Chapter 39
The Watchtower...
The best part of 24 hours had passed and Donna's condition had not changed much. She was still unconscious after being injected with the kryptonite solution but Dr Light was now able to better explain what was going on with her.
"Her DNA is changing," Kimiyo lays it out flatly to an audience that consisted of Superman, Martian Manhunter, Black Canary, Batman, Flash and Wonder Woman whose temper had finally calmed enough for her to be in the same room as Superman without her trying to strangle him. Also there was Hal who was finally sober again although he was still suffering the lingering effects of a hangover even this long after the event. Last time he tries to out-drink Clark.
Upon being told what had happened Hal was frustrated and angry that he had missed it and was unable to help in anyway while his friends fought for their lives. Not that he is of much use at the minute. He had been told that, thanks to his double's complete ineptitude, his ring is destroyed and he is not looking forward to explaining that to the Guardians. Of course he also is pretty frustrated at being unable to help at least with the clear up. That would be something.
Aquaman had returned to Atlantis and was still there. He was pretty beaten up after what Donna had done and he was recuperating. He was expected to make a full recovery though.
Dinah had been the one to insist that she and Clark attend this meeting upon hearing about it. She is sort of the liaison from the Birds Of Prey and Clark is just too intimately involved to be ignored which she pointed out to them...several times in Batman's case.
"Changing how?" Diana asks.
"The non-human DNA strands have all but been annihilated by the presence of the kryptonite," Kimiyo explains.
"Both of them?" Clark inquires curiously.
Kimiyo nods. "The other one seems to be as allergic to the substance as yours is."
"How is that possible?" Batman asks.
"Because the other one comes from Krypton as well," Superman has no choice but to confess.
Batman looks at Superman sternly. "How?"
"I do not know how he got here. He died before I could get an answer from him," Clark says, guilt filling him at that. He still hated how it all ended with Titan dying.
"How did Cadmus get Superman's blood?" Hal asks and in the last 24 hours one thing they have discovered is who Cadmus is. It was from the files Batman hacked when he was down in their facility.
"According to Dr Hamilton...assuming he isn't completely crazy, they found blood samples as the result of a fight?" Kimiyo queries looking at Superman.
Clark nods. "I fought him. He was called Titan."
"He made you bleed?" Hal questions that.
"I don't know everything but Titan told me he was created to be a weapon of some sort. Powerful enough to kill a Kryptonian so yes he was capable of making me bleed and I made him bleed. Cadmus must have managed to swab the blood we left behind," Clark makes the reasonable guess.
Flash skims through Kimiyo's written report. Usually this stuff isn't his forte but he notices something. "According to this the crazy doc said that Supes' DNA was what saved her? What is that about?"
"When Donna was in the embryological stage her DNA began to unravel under the strain of all her multiple powers. To save her he mixed Superman's and...Titan's DNA in to use their regenerative factor to repair the damage," Kimiyo relays what Dr Hamilton has admitted over the last day.
J'onn frowns as he reads the report. "It's not as simple as that. You can't simply mix human and non-human DNA that easily," he argues.
"No you cannot," Kimiyo confirms. "To make it work he required an extra element that possessed morphological properties that could alter and adapt itself to bridge the differences and allow the varying DNA strands to coexist."
"Huh?" Flash asks, completely lost.
"What element?" Diana asks, ignoring Flash's normal confusion at anything scientific.
Kimiyo looks Wonder Woman right in the eye. "You."
"Me?" Diana inquires, deeply perplexed.
"It was your DNA. They couldn't clone you because of that very morphological trait but it was perfect for what Dr Hamilton was trying to do to save Donna. As matter of fact it is still saving her."
"What do you mean?"
"Without Superman's and Titan's DNA she lacks the regenerative ability to hold onto her powers. Her body is going through what I would call classic rejection. The extra DNA strands stolen from basically all of us are slowly detaching from the base code we now know is Queen Hippolyta's. The gaps left behind should cause Donna to die but Diana's DNA is adapting and changing to fill in the gaps. Essentially...from a purely genetic stand point if this continues Donna will become, biologically, Diana and her mother's offspring since only their DNA will be left."
Diana almost starts. How much more depravity does she have to endure because of Cadmus. Donna will be her and her mother's daughter? She feels ill.
"What was she turning into before we took her down?" Batman asks.
