Cover – The villainous Volcana has her long fiery hair wrapped around Supergirl's neck and is lifting her unconscious form off the ground.
INFINTE SUPERGIRL
By KyptoKin
…There's Fire
32 years ago
A little girl with ginger hair was running around in a pink flowery dress and chasing a Mastiff puppy. Her mother, also a ginger, looked on from a lawn chair sitting under an oak tree. When the girl fell the mother sat up and said, "Claire, please be careful. I just bought you that dress." The girl got up and smiled before chasing the puppy again.
"YELP!"
The puppy jumped out of Claire's grip and ran towards the mother. She picked up the whimpering dog and set it on her lap. "Claire, what happened?"
"I-I don' know," said a sobbing Claire, "I only touched him and he ran away." The mother was petting him when she stopped and looked down at the little brown dog. There were two spots on its body in the shape of little handprints where the hair was gone. They exposed the dog's skin, which was in irritated pink color. The mother grabbed Claire with her free arm and pulled her onto her lap.
As she held the two, Claire reached out and tentatively petted one of the dog's ears with her index finger. "Is Charlie gonna be okay?" The mother looked at the puppy, which was licking Claire's fingers, and smiled.
"Yes honey. Charlie's going to be just fine."
Street Fair, Now
Mary-Lou Jones was gripping Derrick Albright's right arm as smoke billowed from the burning house. Firefighters struggled to put out the fire as policemen pushed the crowd farther back. Airman Katherine Kane was standing next to the ambulance while they EMT's took care of the little girl Supergirl had saved. A fretting couple was also nearby being consoled by a policewoman. When several windows blew out on the third floor, people in the crowd screamed.
"Where is she? She should be out by now," said Mary. Derrick placed a hand on her hands and looked at Kate from behind the barriers.
The airman stepped away from the ambulance and said to Mary, "I'm sure everything's okay."
"Then what's taking her so long? Supergirl should've been in-n-out."
"Maybe there were complications."
"Like what?"
The crowd jumped as Supergirl exploded backwards out of the burning building. People ran and screamed as burning debris flew at them. The fire's intensity grew twice over and firefighters struggled to get in control of it. Across the street, Supergirl pushed off the damaged building. A little boy ran towards her but his dad grabbed him and moved away from her like the rest of the crowd did. Volcana, body covered in flames, flew out of the burning house and landed in front of Supergirl. "You know, I figured you would be more difficult to fight. I guess I was wrong."
Volcana threw a fireball at Supergirl, who simply pulled her cape up to block the ball. "I think you need to cool down." Supergirl flew a puff of cold air at Volcana. She rolled out of the way and hid behind a car. Two officers ran through the crowd and pulled their guns on her.
"Freeze!"
Oh, bad choice of words, thought Supergirl. Volcana's arms heated up and she threw a large fireball at them. Supergirl flew in front of them and let out a gust of breath that put them out.
"Nice one princess." Airman Kane pushed through the crowd and ended up close to where Volcana was standing. "But let's try something new." In one fluid motion, she whipped her hair around the car's door and yanked it off its hinges then hurled it at the crowd like a Frisbee; particularly where Kate was standing.
Kate dropped to the ground just as the burning door spun over her head. Unfortunately the woman behind her wasn't as fast and froze in terror as the door came at her. Right before it hit her, Supergirl caught it against her chest. "Getting slow already?" Supergirl didn't take kindly to Volcana's taunt. She took the door and stood it on its edge then kicked it squarely at Volcana. The force of the door pushed her into another car.
The crowd watched as Volcana pushed the door off her and wiped blood from her mouth, "That it?" then flew away before Supergirl could answer.
Just as she was about to follow the fiery woman, someone grabbed her arm. "Supergirl, wait."
"Yes Airman Kane?"
"About the door."
Supergirl pulled out of the airman's grip and stepped away from her. "That door would not have touched you if I thought you were in danger."
"You knew I was going to duck?"
"To be honest, I have no clue what you are capable of." Before Kate could say a word, an explosion happened in the distance and Supergirl took off after Volcana.
"Airman Kane!" Derrick and Mary ran up to her. "Are you okay?" asked Mary.
"Not sure."
"What did Supergirl say to you?"
"I think she made a gamble with my life and won."
"Is that a bad thing?"
Kate's phone started buzzing. "I'd say so," she pulled it out of her pocket and answered it, "hello?"
The two teens watched as Kate lowered her voice and talked with the person on the other line. "Derrick, is Supergirl in trouble?" He looked up at the sky and frowned.
"I don't know."
30 years ago
Little Claire edge towards the doorway of the kitchen and listened to the conversation taking place between the three adults sitting at the table. "Missus Selton, Claire's abilities are fantastic. I'd think you be proud of her." Dr. Fitzroy, a man small in stature but big in voice pushed his large-rimmed glasses up his nose and took a sip from his glass of water.
