The Last Daughter of Krypton: World's Finest

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Wraith

I called, and Shadow answered, wrapping me in my armor.

"There is nowhere she can go that I cannot find her my friend." I said in my low, spooky voice.

Shadows enfolded me, and in a eyeblink I was in Shadow. Concentrating, I drew upon it's powers, focusing my need.

*Find my love. Take me to her*

Shadow answered, swirling darkness around me and depositing me about ten feet from Rose and Kara.

And really close to a flaming elemental being of some frikin kind!!

Oh frak!

 

[ChasNicollette]

Inside, Rose was having a panic fit.

But not one erg of that panic filtered through to the outside of her.

She was cool as ice and furious like fire.

"This is just like old times... sort of," Kara noted as she patted some dirt off of her clothes.

"I'll admit," Rose nodded coolly, "that one girl with the freon motif strikes me as familiar..."

And then J'onn was there oh I should get his phone number for Chloe and a new guy was there hay, retro-cool outfit, ginchy colour scheme, what's your deal? and then Kyle materialised in surprised-looking battlemode, must have followed her from London the gang's all here except not really, no Bruce no Diana Mer's probably still in Soho oh well and Rose squared her jaw.

The ice fae and the plant fae departed in a hurry and Pyra's flame built up and up and up, Rose could feel the centigrade ascending and she shook her head.

"Seriously," she mused. "You need to read Gunnerkrigg Court. 'Suicide Fairies' are a misnomer: you don't pass the test and get a new body if you do yourself in."

And she walked right through Pyra's scorching heat, the thermal buildup from Hell. She walked right through it.

It was melting the tiles of the bank floor and the little metal poles that held up the "form line here" velvet rope were wilting and the rope itself was spontaneously combusting but I dare you to tell me to walk through fire...

Because thermal-casting with a touch of magic was, well, right up her alley.

She walked right up to Pyra and put her hand on her face like a mind-meld and crackling lightning freezing cold angled and agonised out of her. A shell of that freezing cold enshrouded the ball of white hot heat that Pyra was kicking out, containing the thermodynamic event, protecting those outside the fiery furnace.

"You're not hurting anyone but yourself," Rose murmured, gently, "and frankly, one good puff of arctic-breath from either the big green guy or the lady in blue and, well, you'd be out like a light."

She smirked ever-so-faintly, ever-so-wearily. "And that's to say nothing of what the guy with the mask and bauble and the scary bad-arse shadow-lad could do to you."

"Let's just call it a day, shall we? Better for everyone."

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Wraith

My lady can kick ass!!!!

I knew inside she had to be squirming ten different directions, but my girl, she's a hero. I was a lucky lucky man.

"Run away little one. Trouble not this realm again, for Powers walk this land, and they will smite thee down with ice and darkness and with righteous anger. Run away while you can." I said in my spookiest voice.

Then I lowered my voice which I knew J'onn could hear "J'onn, Watchtower would like a word with you. Use the number only you can use, her phone is on the fritz right now."

And again out loud so that all my friends (and the new guy whomever he was ) could hear "The cheerleader outfits growing on me Supergirl. I like it."

That should get me a eye roll from both girls.

 

[AmenRa]

Manhunter - Green Lantern

"J'onn, Watchtower would like a word with you. Use the number only you can use, her phone is on the fritz right now."
The Martian Manhunter listened to Wraith's message to contact Watchtower. He looked to the Shadow Knight and nodded his head.

"It will be done," he answered.

He had not seen Wraith in a while, nor had he seen Kara or Rose in such a long time.

Everyone had grown up.

And here, now, they were faced with only one adversary. One that had the power of fire.

Fire meant something to J'onn. It was a fear deeply rooted in his psyche. But, as he learned, fears could be overcome. A telepathic plague had consumed his people, his beloved M'yri'ah and K'hym, and had it not been for J'onn cutting himself off from the telepathic connection he shared with the Green Martians, he too would have perished in fire. His friend Bruce had overcome his fears, and J'onn hoped Bruce would provide advice and counsel on how to fully master his own. Fire, though, no longer carried such a terrible thing for the Martian Manhunter as it once did. J'onn supposed he was now only a little afraid as opposed to being terrified. Having been burned by Zod once ago has steeled him against the element.

Bring your fire, he thought as he landed firmly on the street, for I have some of my own.

