Fifteen minutes later, Kara was still feeling a little shaken. She and Kori watched as Kal used his frost breath to put out the fire's all around them. Unfortunately, the cold probably also killed the crops around the place.
Kon himself had woken up angrier than ever, but he had calmed down after a minute or two. As a half Kryptonian under sunlight he still had some impressive regeneration and the wounds Lobo had given him were already closing.
The largest chunk of the bounty hunter himself hung from Wonder Woman's shoulder, he was still only a head with the bare hints of a neck starting to grow. His hair was tied into a convenient handle and Wonder Woman had used her Lasso of Truth as a gag to keep him from talking.
"You sure you should be using a divine artifact like that?" Kara couldn't help but ask, after all, the Lasso was usually used to force people to talk, not the other way around.
"Do not worry. While this isn't exactly its intended purpose, I have to confess I hardly used the Lasso for a more satisfying cause." The heroine told them as she started looking around the devastated farmland. "I do believe even the gods would approve."
An old farm truck approached them from the direction of the city, the young man driving it parked just before the devastated area and got out. "Jesus, my crops!" without knowing what to do the man just grabbed at his head.
With the fires put out, Kal started floating down to talk with the farmer, a smile on his face.
"Tell him I'll pay for the damages." Kara whispered and saw the slight tilt of her cousin's head indicating he had heard her.
The damage of their battle was extensive, and the farmer's insurance probably didn't cover villain damage this far away from a big city.
"I'll start marking the area Lobo's blood has affected." Wonder Woman put a hand on Kori's shoulders and nodded. "Superboy, you willing to help me out by making sure I don't miss anything?"
"Yeah, sure." Kon pushed himself to his feet.
As Kal continued to explain to the farmer what had happened and how the League weren't going to leave him in the lurch, the two heroes started trying to mark a large area around the battle for incineration, the crops were already dead anyway and it was best to be sure no new Lobo's would grow from a piece of him they missed.
Kara wanted to help out as well but was still feeling exhausted, and confused.
Together with Kori they just floated up and went to sit on top of the half destroyed barn to wait and watch until everything was done. Kara would react to any strange noises and only Kori's presence by her side prevented her from fully freaking out.
"Sorry, you and Kon are missing the sidekicks' meeting." Kara apologized, but it only earned another hug from Kori.
"Absurdity, foolishness, madness. How could I abandon you after that-that zarbnoff… no, that glempork attacked you!" Kori said, her fists shaking with anger as she stared directly at Kara's eyes, suddenly she threw her arms around Kara's neck and squeezed. "I am so overjoyed you are safe, Friend Kara!"
Feeling Kori's arms around her body, and knowing her cousin was near to deal with any danger, Kara finally let herself sag into Kori's embrace, her entire body shaking. Squeezing her eye shut, she took in Kori's feel, her scent and her aura before pretending everything else didn't matter for a few minutes.
Slowly, Kori adjusted her position and laid Kara's head on her lap, gently caressing her hair and starting to make tinny braids.
Eventually, the two of them had to fly up, Wonder Woman held Kon by their side while Kal opened his eyes wide and released a controlled blast of heat vision, incinerating everything on the demarcated area. Turning it into ash to prevent Lobo's regeneration.
"Is it done?" Kal asked and Wonder Woman shook her head.
"No, we could not find his missing arm." She said as she grabbed Lobo's head from her shoulder.
"Well, I'm not seeing it either. I'll inform Batman but, at this point, I think we'll just have to deal with it when he shows up again." Kal sighed and turned his gaze to Kara and Kon's way once again. He looked back at Wonder Woman. "Accompany us to the Fortress? I know they're mostly fine, but I want to do another scan on them."
Diana gave Kal a kind smile and let him take Kon from her hands, holding Lobo by his hair she nodded. "Of course, I can make some time for this."
Together, all five of them flew as fast as they could towards the Fortress. Inside a planet's atmosphere there was very little difference in their speed and soon they dropped in front of the crystal structure.
Kon seemed annoyed he had to be carried around, but Kal laid a hand on his back and smiled. "I used to have to walk everywhere too. Only got my flight when I was, what, twenty?"
Kon stared at Kal for a second then nodded with a small smile on his face. "Thanks."
"Don't worry too much about it. Heck, Batman doesn't have any powers and he gets around just fine. I'm sure you're gonna adapt before long." Kal opened the fortress and they all walked inside even as he continued talking, almost as if he wanted them to distract them from what had happened. "I remember I even beat the Flash in a race once… don't think I can do that again, I'm a lot slower now that I don't run so much."
"Clark, you do know the Flash let you win that race, right?" Wonder Woman asked with amusement causing Kal to turn on her with a surprised look.
"What? Slander! I won that race fair and square!" He said in indignation.
"It was for charity Clark, he let you win once." Wonder Woman said with an amused smile on her face.
"Lies!" He mock-shouted, then saw the Fortress AI manifest in front of them. "Alright, prepare the healing pods for Connor and Kara please."
"As you wish Master Kal-El," the image of Jor-El said and turned towards Kara. "Miss Kara, I took the liberty of getting one of your spare prosthetics ready for you."
Kara traded glances with Kori and finally released her hand, a slight blush on her face. "Alright, were you able to recover my leg?"
"Yes, the Kryptium casing is perfectly fine, but the sunstone inside it had to be completely replaced." Jor-El's image said and Kara nodded, using her flight to stay on her feet.
"How long is it gonna take?"
"Again, I took the liberty of scrapping the damaged sunstone and placing one of the spare sunstone crystals inside, it will only take a few hours in the solar chamber before it is finished growing."
Kara nodded; she had programmed a few spare crystals with the configurations of her leg in case it was ever damaged. In a solar chamber, the crystals should be able to absorb sunlight much faster and develop at an accelerated pace.
Kal accompanied Kon inside one of the rooms while Jor-El guided Wonder Woman towards the emergency cells inside the fortress so she could finally drop Lobo off. A second manifestation of Jor-El guided Kara towards another of the healing rooms.
Stopping right at the entrance, Kara gulped and turned towards Kori. "Keep me company?"
"I will not leave your side, Friend Kara." Kori said as she followed her.
Looking at the healing pod awaiting her, Kara took a few deep breaths and squeezed Kori's hand. Finally, she gathered her courage and took her damaged clothes off, stepping into the pod and laying back against the comfortable seating.
"In-In the fight against Lobo, I…" Kara almost choked at her own words, after a second she swallowed and completed her sentence. "Lobo said there was an important organ inside me and I also showed a new power while fighting him, something not common to a Kryptonian. Can you take a deeper look at it?"
"Certainly, Miss Kara Zor-El." The AI nodded and briefly looked aside as if it was reading something. "I have to say, it is entirely possible this is simply a different manifestation of your Kryptonian heritage. There are thousands of possible powers a Kryptonian can manifest under yellow sunlight radiation and would therefore not register as abnormal to my programming previously, but I will certainly look into the matter."
"Thank you." With that said, Kara gave Kori one last look and let the pod's door close.
She thought she'd be able to stay awake for the entire time but, once the pod started healing her, she was quickly hit with the sheer exhaustion she had been holding back and fell asleep.
.
.
Kara woke up with a startle. Her hands immediately started banging against the lid of the pod with frantic hurry as her mind flashed back to her time under the Psions.
With a strong kick she sent the lid flying and jumped out of the pod, falling down to the floor and hyperventilating.
"I am awake!" Kori shouted as she slipped from her chair and fell to the floor, "I am here, Friend Kara, you are safe."
Seeing her friend with dark bags under her eyes, Kara finally calmed down. She let herself sit down and lean against the pod before sighing. At least she only damaged the lid. The Fortress could fix that fairly easily.
Banging her head against the pod, she noticed her shaking hands and grabbed at them, forcing her limbs to stop trembling. Only a second later did she feel Kori's own hands grabbing at hers and squeezing.
"How long was I out?" She finally asked.
