All Good Things...

Chapter 1

 

© Nomad

 

 0742 September 23, 2017 Crane Neck Point, Long Island, New York

 

       You wouldn't think to look at it, but the house that sat at the end of the peninsula was old. Whitewashed walls with a cracked, blue clay tile roof was decidedly opulent at least at one time. Its aged decor and architecture heralded back decades; the only redeeming point being that many buildings in the area were much the same. The house itself was large and well maintained.

       The grounds were beautiful. Sloping towards the bay, the thick copse of trees blocked all view from the neighbors and much from the water. A crystal clear swimming pool lapped lazily in the back yard and just beyond a small clearing in the trees, a private spot to a casual observer. There was a small barn, painted white like the house, but all too small for any use by animals.

       All in all, it was quiet, out of the way, and safer perhaps than any residence on the planet. Not for defenses or dogs or security, but by the people living there in almost complete obscurity. They were the descendants of two most prestigious families, both who settled in the general vicinity long, long ago.

       In the sunroom at the northeast end of the house, a lone man sat in an antique metal chair sipping coffee and reading a newspaper. He was in his early twenties, but already the lines of worry were starting to etch on his face. His hair was dark and slightly unkempt, his beard trimmed neatly. He was not powerfully built, but through his t-shirt it could be seen that he was no slouch.

       He listened as the door to the house elevator opened and then caught sight of his younger sister as she passed through the den and into the kitchen. He could tell that she had already been hard at work this morning. A sheen of sweat could be seen along what bare skin he could see around her workout clothing. Her muscle tone and definition could put many men to shame, but considering the state of things, he knew she would drive herself harder than ever before now.

       He listened as she drank some cold water from the filter on the refrigerator, stopping just long enough to fill a bottle up to take with her. As she walked back through the den, she pulled her long brown hair back and tied it off into a ponytail and started back towards the elevator.

       "You really should have some breakfast, you know," he called out, his eyes looking back at the newspaper.

       The young woman paused. "Already did. Protein shake about an hour ago while you were still asleep." She turned and walked back into the sunroom, wincing at the sunlight as she passed through a direct beam. "I'll have a decent lunch but no dinner."

       He looked up from the paper. Whenever she skipped dinner it meant she was going out to try and do something, anything against the rapidly growing threat that was the Oligarchy.  "You worry me, Meadow. You've taken down some of their soldiers, but to what end? They are now actively looking for this urban myth and I'm afraid one night you'll come up against one that will leave you in a puddle."

       "That's sweet, Mike," she said as she leaned over and gave him a hug. "I appreciate your concern, but if we do nothing then they will ultimately succeed, and we don't want to see that."

       "And then what, Meadow? I don't know about you but it seems to me that they have a plan and it's working."

       "We have to try," she whispered. "You know that."

       He nodded and then a warm smile slipped onto his features before being replaced with one of introspection. "Of course. I wasn't saying I wanted to quit, I'm just starting to see just how bad it is."

       Meadow Wayne took a deep breath, and intended to respond, but at that very moment, a crack like a bolt of lightning rang through the house. A flash of blinding light and a wave of force washed over the siblings as their senses told them that they were no longer alone. A fair-skinned figure had appeared just meters away, at the threshold between this room and the den. Her features were sharp and angular, her hair like strands of gold. Her figure was one of beauty and partially clad in what seemed to be chrome as it reflected as nearly as well as a mirror.

       Instinctively, Meadow Wayne fell into a defensive martial stance, but did not press an attack. Her eyes were narrowed and focused but she waited for her brother to make the first move against this intruder. Although there were always several aces up her sleeve, she saw no reason to pull any just yet.

       Michael Wayne on the other hand had a much different reaction. Although he was quite confused on how one of these meta-humans found them so easily and on top of that bypassed the defense that their grandfather had placed here decades ago, he moved swiftly into action. Instantly waves of mystical power leapt from his hands as he rapidly wove a spell to contain this threat.

       But it seemed that the intruder had other ideas.

       "Stay your spell, Sorcerer Supreme," she spoke, her voice plain with no trace of accent. "I mean neither you nor your sister any harm."

       She knew! She knew he was the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth and yet she invaded his house and stood here as if it meant nothing. Intriguing to say the least. Michael Wayne allowed the spell to dissipate and he stood straight.

       "Who are you?" he asked, his voice calm.

       "I am Harbinger, the herald of Paradox, here at his behest to seek your aid."

       The siblings looked at each other and each saw the skepticism and questions etched in their faces. Simultaneously, they turned back to the intruder, but again it was Michael who spoke.

       "Paradox as in the cosmic entity Paradox?"

       The question gave the young woman just split seconds' pause. "He has many, many responsibilities that occupy his attention across this universe and others. I work as his agent."

       The silver-clad woman awaited a response from the siblings, but soon sensed the spells sweep over her. She could block them, ignore them or even counter them, but there really was no need. She knew that this was the likely response.

       "Are you satisfied?"

       "I am," he said finally. "For two reasons. I can assume you felt my spell trigger..."

       "I did."

       Michael nodded and then gestured to the house. "Then I also presume that you can tell what spell has been placed here on the house?"

       For the first time the young woman broke her gaze and looked around. At first she smiled and then an expression of admiration came over her features. "An impressive feat of magic. It masks your presence from those who would do you harm and suppresses magic that would seek to destroy it."

       "Our grandfather, Zatara's handiwork. This was his house."

       The young woman finally glanced over at Meadow Wayne, who had remained silent this entire time, ready to pounce into action should the need arise. Harbinger gestured to a chair. Although she did not drop her stance, Meadow looked over at her brother. Michael nodded and the three sat around the breakfast nook table, although guards were not dropped.

       "As I stated, I was sent here to enlist you both to help save two people from certain death."

       Meadow Wayne considered the woman's words. "What you say does not make sense. If you serve Paradox then why don't you just get them yourself? I assume it would be easy if you had but a miniscule portion of his power."

       "As I said, Paradox has many duties that occupy his attention so he sent me. I am here to open a portal to the universe that I speak of. I can and will help you, but once they are here, I must go. My involvement must be that minimal."

       "Why?"           

       "Balance," she retorted. "For every direct intervention action that is performed, an equal diametrically opposed event will occur. It may not be immediate, but it is inevitable."

       Michael Wayne steepled his fingers in thought. "I've seen the same with old forms of magic. Entropic sorcerery and that ilk. But why us? Surely there are better people to handle a rescue mission?"  

       Before Harbinger could respond, Meadow Wayne chimed in. "Although I do not want to de-emphasize the importance of my brother's questions, I would like to know what the situation is. Who are we supposed to rescue? Why are they in that situation? What dangers are present?"

       Harbinger smiled. "There is the Batgirl that I expected. Assessing a situation long before stepping into it."

       Another thousand questions raced through the siblings' minds, but not one uttered. Just an affirmation. "Of course you knew."

       "Yes. Your mind and skills are legendary, Meadow Wayne."

       "I appreciate it, but with all due respect, please answer the questions?"

       Harbinger nodded pleasantly, maintaining a non-threatening tone and body language. "Certainly. You were chosen because of who you are. Between the two of you, there is more knowledge both mystical and technical than can be obtained from the next twelve best combined. This alone makes you indispensable."

       "And the situation?"

       "First, I need to tell you about the two people that are in need of our help."

       "That would be useful."

       "In their native universe, they are the only survivors of a destroyed civilization from the planet Krypton. Siblings, and very similar in physical age to you both. On Earth they will each have great power barely matched by anyone."

       Meadow Wayne did not like what she was hearing. Beings like what this Harbinger was describing could only mean trouble because of how easily power corrupts. "Like just how barely matched?"