- - -

The Green Lantern recognized Wraith from the images shown to him by the Guardians prior to his leaving Oa. He recognized all of them. He knew he was standing among allies, fellow guardians of justice.

He looked at Supergirl.

She was.....

Beautiful.

An unearthly beauty, almost, with her blue eyes and blonde hair. And she clearly had power, just as the Guardians said. When this was all finished, he planned to make a proper introduction to Kara Zor-El. Too bad he hadn't brought some flowers....

Hal found himself staring a bit longer than he intended to.

Wraith's warning jolted him back to The Now.

"Run away little one. Trouble not this realm again, for Powers walk this land, and they will smite thee down with ice and darkness and with righteous anger. Run away while you can."

Hal looked over at Wraith. "Nice armor," he commented.

Then the only one left mentioned something about everyone burning.

Hal cocked his head to the side as if he were getting a crink out of his neck. Then he aimed his right fist, the Power Ring glowing brightly, at the fire girl.

Coherent light of vibrant green lanced out and wrapped itself around her. The light formed coils, not unlike that of a snake, and circled her from her neck to her feet.

"All I have to do is think squeeze," he told her.

Taking the Green Lantern's cue, the Martian Manhunter aimed a different kind of blast at her. He focused his psychic energy and aimed it in a pulse targeting her mind. What he found there confused him. This one was certainly not human.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Chloe stared.

Speaking of powersets, as we were. When did Rose's include spacial translocation?

Did she get temported again, like that thing back in--

Behind her, Merick and Wraith were mobilising.

Chloe gritted her teeth and shook her head.

Foot rubs and chocolate ice-cream the moment it becomes logistically feasible.

And not a moment after.

Her phone rang and she snatched it up and flicked the phone open. "Rose?"

Not Rose. The Planet.

Chloe gestured to Mer', put her finger over her lips, then used that same hand to gesture to him to keep the volume down.

"Yeah, no, this is Sullivan-Tennylson, sorry," she confirmed. "Go 'head. What now?"

Her eyebrow quirked and she ran to her office, not even bothering to sit down.

She cradled the phone against her shoulder, no time to synch it with her Bluetooth. Her fingers flew across the keyboard.

"Okay, what am I looking at?"

...bouncing through a firewall and over a hyperlink...

"No, I see it."

She pursed her lips. Live digital video feed from the Metropolis branch, one of the stringers had a camcorder running in hopes of getting some good stills out of the feed, but Chloe was getting the benefit of it. God bless The Internet.

Reaching across the desk, Chloe grabbed a light-pen from the cup of writing utensils that sat beside her monitor and drew a quick circle around the image of the giant green fellow just settling to Earth.

"Okay," she declared, and then used the same pen to highlight the blurry image of Kara through the smoke and shattered glass, "perpesses I don't know, but: exhibit 'a,' that's the green guy helped save those people in New York. I'm working my contacts on him, I'll see what I can do. The blonde woman in the bank itself, that's definitely Supergirl, looks like she's got some super-friends. The red-head--"

She paused, scowled, as she penned a ring around the back of Rose's head.

There you are. How'd you get there?

Has a old dog been teaching you old tricks?

"No," she shook her head. "No, that's not the woman that saved the Luthorcorp ship, I don't care how tightly Lex's men-in-black cover-up brigade shut down the crew and bought them off, I got enough from the prelim radio recordings to know who that was. Yes, there's a commonality in the outfits, red blue gold and sometimes white, but commonality doesn't automatically imply connection and it certainly doesn't instantaneously connote shared identity. The dark-haired woman from the Luthor ship, we'll be seeing more of her. But she won't come out and play unless it's on her terms, call it a vibe."

Chloe switched shoulders with the phone and switched hands with the pen.

She covered over the handset and stuck her head out of the office, signaling to Merick, hissing: "Metropolis. Central Commerce Bank in New Troy, Fourth and, uh, Weisinger. Go."

And then, back to the monitor, drawing an arrow to the figure barely visible in the shadows in the back.

"The redhead, trust me on this, is the darling of The Manhattan Guardian," she mused, "and this dark fellow's been seen as her frequent partner in crimefighting, they're quite The Dynamic Duo."

There's a 'Flamebird and Nightwing' joke in there, but I'm not qualified to make it.

