The Last Daughter of Krypton - IC

[Wyldfire]

"I'm not sure about diamonds, but there are some rocks in Smallville that glow green," Kara said before she shuddered.

"But I can't go near them, or at least I try not to. I just get sick around them... like they're taking away my abilities. It's a terrible feeling," Kara added.

"Why? Who do you think my mother is?"

Diana noted the shudder, and the pain in Kara's voice, but it didn't make sense. The Emerald diamonds were an integral part of donning the royal mantle, and after their race Diana was fairly sure that Kara was a Themysciran changeling.

"You say these meteor rocks make you ill? Have you ever touched any of them?" she asked, "I had suspected that you were one of my kind who didn't make it home for any number of reasons, but, if these meteor rocks are Emerald diamonds they shouldn't hurt you."

Diana's brow furrowed. She should try to find one of these meteor rocks to make sure they were the right stones or not, but if they made Kara ill she would have to do this on her own. She would not cause a sister any harm if she could avoid it.

"I may just be guessing Kara," she continued, "I do not want to get your hopes up, but your secrets are safe with me. I will have to try to find one of these meteor rocks to see if they're the right gem or not. If you are of my peoples' blood and it hurts you it would be wise to know if it hurts others."

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

"I haven't touched any of them directly, no."

Kara actually had to think back to the first time she encountered one of the meteor rocks. They were littered all over Smallville, and oftentimes in the most unfortunate of places, such as in lakes and in the woods. But no matter where she came across one, each time Kara came close to one she fell deathly ill.

"At least not that I can remember. But it doesn't really matter, I think. I can't even move when they're around," Kara added.

Kara knelt down to the ground and she scooped up a small clump of dirt and grass in her hands, letting them eventually fall back down through the cracks in her fingers. It was a strange gesture, but it had some meaning to the young Kryptonian. She was not from Earth, and yet raised among Humans.

"Your secret is safe with me as well," Kara said as she patted her hands down against her clothes, cleaning them off.

"But I have something to show you. I think... it might answer some of your questions," Kara said.

Diana was a friend... a true friend at that. She deserved to know the truth. But even so, Kara felt a little uneasy about what she was about to do.

"C'mon, I'll race you back to my house."

With that Kara sped off towards the Kent farmhouse. It was a good ways away from their current position, but with their speed they would make it back in just a few seconds.

 

[camerindrake]

Damian

Damian gets to his car and he begins to drive into Smallville. The hemi roars to life as he speeds into the town after a few streets he starts heading out of town dodging the potholes the whole time till he gets to a giant crater in the middle of the highway. He then turns the Charger as he stops. The tires complain as he comes to a fast stop. He then gets out and checks the crater.

Damian kneels down looking into the crater he already shifted into the detective mentality. "Heat and moisture to the point of scorch marks and very cold liquid. This doesn't look like a meteor strike.

Damian then walks around the crater and kneels again finding a small piece of meteorite. "Kryptonite."

He looks into the sky. and only one thing came to his mind, Brainiac. The Brain interactive construct. He goes into his utility harness and pulls out his lead lined gloves and his kryptonite rings.

He then drove to the Crater Lake and found the red car in the lake. He then looked around the area. He found a man walking out of a cabin looking very distraught. It was Chloe Sullivan's father.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Gabe

His head was killing him.

He couldn't remember a thing.

There was this thing like a bad dream, like a voice, a buzzing in his ear, nigh-unremembered. A ghost of a dream of a voice.

He was starving and thirsty and he had to find a lavatory and it was dark out and he didn't know where he was.

Gabe Sullivan staggered on his way out into the woods, and he leaned against the cabin's doorway for support before straightening himself and shaking his head.

And he saw a man there in a mask and a dark outfit, barely visible against the black of night, and he staggered back again, clutching his heart and bulging his eyes.

"Who...," he started, flubbed his lines, tried again: "What do you want?"

 

[ChasNicollette]

Ceri, Pete, Chloe, Jamie, and Rose

Ceri made a face like she'd gone to drink milk and it was sour, unbelievably sour.

"'The Power of Greystone?'" she muttered. "Sounds like a Tarzan Boy cover band."

"That'd be 'Greystoke,'" Pete pointed out.

