REIGN
By FAH3
Orbit around Earth. Four hours after the tomb discovery.
"Atlantis, this is Houston. What's the ETA on that satellite repair?" the familiar and annoying voice over the communications link asked.
"We're almost finished, Houston. After we get these last few motherboards replaced, we can power her up and see if this was just a waste of time." The astronaut, Johnson, said as he connected the appropriate wires.
"It better be worth it, or the country just pissed away several million dollars."
"I'd hate to be the one to get that bill." The other astronaut, Commander Cartwright, said as he operated the large mechanical arm.
"Just make sure I don't float off into space, wise guy." Johnson said.
"I don't know. You wouldn't like to be our first ambassador to deep space?"
"I mean it, damn it! Don't even try something like that!" Johnson said as he felt the arm shake a little.
"Man, what bug crawled up your flight suit?"
"I'm just scared of heights, all right?"
"Whoa, hold on. You're scared of heights, and yet you're the one floating on a giant tin can in space. Above the planet?" Cartwright asked him.
"Let's just say I'm glad I can pee in these suits." The other said as he began to connect the last remaining motherboard.
"You do know that you're cleaning that suit out yourself, right?"
"Why don't you sit on it and rotate." Johnson said as he connected the final wires. "Houston, repairs are complete. I'm closing the access hatch and returning to the shuttle."
"Copy that, Atlantis. Let us know when you're free and clear."
"Copy, Houston." He said as he locked his tools back into their place on the special belt that was attached to his suit. As he did, he began hearing several clicking noises from inside the satellite. He knew he had shut it off, so what was going on? "Houston, are you getting anything on this bird?"
"Hold on, Atlantis."
"Paranoid, are we?" Cartwrigt asked him.
"I can hear something moving in this thing. I just want to make sure it's shut off."
"DISEMBARK! THE BIRD IS GETTING READY TO FIRE ITS THRUSTERS!"
"DO WHAT?!"
Before any of them could act, the thrusters began to fire to reposition the satellite in a different orbit. As the large device began to move, it began to pull the large mechanical arm that was still attached to it while Johnson held on for dear life. So many things were racing through his mind as the satellite kept pulling the arm. What was going to happen to him? Who would take care of his family? What the hell did he cross to make the damn bird come online? His eyes were closed tightly as he felt the arm shudder and suddenly stop. He opened his eyes and saw that the satellite was still tring to move, but the arm had hit the shuttle.
Maybe if he unbuckled, he could climb down the arm toward the cargo hatch. It would be difficult and slow, but it might be possible if the arm held out. As he reached for the buckle that kept him attached to the arm, he froze as he heard something begin to groan. He glanced downward one more time as he felt the arm start to shudder again. His blood seemed to freeze in his veins as he saw that the arm was straining and beginning to break.
"JOHNSON, GET OUT OF THERE! GET OUT OF THERE!" Cartwright screamed as he saw the arm begin to snap.
To their horror, the arm broke loose as Johnson unbuckled himself free. The sudden break threw Johnson off balance and caused him to fall away from the arm as it was being pulled away by the satellite. As Johnson watched as dark space and the shuttle kept rolling around him, fear was completely gripping him. Forever floating through the void of space with no chance of him ever going home again haunted his mind while terrifying thoughts of suffocation were making themselves known. He couldn't do anything but scream in pure terror as the shuttle began to grow more and more distant from his view. Until he felt a pair of hands grip him around his waist and stop his fall into the reaches of space.
Cartwright couldn't believe what he had just seen. Not only was the arm to the shuttle floating off into the reaches of space while the satellite was trying to reposition itself, but he had just seen one of his friends fall out of sight. He just couldn't believe it. He was kidding around about the whole floating away thing, he didn't really mean it. And there was nothing he could have done to stop it. Nothing at all. What was he going to tell everyone when they landed? Could they even land? For all he knew, there was damage to the tiles on the shuttle that kept it from burning up in re-entry. God, how was he going to tell Houston what happened to Johnson?
"Atlantis, what's happening? Our boards down here are lighting up like Christmas trees. Atlantis, do you read me?"
