The Last Daughter of Krypton: World's Finest

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Wraith

I melted back into the shadows as the fight wound down. I didn't like cameras, and was not a good PR choice.

"Elementals. The smart ones are always... twitchy." I said in my graveyard voice.

Dear Lord. It had been years since this many of us were together at once.

I started walking around, looking for what the elementals wanted. Money shouldn't have interested them, it being a human affection. Maybe something in the safe deposit boxes.

I wish Bruce was here. His mind was priceless when it came to investigation.

 

[camerindrake]

The dean of the Conservatory knocks and says "Ladies and Gentlemen the show will be starting in just moments. If you would take your seats it would be greatly appreciated. and he pulls open the door to box seating. The seating at least appeared very comfortable with actual reclining seats.

Damian and Sandra smile taking each others hand and sit. The drinks in their hands still mostly untouched though they had been seen taking several sips. Once sitting Damian's thumb plays over Sandra's knuckles. He looks at her his eyes softening.

Shortly there after the Orchestra starts their show. The music plays for the three hours that the show lasts. After the show Damian smiles to his guests.

Damian then says, "So my friends shall we meet back at my building."

Sandra responds by saying, "And tell the ladies that swim wear is optional."

The dean opens the door for them all to leave and bows, "Take care and thank you for Joining us this evening."

Damian and Sandra wait for valet to bring their car. Damian laces his fingers through Sandra's and brings her hand up to his lips and kisses her along the knuckles.

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

Kara Zor-El

Kara Zor-El smiled and nodded graciously at Hal, and she silently took note of just how long his hands had remained locked with her own. Actions speak louder than words, and in that particular moment she heard plenty.

"Next time, you can do the flying,"

"Deal," Kara said. The young Kryptonian rubbed the back of her head as she took notice of the throng of reporters that had amassed behind the police barricade, and walking over she began answering their questions as best she could. She paused every so often as the cameras flashed around her, taking shots of herself and the heroes gathered around her.

"Can you tell us what happened?"
"What were they after?"
"Can you tell us your name?"
"Who else is with you?"
"Do you have a boyfriend?"

(That last question actually brought some color to her cheeks)

"Supergirl! Supergirl! Where do you come from?"

"I think we'll save that story for another time," Kara said with a smirk. She rose up into the air and flew back towards the bank. With all the action over, a few of Metropolis' crime scene detectives had arrived and were busy trying to figure out whether anything was missing, and why the bank had been targeted in the first place.

Kara stood like a rock with her arms crossed over her chest, and she used her x-ray vision to scan the areas not protected by lead.

The only problem was... she had no idea what she was looking for.

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

(Flash Post to be filled in lata)

 

[AmenRa]

Errant Venture

"Are you watching this?" O'Neil asked, not really seeking an answer, but more of an exclamation of awe.

Of course Jenna was watching it. The entire wall of the office area of the Errant Venture was filled with monitors, and the each displayed their piece of the entire wall-filling picture, relayed by satellite and collated from several local newscrews on the scene.

The scene were superheroes waged a battle against supervillians.

"New arrivals on scene," O'Neil recognized. "The big green guy with the blue and red suit, now he's definitely not from around here. Look at his features, the brow ridge, the smoothness of his skin, his eyes....his eyes are red, almost pulsing with energy. No symbols or anything on him to decipher...

"And this one with the suit of armor? It looks almost organic. Alien? I have no idea there. Definitely powerful. Kind of scary looking.

"But there," O'Neil said, pointing to a close-up shot of Hal Jordan, "is more symbols. This one is definitely part of some type of organization. See how his suit meshes together like a uniform, like an armored uniform? And it looked like his energy weapon came from his right hand." O'Neil froze an image and zoomed, cleared the fuzziness up, and zoomed again. He then had his computer enhance the image. "A ring. Yeah, he's definitely part of some type of outfit. He got that ring somewhere. That symbol there," O'Neil froze the image and saved a .jpg, "will probably show up somewhere else in a search."

"Wait," O'Neil said, "what did Supergirl just say?"

He played the audio back.

"I think we'll save that story for another time," Kara said with a smirk

"Interesting," he surmised.

"Can we just watch and see what happens?" Jenna sighed. "This is the same reason I don't watch football games with you."

