The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Millma Verse: The Hitchhiker's Guide to Karry
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A World of Survivors
Kayla and Mon were still in bed. It was mid-morning and the pair didn't see the need to get up yet as there was nothing planned for the day – the Kent Farm was in order, Kara didn't need any babysitters, and Alura was pottering about the cottage doing her own thing. It was nice. A perfect morning.
"I do kind of miss covering for pregnant Karas," Kayla mused aloud, waking Mon from his little snooze.
"Hmm?" Mon asked, yawning a little. "Who's pregnant?"
"No one's pregnant," Kayla laughed at Mon not having heard her. "I just said I missed covering for pregnant Karas."
"Well, I'm sure there's one out there in the multiverse who could use your cover," Mon stated, stretching and looking at her in the bed. "Besides, if you did that, you'd have to leave your mom for a few months."
"That's a good point," Kayla paused at that. "I'm not ready for that…"
"Exactly. So, be grateful no one needs you to cover for now," Mon reasoned, pleasantly.
Before Kayla could respond to that, though, a portal opened in the room and Cisco came jumping out, seemingly excited.
"We've got–" Cisco began.
"Cisco!" Both Kayla and Mon called out, grabbing the sheets to cover themselves – they were both naked in bed, after all.
"Oh, sorry. It's nothing I haven't seen before…" Cisco paused, quickly turning his back, however.
"Not on me, you haven't," Kayla stated, speeding to grab some clothes.
"Nor me," Mon added, pulling on some pants but remaining bare-chested for now. "You can look," he added to his friend.
"Sorry," Cisco's face was red now as he turned back; Kayla was still glaring. Mon found the situation a little funny, but annoyed that Cisco could have interrupted a moment between him and Kayla.
"What did you want to burst in on us for anyway?" Kayla asked now, folding her arms.
"Speedster Earth," Cisco stated simply. "I had this weird dream about it, that I was taking Velocity and had their Barry and Max running to save me and then, I don't know, it just felt like when I woke, I just had to go there… that the dream had a meaning behind it."
"Speedster Earth?" Kayla paused at that. "Didn't we go to a Disney there?"
"Yeah, their park is run down but it was still fun," Mon added at that, remembering their time there a few months ago. "I think it was the American park. They had a Statue of Liberty," Kayla gave a small smile as she realized Mon was right; the park based on America itself that had been badly run down.
"What exactly is going on with that world anyway?" Kayla had to ask; she'd never really questioned Speedster Earth before, even when at their park. "Why was the park so run down, again?"
"Well, the humans of the world are using the speedster drug, Velocity," Cisco mused, "so not many of them care now for thrill rides when they can run up buildings and across water."
"Shame," Mon mused at that. They could all do amazing things, but they still liked going to amusement parks after all. It seemed the humans of that world forgot the simple pleasures of life.
"But as for the world itself, the history we know… the Rae there decided to enter a race," Cisco continued, "but one of the Velocity users died during the race and they all blamed Rae because she's a natural speedster- it seems the Velocity users looked down on natural speedsters there. Rae then came to Karry, who in turn went to the world to investigate further, but before they could, the Monitor and Anti-Monitor took them off-world to explain that we couldn't interfere with the world's natural development."
"I'm guessing this is another world where Kara is with Barry?" Kayla asked this casually – what with Young Karry and WellsAllen the 'Karry theme' was starting to become obvious.
"Urm, yeah. They're solid on Speedster," Cisco frowned at Kayla for this.
"So… what exactly are we going to do when we go there, then?" Mon asked, grabbing a shirt now, distracting Cisco's curiosity.
"I… don't know. Maybe just catch up? Find out what my dream could be about," Cisco reasoned.
"Sometimes a dream is just a dream though," Kayla added. "But come on, we might as well go there now – the sooner we go, the sooner we find out why."
"I like the attitude," Cisco smirked, as Mon and Kayla both slipped on their shoes, now both fully-clothed.
"Oh, you know me," Kayla shrugged as Cisco opened the portal, leading the way through.
-Hitchhiker's Guide-
Their portal didn't open into the world Cisco thought it would, though, instead it seemed to open onto a light woodland, with bright flowers around them and a little cottage placed just so in a clearing just beyond the trio.
"This… isn't Speedster Earth," Cisco voiced instantly, first out of the portal.
"You sure? I mean there's got to be a nice woodland and cottage somewhere on the world," Mon reasoned at this, he and Kayla joining him as the portal closed behind them.
"No. I aimed for their Speedster Sanctuary," Cisco explained.