"Houston." Cartwright started and to a shaky breath. "Houston, we have," he began again as he looked out the window and his eyes began to widen at what he saw land in the cargo bay. "Houston, we have an unidentified flying object." He said as he kept his eyes glued to the scene before him.
"Unidentified? What does it look like?"
"Like – um – like a – girl." He said as he saw the back of a woman standing in the cargo hold, with no space suit, and helping Johnson to the entrance to the shuttle. The two main features he recognized about the girl was a long mane of red hair, and the flowing red cape. If he didn't know any better, he could have sworn the cape had some strange yellow symbol on the back that was in the shape of a diamond. As soon as Johnson was in, the figure flew off and toward Earth.
After a brief moment, he rushed himself to where the others were looking at a pale and stunned Johnson as he removed the helmet to his suit. Everyone was asking him questions all at once before he even had a minute to compose himself.
"Johnson, are you okay?" the pilot, West asked him.
"What was that thing?" Cartwright asked him.
"I don't know. For a minute, I thought I was – I was looking at – the Terminator."
"What a joke." Galatea said to herself as she looked out the large window.
That's what her whole life seemed to be like. She started life as a screwed up clone that always had to stand in the shadow of the annoying princess that was known as Superwoman. Then she used Kal when it looked like there was a way for her to have some chance at being normal. Some shot at being normal. But as she thought about her actions, she felt her heart begin to sink slightly. She had used Kal to her own ends ever since she set foot inside the Fortress. She was going to ditch the poor kid as soon as she was finished with him, but now she couldn't. As she sat in the rays of the setting sun, she realized that she cared about him too much to try and ditch him now. Even the thought about it made her feel sick to her stomach.
"Galatea?" he called out again.
"I'm in here." She said. She didn't bother yelling. His hearing was like hers, and he could hear her easily. It wasn't long until she heard him walk into the bedroom and sit her down beside her on the bed.
"Are you all right?" he asked her.
"Does it look like I'm all right?" she asked him. It wasn't long until she felt him wrap an arm around her to hold her, and she leaned in to the embrace. She needed something to help her sour mood.
"I'm sorry." He said to her.
"What are you sorry for?" she asked him.
"The gene restructuring. I should have done more with it. OR I should have at least made sure everything was set right." He said.
"Kal, you did your best. But let's face it, I'm a freak." She said as she looked up at him; letting the sunlight hit the yellow crystal visor that was covering her eyes.
"You're not a freak." He said to her.
"Yes, I am!" she shouted as she activated the cover for the windows and stormed out of the room. As soon as she was in the central room of the fortress, she firmly grasped the yellow crystal visor that sat on her face and flung t at the nearest wall. She ignored the sound of the visor shattering or the shards crumbling to the floor as Kal followed behind her.
"Before, I was turning into a walking white brick. Now, I can't even look at the sun without those things. Damn it, even a dim flashlight hurts my eyes!" She said to him as she came to a stop near the main control panel and looked at Kal in the face.
"But you're not a freak. On Krypton, everyone had problems like they do on Earth."
"Yeah, right." She said sarcastically. "But I'm betting when someone was born blind, you could just give them a new pair of eyes." She said bitterly. As Kal bit his lip and looked down, she knew she had received her answer. "I'm screwed, aren't I? How am I supposed to live my life with something that looks like the break light to the space shuttle on my face?" she asked him.
"Maybe not." Kal said to her as his eyes squinted while his brain began to work.
"Huh?" she asked him, wondering what he meant by that. "Do you mean you can alter my DNA again?" she asked him.
"No. You're body is still adjusting, and another trip through that thing so soon could kill you." Kal said as he looked at her in the eyes. "One thing I've noticed is that after enough exposure to solar energy, a Kryptonian will start to heal incredibly fast. So, maybe it's the same thing with your eyes." He said to her.
"You mean build up solar energy, and my eyes get better?" she asked him. "Kal, even if that's true, it's not going to happen. I can't even look at the sun anymore, remember?" she said as she glanced at the broken visor.
"I can make another one for you. One that looks more like sunglasses if you want." He said to her.
