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Power Girl
Kara's Quest
KARA'S QUEST: Prologue
Power Girl pouted in silence. Red Robin sat by her and said, "What's wrong?"
She said, "I guess I'm feeling a little disconnected, so to speak. I mean in the last few years, I've been told falsely that I'm Atlantean by that Garn creep and then turned into that leather babe Nike. I've been turned into a copy of Supergirl, the late Earth-One heroine, and I've been led to believe that Kal is dead twice! First at that Stream of Ruthlessness, then recently during the Crisis. I even received a real beating from those aliens who followed Chroma."
"So you want to get in touch with your inner child?" asked Red Robin.
"No! I was turned into a baby by that witch Yellow Peri too, remember? Now, I just want to know my roots again," she said with a frown.
"I can help you, since you still insist on keeping apart from Clark," offered Red Robin.
"Yeah? How can you do that? Some wonderful Bat-doohickey in your utility belt?" she snapped.
"Easy, Kara, I mean it. Let me take you home," he offered with a kiss.
"Home is..." she began.
"Nope, I mean it. Let me help you return to Krypton!" said Dick Grayson.
Dick Grayson ushered a demurely dressed Karen Starr up a long flight of stairs that led to a stately manor outside Gotham City.
He brought her to an extremely elderly frail man who sat in a lush study. He was sickly, yet his eyes danced eagerly and he clearly missed nothing.
"Young Dick! Miss! Please be seated. I knew your esteemed cousin years ago and I hope he is well," he said to Kara.
"My cousin? What do you mean?" she sputtered.
"Now, my dear! I don't have time to play polite games anymore. I long ago learned the secret identities of Superman, Batman and this fine young man here!" he said.
"Kara, he is trustworthy. Remember the diary?" said Dick.
"Okay, Professor Nichols, how can you help me, then?" she asked.
"I can send you and Dick back through time via hypnosis to the Krypton of long ago before your birth. You can know your heritage directly and then I'll bring you back again. I sent Clark, if I may call him that, and Bruce Wayne to the France of the Musketeers, to ancient England, and many other places. Why, the adventures we had in those splendid days!" he said happily.
Karen nodded. "So that's what you meant, Dick. Let us go back to Krypton via this gimmick?" she scoffed.
"It works! Trust me and trust Professor Nichols," insisted Dick.
"Yes, Miss! I can even allow for the alien nature there, so Mr. Grayson will be able to move, despite the gravity difference," he added.
They held hands and listened as the elderly scientist worked the spell so familar to Dick from his glorious boyhood.
Man, do I miss Bruce at times like these! Maybe I can have the Prof give me some of those old days back again after this trip, he mused.
When they opened their eyes after listening to the suggestions of the hushed voiced Carter Nichols, they found themselves in a wondrous place: Krypton!
KARA'S QUEST: Part 2
RETURN TO KRYPTON
Kara marvelled at the splendor of the reality of Krypton. Even in its human imperfection the real location seemed superior to the computer generated virtual version, in which she grew up during her slow suspended animation journey from the doomed world.
"I see people and places I know from the false memories created by the symbioship! That old man in the wheelchair is Dev-R!" she gushed.
Dick smiled. It was nice to see the ever-defensive Power Girl let herself relate to people without her usual protective layer of scorn or sarcasm. He wondered when in Krypton's history they had arrived.
He moved freely, although he lacked the leaping ability and extra strength that the natives and Kara possessed. It seemed Professor Nichol's method of time travel had indeed taken care of his limitations.
Aircars zoomed by on the high towered streets and the red sun beat down on them.
"Look! That man is my father Zor-L, when he was barely out of his teens!" she gasped.
"Well, that dates us pretty well! I see he looks upset too!" said Dick.
Funny how that young man was eventually capable of inventing a complex system of suspended animation that allowed him to send his baby off the doomed world on a journey to Earth that took several decades, during which she aged very little in comparison to the years that passed. He even programmed the symbioship to stimulate her mind with images and false memories of a normal life on this world! So she knows her Dad, even though she left him as a baby! mused Dick.
"That criminal brigand took Allura!" said a distraught Zor-L.
His old mentor Dev-R said, "Who took her? You mean that Outlaw Scourge from the Crystal Mountains?"
"Exactly! My bride to me is in the hands of the worst criminal to plague us in years! Nightwing!" cried Power Girl's father as they listened.
KARA'S QUEST: Part 3
RETURN TO KRYPTON
"My mother is the one who this Nightwing has abducted!" whispered Kara insistently.