"Well, if we're going to find out what this detour is for, I think the answer probably lies in that cottage," Kayla mused, taking steps forward. "Although this place has a little bit of a… fake quality to it," she added; looking around something felt off to Kayla. The air didn't sit right, the plants didn't seem right... Almost as if they walked into a movie or the holodeck from Star Trek.
"It does seem unusual," Cisco somewhat agreed as they headed to the cottage, looking around, expecting something to jump out at them, or something to change. But it didn't.
Stopping at the door, Mon took the lead, about to knock but the door opened for them. The three looked at one another before Mon took a step into the little house.
"Finally!" A voice called as a familiar woman in a long, flowing, white dress with red hair called out to them from within the cottage, moving forward to take Mon and Kayla, who were in front, into the cottage. Cisco followed, now bemused at what had happened.
"Accord," Cisco was the one to voice this, knowing this had to be the Amelia, formerly of Paranormal/Extranormal Earth, who had been turned into the new Monitor by their Paragons a while ago. She had been called Accord because her original power was to grant others meta powers. This place, though, had to be the Monitor's part of reality, where she now lived – possibly with Gal-El, the new Anti-Monitor, although he was nowhere to be seen.
"Yes, yes, that's me" Accord dismissed Cisco. "I've been waiting a while for this," she had a look on her face that the three couldn't quite make out – possibly excitement, maybe trepidation.
"What exactly is this about?" Cisco asked, just as Mon and Kayla decided to let their friend take the lead. "I was aiming for Speedster Earth, not here… wherever here is."
"That's because I intervened, like we did with your dream," Accord pointed out.
"Wait, my dream of Speedster Earth and the need to suddenly want to go there… that was you?" Cisco asked, taken aback by that.
"Well, actually that was Gal – that's sort of one of the Anti-Monitor's skills," Accord mused. "Shame he couldn't be here, but he has his own business to attend to right now," she added, not going into detail on this, so the three decided not to push this matter.
"Why did you want us to go to Speedster, then?" Kayla asked, intrigued as to this turn of events.
"Ah yes. Because… well, because it's time," Accord explained. "As you know, we don't interfere with the multiverse – our own Code of Honor – but we can manipulate events, sort of. You may recall a while back that some people from Karry Universe, along with your Prime alternative, Cisco, first visited Speedster and we warned them against helping the world."
"Yes, the world is using Velocity, so everyone is a speedster," Kayla was the one to say this, repeating what Cisco had told them only minutes ago, "and Rae decided to enter a race, but ended up convicted of a murder she didn't commit. When Karry went to investigate, you took them off world to say they couldn't interrupt the natural development of the world…"
"Which is where you come in," Accord stopped Kayla. "In the last year or so, thousands more human-speedsters have died due to the use of Velocity, the world is going to hell, but the natural way out hasn't been explored yet and because of someone we didn't see coming to the world, the way it should have happened… well, isn't happening," Accord stated, the wording very confusing. "Which is where you come in."
"You need us to… push this mysterious re-development of the world?" Mon voiced that, trying to get his head around Accord's wording.
"Basically, yes," Accord stated. "You three were the natural choice – even if we did need to give you a little kick start," she smirked at that.
"Well, we have our own code of honor," Cisco stated.
"But I think the wishes of beings such as I would out-rule those," Accord pointed out.
"Ah but, New Justice Rae did put a 'Seven Forces Loophole' into our code of conduct," Kayla stated, remembering this – the Paragons had put the rules of the multiverse into the system after their rescue of Alura; New Justice Rae, though, had decided to add a loophole to their normal code.
"Yes, if one of the Seven Forces asks you to do something, it overrides all the other rules," Cisco said. "Does the Monitor count as part of that though?"
"Well, I won't claim to be as important or powerful as one of the Seven Forces," Accord mused, "but in the order of the universe, we are directly below them. Well, sort of."
The three hitchhikers looked at each other, unsure.
"I say we do it and tell the Paragons later," Mon spoke up. "They could agree that Monitor counts as part of the loophole or yell at us but if the order of a world is off track…"
"More important than a code," Cisco agreed, and Kayla gave a nod. "I guess we are in."
"Excellent!" Accord said, clapping her hands.
"So, what do we need to do?" Kayla was the one to ask this, always down to business.
"Simply put, this world needs the Kryptonians to visit, but right now, with Kara alone on Argo, that isn't going to happen – you need to get her friends and family to get her back to Earth, with Argo in tow," Accord explained.
"Why isn't she on Earth – and alone?" Kayla asked this, surprised – from what Cisco had told her, she and Barry were solid, so if they'd broken up and she'd run off to Argo to escape… well, it wasn't in character with the sister – or Barry – that she knew.