"You told me that what little solar energy my body had was used up in the machine. Isn't it going to take me a while to try and absorb enough for my eyes to heal?" she asked him. When she saw the face he made as he tried to find the right words, she stopped him before she could answer. "So I'm either going to be stuck here for a while, or stuck at my apartment back in Metropolis." She told him.
"Galatea,"
"Kal, you tried your best and I thank you. But I don't want to be some damn shut in."
"And you won't! No matter what, it will take you some time to reabsorb sunlight to normal levels. But I think there might be a way I can cut that time in half." He said to her.
"Now you've lost me." Galatea said.
"When I first came to Earth, Kara wanted to help my powers develop more quickly. So she was able to use the fortress' computer systems to design what she called a solar suit."
"A what?" Galatea asked, wondering what the hell Kal was trying to tell her.
"A solar suit. It's designed to absorb solar radiation faster than a normal Kryptonian body can, and it feeds the energy into the wearer's body. I'm not sure, but I think if you wear one that it just might speed up your absorption of solar energy and your eyes might heal faster." Kal said.
"But you can't be sure, can you?" she asked him flatly.
"No, I can't. I'm actually – guessing." Kal said reluctantly.
Galatea looked at him and the look he had in his eyes, almost like a small puppy when its been scolded for something it had done. It was hard to look at him, even resist him, when he used those sky blue eyes of his. It was almost like princess using her puppy dog pout to get her way. How did this kid do that to her? She let out a small sigh as she played out what he said in her head over and over again. After biting her lip for a little bit, she glanced back at him again.
"If we try,"
"Thank you!" Kal beamed as he kissed Galatea on the cheek.
"Hey, I said if. If we this thing, that suit is going to look the way I want it to look. Is that clear?" she asked him.
"As crystal." Kal said as a wide smile formed on his face and he placed a small kiss on her forehead. "Soon, you'll be teaching me how to do summersaults in the clouds." He said to her.
"No, I'll be teaching you how to do something else in the sky." She said to him.
"What would that be?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow.
"I'll show you." She said with a grin as she began to loosen her robe.
"You know – you're a bad influence." Kal stuttered as his face turned red while Galatea's robe fell at her feet and revealed her bare form to him.
"I hope so." She said as she pressed herself to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Metropolis, an hour later.
"Man, I didn't know it was this bad." Wade said to himself as he looked at the site where a building had been under construction. In the aftermath of Doomsday's rampage, it was nothing more but a pile of scrap and rubble. "Several months to get started, and it's reduced to this in minutes." He said to himself as he opened his personal notepad and began taking notes.
"Can I help you, sir?" the foreman asked as he spotted the tall and very broad young African-American man.
"The name's Wade Load. I'm here on business." He said as he removed a card from his pocket and handed it to the foreman. As soon as the middle aged man saw the company logo, his eyes began to widen.
"Stoppable Industries?" he asked as he looked at the very casual clothes Wade was wearing. Mainly, his light blue tank top and a pair of blue jeans. "But – why would a big shot like Mr. Stoppable be interested in this heap?" he asked.
"You read about his engagement?"
"Yeah, who hasn't?" the foreman asked.
"Mr. Stoppable was considering relocating our company headquarters to Metropolis. If he chose that course of action, this would have been our company's new home. I'm here to see how bad the damage is and whether or not if we should try again or scrap the whole thing." Wade answered.
In all honesty, Ron just hadn't made up his mind yet. He knew the building had been completely destroyed and they would have to restart from square one if they wanted to rebuild. Wade just had to get out and clear his head. He was still trying to get over what they had seen this morning. It was unbelievable. After going to all that effort to get her back, someone had stolen her again. Wade had checked out the security measures Miss Gough had put into Kim's tomb and he was very impressed with the setup that had been put in place. What was scary was he couldn't do that much to improve it. So how in the hell was someone able to break in and steal her body again? There weren't any signs of forced entry, and there was no evidence that the security system had been tampered with. Could she really have – no. It was impossible. She was dead when they buried her. Wasn't she? Yes, she was. They made sure she was dead, not even the Martian Manhunter could detect any brain activity. She was dead. The sooner he hacked Miss Gough's data base for the security footage, the better.