"We'll get her back! I promise you!" vowed a determined Dick Grayson.
"You there! What mean you by wearing that costume here in these times of fear? Do you want to get yourself imprisoned or sent into the rehab satellites?" said a newcomer who pointed at Dick's costume.
"You resemble one of the very outlaws we speak of!" cried the alarmed Rok-N.
"We are just visitors from the... city of Kandor!" said Kara. "Forget our odd costumes. We meant no harm. Tell us please of this danger. Who is Nightwing? My lessons told me he lived eons ago in Krypton's primitive past and was a hero of the people during the oppression caused by the heirs of old Jef-El!"
"True! That real Nightwing was a noble fighter for freedom. This new pretender to the old name and legend is an outlaw who defied the science council and leads a band of robbers who hide deep with the high Crystal Mountains!" explained Dev-R.
"His origin matters little. He took my intended bride Allura and I must get her back," insisted Zor-L.
"We are involved in... Imperator assistance!" stumbled Dick as he drew on what he knew of this world's legal system.
"We can find him and rescue her!" added Kara.
"You would aid us? You even resemble my poor love! Do you mean to appeal to the Council for use of the mentaprobe?" said Zor-L.
"We won't wait on that!" said Kara.
"We can go directly to the source while you talk and talk!" she said.
KARA'S QUEST: Part 4
RETURN TO KRYPTON
Power Girl and Red Robin wore the jetbelts that allowed rapid travel via anti-gravity. They soared high over the glorious setting of the jeweled mountains of Krypton.
"Are those crystalline formations of any material value, or are they merely decorative?" asked Red Robin.
"They are valued highly by a race called Vrangs. They raided Krypton years ago for the mining rights," she replied.
"Kara, listen! I think I can hear something below on the radio device Dev-R gave us when he showed us the belts."
They swooped down low and emerged in a rocky cavern. "Look, this old place must be an abandoned mine shaft from the days of the Vrangs!" said Power Girl.
"Kara, if this type of technology is available, why have they not rounded up this Nightwing long ago?" asked Red Robin.
"They have the technology, but little real drive to employ it. Being a technocracy, Kryton is full of brilliant men with lofty ideas and little experience in the practical applications of what they invent!" she explained.
"They must have some drive. I mean look at their rehab satellites! " added Red Robin.
"They were merely a labor or space saving implementation," she said.
They landed and searched through the old mine until they came around a corner to see a beautiful blonde woman in a blue mini-dress. She was surrounded by two costumed figures.
She was addressed by a dark haired man in a black costume that vaguely resembled Red Robin's black and red costume in color and shape of the hood.
"Allura! It is futile to resist my charms. I shall rule this land eventually as I gather more and more disaffected men and women to join my band of rebels," he urged.
Allura was a striking version of Kara and she felt her heart swell as she gazed at the girl who would be her mother one day.
"I love Zor-L. The matrimonitron even agrees that we are the best matches," she pleaded.
"Bah! What use are machines? We govern not metal toys!" declared the red costumed man who served as Nightwing's second in command.
"Zod, I say we take what we want and forget the masquerade!" said Flamebird.
"Jax-Ur! This game gives us power! The images of Nightwing and Flamebird still have power to stir men's hearts and inspire loyalty! Thus, by adopting the identities of our anicent heroes I have changed from a military man who led by fear to a crusader who leads his people by the adoration they have for him!" said the former General Zod.
"Okay, let's take them down! I'll handle them while you free Allura!" said Red Robin.
"No! You lack the power we native Krytonians have, even if Nichols allowed for the gravitational problem. You free mother while I take down the pair of smug thugs!" whispered Kara.
"How about we take you both prisoner!" declared a smirking Nightwing.
He fired a ray that disrupted Red Robin's nervous system for a moment, causing him to fall to the cavern floor.
Power Girl slugged Flamebird with her determined style, but while he reeled back on his feet, he soon fought back with a brutal blow that left the blonde girl stunned.
"Can't get used to everyone having my strength!" she moaned.
KARA'S QUEST: Part 5
RETURN TO KRYPTON
They woke up in a deeper cavern that had once been a mine and now served as sometype of headquarters for Nightwing's band.
"Kara! Are you okay?" asked a concerned Dick Grayson.
"Sure, if having my hair styled by a blunt instrument is okay!" she snapped.
"Welcome back to awareness! You delayed our amusement too long. Now, my loyal soldiers, witness for your entertainment a battle between these two and a Snagriff!" announced the cocky Nightwing.