O'Neil cut his eyes at her, grinned, and moved his hands from the computer keyboard to put them behind his head.

 

[AmenRa]

The Martian Manhunter

J'onn said nothing as the reporters gathered around them.

He looked at them, unmoving, his face showing no emotion.

We will speak face-to-face within a few moments, Chloe. There seems to be some distractions about.
The link severed, he turned his attention fully to the eager and waiting reporters.

He looked from one to the other, scanning the amassing crowd.

I must go.

He sent the message to Kara, and Hal, and Rose, and Merrick. He dared not try to connect with Wraith's psyche. To do so would have been disastrous.

And then, J'onn J'onzz simply vanished from visible sight.

 

[AmenRa]

Green Lantern

Hal lifted off from where he had parted with Kara, and ignoring the reporters, he flew to where she stood. He stood beside her for a few moments, watching her, trying to figure out what she was looking at. Or looking for.

Finally, he decided he couldn't figure it out on his own.

"What are we looking for?" he asked her. "My ring might be able to help."

As he waited for an answer, he caught himself staring quietly at her with a bit of a smile on his face.

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Wraith

"We may never know. Elementals were mostly used a shock troops in the Wars. Occasionally though, one side or the other would contract with a prince for more refined work. A Prince of Earth if you wanted to breach a wall reinforced by magic, a Prince of Water to break a siege. Faced a Prince of Blood once. That was a kind of nasty you do not want to see unleashed on Earth." I said from the darkness in the room.

"The fire one, thats more power than I have seen before. If Supergirl hadn't gotten her out of the atmosphere, it would have been bad. Real bad. Cheerleader has good instincts." I said, nodding to my friend. "We are getting in the way of the authorities here. May I suggest we leave this to the detectives and continue this conversation some other time. I, for one, would like to know more about our new green clad hero here who catches falling stars, but I, I mean we, have a previous engagement. Valkyrie, you ready to go to that other appointment? I think someone there would very much like to hear about what just happened."

 

[Lunaramblings]

Merick nodded to Wraith.

"Headin' home. Keep in touch yeah?" Merick grinned as he looked over the new guy. Oi! Green Jeans! Get yer own gimmick will ya. Bleedin' copycat." Merick didn't wait. With a swoosh he was gone.

Merick arrived in the kitchen beside Tommy and Mary.

"Thanks for coming."

"What's going on?"

"Rose learned a new trick. Teleported to Metropolis."

"Really? That.... is different. Anything that might have caused a further evolution of her powers?"

"Dunno."

"I will talk to John. Maybe call a few others. See what I can find. Mean time, I have the loft in Cardiff all set."

"Thanks, if we decide to go I will let you know." Merick grins as he walks toward Chloe. "Well, sweetie, I just like old times."

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

"What are we looking for?" Hal asked her. "My ring might be able to help."

Kara sighed in defeat.

"I have no idea what they might have been after. I couldn't find anything that might seem remotely interesting to them," Kara said. "For all I know, they could have been doing this for the sheer fun of it. If you want to have a look around be my guest."

"May I suggest we leave this to the detectives and continue this conversation some other time?"

Kara Zor-El decided that a trip to the Fortress was in order. Perhaps the archives left to her by her father would provide her with some much-needed answers. Nodding her head at Wraith's suggestion, Kara managed to suppress a smirk at his calling her a cheerleader, but his nickname for her did have some truth behind it. Kara had been a cheerleader for a short while at Smallville High, though that stint didn't last too long.

J'onn had given the group, save for Wraith, a short notice that he was going off, and sure enough the Martian disappeared from view entirely.

As to where he was going... Kara could only guess. There were still many things about the Martian Manhunter that she didn't know, though at times Kara figured it was best not to know.

"I'm going to stop by the Fortress and see if there is any information stored away in the archives. Should we meet up later or... does anyone want to come with me?" Kara asked, her eyes lingering for a moment on Hal.

 

[ChasNicollette]

We will speak face-to-face within a few moments, Chloe. There seems to be some distractions about.

Thousands of miles away, half an America and all of an Atlantic away, Chloe paused.