       Without skipping a beat, the blonde demi-power answered. "They are strong...enduring to the Nth degree. Their speed is nigh unmatched although Flash is faster. Resistance to damage is unparalleled as I know of a Kryptonian that detonated a nuclear core in her hands and walked away without a scratch. Energy projection in the form of heat, flight under their own power unrivaled by anyone. Heightened senses, regenerative abilities..."

       The young Batgirl had had enough. She glanced at her brother who seemed to be sharing in her skepticism. She turned back to Harbinger. "You're insane, Lady. This world has enough problems already without unleashing people that can't be stopped. That's like twisting the knife that's already in you."

       The tirade didn't seem to faze the visitor in the least. "Ms. Wayne, you are a good natured woman. And I know that deep down, despite your protests, you would not stand aside and allow an enemy to die, much less potential allies. You've already made up your mind to help, but to soothe your worries, I never said they could not be stopped."

       "What do you mean?" Michael queried, his respect for this woman's' insight having just impressed him. He too would not wish death on anyone and this person seemed to know a lot about the way he and his sister think.

       "Despite all their power, all of their physical strengths, they have no extra-normal defenses against magic. While a normal human may be able to shrug off the simplest of spells, it is debated whether a Kryptonian can even do that."

       It was becoming clearer on why they were asked to help now.

       "And there is another severe weakness of theirs...one I am loathe to say, but I am ordered to nonetheless." The slightly disgusted look on her face was telling.

       "A genuine emotion," Meadow thought as she studied this otherworldly woman. "Why? What is it about this is resonating with her? Has she seen enough of these people to harbor some empathy?"

       "Please, go on," Michael finally said as he took a sip of his coffee though never taking his eyes off of this woman.

       This time there was hesitation, but just for a moment. "There is a mineral...pieces of their home planet that were changed when that world imploded. The resulting crystals are highly energetic and the radiation is deadly to them. Exposure will cause rapid loss of their abilities, great pain, and eventually death. The process is excruciating."

       Meadow took a leap of logic. "That's why they need help. Someone has caught them and is trying to kill them...right this moment. Am I right?"

       This time Harbinger was impressed. "That is amazing intuition, Ms. Wayne. That is partially correct. The truth is that the universe they are in is about to be destroyed by a runaway crystallization wave that will destroy everything. Despite trying to stop it, these two were blamed for the imminent death of the universe, even though they had nothing to do with it. Their enemies set a trap and left them to die as an act of vengeance."

       "They tried to stop it?"

       "They are people, who since they arrived on Earth, have tried to protect it and the people on it. I do not know these two personally, but I have met versions of them or their family across eight different universes. Most are the same. They try and help and do so without reward, without reluctance whether the situation is big or small. And I am sure they will be more than willing to help you here."

       Michael and Meadow looked at each other, their eyes remaining locked for long moments as each of them read the other without a word being spoken. This being was correct. They both had a respect for life.  And if what she said was any indication, perhaps these two were key into helping to stop the tide of darkness from growing further.

       Seemingly reaching a silent consensus, the siblings broke their gaze and refocused back to Harbinger, with the Sorcerer Supreme speaking. "How much time do we have and what else are you expecting from us?"

       "I am ready to open a portal to them at your leisure. At the point in time I was given for this portal, their attackers should have left them, but one or both will be severely injured and in need of medical attention. So you will need to be ready for that. Once here, I would beg of you to help them. They will need a place to stay. They will need to know what the 'lay of the land' is. They will need friends. They will need you."

       Meadow stood and offered a nod of respect to the blonde woman. "Then excuse me. I need to get a shower and get my suit on. Fifteen minutes?"

       The young blonde woman looked over to Michael who gave a gesture of acceptance and stood. "Fifteen, then," he said before motioning to the interior of the house. "If I may show you to our medical facility, Harbinger..."

       "Delighted."

 

 

 

 

       The moment the portal was opened, the three were assaulted by a collection of unfamiliar odors. It was an odd mix of burnt metal, rotten cabbage, stagnant water, and the copperish smell of blood. It was dark, but a faint glow of green came from the far side of the room. A drip of water coming from a metal ceiling dropped into a small pool close by. Labored breathing soon followed coupled with a faint sound of movement.

       The black and yellow clad Batgirl eased into the room, absorbing every detail. In one hand a compact light source, while in the other was readied a pair of bat-shaped shuriken, each with a small red light blinking furiously. A pair of lenses popped down from inside of her cowl, enhancing the light level and highlighting the details of the room. She took a careful look around before retracting the lenses and reporting back to the portal.

       "Sealed in. No signs of anything but our two subjects. Gravity is a little strange though. Only about point-eight-five normal."

       Harbinger nodded as she and Michael Wayne ventured away from the portal. "That is to be expected. This is an abandoned asteroid mine about forty-seven parsecs from their Earth."

       The Sorcerer Supreme had a double take. "I beg your pardon?"

       Ignoring the question, Harbinger allowed her senses to wash over the two unseen people in the room. "We need to hurry."

       Without pause, they all three made their way through the rubble. As they passed over the last visual hurdle, the siblings saw a gruesome sight. Crumpled in one corner was a dark haired man in his early twenties. He wore a black bodysuit that had a somewhat stiffer jacket-like over shirt. In the center of his chest in embossed red and yellow was a symbol, which as a whole looked like an 'S'. Red boots and a nearly floor length red cape completed his clothing, but the things that stood out were the eight bloody protrusions stuck at various intervals from his thigh to shoulder.

       Nearby, laying on her side, was a blonde woman, perhaps twenty years old, who wore a similar outfit. Hers was trimmed in yellow and lacked the embossing of his uniform and only consisted of a high-collared bodysuit, but had a belted skirt instead of his full length suit. Again, hers was accented by the red boots and long cape. While there were none of the bolts sticking in her, she seemed to have been beaten badly. Between the two was a half dozen softball sized green glowing crystals.

       "Son of a ..." Michael whispered at the shocking sight. Meadow wasted no time and rushed over to the man and knelt down. She held a hand over him and a moment later a digital readout appeared in a small window on her glove.

       "Vitals are barely there. He's gonna need surgery cause I think these bolts have tips of that crystal." She swung around and went over to the woman's side. Much to her surprise, just as she knelt down, the woman raised an arm and opened her eyes. Batgirl instinctively took her hand. "We're here to help you."

       Behind her, Michael Wayne approached and started to kneel down when the young woman croaked out.

       "Ssss...stoo...," she choked before closing her eyes again. Her grip went limp but Batgirls' grip held fast to her hand.

       Come," Harbinger said as she approached the man. "Let us collect them before we are discovered. Their attackers are still close by."

       The Sorcerer Supreme nodded, but before he stood, bright strings of magic flowed from his fingers and a bright white sheet of light appeared before him. He collected the glowing crystals and deposited them all into the sheet which promptly disappeared. A moment later similar strands of magic wrapped around the injured man and lifted him off the ground.

       He turned his head and saw that his sister had gotten the other woman up and had draped her over her shoulder. It didn't surprise him in the least that she could handle that much dead weight so easily. As the three turned to leave, the room rumbled and a far, caved in wall began to crumble in conjunction with a series of curses in an alien dialect. The nearly eight foot tall green-skinned bipeds looked monstrous and each wielded very large but crude hacking weapons although one in the back had what seemed to be some type of firearm.

       The aliens let loose a war cry, seeing their victims being carried away, and charged. Michael hastily waved a hand, conjuring forth a shield and interjecting it between himself and the lead alien. As it crashed into the glimmering blue light of the spell, he saw a pair of batarangs whiz by, embedding themselves into two more of the creatures and stopping them in their tracks. Their backs arched as massive current seized their muscles.