She shrugged, and chuckled. "No idea. NY-NY and Metropolis are technically sister cities, is that right? Maybe The Spirit of New York and The Spirit of Metropolis are sisters-in-arms. And obviously, Shadowrun there is riding shotgun, making sure his partner doesn't get into trouble while she's out of town."

Then there was the guy with the mask and the ring and the chest emblem.

This guy was not in Chloe's database. Though he was handsome in a sort of anti-JT sort of way...

He projected coils around the fire woman.

Green, glowing coils.

"Trademark infringement," she muttered, and smirked, and tsked. "No. I don't know that last guy. But I get the feeling he's a friend, if he arrived with the big bald green mystery-manhunter."

Another one for the database.

The World Wide Web of Weird.

She shook her head. "I'll work on it. I'll work on the dark-haired ship-saviouress, I'll work on Big Green, I'll work on Green Jeans. Crossref what I've given you, but editors be damned I get final proof on this, okay?"

"Okay. Namaste."

She hung up the phone.

She laughed softly. "'Never-Ending Battle.' No shit."

 

[ChasNicollette]

Lex Luthor leaned back in his office chair at the very top of the world and he folded his hands together and held these near his mouth.

He gazed sombrely at the events transpiring on the monitor screen now folded out of his desk.

"Been awhile," he murmured. "I knew you'd be back. You and your ridiculous misfits. Harbingers."

"I wanted you back," he smiled, ever so faintly.

"I always get what I want."

He rose from his desk.

"And what I want," he murmured, "is to tear this world down around your ears and rebuild it on your ashes."

He turned to gaze out across the Metropolis cityscape.

"Enjoy your media circus, 'Supergirl,'" Lex Luthor prophesied. "Just remember: the difference between a psalm of praise and a threnody is little more than an octave and a turn of phrase."

Thin, thin, smile, thin as a razor. "Or, to put it in your pop-culture bubblegum pep rally parlance: your reunion tour ain't nothing but a swan song."

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Send a message to Mr. Sullivan," O'Neil told Jenna. "Tell him I would be honored to meet with him in person wherever he chooses."

Gabriel no longer had any idea what time it was.

He was lost in a dream.

All his life he'd always known just where to be. It was a subtle thing and he had to be paying attention to it, he couldn't just do this on command.

But Gabe right now right now had no idea where he was and no idea how to get home.

He could see her in front of him in the seasons of mist.

Moira.

Was this how it worked?

Like some kind of... pathfinder?

He knew, more often than not, where he should be. Could he reach outside of himself and find where others were? Even hidden things, lost things, things shrouded in illusion?

There was a wisp and a whisper of her and--

--then there was beeping.

Gabe Sullivan fell out of bed and just barely avoided cracking his forehead on the floor.

He was wearing the Mind The Gap peejays again and suddenly this seemed wholly appropriate.

His dream vanished in a second.

Less than a second.

All he remembered was Moira's eyes.

"Goddammit," he mumbled.

Still there was beeping.

Without looking, he reached up his hand and took hold of his PDA up from the bedside table and sat down on the floor next to his bed.

He pursed his lips and opened his e-mail inbox.

'O'Neil would be honored to meet with you in person whenever you choose.'

He blinked.

"Tracked you down easy enough," he muttered, and laughed softly, disbelievingly.

And e-mailed back his gratitude.

He paused to consider: "Now to round up the proud parents and get them to your super-yacht without teleporting."

He shook his head. "How do I get myself into these things?"

 

[Lunaramblings]

Merick understood at once when Chloe hissed. They had a connection. A lingo. In a flash he was gone. It had been a while since Merick did his thing in this region of the world. But, perhaps, it was time for a homecoming.

The world twisted and bent under Merick's insistence. Then he was there. Staning in the bank beside Wraith. On the way, Merick had summoned that same shimmering emerald energy that he had used so many times. Merick stood beside his friends, his coat fluttering slightly from the jump. His face a mask of emerald light.

"Right. So, what in the bluest of blue Hells, is going on? She cool? How.... never mind." Merick grinned, which in his current state was a bit unsettling to most. Then he saw the man in green, projecting bands of force. "Infringement! First with the teleporting, now this! Heroes these days.... I swear. Nothing is original. Hey, looks like we found Marvin. Thats a plus." Merick grinned even wider as he extended his hands. "This should keep the innocents safe." Merick sheathed the people left in the back in shimmering energy.



Tommy had been in the shower. Then Mary busted the door down. Literally. She was clearly in a bit of a panic.