"Nearly twenty hours. Truthfully, you were completely healed in seven. However The Superman and I decided to let you sleep a little longer."
Taking another deep breath, Kara noticed she had both her leg and eye back, looking down at her leg she wiggled her toes to test their motion and nodded in satisfaction.
"And you, were you awake the entire time?" Kara asked, seeing the bags under Kori's eyes.
"I did not wish for you to awake and be alone." Kori said, glancing at the pod's lid piercing the ceiling and causing Kara to snort. "The pod of healing does resemble a Psion device."
"Thanks… What would I do without you?" Together, they got up from the ground and Kara found an empty bedroom for Kori to rest.
Despite her increased resistance, Kori had been awake for nearly two days now and her dislike of the situation didn't help. Tamaraneans were incredibly vulnerable to negative emotions, it made them weaker.
"Are you certain you do not need me any more, Friend Kara?" Kori asked even as her eyes struggled to stay awake.
"Don't worry, I'm feeling much better already. Just rest Kori."
After Kori finally started resting, Kara waited a few minutes just thinking about things before asking the room. "Did you find anything in the examination?"
"Certainly." Jor-El materialized at her side, his face impassive as always. "It seems like your body has fully integrated the alien organ inserted into it, it's no longer inert."
"What exactly is it doing then?" Kara asked.
Jor-El briefly glanced at Kori before starting to talk. "The organ seems strangely similar but not exactly equal to Tamaranean biology, it is constantly releasing a minimal level of psionic energy and, while this is only a hypothesis at the moment, said energy seems to fluctuate with your mood."
"So it gets stronger the angrier I get?" Kara asked, feeling both tired and curious.
"Incorrect, it still needs further observation, but seems to react to any strong emotion." The AI said with an amused smile. "Even then, the fluctuations are very small and it would need an extremely large emotional response to manifest."
"Well shit." Kara couldn't help but say, leaning back on her chair she snickered, her laughter grew louder and louder until she had to put a hand over her mouth to stop herself from waking Kori up. "What the hell were those stupid lizards trying to do?"
"Apologies Miss Kara, but the Fortress does not have that information at the moment."
"Of course it doesn't. It would be too easy if it did." Kara wanted to curse, if only she specialized in biology.
Ah, who was she kidding, if she had the necessary knowledge to solve this particular problem she was probably gonna have to deal with a rogue AI or some problem with her soul instead.
"Uncle, please, scrap that power-armor I ordered built," Kara said after a few moments of thinking. "I'm gonna have to start from scratch."
"Miss Kara, I hope you're not thinking of using the blue star radiation suit?" Jor-El looked at her with enough disapproval on his face to almost make Kara wince. "You know it may increase your powers, but it will also vastly accelerate the deterioration of your damaged cells."
"I'm not going to be using it constantly, or really, before I'm fully healed." Kara defended, and already started considering the modifications she'd make. "But I NEED to have the option. I can't allow myself to be that vulnerable again."
Jor-El sighed and shook his head. "May I suggest you speak with Master Kal-El first?"
"Good idea, I'm gonna ask him to incorporate some of the weapons we discarded. Maybe unlock that file with the really dangerous tech."
"That… was not what I had in mind Miss Kara and you know it." Jor-El tried to intimidate her with his stare for a few seconds, but she kept in mind he was not the head of her house and he gave up when she wasn't responding. "Very well, I'll start the modifications."
Kara spent the next few hours modifying her plans for a power-armor, including a variety of things such as energy weapons strong enough to stun even a Kryptonian and various prototypes based on the teleporting grenade Kara kept in her eye.
She also started working on turning her drones into teleporting grenades; it would make them slightly bigger and less stealthy, but the ability to destroy a cubic meter and a half of space around themselves more than made up for it.
As she continued tapping into the screen of her device Kara saw a hand grabbing at her arm and stopping it, causing her to notice she had been shaking again. Staring at her trembling limb she willed herself to stop, squeezing the device for a second or two before finally looking up and meeting Kal's eyes.
"Come on. Let's talk where we don't risk waking up your friend." He nodded towards the exit.
"Fine." Kara barked, already feeling insecure.
She was supposed to be the older one, the one looking over him. Not the one who needed help every Rao be damned time.
Kara followed Kal towards the same table they once had breakfast on, two glass bowls of ice cream waited for them.
"I'm not a kid. You can't placate me with ice cream." Kara grunted, but sat down and started eating it anyway.
It may not placate her, but it was still ice cream.
Kal just gave her a look and smiled. "I'm not trying to placate you, just to make you feel better, is it working?"
Kara scooped another spoonful of vanilla ice cream and sighed. "Yes, kinda. I'm still gonna be filling my armor with enough weapons to blow up the moon." She grumbled before taking a third bite. "Lobo may have been the fastest to track me down, but I really doubt he's gonna be the last."
"I know." Kal said, dropping his amused smile for a more serious look. "And we're gonna deal with them when they show up. Until then, I won't stop you from improving your armor."
"You won't?"
"Well, I'll stop you from putting a nuke inside it, but I won't stop you from using the Fortress resources to improve it as long as you don't use it recklessly." Picking his own bowl Kal started eating his own ice cream earning a glare from Kara. She had wanted to eat both of them.
"Alright, so what are we gonna talk about?"
"You know, I thought you weren't gonna be getting into those kinds of fights. In hindsight that was kinda foolish of me, but I thought you were just gonna act as tech support and your training with Diana would be enough. I was wrong."
"Hah, that makes two of us!" Kara snorted in bitter amusement and oddly poked her spoon at the ice cream.
"Yes, well… I already spoke with Connor. Seeing as the both of you can't stay away from trouble I'm offering to personally teach you how to fight." Leaning over the table Kal continued. "It's going to be after his school hours, but I'm gonna be teaching him Kryptonian martial arts every day from now on and I want you to be there too."
"Would it even help all that much?" Kara asked with uncertainty. It's not that she didn't want to learn, but she doubted she could get good enough in a short amount of time. "I mean, I don't have ten years to train with you."
"You'd be surprised. Torquasm Vo and Torquasm Rao were made to be mastered in ten to twenty years by Kryptonian warriors, but that was on Krypton." Lifting a hand Kal poked at his temple and smiled. "Yellow sunlight improves more than just our strength, you know. Not only do we think faster and better, even our muscle memory is created faster."
"So… I can be some kind of master in months or something?"
"Not… exactly? In truth I'd say I'm only above average if we're only talking about skill." Kal leaned back, his hand flashing forward and snatching his ice cream from the table just as Kara was about to steal some of it. "What both disciplines have taught me is how to use my powers to their fullest."
"What do you mean?"
"You know just how good our senses are. Most of the time I have to block most of the things I see and hear, letting them become almost like white noise in the background in order to stay sane." He told her as he finished his cup and laid it to the side. "With Torquasm Rao I can process all that information and act on it almost on instinct. It allows me to use the full extent of my powers in a fight."
"Torquasm Vo, on the other hand, is a completely mental discipline. John tells me it taps into my latent psychic power, and it does allow me to fight off mental influences and even some specific magical effects."
Of course, during Kara's upbringing as well as in her last life had heard about these Kryptonian martial arts, but she had never been able to fully understand them. "So, one just allows you to fight better but doesn't improve your skills per see, while the other is a mental defense?"
"Well, let me ask you this, Kara: how do you fly?"
"I just… will it?" Kara answered, flight was almost second nature for her now, and it wasn't really any strange power or propulsion system. She wanted to fly, she believed she could fly, so she flew.
"Exactly, it's mental. Now this isn't really the goal of Torquasm Vo, but greater control of my latent psychic power does give me certain advantages." With a smile on his face Kal gently touched the cup with just the tip of his finger causing it to slowly float up as if flying by itself. "It used to be that I had to hold something in my arms to make it fly, now I can just touch something and extend my protection field. I think that, if I fully master the art, I could make something fly without even touching it by extending my field at range."