"What about now?"
"Excuse me?" Wade asked the foreman as he wrote down a few quick observations.
"I heard she's one of the people missing since that Doomsday things tore through Metropolis. What happens now?" the foreman asked him.
"I wish I knew." Wade whispered to himself. Right about now, he wished he was back in Gotham. The gloomy night skies were matching his mood.
"Boss! I think we've got a cave in here!" one worker shouted.
"Cave in?" Wade asked as they started walking toward the worker's position.
"Part of the building collapsed into the basement. Part of the area isn't stable because crap keeps falling into it. What was your boss thinking with a basement that big?" the foreman said.
"You don't want to know." Wade said as they saw several pieces of concrete begin to shift.
"They think something else collapsed down there. Two guys almost fell over when it began to shift." The worker said.
"Okay. Tape this area off for now and let's start somewhere else." The foreman said.
"Doomsday." A muffled voice said.
"Did you say something?" Wade asked them.
"Wasn't me. Jim?" the foreman asked.
"Wasn't me, boss." The worker said.
More of the concrete pieces began to shift and move as something from underneath the wreckage began to stand on their feet. Everyone looked in wide eyes wonder as they saw a large form begin to rise, clutching to massive sledge hammers in both of its hands. His clothes were in tatters and he looked like he had been buried under there for a while. He was breathing hard as he staggered forward, looking from left to right like he was trying to find something or someone.
"Doomsday." He said in a deep voice, almost sounding like the voice of God.
"Excuse me?" Wade asked him. He didn't know why, but the man looked very familiar to him.
"Got – to stop – Doomsday." He said and began to collapse.
Wade rushed to the large man's side and caught him in his arms as he fell. Wade tried to slowly lower him to the ground, but the man weighed as much as a bull rhino. Who was this guy? "GET ME SOME WATER!" Wade shouted.
"I – I've got to stop – Doomsday." He said again in a slight delirium.
"I know this guy the foreman said as one of his workers handed Wade a bottle of water. Wade slowly put the bottle to the man's lips and allowed him to drink as part of the water washed away the dust from the debris.
"Who is he?" Wade asked the foreman.
"That's Henry Johnson. He was one of the high steel workers." The foreman answered.
As Wade looked at the man again, something in his mind fell into place as he finally recognized the man in front of him.
"Dr. Irons?" he asked the man, causing him to look at Wade for a moment.
"Dr. Load. N-nice – to meet you – again." The large man said before he passed out.
The Four Seasons; Metropolis
Ron had to force down some more painkillers as he waited in his room with Hannah, Dick, Dr. Director and Inspector Maggie Sawyer of the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit. He didn't like taking the medication, he thought it dulled his senses too much. But it had been over four hours since it had worn off, and both Hannah and Dick were shooting him dirty looks every time he groaned or he clutched his gunshot wound. So, just to make them happy, he had swallowed two of the painkillers he was prescribed and felt them start to take effect. He just hoped they didn't dull his thought process too much.
"Anything yet, Dr. Director?" he asked the woman as she hung up her cell phone.
"Nothing. No prints, no signs of forced entry, not even a hair out of place." Dr. Director growled as she griped her phone tightly and then threw it against the wall, watching it fall to pieces.
"What about the cameras you had in place?" Dick asked her.
"My department just received the footage from Miss Gogh. There was a fifteen-minute break where the cameras lost power. The tech boys are going over it to make sure it wasn't tampered with." Inspector Sawyer said.
"I don't get it. How can someone pull this off? I mean, why would they want to take her again in the first place?" Hanna asked aloud.
"Superwoman is an alien, and her physiology gave her unique abilities. If someone can reverse engineer her biology, who knows what they'll be able to do." Dr. Director said.
"Is it Cadmus again?" Dick asked.
"We're still trying to gather evidence, kid. We,"
"Not a chance. This isn't their style, and Westfield isn't the Cadmus head anymore. In fact, he was checked into a nut house not too long ago. He suffered a complete mental breakdown." Dr. Director said, interrupting Inspector Sawyer and earning a glare from her.