"Merick called! Something is going down. Meet me in SoHo." Then she was gone.

Tommy had to admit, she was getting good. Tommy disappeared in half a blink of an eye. When he reappeared he was fully dressed in the mantle that he held so proudly, and he was standing exactly where Merick had been a second earlier.

"Chloe! Whats wrong?" Tommy made his way out of the kitchen. Then there was another shimmer. "Sorry, too slow."

Mary materialised across the room. "Took a wrong turn at Albuquerque. They ok?"

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

"Seriously. You need to read Gunnerkrigg Court. 'Suicide Fairies' are a misnomer: you don't pass the test and get a new body if you do yourself in."

Although Rose walked straight up to her, Pyra could only smile. She maintained her cocky attitude even as the metahuman erected an icy barrier around them.

"And this... isn't... my first rodeo," the fiery pixie struggled to say as she continued to heat up the air around her. She was a little peeved that this human female seemed to be not at all bothered by the increase in temperature, but it really didn't matter. As long as she reached Super Nova... none of it would matter. She'd break through the human's icy barrier with ease, and after all was said and done... she'd come back to life.

Just like before.

"I don't care what your friends... think they can do," Pyra added, kicking things up even more. "Nothing... will stop... me now."

Even with the protective frost barrier, Kara was starting to feel the heat push through. She cast a glance over at the Martian Manhunter, but J'onn seemed to be doing just fine. Nervous, maybe, but certainly not scared. Kara also looked at the Green Lantern, and she raised an eyebrow when she thought she saw him staring back at her. The young Kryptonian's skin took on a little bit of a glow as the temperatures inside continued to skyrocket, and it almost felt like she was in the presence of a miniature yellow sun.

Her energy output was strong enough to break even the mystical green coils that wrapped around her body.

Kara felt a gust of icy wind suddenly blow through the area, heralding the arrival of Pyra's sister, Artina. At first Kara thought they'd have to fight a war on two fronts, but the frosty vixen held up her hands in a gesture of peace.

"I'm not here to cause any trouble," she said. "My sister... has to be stopped."

"What is she trying to do?"

"Once her body reaches a certain temperature..."

"She's going to blow herself up?"

Artina nodded gravely.

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

I know this dance

"Once her body reaches a certain temperature..."

"She's going to blow herself up?"

Artina nodded gravely.

Frack me! I could feel the heat even through Rose's shield. Kara's hair was whipping in the updrafts caused by the intense heat building up. Eventually, anything will burn it it gets hot enough.

But fires are hungry beasts and require constant nourishment.

"Supergirl, get those civilians out of here, Launchpad has a new job. J'onn, tell Rose to fly away. Use your special way of talking." I turned to my best friend, my brother.

"Mer, once Rose gets clear you bubble her. Make it as strong as you can. NOTHING gets through. We choke her out. If that doesn't work, well, lets let Grundy play with her. Got it?"

Merick got his game face on, then gave me a 'What are you going to do spooky boy?' look.

"I'm going to give her something to think on bro. It's lights out time."

I couldn't get close to her. I was pretty immune to energy, but she was way past my threshold.

But I didn't need to physically touch her to do something. I could do this.

I concentrated, focusing my will with all my might. The shadows thrown up by her fiery outburst withered with a will of their own for a second as I built up my will, then I released it.

A ball of darkness enfolded her head, completely shutting out all her sight. She was now blind.

"Go." I said in a strained voice.

 

[Lunaramblings]

Merick grinned at Wraith.

"Fine. Done. Just once though, I a totally am goin' ta get to chuck you at the baddie! Darkball Special for the win!" Merick redoubled his efforts. Focusing as much energy as he could. Waiting for Rose to get clear wasn't really a problem. Merick grinned as he neatly surrounded the flaming woman. Focusing he kept pouring it on.

Merick was pretty confident. He had once caught a Kryptonian falling from the sky, totally unharmed. He had taken the best Solomon Grundy had to offer. Merick was pretty sure he could hold the flames back.

Then he heard the new girl.

"Listen girlly, if you can stop her, do it. Give me a signal and I will give you your chance. But if you screw the pouch, I swear, you will be sorry."

Merick glared at the new girl. He didn't know why, but his gut told him to trust her.

 

[AmenRa]

Martian Manhunter

J'onn recalled his psychic probe on the fire fairie, and as Wraith had instructed, he re-directed the psychic energy to Rose.