Kara already knew about the protection field, it was how she could catch a plane and prevent it from crumbling around her, or allow her to carry a normal person in her arms while flying extremely fast. If she could use that actively instead of just on instinct… "Well damn."
"Hah, even under yellow sunlight it still won't improve you immediately, but I bet that, in six months to a year, you can become a competent fighter. You won't be defeating Diana or Bruce in a contest of skill, but we do have our tricks to make up for it."
"I see."
Kal seemed happy to just talk with her, explaining a few tricks he could do with his powers that Kara hadn't thought about and telling her about beautiful spots she could fly to if she wanted to relax.
Finally, Kal sighed in frustration. "Hah, this is much harder when it's personal."
"What is it?" Kara asked.
"Kara, I really wanted to wait until YOU decided to talk about it, but you know I had access to the Fortress medical scans right?" Kal tried to extend a hand to hold Kara's, but she pulled away from him, feeling exposed. "I know at least some of what happened to you."
Kara's first instinct was to tell Kal to go fuck himself, but she managed to stop herself and think about things. "So what, it's over Kal what do you want me to do about it?"
"Talk with someone, it doesn't need to be me Kara, but you don't need to go through this alone."
"Do You need to talk with someone every time something happens?" She grumbled while shifting her eyes away.
"Yes, not always mind you, but even I have to ask for help sometimes." Kal said with a tired, haunted voice as he remembered things. "Nowadays I just talk with Ma and Pa, but it was hard to accept some things when I was starting out."
Kara just stayed quiet, it's not like she hadn't needed help from a psychologist in her previous life. She knew how much it could help, but she had wanted to be stronger.
Finally, as she saw the concern on her cousin's face, Kara nodded. "Fine, I guess I can talk with someone."
She'd have to search for a good psychologist VERY carefully. Far too many of them turned out to be supervillains in DC.
"You know, Black Canary is a licensed therapist and she has personal experience our kind of problem." Kal said as if he could read her mind. "And I can indicate several others if you need it."
"Right, I'll think about it." Kara said with a tired voice and poked at the remains of her ice cream, it had melted while they talked.
After further discussions, planning and ice cream placation, Kori woke up after only two hours of sleep and the both of them returned to their apartment. Billy had been there to feed Dexter but he had no wish to stay any more time than necessary with what he called the DEMON CAT, all caps.
The two women eventually got settled in but Kara wasn't able to fully relax, her mind was filled with far too many thoughts. What had the Psions put inside her? Did they already know where she was or had Lobo been working by himself? Could Torquasm Vo help her control this new power? Had she actually used the Red Light of Rage and had that attracted Atrocitus' attention? Was he even a thing here?
A loud and indignant meow, caused her to turn to Dexter. The cat lifted his tail in the air and started guiding her to the bathroom sink before meowing again.
"Dexter, you have your water fountain, it's right there!" Kara huffed and pointed at the small fountain connected to the socket. Kori just snickered from her place on the couch.
"MEOWWWWW!"
"Fine, here." She slightly opened the faucet letting just a trickle of water run down the sink. Dexter just continued to look at her. "Right, of course you want me to lift you too. Alright, but you have to pay the toll."
Grabbing the cat, Kara squeezed it tightly against her chest, earning herself a few more meows and scratches of indignation. Toll paid, she dropped him next to the sink and watched as he drank the water for a minute or two.
Sitting on the carpet of the floor, Kara pulled her mobile computer out and continued working on improvements to her armor. She wasn't going to leave the house without at least some heavy protection.
At her bedroom, her device started printing a mixture of new bomb-drones and full-stealth cameras to refill her wasted devices. Eventually Kara noticed her hands had started shaking again, but then Dexter jumped on her lap and started kneading her clothes while purring and her shaking stopped.
"Silly cat." She complained, but started petting him anyway. Her hand going through his fur calmed her down by a lot. "Billy is completely wrong, you're a good kitty."
Still tired and laying on the sofa, Kori smiled as she watched them and finally went to sleep.
____________________
A is
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"I'm sorry Miss Danvers, what exactly is going on here?" The large man asked, his huge beer belly touching the table as he used his elbows to lean forward. "I mean, I'm glad things are working again, but why now?"
Kara thought about what to say, she could lie and come up with an excuse but, did she even need to?
"Were you close to the Danvers, Mister Blackwell?" She asked, buying herself a few more seconds to think.
"No Miss Danvers, I never really met your parents. I'm just a grunt trying to keep everything working after that asshole ran away with the company's money." The man told her and scratched at his beard. "From what the boys tell me, they were never that involved with things anyway."
"I see. Well, suffice to say that, for personal reasons, I too did not know them very well either." That the personal reason was the fact that she was an alien from another planet with no actual relation to the Danvers didn't need to be pointed out. "It took me some time to get access to my inheritance once I found out they were dead."
"I see…" he sighed, then shook his head. "Or well, I don't, but I guess that's not any of my business anyway. All I wanted to know is, do I still have a job? And what about everyone else?"
"Yes, you still have a job. Mr. Donovan will be taking over the CEO position for the time being however," Kara pointed to Dubbilex disguised form at her side; a middle aged black man wearing glasses. "And, since we're going to be expanding, you're actually getting a salary bump despite the demotion."
Derrick Blackwell had turned out to be a surprisingly simple man. Far from being the best man for the job, Blackwell had, nonetheless, been the only one capable of doing it until now.
Thankfully, Dubbilex had agreed to act as CEO for a few months until Kara could get someone better.
She was already compiling a document with all she could prove about Lex's crimes to try and entice her first choice away from the unscrupulous business tyrant's side.
"Right, can't say I'll miss all this damn paperwork, and I'm really glad the guys still have a job but…" Blackwell cut himself off, as if afraid of actually asking something.
"Go on Mr. Blackwell, I won't be firing you for asking questions as long as you're polite about it." Kara waved for him to speak.
"Well, it's just… a few of the boys and I stopped by the factory earlier today and… well, it's awfully in order ma'am, and there were some strange people working there, people nobody had ever seen before." The overweight man pushed himself away from the table and his eyes avoided Kara's. "Not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you, but a man hears things."
"Now, I don't mean to insult you ma'am, but you just showed up out of nowhere, fixed the old factory in a week, and now you're not only hiring the boys back, but a lot of other people too, all this because of some miracle contract with WayneTech of all things…" Blackwell's leg started tapping against the floor from anxiety and he kept glancing at the door. "I had to think to myself: The city is awfully quiet and away from anything exciting. Ain't nobody gonna be asking too many questions if strange shit starts happening around here. I don't want the boys getting caught with some kinda metahuman or mad scientist deal."
"Don't worry, Mister Blackwell. I'm only going to be doing exactly what I said, which is to produce affordable technology." Kara sighed. In hindsight, getting the G-Trolls to help put the factory in order was kind of a dead giveaway. Even when Dubbilex kept them under his illusions the entire time, they were still too fast and too strong to be normal humans. "Is anyone else going to cause trouble because of the ridiculous notion that I'm some kind of supervillain?"
"No ma'am. Most of the boys are too happy to see the company back on its feet again to even think about it." Blackwell said, and now that Kara was looking for it she could see the clear signs of fear on his face.
At least now she knew why he was being so polite to her. Machiavelli may have been a prick, but if it really was better to be feared and that kept Blackwell in line, Kara wasn't about to go out of her way to correct any misunderstandings Blackwell might have.
They finished talking about the new hiring policies and having Blackwell act as a guide so Dubbilex could get to know the company better, with that out of the way the now former CEO of her company left the room feeling both apprehensive and optimistic.
With Bruce having accepted her proposal, Kara had spent two weeks designing new solar panels that they could produce. Kal had not been happy she was putting off her talk with the League's unofficial counselor, Black Canary, but he hadn't pushed the issue yet.