"Right," Kimiyo says. "I saw the video. Truthfully I have no clue what was happening to her but since most of her genetic abilities are now being lost I would speculate that we don't have to worry about a repeat performance."
"It is not just biologically she is changing," J'onn speaks up. "I have been probing her mind. The blocks that previously kept me out have been breaking down. Whatever genetic memories she inherited are fading as her DNA changes. In a few days her mind will be virtually blank which leaves us with a dilemma."
"What dilemma?" Dinah asks.
"When she wakes up her first question is going to be 'Who am I?'. Do we have an answer to give her?"
Superman looks at Wonder Woman. "Do we?"
Diana frowns. "Why are you asking me?"
"She's your sister."
"Hades she is not!" Diana insists, coming as close to swearing as she would ever do.
"Superman's right even if you don't like it Diana," Dinah agrees with Clark. "Technically she is your sister."
"That monster is not my sister!" Diana insists.
"I didn't see a monster," Flash says, very serious sounding. "I saw a hot chick."
"You would," Hal says with a roll of his eyes. Ok yeah she is hot. She is also not of legal age if he understands it.
"You use to be a lot more fun before Lane tied ya down," Flash jabs at Hal.
"Have you ever been fun?" Hal shoots back, making it look as if he is trying to remember any such occurrence. He doesn't actually deny Lois has tied him down. She was back on Earth now, no doubt writing up a story.
"We have not answered J'onn's point," Batman intervenes, irritated at the banter during a serious meeting.
J'onn speaks once more. "You call her a monster Diana but the person she was is dead. As I said in a few days she'll remember next to nothing. That leaves us to deal with her...unless you suggest we hand her back to the government organisation that created her."
No. Diana would not suggest that but she has no answer. She just wants nothing to do with a being that was created out of the violation of herself and her mother.
"Have you spoken to your mother about this?" Dinah asks Diana.
"No."
"Perhaps you should. At the very least she has a right to know that Donna exists. You cannot deny her the truth Diana."
The lasso burning at Diana's side seems to agree with that sentiment. "I will tell her but don't expect her reaction to be favourable," she warns.
"She deserves the right to choose," Superman offers. "And if no-one else is willing I will take Donna in and look after her," he informs them.
"No," Batman objects.
"On what grounds?" Clark asks back.
"Because I say no."
"You don't have the authority," Dinah argues. "In fact by the end of this week I'm not sure there will still be a Justice League to have any authority over. I talked to some of the others this last day. They're not happy to put it mildly with the way you have hid the truth from him nor the way you have been running things lately and a lot of them are talking about walking out." In fact Dinah would call the atmosphere mutinous.
"You hid the truth too," Batman returns.
"And I accept the consequences of that choice," Dinah takes the burden of her conscience. "And if Superman wants to take Donna in he can...providing he discusses it with his significant other first," she adds on giving Clark a 'look' for making such a decision without talking to her.
Clark looks sheepish. That's another apology he needs to make. He mouths 'sorry' to her.
Hal chuckles. "You obviously must enjoy being in the doghouse," he teases.
Kimiyo steps in. "You have time to think on this. Donna will remain unconscious for days as her body changes but do not take too long. She will need an answer."
"Diana if you could speak to your mother as soon as possible," J'onn requests.
"I will go immediately unless you require me," she replies.
"We shall manage. Please go."
Diana stands and makes her exit so she can get to Thermyscria. Her mother is going to be furious and Diana did promise to make a better world but she can't get Superman's words out of her head for some reason when he pointed at the destruction and asked if this was who she was. Is that really where she was headed? Her head says no. Her heart...has doubts...and she can't have doubts in this line of work. Diana thinks she may have to take some time to herself after this and do some soul searching.
Dinah stands too. "We found the bodies of the Justice Lords which means their Zatanna is willing to leave now. You wanted to know this Batman."
Batman stands as well. He did. He wanted to make sure she left...after he and Barbara have a talk about what they are doing with and where they are going to send the 2 last Justice Lords.
"And what of your double Canary?" J'onn asks.
Dinah makes a face. "She still wants to sit down and share life stories. I did agree that we would so I guess I shall have to," she says, sounding rather reluctant about it.
"And what of Lex?" Hal wants to know.
"For now we cannot touch him. Where the Justice Lords are involved we are as stained as he is. Our reputation will take many hits in the coming days," J'onn warns gravely.