"That's for me to know and you to find out," Accord stated, putting a finger on her lips at that.
"Okay then, so we need to get Kara back to Earth with Argo City," Mon nodded at that, turning to Cisco. "Can you open a portal for us to Speedster from here?"
"I don't…" Cisco began.
"Actually, before that, there's just one more little thing…" Accord stated, raising her hands and in a flash of light, another person was in the room, albeit unconscious and on the sofa behind her – it was another Amelia Allen, looking very much like the one before them, including the red hair, but her dress was simpler.
"Another Amelia?" Kayla moved over to her unconscious sort-of sister-in-law. With so many Kara's married to Barrys, it did, basically, make Amelia Allens her sister-in-law.
"What world?" Cisco also moved over to the unconscious woman.
"What powers?" Mon added, knowing Amelias tended to have a varying array of powers – or none at all.
"Yes, a world you don't know, and definitely to powers," Accord answered all three in one sentence as they turned to her. "She lost her world due to Crisis; I plucked her from the world before it went because her abilities are going to be very useful. Unfortunately, I had to do to her what the original Monitor did to me, which is why she's still unconsciously, but that's because there's no time for emotional baggage for her…"
"What the original Monitor did to you?" Mon asked this, frowning.
"He forever took away my emotional connection to my original world," Accord stated. "I feel nothing for the world formerly called Paranormal – or Extranormal – not that it exists now, but I have a great attachment to our Paragons. I do see both Barry Paragons as my brothers, which mean she should see her Speedster siblings as her own in no time."
"Kind of like Beautiful Rae," Cisco voiced, knowing the Rae on Beautiful had no memories of her past so considered those on her claimed-world as her own.
"Sort of," Accord gave Cisco a small smile at this. "As for her powers, well those are very special – they're mine. Or my powers before I became the Monitor."
"She can make meta-humans?" Cisco breathed at this, shocked, knowing those powers Accord once had. "That is a rare gift. There use to be a male version of you with it on Amazonian Earth, but he was replaced by… a well an actual you who seemed to have telekinesis abilities instead."
"Yes. It's a shame my Amazonian alternate didn't keep my powers. It is rare, indeed. Rare but needed for Speedster Earth. This was the one part of the world's future that wasn't clear… You see, there are normal humans left of the world – those who never used Velocity – but their future is redundant and there's no metamorphosis or STAR Labs explosion to make those remaining into metas to match their future Kryptonian neighbors, which is where my alternative will come in. She'll be very useful in this world's – and maybe even in the multiverse's – future." Accord gave a cryptic smile as she spoke the line and the three knew better than to ask further.
"Hang on, you took her from her world before it died in Crisis… but you weren't even the Monitor until after Crisis…?" Mon pointed out.
"Oh, what a linear way of thinking," Accord chuckled at this, raising her arms again as a portal appeared before them. "Now go, take my double with you," she instructed, the three knowing their time with the Monitor was over as Mon picked up this new Amelia, "but be weary, your time on Speedster Earth may be a little shorter than most," she didn't elaborate further, and the others decided not to question it.
"Why didn't you just visit us and tell us all this, rather than the elaborate charade?" Cisco asked Accord now, but she didn't answer, simply raising her eyebrow and smirking at the question; but Mon had already gone through the portal, so Kayla grabbed her friend and pulled him through.
-Hitchhiker's Guide-
This time, the hitchhikers really did arrive where Cisco had intended them to – in what seemed to be a laboratory and in the presence of two women: Caitlin Snow and an obviously pregnant Lena Luthor.
"Whoa! Multiverse," Caitlin moved forward, excitedly now.
"Speedster Earth?" Mon asked, Amelia in his arms.
"If you can call us that," Caitlin stopped at that. "So many gone…"
"Who's the unconscious girl?" Lena interrupted, frowning at the Amelia in Mon's arm.
"Amelia Allen – Barry's sister," Kayla was the one to ask this, letting go of Cisco who looked back at the portal that closed before them with a frown.
"Barry…?" Caitlin looked sad at the mention while Lena steeled herself.
"Barry's dead," Lena stated, shocking the three.
"We didn't… but that's…" Cisco turned, shocked by this as Kayla let out a groan.
"That's why Kara left this world," Kayla stated, getting it now; losing Barry would definitely drive her sister away.
"How did you know Kara left?" Lena seemed to take the lead, folding her arms. "Apart from being her."
"Not Kara – her twin sister," Kayla didn't want to elaborate on that right now
"Look, do you have somewhere I can put Amelia? I may be Daxamite and strong, but time can make anything heavier…" Mon pointed out.