Still, Kara had managed to get her panels' efficiency up from around 13% to a whopping 26% just with the technology her company had access to, and decreased the cost of producing them by 35%. However, even this improvement was pitiful considering what she could do with her own tech, but it was the absolute limit with the current materials in use.
They weren't exactly the quantum leap forward she'd hoped for but she'd make her panels even better in a year or two.
"Miss Danvers." Dubbilex shook her shoulders, causing Kara's eyes to snap open with a startle and her fingers to dig a hole into the table she had been holding. "When was the last time you slept?"
"Sleep is for the weak." Kara joked. Seeing the unamused look on Dubbilex's human face she pushed herself to her feet and explained. "Kryptonians don't really need to sleep, Dubbilex."
"Miss Danvers, I was in charge of your little cousin and read CADMUS' files on Kryptonians. While you can achieve a state where sleep is unnecessary, it requires years of exposure to yellow sun radiation."
"I slept plenty yesterday." Kara defended herself, but didn't tell the Genomorph it had only been for two hours before waking up in a cold sweat. "I'll sleep a little tonight when I get home."
"...Very well, I'll start working on getting the company fully operational right away."
"Remember to put some G-Gnomes to watch over the employees, at least for now. Like Blackwell said, I don't think anyone is gonna be asking questions at the moment, but we did 'mysteriously' get a WayneTech contract and the factory site is full of Genomorphs. It's better to be safe than sorry."
"Of course. Miss Danvers, before you leave, can I ask you about a personal matter?" Dubbilex said, his illusion appearing to be hesitant.
"Sure, go ahead." Kara mumbled as she scratched at the bags under her eyes.
"Many of us Genomorphs wish to meet the metahumans used as a base to produce our kind, but the CADMUS database only has the location of a few of them. Could you ask the League about it?"
"Of course, I'm sure that even if the League doesn't have that information, Batman should."
"Thank you."
With a yawn, Kara allowed Dubbilex to take her seat and start working on the company systems.
Walking into one of the storage rooms, she typed a password on her cell phone causing both the floor and ceiling to open and revealing the Zeta-Tube she had installed in the building a few days ago.
In truth, she really wanted to fly back home, but the Lobo locked on the Fortress of Solitude was already completely healed. It meant there was far too big a chance that a copy of the bounty hunter had already regenerated from his missing arm and was hunting for her.
Lobo really was incredibly annoying, she didn't even dare go back to her moon base alone since he could travel through space with his motorcycle. As a result, she had to get Kori to go with her and relocate some of the projects there into the Fortress.
Thankfully, Kal had agreed to separate a corner of the Fortress for her use and she trusted him to give her privacy while she was there.
When she got back and saw the state of her apartment, she groaned. There were feathers spread everywhere and even some drops of blood. With a sigh, Kara made for the linen closet when Dexter came running from her bedroom, his little paws barely making a sound on the floor.
He threw his body against her and waved between her legs once or twice before dropping a pigeon head at her feet and glancing up with an incredibly smug look on his face. "Meow."
"Ah! Who's my cute little murder machine!" Kara couldn't resist and crouched down to scratch at his ears until the cat laid on the floor and presented her his belly. Kara knew it was a trap, but being a Kryptonian had some advantages so she scratched at it anyway. "You're a good kitty, eliminating all those flying rats. I just hope you know you're gonna need a bath now."
Dexter had been in the middle of clawing at her hand with all four legs when he heard the dreaded word. With a hiss, he kicked away from Kara's fingers and fled under the sofa.
"You know that's not gonna help you!" She called out as she got the cleaning supplies and started using her speed to clean the apartment once again.
She was in the middle of washing the yowling cat when something on the TV caught her attention, a supervillain with wind powers had attacked Happy Harbor and caused a lot of property damage.
"Right, almost forgot about that." She said and finished getting rid of the blood on Dexter's fur. Pulling her phone out she first called Kal's number.
"Hey Kara, is something wrong?" Kal asked in a worried voice when he picked up the phone..
"Nope, just calling to warn you I'm gonna be improving the defenses on Mount Justice." She said in a calm voice.
"What?"
"Just saw it on the TV. Kori and Kon subdued a villain over at Happy Harbor less than a week after they moved into the mountain." She told him with a tired voice. "I just wanted to warn you I'm turning that mountain into an impregnable fortress. And I'm NOT avoiding deadly force."
"Ah… look, can we talk about it later? I'm working right now."
"Sure. I'm not gonna change my stance, but you can talk."
Hanging up the phone, Kara immediately started dialing a second number even as her mind was filling with the defenses she'd put on the mountain… Was poisonous gas too much?
"I thought we'd only talk next week, Miss Zor-El?" Said the older, male voice over the phone.
"Hello Bobo, have you found out anything about Dr. Morrow yet?" Kara asked in a curious voice. "Cuz I just saw one of his robots attack Happy Harbor not even two hours ago."
"Hmmm… that certainly explains some things." The chimp said from his side of the phone, then seemed to stop to think about something. "Yes, I do believe I can narrow down the scientist's location by the time of our first team meeting."
"Good, while The Light is a far more dangerous long-term enemy, T. O. Morrow is our most immediate priority." Kara said before ending the call, already thinking about how much of a powerhouse Firebrand would be.
Worst case scenario, she was pretty sure she could reverse engineer at least some of Morrow's hardware if she could get her hands on another one of his androids.
While Kara had no confidence in replicating Red Vulcano's AI, she could probably make less intelligent robots with a version of his hardware.
Also, a geokinetic modification to her armor and drones could improve their capabilities by a lot.
'When was Red Vulcano born anyway?' Kara wondered, she was pretty sure she could slightly modify his core programing to make him less of a homicidal robot supremacist, but doing that after he was activated felt too much like mind control… or even mind r**e for her liking.
She wouldn't feel all that bad about destroying him if he didn't give her a choice, but mind control was a step she wasn't willing to take.
With Dexter angrily staring at her from under her bed, Kara sat down on the carpet and started messing with her latest experiment. Two small platforms, just big enough for one of her smaller pillows to fit on and connected by a myriad of cables.
Kara used her X-ray vision to stare at the components inside it, then pulled out the fried circuit board, fixed it, adjusted its configuration and used her heat vision to weld it back in place for another try.
Her front door bell rang causing Dexter to dart out of his hiding place and go check out who had arrived.
Looking through her apartment's walls Kara saw it was just Billy making sure she was alright. The boy had been coming over so often the doorman just let him through now. Grabbing for her phone she buzzed the door open and shouted. "Come in Billy!"
Kara hated that her friends and family felt the need to keep an eye on her every day since Lobo attacked, but she understood their reasoning. She and Kori hadn't exactly been perfectly stealthy when coming or going from the building. And most people didn't know she had enough firepower to face an army hidden in the residence.
"Hello, Miss Kara. Thanks for ha… Argh!" Billy started to say from the entrance when a terrifying hiss and loud yowling interrupted him. Dexter had already started defending his home. He was such a good and loyal kitty. "Get it off, get it off! Shazam!"
A few seconds later Kara saw her cat walk back into the room, his tail held high. In a much better mood, he jumped on top of a chair and started licking his claws clean.
"That cat is a menace." Billy grumbled as he peaked through the door and glared at Dexter.
"Don't be silly, Dex is just protecting his home." Kara dismissed the boy's concerns and smiled at him. She liked Billy, he was a good kid. "Come in, make yourself comfortable. You're gonna be here until my training with Kal, right?"
"Yeah… sorry about the ruckus, Miss Kara." He scratched at his neck and sat down on the bed to watch her work. "So, what're you doing?"
"Trying to make a commercially viable teleporter, but it's not going very well."
"Don't we already have the Zeta-Tubes?"
"Do you know how much those things cost?" Kara snorted and put one of her small pillows on top of a platform. "Zeta-Tubes are incredibly expensive to make and maintain. They are made from very exotic materials and require constant upkeep. Not only do we not have enough materials to build them for civilian use, it would cost more than anyone could pay to use them."
"So, you're just making something new?" Billy asked, now becoming interested.