Fly Valkyrie. Take to the air and fly like the wind!

The Martian Manhunter then moved near Wraith, preparing to assist with whatever power was needed.

 

[AmenRa]

Green Lantern

Hal stepped back when his energy coils around her were broken.

He was stunned.

"That was unexpected," he said. "What now?"

He then heard Wraith, and he saw the Shadow Man straining as a cloud of blackness enveloped her head.

Green Lantern shielded himself in verdant energy, and then extended the force field to surround J'onn, Merrick, and Wraith.

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

Kara Zor-El nodded when Wraith advised her to move the rest of the civilians outside and out of harms way, and although she knew that they were somewhat protected by Mericks shields, it was better to be safe than sorry. In a swift hurry, Kara rounded up the remaining humans and brought them far enough away from the bank, setting them down on their feet before rushing back inside.

Pyra, meanwhile, continued burning up.

Even as the one called Wraith disabled her vision with dark magic she continued heating things up.

"A mere... annoyance," Pyra managed to say.

She didn't need to see.

Not for this.

"I don't think we can wait any longer," Kara said, as Artina seemed unsure as to how to approach her sister. She flew straight towards Pyra and wrapped her arms around her waist. Without saying another word Kara pulled the two of them straight up into the air, crashing through the roof of the bank before shooting off towards the heavens.

"Let! Me! Go!"

"Only if you promise to behave," Kara said with a smirk. She continued flying straight up into the air, moving quickly through the lower levels of Earth's atmosphere before finally reaching what was commonly known as the Mesosphere.

It was there that Kara felt safe enough to let Pyra go.

"You'll die all alone up here."

"I sincerely doubt that," Kara said. "But you're welcome to try."

Pyra folded her wings over herself and tucked in her arms and legs. Kara floated back a bit, but she would not leave until she was sure that the threat was over.

"Your powers will far exceed those of mortal men and women..." Zor-El once told her. The smile on Kara's face faded, leaving only the stern countenance of a young warrior.

"And against an immortal...?"

A sudden explosion rocked the sky, and a light brighter than the Sun itself shone through. It flickered for a few moments before fading away.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Rose had been about to declare that they should just go ahead and do whatever they were doing, she had been about to shout it, or maybe think back to J'onn...

She could act like a carbon control rod in a fission reactor, if she injected her cold energies directly into Pyra's flesh like she was threatening to do with the fingers on her face. She could turn back the countdown clock, stall it at "0:07," like in those movies.

It occurred to her that there might be radiation involved.

That maybe this heat wasn't all just infrared.

You'll be okay.

What, are you going to mutate again?

But then Kara solved the problem for everyone.

Because Kara did that, it was what Kara did.

And Kara hurtled away and hurtled up and Rose fell on her backside and gazed up, up...

It didn't matter that there were floors and floors and a roof of bank between her and the sky, it didn't matter the cloud cover and the smattering of pollutants, her eyes locked right onto the Fire-Faerie...

Valkyrie M flinched when the explosion came.

Even though she was miles away, she flinched.

"She's gone," she said simply, though she did not specify. "She's gone."

 

[AmenRa]

J'onn

The Martian Manhunter followed Kara's sudden ascent, fire fairy in tow, towards the heavens.

When the explosion came, J'onn J'onzz did not flinch. He continued to look into the sky. With his Martian sight, he saw the Last Daughter of Krypton tumbling with the shockwave of the blast.

"She's gone," she said simply, though she did not specify. "She's gone."

"Have faith," J'onn told her, "Kryptonian physiology is very resilient."

Green Lantern dissolved the force field protecting himself, Wraith, and the Martian Manhunter. He then took to the air, a trail of vibrant green following him as he soared quickly to the site of the detonation. He arrived just as the last particles of fire were dissipating.

---

Hal reached Kara with open arms, cradling her gently as he caught her. He reached up, and with a finger pushed a sooty lock of her blonde hair out of her eyes.

"I'm Hal," he said quietly as they floated gently back to Earth, "Hal Jordan. And that was...awesome."

---

The Martian Manhunter cocked his head to the side as his Martian gaze watched Hal's interception of the tumbling Supergirl. He raised an eyebrow, and then, almost, smiled.

He then looked to Wraith and remembered. He closed his eyes and concentrated, searching through the lifeforms inhabiting the small world of Earth until he found the presence he was looking for.