Chloe grinned at him. "Proto-Messianic recall of random literary fact, Pete."

Pete pretended to act put out. "What? I read a book. Once."

"It's okay, Mum," Rose cracked her knuckles, grinning at her best friend as she consoled her mother over the terrible joke but-- in Rose's opinion, anyway --brilliant pop-culture riff. "I'm a superhero, now. I'm trained to handle this sort of thing. Exacting justice upon the wicked, right?"

She levitated for a second, and then turned upside-down and elevated to stand on the ceiling of Bruce Wayne's kitchen. Her hair dangling down, she walked purposefully across the unobstructed ceiling, reached down, and flicked Merick's ear firmly.

"Orko doesn't get to recite The Oath of Greyskull," she reminded him, grinning her ass off. "Because sure as Beast-Man needs to floss, you ain't Prince frellin' Adam. Dude, you're not even Stratos."

Pushing off of the ceiling, she floated down to grin at Merick, upside-down, hovering before him with her face level with his, her arms crossed over her stomach.

"Ram-Man was pretty decent," she decided, a fair and benevolent magistrate. "You can probably convince me to promote you from Orko to Ram-Man."

Jamie wandered up, his spectacles in his hand and Kyle's sunglasses on his face.

Without looking at Jamie, Ceri shook her head at her daughter's antics. "How many times have I told her not to get her muddy footprints over other people's nice clean ceilings?"

Then she glanced at him, and blinked in surprise to see his eyes covered by the shades.

"'Where we're going we don't need roads,'" Jamie grinned.

Ceri groaned, and rubbed her face with one hand. "Give The Six-Billion-Dollar Boy back his VR goggles, James."

 

[Lunaramblings]

Merick didn't mind being flicked. He was laughing too hard. He smiled at Rose. "Dude, come on easy on the ear! And by the way, there is nothing wrong with Orko! He ruled. Sorry Teela, I didn't mean anything by it. I just couldn't resist! Still friends?"

Merick flushed. Not because he was embarrassed by his outburst, but because of the thoughts in his mind. Rose smelled good. And her skin was smooth and flawless. And that grin. Merick could stay like this forever. Looking into her lovely eyes, if only he could breathe. Merick attempted to sit. However when he last erupted from his seat he had sent it back a little further than he thought. Merick ended up flat on his back side.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Rose

"Yep," Rose chuckled ruefully, inverting herself once more, right-side-up, and alighting gently on the floor, offering Merick a hand up and hauling him to his feet. "We are definitely still friends? And you are definitely still Orko."

She grinned, though, and perched on the edge of the table, as she had been before, antigravitationally featherlight so as not to upset everything.

"Teela, huh?" she mused. "I guess I can take that as a compliment. Just like you're not Adam, I'm no Princess Adora. I ever found out I wasn't who I thought I was, that my whole upbringing had been a bit of fiction, that really I was some sort of destined warrior superchica from another world and the last hope for peace? I'd totally crack under the pressure."

She smiled faintly, sadly, lost in memory and imagination for a moment.

"Always thought she was really beautiful," she murmured softly. "She-Ra or not, she was always really beautiful."

 

[Lunaramblings]

Merick got to his feet, and fixed his hat.

"Always thought she was really beautiful," she murmured softly. "She-Ra or not, she was always really beautiful."

"She aint got nothing on you." Merick mumbled almost silently. Not really aware he said it.
"It does kinda suck finding out you have been living a lie. Huh, mom? Dad? That would totally suck. To grow up believing something. Being told something about yourself. Only to one day find out it was all lies. That really sucks. Guess you guys never thought about that though huh?"

"Merick. Now is not the time." Their was pain in Dale's eyes. And shame. And regret. "You don't understand. And I am not doing this here. Not now. Later. I promise you. You can't imagine how hard this was on us. Anger was now dancing behind Dale's eyes as well. "Believe me. I know what it is to be lied to. And I ever wanted to do that. But we thought it best."

"Dale. Merick. If you two are done. There are bigger problems at hand. We can have it out later. First, we do what this gentlemen tells us to do." Marcy really was powerful in her own ways. She could stare down some one with such ferocity they would not dare cross her. This was what she did now to her husband and son. And they felt it. They relented.