She felt him sever the link, felt him dismiss their conversation and always always there was an inherent sense of loss, when his mind left hers.

She cherished J'onn very dearly; she always had.

But then the full weight of what he'd said settled in, and her eyes widened.

"He's coming here."

"I look like crap, I look like..."

"I look like a telecommuter."

Chloe clambered to her feet and ran for the bedroom.

To entertain company of this magnitude in a halfway professional capacity wearing what amounted to jeans and a t-shirt, this was unconscionable.

"Five minutes," she begged the air, and wondered if Martian super-ears would detect this, or some sort of cursory telepathic scan before he arrived, "just five minutes. Remember, I can't shapeshift to look presentable--!"

She paused. And stopped stock-still. She'd been so busy taking care of Planetary business that she had forgotten that Tommy and Mary and oh, look, Merick was back.

"Hey everyone," she waved, a supremely embarrassed smile on her face, they'd just heard her, essentially, talking to herself. "J'onn's gonna drop by. Wanna talk him into an interview. I just need to--"

"--'scuse me."

And she sprinted for the bedroom, her cheeks burning with abashedness.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Merick was gone.

Kara was swarmed by the press.

But Kyle...

Kyle was talking. About. Shadow.

Kyle never. Talked. About. Shadow.

He'd spent almost eighteen months there Earthtime. Which for him, in Shadowtime, had been a lot, lot longer. Over a decade.

And he hadn't said two words about it. And she hadn't asked.

Aunt Claire never talked about The League, either. Not specifically.

And Chloe never talked about what she saw when she passed away; she claimed not to remember, but Chloe remembered everything.

Rose knew what post-traumatic stress looked like when she saw it, and she didn't press, she didn't prompt, she didn't needle. She just let him reveal his secret pain bit by bit by bit.

Usually he didn't. Except now. When it became... practical.

She gazed at him quietly and she longed to run to him but there were too many people watching.

She ached for him.

Later. (Always "later," with us.)

She digested his input, and she shook her head.

"In order to hire out faeries, though," she murmured, "Elemental or otherwise, even if it were just for wholesale destruction, you'd still have to offer them something they wanted. And The Fae are notoriously inscrutable and capricious. They don't want what we want. Our money is silly to them, they can produce gold on a whim, it just fades to flower petals when we're not looking."

Rose tapped her chin. "They could conceivably have been after the safety-deposit boxes. People's passports and birth certificates. True Names. Identity-theft, Fae-style. With that sort of information, they could control people... use this to conquer, enslave, or simply to cause all sorts of hobgoblinny impish Rumplestiltskin mischief."

She paused. "Faeries dig nostalgia. Status quo. 'The way things used to be.' There's a reason The Kingdom of Faerie is forever midsummer twilight. The majority of The Faerie Courts left this plane because it changed too much, and Gaea became unfamiliar to them. Maybe... maybe these three Strange Little Girls decided to try and remake the world to something more... familiar..."

With a chuckle, she shrugged. "You're right about one thing, Wraith. And that's that our idle speculation can't do much. This'll require research, in libraries and Fortresses. And it'll require detective work the likes of which only certain members of our cadre are capable."

She offered Wraith her arm. "Right, then. 'Appointment.' Shall we?"

...and as soon as we're out of earshot, Kyle, that can be our 'later.'

 

[AmenRa]

Green Lantern

Hal had told his ring to scan, but of course, neither did it know what they were looking for. And then, Kara suggested they should go to some Fortress. Hal hadn't seen a fortress since leaving Oa, where the training compounds of the Green Lantern Corps stood protected within the Fortress of Oa.

Hal put his ring hand down and turned to Kara. No one else had spoke up about going with her.

Jordan couldn't hide his smile.

"I'm with you," he said, "as long as I can keep up."

Which, of course, he should be able to. He didn't know the extent of the Kryptonian's powers, but he knew his ring enabled him to fly at speeds faster than light.

Kara's powers weren't the interest for Hal Jordan, though. There was something about her that not only awed him, but made him feel completely comfortable. He had left an old life with Ferris Aircraft, and left behind a love and friends. However, now, he had a new life, a new Hal Jordan who wore the title of Green Lantern. And meeting Kara just seemed to make everything fit.

