Harry and Kara stood side by side in the Phantom Zone, the two of them were ready to take anything on that came their way, even if it was at the risk of causing them some level of injury. They would fight anything and everything, no matter the cost. The two of them stood side by side; they knew that Zod was here and if he was nearby, there would be trouble.
As long as they stood together, the two of them knew that they could deal with anything that they went up against.
"So on a scale of one to ten, if we're dealing with Zod, how bad is it?" Harry asked Kara curiously, granted he did know of the man but he felt Kara could share some insight that would help him being that she lived through some of his horrors.
There was a moment of pause before Kara's lips curled into a frown and she stated her answer, slowly and rather carefully.
"A twelve."
Kara's answer filled Harry with a certain amount of trepidation but then again he fought menaces like this for longer than he cared to remember. The Phantom Zone was full of them and now with her powers back the girl who stood beside him looked equally poised for the battle. The blonde Kryptonian stood ready to face anything that went her way and the wizard had to admit that was an attitude that inspired him.
A smile crossed Harry's face, seeing how determined she was.
"Are you ready?"
Kara nodded but it did not matter if she was ready or not because here they came, soulless and demented terrors, making their way through the Phantom Zone to seek out their prey. And once again the prey was Harry and Kara and she felt a shiver wash over her.
Without being able to use the magic that Harry had at his disposal, she felt rather worthless and dare she say it, helpless, but she shook her head that was not an attitude to have. These monsters could feed on their fear so Kara must remain confident.
"Get the accursed one."
To Harry, he heard that perfect but to Kara all that was cold rattling breath. He closed his eyes and brought up a new invention of his that he developed given all of the free time he had in the Phantom Zone, the Patronus Shield.
It was a combination of a shield spell and the Patronus Charm that wrapped around the Dementors, at least eight of them at a time and caused them to feel the similar despair that they caused humans. It was a nasty taste of their own medicine that would prevent them from attacking them.
Needless to say there was a good reason why Harry got the moniker of the accursed one.
"Run!"
Harry and Kara ran or rather flew, and there was a rattling breath of the Dementors behind them, more of them gaining momentum. They could feel slimy hands reaching for them in the air, but Harry sent another Patronus shield behind his back. The shield ensnared the horrors and kept them in place, holding them at bay.
"We can lose him through there," Harry pointed when he pointed to the red fog that rose but Kara was not sure about that, it looked sinister. He sensed that she seemed anxious so Harry turned around to her, looking over his shoulder. "Do you trust me?"
Kara looked at him with a bit of hesitation but she nodded. "Yeah."
"Then we won't get hurt," Harry answered when they went through the fog. Being super invulnerable thanks to their powers, they were able to get through the fog without any kind of problems whatsoever.
Their clothes on the other hand, well they were a little less lucky, the fog ate through fabric and they continued to move forward further through the fog. As it turned out, the Dementors could not track them through this sinister mist. Harry made sure to hold onto Kara's hand when he pulled her forward through the fog and the two of them continued to go through it.
Were they going to make it?
Yes as it turned out they were going to make it, for whatever it was worth, they continued to pick up momentum when they lost the Dementors and the two of them dropped to the ground, the gravity of the Phantom Zone altered. The further away they got, the harder it was for either of them to fly. The gravity pushed onto them, forcing them down and caused them to go down with each other.
Harry fell down on the ground first, only a few strands of his clothes wrapped around him. Kara on the other hand, was pressed against him, completely naked. Her lovely body pressed against him and got a little bit of reaction from Harry when blood rushed to his groin and he saw quite a beautiful set of breasts in front of his line of sight.
Kara brushed it off, it was a normal biological reaction, what she was more concerned about was the fact that they dropped out of the air.
"I think we're in a section of the Phantom Zone with hyper gravity," Kara whispered when she looked at them and sure enough they felt something lightly press upon them. Harry conjured her a blue half shirt and a red skirt, which she put on her body.
"Nice, all you'll need is a cape," Harry stated when he looked at Kara, who still looked lovely as the fabric wrapped snugly around her. "Sorry it's a bit tight; clothes transfiguration is not my thing."
