The Campbell Chronicles Part Two
Chapter 12
Superman and Martian Man Hunter flew a wide loop around the sun as they made their way to Cradle.
John glanced at Superman, "I thought you were bringing Elaine with you?"
Superman shook his head as Cradle came into view, "She wanted to accept the offer Nicholas made and be teleported there; something about experiencing it for her article."
John turned to stare at the planet. Like Earth, it was a blue and green world accept it had nine different-colored continents instead of seven. Two moons orbited the globe.
Cities decorated all three celestial bodies. One was built out of Greystone, lined with shining silver metal, and the other was made of concrete and glass. Swooping arches and spiraling columns gave it an ancient feel.
Humans with strange features moved throughout the first one, while scaled reptilian -like aliens moved across the second.
Heat caressed their bodies as they entered the atmosphere.
John's hands clenched into fists as fire licked along his skin. Beads of sweat popped out on his brow as the screams of his people echoed in his mind.
A hand on his shoulder jolted him out of his memories. He turned to find Superman staring at him, concern shining in his pale blue eyes, "Are you alright?"
John released a breath as they made it through the atmosphere, and cool air buffeted their bodies. Steam rose off their bodies as he answered, "I'm fine; the heat of entry just made me remember some unpleasant events."
"You know, if your fear of fire is genetically engineered, there may be a way we can fix it."
John turned to stare across Cradle, where modern buildings made of wood stretched as far as the eye could see. Some were made of smooth plains, while others were constructed of intertwining branches. Foliage decorated each building, glowing with an inner light.
People walked along the smooth pathways cut through the forest, hauling goods. Others stepped on smooth disks in the center of settlements and disappeared, launched high into the sky where they drifted towards a planetoid with golden veins running through it.
Superman was taking in the city like John, but his gaze drifted toward the farmland. People moved through a variety of crops, their hands outstretched. Earth rose under their will, plants wriggled, or rain clouds appeared above, providing water where needed.
"I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't this. Everything seems normal but different."
"Yes, it's advanced, but similar to Earth's lifestyle." John's gaze drifted towards the buildings, his eyes glowing orange. "The buildings are alive. Though the architecture is of Earth, the technology that created them reminds me of Mars."
They flew across the oceans and saw people moving through the water like missiles and scooping up fish in nets.
Coming to land again, they approached a city constructed of obsidian stone. Though an oppressive aura radiated from the place, when they peered inside, they saw people in black clothes healing the injured. Others were helping women give birth or attending to strange animals.
Reaching the end of the city, they made a U-turn and began flying back the way they came, "Everything seems peaceful."
John nodded, "It does; I sense nothing beyond their desire to make a better life than what they had on earth or in their previous realities."
Superman looked at his green friend, "Other realities?"
John inclined his head, "Yes, quite a few of the individuals on this world come from a multiverse different from our own."
Superman's lips thinned, but before he could dwell on it, a familiar feminine voice echoed in his mind, 'I'm here.' Images flashed through his mind as Elaine broadcasted her current location to him.
"Elaine's here. Do you want to stay together or split up?"
"For now, I believe it's best to stick together."
"Agreed."
Together, they turned and made their way towards the city in the center of the largest continent. From the people's thoughts, Foliage was the first city to be born after the world was terraformed.
Like much of the world, the buildings were constructed from living trees. However, unlike other cities, only one building reached over three or four stories. It was a large circular tower with overlapping leaves decorating the roof.
Superman spotted Elaine Lancaster Kent sitting on a bench of intertwining vines in a nearby park as they approached.
Elaine was 5'6" tall and curvy, with a prominent bust, tan skin, shoulder-length dark hair, and purple eyes. She wore a white blouse, dark blue, slacks, a matching blazer, and high heels. She sat with one leg crossed over the other, her foot bouncing nervously.
She looked up as Superman landed before her, the tension draining from her body. Rising to her feet, she closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his neck. Gently, she pulled his head down for a kiss. One foot rose into the air as the passion between them grew.
John Jones cleared his throat, and Elaine broke the kiss with a slight blush. "Sorry, John. I've just never done an undercover mission where I've been able to be open about my powers, so I'm nervous."
Taking her arm, Superman gently guided her back over to the bench. As they sat, he wrapped one arm around her shoulder, "So, what have you learned?"
Releasing a breath through her nose, Elaine brushed her hair behind her ear and glanced around, "Everyone here has at least rudimentary psychic barriers, but for whatever reason, they didn't raise them when they felt me running around their minds; I also felt another presence watching me."
The Kryptonian hero tensed, "Are you alright? Did it hurt you?"
Elaine shook her head, "No, it felt like it was watching over the people."
John's eyes glowed, "I felt nothing like that."
Elaine shook her head while pulling her dark hair into a ball at the back of her head. "That's probably because your mind is so powerful that it dwarfs nearly everything around it, or whoever it was sensed your mind and hid their presence from you."
"To hide from me would take an equally powerful mind," John tilted his head back, staring into the sky. "I would like to meet that mind."
"You're in luck."
The trio looked up to see Nicholas Campbell descending from the sky with a group of people.
Superman rose to his feet and positioned himself in front of Elaine, only for Elaine to move to stand at his side. The man of steel opened his mouth to protest, but Elaine cut him off, her eyes glowing a pale pink.
"They will not hurt us as long as we do not provoke them."
John moved to stand on the other side of his fellow alien and took the people with Nicholas in.
The woman on Nicholas's right had one arm through his, and her long auburn hair flowed behind her as they descended towards the ground. Her green eyes flicked to each person as they touched down before settling on Superman.