"We should have thought of that before we agreed to cover it up," Dinah is willing to criticise herself as well as the rest of them. "It coming out like this has only made it much much worse. We should have been honest from the start."
It's a criticism that has some bite behind it.
BoP Headquarters, Gotham...
When the two Zatannas transported the Gateway device away it ended up here. Batgirl had spent the last day studying it as thoroughly as possible.
Batman, Black Canary and Superman had arrived awhile ago. Clark had come, despite a wish to return to helping the clean-up as he had done on and off for the last day, because he felt there was something he had to do personally.
"What do you want to know?" Lord Zatanna asks Batman, breaking a strange silence that had been going on as the two Dinahs were off in another room having their talk. Batman had been looking at her for an hour without moving a muscle after he and Barbara finished talking and he agreed, relutcantly, to where they will send Lord Zatanna and Lord Dinah.
"It doesn't make sense," Batman says.
"What doesn't?" Lord Zatanna asks, genuinely curious about what is going through Bruce's head.
"You said you aided Donna to get back at Wonder Woman but you are immensely powerful. If you wanted to have your revenge you could have had it years ago by yourself. Instead you were with the Justice Lords when they came here the first time which is how you ended up powerless and in prison."
Lord Zatanna smiles. "Ah. The great detective at work," she mock praises him.
"He's right though isn't he?" Zatanna asks her double, seeing Bruce had a valid point.
"It's not as simple as you think. If I could have just done it I would have. Donna was a unique opportunity."
"Why not?" Batman demands to know why she couldn't have just done it.
"Not saying," Lord Zatanna refuses to answer and she grins widely when she hears Batman let out an annoyed growl. "It really bugs you doesn't it Bruce. Not knowing something but I won't say any more beyond what I have. There were reasons I couldn't get my revenge earlier and as for the whole being imprisoned thing..." she shrugs, "small price to pay to see Diana rot for the rest of her life."
"You really hated her didn't you," Zatanna observes of her double.
"You don't know...cannot imagine what it is like to rule over a Hell domain," Lord Zatanna says with that haunted look once again. "You see things that are beyond your worse nightmare. I may have mocked Tala but in a few centuries that could easily be what I am like. Immortality sucks. I'm going to have a t-shirt made up that says that one day...and then wear that and nothing else for the man in my life," she says, breaking into that sultry, seductive tone.
"You have a man?" Zatanna queries because she currently doesn't. Bruce scared the last one off with his over-protective big brother routine. What a douche!
"Ok so it's on my 'To Do' list, alright," Lord Zatanna says defensively.
The two Dinahs return from what Dinah would call a wholly unproductive conversation with her Justice Lord duplicate as far she she was concerned. It was as Lord Zatanna said. It was about choice. The Lord version of her chose, at a point in her life, to become a mass murdering tyrant. Plain and simple.
There were inevitably differences in their lives but Dinah couldn't see how any of them would have drastically altered her double's mental state. She wasn't Joker-like crazy as much as Dinah would wish she could say she was. In a sense that is the scary part. She could almost sound logical and justifiable in her actions and choices.
"Have fun?" Lord Zatanna queries at the two Dinahs.
"Would have preferred to have a full spa treatment but what can you do?" Lord Dinah quips.
"Oh yeah. That does sound fun," Lord Zatanna agrees. "Always love a good naked massage," she says with a sultry wink at her double who rolls her eyes.
"Ok. I think that is enough," Dinah says. "Batgirl please tell me you're ready to send them home?" she pleads.
"I am," Batgirl confirms.
"What are we doing with crazy Dinah?" Starling asks and takes a moment waving her finger between the two near identical women as if having trouble deciding which one is crazy.
"You're not funny Starling," Dinah huffs.
Starling smirks.
"Oh she's coming home with me," Lord Zatanna says.
It was that fact that made Batman give his consent to just sending them home.
Lord Zatanna continues, "I have this not so bad little place considering where it is where I'll make sure she's comfortable."
"And where you can get my immortal soul right?" Lord Dinah says with a glare.
"You're dying Dinah. One of us Hell rulers will get you. Who would you rather it be? Me or one of the other ones? Trust me I'm a lot nicer than they are."
Lord Dinah frowns. She didn't do anything wrong. She made the world a better place. Why is Zatanna saying she is going to hell?
"Question!" Lord Zatanna suddenly yells.
"What?" Zatanna asks of her double.