"Great Krypton! A snagriff! I read of them but never saw one, even at the zoo from the symbio tapes!" cried Kara.
The gray dinosaur like creature swooped around them with a hungry eye.
Red Robin hurled himself forward and shoved Kara down just before the beast snapped at her last position with huge jaws.
"Keep down! It is too huge to turn of bank quickly!" shouted the keen eyed Red Robin.
"You saw these things are rare? Not from around here?" asked Red Robin as he whipped out a rope and began to whirl it by his side.
"No! They originate on the planet's other continent. They are nocturnal!" she said as they watched the gray monster fly perilously closer.
"Then let's see what happens if I take him for a tour!" called Red Robin as he flung his rope around the beast's neck and pulled himself to land on its back!
He had nowhere near the strength required to force the snagriff to move in one direction or another; however, he noticed the physiology of the snagriff allowed the narrow wing supports serve as a steering device.
KARA'S QUEST: Part 6
RETURN TO KRYPTON
Red Robin hoped this beast could be guided by the spiny ridge that held its fiberous wings. He found this out as he pulled up and felt the creature rise above the narrow canyon that surrounded the cave headquarters. The jewelled mountains rose majestically around them and shone crystalline in the red sunlight.
If this thing is both nocturnal and non native to the mountains maybe, I can use those factors to help me tame it! mused Red Robin.
He pulled out a pellet and dropped it against the mountainside below. The flare went off and reflected the glare infinitely greater than normally would occur due to the mirror like reflective nature of the huge jewelled mountains.
The nocturnal snagriff was blinded temporarily and flew directly into a mountain! Stunned, it crashed to the ground just after Red Robin had flung himself off and swung to safety below.
The group of robbers cheered wildly as Red Robin landed in their midst.
Kara used the confusion to grab a blaster from a gang member. She fired at the roof of the cavern and led a scared Allura to freedom as the jewelled shards rained down from above.
"Kara! What now? We have Allura but the gang is also still loose!" he asked.
"I don't know! One problem at a time!" she yelled.
"Thank you so much! Kara? I'll remember your kindness!" said Allura.
Kara smiled at her future mother. "I hope so! I will remember yours as well!"
Red Robin watched as Allura ran down the slopes and soared homeward with the anti-gravity belt he had grabbed from the pack he brought on the mission.
"We could stop that gang for good, you know! See how they respond to Zod and Jax because of the image? Batman taught me how to project an image long ago. He ruled Gotham in a way by the image of a capable fatherly figure to the law-abiding and a skilled crusader for justice to those who broke the law!" said Red Robin.
"So you mean we can out do them at their own game? You won some over with that fight against the Snagriff already! That's why they didn't make much effort to recapture us," she said.
"Let's get back to Dev-R's home," said Red Robin.
KARA'S QUEST: Part 7
RETURN TO KRYPTON
Kara and Dick returned to the caverns that night in style. With Dev-R's help and Dick's strategies they put together two rather different and striking costumes.
Dick wore all black this time and had the predatory nightwing bird on his chest. Kara was more skepical as she wore a very short red mini-dress and gold gloves and boot.
"Okay, I admit you make a better Nightwing than Zod did, but with legs like these how do I pass for Flamebird?" she asked.
"You don't pass for Jax-Ul. You serve as the new improved female Flamebird who shows up the flabby fat old one they've got now!" he said.
"Okay, you're the showman!" she said.
"Trust me!" he urged.
They crept closer to the caverns and spotted a guard.
"I'll take him!" vowed Kara. She tossed a jewelled fragment over the slope and as he turned to listen at the sound, she tackled him and slammed his head into the ground.
"Now I feel better!" she said. "Zor-L's rings work too!"
They had been given mini-exoskeleton's in the suits which along with a strength-boosting ring worn by each, allowing them to perform at super human level.
"You sure proved your point about technology. Imagine, Zor-L had these rings in the lab and had failed to put them to real use!" said Dick.
"Well, to defend father a bit, they are unproven and could fail us at any moment," she insisted.
"We better move fast, then!" ordered the new Nightwing!
KARA'S QUEST: Part 8
RETURN TO KRYPTON
They flew into the cavern as Nightwing (Dick) tossed down a pellet that exploded into lurid light.
"I am the true heir to Nightwing's legacy, and I shall punish you for soiling my name!" he vowed menacingly. He swooped down from out of the shadows into the flickering light of the flare.
Bruce could not have done that better! mused Kara. She swooped down too and kicked a thug in the face. Spinning, she sunk her fingers into solid crystal and hurled a chunk of the shiny stuff into the glow-bulb that illuminated the cavern.
