to like."
"We've got time," Trunks said.
Batman sighed. "Your cousin, Kal, who is publicly known as Superman, was a founding member of the Justice League along side Wonder Woman, myself, and several others. Our entire purpose was to defend and protect the people of this planet. We were largely successful, too. Up until about two months ago, that is. There's no easy way to say this so I'll just cut to the chase. Superman betrayed the team and the world. He and another Kryptonian of the same house murdered League members, destroyed our watchtower, and nearly wiped out all life on this planet."
OoooooO
To be continued!
A/N: Sorry for the cliff, but I thought this was a good stopping point (despite being somewhat abrupt). Besides, I wanted to get something posted before Hurricane Irma comes blasting through Florida and knocks out my wifi.
If you guys enjoy reading this story, please show it some love by hitting that favorite/follow button and leaving a review. Let's see if we can get this thing to crack 100!
Here's a bit of incentive for you guys as well; I have the entire second arc blocked out (this is the first chapter of the second arc – if you hadn't already figured that out) and it will be dealing with the how/why surrounding Superman's rogue status, those that have been personally affected, and a major conflict/resolution. I estimate it to wrap up and lead into the third arc somewhere around chapter 10 or 12.
Sion Reaver: The culture clash around killing foes is something I think will take some time to develop since the kind of kill or be killed conflicts need sufficient build up. As for other DBZ characters joining Trunks' adventures in DC – it will happen and you can take that to the bank. This wouldn't be much of a crossover if other fan favorites didn't get their own subplots.
Kara: I think it's a little too soon for Trunks and Kara to be thinking about starting a family. However, I do believe at some point there will be a child. Hang in there.
Jackalope89: Thanks for coming back to this story. It was on hiatus for way too long and I'm happy to be continuing it. Some of the out of character moments are intentional for the sake of injecting a bit of humor (something I'm very fond of) but I think I'll be balancing some of that out as things begin to shift toward darker/more grounded themes. This is neither New52 or Rebirth but an amalgam. I understand your reservations regarding Kara learning to manipulate her ki but I believe in balance as well so I will make sure she isn't OP.
Aramus13: Yep, 17 had to go. There was too much bad history for there to be a true reconciliation with Trunks so I settled for an understanding instead. I am very interested in exploring the lives of Lapis and Lazuli pre-Gero, to be honest. Don't know if that will happen in this fic, though.
Touzoshin: I'm glad my intentions with 17 translated so well. Yeah, I'm taking a tip from you and trying to move toward a more regular update cycle and interacting with my readers (thanks btw). I don't think Kara is going to be OP in this. You'll see her continue to struggle as things progress, I promise. Her training will have a payoff at some point, though, but it will be when it's absolutely needed. This JL is sort of aligned with the New52 continuity but, as I said before, this DCU is an amalgamation dictated by me. I'll try to do it justice.
ZFighter18: I wikipedia'd Kenan Kong. Thank you for sharing that! I'm now more determined than ever to make the Kryptonian ki thing to work. I have an interesting twist in mind for it much much later but I won't get into it right now. Hopefully we make it that far.
Thank you, everyone, for your kind support! If any of you are here in FL with me, stay safe. Peace.
-shoes