"I am proud of my daughter. It's just that…Claire's abilities are growing and I don't know what to do with her."
"That's understandable Missus Selton. Claire's pyro-kinesis is a rare and powerful gift. Her powers will grow as she does."
"It's more than that." Mr. Selton stood up from his chair and went to the fridge to pull out another beer. "Whenever Claire gets upset her powers flare, and I think she knows this."
"You're afraid Claire will begin to abuse them, if she's not already."
"Sure."
"Hmm." Dr. Fitzroy interlaced his fingers and rested his head on his hands. "How 'bout we ask Claire if she agrees?" He tilted his head and looked at the doorway. "Claire, could you come in here please?" She stayed glued to her spot but eventually made her way into the room, to her parent's surprise. The doctor patted his knee and though she hesitated at first, she eventually let him pick her up and set her on his knee. "Claire here has been listening to our conversation for a while."
"How do you know that?" asked Mr. Selton.
Dr. Fitzroy waited until Claire was comfortable before answering. "Those of us who work at the Center for Paranormal Studies aren't just hired because we're smart."
"Do you have anyone with Claire's gift?"
"I'm afraid not but that's okay. Unique children create unique gifts."
Mrs. Selton and Claire liked the doctor's answer but the father seemed indifferent on it. "What can you do?"
Dr. Fitzroy answered Mr. Selton's question after reaching down and pulling a teddy bear out of his bag. "I'm an empath. I can sense what people are feeling."
"That's all?"
The doctor nodded then smiled down at Claire, "that's how I knew Claire was watching us," he handed her the bear and she hugged it to her chest. "She's scared."
As soon as the words left his lips, Mrs. Selton became upset. "Claire, why are you scared?"
Claire hugged the bear tighter and tried to hunch down behind it. "I don' wanna leave."
"Oh, honey. We don't want you to leave either but it's for the best."
"You're too powerful Claire. You need to get in control before you hurt another person."
Dr. Fitzroy was surprised by Mr. Selton's statement and looked down at the girl in his lap. "Who did you hurt Claire?"
"Charlie, our dog, was the first victim," answered Mr. Selton. "The second was our neighbor's son. He pushed Claire and she got mad. When she pushed him back his shirt caught on fire. After that, we decided it would be best if Claire was home-schooled. Except it didn't keep the incidents under control. Whenever Claire doesn't get her way things tend to catch on fire."
"Is this true Claire?" She nodded her head against the bear and pulled it tighter to her. "From what you've told me, I can confidently say the best way for Claire to gain control is to have her come to Metropolis."
Claire's head shot up and she jumped off the doctor's lap. "I don' wanna leave!"
"Now Claire this is for the best."
"No it isn't! I don' like you! And I don' like this bear!"
She slammed the bear on the kitchen floor. When it hit the ground it burst into flames but that wasn't the only thing that caught on fire. Dr. Fitzroy's pants went up in flames where Claire was sitting. He jumped up from his seat and Mr. Selton ran to the counter and grabbed one of three pitchers of water off it. The doctor fell back onto the floor and tried to get his pants off as Mr. Selton threw the water at him to put out the fire. Mrs. Selton grabbed another pitcher and poured it over the bear. All that was left was a charred chunk of faux fur and cotton.
They pulled off Dr. Fitzroy's pants and Mrs. Selton handed him a large towel to cover his lower-half. When everything was calm, the three adults looked at Claire, who was sitting in the far corner of the kitchen crying. "It seems the situation is worse than expected. We'll have to leave immediately. Tonight would be preferable but the morning will have to do. Mister and Missus Selton, I suggest you pack Claire's things and get ready to say goodbye. Tomorrow she and I leave for Metropolis."
Street Fair, Now
Kara shook the ashes out of her hair as she walked around a tent. A police officer bumped into her and apologized as he met up with another officer. The entire scene around her was of police and firefighters clearing the streets of people. An officer standing on a chair was making announcements with a megaphone and telling people to go home.
"Kara!" She snapped around to see Derrick running to her. "Airman Kane and Mary are at the entrance looking for you."
"Sorry. I was-"
"Busy?" Derrick gave her a crooked smile and pulled a piece of burnt wood out of her hair. "Where'd you run off to?"
"Away from the fire," she said in a matter-of-fact way.
Derrick raised an eyebrow at her and shook his head. "You better come up with a better excuse than that if you wanna convince Kane." Kara nodded and began walking through the mesh of people with him.
"So how long have you known?"
"Known what?" Kara raised an eyebrow at Derrick. "Oh, a while now. After the bridge actually. It was too coincidental she was around to save me. Besides, the whole glasses thing doesn't work as well as you think it does."