 

[ChasNicollette]

The dean of the Conservatory knocks and says "Ladies and Gentlemen the show will be starting in just moments. If you would take your seats it would be greatly appreciated. and he pulls open the door to box seating. The seating at least appeared very comfortable with actual reclining seats.

The dean stood and allowed the VIPs to file past towards the box seating.

Bruce nodded gratitude, nearly silent, his date and he touching fingertips in a sort of pre-Revolutionary France sort of way, just... lingering.

Sasha and Lucius did not hold hands, they were here as friends and workmates, that was all. Lucius spared Sasha a simple gentle chaste touch to the back when he pointed her in the direction of a particularly comfy couple of seats.

Pete held his date's hand and straightened the dean's tie as he went by, one-handed, nodding. "Muchas gracias."

"Of--" the dean blinked. "Of course."

And when he went to shut the door, he was staring bewilderedly after Pete Ross and his beautiful companion, and not looking back into the VIP room. And thus he didn't notice the shadows crawling, and thus he didn't notice the haunted tower creaking and moaning, he didn't notice a thing was off until a pretty white-gloved left hand with a gorgeous engagement ring flickered out of the VIP room and stopped the door from closing.

He jumped. Quite a start. "What?"

A redhead in a skyblue dress whose colour perfectly matched her eyes grinned back at him. She wore a white choker whose pendant was a circular image of The London Underground's logo embossed with the phrase "Mind The Gap," and arm-length white opera gloves. She swung the door open wider and behind her was a gentleman in a tuxedo who was straightening his own tie and looking a little bit uncomfortable.

They hadn't found time to talk after all.

Rose was glowing again.

"Sorry we're late," she apologised sweetly. "But there was no way in The Universe I was missing the chance to hear Christmas Eve Sarajevo 12/24 performed live."

The dean stared, dumbfounded, his eyes flicking back and forth between the two of them.

"Of-- of course not," he agreed, a little bit taken aback, completely unsure how he could have missed those two coming in. "Please, ah, please take your seats?"

"Sure, ginchy," Rose nodded, and beckoned to Kyle, "this way, sweetie. (You think they'll have a piano-off between the keyboardists again?)"

Rose nodded to Lucius, who nodded back with a wide white smile in his mahogany features. Rose waved to Pete, who saluted her jovially, and then to Bruce.

Bruce simply arched an eyebrow. "Nice ring."

Rose grinned at him. "Nice redhead."

Bruce glanced at his date, and back at Rose. "I'm just borrowing her."

Rose glanced at her own date, and back at Bruce. "Think I'll keep mine."

Bruce did that thing he did when he smiled without smiling, a smile far more genuine than his occasional boardroom schmoozing. "Sounds like a plan."

Rose then turned and waved to their host. "Mr. Cain. Can't tell you how much we appreciate this. It's-- well-- it's better than Christmas."

 

[AmenRa]

Martian Manhunter

The ability to exceed the speed of light made travel across a continent and ocean a simple, ordinary action.

This time, however, J'onn J'onzz took a bit of time. He willed himself to supersonic speeds, cruising over the Atlantic Ocean at many, many times the speed of sound.

It was exactly twenty-five minutes and forty-nine seconds after he telepathically spoke to Chloe that he arrived at her flat.

He stepped up to the door and reverted back to the visible spectrum, simultaneously changing to the form of John Jones, the form he had taken when he visited Bruce.

I have arrived.


The Martian Manhunter knocked on the door.

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Kyle

"She has to." I quipped, "She lost the receipt and Bekka won't take me back now." I walked up to them and took Bruce's hand in mine, giving him a shake with two quick squeezes, followed by one slow. A signal we had worked out back when we both worked Gotham's high and low life. Now he knew we needed to talk, and we could make the time after the concert.

I took Roses hand in mine and squeezed it lightly. "Been interesting the last few days my friend. Lets meet after the concert and we can catch up on old friends and interesting times."

I then put my high society face on and began mingling with the crowds.

 

[Lunaramblings]

Merick and Tommy sat in the living room. Not really speaking. It was one of those twin things. They didn't have a lot to say.

Mary meanwhile had started trailing a strange magical residue.

"Since when is Rose an Urban Shaman? I mean, I have seen John do this. But didn't know Rose was hooked in like this."