       "Mike, go!" Batgirl yelled as she pulled the female into a fireman's carry while delivering a spin-kick to the next alien. Not surprising, the massive beast reeled only slightly having outweighed the young woman by at least a quarter of a ton.

       The Sorcerer Supreme did not question his sister's tactical advice and dove through the portal, landing heavily with his quarry crumpling beside him. Moments later, Meadow too, jumped through just as another raised the large rifle-like weapon and fired at the portal, but it was too late. It closed a moment later, the only evidence of the attack a charred crater on the wall.

       Batgirl deposited the unconscious woman on a hospital style bed, but left her there and rushed over to help her brother. In moments they had managed to get the other alien onto the surgical table and were in process of carefully removing his uniform to get to the wounds. Meadow unsealed her cowl and tossed it aside with her own cape trailing right behind. She opened a nearby cabinet and grabbed several prepackaged surgical tool kits along with a handful of towels.

       "I must leave," Harbinger said as they prepared for surgery. "I see they are in good hands."

       Michael Wayne did not avert his eyes from his job as he had finally gotten the embossed top off of the wounded man. "One of these days, if you can, I would like to hear the entire story of what led us all here. About why you and Paradox care so much about these people."

       Harbinger walked up to the man on the surgical table and drew her fingers down his cheek. She whispered before fading away. "I care because I was one of them."

       The revelation was one to ponder later, for right this moment there was someone who needed him. It would not be the first time he did this. Several times Meadow had limped back home with a major wound; a bullet here, a knife wound there, broken ribs, broken collarbone once...so this wasn't anything outside his ability to patch up.

       Finally able to remove the rest of the full bodysuit, Michael was able to do a damage assessment. The bolts were definitely something of alien origin, and at least weren't very deep. He surmised the worse thing was having eight pieces of that crystalline material inside of him. Meadow was doing a preliminary exam on the female.

       "Looks like she is gonna be alright, Mike. Those bruises and cuts have already closed and are fading rapidly."

       "Harbinger did mention regenerative abilities..."He motioned his sister over.

       Batgirl nearly caught her breath upon seeing the bare body of the alien. Every muscle was perfect, every line symmetrical. It was like looking at a living Greek god if it wasn't for the bolts sticking out of his flesh.

       Her reaction did not go unnoticed by her brother. "Hey. Drool over him later, sis. We got work to do."

       "Yeah, sorry. I just haven't seen anyone like that since working with Steve Rogers."

       "You saw Captain America naked?" he teased in mock incredulousness. "What type of training did you two do?"

       Meadow rolled her eyes, deciding not to respond to her brothers' sense of humor.

       Michael chuckled softly but kept his attention on his patient. "They don't seem to be barbed or anything. I want you to pull one at a time and let me cast a spell to close the wound and stop the bleeding."

       "Are you gonna open that extra dimensional storage that you put those crystals in?"

       "No," he replied immediately. "These will have his blood on them and I would like a chance to study their biology. Can you get the liquid nitrogen canister?"

       Mere minutes later, the last bolt was withdrawn and dropped into the container. Strands of multi-colored magic closed the minor artery that the bolt had ruptured and soon after closed the skin. Although he still had a greenish pallor to his skin, the digital monitors could mark a noticeable strengthening of his vitals. They took the time to clean up the drying blood and cover him with a sheet, giving him back his modesty.

       Michael and Meadow paused and looked at each other across his body.

       "So what do we do now?" he asked.

       "Not much we can do until they wake," Batgirl said as she rubbed her eyes. "Never thought I would be stepping off of Earth, much less over a hundred light years away, Mike."

       He chuckled. "Yeah, that was something else, I admit. But, I guess that's the life we chose, remember?"

       "Oh, right," she said in a playfully sarcastic tone. "You...the natural wizard...chose to be what you are. I chose to help stop crime cause I never wanted to sit behind a desk. What else were we gonna do?"

       Shrugging, the Sorcerer Supreme wove a one-handed spell as he spoke. "I don't know. But I guess it doesn't matter, for at least today we can say we saved the lives of two people."

       Suddenly a soft, feminine gasp came from behind him. As their heads turned to face the sound, they saw the young woman sit up and slowly swing her legs over the table, trying to remain steady. It seemed that she was still recovering from the radiation poisoning. She took a quick glance around the room. "Where am I? How did we get here?"

       "We...we are at our house. On the north coast of Long Island," Michael answered, his heart almost breaking with the quiet desperation of her voice.

       Meadow took a step forward, offering her gloved hand to the strangely dressed female. "Look, for now you're safe. We...pulled you from the asteroid. Saved your brothers' life."

       The alien woman's eyes narrowed as she tested her weight, her knees slightly wobbling beneath her. "How is he?"

       Michael took a step to the side and gestured to the unmoving form on the table behind him. "We got those things out and stopped the bleeding. Whatever regenerative abilities you and he have are working. He'll be fine."

       The woman walked up and placed a hand on her brothers' shoulder. She watched and listened to his heartbeat, his breathing. He was desperately weak, but recovering. Satisfied, she turned back to the two strangers. "Thank you. But who are you?"

       Batgirl could read the visible relief on this girl's face. What they went through was an obviously traumatic event. "I'm Meadow and this is Michael." She paused for a response, but not sensing one was coming she continued. "And you are?"

       The confusion was apparent on the aliens' face, as if the answer to the question was rather obvious. "I...you...don't know who we are?"

       Michael adjusted the sheet that covered the male alien as he spoke. "We have never seen either of you until twenty minutes ago. Only got a brief description about a half hour before that."

       "Ma'am, you're in an alternate universe, not the one you were in," Batgirl added.

       They watched as the young lady visibly twitched, her head cocking as she stared at them silently, soaking in the information. A minute later she turned her gaze away, sheer horror racing over her features. She took a step backward before stumbling over her own feet and trying to scramble away, a pitiful wail issuing from her lips as she held her hands to her head.

       "No...no...no...NO!" she cried out, shaking with every syllable.

       Michael and Meadow looked at each other, not knowing what to do. Yes, Batgirl was a master of instilling fear and had seen it on the faces of countless criminals, but this was something different. This was abject terror.

       His empathy running high, Michael Wayne stepped forward and gingerly touched her on the back. "Miss?"

       “Please!” Her head turned and they locked gazes for an instant before, in the flash of an eye, she rose and grabbed his shirt with each fist. "You...you took us from there! You need to send us back! Please!"

       Meadow sprung forward, ready to act when she saw her brother staggered back in her grip, but realized that this woman wasn't trying to hurt him. Michael had suffered no apparent harm.  Instinctively, she reached for a batarang on her belt only to remember that it probably wouldn't work anyway. Her eyes instead rested on the container containing the bolts. A subtle wave from her brother stopped her.

       "I can't," he said softly, not breaking the alien’s gaze. "Another being opened the portal for us to get you. I'm sorry, but you're here now."

       Although she did not let go immediately, the woman finally did as her face contorted back into utter despair. She took several steps away from them both and fell to her hands and knees, sobbing. "No...dammit, no! All those people..."

       The siblings watched as the pitiful figure curled up in the far corner of the room and buried her head in her arm, silently sobbing. They could hear her saying something beneath her breath, but could not quite make it out.

       Meadow felt a touch on her arm only to look up and see her brother's eyes urging her forward. He was probably right. This girl would more likely open up to her than to him. She looked back at the liquid nitrogen container and then back to him. He shook his head and simply rubbed his fingertips together. She got the message.

       "Miss?" Batgirl asked as she approached and knelt less than an arms distance from the red and black clad girl. "I can't honestly say I understand what you're going through, but I do understand how much you care. We were told that you were trying to save your universe...and had failed. That you were going to die if you stayed."