"Fine. Chloe, if your friend her can manage it, I think that might be a great idea. I think it is the safest option."

 

[camerindrake]

Damian

Damian blinks once at the mans reaction then states more than asks,The red car yours. " then points to the up turned back end to the red vehicle that had sunk deep into the lake, looking towards it. He then looks back to Gabe. He then answers in his very gruff like gravel voice, "I am here to help. But I need answers."

now more Black Hood than Damian he walks towards Gabe and looks him in the eyes his back very straight. "Do you know what has been going on after the shower or did you just come to?"

 

[Wyldfire]

"I haven't touched any of them directly, no."

"At least not that I can remember. But it doesn't really matter, I think. I can't even move when they're around," Kara added.

Kara knelt down to the ground and she scooped up a small clump of dirt and grass in her hands, letting them eventually fall back down through the cracks in her fingers.

"Your secret is safe with me as well," Kara said as she patted her hands down against her clothes, cleaning them off.

Diana started a bit as she realized her slip up with displaying her abilities. She mentally kicked herself for the error, but noy too hard, seeing as it seemed to have drawn Kara and herself closer.

"But I have something to show you. I think... it might answer some of your questions," Kara said, "C'mon, I'll race you back to my house."

With that Kara sped off towards the Kent farmhouse. It was a good ways away from their current position, but with their speed they would make it back in just a few seconds.

As Diana ran she managed to bring herself alongside Kara, "I hope I have not caused you discomfort with my prying my friend. It is simply that I have felt so alone and isolated, even among my own people."

She said no more as the Kent farm came into sight. She would tell Kara her true secret if what Kara was going to show her warranted it. She hadn't said anything to really give away her royal heritage but she hinted broadly at it, if you knew anything about her culture that is. Diana knew she would have to be more careful in the future.

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Kyle

(OOC: short post, kid agro. Promised to take him swimming & we are waiting on the tree trimmers to get done)


I grinned at Merick as Rose danced around him upside down.

"Ok ya transporter malfunction, lets get cracking on this shall we?"

I rather reluctantly retrieved my glasses and watch from Mr. McCrimmon, then sat down across from Chloe.

"I know I promised you a interview, but I think this comes first. Once we get things settled here, I promise i'll make time for that interview."

 

[ChasNicollette]

Gabe

"The red sedan?" Gabe frowned, and followed that pointing finger. "Why, what happened to it? I have insurance, but still, all the same..."

He swore softly when he saw the car. He wanted to swear loudly, but evil-looking leather mask or not, where Gabe Sullivan came from you didn't cuss loosely in front of complete strangers; it wasn't polite.

He sat himself down on the cabin's front step, running his hands through his hair, aghast and exasperated.

"I'm afraid I'm not much use to you at all," he shook his head, "whomever you are. I didn't... I don't even..."

He smiled sadly, tiredly. "Was it a meteor shower after all?"

"All I remember, really," he confessed, "was picking my daughter up at The Talon. And then there were sirens?"

He shrugged his weary shoulders. "After that, nothing. Except maybe?"

He frowned.

"A last tiny vestige of a voice," he muttered, bewildered. "Telling me to 'lead Chloe to safety.' It was a very important voice, someone I trusted, but I can't for the life of me, for the love of God, remember who exactly. I guess I didn't do a very good job of it; looks like my daughter and I got separated."

Gabe Sullivan groaned faintly, sadly, a little bit hysterically. "God. God, I hope she's okay. Please, Jesus, God, let nothing have happened to my little girl..."

 

[camerindrake]

Damian

Damian pulls out one of Dicks old bollas from his Leather coat. He then Fires it towards the Red sedan letting it catch on the undercarrage and walks over to the closest tree wrapping it arround twice..

"He then says in his gravel like voice, "So nothing then. You know where she might be if she made it through this event?" Black Hood says as he wraps the bolla one last time around the tree. He then hits the button and lets the line real in pulling the car the motor straining with the effort. With its motor able to launch and retract faster than many major league pitchers are able to throw, Pulling out a four cylender sedan should be no problem for it.

Once he gets the car out he checks it over once and undoes the bola letting it fully retract and replaces it back in his long coat.