"Oh, put her over here… I'll call Max and Bailey, maybe Clark too," Caitlin stated, leading Mon to one of the medical beds they had in the lab before moving off to get the others. Mon put this Amelia on the bed before turning back to Lena, Cisco and Kayla.
"Where exactly are we?" Kayla asked. "This isn't STAR Labs. I mean it could be Luthor Corp…"
"Not Luthor Corp.," Lena stated. "This is the Speedster Sanctuary, where my husband and his friends live and work. A tower of living quarters, training areas, workplaces… it's a safe space for natural speedsters and their friends."
"You have a husband?" Mon had been checking on the unconscious Amelia but had to point this out. He knew a few Lena Luthors, but none really were married.
"Well, I didn't get like this without one," Lena pointed to her pregnant belly. "Max Allen is my husband."
"Then I suppose a congratulations are in order," Kayla said Lena, indicating her baby bump. "Boy or girl?"
"Boy," Lena stated. "And thank you…"
"What happened?" Cisco asked, not waiting for Lena to finish. "How did Barry die?"
"Cisco!" Mon and Kayla snapped at the man for his abruptness.
"It's fine," Lena dismissed. "We don't know exactly… I mean so many humans were… well are…. vanishing due to the Velocity. Barry had been acting weird for a few days – maybe he was taking Velocity too? – and had run to try and save one of the Velocity users who were disappearing and then he was just… gone."
"Acting weird? How so?" Kayla asked.
"He was too excited, too hyper," A new voice said, and the speedster they knew as Bailey Allen and the one who must be Max – Barry's twin – came into the room with Caitlin, along with the familiar forms of Rae and Roland Garrick, and Clark who looked like the one from Karry Universe, who they had met recently on Young Karry.
"He didn't seem to know who Bailey and I were," Roe was the one to say this. "And was more than happy to help the humans with no future. But Barry was talking about having to be a hero. The Flash or something."
"And his and Kara's bond seemed to just… break," Clark stated.
"Bond?" Kayla paused at that, wondering if this Clark meant the Kryptonian Bond – the mental connection shared with someone unique to a person. Not every world in the multiverse had it, but on ones that did, the bond could develop between lovers or twins.
"Kara and Barry had a minor Kryptonian mental bond," Rae confirmed.
"More than Lois and I ever had," Clark added, a little sadly.
"A few days before he died, it just stopped and it freaked her out, but not him. And then he was just gone," Rae stated. "Poor Kara… and with his loss she just… she couldn't take it. She left."
"She went to Argo City – the Kryptonian city that survived the explosion of Krypton and is now sitting on the outer rim of the solar system – and she hasn't come back," Max stated, sadly.
"Everything is falling to pieces," Bailey added, sadly.
"You said you and Lois had?" Kayla asked her cousin. "Please tell me…"
"Oh, she's fine," Clark stated quickly. "CEO of the Daily Planet after the death of Perry. I was just lamenting that we never had the bond," Clark turned red at this, realizing his wording hadn't been the best. Kayla smiled, thankful.
"Even Perry White used Velocity and he's dead," Bailey spoke at this.
"Oh, stop with the sad-show," Lena stated, rolling her eyes, surprising the group. Max chuckled at little at his wife's attitude. "So, Barry is gone and Kara's left. Who cares about Perry White? There still enough of us heroes around and I keep saying we need to help those we can."
"Speaking of help, who's the girl?" Rae had moved over to the unconscious Amelia, curious. "Is she drugged up on Velocity?"
"Certainly not!" Kayla moved forward.
"She does look familiar," Roe pointed this out.
"This is Amelia," Cisco explained. "She needs a home which is apparently this one."
"Oh, I knew she looked familiar!" Max called. "We met her when we went to Disney!"
"Of course," Roe added. "She was very hyper and so shocked at what our Disney was like."
"This isn't the same one then?" Rae asked, looking between Amelia and Kayla at this.
"No. That one was Karry Universe's Amelia, and she has a home. This one needs a home – this world," Kayla explained. "Several people, very high in power, say she will help."
"And she's your younger sister, Max, Bailey," Mon added.
"We don't have a younger sister. Well, we have Judy but she's our cousin," Max pointed out.
"Mom and dad never had the chance to have more kids with the three of us and then…" Bailey mused, sadly, stopping her sentence in mystery.
"Well, she's your sister now," Lena was the one to speak out. "And I think she's turned up at the right time with Barry and Kara now gone."
"I guess she's like John Henry Irons. Someone we take in from the multiverse," Rae said and Cisco paused, remembering John Henry Irons had chosen this world as his own.