       "Why?" she whispered. "Why did you do this to us? Billions...trillions of sentient beings were hoping...praying that we could save them. Condemned...they are all condemned to die now."

       "I don't know how to answer that," Meadow responded. "An hour ago we were asked to come and bring you here and not told much else."    

       "Who? Who asked you to do this?"

       "She said her name was Harbinger. She said she was the herald, the agent for Paradox."   

       Suddenly the girls' head lifted and her bloodshot eyes met the emerald green orbs of Batgirls'. "Paradox? You know Paradox?"

       "I think the better question is 'how do you know him'?”

       "We've...conversed. He...he seemed to be concerned with mine and my brothers' well-being."

       Meadow placed a hand on the woman's' shoulder. Perhaps a physical connection would help calm her down somewhat. "So maybe there is some untold plan of his involving you that we don't know about."

       The blonde girl shook her head. "It doesn't matter." Tears of frustration rolled down her cheeks as she clenched her fists, and hung her head. "Every. Single. Waking. Hour. For a year. It was our duty to stop this...and we failed. And now not only did we fail, we survive it..."

       "Isn't it better to have lived?" Batgirl asked softly.

       "That...is quite debatable, Miss."

       The baritone, male voice startled the humans, but the black-clad woman scrambled to her feet raced over to the voice and embraced her brother in a hug.

       "I'm alright, Zara," the male Kryptonian said as he held his sister tightly. "I've been listening."

       "They rescued us..."

       "But?"

       "It's an alternate universe...and we can't get back home."

       He leaned back as his face contorted in pain-filled despair, his eyes closing and his jaw clenching. He balled his fists and took a couple of deep, shaky breaths before opening his eyes again and allowing his gaze to settle on the humans. "If you don't mind, can we have some time alone?"

       Pausing in thought, Michael nodded and gestured to a small stainless steel refrigerator. "There's some bottled water in there if you're thirsty. We'll come back and check on you in a bit. Take all the time you need."

       The two Kryptonians watched as he pushed a button on the elevator control panel, holding the door open. The brunette in black and yellow armor collected her cape and cowl from the floor and made her way to the door, pausing just long enough to look back at the two of them in sympathy before joining her brother up the stairs.

       "We'll be on the main floor."

 

A short time later...

 

       Meadow came walking into the den, yet again knowing that the two aliens still had not come out of their seclusion from the medical rooms. She had changed out of her armor and now wore just a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. Michael sat silently on the bomber-jacket leather sofa, sipping what smelled like the single bottle of Glenfiddich they kept in the liquor cabinet. He barely looked up as she eased onto the opposite sofa.

       "Mike, you know that despite what Harbinger said, those two are gonna be torn up emotionally and mentally for a while."

       "Yeah," he sighed. "But after I sat down here and thought about what they are going through, I tend to agree with what they said. If I was responsible for this world's safety and knew that it was wiped out...and then kidnapped to a fresh world..."

       The green-eyed brunette cocked her head and sighed. "Kidnapped is a strong word. We rescued them from at what we were told was certain death. However, I'm not sure."

       The Sorcerer Supreme looked up from his glass of fifty-year-old scotch. "You found something?"

       "I was going over the scans the computer took of them. Some of the results are..." Her voice trailed off as she looked around, searching for the proper word.

       "What?"

       "I'm pretty damn sure that what Harbinger said is the truth," Meadow admitted. "I think we may in over our heads."

       Michael took a sip and sat back, his eyes squinting in thought. "You want to call in help?"

       "I was considering it."

       "Who did you have in mind?"

       "Considering that these two could possibly be more powerful than anyone we have ever seen...I thought about Marc Slayton."

       "Backlash," Michael muttered. "Psychic, right?"

       The young woman known as Batgirl nodded. "The best one I know of. And one of my combat instructors if you remember."

       "Mmmm. Anyone else?"

       "I could give Steve a call but he will undoubtedly be busy considering the situation. Same goes for Brian Braddock and Heather MacNeil. And although the rest might be able to help, I don't trust them enough to bring them here."

       Michael Wayne couldn't argue with her reasoning. Very few people out there knew who his sister was and fewer still knew that he was the Sorcerer Supreme. Although the magic that flowed around the house made it a safe haven, the general knowledge of their civilian identities was still a necessary secret.

       "You know," he said finally, his words slow and calculated. "There is one thing that we may not have considered."

       "What's that?"

       "They may look at us as their kidnappers...their oppressors. They may decide that we are out to screw them over or try to kill them or anything else under the sun. I think that there's going to be a trust issue."

       Meadow sighed. "But we're not trying to do anything to them. I felt so bad downstairs that if I could, I would have sent them back. "

       "Despite the fact that they would have died?"

       "Did you see the look on her face?”  Batgirl retorted. "It made her physically ill to know that she wasn't there to try and help their Earth. To see someone with that much power breaking down like that..."

       "They lost one home. Now another. But we told Harbinger that we would be there for them. And it appears that they need help...but whether or not they accept it is another thing entirely."

       Suddenly, Meadow's head snapped up. Neither had paid attention when the door to the lift had opened, but Meadow's senses could detect something else.

       "Would you care to join us?" she called out, not turning to face them.

       Michael watched and saw the pair of black and red clad aliens come around the corner. Yet again he was in awe at the awareness his sister possessed.

       "We apologize for intruding," the male said as they approached the back of the sofa that Meadow sat upon.

       Without turning her head, Batgirl answered. "You're not intruding, however, you have the slight scent of that rotten smell from the asteroid. Would you two like to clean up? We have several guest bedrooms upstairs." She turned and sized them both up without rising from the sofa. "I'm sure there is something comfortable up in the wardrobes that will fit you both if you want to launder your...uniforms?"

       "Our clothing is actually traditional Kryptonian garb, but yes, a shower sounds good right now. Thank you." Zal confirmed but hesitated to say more. They paused and exchanged a glance with his sister but when Meadow pointed towards a spiral staircase behind them, the aliens turned and started to depart. When the other human cleared his throat they paused.

       "Oh ...um...just to verify. I thought I heard you use them downstairs...what are your names?"

       The young blonde woman looked up at her older brother who answered the question. "My name is Zal-El and this is my sister, Zara Jor-El."

       The Sorcerer Supreme inclined his head slightly. "I am Michael Wayne, and this is my sister, Meadow."

       Zal nodded but did not verbally respond. The grief on his face told the Sorcerer Supreme not to press too much, but their acquiescence to getting cleaned up was at least a start. He watched as they didn't walk, but floated on the air up the stairwell before touching down on the upper level. A few whispered words he couldn't make out were exchanged before they slipped out of sight. Moments later the rush of water came on.

Thirty minutes later...

       "Once again, we have confirmed reports that Peter Ross, a congressman from Kansas has been assassinated today while enroute to a secure military facility. His private plane was blown up by the person calling himself Gamma. Also confirmed that at the same time the car carrying his wife and children was immolated as it traveled on I-40 west of Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is unknown who was responsible, but authorities are certain that the Oligarchy was involved."

       "In related news, the super-soldier Lieutenant Alan "Stryker" Schaefer was killed today as he battled members of the Oligarchy. Witnessed by countless people as he escorted an unmarked vehicle away from Seattle, he was ambushed by overwhelming numbers and cut down. This selfless hero will be gravely missed."

       Meadow closed her eyes and gritted her teeth as CNN continued to play. "Stryker...damn it all," she hissed.

       "A friend?" Michael asked, not really knowing most of the contacts that his sister made while she was training and working under her cowl.

       "I knew of him. One of the last successful test subjects of the Weapon program. But on top of that another legislator...and his entire family. This is getting bad, Mike."