Not that he had any reason to make it less tight when he saw how it wrapped around his companion's assets. And she did not seem to mind it all that much, so all was good.
"It looks good on you though," Harry answered when Kara turned around and moved with a smile.
"Yeah, it looks good," she admitted when she saw herself on the reflective surface. She was not one to preen in front of the mirror but she took a look at herself. "And….you're right, a cape would be a great addition."
Harry watched her walk forward, he wondered if the little sway she added to her hips was accidental or intention but that was something he would worry about at a later time. Now they had to worry about where they were in the Phantom Zone and the trouble that they were in.
Kara saw that the amulet was still fastened tightly to her neck that was a good sign as always. She gave her amulet a little shake and breathed in heavily, her powers of flight were still down given this hyper gravity they were in. Even Harry's magically aided flight did not work in the gravity. Did her other powers work?
Harry's clothes were back on, so Kara decided that this was a perfect opportunity to try out her X-Ray vision, yeah that works rather well. She smiled, really getting the sight of what she saw and Harry slowly turned around when he saw her scope him out with her powers.
"You know if you wanted to check me out, you don't really have to use your X-Ray vision," Harry remarked and Kara refused to be innocent, in fact she looked back at him with a grin.
"Maybe I'll take you up on that offer later, when we get out of here," Kara responded before she stopped unable to believe that she was flirting back but for some reason, it felt so natural. She shook her head, this hyper gravity must be screwing with her mind, she blew her hair out of her face and sighed long when her eyes screwed shut when she placed her hands on her hips.
The blonde stepped forward a few inches on the ground, her feet sinking on the ground underneath and Harry grabbed her by the arm.
"There's something….there's something here," Harry breathed in her ear and the hairs on Kara's neck practically stood up when she shuddered.
"What's here?" Kara asked when she shook her head and Harry pulled her back a little bit more when they waited for the next noise, both listening with enhanced hearing.
A loud grumbling sound could be heard by the two prisoners that answered their question. Kara and Harry stood and they saw a large beast, white, slimy, with many eyes, teeth, and tentacles push its way out of the out of the mud, muck and grime rolling over its body. The beast gave a might growl which caused the two to step back and two blasts hit it full on.
One blast of magical energy and one blast of heat vision, neither of them were effective and both of them made them bounced off the creature but it did move. In fact its growls got more prominent and it reached forward, tentacles bared to grab onto the top of them. Kara and Harry found themselves hoisted several feet off the ground ensnared in the slimy grip of this creature.
Harry used a spell to blind its eyes but there were so many of them that the point was moot. The creature staggered a little bit and was only partially blinded from the attack. The two struggled with Kara closing her eyes, and suddenly an explosion rang out with the creature blowing up.
Before it happened and Harry ran this over in his mind, Kara's body sized up with a warm glow and the creature spontaneously combusted. Had the creature not tried to eat the pair of them for dinner, Harry would have been a little bit sad. That being said, a part of the creature stabbed into him, thankfully he healed easily but healing easily did not bar something from hurting like hell.
"Harry?" Kara asked when she looked at him, concern swimming in her bright blue eyes when she took a tepid step forward across the soil, hoping that creature did not have more frees. She saw Harry's forearm, raw and red, and it looked quite nasty, she winced a little bit when she looked at it.
"It looks worse than it feels," Harry answered when he looked at Kara, feeling the stabbing pain, but she grabbed him around the wrist and examined him, through narrowed blue eyes.
"I did this to you, when that thing exploded, I made it explode with my mind," Kara stated when she frantically went over every single possibility in her mind and hoped that she did not poison Harry or something worse. She was kind of growing fond of him and maybe not because he was the only thing in the Phantom Zone that did not want to kill her. "That….that looks bad."
"It's fine," Harry answered but Kara grabbed him firmly by the wrist and looked at it, trying to figure out the source of the indentation, much time passed before she gave her analysis.
"It's healing but that would have killed a normal person," Kara said when she lightly held onto Harry's wrist, almost like she was afraid his arm would fall off. "We still should check it for an infection or something, who knows what toxins that creature could have had in it?"