"How is John Henry?" Cisco asked now.
"He's good. He took in his version of me as his daughter, so he's very father-like to me, and even Roe and Judy now," Rae explained. "He lost a lot, so he's glad to have gained something back in us."
"He's been a ray of sunshine in this dark time," Roe agreed.
"Speaking of… how many humans are left?" Kayla interrupted, not wanting to cut off their feedback on John Henry Irons, but not wanting overload these people with too much information either, and get a fill what was going on with this world.
"Less than half of what we started with," Clark spoke up.
"Before Velocity was invented, the world was nearing a population of eight billion and now…" Rae continued for Clark.
"Less than half…" Roe repeated Clark's own worlds.
"And only a fraction of those remaining don't use Velocity. At the rate the world is going, the human race will be near extinction in less than a year," Caitlin mused. Kayla, Mon and Cisco looked at one another at this, now knowing exactly what Accord meant by sending this new Amelia to the world – those remaining humans could be made meta humans if they had the genes. "Our calculations show maybe a couple hundred thousand will survive in the end – if that."
"How many natural speedsters are there?" Mon was the one to ask that.
"Well Barry was one," Rae spoke up, "but there's also me, Roe here, our younger sister Judy, Max, Bailey, Wally, Jesse and Jensen."
"Jensen?" Kayla and Mon asked.
"Jesse's twin brother," Bailey explained.
"Oh," Kayla nodded, knowing this had to be the alternative of New Justice's Jess, who was the male alternative of Jesse anyway.
"And my little one," Lena spoke up, indicating her pregnant belly.
"He's a speedster too?" Mon was surprised by that.
"Judging on how fast he kicks, if he's not I'll be very disappointed," Lena stated.
"Me too," Max moved to kiss his wife.
"On that interesting note, apart from giving us a sister, what exactly are you doing here?" Max asked. "Last time we saw each other was Disney, after all."
"Oh yeah," Mon said with a smile, remembering this world's Disney Park now. "Sad to see a Disney go downhill but it was still good."
"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself when you did as it's now closed," Bailey pointed out, shocking the group.
"What?" Cisco asked shocked. "But I didn't get to see it!"
"That's because you didn't want to leave Star Wars Disney," Kayla snaped back to the man. "But… Disney closing? How?" Kayla might not be Amelia Allen, but even she was shocked to hear of Disney failing on a world; it seemed big everywhere in the multiverse.
"With so many people disappearing now, not even the Power of Disney could keep the parks open," Max continued for his sister. "They closed one by one; first the ones in Asia – it seems Japan and China went a bit overboard on Velocity and their population crumbled fast – then Paris was next. Disneyland in California and Disney World in Florida tried to hold on but Disneyland went and then Disney World shut its doors a few weeks later."
"Damn, that really is depressing," Cisco stated. "What about Joe?"
"Joe? What's he got to do with Disney?" Max paused at this.
"Absolutely nothing," Cisco chuckled. "I literally just thought of him. He was going to stop using Velocity after what happened to his Eddie – I only just remembered. Bounty Kara mentioned it recently," he gave an apologetic look to Kayla at that. She had no idea.
"Oh yeah, that," Bailey shared a look with Max. "He's not in the best condition. He stopped using Velocity, but it's still taken its toll on his body. He's in hospital; has been for a long time now."
"Damn. Well, that settles it – this world needs fixing," Cisco stated.
"But you can't fix us?" Rae said. "There's even a warning on the multiverse system about it. Us and some world called New Daxam…"
"You saw that?" Cisco frowned; having thought he had blocked the warning from those on the Earths.
"Don't get us started on New Daxam," Kayla bemoaned at that, remembering the time she had done just that and overdone their help on that world. Luckily it had worked out for the world and for the multiverse, but she didn't ever want to repeat that anytime soon.
"We need your Kara," Cisco was the one to state this.
"Excuse me?" Clark was the one to ask this.
"She's key in saving your world," Cisco continued, to an eyeroll from Kayla and Mon at being so blunt.
"What happened to not being able to fix us?" Lena asked now.
"Things change," Cisco continued. "In fact, this world changed. Well… we have been given special permission from some higher powers to interfere just a little and push you to the right destiny for this world."
"Something was supposed to happen which was meant to start a chain reaction that saved your world, but then your Barry died, and your Kara left and whatever that catalyst was, it didn't happen and now this world stands on the brink," Mon added, finding his own way around Accord's confusing explanation.
"How do you know all this?" Bailey asked.
"That higher power I mentioned… they're like gods but not gods," Cisco stated. "They're called the Monitor and the Anti-Monitor, and they were the reason your first multiverse visit went a little haywire, but they are also the reason we're here now because without them, this could fail entirely."