       "We can't do it all ourselves, Meadow. Even if I teleported you to every incident site, look at that footage. He was ambushed by an entire squad of those armored suits and that freaky looking guy."

       "Jack O'Lantern."

       Michael held out his hands and gestured in a perturbed manner. "Doesn't matter. They aren't trying to have a fair fight. They are trying to kill us. And I don't think having you there would have made enough difference to save him."

       She was about to protest the words but he held up a hand to forestall her.

       "Look...i've seen what you can do. I don't doubt you, sis, but that was thirteen to one. And you're not a super soldier."

       "Mike, just like those two people upstairs, we have a duty to protect people."

       "I never said anything to contradict that, Meadow. But other than some low-level thugs and a few of those armored guys there hasn't been much measurable success against the Oligarchy. They have us running around the world trying to keep our leaders alive. Trying to keep them from doing damage. They have kept us off balance and unable to launch a counter-attack."

       "I thought about that. Do you realize that is a basic tactic straight out of the mouth of Sun Tzu? That means they have studied tactics...strategy. They know exactly what they are doing." The newscaster once again caught their attention.

       "A statement has just been released by the interim Secretary-General of the United Nations in response to the continued attacks on political leaders around the world. The U.N., whose members are in hiding, has stated that despite the losses, they will not be bullied by the forces of tyranny and will continue to oppose them however possible. Reports however have indicated that almost a third of the member nations have been close to surrendering, mostly those who have hereditary titles or are 'leaders for life'.”

       "The latest count for those murdered in the Oligarchy's assault has reached over eleven hundred with the new casualties added today. We will keep you updated on this ongoing issue."

       "If anyone actually gives in, this is going to get a hell of a lot worse," Michael thought aloud. "But what really surprises me is they haven't gone after any of the royal families. Other than some of the Middle Eastern monarchs, that is."

       Meadow shook her head in disagreement. "No...there is really no purpose to that because in general the rest hold little political power. Merely symbols of the state. But if you kill one, for example the Emperor of Japan or even the Pope, you just pissed off a whole lot of people and steeled their resolve against you. And people like that could never be subjugated at that point and that's what the Oligarchy doesn’t want."

       "Huh. I didn't think about it that way."

       It was that moment that the two aliens reentered the room. At first glance, Michael could see that they seemed a lot more calm and collected than they were. He surmised that a shower might have done the trick. But the uncertainty of the situation was still etched in their faces, apparent for all to see.

       The female had chosen a t-shirt and pair of denim shorts while her brother wore a plain white t-shirt and a pair of sweats. Apparently, none of the denim they had could fit his muscular legs. Again, they paused on the back side of the sectional sofa and looked a might bit awkward before the Sorcerer Supreme waved them towards the center of the room.

       "Please...would you like to sit down?"

       Before they could answer, Meadow had scooted over to allow one of them the other end of the sofa whilst giving enough room to not be within arm's reach. Michael had risen and placed his now empty glass of scotch on the bar. He started to reach for the bottle again, but at the last moment held back. It would not be good for him to be tipsy for the coming conversation. Or at least he had hoped he wouldn't.

       The humans watched as the large man settled uneasily into the single recliner, while the blonde girl curled up on the spot left clear. Meadow reached over and hit the remote button for the television, muting the sound.

       "Would you two care for a drink?"

       Zal spoke, his baritone voice much smoother now. “With all due respect, sir, alcohol doesn't really affect us."

       "Tea perhaps?" Michael responded immediately. He was doing his best to try to act cheerful.

       "Okay...that sounds great."

       Pressing the button on the auto-brewer, the mage rounded the end table and retook his seat. For a moment there was an air of awkward silence as they all suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable and slightly exposed. Kryptonian cloth was nowhere in sight, nor was armor or objects of magical power. Just four relatively young people waiting to have a cup of tea.

       Meadow could not stand the silence any longer."So. What can you tell us about yourselves?"

       The uncomfortable silence continued.

       Michael leaned forward and pulled a piece of hard candy out of the dish on the coffee table. The tension was running a bit higher than he anticipated and something had to be done. "Look, I know you two have been through Hell, but seriously...we don't bite. Well, not usually at least."

       "How..." Zara blurted, almost as if she tried to hold herself back from talking but couldn't. "How did you close my brother's wounds so quickly?"

       It definitely wasn't the question he was expecting. "Um...okay. I am sorcerer. I used a simple spell that sped up biological regeneration to close the holes and repair the blood vessels so he wouldn't bleed out."

       The revelation wasn't taken very well. A mix of fear and apprehension invaded the atmosphere as the two aliens stared at their host.

       "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." Michael responded quickly, holding up his hands in defense. "Take it easy. I didn't do anything other than that....just trying to help. I didn't know that was offensive to you."

       The Kryptonians looked at each other. Surprisingly, the female seemed to be more calm about this that he was. A few words in an unknown language were exchanged before they turned back.

       "Forgive us," the man named Zal spoke. "We are...leery...of one who wields magics. A rather bad experience."

       "Would you mind sharing it?" Meadow said, intrigued.

       The two Kryptonians glanced at one another yet again. More words were exchanged in their strange language, Zara's voice being the one of stability this time, but nevertheless the Waynes could both hear the edge of the females' voice and the troubling concern in his.

       Zal folded his hands again and again, the trauma of the day's events weighing heavily on his mind. But it would be rude not to converse, plus there was information that needed to be had on both sides. "We had already been on our Earth for a year when this event took place. We had gained a bit of a following after we started helping out. People all over the world started becoming obsessed with everything we did or trying to figure out everything about us. That type of thinking is....rather strange."

       "Uh, it is?"

       The female Kryptonian nodded, the lines of grief marring what looked to be normally angelic features. "We had similar heroes once on our home world. They were admired and respected but not obsessed over."

       "Anyway," Zal said, taking back the conversation. "There was this man who used a spell to take control of my sister and had her break into the Federal Reserve Buildings' vault. As he stood at the doors and cackled about how the world would soon be his and that nobody could stop him, I grabbed him and flew to the edge of the troposphere. He passed out before he could do any more damage and his spell was broken. Fortunately we weren't blamed for the break-in, but we discovered a weakness of ours in a very harsh way."

       Meadow looked skyward and shook her head, popping her neck. "I hope you understand that my brother isn't trying to control you or force you to do anything."

       "And exactly how do we know that?" Zara queried as she looked across the sofa. 

       "Well, I would hope our actions speak for themselves," Meadow began as she rose and went to the bar, placing four cups on a tray and began pouring the tea. "I would also hope that you know you are sitting here with us on your own volition and that we have been nothing but truthful and compassionate."

       The words seemed to make a dent.

       "Ever since that time we have had to be extra cautious around those that wield that kind of power. We could not allow ourselves to be manipulated by people who would use us for their own benefit." Zal shifted uncomfortably at his own words, but forced himself to relax.

       The tension seemed to be lessening a touch between them all. It was interesting to Meadow to say the least. It wasn't like her and Michael's reactions would have been different if the roles were reversed. It was the fact that they spoke like they were trying to protect people, and that was a good thing. She decided that it was time to redirect the topic.

       "As we said earlier, we really know nothing about you other than what you've said and the brief descriptions given to us by Harbinger. May I ask how do you do what you do? By all appearances you look human."

       After considering it while the tea was served, Zara fielded the question. "Our father was a scientist and he knew that when we left Krypton the much younger star of Earth would energize our cells to beyond anything he had experienced. Our cells are photovoltaic...they help nourish us because our planet orbited a very old red supergiant and had become much colder millennia before...before it was destroyed. Our cells produce a unique energy field that absorbs a star's neutrino particles. The very high energy that this star produces combined with that biological field is what enhances us."