Chloe.

I am here.

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Have faith," J'onn told her, "Kryptonian physiology is very resilient."

"Not her," Rose murmured. "The other one. 'Porno For Pyros.' (Always did like Jane's Addiction better.)"

But J'onn had gone off in his head. Or, more likely, someone else's.

Rose flicked an ash off of one of the lenses of her goggles.

She took a deep breath.

Almost died. Very nearly.

Fright'ning, that.

She glanced at Wraith, and at Rift. "Hey, boys. Glad you could make it. Sorry I left without saying TTFN. Funny story."

But then. Oh, but then. She put her hands in her pockets just like her dad always did and she fixed her tinted-goggle gaze on Artina.

Walked right up to her.

"You'll have to forgive me," she drawled, "luvvie, if I'm a bit rude, but you remind me very much of someone who doesn't agree with me."

She pursed her lips. "What Court are you from? Seelie, Unseelie? There's an ozoney tang to the air, oak leaves and honeysuckle, it's rather distinctive. So you're pixies, or hobgoblins, or some other breed of Fae. But I can usually tell which Court a Fae is from, and with you lot I'm just... running aground. Are you a new faction? Some local upstart barony?"

Rose smiled thinly. "Either way, thank you for helping with your sister. You don't owe us a thing. But I'd like an explanation. If yeh dun mind."

 

[ChasNicollette]

Chloe was sitting back in her desk chair, looking a little bit hysterical.

Even on the digital camera video feed, beamed in by wi-fi and sent across the ocean, she could see the air rippling, desert sands warmed by the sun.

But then something had happened faster than she could have seen, and then Kara was missing.

Phew. Disaster averted.

Then Green Jeans was gone, too, and J'onn was gazing upwards. Like he was watching.

Of course he was.

She smiled softly.

But then an old old familiar voice came knocking at her consciousness, and the ringtone was like dust wafting through the craters of the western Memnonia highlands.

Chloe.

I am here.

She blinked at first, and that soft smile became a broad grin.

Almost reflexively, she touched her ear like she was engaging a Bluetooth headset. Like a mnemonic trigger, rearranging the strata of her consciousness for telepathic conversation.

*J'onn!

*It's been five-eighths of forever, and suddenly there's blurry photos of you on Page Six of The New York Post.

*How've you been? How goes the, uh, manhunting?*

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

Kara Zor-El

When Pyra finally exploded, Kara actually raised her arms up in front of her for protection. It was a rather silly gesture, and one almost as useless as putting your hands up against the dashboard of a car when you're about to get into an accident. The massive explosion rocked her pretty hard, and there was no doubt left in the young Kryptonian's mind that Metropolis itself would have been erased from the map had she not brought Pyra to a safer location.

It was gusty and reckless... but Kara had to do it. She had to do something.

Strangely enough... as Kara began falling back towards the planet, a rather aloof smile crossed her face.

'Fire... is hot,' she thought to herself. Her clothes were smoldering a bit, and bits and pieces of her uniform had been burnt away entirely. Even her beautiful golden hair seemed weathered and burnt to a crisp, but all of her hairs were unharmed, and all she had to do was wash the soot away with a good rinse.

A pair of strong arms came up from underneath her, catching her as she fell towards the ground. Hal Jordan had apparently flown all the way up just to make sure she was alright, and while Kara would have been perfectly fine on her own... she was rather comfortable for the moment.

"My name's Kara. But... I'm pretty sure you already knew that," she said with a smile as they floated back down towards the ground.

"And thanks."

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

Artina

As her sister continued heating up, Artina began to panic. She might have been able to calm her raging sister at an earlier point in time, but when she began reaching her breaking point... there was very little the Ice Queen could do. Sure... she could have frozen everyone and everything in place... but that kind of destruction would have been just as bad as Pyra blowing up. The last time she exercised that particular power... was a little over 20,000 years ago.

Things... were pretty cold back then (but that's how she liked it).

An ice age. The ice age.

Artina had kept relatively quiet since then, but she had had her moments.

After evacuating the rest of the civilians, the one called Supergirl flew straight at Pyra, and in a desperate move brought the two of them up towards the sky. Artina followed them as best she could, right up until a fiery explosion rocked the heavens. Artina knew that Pyra would be fine, as the immortal faerie would be reborn after a while. But as for Supergirl... Artina was less certain. It was only after seeing her in the arms of the Green Lantern that she relaxed.