Merick grinned at Mary. "Plan on sayin that in English?"

"Sorry, forgot to dumb it down for you. Rose used the spiritual connection of the Great Cities to teleport where she was needed. May have been subconscious. Urban Savant, Urban Shaman, whatever you want to call them. It is a subset of Magi. Magic user. They all have a link to the literal spiritual essence of a place. For John, it is London. Using the spiritual ties it is possible to travel from one of these places to the next. It is nigh impossible to learn. It is instinctual. You either have the bond or you don't."

As Mary finished he explaination Tommy looked at the door. "J'onn just arrived. About to knock."

As Tommy finished speaking there was indeed a knock. Merick got up and walked to the door. Opening it he grinned.

"Hey. Marvin. Make yourself at home. Cheers." In a blink so fast that it may even have tested J'onn's vision Merick disappeared and reappeared with a six pack of YooHoo and a pack of Oreos. "Elevensies, J'onnsies?" Merick waved a hand indicating welcome. "You remember my brother, Doctor Fate, and his girlfriend Mary?"

 

[camerindrake]

Damian smiles his fronts smile and walks up to Rose and Kyle saying, "Rose, Kyle wonderful to see you two again. Its been a long time." As he does so he shakes Kyles hand and then hugs Rose with a chaste kiss to the cheek.

Rose then turned and waved to their host. "Mr. Cain. Can't tell you how much we appreciate this. It's-- well-- it's better than Christmas."

Damian nods and replies "Its still David we didn't go through school together in Smallville to just become business acquaintances. I figured you still loved music as much as you used to. You remember Sandra Wu-San from back in school don't you?"

Sandra bows her head and says "A pleasure Rose. Kyle." She then follows suit with a chaste kiss and hug to Rose and a raises her hand for Kyle to take.

Damian gets a serious gleam in his eyes but doesnt let it affect his mannerisms otherwise. "Kyle I can expect you and Rose to join us after the concert Bruce, Pete, Lucius and I are going to talk a bit of shop later."

Sandra continues for Damian, "And I am taking the girls swimming in the upstairs pool. If Rose would like to join us."

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Kyle

I took Sandra's hand in mine & gave it a polite kiss.

"Lovely as always Sandra. He still sneaking away with your chocolate, or do you have him housebroken yet?"

I gave her a wink, then turned back to Damien "That sounds good. I haven't talked to Lucius since we had that last meeting over tweaking that portable CAT scanner we were jointly developing. I actually think we may be able to branch it out into a larger but still portable scanner that can be used in disaster relief operations to find survivors in collapsed buildings." I gave a chuckle then "Of course, with all the costumes coming out, like that Supergirl here in Metropolis, we may be out of the rescuing people business."

I then stopped and turned, looking at Sandra "What? Waitaminute? Swimming???"

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

"I'm with you," Hal said, "as long as I can keep up."

"I promise not to fly too fast," Kara said as she slowly floated up into the air, her red cape flowing gently behind her. J'onn was already gone, and since Kyle and Rose had other matters to attend to... that just left her and Hal.

Not that she minded.

Making sure that the rather handsome Green Lantern was following after her, Kara took to the skies and headed off in the direction of the Fortress, her body straightened out like an arrow with both her arms stretched out in front of her. Her rate of acceleration was impressive, but she could have gone much, much faster if she had wanted to.

Metropolis quickly shrank into the distance, as did much of the rest of Northern America after a short while.

Up ahead... the Arctic.

And the Fortress of Solitude.

The temperature had dropped considerably as they reached the snowy region near the North Pole, but that didn't bother in the slightest. The clouds seemed a little darker, but despite the cold and rather unwelcoming appearance of the Arctic... the Fortress of Solitude itself glittered like a thousand stars from afar. The entire crystalline structure was magnificent, a stunning reminder of the ingenuity of her people.