"Betty, no one else knew about the security measures we had taken to keep her safe. You know what this means?" Maggie asked the older woman.
"I know what it means. My organization has a damn mole in it." Betty said with disdain.
"Or Miss Gogh took it." Dick said.
"Kid, she put in the security system. Why would she want to steal it?" Sawyer asked him.
"I don't know. Maybe just to gloat?" Dick asked.
"Let's just focus on the matter at hand and any of the clues we can find." Dr. Director said. She knew they were starting to get desperate, and the last thing she needed was a fight on her hands. She was already going to have a big enough headache if there really was a mole in Global Justice.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Ron asked as his mind tried to figure out how she could have gotten out of the tomb.
"Yeah, there is." Maggie said to him. "Get in your jet, and go back to Gotham City."
"Maggie." Betty warned.
"I'm sorry, Inspector, but what exactly have I done to piss you off?"
"The truth? You wanting to supposedly help us."
"Is there something wrong with that?" Ron asked her.
"There is when you're doing it in order to win a popularity contest." Maggie said as she took out a cigarette.
"You think that's why I'm doing this? To make myself look good?" Ron asked as he began to feel his blood begin to boil inside of him.
"You don't exactly have the best reputation, Mr. Stoppable. In fact, most of the news I hear is when you're trying to get into the pants of some floozy."
"Would you shut up?!" Hannah shouted as she stood to her feet and got into Sawyer's face. "My brother is nothing like the garbage those tabloid rags have been printing! He wants to help because Superwoman was a friend of ours, and a friend to Kim! And if you haven't been paying attention, my brother is engaged!" Hannah shouted.
"She's probably marrying you brother for the money." Sawyer said to the teenager.
Maggie was on the floor with a broken nose before she could even blink. Maggie was wiping away the blood on her face and trying to stand on her feet while Dick and Ron were trying to hold back an enraged Hannah back while Dr. Director kept Inspector Sawyer pressed against a wall.
"YOU HEARTLESS BITCH! MY BROTHER AND KIM HAVE BEEN FRIENDS FOR MOST OF THEIR LIVES! THEY ALWAYS LOVED EACH OTHER! SO DON'T YOU DARE SAY ANYTHING ABOUT HER YOU DAMN WHORE!"
"Why you little,"
"INSPECTOR!" Betty shouted as she pressed her hand harder against Maggie's chest as she glared at her with a look that would have given Freddie Kruger nightmares. "I think it's time we left." She growled, letting the young cop know that she had just crossed the line. "I apologize for her actions, Stoppable. I'll let you know if there's anything you can do to help." She said as Maggie left and she followed, closing the door behind them.
"I should lock the little brat in a holding cell for a few days." Maggie said as she wiped away more blood from her now crooked nose.
"Right now, you're lucky I'm not the one who broke your damn nose. I told you Stoppable was a friend and he could be trusted. But you just had to go and mouth off." Betty said to her.
"I told you,"
"And what did I just tell you?!" Betty demanded. "I know you've had some bad experiences with men like Stoppable, Maggie. But not everyone is like the scumbags you've had to deal with. Ron wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he actually earned his fortune the honest way. He's also the one that just about put Rupert Thorn in the poor house. So the next time I tell you that someone's a friend, you listen!" Betty said to Maggie before turning and walking toward the elevator. Maggie stood there for a moment and thought about what she had said before reluctantly turning and following her.
"Was I always this pigheaded when we were dating?" Maggie asked as she stepped into the elevator, using part of her shirt as a rag.
"You were worst."
"Are you all right, Ron?" Dick asked him as he watched him tae two more painkillers.
"I'll be fine. Trying told back Han felt like I was trying to hold back a pissed off rhino." Ron said as he gulped down a glass of water. "Where is she?"
"She's on the balcony. She looked pretty upset, but she didn't want to talk to me." Dick said to him.
"You know how she gets when she's upset. Maybe I can talk to her." Ron said as he made his way to the other side of the penthouse.