"No problem, we'll just step up to the nearest hospital in the Phantom Zone," Harry responded in a dry voice but Kara grabbed him, making sure that he stayed with her when the two of them walked.
"We need to find a way out," Kara stated when the dusty winds blew, making it very hard to see, although she supposed that they could feel those awful things if they came after them again.
"I've searched for….I don't know, twenty, thirty years, damned if I know, and there's no way out of here," Harry answered when he looked at Kara, the two of them staring each other down. He came up with the grimmest assessment that he could. "And we'll let something out, something worse….wherever we go or whenever we go."
Harry felt a little feverish but he shook it off when they continued to walk down a steep set of rocks. The hyper gravity eased up allowing the duo to fly up over the air, with the natural resistance in Harry's body easing up a little bit and feeling his shivers go down his body, causing his veins to freeze before they felt warmth.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Kara asked Harry when she had him propped up against her when they flew side by side in the air.
"Yeah, peachy," Harry stated in a crisp voice but he shook his head. "You on the other hand, performed magic."
"I'm pretty sure that was a panicked reaction to the fact we were both nearly eaten," Kara argued with Harry but a slight expression of discontent crossed Harry's face when he peered Kara in her eyes.
"That's what accidental magic is in a nutshell, a reaction to a change… something that causes your flight or fight mechanism to delve towards fight, to defend yourself from harm," Harry explained when Kara nodded, understanding what she told him. "Now everyone has magic in them but many people cannot force it out. Some magic, it's like a drop of water, for others it's much more than that, like a cup and for many other's it's like a river. And from the way your body glows, I say you're pretty powerful."
Kara refused to believe this point and stated it to Harry.
"I can't… magic hasn't been performed by anyone in over five hundred years on Krypton. We lost the gifts."
"Magic never is lost, it just goes dormant," Harry responded in a swift voice when he peered at Kara, still seeing the subtle glow of power go around her body. "And you have the gifts; you may be equal to me in power."
"You think I'm your equal?" Kara asked when she looked at Harry, swallowing the lump in her throat, seeing Harry perform magic that was amazing and beyond her wildest imaginations and something she only could hope to do.
"In every way," Harry responded when he gave her a warm smile and tapped his foot on the ground. "And now that we have a moment where people aren't trying to kill us perhaps you want to try for something."
Kara nodded when she wondered what Harry had in mind and shook her head before she stood on the ground, taking her breath and looking at him. She had no idea how long they've been running but in the Phantom Zone, it could be moments in here but years on the outside world. Or maybe vice versa, time did not make sense in this dimension. The strange properties of the Zone played tricks on the minds of everyone who resigned here.
"Lift up this rock, levitate it," Harry told her and Kara's eyes turned towards him with a quizzical expression in her eyes. "Levitation is the simplest magic in the world, the first they teach us, among the first. Go ahead and levitate it. There's no need for words or wands, just your mind and will power."
Harry learned that was the secret, all of the laws of magic was to put restrictions on magic users by the Ministry so they could control what was possible. Yet was magic not achieving the impossible? Kara closed her eyes and tried to levitate the rock.
She strained herself trying to do so but the rock remained stationary on the ground.
"Kara, I know you can do it," Harry stated when he looked at the blonde. "You've got to focus and tap into your inner strength, believe you can."
"I'll try," Kara managed when she looked at the rock, trying to will the rock above the ground.
She could not do this, in fact the entire thing felt stupid, now she knew how Kal-El felt when she easily flew and he could not.
"There is no try, you either do or do not," Harry responded when he looked at Kara before he looked at her. "Come on, it's easy!"
Kara managed to levitate the rock off the ground before it landed and she staggered back, dizzied from the effort. She tapped into something and Harry caught her in his arms, dipping her back to face her. The two went face to face when Harry bent Kara backwards and peered into her eyes.
"That's how you do magic," Harry stated when he looked at Kara and the blue eyed blonde smiled when they gazed into each other's eyes. "It gets easier, trust me, I'll teach you everything I can. The only limit is your mind."
"The mind can be a very powerful thing," Kara remarked wisely and Harry responded with a nod.