"Welcome to my humble abode... please make sure to wipe off your boots before entering," Kara said with a playful smile as they approached the Fortress. She was the first to land, and her red cape fell down to just above her ankles. The Fortress was comprised of many different sections and various levels, with the bulk of the fortress hidden away deep underground. There were many... many different defenses that been established since her return, though while Kara was at the fortress most of them remained idle.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r108/elvenchild03/Design_fortress1.jpg​

 

[ChasNicollette]

"She has to." I quipped, "She lost the receipt and Bekka won't take me back now." I walked up to them and took Bruce's hand in mine, giving him a shake with two quick squeezes, followed by one slow. A signal we had worked out back when we both worked Gotham's high and low life. Now he knew we needed to talk, and we could make the time after the concert.

Bruce nodded. "Greystone."

And there was an understanding between them.

Wraith had been a Dark Knight before Bruce had taken up any kind of mantle.

And Kyle had helped Bruce and Damian save Gotham from that miserable bastard Ducard.

Bruce would do anything in his power to help this man. Just as he would for any Outsider. (Merick's current stake in TennTech was a testament to that.)

But on the outside, he remained coolly bemused. "Hell of a return policy, McCrimmon. Be a bitch when the warranty expires."

Rose beamed. "You ain't whistling Dixie."

I took Roses hand in mine and squeezed it lightly. "Been interesting the last few days my friend. Lets meet after the concert and we can catch up on old friends and interesting times."

"Of course," Bruce nodded easily, and smiled that utter nonsmile. "May we always be cursed with interesting times."

Damian smiles his fronts smile and walks up to Rose and Kyle saying, "Rose, Kyle wonderful to see you two again. Its been a long time." As he does so he shakes Kyles hand and then hugs Rose with a chaste kiss to the cheek.

Rose grinned softly, a tiny little blush at that kiss.

There was a lot she didn't agree with about the mysterious David Damian Cain. But he'd grown on her.

He was like Bruce. Through a glass darkly, he was like Bruce.

And all that darkness in him-- all that League training subverted--

There was hope in David Damian Cain, hope for Rose Mary McCrimmon, hope on so many levels.

Damian nods and replies "Its still David we didn't go through school together in Smallville to just become business acquaintances. I figured you still loved music as much as you used to. You remember Sandra Wu-San from back in school don't you?"

"David, of course," she chuckled softly. "Just wanted to err on the side of respect. Also, I never trust myself to say the right 'D'-name."

Sandra bows her head and says "A pleasure Rose. Kyle." She then follows suit with a chaste kiss and hug to Rose and a raises her hand for Kyle to take.

Rose's grin widened at Sandra's greeting. And unlike Bruce, she spoke Mandarin without ulterior motive, and unlike Bruce she spoke Mandarin learned by heart from science fiction: "'Lao3peng2you5, ni3 kan4 qi5lai5 hen3 you3 jing1shen5.'"

'You look wonderful, old friend.'

I took Sandra's hand in mine & gave it a polite kiss.

"Lovely as always Sandra. He still sneaking away with your chocolate, or do you have him housebroken yet?"

Rose chuckled softly at this, and playfully stuck her tongue out at Damian. "'Nin2 hen3 bu4ti3tie1 de5 nan2sheng1.'"

'You inconsiderate schoolboy.'

Damian gets a serious gleam in his eyes but doesnt let it affect his mannerisms otherwise. "Kyle I can expect you and Rose to join us after the concert Bruce, Pete, Lucius and I are going to talk a bit of shop later."

"A little bit of science," Lucius chuckled, "and a little bit of sweet science."

Sandra continues for Damian, "And I am taking the girls swimming in the upstairs pool. If Rose would like to join us."

Rose arched an eyebrow.

"Man, Diana was right about you guys," she quipped. "'No Girls Allowed.' You're standing for this, nü3? I can talk 'shop' with the best of the y-chromosomes."

She shrugged. "Besides, I didn't exactly bring swimwear, and Pete's blonde date is looking at me like she's from a certain region of Carpathia and I'm a sweet vintage of O-positive."

Pete's face was utterly inscrutable. "We can switch if you want. You can talk 'shop,' an' I can help with the--"

Bruce's lip quirked. "No. Just... no."

Pete's head lolled back, and he closed his eyes and grinned. "Worth a shot."

Rose's eyes widened. "Erm. Not really sure but. Just had a feeling like: dodging a bullet... and into the fire?"

She hesitated. "'Out of the fire and into the swimming pool.'"