He then presses on his cowl and has the night vision take effect looking across the ground and walks over to where he sees the blood and runs his fingers over it and then pulls out a glass strip placing the blood from his fingers on it. He then covers it with another glass strip much smaller. Once he finishes with the strip he pulls out a fluid analyzer from another compartment of his utility harness and places the strip in.

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

Though Kara had been the first to head away from the lake, Diana soon caught up, and both girls sprinted off towards the Kent farmhouse. Everything they passed became blurry lines of distortion, though slowing down it all came back into focus.

"You haven't caused any discomfort. It's actually nice being able to be myself around someone else."

And if anyone knew what it felt like to be alone and isolated, it was Kara Zor-El. For years she had to mask her abilities in the company of strangers, and for a young, teenage girl that was not the easiest thing to do. And when she found out that she came from another planet... well that made coping with things even worse.

Finally the farmhouse came into view, and both girls raced down the dirt road. Kara did stop short, however, when she noticed that there was another car in the road.

That... complicated things a bit.

Fortunately, however, her ship was tucked in the storm cellar.

"Come on, this way," Kara said as she slowed down to a more normal jogging speed. Once she reached the cellar, Kara saw the lock bolted around the handle.

"Sorry dad," Kara said to herself as she reached down and grabbed the metallic lock. Clenching her fist together, she shattered it into pieces and tossed them aside. Once that had been done she opened one of the doors. It was pitch black down there, but Kara managed to find one of the light switches, yanking the tiny string so that a single bulb illuminated the storm cellar.

As expected, Kara could see the ship, its small frame covered by a much larger tarp. Looking back at Diana, Kara hesitated for a moment.

She felt nervous. After all, she was about to show someone that she wasn't exactly from around Smallville.

Or from Earth, for that matter.

Kara peeled back the dark tarp, and there on the floor was her ship. It wasn't big enough for an adult to travel in, as Kara had arrived on Earth when she was a mere child. The ship itself resembled a Kryptonian pentagon encased around the central pod. There was a small, octagonal slot positioned on one of the several sides of the ship, and Kara had noticed it when she first saw the ship a few days ago. Aside from that, there were a few strange markings, but nothing that Kara recognized.

"You have no idea how much I know what it feels like to be alone," Kara said softly.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Gabe

Needless to say, Gabe was quite astonished at the capabilities of the little grappling gun that the mystery man pulled out of his long black coat.

(He'd expected he'd need to get a park ranger or something to haul the car out, if park rangers had tow trucks... but there it was. Done and done.)

Gabe frowned, and held up his cellphone. "I tried to call her already," he muttered, "but her phone's offline. Which in and of itself is cause for concern, given my daughter's obsession with wireless communications."

He slumped a bit, following along behind the masked man. "She can't've gone far, right? I mean, she'd've been on foot."

Gabe hesitated, though, as the mystery removed something from the ground, apparently storing it in a container from his belt for later analysis. (Or was he analysing it now?)

Resourceful. And more than a little frightening...

"You've found something?" he implored, that little bit of hysteria having taken root and slowly started to grow...

 

[camerindrake]

Damian

Black Hood looked at Gabe for a moment then returned to lookding at the device and hit the sat uplink button. He scans the area one more time and while the device was attempting an uplink. He then walks over to where he found the culprit. A spiked piece of Kryptonite. He then looks at its sharp edge though smooth underbelly.

Talking more to himself Black hood said," It would have to be going at a high velocity to go through someone." He then looks up to the sky and ponders again," But it couldn't have been coming from that angle." He tne looks over the water and then at its smooth underbelly, "Skipped maybe." He then grabs a smooth stone and threw it in the water from an odd angle, it skipped twice before going under. He in his head runs the equations of a meteor fragment making entry into the the atmosphere. "Only way to get that type of extra velocity would be if there was something pulling them in with it. and that kind of angle." Damian then checks the device now that it had linked up with a Queen Industries satellite. "Then why isn't she here."

Damian then looks towards Gabe, "Who has your daughter been with the last 24 hours?"

 

[ChasNicollette]

Chloe, Pete, Ceri, Jamie, and Rose

Chloe touched Pete gently on the shoulder, and she resumed her seat behind her laptop just before Kyle sat down again.