"And dangerous as well, do not forget dangerous," Harry answered when the two of them walked forward and continued to walk around the Phantom Zone with the blonde soaking in every bit of wisdom Harry gave her like a sponge when they continued to travel through the Zone.
Days passed, maybe weeks but Harry and Kara made their trek through the Phantom Zone, stalking the altar when they can, going back every so often when they could to check it out. The two currently watched, cloaked in invisibility now. Harry made Kara a modified invisibility cloak although it was not potent as the Cloak of Invisibility back on Earth was.
Granted it did not cloak them from the Dementors to begin with but there were other things in the Phantom Zone that it could cloak them from.
The Hallows were an interesting thing, as Harry knew the Ministry was coming, so he took the Hallows and hid them under a Fidelius Charm in a shack. He gave the secret to a dying Muggle cancer patient in exchange for using his powers to put him out of his misery. He was sure that some of the greedy people in the Ministry would like nothing better than to get their hands on the keys to ultimate power.
Harry essentially flipped them off before he was shoved through into the Phantom Zone.
"I wish we could drive them away," Kara whispered when she clutched Harry's arm and stepped forward but he shook his head.
"It's our only ticket out and they know it is," Harry responded, they would love nothing better than to grab Harry and Kara, and make her use it to let them out to cause untold havoc on the Earth.
Kara thought she made strides on her training with Harry, when they could spare a few minutes when not running from the monster of the day. The two shared stories of their adventures and in a few cases, their misadventures, talking about everything that happened to them. The two got to know each other and grew closer.
"Did you hear the whispers?" Kara asked Harry and he nodded knowing what she was referring to.
"The one's about Kandor," Harry stated before the blonde stood beside him and looked up with wide eyes.
"Do you think they're true?" Kara inquired Harry, valuing his opinion.
Harry wondered that as well, from what Kara told him, all of Krypton should be destroyed, she hardly believed it but it was true. If a part of it was out there then Harry would like to share her hope that something from it could be salvaged. Even if the situation could be hopeless, surely Kal-El and Kara were not the only ones who escaped Krypton?
"I don't know Kara, it's possible but….the Phantom Zone, how would they know?"
Kara nodded slowly, she did wonder how they would know, but then again perhaps some of them were sent here after the destruction of Krypton. The Phantom Zone offered a wide variety of criminals throughout the twenty eight galaxies after all and the very worst of them at that.
"So are you going back to your world?" Kara asked when she looked at Harry.
Harry paused before he raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "Go back to what?"
Harry shook his head when he crossed his arms and looked up before he returned to Kara.
"The only reason I have to go back to that world….is good old fashioned revenge and let's face it, that's not going to really reverse what happened. The Ministry took all my resources, the world things I'm already dead and gone. I imagine the few friends I still had disappeared by now or worse."
Kara thought that this thought was extremely pessimistic of Harry but ultimately it was true, that much was certain. The world did not appreciate Harry when he was there and he returned, gain his revenge everyone that did him wrong, but where we he go from there?
"I'd imagine that they either did a good job of making me the villain or erasing me from history, white-washing the fact that I saved them from one of the most dangerous dark lords in history," Harry stated with a bit of bitterness dripping from his voice when Kara nodded by his side. That was likely to be the truth. "They're….most of them are either corrupt and don't deserve to be saved."
"There will be other people in the world that will appreciate a hero even though that hidden world never did," Kara answered in an honest voice and Harry appreciated her sentiment, smiling back to her.
"Of course, I doubt anyone in the Phantom Zone appreciates me." Harry answered and it was that point where Kara could not disagree with him.
"They're not too fond of me either, the House of El has put half of the criminals from Krypton in here, so….yeah they're out for my blood," Kara responded when she let her breath out in a whistle.
That fact was quite literal given the fact that if her blood could activate that altar, it could open up a portal and bring them out of the Phantom Zone. The location was assumed to be Earth, whatever could be considered her present but that was not assured. It was not the sort of thing that she could test out.
"When we get out of here, you want to follow up on those rumors about Kandor?" Harry asked Kara with the blonde slowly turning towards him and offering him a bright smile.