Things... turned out alright.

Artina raised an eyebrow as the meta-human Rose approached her with questions regarding her heritage, though the elemental pixie finally cracked a knowing smile.

This human was smart.

"My sisters and I are all... what you would call Faeries. But unlike the creatures of fantasy you Humans seem to be familiar with... we're of a different sort," Artina tried to explain. "We came into being long before the Courts did, when this world was just in its infancy. Pyra is the oldest, and my sister Ivy is the youngest. We were charged with the safekeeping of this planets elements... but lately we've grown somewhat... reckless. Perhaps a change is in the making. Perhaps..."

The magnificent blue wings on her back folded inward, and Artina lowered her head slightly and sighed.

"I am terribly sorry about all this. Pyra can be a bit... persuasive when she wants to be. Perhaps next time... we shall meet on more amicable terms."

There was a bright flash of light and a gust of cold wind, and then Artina was gone.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Rose stood there for a moment, just a moment, gazing at the spot from which Artina had departed.

She rubbed the back of her head and frowned.

Not like Briar, then.

Briar couldn't give two craps about 'amicable.'

(What if Pyra and Briar ever met?) Oh, there's a cheerful thought.)

She glanced up at the sky. The man with the bauble was gone.

Hm.

Prehistoric Fae. Pre-dating the classifications of The Courts?

Paracelsus, alchemist extraordinaire, referred to The Fair Folk as 'elementals.'

I wonder if True Naming would still work; I sincerely doubt that the nomenclature proffered by the pretty frozen girl are their True Names. They're a little too Doctor-Doom-in-Secret Wars for all that.

It's a good thing we all use codenames now. Telling a Fae your own True Name is just a recipe for disaster.

She glanced around and smiled a faint, weary smile at the media people and her friends.

Great.

Mystery Faeries.

I'm going to have to call John in and Chloe's going to hate me forever.

No, wait, duh, Tommy and Mary.

A puff of air wafted the ground by her feet as she levitated and crossed the distance between herself and Rift, landing softly.

"Hey," she mused. "Is the Good Doctor on call, or is he on one of those mystical questy sabbatical things like Steve Strange always does?"

 

[camerindrake]

Damian and Sandra lead the group to the private room above the standard seating. There a table of refreshments including a wet bar with the finer alcoholic beverages. Damian takes a bottle of the finer white wines out and fills a crystal glass for Sandra. He hands it to her which she breaths in the smell of the contents before taking a sip.

"Gentlemen," Damian smirks, "After the show I hope you don't mind if we talk a bit of shop. I have a few things I think you would find most interesting for business as well as for recreation." He leaves the interpretation up to his friends and comrades.

Sandra takes the hint from looking into Damian's eyes and smiles, "And of course I can entertain the fine ladies while you boys have fun with your toys. Isn't that right, David?" She then gazes at the women and saunters over with wine glass in hand, "Do you ladies enjoy swimming in the moonlight?"

Damian responds, "Of course, Sandra, that is a great idea." Then with a sweeping motion of his arm, "Enjoy the food and drink, The show will be starting shortly." He then pours himself a scotch and after it is poured he slips a capsule and swallows as he drinks the first sip. The capsule to neutralize the alcohol in the drink and keep him from getting drunk. Sandra then saunters up to him and as they kiss he places a hand against her cheek with another capsule palmed to which she kisses his hand and takes the capsule into her mouth and swallows it. To the untrained eye it would be seamless.

Soon after Damian and Sandra are taking a small plate and placing a few sandwiches on it. Damian looks over to Lucius, "So how is it wrangling in the big money bureaucrats on the board?"

Sandra looks over to Bruce and asks, "Hows the base-jumping and spelunking scene? I heard that Nevada had wonderful places to base jump from. I got in quite a bit of trouble last time i went."

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Gentlemen," Damian smirks, "After the show I hope you don't mind if we talk a bit of shop. I have a few things I think you would find most interesting for business as well as for recreation." He leaves the interpretation up to his friends and comrades.

Pete reclined in one of the chairs by the counter, glancing over his shoulder at the stage and orchestra pit. "Always gotta turn it into an infomercial, man. I tell ya, I got like eight of those electric juicer thingies, can't offload 'em to save my life."