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

"Pete is a doctor Bruce. He probably volunteered to monitor the ladies in case a medical emergency came up." I lightly said to my friend. I watched one of Bruce's rare real smiles cross his lips as I went over to Pete and we exchanged guy-hugs.

"Looking good my man. Oh, clear me a day or two in your calender, Rose lost her mind and said yes. We're getting married." I lowered my voice to a stage whisper. "Keep it on the down low though, we haven't formally announced it." I then looked around the room, at Lucius smiling at us, my other friends and fellow outsiders, and the two supermodels who quite obviously didn't speak a word of english.

"Pete my man, does Bruce have a eye candy farm outside Gotham or something? And don't worry, Rose will play nice with your date."

 

[Wyldfire]

Themyscira. Donna Troy.

A week! One glorious week and she'd be off this island. Free to get away, free to live her own (or more appropriately many) life. But that in itself could pose a problem.

Years of experience had taught the young woman that identities didn't just grow on trees. They weren't something anyone could do, or every criminal in the world would. It was going to take all of her skill to pull one identity off or, if very lucky she'd be able to create two.

She spent the first two days getting her affairs on the island concluded. The process of fare wells were going to be short, but she had to create the identities she thought she'd most likely be able to use to throw her sister off her trail once she got away from that farm she was supposed to be working on.

On the third day she'd been summoned to the "Hunt chamber", whatever that was. It had something to do with this place's odd assed mating rituals. What she found there was Nirvana!

"Welcome to the Hunt chamber girls. I know you're not of the age to be here yet but the Queen has decided that you girls that go to the farm will use the same identities there as you will on your mating hunts." Mistress Ariada said to Donna and the rest of the girls that would soon be off to the Trevor farm.

"You will use the computers here to help you create who you will be for the next six years. I will be available to assist you in any way."

Donna thought she had her Mother and the Themyscirans pegged but here they threw her a curve ball. She immediately began searching this database. What a web of lies her people were a part of, creating identities to go out into the world of man to bring back children. If it weren't for the coming back part or the having a kid part Donna could like living here. It was one of the worst parts about being here, all the conditioning about "Your duty to the people".

Donna spent every possible moment in that building. She got her two identities, plus the one they expected her to. She'd have liked to have made a couple of fall backs, but to have done that she'd have had to compromise her standards. Money would be an issue, but it wasn't one she'd have much trouble with.

She'd missed Diana and Artemis' departures, as well as the other girls'. The later had left that morning before she'd woke up. The two former had left the day prior. Diana would be ready for the girls' arrival, and then they'd begin the task of making the farm work. Mother had given Donna a huge gift and it was one that she wasn't going to abuse. Well not too much anyways.

The wardrobe the girls had each been given just wasn't going to do for Donna. Kansas farm girl just didn't suit her. One or two little side trips and she'd be set.

 

[AmenRa]

Green Lantern

As Green Lantern descended beside Supergirl in the Fortress of Solitude he let out a quiet whistle.

"I had a brief history lesson in Kryptonian technology," he told her, "from the Guardians. Actually, there was a place similar to this, much smaller, but using the same crystal technology, on Oa. The Guardians spoke of your father with the highest regard." He shook his head in awe. "It was nothing at all like this."

Hal's ring quietly informed him of hidden and discreet scanners that had read his bio-signature at the molecular level. He knew the scanners were attached to who-knows-what kind of defenses, but he guessed any and all of them were lethal. He used his ring to remove his mask, revealing green eyes.

"The molecular scanner is Kryptonian, then?" he said, answering his own question. "It would seem some of your father's work is inside this Ring."

Hal turned a three-sixty. "This place suits you, Kara," he told her. "And I don't mean because you're from Krypton. This architecture," he gestured with his hand, "is beautiful." He looked into her eyes. "Like I said, it suits you."

 

[AmenRa]

The Martian Manhunter

J'onn smiled heartily at Merrick's offerred Oreos and Yoo Hoo, and even laughed a bit at the reference to Marvin the Martian.

He stepped through the doorway, and reached out to squeeze Merrick's shoulder.

"It is good to see you," he told him. "It was good to see you earlier in Metropolis, as well." J'onn then bid hello to Fate and Mary.