"You'd go with me to search for Kandor?"
"Of course, what better do I have to do on Earth?" Harry asked, when he wrapped his arms around Kara as they continued their staking out of the area around the cave. They could tell the altar was nearby, the fog was concentrated highly around this space and obscured their vision slightly, causing where they were going to be blocked.
Kara smiled, she appreciated that Harry would do that for her, even if it was a really bad rumor that gone wrong. Of course thoughts about Krypton brought her to thoughts about Kal-El and the very real worry that she had about something really bad happening to him with whatever Brainiac was planning.
Did Clark figure out the deception or was he dreadfully blind to it? Brainiac was obviously a master of deception and had his way of manipulating people to do what he wanted, as Kara found out the hard way. The program was something that was a good idea in theory but it was corrupted along the way to achieve one objective and no doubt his final objective would be the full scape destruction the world and every living person on it.
Earth was an interesting world for Kara but really it was not home to her, the Krypton she knew was gone. She foolishly hung up for that hope that Kandor was still out there and her and Harry could find it .She knew in her heart that Harry never really found his place on Earth like her, despite being born there.
Kara hoped, maybe a little bit, that Harry could find a place with her.
Harry meanwhile knew that escape from the Phantom Zone was not going to be easy. While he and Kara could cover each other from danger, it was still obvious that the greatest exit point was the one that hundreds of soul sucking monsters, now more powerful than ever before covered. There was a whisper of Zod once again, even if the phantom himself remained in the shadows, using others to do his bidding. Krypton's greatest menace refused to directly encounter anyone.
Perhaps it was for the best that way but Harry had a reason to get out of here, to help Kara escape and perhaps the two of them could go from there. He looked at her, she was beautiful, strong, and willing to fight for what was right. Those were very endearing qualities to Harry, as he looked at her blonde hair, shimmering blue eyes, and passion and intensity, not to mention the confidence that burned through them.
The two of them might have lost themselves in the despair in this place if they could not be alone and the two of them walked forward, holding their hands together when they continued to inch forward, for some reason their resistance was getting stronger, when they stood together. Although they could not make their ways forward and use the altar due to the high concentration of Dementors that were around it.
"If they would just leave it for a minute, if all of them could leave it, we could dart in there, and I could get us out of here," Kara breathed when she leaned back against Harry, he still had her arms wrapped around her. Her eyes remained focused on the creatures who mumbled.
"A message from Zod," Harry translated when he told Kara who could not resist making a flippant comment.
"Do you mean Zed?"
Harry smiled while Kara mulled that over in her mind.
"I don't know, kneel for Zed doesn't seem as threatening, does it?" Kara asked, when her lips curled into a smile, and she felt strong standing next to her friend.
"Smart, beautiful, and quick witted, you are amazing, Kara," Harry remarked when he held her tight into him and she smiled prettily at him. Then again, she could not be anything else but beautiful.
'He's pretty amazing himself,' Kara thought, feeling the strength and the courage that radiated through the both of them, they could never stand stronger than they stood together.
"Thanks," Kara remarked cool and calm when they continued to stand and edged away from the fog. Despite their strength, they could not stand this place longer.
Harry and Kara edged away, finding it very odd that no one tried to attack them in the Phantom Zone but they shook their heads, taking a few steps off to the side, the two of them continued their walking in the Phantom Zone. They found it very odd that there was no one who came to try and kill them.
Neither of them dared to speak that fact out loud, for it would be cause the situation to be jinxed but both of them thought it, they dared to think that maybe things would get better.
"Constant vigilance, they could be lurking around any corner," Harry whispered in her ear and Kara responded with a nod before she continued to walk forward, with Harry trailing behind her with each step getting closer.
The rattling breath filled the air once again and Harry peered up, that Dementors were coming and they were in full force.
Kara and Harry knew that they could not stand their ground, so they blasted their way as fast as they could manage. They knew the Phantom Zone pretty well at this point or as well as any two people could know it. They had to know it; it was survival of the fittest in here.
"Harry, they're….stronger," Kara breathed when she nearly faltered in the air, but to her relief Harry caught the blonde in his arms.