"Not you. Him," Lord Zatanna says pointing at Superman. "You have a question. I can see it on your face."
Clark is caught off-guard. "Um..."
"Oh now don't be shy. Not after we tongue tangoed."
"You did what!" Dinah growls angrily,
"She kissed me! I was tied up and woozy from kryptonite exposure!" Clark defends himself.
"You keep telling yourself that Clark," Lord Zatanna teases.
"We'll be talking about that later," Dinah assures Clark in a harsh tone.
"Oh please. Later you'll be dragging him back to bed and having make-up sex," Lord Zatanna dismisses Dinah's anger. "I know I would!" she adds with a mischievous grin.
"You shut up!" Zatanna tells her double off.
"Like you haven't thought about it," Lord Zatanna fires back.
"I don't ogle my friend's boyfriends. thank you," Zatanna counters.
"Yeah right," Dinah mutters under her breath because Zee has done plenty of ogling of Clark.
"Wasn't there something about a question?" Nightwing asks, bring the subject back to that.
Lord Zatanna snaps her fingers. "Yes. Good point. Question. Clark. Ask it."
Clark frowns. "Whose Lara?"
"Lara?" Lord Dinah queries.
"When your Wonder Woman died she asked me to take care of Lara," he clarifies. "Who is Lara?" he repeats the question
"I don't know," Lord Dinah replies.
"I do," Lord Zatanna says with an almost sad expression.
"You do? Who?" Lord Dinah wants to know.
"Remember that year Diana took off shortly after she and Clark married?"
"Yeah. Something about needing to be home," Lord Dinah recalls the reasons given.
"Well a year was a little excessive. 9 months would have done it."
"9 months as in...?"
"Lara is Clark and Diana's daughter," Lord Zatanna confirms what she was hinting at.
Clark's eyes widen in surprise. "That's possible?"
"That morphological ability that made Donna possible also makes Diana's DNA compatible with you."
Lord Dinah is truly shocked. She knew nothing of this. "Why did they keep it secret?"
"They were Superman and Wonder Woman. They tend to attract the most powerful and dangerous adversaries. Why do you think?" Lord Zatanna asks back rhetorically because it should be obvious. They did it to keep Lara hidden from their enemies.
"What happened to her?" Clark wonders, truly interested.
"She was raised on Thermyscria. I assume Hippolyta took responsibility to care for her after Diana's incarceration. Since she is what...7?...8?...by now I also would assume she is still there."
"You don't know for certain?" Lord Dinah asks.
"I'm not all powerful nor all knowing. I just know a lot. Thermyscria is protected by the Olympian Gods. Their magic blinds it from my vision so I can't look in on Lara even if I wanted to. I can only guess that Hippolyta has taken care of her."
Batgirl brings this little revelation fest to an end. "Ok where will I set it to?" she asks for where on the other Earth they want to go.
"Thermyscria," Clark answers. "For all that Wonder Woman did she should go home to her family. It's their right to decide what happens to her body."
"Uh...that may not be a great idea," Dinah cautions. "They don't respond well to strangers, especially men."
"Ill be careful," Clark assures Dinah. "Please set it," he asks Barbara.
Barbara gets to work and the portal opens. Once it clarifies the island paradise home of the Amazons becomes visible. Barbara picks up the remote for the portal. "You'll need this," she says holding it in Clark's direction.
Dinah steps forward and takes it.
"What are you doing?" Clark wants to know.
"Going with you," Dinah insists. If he is going to Thermyscria better than a woman accompany him. "And don't argue. You're already in enough trouble with me," she reminds him.
Clark could argue but he isn't in the mood. He moves over to where the bodies of the Justice Lords had been brought, all wrapped respectfully in varying coloured sheets. He picks Wonder Woman up and carries her over to the portal. "Ready?" he asks Dinah at his side.
"Yes."
"Ladies first," the gentleman in him has to say.
Dinah smiles. She loves that polite farmboy...wait. What did she just think?
"Dinah?" Clark queries, asking if she is going, unaware of what she is thinking.
Dinah snaps out of it. "Right. Away we go," she says as she leaps into the portal and Clark follows her.
Author's Note: So Donna will soon no longer be a weapon of mass destruction which leaves the question of what to do with her. It'll be answered soon. Thanks to everyone who wrote reviews. Next up; A little trip to the Justice Lords' Earth comes with one last revelation from Zatanna's double.