"And these gods-but-not-gods couldn't visit us themselves because…?" Roe asked.
"They have a non-intervention policy," Kayla stated now. "But they're more than happy to send others on their missions."
"Okay, so, this is… insane," Bailey blinked at that, not sure how to take this. "How exactly were my brother and Kara a link into saving this world?"
"The Kryptonians," Mon stated now.
"The Kryptonians…?" Rae looked to her fellow speedsters. "They are our salvation?"
"It makes sense," Max was the one to speak at this. "They need a home, and we now have space. It's not like Argo can grow – and don't they have that city in a bottle too?"
"Kandor?" Cisco was the one voice this, knowing of the version on Karry Universe – he couldn't remember if it was still around or not though.
"Actually, yes," Max said, surprised by this revelation.
"But it's shrunken, it's not like they can make it big again," Clark pointed out to this.
"They could rescue and relocate the people," Max shrugged.
"Luthor Corp is actually pretty close to tech that can shrink and resize people thanks to Doctor Palmer," Lena voiced now, all three hitchhiker's ears perking up to this reference.
"Kryptonian survivors taking over Earth…" Bailey mused.
"It won't just be those though," Caitlin spoke up, having been monitoring Amelia since she'd returned with the others, "there are thousands of normal humans still alive and just as many meta humans. The human race can survive, just not the way we know it. An added boost from Kryptonians, a species we know we can re-populate with, the Earth would be saved."
"Exactly," Cisco smirked at this, the group silent for a moment.
"So… how exactly do we contact Argo?" Roe asked this question.
"The same way Kara did," Max mused. "When they first turned up, Alura and Kyra came to visit Kara and Clark, remember? When Kyra choose to stay here instead of return."
"She gave Kara a communicator," Clark added.
"Well, Kara left that here when she went to Argo, just in case we needed to contact her…" Max added for Clark.
"But we said we wouldn't contact her, to give her some space," Rae continued, looking to Clark now in concerns, "but it looks like it's time…" Rae gave a nod to Max who ran out of the room with speed, returning seconds later with a small device that looked like a cell phone. He tossed it to Clark.
"Right then. Let's call," Clark said holding up the device and pushing a button. "This is Kal-El, son of Jor, calling for Alura Zor-El and Kara Zor-El…" he stated.
-Hitchhiker's Guide-
Kara lay in her room in her home on Argo; it was almost like being in the past. She hadn't changed a thing about it since coming back here. Not that she'd left it much though. With her mom around and the little robotic servants much like Kal-X in the Fortress, she didn't need to leave to get food or anything like that.
"Kara," it was her mother coming in. "You're needed."
"What? No mother," Kara said. Her mom had been trying to get her to move, to see a doctor, talk to someone, since she got here. "I don't want…"
"Kal has called," Alura said, and that got Kara to shoot up and look at her mother. "The message has been routed to our home communications."
Kara had asked her cousins to give her space, so she knew it must be important if they were calling.
"Come," Alura stated again to Kara, who decided to follow her mother and went out to the living quarters. Clark was standing in the room, but she knew he was a holographic representation of Clark, beaming from the communications device she'd left on Earth into this room.
"Clark," Kara said. "Why…?"
"Earth is in trouble," Clark said. "Humans are dying at an increased rate due to Velocity. We are at half the population now and shrinking. The human race is heading for near extinction. The human population will be maybe a few hundred thousand by next year."
"Oh my…" Alura said.
"And since Kryptonians themselves are an endangered race," Clark continued, "we thought maybe two halves could make a whole?"
"You are offering our people a planet?" Kara said and something inside her stirred; it was the first time she felt hope for the future since losing Barry. Humans had long since been an adopted race for her and combining with her real race on one planet… it seemed too good to be true.
"Krypton cannot survive with just Argo. You have no room to grow. The human global government is dying out. The people have little hope. We can be that hope," Clark implored. "Like you wanted us to be when you sent us here… A stabilizing force for this planet."
"Mom?" Kara asked, turning to Alura.
"I cannot deny we have been thinking of needing to find a new planet. One there with cities already built and a population that could use us for help and protection…" Alura said. "It will need to go before the council but with my command we can move Argo into Earth's space now and offer some protection from outside threats as the council decides."
"Thank you, Aunt Alura," Clark said.
"We will begin the move of Argo and be at Earth doorstep within the week," Aura said.
"We shall let the human population know to expect you," Clark said with a smile. "And Kara… thank you."