       "And the green stuff?"

       "We call it Kryptonite," Zal interjected, his voice belying the uncomfortable tone of his words. "When our home was destroyed, the nuclear forces did something to a portion of Krypton's planetary crust. We don't know what exactly. The radiation those pieces give off disrupts that field my sister spoke of, starving the cells. They don't get nourishment, lose power, and over time starve to death as the energy is used up."

       Meadow arched an eyebrow as she listened to the details. At first their reaction to the crystals in the asteroid didn't make much scientific sense, but now they did. "That was very specific. How did you possibly know all that if this only happened after you came to Earth?"

       "There was a scientist, named Emil Hamilton, that we helped a couple of times. He helped us learn a lot about ourselves and to acclimate to Earth."

       "Basically our only Terran friend," Zara said softly.

       "And when you got to Earth, you just arbitrarily decided to help people?" Michael asked tentatively.

       Zal's eyes closed as a fresh reminder of what they just went through flooded back into his mind. He was sure that this man wasn't trying to be insensitive to his feelings, but that didn't lessen the pain. Taking a breath, his gaze fell upon the Sorcerer Supreme. "It was the right thing to do. We did what we could...fought fires, stopped terrorism, even rescued a Chinese astronaut crew when their rocket got hit by a meteor, disaster relief, stopped a ferry from sinking in the English Channel...just trying to do what we could to save lives."

       "There was controversy amongst the governments, but eventually they just sorta let it go and let us do our thing." Zara added, her voice cracked with emotion. "The press dubbed us 'Superman' and 'Supergirl'...which was flattering, but not unexpected. We tried to keep our distance from the press and never told them our true names."

       "Was that a secret? Your names?"

       The two Kryptonians shrugged in unison. "Not really. We just...didn't do interviews or stand around waiting for praise," Zara admitted. "I mean we did sit down in private with the U.N. Security Council and told them our story. But by that point the only thing they wanted was a way to contact us more efficiently in case something happened."

       Michael Wayne sipped his tea and nodded. "That...is actually quite wise."

       "Which part?"

       "The fact that you didn't answer to a single government, but rather to them as a whole. One would think that would be the way to go in dealing with those of our ilk."

       Zal's mind instantly latched onto the unspoken meaning of Michael’s sentence. "There are more metahumans on this Earth..."

       "There were no others on yours?" Meadow asked.

       The dark haired Kryptonian shook his head. "Not really, no. There were a few humans that went the masked vigilante route, but nothing outside of human norms. There was a Centauran Green Lantern that checked in regularly, but nothing more than that."

       "Others were nothing more than publicity stunts," Zara offered. "How many others are here on this Earth?"

       "Wait a moment there," Michael intervened. "I can only assume that a Centauran is a being from the Alpha Centauri system, but what is a Green Lantern?"

       The aliens were taken aback. "Intergalactic police force from Oa? Generally have green and black uniforms?"

       Michael shook his head. "Sorry. Never heard of anything like it."

       "Huh," Zal huffed, the implications of this new universe and the differences to what he knew starting to become apparent. He and his sister had met many of the Corps, even visited Oa once. He found it disquieting that they might not even exist here. "Okay, well...you said that there were other metahumans here?"

       Meadow held up hand, pausing the conversation and quickly retrieved a photo album from a nearby shelf. She placed it in front of the Kryptonians and opened it, showing various pictures of many people, some posed, but most caught in actions beyond normal human ability. "There are about thirty that we know of that try and serve the greater good. At least in their own way, that is. Many are government created or sponsored, a few that were corporate experiments before testing like that was banned. Two aliens, a Tamaranean and a Czarnian..."

       Both Kryptonians rose with a start. "There's a Czarnian here?!" Zal shouted, concern deep in his voice. Zara did not bother to speak and headed towards the laundry room.

       "Wait, wait, wait!" Michael exclaimed, waving his hands to try and forestall them from leaving. "It's okay. I don't know what you know of this race, but this one isn't bad."

       Zara and Zal locked eyes, both of their faces marked with a 'what-the-hell' expression. As the returned to the sofa and sat back down, their nervous energy subsided slightly. "Our encounter with that race was disastrous. Hunted us down just for a gladiatorial match. Nearly leveled Colorado Springs before we could get him outta there. And this one is good?"

       Meadow nodded as she turned a page and pointed out a picture of the grey-skinned and blue haired man. "I've met him. Rough around the edges, but seems to have a good heart. He comes and goes from the planet a lot. Says he works as a intergalactic bounty hunter, so when he's here he generally hangs around D.C. working for the FBI catching their most wanted...occasionally Interpol."

       "That's impressive actually," the man known as Superman whispered. "In our universe, the Czarnians were brutal to say the least."

       "Well, he claims to be the last of his kind..."

       Zara's body language and expression turned introspective. "Kinda like us."

       "Sorry," Meadow whispered. "I didn't mean to reopen old wounds."

       "They are not so old," Zal said coldly.

       "Hey, okay..." Michael sputtered, trying to stop tension from building.

       "You cannot marginalize what we are going through," Zal hissed. "We've just been torn from a world that needed us...our home. As far as I'm concerned we just let down our entire universe."

       "Harbinger told us that the death of that universe was imminent," the Sorcerer Supreme shot back. "And with all due respect, if you said you had mere hours to stop it, it seems that your efforts, while gallant, were for naught. You would have died."

       "Then we would have died. But at least we would have died next to the people that we tried to protect."

       "Stop right there," Meadow blurted. "And listen for a moment. I don't know how long you two were doing your thing, but i've been out on the streets for three years trying to make them safe for good people. And I discovered one vital truth: You cannot always win. Defeat teaches us...helps us grow. It shows us our shortcomings and only a hero gets back up and tries again."

       The room went silent as the two aliens just stared at the woman known as Batgirl. Finally, Zal began to nod, absorbing the message. But it was Zara's voice that broke the calm.

       "You're right. I honestly hate to say it, but you're right." She let out a held breath. "Sorry, I'm just..."

       "Overwhelmed comes to mind," Zal added.

       "Look, we want to help you," Meadow interjected. "But let's table that for later. Would you like to learn a bit about this world?"

       "Since we are here, now," Zara responded, her mannerisms cowed slightly as her thoughts still dwelled on Batgirl’s words.

       "It's probably just like yours for the most part. War, famine, disease, corruption, crime...and those that supported and worked against such things."

       The Sorcerer Supreme picked up the story. "For our part, we've done what we could to quell threats as they arose. I mainly concentrated on mystical problems. Things that most people can't comprehend much less see. Sometimes we would work with some of those others to combat greater issues, and it seemed to keep the worst at bay. Until recently that is..."

       "What happened?" Zal asked, his curiosity overcoming his emotional strain for the moment.

       "About a year ago, someone new entered the picture," Michael said between sips of his tea. "For the first couple of months, he was considered just a myth, but somehow he was able to bring the vast majority of the paranormal criminal community together and organize them."

       Zara cringed. "That sounds...bad."

       The young woman known as Batgirl waved her hand in confirmation. "You ain't kidding. They sent an emissary to the U.N. and demanded that the world be turned over to them to rule or that everyone would suffer the consequences. Of course the world leaders scoffed. There had been other people to try it before and hadn't even come close."

       "The governments that had sponsored heroes sent a small group of them to fight. They lost. Badly," Michael added. "The next day in a very coordinated attack, more than twenty attempted assassinations of the top national leaders in the world were all carried out. Most succeeded. Those that were killed were slaughtered in gruesome and public ways and all within one hour."

       "Sheesh..." Zara hissed.