She stepped forward, her arm still linked with Nicholas's, and offered her hand to Elaine, "Hello, my name is Wanda Nelson."
Elaine stared at the woman's hand before smiling and shaking it, "Elaine Kent."
Elaine took in the woman's olive skin, curves, and defined muscle, "Are you a hero too?"
"In a way," Wanda looked down at herself. She wore a long, blood-red leather coat, a black blouse, tight-fitting black jeans, and high-heeled boots. A red hair band held her Auburn locks away from her face.
As Superman and his wife talked with the redhead, John's gaze focused on the woman with noticeable Martian features.
She was 6'2" tall, with green skin, a noticeable bust, red angular eyes, and narrow features. Long, wavy black hair flowed down her back. She wore a formfitting jumpsuit with red highlights around the waist and down the sides that highlighted her feminine curves.
"I take it you are Jinks Campbell, the powerful mind my companion sensed guarding the people of this planet."
The woman smiled. "I am Jinks Campbell, but the mind guarding the people of this planet is her," she gestured to the woman off to the side. She watched the people interact.
She was 5'9", curvy, with a large bust, shoulder-length Brown hair, and blue eyes hidden behind silver-framed glasses. She wore a white jacket, a blue T-shirt, white jeans, and white shoes with a slight heel. Silver drop-shaped earrings dangled from her ears.
John's eyes widened in surprise; he never expected a human to have such a powerful mind. As he reached out, her mind met him, and it felt like home. With great reluctance, he pulled away and turned back to Jinks.
"I would like to meet her, but first, I must know what happened to my people."
A gentle smile spread across Jinks's face.
With a flick of her wrist, a wood and iron bench appeared, "Of Course."
She gestured for him to sit.
John sat, his posture stiff and straight, his hands resting on his knees.
"After the attack on Brigadoon," Jinks began, "some of our people…"
"So, you are a Martian then," John cut in.
"I'm half Martian; my mother is human."
John looked to the side, "I didn't even know that was possible. At least not naturally."
"Metahumans or mutants, whichever you prefer to call them, don't have the same limitations as humans."
Jinks bit her lip. While mutants could breed with other species. Brigadoon had made it easier with the Phoenix's rebirth serum, which enhanced their bodies and genetics. It's one reason they made it mandatory for everyone who came to Cradle to have the serum; that way, their genes were enhanced, and the species would survive even if the planet didn't.
She debated telling John this, but ultimately, she decided to wait.
"As I said, after the attack on Brigadoon, some of our people wanted to explore the universe, so a group left with the survivors to do so. Through a series of events I won't get into, they evolved into a new state of being and now reside within the astral plane."
"The astral plane," John repeated, staring into the distance. He turned to Jinks. "I will admit, I don't have much experience walking the astral. "So," he asked, "Could you take me to meet them?"
Jinks stared at him. She could hear the desperation and longing in his voice. "I can, but I must warn you. Typically, we do not look as we did before."
John raised the ridge that was his eyebrow. "We?"
"I was with the Martians during their evolution. I, too, have evolved past my previous limits, but I took this form because it was familiar to my parents."
"Martians do not care about the physical; we are more about the mind."
Given their history with the white Martians, Jinks wanted to disagree, but with the white Martians being so volatile, maybe that was the reason for the war between the two.
"Do you want to go now?" Jinks asked, flipping her hands over in her lap.
"Just like that?" John asked, staring into her eyes.
"The astral is a place of mind and spirit; it can be reached anywhere if one knows how."
"I," John, reached for her hands, only to pause as Batman's voice came over their communicators: "Batman to Justice League, Cyborg has been attacked!"
Superman and Martian man Hunter's heads snapped towards one another, and they rose.
"Something wrong?" Nicholas asked, even though he had heard Batman's communication.
"Something has happened," Superman began untangling himself from Elaine, "We need to go."
"If it's an emergency," Hazel said, stepping forward, "you can take the teleporter." Turning, she led the group into the closest town and moved towards its center.
As they walked, Superman saw people stop and give him a curious glance before going back to work. This surprised him since he was used to people staring and pointing. A part of him wondered what it would be like to live in a world where he was just another face in the crowd, but he knew he would never leave Earth, the place that gave him John and Martha Kent, and where he met Elaine.
Hazel stopped before a large black disk in the center of town.
A man stood on the disc. He was over 6 feet tall, with a square jaw, close-cropped Brown hair, and blue eyes. He wore plaid over a white muscle shirt. The rolled-up sleeves showed off-defined forearms.
He moved off the disc, the pockets of his cargo pants jingling as he approached, his eyes scanning over the group, "Hazel, what's going on?"
Hazel gestured toward Superman and Martian man Hunter, "These two need to go to…"
"The Hall of Justice in Washington DC," Superman answered.
Eugene opened his mouth, but Hazel cut him off, "I'll pay their fees. Just go!"
With a sharp nod, Eugene grabbed Martian man Hunter and Superman. The three twisted, spiraling into a single point before disappearing with a white flash and a pop.
Nicholas turned to Hazel, "What can you tell us?"
Hazel closed her eyes, "Nothing concrete, but it looks like a few people may have seen Amanda Waller approaching the Hall of Justice."
Wanda looked at Nicholas, "What do you want to do?"
"I'm going to earth. Unless asked, I won't interfere with the Justice League, but Amanda Waller is our problem."
"And why is that," Elaine asked, her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes narrowed.
Nicholas looked to Hazel, "Explain what you think is relevant." Turning to stare at the earth, Nicholas transformed into energy and shot toward the blue marble.