Pete, on the other hand, graciously gave up that seat and began rummaging through Bruce's cupboards.

("Nilla Wafers," he declared triumphantly, and closed the cupboard, box in hand.)

For a moment, Chloe was transfixed by that which lay on her screen. Pete, bless him, had managed to find a topographical survey of the region, even down to a suggested route by mountain climbers down the face of the peak that housed the waterfall. (Granted, they probably weren't going to approach it from that direction, in the dark of night, but this stuff was good to know just in case.)

Chloe exhaled softly, and then glanced up when she realised Kyle was talking at her.

"...Once we get things settled here, I promise i'll make time for that interview."

She smiled faintly. "Not to worry, Kyle," she murmured. "We do this by the numbers: Kryptonian Knowledge first, then Human Truth."

Rose reached out and gave Merick's hand a squeeze.

She leaned in and she whispered to him, not wanting to interfere, but trying to be helpful...

"I don't know what secrets they've been keeping from you," she told him softly, "we can talk later, if you want? But I'm sure they've not been doing it to hurt you. Of course they haven't told you everything. They wouldn't be parents if they'd told you everything."

Jamie had his own glasses back on, disappointed that he'd not had a chance to test exactly how snarky that security protocol could be, and was leaning against the counter beside Pete and eating French fries from the box Ceri had brought with them from Hawaii.

Ceri, meanwhile, was leaned up against the counter beside Jamie, arms crossed over her stomach.

"So Marcy asked me about how we met," she murmured. "Which wasn't the slightest bit awkward."

"I promise you," Jamie replied, eyes half-lidded and voice extremely serious, even though he was talking with his mouth full, "I thought the blue ones were pacifists."

"We didn't get into that part," she muttered. "Or into running into my ex at the concert that first night. I just mean, this is stuff we haven't told our daughter yet, not really."

"Okay," Jamie nodded smoothly, chewing as he thought. "So we tell her. But when we tell her, we put strict emphasis on the notion that the blue ones were pacifists."

"Strewth," Ceri grunted, and rubbed her face with one hand.

"I just wanna thank you guys," Pete muttered, also with his mouth full.

"Eh?" Jamie glanced at him.

"For making my parents seem normal," Pete explained.

"Oh," Jamie nodded thoughtfully. "You're welcome, then."

 

[Lunaramblings]

Merick jumped a little at Rose's touch. His heart a flutter. His mind clouded. He leaned toward Rose,"I would like that. Seems we both have some things to work through after today. You know, I have your back too kiddo." A single tear had formed at the corner of Merick's eye. He stared down at his scarred arms. "Your my best friend. Until today, I guess you were really my only friend. I don't want to keep secrets."

Merick dipped his hat brim lower. Hoping that no one noticed that tear. Deep down, he didn't care. He was too tired. His mind, his heart, his body were all tired. He was a mass of emotions. Most of which he didn't understand.

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Kyle

"Thanks Chloe, but lets leave out the Tall Dark and Spooky part, ok?"

I satb back and looked around the room. Except for the green guy it seemed like a normal night with a group of friends and their parents. I did overhear Pete talking to the McCrimmons though.

"Actually," I said looking at Rose's parents, "you are alot like my parents. Mom wasn't a scientist, she was a model. So when Dad would start explaining things and it would go over everyon but Bekka's head, mom would put her fingers over his mouth and hand him a crayon. It was her way to let dad know he was going into his zone. They quipped and could get pretty sarcastic, but they loved each other very much. And they loved us too."

I looked at Ceri and James then, my pale lavender eyes looking into them.

"I think they would have liked you guys quite a lot, and I know they would have welcomed Rose into their home."

 

[AmenRa]

The Martian Manhunter considered Chloe's question for a moment.

"Yes," he said at last, "I could link two or more minds for a short time." He reached out and tucked a loose strand of Chloe's blonde hair behind her ear. "You remind me of a child I once knew," he said to her in a voice that rang with melancholy and loss. Then he smiled and winked, and he was invisible again.

He re-materialized across the room, and he called out for Rose.

"It is time, child," he said, "for you to fulfill your destiny as you help another fulfill hers."