"I… I suppose I'll see you soon," Kara stammered, smiling at the Clark hologram for a moment before it faded. She wasn't sure how she felt now; helping the human race and Earth was obviously a good thing, but to be back on the world where her Barry had died…
"You can do this, Kara," Alura voiced, seeming to know what Kara was thinking. It was all Kara could do but go and hug her mother, who embrace the hug happily.
-Hitchhiker's Guide-
Back at the Speedster Sanctuary, Clark shut off the communications, the little hologram of Kara fading from the device.
"Well, that went well," Rae said with a nod.
"It did," Clark said. "Lois and I can get what's left of the Daily Planet to announce the arrival of Argo. Maybe we can get CatCo in on it, as well."
"What's exactly going on with the Daily Planet?" Kayla asked, she knew Perry White was dead and Lois was now Editor-in-Chief.
"Same thing that is happening with all governments and business; too many deaths equals closure," Clark said back, and Kayla could not deny that seemed reasonable. "What's left of the place is what Lois is in charge of. But the Daily Planet and CatCo combined..."
There was a groan from where they had laid the new Amelia down as she seemed to stir.
"Oh, I think–" Cisco started saying, but then he, Kayla, and Mon disappeared in a white light.
"That happened last time," Max complained.
"Should we be expecting them back?" Rae asked.
"If the higher powers gods-that-aren't-gods sent them to get us on course and now we are on said course, I don't think so," Lena mused as Bailey moved over to where Amelia was starting to turn.
Amelia opened her eyes with a start as she sat up.
"What…?!" Amelia said, looking around seeming shocked. "The sky… it was red… and I… I forget…"
"Hey, it's okay," Bailey said sitting down on the bed next to Amelia and putting her arm around her. Bailey was a little surprise as Amelia seemed to lean into the hug. "You are safe. You're home."
"I… I think I know you," Amelia said as Max came over. "And you…"
"I'm your sister, and he's your brother…" Bailey explained as the others watched on, curious.
-Hitchhiker's Guide-
"–that Amelia's waking…" Cisco continued saying before he fell silent, his sentence interrupted by the light; he, Kayla and Mon having been taken back to the small cottage they had been in before, the familiar Accord/Monitor in their presence.
"You know you could have just opened a portal for us, we'd have known it was time to go," Kayla pointed out to the redhead, a little annoyed at them being suddenly taken by Accord.
"True, but that was way more fun," Accord smirked at this.
"Why take us so soon?" Mon asked. "We were only just getting into the swing of things. Amelia was about to wake up."
"I told you it would be a short visit. All you needed to do was give this world a push, which you did. They contacted Argo. Besides, my alternate could not see you. She needs to attach to that world right now," Accord stated.
"Oh," Mon didn't know what to say to that. It would have been nice to say something to the new Amelia.
"So… what happens now?" Kayla asked, amused at Cisco now scowling at Accord, but remaining silent.
"Well, now, Argo city will arrive to Earth in the coming week. During the flight through space, there's a diplomatic debate on Argo, where a man not too dissimilar to Tuvok from Star Trek: Voyager will point out the negatives of relocating to Earth, but the majority will choose to help Earth," Accord pointed out, surprising the gang. "And then the Daxamites will turn up…"
"Daxamites?" Mon was taken aback by this.
"Indeed. I believe your alternative will be quite taken by Amelia, while your twin will become quickly attached to Bailey – that's a new one," Accord mused, Mon looking to Kayla at that. "But that's a story for another day. You three have done good – very good in fact."
"And what about that Amelia?" Cisco asked quietly. "Apart from her being with Mon?"
"She'll be just fine," Accord nodded at this. "Bailey and Max are with her, and she is already getting used to the new faces. But now, it's time to go home. I could… zap you back again or…?"
"Portal," Mon said quickly.
"Portal," Kayla agreed.
"Portal for me," Cisco added, to a chuckle from Accord.
"Very well. Until next time. And thank you, again," she stated, holding her arm out as a portal swirled into life before her.
As usual, the three knew not to ask more as they stepped through the portal and back to Mutant Earth, Cisco a little annoyed at the manipulation they had faced today.
"Well? Did they do it?" A voice spoke the moment the portal closed, and Accord smirked as she turned to face Gal-El, the Anti-Monitor and her only friend in their plane of existence.
"They have. The world is now moving in the right direction," Accord stated. "Were you lucky?"
"Unfortunately, not. The disappearance of Barry Allens across the multiverse is bigger than we anticipated…" Gal stated.
"And completely unforeseen. We may not be able to help them out on this one," Accord frowned.
"Surely there must be something we can do to help?" Gal asked.