"Well, I'm trying. Krypton had its own teleporters, but Earth doesn't have the technology or the materials to make them work."
Kara glanced at Dexter with a guilty look, but she pressed the activation button anyway and winced. With a crack of displaced air, space crumbled in a circular hole around the pillow and it was sucked in as if by an irresistible force, then the hole healed and the pillow appeared resting on the second platform. "YES!"
"It worked?"
"Don't know, but there wasn't an explosion and the stuffing is still inside the pillow, so that's progress." Taking the pillow off the platform Kara looked it over and didn't see anything wrong with it. She nodded, time for another test.
The most annoying thing about the teleporter was the constraints Kara had to work under. She could make a teleporter fairly easily, but it would either need to be made completely with Kryptonian tech or with Earth-tech that made each activation cost more than a quarter billion in resources. She wanted something accessible.
Something like, one or two thousand dollars per activation would already be ground breaking. She'd offer to substitute the current Zeta-Tube network too, but the technology was also much harder to block or intercept and had a galaxy wide range.
She thought she had managed to get everything working affordably, but every time she activated one of the platforms to send something, it ended up creating a mess.
The concept was simple: you take two fixed platforms, you gather enough power and pierce through the space between those two points, the person steps through the portal and viola.
The problem is that she couldn't create a bridge through space-time gently, not yet. The connection would traverse the object through space like a bullet and the exit was far more violent than the entrance.
Not only would whatever was sent come out in a violent and noisy bang of displaced air, the space around the exit would also expand causing the teleported object to explode as it stayed in its expanded form even as the space around it snapped back to normal..
Her answer was to change the direction of the space tunnel, instead of sending something, she'd pull it. Which seemed to have worked. At least the pillow had not contracted or imploded.
"Huh, this is new." Billy commented. "Usually, when I see mad science, I'm trying to stop it from happening, not just watching with interest."
"I prefer the term, 'super science'. Thank you very much." She threw the pillow at his face in mock anger before looking around for a new test subject.
One of her drones would probably work, right? They were inexpensive to make anyway.
"I don't know, it seems like mad science to me." Billy mocked as he looked around the messy room. "A super scientist would probably have a tidy room."
Kara snorted, "Aren't we feeling cheeky today?"
Making sure the first teleport hadn't messed up anything inside the bases, Kara pressed the button again. A second later, her drone teleported from one platform to the other without apparent damage. Eagerly, she ordered it to fly only to release a frustrated breath when it didn't move.
Using her vision, she confirmed it's insides were fried. Taking the entire thing off the socket and making sure it couldn't turn on again, Kara put the entire device away and sighed. "Not today I guess."
"What went wrong?"
"Don't know, gonna need better equipment than I have here to find out." She confessed and scratched at her tired eyes, she really had to get some sleep. "So, what's this I hear about dangerous villains at the Sidekicks' place?"
"Ah, it was great!" Billy almost jumped on the bed, his eyes shining with excitement.
"A villain attack was 'great'?"
"Well, no, but it wasn't a human enemy, and it wasn't really trying to hurt anybody, so Red Tornado and I agreed to let the Team take care of it and They. Were. Awesome!" Billy seemed to regain his energy, motioning with his hands like mad. "Miss Koriand'r took charge of the situation instantly, and Robin disappeared so fast when I wasn't paying attention. Do you think he'd teach me how to make my laugh come out from everywhere like he does?"
"Lame! Tell me more about Kori and Kon, did they get hurt?"
"No, Connor worked really well with her. The enemy was this cool robot that could use wind like Red Tornado and..." Billy sat up on the bed and started reenacting the scene while Kara imagined what it must have been like to be there. "But the robot was too strong and made a huge tornado! If Robin hadn't been waiting to sneak attack it I don't think Aqualad would have made it with his electricity. Then the Robot self-destructed."
"So, there was nothing left?" Kara asked, from what Billy said the fight had gone much better than in canon. It was a pity they hadn't managed to save anything then.
"Well, Kid Flash did manage to steal its head as a souvenir before it exploded."
"Oh, really?" Kara's eyes focused on the boy with a much bigger interest. So they had managed to save something. Could she track Morrow using the head? Did some of its wind control abilities remain?
"See! That's totally a Mad Scientist look right there!" Billy jumped up on the bed a second time and pointed right at Kara's face making her lose the definitely NOT evil smile she had.
"Get down from my bed Billy!" She scolded, causing him to float a few centimeters above her bed before setting down on the floor. "And, are you gonna stay transformed the entire time now?"
Billy only gave a quick glance towards Dexter, peacefully sleeping on top of the chair and gulped. "Yep."
Eventually, Billy escorted her towards the Zeta-Tube and Kara teleported to the Fortress. She had actually taken a quick nap and arrived a few minutes late for her daily session with Kal.
Both Kal and Kon waited for her with the same disapproving look on their faces, almost making Kara laugh out loud when she saw it.
"Sorry. Captain Marvel was telling me about your fight today and I lost track of time." She lied almost on instinct, then grimaced when she noticed she was trying to avoid talking about her problems again.
Walking to their side Kara sat down on her knees, her back perfectly straight and her arms resting on top of her legs. At their side, one of the Fortress' screens was reproducing the sound from an out of tune TV.
"Now, today we're gonna start on Torquasm Vo. As I already told you, this art has a lot to do with meditation so that's what we're gonna be starting with." Kal said, looking at the both of them seated at his flanks. "Now, I want you to close your eyes and focus on the sound of the white noise, don't try to ignore everything else but just… let it drift away while you focus."
Trading one last glance with Kon, Kara saw that Kal had already closed his own eyes and was slowing his own breathing. She followed his example, closing her eyes and trying to concentrate on the TV.
She breathed in, drawing the cold Arctic air into her lungs and breathed out, letting out some of her worries every time. Her mind became clearer and clearer.
She was safe, she was with family and under the strong defenses of the Kryptonian Fortress, right now she didn't need to worry about improving her armor or hunting down the Light. She didn't need to ask herself what happened with all the pieces of Lobo hit by her teleport grenade and if they'd all regenerate into a new one, she only needed to relax and focus.
Before even ten minutes had passed Kara's head fell forward, her body tilting to the side until she was touching Kal's shoulders as she fell asleep.
_________________
A shout to Xhaustedhero, AkumaSmaG, Iori Daemona Angel, AlliterativeArts (Eric Faust), Icewing, Comics, DERMONIAN, Davvy chappie, Banh Bao, Ian Michael, WanderingDaemon, Scott, Tony Martinez, Travis cox and Chaos for supporting my work!
And once again, a huge shout to Eric Faust for helping with the chapter.
If you like my work, take a look at my other novels or my patreon. I'd appreciate any support you can give.
"Kori, no." Kara said, but there was no strength in her denial.
"Awww, but Friend Kara, you said I could!" The Tamaranean ignored her words and continued approaching.
"No, bad Kori, and wait… where do you think you're touching!"
"But how are we going to proceed if you are still wearing clothes?"
"Kori, down! Down! I can do it by myself, you know." Kara took a step away and managed to avoid Kori's hands. "Besides, I just wanted your opinion on the three costumes I already had. Not for you to bring new ones."
"But, mayhap you will like it? It is certainly better than your uninspired black armor, yes?" Kori protested as her feet slowly lowered back to the floor, a pout on her face. "Friend Troia even helped me choose some that are inspired by your cousin's. It is perfect to maximize exposure to sunlight!"
Kara glanced at the blue outfit with a red skirt, one with far too little cloth, far too much leather and suspiciously placed zippers. "And where exactly did she say that comes from?"
"Friend Troia said it was from a movie, 'SupermanXxX: Return To The Dungeon.' She even bought the movie so we may watch it together!"
"Nope!" Kara shuddered from horror and seriously considered incinerating the thing with a blast of heat vision. "For the record, please, don't show me anything that associates my cousin's name with three 'X's, ever."