       "Yeah," Meadow responded. "The Presidents of the U.S., Russia, South Korea and India, the German Chancellor, Prime Ministers of Britain, France, Japan, Sweden, the Kings of Saudi Arabia and Morocco. All killed alongside their families. Not to mention the Secretary-General of the U.N."

       The thought of such an attack was both disturbing and sickening at the same time.

       "The Oligarchy...that's what they call themselves...said they would continue to hunt and kill leaders until they got what they wanted. The governments tried desperately to even locate where these criminals were at to stage a counterattack, but it soon became apparent that their tactics were not limited to brute force. They deliberately targeted banks and funding institutions with a widespread computer virus. They went after mints and reserves...not taking hard currency, but destroying it. When it became apparent what they were doing, people panicked and economies around the world came to brink of collapse."

       Zal leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand in thought. "You said they targeted leaders. Did they go after more than just political and economic? What about military and corporate heads? Were they next?"

       The Sorcerer Supreme nodded solemnly. "That is what a lot of them feared, but it's hard to destabilize a military by taking out one or two people with a good chain of command in place. What they have been doing is targeting anyone who is trying to rally support. Most of the remaining leadership is in hiding."

       "And this was all organized by a single person?" the dark-haired Kryptonian asked.

       Michael and Meadow answered in unison. "The Regent."

       "Who is he?" Zara asked, her voice belying the churning sensation she was feeling in the pit of her stomach.

       "We don't know. He is being hidden by the power of a Lord of Chaos named Dormammu. That in itself tells me that this Regent is immensely powerful because Dormammu is not the type to bend knee to just anyone."

       The female Kryptonian laid back on the couch and stared at the ceiling. "Zal, what in Rao's name is going on here? We're sent from home to escape its destruction, land on a world that feared us despite us trying to help them in every way we could for years, get kidnapped from certain death by more humans..."

       Zal-El gazed at his sister worriedly and interrupted her chain of thought. "Zara, it may be just me, but do these seem to be just any humans to you?"

       " And that's what actually concerns me the most! That human just put us in our place with just words and what's worse is they don't even seem to want to lie. I've been listening for changes in their breathing, heart rate...nothing. And they are showing us a hell of a lot more trust than anyone since Emil. I mean I want to help them, but I can't shake the feeling that there is something more here than meets the eye."

       "Like what?"

       "They are nervous, a bit apprehensive...but I think it's because they are unsure of what to make of us." Zara averted her eyes. "I...I don't think we belong here."

       To both of their surprises, Meadow spoke aloud in broken Kryptonian. "Let us help you belong."

       "How...how did you..." Zara sputtered as her eyes went wide.

       "Speak your language? I am a polymath and a polyglot."

       Zal huffed while a slight smile spread over his lips. "That is impressive. Just from hearing our short conversations?"

       "The syntax was not easy to catch at first, but yes," Meadow admitted. "It is a bimodal language and I pick those up rather easily."

       Michael grinned and held up his cup of tea to his sibling in an appreciative toast. "My sister has always amazed me in some of her natural abilities. Hence why she chose the path our father started long ago."

       The Maiden of Might cocked her head in interest. "You've mentioned that before. That...armor...you were wearing earlier. You're a...vigilante?"

       Meadow Wayne took a sip of her tea. "Back in 1978 our paternal grandparents were gunned down by a mugger in front of our eight year old father. It was a sign of just how bad things had gotten in Gotham. Crime littered the streets and corruption ran rampant through the government, police departments, even the courts. He spent his formative years doing two things: Using the company he inherited to try and better the city and when a heavier hand was needed, he invented what he called the Batman...a faceless vigilante that took down the criminals that he couldn't attack openly."

       "Hence the armor?" Zara queried.

       "Dad did good work, but after he and Mom died while assisting with the aftermath of an artificial earthquake in Gotham, I felt the need to pick up where he left off. A stupid gas line exploded, killing them. Since Mike here had inherited our maternal side's affinity for magic, we sat down and designed my suit using both technology and sorcery to keep me alive while I continued Dad's work."

       Michael sighed heavily. "I tried talking her out of it at first, but she is as hard headed as our father was. We left the running of our company to better people, although we still own the vast majority of the shares. It allowed us to concentrate on making things better."

       "How did you...become a mage?"

       The Sorcerer Supreme shrugged. "That is a harder explanation. Our maternal grandfather was a stage magician named Giovanni Zatara who in reality was using real magic in his shows. In his journals he states he was descended from an offshoot of humanity called Homo Magi who were able to naturally tap into the Weave."

       "I beg your pardon?" Zal asked, not understanding. "What's the Weave?"

       Michael stood, depositing his cup and on the coffee table. "Here, let me show you."

       His hands reached out into the air and suddenly it seemed as if he had caught an orange-glowing strand of light from nowhere. A moment later his other hand plucked a blue strand as well. "Magic is everywhere. It's part of the natural order although very, very few can tap it. Some groups have developed a very limited means of manipulating magic, but generally it takes someone either very learned, a natural, or like me, both. These strands are not normally visible to the eyes of most, but I am exciting them for your benefit. Using magic, to put it in terms that you can understand, is combining these strands...this weave...to produce effects. The more complex or powerful the spell, the more strands you need to harness."

       As her brother was talking, Meadow excused herself, reappearing a few minutes later carrying a wicker basket with not only the sleek black uniforms belonging to their guests, but their boots as well. She set the basket down on the table beside the sofa and the boots on the ground but lingered for a moment, letting her fingers caress the material.

       Zara glanced over and caught the gaze of Meadow who drew her hand back quickly as if she got caught in the cookie jar. Looking very apologetic, she started to retake her seat when the Kryptonian spoke.

       "It's alright, Meadow. It's just my clothes."

       "Sorry," she mumbled. "The texture just...caught my attention. Some of the ones in that book wear...costumes such as these. Others, like me, have to have something that is functional in all aspects."

       "Even the bat symbol?"

       Meadow nodded. "Not just an aesthetic choice. It draws the eye and incoming fire to where I am most protected."

       Zara pointed to the prevalent pentagram atop the basket."That symbol we wear means 'hope'. It is our family emblem."

       "Appropriate," Michael chimed.

       Zal cracked a slight smile for the first time at the compliment. "We try. But since it seems that we are now stranded here, I suppose we will need to find new clothes and a place to live."

       The Wayne siblings glanced at each other. In that singular moment, they could read each other like a book and could tell what that other was thinking and what they felt. Perhaps it was just a sibling thing, or maybe just a practiced trait.

       "That's not necessary," Meadow started. "If you want...I would like to extend an offer for you both to stay here. As you can see we have more than enough room and privacy. We can take care of your base needs."

       Zal cocked his head. "I...I'm not sure that..."

       "Please," Meadow urged. "We're not trying to do anything dishonorable here. But as it stands, you really don't have many viable options and I for one would feel like a fool if the people we were trying to help didn't care to take it."

       Michael nodded in confirmation. "You might hold us responsible for this situation, and I wouldn't blame you in the slightest, but there is a lot we can do to help you acclimate. "You came here as people that needed help and I hope you'll stay as friends."

       "Friends are hard to come by," Zara added to the conversation.

       "Not in this house," Michael retorted.

       Zal seemed a tad uncomfortable as he looked around the opulent house. "We are not used to such...surroundings. We built a small cabin in the Allegheny mountains away from everything on our Earth."

       "Modest," Meadow chimed in. "We may have to splurge a bit and take them shopping, Mike."

       "If they would like, sure. But I want to make it known to you two that there are no strings attached here. If you don't think this is for you, then I wish you luck, but our door will be open."

       "It is a generous offer..." Zara whispered more to her brother than to their hosts.