 

[ChasNicollette]

Gabe

"Well," Gabe frowned, scratching his head as he pocketed his cell, "she did go to school today. So, um, she's spent time with the faculty and student body of Smallville High? But specifically, eh, her best friend is named Pete Ross, and when she called me from The Talon, she mentioned a boy named Merick Tennylson..."

He hesitated.

"Did you say that this meteor went through her?" he scowled, horrified, refusing to believe it. "How could you possibly know that?"

 

[camerindrake]

Damian

Black Hood ignored the question, not wanting to scare the man anymore than his normal inner monologe had, and in a calm voice loosing the gravel for just a second sounding like an ordinary 18 year old kid, "Is that all, His voice returned to normal with his next comment, "How about a Mr Wayne or Pennyworth, Mr. Wayne goes to school at Smallville High does he not."

 

[ChasNicollette]

Rose, Pete, Chloe, Ceri, and Jamie

Gently, Rose held out her hand.

Her fingertips tingled with blue-white sparks, and Merick's tear jumped off of his face and flew to her palm. An instant later, it vanished, dispersed into moisture in the air.

Without a word, Rose smiled at him gently, and nudged his hat brim back up.

Without a word, Rose told Merick that even if he didn't want to keep secrets, his secrets would be safe with her.

Ceri smiled softly at Kyle. "That reminds me. I need to buy a new box of crayons."

"Really?" Jamie arched an eyebrow, absent-mindedly nomming a fresh fry. "What ever for?"

"Visual aids," Ceri drawled, and then strode over to Kyle and gave his shoulder a squeeze, saying nothing more. She would have loved to have met his parents too.

But if Kyle was the end result of their best love and teaching, and if they would have approved of Rose, then she felt very much like they would have been good friends indeed.

Chloe gave the darksome boy a reassuring grin.

But then J'onzz touched her hair, and caused her heart to pang in her chest.

She knew who he meant, or thought she did.

She knew he meant his daughter, dead in the fires of H'ronmeer's Curse.

If I could have brought her back with me, she thought at him, agony on her face, when I came back, I would have. I so would have.

And then he did the invisibility thing once more, transplanted himself, and called Rose to his side.

(Pete moved to Chloe's side, squeezed her shoulder, and she smiled up at him, appreciative.)

Rose smiled nervously, her own kind of agony in her eyes, on her face.

She gave Merick's upper arm a squeeze, and she walked to J'onzz, holding The Crystal tightly in her hand.

As she walked by her mum, her mum threw an arm 'round her shoulders and gave her a hug.

Rose beamed at her, and then glanced at her dad.

Her dad saluted her with a French fry, and, popping the fry into his mouth, displayed then a more Vulcan salute.

"Q'apla," he intoned, mixing his Star Trek metaphors.

Rose returned the salute. "'Peace and long life,'" she replied, getting it exactly right.

Then she turned to Kyle, and blew him a shaky little nervous little kiss. 'Love Me When I'm Gone,' she seemed to say.

And then she turned and faced The Martian, and in doing so, faced the music.

"Let's do this thing," she murmured.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Gabe

Gabe frowned, detecting that his question had either been dodged or ignored, and shoved his hands into his pockets. His generally easy-going demeanour was all but spent.

His head hurt very much, though, and he did appreciate that the lad was using a far less grating voice.

"There's a lot of Waynes living in these parts," he shrugged. "And I don't know any Pennyworths. Chloe might have met either of them, though."

He smiled faintly. "I'm afraid I don't keep up with the society pages, much," he apologised. "I'm just a... I'm just a plant manager. I make fertiliser for a man my daughter calls The Beast of The Capitalist Apocalypse."

 

[AmenRa]

The Martian Manhunter realized they were all looking at him, expecting, waiting.

And so he spoke.

"We will return," he told them, "with a new ally, a powerful ally. Until then, keep ever faithful to your tasks, and we shall prevail." His gaze traveled to Chloe. "Should we be needed before we have brought the Last Daughter of Krypton to this place, you have to only think to me, to focus your mind on the Red Sands of Mars and I shall hear you."

J'onn J'onzz bowed to them. He then reached out and took Rose's hand in his and turned for the door that exited outside Wayne Manor.

So it begins....