He saw her sitting on the floor of the balcony with her legs sticking through the spaces of the guardrail and swinging in the breeze. Her head was resting on the guardrail as she hugged herself. Judging from how shaken her breathing was, she had most likely been crying. He had remembered so many times he or Kim had to help calm her down whenever she got upset. It wasn't always easy, but it seemed to help that she knew they were there for her. He just hoped that's how it still was.
"That was a good punch back there. But you need to work on your follow through." Ron said as he walked out onto the patio and took a seat in a chair that had been placed out there for him.
"How could she say that? All that mean stuff about you and Kim?" she asked.
"It comes with being rich. That, and some people are just jerks." He said and noticed how there wasn't any change I her face or position. "I wish I could explain it, Hanna. I really do. But sometime, you just can't. Why did the Joker become psychotic? Or why Jim stick by me when Bullock hates my guts?" Ron asked her.
"I know I shouldn't have punched her, bro. But when she said that about Kim, I just -"
"It hurt. I know." Ron said.
"I really miss her, bro. She was the closest thing I had to a mom. I know she wasn't, but I can't remember anything about Mom and Dad. And every time someone mentions mothers, I always see Kim's face." Hanna said to him.
"You were young when Mom and Dad died, so I understand." Ron said as he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He knew he needed to tell her the truth and it had to be soon. But he knew it wasn't going to be easy at all. "Do you remember Yori?" he asked her.
"Aunt Yori? Sure. Did you ever find her?" Hanna asked him.
"Yes and no. Yori came to me, not too long after I had my breakdown." He said to her.
"You mean when you blew up the cave?"
"Yeah." He said before taking another deep breath to steady himself. "Han, Yori revealed a big secret to me, and I found out she was telling the truth." Ron said to her.
"What is it?" Hanna asked him.
"Yori – is – Yori is – she's Ra's Al Ghul' daughter." Ron told her.
"Oh my God." Hannah said as his words sunk in. "That's why his men took her?"
"Yeah, it is. She's bound to his league of assassins by blood. But there's something else."
"I'm scared to ask." Hannah said.
"I'm scared to tell it. But you need to know this, Han. Yori told me that she has a daughter."
"What?"
"She does. Yori told me this because she wanted me to protect her. She told me that Ra's wanted her to conceive the child of someone – he wanted in the league. But Yori didn't want her child to be bound like she was. So Master Sensei hid her." Ron said to her as he felt his palms begin to sweat.
"Where did he hide her?" Yori asked him.
"With – with the child's father." Ron said as he looked straight at her.
The look Ron was giving her chilled her a little. It was also confusing her. He was looking at her with a very serious look, the kind she saw on his face when he was working on a major case or – trying to get his point across.
"Bro – why are you looking at me like that?" she asked him as a knot formed in her stomach. Something was telling her that she didn't want to hear his answer to her question.
"Han, there's a reason you're as skilled as you are." Ron started but looked away. Han, seeing the nervousness in him, moved from her spot and sat beside him. She could see how hard it was for him to be telling her this. She reached out and held his hand in hers, trying to let him know he could tell her. Ron looked up and stroked the side of her face as a tear began to form in one of his eyes.
"Bro?"
"Han – Yori is your biological mother." Ron told her.
Han felt the knot in her stomach turn cold and begin to spread. Her chin began to quiver as her brain unwillingly began to work and put everything she had just been told together. She already knew the answer, but she had to say it to make it real.
"So – y-you're my – you're?"
"I'm your father." He said to her, fearing how she would react.
Yori sat frozen in her place beside Ron. Even thought it was only seconds, it felt almost like an eternity for both of them. Yori didn't know how to react. Should she be mad? A part of her was, but not at Ron. She didn't have any reason to be. Should he have told her as soon as he found out? Yes, he should have. But look at everything that's happened to not just him, but all of them. No, she was mad at Yori. She should have told her, told them so much sooner than this. She knew the truth and never told any of them. And then she waited until they were all at their lowest. But – how did she feel about Ron know?
"Hanna?"
"I – I just need to be left alone right now. I just – I don't know."