"Please, you do not wish to watch the movie with me?" Kori flinched with a hurt look on her face.
"Ugh, I'm gonna kill that bitch." Kara grumbled and sighed, she really didn't want to explain the birds and the bees to her friend. Especially because she wasn't sure Kori would share her dislike of depicting Kal in any sexual way. "Fine, I guess I can try some of the other costumes."
"Wonderful! Start with this one."
Kara glanced from the costume on Kori's hands to the huge smile on her face and sighed. From his place atop the sofa, Kara swore she saw Dexter taking mental notes about how to manipulate her.
The first costume Kori had brought was a simple copy of her own, with the typical Amazon look and leaving plenty of skin exposed. At least the chest armor seemed resistant enough to block a few blows and protect her organs.
Still, Kara felt like she was cosplaying while wearing it.
Using her super speed, Kara darted back inside her bedroom and changed into whatever the second outfit was without even paying attention. Once changed, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and froze. She recognized the costume.
With her face flushed, Kara stepped out into the living room wearing Power Girl's costume. The white swimsuit left both of her legs fully exposed and clung so tightly to her body Kara could see all of her muscles through the fabric. The boob window left her modest breasts exposed and Kara felt the need to cover it up with an arm when she caught Kori staring at her for too long. "What?"
"It. Is. Perfect!" Kori shouted, her eyes shining with green light. "Friend Kara, you have to wear this. It is perfect for you!"
On instinct Kara put a hand against Kori's face and had to strain to prevent the Tamaranean from hugging her, "It doesn't even have pockets, where would I put my drones?"
"It has a utility belt. Just like The Batman! Please, will you wear it?"
"Never!" Kara shouted and dodged aside to let Kori pass her by before dashing for the bedroom.
Unfortunately, Dexter took the chance to attack her cape and forced her to slow down in order to not send him flying. Kori pounced "Well done feline friend!"
The both of them struggled for a few minutes before Kara submitted, swearing she'd keep the costume in her wardrobe, even if she wouldn't ever use it… in public.
After finally being freed from the twin terrors Kara put the Power Girl costume away and brought out her three personal choices.
One was a lesser version of her Power Armor. Dark blue, it had the El house symbol on its chest, only increased her bulk by a little bit and had a lot of armor covering her vitals. Various compartments all over the suit held dozens of devices for her use. It could also store a lot of solar radiation if she was ever in an emergency.
Truth be told, she'd really prefer to use her full power-armor, but her public persona had to not look like a threatening walking tank and this was the next best thing.
The fourth costume was just a version of her cousin's; a blue bodysuit with a red cape and boots. It also had a few belts all over in order to hold her devices.
The fifth one was completely different. It didn't have a cape but a dark blue coat with gold detailing, the El house symbol covered her chest. It also had red boots that ended just below her knees and matching gloves.
To the side she had her mask. Made with a thin layer of Kryptonium; it was painted white, with only a few details in gold and without any human features or even a mouth.
Inside the mask was a breathing device with half an hour of air in case she lost her powers while in a vacuum or was exposed to a harmful gas and light blocking lenses on the eyes to prevent anything from blinding her.
"Friend Kara, please, did you have to cover your entire body in every costume?" Kori complained with a disappointed voice.
She didn't. Kara had actually been thinking of using a far more revealing outfit, it would help to accentuate the differences between her public persona and the one she'd be using on the secret team.
In fact, she was pretty sure Kori could have convinced her to actually wear the Power Girl costume. She couldn't deny she looked hot wearing it, but that was before Lobo's attack.
Kara hated it, but she just didn't feel comfortable taking the risk anymore. Perhaps her mind would change in a few months, after she was fully healed.
"No, but… I feel better with a full outfit. Plus I need the space to keep my devices."
"I postulate you would not consider using a skirt with the second one, yes?" Kara just gave her a look. "Very well, this last one is better."
Kara considered it. She really would prefer to wear the mini-power armor outfit, but the coat had enough space for her devices and it was far too easy to connect the first one to the full power-armor she'd use with her own team. The coat also looked cool.
"Thanks Kori, I'll just make some last minute adjustments and we can go." Kara lifted Dexter from atop one of the costumes and started gathering everything in one arm to put away. With one last scratch behind the cat's ear she remembered something. "Ugh, nevermind. I forgot I had to pick some things at the Fortress before going to the Mountain."
"I continue to regard the white outfit as superior." Kori grumbled, but then smiled at Kara and squeezed her hand. "I can not wait to introduce you to the team! You will love them."
"I'm glad you like them." Kara squeezed back and went to her bedroom to start adjusting her new costume's gloves. Introducing small quantities of Nth metal on the fabric in order to disrupt magic. "Any tips?"
"Do not call Robin a sidekick!" Kori yelled from the living room. "I tried following your guidance when we first met but, despite the honor of apprenticeship under The Batman, he does not seem to enjoy the title."
"You sure?" Kara asked when she finished snickering. "Perhaps I should try too?"
"Yes, do not call him that. I do not understand why, but he seems to consider it demeaning."
"Fine, I guess I can just call him by name then."
Kara finished adjusting the costume and wore it for the first time, the coat fit her like a glove and the material didn't restrict her movement at all. Stepping out of her bedroom, she found Kori already wearing her own heroic outfit. The pair flew together to the Zeta-Tube, but Kori went directly to Mount Justice while Kara teleported to the Fortress first.
Kara had installed a Kryptonian stealth device on the apartment which masked their presence until they were a certain distance away. Unfortunately the device was too big to carry or she'd make it a part of her costume, but at least it made coming and going from the apartment much harder to track.
Over an hour later, Kara heard the robotic voice of the Zeta-Tube network announce her arrival at the Mountain. The huge kart filled with equipment she was pushing in front of her was far from everything she had prepared, but it was enough for her to start working.
"Supergirl, you came!" Captain Marvel shouted and flew towards her, only stopping when they had nearly collided.
Kara smiled under her mask and nodded towards the boy before looking at the entire room. The sidekicks were sparring with each other under Red Tornado's gaze
"Supergirl, Captain Marvel has told me a lot about you." Red Tornado stated evenly as he started walking towards her.
Kon had been sparring with Miss Martian. The girl was using her shape-shifting abilities to actually overwhelm him despite his superior strength. Kara smiled and waved at him causing his face to open into a huge smile.
Taking a pause, Miss Martian turned around to see what had caused the boy to smile. Her eyes went wide as she stared at Kara. She smiled but retreated closer to Kon.
"Titans, reunite with me please." Red Tornado called out with his mechanical voice, causing everyone to finally stop sparring.
"So, they already chose a name?" Kara asked in curiosity, from what she remembered of the show they had been simply 'The Team' or 'Outsiders'
"Indeed, the group felt that, if they were to work together, they preferred to have their own identity." Red Tornado commented idly. "They voted on the name 'Titans' soon after."
Kid Flash was the first to arrive, his speed nearly a match for Kara's; he stopped beside Marvel and leaned over him with an elbow. "You called? Whoa, hello there beautiful!"
Marvel frowned down at the boy but, when Kara didn't react, he didn't say anything.
"Sooo, who're you supposed to be, a new recruit?" he asked and showed off his speed by darting away from Marvel and towards Red Tornado. "You got here just as we were about to spar, so maybe I can show you some moves?"
"Hmmm, somehow you're less annoying than I thought you'd be." Kara told him with a smile. She had always thought Wally would be unbearable, but the combination of his young age and clear inexperience made it more amusing than anything else. "But no, I'm not joining the Titans; I guess you can consider me tech support."
"Huh, is that all gear for us? Sweet!" The boy tried to run towards her kart to take a peek, but Kara decided she had enough and slapped his hand away even while he was moving. "Ouch!"
"Try to keep your hands to yourself, will you."
"You must be Kara, Koriand'r spoke well of you." Aqualad put a hand forward to compliment her. "I'm Aqualad, current leader of the Titans."