       Meadow stood and offered her hand to the young blonde as she angled out of the room. "Do you want to eat? How about this. Allow me to make lunch for everyone and you two can think about it. BLT's sound good?"

       Supergirl tentatively took the offered hand and rose, allowing herself to be led to the nearby kitchen. The trust and warmth that this woman was showing was simply astounding, despite what she claimed to do. "We don't really need to eat..."

       "I didn't ask whether or not you needed to eat, I asked if you wanted to eat."

        Looking over her shoulder, Zara's eyes caught her brothers as she slipped around the half wall and into the large open kitchen. He could tell that she felt dizzy and confused at the sheer amount of stimuli being thrown at them, both bad and good. Although still very reserved, he remained seated and returned his attention to the Sorcerer Supreme.

       "Your sister is...very forward."

       "It's a surprising dichotomy to me as well. I still look at her as my kid sister, but then I see her in action and all I see is the crafted weapon."

       The man known as Superman sighed heavily and downed the last gulp of his tea before setting the empty cup on the serving tray. "Are there no laws...that prevent what she does?"

       Michael Wayne sat back and adjusted his position, placing his ankle on his knee and trying to look more relaxed. "Technically, yes, there are. But she has done so much that most law enforcement that has seen her, kinda pretend that she doesn't exist. Local police departments, marshals, deputies...they can't handle a lot of the threats that are out there on the street anymore so they are thankful for someone who can. Plus when it comes to the federal government, she was partially trained by several of their top-level metahumans. There has never been one warning, or statement from anyone. The only bad thing so far is that some of the people she has brought down and turned into police custody have simply powered out of confinement. Even killed one jailer and maimed a few others here and there."

       "There is no way to confine these criminals?"

       For the first time, Michael was a bit hesitant. "We've tried a couple of different ways, but neither seemed very humane. She used a drug once that forces an artificial coma, but maintaining it wasn't feasible. I tried responding after the fact and placing them in a magical stasis field, and that was okay, but I can only maintain so many of those at once without straining myself."

       "What about the government? Do they have any..."

       "What government, Zal? The remaining leaders are on the run or in hiding. The highest official that I know of locally that is still publically doing their job is city operations for New York. Nothing but mid-level management. Plus where is the funding going to come from?"

       "Couldn't you fund something? It's obvious that you're quite wealthy."

       "Look, we bought enough Vibranium to make her three pair of hand restraints because it was the only thing strong enough to hold just about anything. That was over half a million dollars for an ounce. Each cell would have to be custom crafted or have so many layers of containment that literally nothing could escape."

       Zal furrowed his brow. "I'm starting to see the problem. It's...not an issue we really had on...our Earth." His voice softened a bit as he referenced his recently lost home. He averted his gaze to the muted television as he recollected his thoughts.

       "For what it's worth...I'm sorry. I suppose we should have asked more questions of Harbinger before we came. It didn't occur to us that it would be...traumatic."

       "We don't blame you, Mr. Wayne..."

       "Michael. Please, I'm just Michael. Or Mike if you prefer." He paused and shrugged to himself before opening up just a bit more. "If you really wanted to, you could call me Mikey, but only Meadow ever called me that when we were kids."

       The admission actually brought a chuckle from Zal as he imagined these two as kids. He was trying really hard to put him at ease. "Okay. Mike. So what's the solution? To the holding of these criminals?"

       "If either of you have an idea, I am all ears. Just please tell me you're not about to say summarily execute them."

       "Ah, NO," Zal confirmed. "We don't kill."

       Suddenly a voice called out from the kitchen. "Did you just say you wanted to execute them, Mike?"

       "NO, Meadow! Go back to your bacon!" Michael called back, rolling his eyes before returning his attention to the Kryptonian. "That's actually good to hear. We value life pretty highly and do not act as judge, jury and executioner...although I have banished a few demons to the celestial realms for a millennia before."

       Zal stared at him blankly. "I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

       "Well, they weren't killing anyone anymore. However, if you ever meet Ghost Rider..."

       "Ghost Rider?"

       "To make a long story short, he has an ability that judges people. Most are incapacitated, some driven to insanity, but the very worst have had their souls seared away. And yes, it's actually worse than it sounds, but he doesn't generally know just how bad someone has been until he uses it, so technically he has killed before, but most of the others don't."

       "I'm not sure I like that ability..."

       "Oh, don't get me wrong, it’s brutal, but infallible. It literally has no affect on an innocent."

       Zal seemed slightly impressed. "That's novel."

       Michael went silent and just stared at the much larger man. His gaze shifted over to the kitchen where his sister had somewhat succeeded in getting Zara to loosen up. She had offered the blonde alien a piece of blueberry cheesecake and from the look on her face, she seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. The sizzling sound of bacon accented the smells of the same as they wafted through the air.

       "The guest wing is yours."

       The Kryptonian looked up at his host. "Excuse me?"

       "Right up those stairs is the guest wing," the sorcerer said pointing down a hallway. "Two bedrooms with private baths and living space. It's away from the other bedrooms that you've seen and if you don't like the furniture i'll order a whole new set in the morning. We'll take you into town over the next few days and get you some normal clothes. I mean anything you need. Just let us know."

       "Michael..."

       The Sorcerer Supreme tried to anticipate the question. "There's nothing wrong with your uniforms, but I think the ability to be able to walk around and not have to be 'Superman' will do you good. It also might give you a new perspective on humanity."

       "Michael..." Zal said again, his voice calm and level.

       "I'm just trying to make this transition a bit easier on you both, and if it makes you that uncomfortable, i'll confine my spell casting to my study. I don't really know what your physical needs are, but I'm sure we can accommodate. Do you need a car? Oh, wait. You've probably never driven, and..."

       "Michael!"

       He paused in mid-ramble. "Yes?"

       "You're trying too hard," Zal offered. "But I think...I think you're right. I don't know why my gut is telling me to trust you after only knowing you for just a few hours, but I trust my instincts. It was hard enough for us to get used to Earth the first time. I...we...could use all the help you've offered. And I think in return we can help you. Help you fight the chaos your world is in. If we are going to be here, then we need our lives to mean something. We can't...just can't afford to lose another home."

       Michael Wayne caught the eye of his sister, who, along with Zara, was returning to the den with the platter full of lunch. They both paused and looked at each other before Meadow broke into a wide grin. After all...it could be start of a beautiful friendship.

 

 

 

To be Continued…….. 

 

 

-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2017 by Nomad

-- and may not be reprinted without permission.

-- The Continuum Worlds Concept is a joint creation of

-- Dylan Clearbrook and Eldric and Nomad (Jake H.)  

-- Primalverse, Multiverse, Otherverse, and Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes,

-- as depicted in the Continuum Worlds, are original creations of Dylan Clearbrook.

-- Alterverse, The Inheritors, and Rising Starr,  as depicted in the Continuum Worlds,

-- are original creations of Eldric.

-- Wasteland and Otherverse Redux, as depicted in the Continuum Worlds, are original

-- creations of Nomad (Jake H.).

-- The Realm and The Web of Shadows, as depicted in the Continuum Worlds,

-- are original creations of John P. and Jason G./ Andrew Shields respectively.

 -- DCM: The Merging, as depicted in the Continuum Worlds,

-- is an original creation of Chip Caroon and the stories therein remain

-- the property of the respective writers.

 -- Some characters in Continuum Worlds stories are original creations

-- of Dylan Clearbrook, Eldric, Michael Liebhart, Jake H., Jason G.,

-- Andrew Shields, Kyle M., Brian, John P., DTO,  or Jason Froikin and may not

-- be used without express permission of the respective author.

-- All DC characters are property of D.C. Comics.

-- All Marvel characters are property of Marvel Comics.