Kara reached up tapped the corner of her glasses. "It was Lana's idea. You can blame her."
Derrick smiled and took Kara's left hand in his. "You seem pretty chill about me knowing you're you-know-who."
"I've had my suspicions."
"I see." Derrick suddenly stopped and gave her a serious look. "Kane is catching on."
Kara sighed. "I know. Lana and I can't keep this up forever."
Derrick gave her a sympathetic look but frowned again when he glanced past her. "She's irritatingly persistent, isn't she?" Kara turned around and saw Kate and Mary coming towards them, though Mary was running more so than walking.
"Perhaps, but I find it an admirable trait, even if it is an irritating one."
Kara let go of Derrick's hand just as Mary plowed into her and gave her a huge hug. "Where have you been?" Kara smiled sheepishly and slipped her glasses up the bridge of her nose as she stepped back from the short brunette.
"I got lost in the crowd. Sorry."
"We're just glad you're okay." Kara looked up at Kate. A look of understanding passed between them that said Kate didn't do hugs but she was happy to see her.
"Thank you but there wasn't any real reason to worry."
"You sound like Derrick. He said the same thing when we were looking for you." His hands were in his pockets and he simply shrugged when Kara looked at him.
"Well now that you've found me. Let's go home. It's getting late and Lana wanted me home to help with dinner."
"It's not even four yet," comment Kate.
Kara shrugged and took Derrick's hand in her left while wrapping her right arm around Mary's shoulders. "We like to eat before six." The three teens walked in unison away from Kate.
Who are you Kara Lang, she thought. Are you just another teenage girl or is there more to you? They stopped and Kara slipped out of her friends' grasps to look back at Kate.
"You coming or what?"
"Why do you care?"
"Well, you did drive me here." Kate's smile fell. Kara smiled and turned away from the airman, then continued walking with her friends while Kate pushed through the crowd in order to catch up with them.
30 years ago
Claire gripped the pink, stuffed hippo in her arms tightly as Dr. Fitzroy led her out of the house to a black car. Two men dressed in black suits and wearing sunglasses were standing next to the driver's door and rear, right-side door of the car. Mr. and Mrs. Selton stood in the doorway. She was crying as her husband comforted her by putting an arm around her shoulders.
When Claire looked at her parents, she saw her mother was crying. "Come on Claire. We have to go." She looked up at the doctor then at her family again. Quickly, she let go of him and ran to her parents. One of the men moved after her but the doctor stopped him by holding out a hand. The little red-head ran into her parents arms and they embraced her completely.
"I don' wanna leave."
"I know sweetie," said Mrs. Selton while brushing back her daughter's hair with her left hand, "but it's going to be okay."
"Your mommy's right Claire-Bear," said Mr. Selton. His daughter perked up at the nickname. "You can come back during Hanukah and Passover and your birthday and mommy's birthday and anytime you really miss us."
"But I miss you now."
Mr. Selton gave his daughter a sad smile and picked her up in his arms as he stood up with his wife. "I know but you're going to Metropolis, it's for the best. There you can learn to control your pow…gift. There you can control your gift better." He set his daughter next to the open passenger door and kneeled down to look her in the eyes. Mrs. Selton was standing behind him and still crying. "Remember. Whenever you're sad or lonely, you have Mister Wobbles to remind you that Mommy and me love you very much and can't wait for you to get stronger and come back. Okay?"
Claire nodded and looked up at Dr. Fitzroy who was standing next to Mr. Selton. "Let's go Claire." She turned around and hopped into the car. The doctor approached Mr. Selton and shook his hand before getting in with her and closing the door. Mr. and Mrs. Selton backed away from the car and waved as it drove away.
Lana Lang's House, Now
Kate pulled up to the house and stopped next to a blue truck. "Whose is that?" Kara tilted her head to the left and frowned.
"It's Derrick's." They got out of the car and walked towards the house.
"Were you expecting him?"
"No. I figured he would've gone home after dropping Mary off."
They stopped ten feet or so from the front door. Kate turned to Kara and shoved her hands in her pockets. "Well, this has been an eventful day."
"I think that's an understatement." Kate smiled and shifted her feet.
"Kara, may I ask you a question?"
"You mean, may you ask me anotherquestion."
Kate narrowed her eyes and the right corner of her mouth curled slightly. "Yes, may I ask you anotherquestion?" Kara smiled and nodded. "Why did you ask me to go to the street fair with you?"
"Because I don't have a license."
Kate crossed her arms and shook her head. "Try again."
"Since you're so intent on learning about me, I thought I'd give you an insight."
"What do you mean?"
Kara looked at the front door when she answered. "We know you've been watching us Kate."