Hanna couldn't even finish her sentence as she rushed back inside. A few minutes later, Ron heard the door to her room slam shut. Ron exhaled the breath he had been holding in slowly as he started to regret telling her the truth. But she needed to know, and he prayed to God she would come through this okay in the end. Everyone had already been through too much already.
"When is all this drama going to end?" Ron asked himself.
"Ron? What's going on? What's up with Han?" Dick asked as he stepped out onto the balcony.
"Right now, she's really upset and very confused." Ron said to him.
"Should I even ask why?" Dick asked him.
"Sit down, Dick. There's something I have to tell you about Hanna and me."
She had to admit that she was impressed with the way the suit was made. The suit was a nice shade of navy blue that almost looked black, but the light that bounced off of it made it seem to glow cobalt blue. It was ribed at the side of the torso, on the shoulders, and on the sides of the leggings, but; she guessed that's where some of the micro circuitry was. It looked so much like it was made of some sort of leather, but it felt and flexed like a soft cloth. The way it hugged her body showed off every curve and showed how toned her body was. Not to mention she loved the fact that Kal was able to make the suit a mid-drift. However, the only thing she didn't really like was new visor that was covering her eyes. It wasn't as large or as thick as the other one, but it still got on her nerves. She didn't care if it was smaller and sleeker, but it made her feel like she was more of a freak than when she first tried to make a life for herself when Drakken had created her. It made her feel like she was – defective.
"How do you like it?" Kal said as he came into the sun lit room.
"I have got to admit, you've really out done yourself." Galatea said with a very wide smile. "But the visor,"
"Is necessary for right now. Be glad I was able to make them look like sunglasses." He said to her.
"But yellow? I mean, it's sort of nineties retro." She said to him.
"It was the only kind we could find that allowed you to x-ray through it, and still guard your eyes at the same time. But – I added a bonus feature." He said as he pressed the sides of the visor. In an instant, the yellow in front of her faded and made everything crystal clear.
"Whoa! What did you do?" she asked him.
"It's sort of like a one-way mirror. The visor has a separate battery in the bridge that allows you to rest your eyes. So you just have to look through it normally." He said to her.
"And heat vision?" she asked him.
"Sadly, no. It would melt the visor, but I have compensated."
"With what?" she asked him as she folded her arms and cocked her hips to one side.
"I got the idea from Spider-Man, and Kim's old nemesis Shego." He said which made Galatea bite her lower lip for a moment. Thankfully, he didn't notice the action and she was grateful. She'd hate to tell him that one of her favorite past times was to get in-between Shego's legs and make the women scream louder than an Irish banshee.
"Now, clench your fits, but press down the twi fingers in the center hard." He said to her.
"Huh?"
"Just do it." He said to her.
"All right. But I better not shoot out any spider webs." She said to him and did as she was instructed.
As her fingers pressed down into the center of her palm as hard as she could, she saw a strange energy immediately surround her hands. It looked so bizarre. The energy emitted from her hands looked exactly like Shego's, but it was different. It was almost like her gloves had become two miniature suns.
"What do they do?"
"It's concentrated solar energy. This suit collects more than the original design for the prototype, and it uses the extra for you to use as a weapon to replace your heat vision." Kal-El told her.
"Cool." Galatea said as she observed her hands as she moved them.
"But be careful. They have a,"
BOOM!!!!!
"Hair trigger." Kal finished as he and Galatea looked at the large smoking hole that was now where one of the bedroom windows used to be.
"All I have to do is aim and stiffen my hand, huh?" she asked as she balled her fists tightly and deactivated the gloves.
"Pretty much. I'm still working the bugs out of them." Kal said as he took a closer look at the window.
"Can that window be fixed?" Galatea asked him.
"Don't worry. The droids will come on-line soon and fix it."
"Droids? They're robots in here?" she asked him.
"They're maintenance droids with a simple AI. They're nice to talk to every so often if you're bored. In fact, I'll go see if I can bring them on-line now." Kal said as he left the bedroom and headed to the main control panel.