"I got you, I'm not going to let anything happen to you," Harry stated when the two of them moved forward, and the Dementors moved around. Harry pushed Kara out of the way with both of his strong hands and a frantic voice. "GO! I'M RIGHT BEHIND YOU!"
Kara opened her mouth to protest but she saw Harry do what he can to hold off the Dementors so she could make a clean getaway. All of them were sent in full force.
The Boy-Who-Lived stood, he could not allow Zod to get Kara, the Dementors would be set free and so would he. He saw Kara like a dot, a reluctant one, fly past him, as Harry summoned all of the power he could to his Patronus Shields but it was apparent that something happened.
Something caused his shields to become less than effective.
'We grow stronger Accursed One….The General brings us food, we feast, off of the despair, he's created a prison that will allow us to grow strong to bring you and the daughter of the House of El to his court. You will kneel before Zod and then we will have your soul.'
"KNEEL BEFORE THIS!"
Harry blasted a bright bolt of light out to cause the Dementors go but Kara came back at hyper speed, to try and do the Patronus Charm as Harry taught her. He warned her that it was complex magic that most could not grasp but she wanted to learn it.
The problem was the spell was rather feeble and brushed away, and two of the Dementors grabbed Kara, holding her in place. Being the feisty one she was, Kara fought their grip. The third fought his inner nature to drop his hood and suck her soul out but perhaps they can have it once she let them out of the Phantom Zone. A soul so pure and so full of light would be a treat for them, a rare delicacy.
Harry refused to allow them to take Kara so he summoned his full power, a very scary sight indeed and blasted the Dementors full force with the Patronus charm. He thought of Kara to fuel it and the guardians burst out of his hand, by the dozens, shooting forward at his enemies.
The guardians trampled the Dementors, destroying them, shredding them to pieces, and Kara staggered back, awestruck by what happened, she could not believe it. These creatures fled in terror, these guardians Harry summoned far worse than the terrors that they could imagine.
The soul sucking monsters fled immediately away from Harry and Kara, fearing the full power that the accursed one could bring upon them. It was for this fact that the accursed one was called the accursed one.
Kara blinked when she stared at Harry, her eyes widened when she felt the power roll off his body, and the heat when she got a bit too close. It was quite the spectacle between the two of them. He positively glowed, the most dangerous thing in the Phantom Zone or at least with the top ten. Kara found herself glad that Harry was with her and not against her.
"Harry?" Kara asked in a tentative tone of voice, wondering if things got pushed too far.
There was a moment before Harry responded. "Give me a minute to collect my thoughts Kara then I'll be fine."
Kara waited for Harry to collect his thoughts, wondering if those things would come back with reinforcements but a thought struck her.
"Did you ever kill any of those things?"
Harry's eyes snapped towards her.
"No, why?"
Kara inclined her head to the tattered and burned robes, about five, six of them, and slimy bones that laid on the ground within the ashen remains.
"That might indicate that they're dead," Kara stated when she looked at Harry. "You said that they feed off the happy memories of people."
"Yes, and the Patronus gives them so many happy memories that they can't stand it and have to flee," Harry responded when he wondered where Kara was going with this. Curiosity bubbled in his mind when he turned to her.
"I think you might have given what humans call a fatal overdose."
Harry thought about it, wondering if he could be brazen enough to nudge the Dementor with his toe to see if it would wake up. He walked over; wondering what would happen if he touched a Dementor corpse. The wizard in question stepped forward, before he nudged it carefully with his toe.
Thankfully nothing happened it all.
Then a blinding whiz of light above them which caused both of them to nearly jump up, being in the Phantom Zone they knew to regard everything with suspicion and it was with just cause. The crack and bang caused them to jump up and see what was happening.
Kara and Harry stood up when they followed the source of the light, they knew someone was here with them, the question was who? Was it a friend or a foe, or just a figment of their imagination?
The two of them followed the source of the light, they had no idea what came through that vortex that opened above them. Kara and Harry hoped it was someone who might be able to help them but likely it could be another person that might seek to kill them.
There was only one way to find out.