"Pleased to meet you, but please, call me Supergirl while in costume." Kara shook his hand with a smile. "I kinda want to keep things separated while in costume."
"Friend Supergirl!" Kori shouted and glomped her, causing Kara to take a step back to keep her footing.
Soon, all members of the Titans were gathered. They seemed more in tune than in the cartoons, with Aqualad having been voted as their leader and Starfire as vice leader.
In truth, Kori had more experience and better training than Kaldur, but her lack of familiarity with Earth and the rest of the team meant they preferred the Atlantean over her. Still, from what Kara had heard, the boy had a good head on his shoulders and actually listened to her opinion often.
"Titans, after hearing about Mr. Twister's attack three days ago, Supergirl has offered to help update the Mountain's defenses." Red Tornado told them with the same impassive voice. "She has also offered to act as tech support for the team, I am certain her help will prove invaluable."
"She's some kind of tech genius then?" Robin asked while lifting an eyebrow.
"She's my cousin." Kon replied and actually approached her for a hug.
"One thing doesn't exclude the other, you know. I may be a Kryptonian, but I'm a much better inventor than a fighter. The El's were a prominent house of the Science guild, not the Military caste after all." Kara was so proud of him, not that long ago he wouldn't have even known how to ask for a hug; he'd also get angry at not knowing. She hugged him back. "I don't see Zatara's daughter here, is he still holding her back?"
"Yeah, Master Zatara really doesn't want to let her come." This time it was Marvel that answered while scratching at his neck. "But Miss Zatana is gonna break him soon."
Kara snorted at that, and then took stock of the Titans. Aqualad and Starfire stood together, leader and vice-leader of the Titans. Kid Flash was still rubbing his stung hand with Robin by his side.
The Boy Wonder seemed annoyed, but Kara didn't think it was about losing the leadership position. No, from the way he was glaring at her, he'd probably figured out who she was.
Kori probably talked about her a lot and Kaldur had used her real name when shaking her hand, so she wasn't exactly surprised. Plus, Kara wasn't making an effort to mask her voice. Robin probably recognized her from Batman's fundraiser and was feeling irritated.
How amusing.
After releasing her from their hug, Kon had stepped back to Miss Martian who was still acting shy, hiding behind his body and only giving Kara quick glances.
"Connor." the Martian whispered in his ear as quietly as she could. "Yo-Your cousin, is she a robot?"
Kon gave his friend a strange look and shook his head. With a startle, Kara finally realized the problem and laughed out loud.
"Ah, sorry about that. I have a telepathic blocker in the mask. " She quickly tapped her mask twice and deactivated the blocker. "It's still in testing and I doubt it's enough against a Martian, but it should keep any stray psychic from noticing me if they aren't already looking for it. Better now?"
"Yes, thank you!" Miss Martian finally relaxed and smiled at her. "I could feel something when I focused on you, but it was very unnerving and I didn't want to push."
"Don't worry Megalicious; I'm always here to protect you." Kid Flash appeared at her side and tried to hold her hand, but only made her more uncomfortable.
Aqualad released a sigh when he saw it, Kara swore he was praying really hard he wouldn't have to deal with the situation while Robin actually facepalmed at his friend's actions.
"Kid Flash! That is enough." Kori intervened with a hard tone on her voice, her hands at her waist and a disapproving look on her face.
"Right, sorry." He sheepishly said and stepped back.
Kara smiled. She would have disciplined the boy herself but, unfortunately, she didn't really know him very well. She'd probably have to talk to the Flash about that. It was amusing when he was doing it to her, but Miss Martian was clearly bothered.
"Right… anyway, I spoke with the League and they let me make some improvements to the costumes you guys use." Kara said with a smile. Grabbing the cover of her cart she pulled it away dramatically to reveal the equipment inside. "So, what do you guys think?"
Kara stepped away from the kart and let the team of teenagers charge in. With the approval of the League, she had worked hard to replicate their costumes and increment them with her tech. The adults had still refused to allow weapons on the costumes, but Kara had prioritized safety anyway.
Kid Flash was the first to pull out a copy of his costume. While it looked almost exactly like his original costume, all of her gear was made from Kryptonian fabric stronger than spider silk and had shock absorbers on the torso.
The most distinct feature however, was a bulge at the back that resembled a small backpack. Kid flash immediately noticed it and started poking the thing. "So, what exactly is this?"
"Well, the costumes were all made at the Fortress. They're strong enough to block gunshots and knife wounds and have plates on the torso capable of absorbing most mundane kinetic impacts. Even high caliber rounds should only leave bruises." Kara told them while giving Kon his own costume and messing his hair at the same time. "The costume can also monitor your life signs and the bulge at the back is an emergency teleporter. It's a copy of something I use myself and I just couldn't make it smaller."
"Cool!" Kid Flash said.
Robin didn't seem convinced, looking at his own costume with distaste. "So, this is gonna let us teleport around then?"
"Not exactly, it's a one-time thing, really." Kara explained while lifting Miss Martian's device. She hadn't been able to replicate Martian clothes so, the best she could do was to create the device and hope Miss Martian's costume could assimilate or grow over it. "You can activate it manually or it will trigger when it detects you're unconscious or mortally wounded. The device will only bring you back to the mountain once before I have to replace it. So, do make sure to tell me if that happens."
"Yeah… I'll have to talk to Batman before using this." Robin said.
"Go ahead. Try to convince the Bat to wear one himself will you?" Kara said while handing the teleporting device to M'gann. "Here, see if your costume can hold this in place at your back."
"Ah, thank you." The Martian said with a blush and tried to place the device at her back, when that didn't work she grew a third hand from her back to help out.
"I have to ask, can this device bring more than one person?" Aqualad questioned while looking at his costume. "While I appreciate the chance to escape a dangerous situation, I don't think the Titans could use it if it meant abandoning someone."
"Unfortunately, making it able to teleport a second person or work repeatedly would more than triple its size." Kara explained while picking up the rest of her devices. "Still, I created a dozen spare devices the Titans can carry on the bio-ship in case they're needed."
"I see, thank you. That should greatly increase our ability to act." He nodded her way.
Kara looked towards the kart. There were still four large metal boxes inside. Picking up the one with the spare teleporting devices she laid it to the side and laid the other three in front of the Titans before opening them.
The first box had hundreds of her little civilian drones. With access to military tech the little flying cameras had become obsolete to her, but they were still very useful for the team and Kara had a large supply of them.
The second box had a new holographic device Kara had produced, it wasn't anything special, but it was about the same size as her drones and, once it was laid on the ground, it could selectively make anything in a ten meter radius around itself invisible, or project an image that wasn't there.
The final box had a far more complicated device, and one that used materials so rare even Kara had a very limited supply. Even with Kryptonian tech it was incredibly hard and expensive to create a stable portal big enough for a person to pass through, but Kara didn't need a huge portal.
Instead, the device would stealthily create a very small connection between two points in space. Even a finger wouldn't pass through, but it was perfect to send communication signals.
It meant that, even if someone had the tech to block communications in an area, unless they also blocked this particular form of teleportation, the Titans wouldn't lose contact with the base.
The Titans quickly distributed the equipment between themselves, with only a couple going to Captain Marvel after he had made a face at them. Kid Flash kept pressing the sign on his chest and changing his costume between the usual yellow, black and several versions of camouflage for any environment he found himself in.
Even Robin couldn't resist playing with the drones, using his own devices to control them, even when he wouldn't put on his new costume.
"Zero two, Batman." Announced the robotic female voice from the Zeta-tube, causing Robin to jump up and hide the drones behind his back.
Batman only gave a quick glance towards the boy and nodded. "You can put on the costume."
When the entire team was gathered in front of him, Batman activated a holographic display showing a picture of an island.
"This is Isla Santa Prisca, it is a sovereign island nation on the Caribbean Sea that the League doesn't have access to. It's also the primary producer of Venom." The Bat said without preamble.