"What are you-"
"We're not idiots," snapped Kara, "and we don't take kindly to being the focus of the United States' Air Force."
A dark expression passed over Kate's face. "I think this conversation is over." She walked away from the blonde teenager and reached into her pocket when Kara called out to her.
"Kate." The airman paused and turned slowly. "If we find out you're still watching us, you won't like the outcome."
Kate pulled her hand out of her pocket. "Is that a threat?"
"Think of it as a weighted warning." The airman gritted her teeth and continued walking to her car. As she opened the door, Derrick walked out of the house and stood next to Kara.
"You do realize they're gonna watch you closer than before."
"I'm counting on it." Derrick gave Kara a worried look then took her right hand in his as Kate sped down the driveway. When the car was out of sight, he led her around the house and into the woods.
"Are they watching us?"
"No. The area is clear. However, I haven't had the chance to see if there's a satellite passing over us."
"They do that?"
"Every so often, but not enough a pattern has formed."
When they were far enough from the house that the trees were blocking them out completely, Derrick stopped. "Quick question, what happened to that woman?"
"She got away."
"From you?"
"I may be fast but I had a decision to make. Stop a forest fire or go after her. I chose the former."
"Good choice."
Derrick rubbed his hands and let out a breath. Kara pulled off her knit cap and handed it to him. "You really should be wearing a hat." He seemed reluctant so she took it out of his hands and put it on for him. "The cold doesn't affect me." He smiled and combed a few unruly strands of blonde hair behind Kara's right ear. Instead of pulling away though, he rested his hand on Kara's cheek and stepped closer. He leaned down and just as their lips were about to touch, he stopped.
"You okay with this?"
"With what?"
"You and me?"
A small smile formed on her lips as she answered. "Trust me, I've been waiting for you to make a move for-" Derrick's mouth came crashing down onto Kara's, effectively shutting her up in the process.
In the distance, a pair of binoculars watched the kissing couple. He pulled them away and leaned against a tree. "Well, this should be interesting." The man picked a black bag off the ground and put the binoculars in it before turning around and disappearing through the trees.
Somewhere in the woods
Volcana grumbled as she moved through the trees and dead shrubbery that were covered in snow. Her arms were wrapped around herself and she shivered as she walked. This is what I get for trying to hide from him, she thought. If I just took off like I planned instead of watching Supergirl this wouldn't have happened. I'm such an idiot.
"I'd have to disagree with you there Claire."
Volcana turned on the voice in the dark with a fireball in her right hand. The voice chuckled then stepped out from behind a tree into the light. Dressed head-to-toe in white winter clothes, completed with a white beanie, was Lieutenant Rodgers. Instead of washing his features out, the white caused his tan skin and violet eyes to become more distinguished. "You have five seconds to tell me why I shouldn't barbecue you."
"I can immortalize you in history."
The fireball in her hand grew. "Try again."
"I can reunite you with them. I can let you see them."
She stared at him for a beat then put the fire out. "Talk."
"I need your help."
"Be more specific."
"I need your help saving Supergirl."
Volcana scoffed and folded her arms. "And why would I want to do that?"
"Because if you don't this entire planet will be destroyed, and that will only be the beginning."
"You're kidding."
Rodgers pulled out an iPhone from his pocket and pulled off his right glove before playing with it and showing it to her. "I wish I was."
Volcana stared at the phone. Her face changed from indifferent to worried. "Is this real?"
"It can be." He put the phone away and Volcana walked away from him. With each step she took, holes in the snow the shape of her feet were left behind. When she was around 15 feet from him she whipped around, her entire body glowing and on the verge of bursting into flames.
"What can I do?"
"Come with me. I can train you in preparation for what's to come."
"You're expecting me to do this alone?"
"You won't be alone. I've acquired an individual like you. The U.S. military would have grabbed him but I stepped in before they could."
Volcana cooled down and folded her arms again. "If this is a trick and you betray me, I'll turn you into charbroiled jack $$," she said with a smirk. "Go that?"
"Duly noted." Rodgers pulled a walkie-talkie out of his pocket. "We're good. Bring her down."
"Rodger that Rodgers." The lieutenant rolled his eyes and put the walkie-talkie away. He motioned to Volcana to stand next to him. The wind around them picked up to where snow began to blow everywhere and a white helicopter appeared above the tree line. It hovered above them and a rope ladder rolled down to meet them.
"After you!" She proceeded to climb the ladder as he held it still for her. Once they were in the helicopter, the ladder was pulled up and they flew away.
* Author's Note
I apologize for being a few months behind with these issues. I've been super busy with university but now that I'm done with school for the season I can focus more on getting these issues out to you. I hope you guys have been enjoying this storyline. If you have issues, comments, or questions then let me know. I love feedback. It helps me grow as a writer.