As Kal went about his business, Galatea wondered into the main are of the fortress. Kal had rearranged several things and had placed a few smaller control panels here and there to operate separate systems. One of the ones she wondered to was to control the holographic view screen that monitored various transmissions all around the world. She was glad Kal had taught her how to do this as she moved a few crystals into place and watched several news transmissions appear in thin air.
"Crime rates have sky rocketed since the wake of Superwoman's funeral. Despite large donations from Queen Industries, Gogh Industries, and Lex Corp, police still find themselves severely short handed."
"Four deaths today resulted from a drive by shooting, two of which were children."
"Superwoman cultists have been gathering mass numbers in front of her tomb. Their belief that Superwoman is the nest messiah has been strengthened with the second theft of Superwoman's body. So far, no clues have been discovered on who stole the body, or even how."
"Gang war has gotten out of hand as rival gangs try to claim various part of the city since Superwoman's death. Injuries are at a record high as the death toll slowly starts to rise."
She didn't know why, but she couldn't look at them anymore. She shut the feeds off and turned away. She was biting down on her lip hard as she felt like she wanted to cry. Somehow, this had confirmed it for her. The princess was gone, and all hell was breaking loose. Even before she was a superhero, she was always helping people. Always helping the world. Now she wasn't anymore. She wasn't there, and everyone needed her. But why did this heart her feelings so much? Why did she feel so sad? She never really gave a flip about the pain in the butt before. Hadn't she?
That's when she realized it. It had all been a lie. Of course she had cared about it. The cheerleader was the closest thing she had to a family. To a sister. And now she was dead. And the world needed her. Wait, what was she thinking? Hell, was she actually thinking it? But she had been a mercenary for all of her life. A hired thug. But – maybe? Was it possible for a destroyer to repent and become – not a savior – but – something else? For the better? She didn't know what was drawing her or how she could be moving her feet against her own will. She went back to the bedroom, and knelt down, and pulled something out from under the bed. It was something she had the fortress make for Kal-El. The design was her own, with a certain aspect she thought of. She reached into the box, and lifted a thin, hardened flat object that had been shaped into a pentagon. At its sides, a long flowing red cape was attached to it. On the back of the cape, a symbol which was the same as the one she was holding in her hands. As she stood to her feet, she turned the symbol around and raised it high over her head. Making sure the cape didn't get caught, she slid the symbol and cape over her shoulders and rested the symbol against her chest. Using her thumbs, she pressed the two corners of the symbol at the same time and felt the stiff symbol begin to shift. It began to relax as she felt it actually attaching itself to the front of her solar suit and begin to mold over the curves of her breasts until it looks like it's apart of the suit.
"God, don't let me screw this up." She whispered to herself. She couldn't explain it, and she didn't know why. But the only reason she could think of her actions was that it was something she just had to do. She exited the bedroom and took one last look at the fortress, just in case she wouldn't be able to see it again. She had never done anything like this before, and she was going to have a lot to learn. "Up, up, and away." She said to herself as she took flight and flew out of the fortress like a bat out of hell and made a b-line for Metropolis. The Last Daughter of Krypton was answering her call to action.
"This doesn't make any sense." Kal said to himself as he rechecked the data displayed in front of him. "All the droids are on-line, but they won't answer my commands. What in Rao's name are they all doing?" he asked as he kept trying to access their programming. "Galatea, could you help me for a minute? Galatea?" he asked and looked toward the main chamber. As he did, he couldn't believe what he saw as he watched her fly out of the fortress as fast as she could and off into the horizon. "What is she doing?" he asked himself.
The sounds of something unlocking began to echo through the fortress, making Kal turn and look into the main chamber of the fortress. The floor in the center opened, and a large platform began to rise. Years ago, it was where Brainiac had hidden his vessel. After Kara had destroyed it, there wasn't supposed to be anything down there. Kal quickly made his way to where the platform was rising to try and see what was happening. His eyes widened as he saw what rose out of the floor, being attended to by every droid the fortress had ever created, and couldn't believe what he was seeing. It somehow seemed impossible, but there it stood in front of him.
"Oh my God."