"You're sending us against Bane?" Robin asked with surprise and not a small amount of eagerness in his voice.
"No, as far as we were able to find out, the island was taken over by the Cult of the Kobra last month." A picture of both Kobra and Bane appeared on display, with a red 'X' over Bane's face. "Bane attempted to take the place back and was reported dead a few days ago."
"Is he? Dead, I mean." Robin asked again while leaning closer.
"Unknown. His body wasn't found, but his forces were devastated and the Island is completely under Kobra's control." Batman pressed a button and another four pictures appeared.
Kara recognized one of them as Blockbuster, but the other three were unknown, only showing the same signs of Blockbuster use as the original.
"It appears that Kobra got control of the Blockbuster formula and is mixing it with Venom to create new super soldiers. Besides Blockbuster himself, the League has faced three other users of the substance in the last month alone. After considering Supergirl's new supplies, the League has decided to make this the Titans first mission."
"What is our mission?" Aqualad finally asked.
"The League cannot be seen interfering with a foreign nation, but with Bane gone we have an opening. Your goals are threefold: arresting Kobra, stopping the production of Kobra-Venom and finding out how he got access to the Blockbuster formula."
With another click, Batman made a picture of another man appear. He was a thin man wearing a suit and tie.
"This is Camilo Pena. Bane used to have effective control over the island but, when he organized his revolt, he caused unrest on the island and there was a purge of many of his supporters. Mister Pena used to be a small politician but, with the purge, he has grown far more important. If the Titans can disable Kobra before Kobra reestablishes control over the island, Mister Pena has a real chance of getting to power."
"An honest politician? In Santa Prisca?" Robin snorted and Batman nodded at him.
"Camilo Pena isn't exactly honest, but he's making a very risky play for power, one that would require him to open the island to the League if he wants to remain alive." Batman turned off the projector and turned to the team. "While the other goals are very important, taking out Kobra is your highest priority. We're not under any illusions that it would immediately solve the problems on the island, but allowing the League to operate freely on its territory would be a huge step forward, the first in many decades."
The Titans traded glances, eager smiles on their faces despite the situation. Looking Batman in the eye Aqualad asked. "When do we leave?"
Twenty minutes later the Titans stood in front of the Bio-ship, the portal machine safely held in the ship.
Kara adjusted Kon's costume, instead of a jeans and T-shirt it was a black version of Superman's costume, without the cape and with an armored chest plate. The costume had sunlight absorption and storage capabilities that would constantly feed him the radiation, or allow him to quickly regain his strength if he was ever depowered.
"Here, remember to keep some drones with you." Kara stuffed a few more drones into a pocket at his side and settled his hair in place. "And don't just start punching things. You have a good mind, use it."
Kon nodded with an embarrassed face, Miss Martian taking a few peeks at them from inside the ship with an amused smile.
"Don't worry, Captain Marvel and I will be monitoring the mission." Red Tornado told her, causing Kara to smile. He was surprisingly empathic for a machine. "Do you wish to accompany us?"
Kara thought about it, but eventually shook her head. "No, I still have to improve the Mountain's defenses. It's probably gonna take me the entire day. Keep an eye on them for me, will you?"
"Certainly." Red Tornado said.
"I will." Marvel commented and squeezed her shoulder for comfort. "Well, until someone comes to replace me."
Kara watched as the Bio-Ship left the mountain, then excused herself and went towards the Titan's souvenir room which already held a certain robotic head. Acting quickly she attached several cables to the head and put her computer to work trying to find anything about Dr. Morrow's location.
Finally, Kara started bringing the rest of her equipment from the Fortress. Despite how wide the Zeta-Tube was, Kara still had to use it five times before she had everything she needed.
"Well… Let's get to it."
The League had demanded that the Mountain's defenses have layers, where the outer layers would only trick or dissuade invaders away and the subsequent layers increasing in power slowly.
It reminded Kara of playing Dungeon Keeper, only with non-lethal traps and defenses.
She worked for hours, installing hundreds of devices all over the Mountain. Making sure no one would crawl through the air ducts or drill through the walls. She was only allowed to go all out at the last layer and, when she was done, Kara was sure that even Darkseid himself would think twice before attacking the place. She even used the last amounts of Nth metal she had to block magical teleportation or use.
Kara thanked Rao for her super speed and strength. Without it, the renovation would probably have taken her an entire month. Still, she only completed it in less than a day because many of the defenses were programmed into Sunstone crystals. Kara would still have to make sure to bombard them with sunlight for a few days to make sure they finished growing, but it was much easier to carry and install than the complete equipment.
The best thing was that many of the defenses were independent from each other, and from Mount Justice's own security protocols. Even if someone managed to disable one of them, it wouldn't affect the others.
Approaching the Souvenir room again, Kara checked her device and cursed when she saw it hadn't been able to find anything in Mr. Twister's head. Grabbing the deformed robot head, she carefully put it back in place within the case and put away her equipment.
Going into the kitchen Kara brewed some extra strong coffee and drank two cups before filling a third and finding Red Tornado still monitoring the Titans. Captain Marvel's shift was over and it was Hal Jordan that sat with him.
"Coffee?" She offered and handed Hal a cup when he eagerly nodded. "How are they doing?"
"Very well, the Titans have successfully contacted Mr. Pena without drawing attention from his enemies." The robot answered while only briefly glancing her way. "They're preparing to infiltrate the Venom factory now. Do you want to watch?"
Kara hesitated. She really wanted to keep watch over things, but she trusted Kori and Kon to be fine. Red Tornado was also watching things closely.
"No, I can be the chair guy another time. Take care of them."
Red Tornado stared at her for another second before answering. "...it is what I'm here for." Then he turned back to the screen.
Kara took the Zeta-Tube towards the Fortress one last time. Storing her equipment, she made her way towards her private area with sure steps.
She briefly stopped in front of Firebrand's room and watched the android for a few moments then asked. "Kal still hasn't found out about this?"
"Master Kal-El continues to respect your boundaries, Mistress Kara." The Fortress AI answered as he materialized by her side. "Although… I truly don't understand the need to hide it."
"Need is too strong a word. I want to keep this quiet until I'm ready, but I don't 'need' to." Firebrand would probably reveal herself to her old teammates, and thus the League, as soon as she woke up anyways. Kara just preferred to keep things close to her chest. "Is the power-armor ready?"
"It is fully operational."
The power-armor was a masterpiece. It still had a human silhouette, but there was no way to tell the gender of the person inside and it was filled with as much equipment as Kara could manage.
Fully enclosed, the armor actively filtering any radiation while absorbing sunlight to feed directly to her. Although it was sleek, the armor still made her as big as Blockbuster when she wore it.
Putting it on, Kara tested her range of motion and dexterity and was very satisfied with the result.
Engaging her stealth tech, the military one that didn't leave any signs of its use, Kara flew towards her second important meeting.
She arrived at the nondescript building and sneaked inside without anyone noticing. Sitting on top of a box, Kara waited until everyone had arrived and was very satisfied when none of them seemed to notice her presence.
"Apologies for the delay." She said while disengaging her stealth and watching Green Arrow jump to his feet.
"Holy sh…eep" The blonde trailed off as he glanced at the boy by his side, then he glanced from his bow to the giant gun at her back and sighed. "Damn, now I feel underdressed."
The Shade just tipped his hat to her and Bobo nodded while both Speedy and Red Arrow crossed their arms at the same time, then noticed it and became awkward about the entire thing.
Kara glanced at Speedy's robotic arm and shook her head. "You sure you don't want a new arm? It isn't all that hard to make."
The boy looked at his gray hand and squeezed his fingers into a fist. "Not until they're arrested, I don't want to forget it."
Kara briefly glanced at her own prosthetic leg, she couldn't wait to replace it and move past what the Psions had done but… well, she wouldn't blame him. "Very well, let's start then."
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So, what did you guys think? First mission from the Titans and also First mission for Kara's own team, will they catch T. O. Morrow?