"Well, only time will tell," Accord mused, taking a seat on the couch that had recently had the new Amelia on. "Oh, I hope you will forgive me," she added, to a raised eyebrow from Gal, "but I figured out the meta human situation on Speedster Earth. It was with an alternative of mine – with the powers I once had."
"You made an Amelia Allen for their world?" Gal folded his arms at this.
"Rao no," Accord fondly used the Kryptonian term there, catching Gal off-guard. "I took an Amelia with those powers from a world that wouldn't survive Crisis. I had to remove her emotional attachment to her past, however."
"You said you'd never do what the original Monitor did to you," Gal snapped at this, shocked.
"I know," Accord sighed. "I want to justify it, to say that she needed her connection removed to make the transition to a new world easier, but justification only leads to more excuses and more reasons to break our rules…"
"And we have those rules in place for a reason," Gal stated. "Look, I don't condone what you did, but you had to do it. Just… don't do it again."
"I promise," Accord smiled at her friend as Gal moved off into the cottage.
-Hitchhiker's Guide-
Back on Mutant Earth, it was barely midday, and Kayla had her journal out. Mon had gone to see Alura and explain why they had gone missing for an hour or so – not that Alura had really noticed it anyway, much to Kayla's bemusement.
Well, it was an interesting one this time, Kayla began her journal entry. Today we visited Speedster Earth – the world we went to for Disney once with the run-down park where the humans take the speedster drug Velocity; only those Velocity users are dying off at a quick rate – the population of nearly 8 billion is now reduced to around 4 billion humans, which may sound good but when most of those are already dying off because of the Velocity… well, the world is changing, that's for sure.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Kayla paused as she realized this would be an interesting journal entry. It all started when Gal, i.e. the new Anti-Monitor apparently placed a dream in Cisco's head, wanting us to go to that world because their Barry died and he and Kara were key in the world evolving – Kara and Barry were somehow meant to bring Kryptonian refugees of Argo to the world, to repopulate it, but with Barry dead, Kara had gone to Argo instead, so the Argo refugees wouldn't think to come to Earth.
Yes, the Barry of that world is dead, Kayla still couldn't quite believe it. He vanished with a Velocity user. I really don't know what to make of that, but their Kara and he had the Kryptonian Bond, and it had broken so he has to be dead, right?
Anyway, we were assigned by Accord, i.e. the new Monitor, to help kick start the world's redevelopment by getting them to bring Kara back, with her mom and Argo in tow – a mission we were successful in doing so. It does trouble me though, that we've interfered with that world, but without us, they wouldn't go in the direction they were supposed to. Kayla mused this. Is this a loophole in our own non-intervention policy? Especially with the Monitor and Anti-Monitor involved. We said we would ask the Paragons if it counted in the Seven Forces Loophole.
That's not all though, Kayla continued, as we had to deliver to that world a new Amelia Allen – she has the power Accord had before she was made the Monitor – to give select human powers – but had her emotional connection to her original world removed. Cisco said it was a little like Beautiful Rae, but she doesn't even remember her home world, so maybe this Amelia will? Not that it would matter too much, as her world is dead due to Crisis.
I have to wonder though, with so many human-speedsters dying off, does the name 'Speedster Earth' even fit for this world anymore? Then again, they have literally all the natural-born speedsters in existence there, not to mention the next generation with Lena expecting Max's speedster baby, so maybe the name more reflects them now, than the world itself, she smiled at that wondering what a child of Lena and Max would be like. And you know, with Lena being connection to the Air Totem on most worlds and the Air Totem being powered by the Speed Force… that baby has got to be good. Maybe a rival for New Justice Rae?
The thought of a speedster to maybe rival New Justice Rae was something Kayla found funny, but something was niggling at her brain, something she had to add to this journal entry.
You know, with all this meddling from the Monitor and Anti-Monitor though, such as today, I do question how many of our adventures might have been influenced by those two. It's a concerning thought, wondering how much freedom we really have had so far in our hitchhiking…
Kayla stopped writing at that. The thought that her adventures could have been manipulated by higher powers was a disturbing thought and one she didn't want to linger on too much, so instead she closed her journal and decided to head to kitchen – where she knew her mom would be making a massive lunch for the three of them.
It was good their alien physiology was able to quickly process and digest food on Earth, Kayla had to chuckle, or else she, Mon and even Alura would have ended up putting on a lot of weight since Alura had found a home on this world.
Post-chapter Note: What did you all think of Accord stepping in and helping Speedster Earth? What about Speedster Earth's Barry dying – or this mention of other Barrys vanishing? It's all very mysterious. I hope you enjoyed!
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Karry Co-Master OUT!