Sandra takes the hint from looking into Damian's eyes and smiles, "And of course I can entertain the fine ladies while you boys have fun with your toys. Isn't that right, David?" She then gazes at the women and saunters over with wine glass in hand, "Do you ladies enjoy swimming in the moonlight?"

Damian responds, "Of course, Sandra, that is a great idea."

Bruce smiled faintly, embarrassedly, making "chatterbox" motions with one hand. "They don't, uh, actually speak--"

Sasha cleared her throat. And smiled, a little bit awkwardly. <"Do you ladies like swimming in moonlight?">

The blonde and the redhead glanced at each other, mild surprise upon their faces. And then smiled delightedly.

<"Yes,"> the redhead agreed.

The blonde smiled broader, and indicated Sandra. <"In fact, if one of her loveliness is involved, I would do many things in moonlight.">

Sasha paused. Turned red. And again cleared her throat. "They, uh, agree."

Bruce pursed his lips. "You speak Latverian, Sasha?"

Sasha nodded, looking a little bit helpless, a little bit deer-in-the-headlights. "I got language tapes. Just in case. You always seem to get your emergency dates from the same agency, so I thought--"

"No, no," Bruce nodded, and there was a rare rare sheen to his eyes. He was impressed. "Good thinking."

"Told you I hired her for a reason," Lucius grinned, arms crossed over his chest.

Pete's eyebrow was arched, however, as he took a sip from his club soda. "What'd they-all say?"

Sasha blushed fiercer. "Nothing. Just. 'Yes.'"

Pete shrugged. "Huh."

Then with a sweeping motion of his arm, "Enjoy the food and drink, The show will be starting shortly." He then pours himself a scotch and after it is poured he slips a capsule and swallows as he drinks the first sip. The capsule to neutralize the alcohol in the drink and keep him from getting drunk. Sandra then saunters up to him and as they kiss he places a hand against her cheek with another capsule palmed to which she kisses his hand and takes the capsule into her mouth and swallows it. To the untrained eye it would be seamless.

Neither Bruce's nor Pete's eyes were untrained.

No reaction at all flourished on Bruce's face. At least they can act like they're having a good time.

He took a swig from his bottled water.

But Pete didn't make any attempt to hide dissolving a capsule of his own in his soda, and taking a sip. Making a face. Gingold.

Soon after Damian and Sandra are taking a small plate and placing a few sandwiches on it. Damian looks over to Lucius, "So how is it wrangling in the big money bureaucrats on the board?"

Lucius' grin faded into a knowing smile, his eyes half-lidded. "It's a little bit like swimming in moonlight. In the deep end. With sharks, and with a whole lot of paper-cuts. It's also a little bit like herding cats. And it's also a little bit like playing in traffic. I'm thinking about taking up a safer profession. Like, say, late-night crimefighting?"

Sandra looks over to Bruce and asks, "Hows the base-jumping and spelunking scene? I heard that Nevada had wonderful places to base jump from. I got in quite a bit of trouble last time i went."

"Oh, I dunno," Bruce chuckled softly, "you've seen one cave, you've seen them all. I barely know the difference between stalacties and stalagmites myself."

But there in his eyes came a subtle, subtle shift. "But I think I might have heard a thing or three about this Nevadan escapade of yours. Something tells me it wasn't exactly the BASE-jumping aspect of things that got you in so much trouble? Besides, for BASE-jumping, don't you technically need a parachute?"

Pete grinned, downed the rest of his gingold and club, and shook his head. "'Parachutes are for sissies.'"

 

[AmenRa]

Gl

Green Lantern returned Supergirl to Earth gently in his arms. Not that she couldn't have gotten there herself, but.....

He smiled at her as he let her down. He held her arms for a moment, perhaps a moment too long, perhaps not. He gave her a nod.

"Next time, you can do the flying," he said with a smile.

He glanced around and saw the others, with the red-haired one, Valkyrie M, talking to two of the three powerful entities that were left.

 

[AmenRa]

Mm

J'onn was psychically connected to Chloe Sullivan, and they appeared to be having quite the conversation through synapses and nether-space.

We fight the good fight still. he answered her question about 'manhunting'. The battle for justice will wage eternal.

And yes, it seems I have been revealed also to this world. The truth of my existence is not one to be hidden, and I have no wish for it to be. And, I am guessing this is the reason behind your request to speak with me? If so, I am, as always, at your service.