Just as with Dick's flare earlier that day, the light blasted out reflections through the myriad of crystals lining the walls.
The pair wore special lens to guard the eyes and give them enhanced vision.
Nightwing (Dick) hit Zod with a sharp right and ducked a return blow. He tripped his foe and flipped him over his shoulder with ease.
The ring lets me handle this punk like any of the Joker's men back home in Gotham! he mused. He kneed the black clad leader and left him flat after a final punch.
Kara had flown across the cavern to bring down the slower Jax-ul in his Flamebird costume. She felt his plump form hit hard and he wheezed as she kicked him in the stomach.
"Not much of a flyer compaired to me!" she taunted.
He grabbed her, but her ring-boosted power was greater and she decked him easily.
"See how your leaders have fallen? Don't allow yourselves to be deluded any longer, people of Krypton! We are the true heirs to the Nightwing/Flamebird legacy! Now, do you surrender or fight anew?" shouted Dick.
They murmured amongst themselves before slowly walking out of the caverns to where the authorities waited below.
"You did it! You defeated them. You even redeemed the legend of Nightwing and Flamebird!" shouted a happy Rok-N.
"Where did they go? They vanished!" cried Hem-L"
Back at Zor-L's home, Kara and Dick shed their costumes and gave the happy scientist his rings back.
"Wait! You could continue on as Nightwing and Flamebird," he urged.
"No, we have pressing business elsewhere!" said Dick.
Kara hugged her father and he smiled in surprise. "What is that for?"
"For your daughter!" she said as she tearfully followed Dick away into the night.
"Honey, I'm sorry. I guess it is time to go. I should have told you Nichols usually brought us back right when an adventure seemed to conclude. I guess we've been describing it all to him as we lived it!" said Dick.
Kara embraced him as they saw Krypton fade away and the Carter Nichol's home appear.
"Welcome back! What a marvelous adventure!" cried the old man.
"Yes, sir. It made me remember our old trips with you!" said Dick.
Kara kissed the frail professor. "Thank you sir. Forgive me for doubting you before. You helped me find my past anew!"
He smiled as the young couple exited his quiet home.
KARA'S QUEST: Part 9
James Olsen left the office of the Daily Star and whistled as he headed home. He had put in a good day's work and was impressed with several things. Lana Lang's oddly rejuvenated form was just one of them. The red-headed beauty was looking like a twenty-year-old again after a case in which she fought the Prankster! She had left Jimmy in awe of her beauty and youth. The balding editor was used to the bizarre, but he never took it for granted.
He gasped as strong arms suddenly wrapped around his neck and pulled him into the shadows outside the Daily Star!
He found himself tied up (not a rare condition for Superman's pal of over forty years) and faced by a familiar crook.
"Colonel Future!" he said as the portly man smiled at him with sinister intent.
"Ah, Mr. Olsen, how like old times, eh!" said Colonel Future to his prisoner. "Probe his mind as we discussed," he calmly ordered a hireling.
A helmet device was placed on his balding pate, and soon the device glowed pale green.
Seconds later, Colonel Future ordered his men to lead the blindfolded Jimmy back to the Star and release him.
"But, boss, won't that guy cause trouble by tipping off the Man o' Steel?" asked a thug.
"Do not presume to do the thinking here! It will little matter what Olsen does now, for his memories have enabled me to make use of a way that will rid us of the hated Superman forever!" declared Colonel Future. I do wonder why I could not find out Superman's identity, though. I was sure Olsen would know by now. I suppose he has taken some protective measures against having anyone probe the part of his mind. Kryptonian science can do wonders, he mused.
KARA'S QUEST: Part 10
In the farmhouse where Clark and Lois Kent lived these days, many a bustling scene ensued with Lois expecting and guests coming from everywhere to pay respects.
Now Lois Lane Kent was alone in the empty house and she was very worried, as shown by the color of her mood-reflective wedding ring.
"Clark, I know you'll come back to me, but when and what has happened to you this time?" she moaned and glanced at an empty chair in front of a table set with a plate of half-eaten steak covered with ketchup.
Her husband had literally vanished in the middle of his meal and she knew it was not of his own volition either.
The search for him would be a long one and one undertaken by his estranged cousin Kara.
KARA'S QUEST: Part 11
No sooner had Power Girl returned home than she received a phone call from a worried Lois Lane Kent.
"Kara... I am sorry to bother you, it's Lois. I need your help. Clark has disappeared! I didn't know who else I could call... Dick was out," she said slowly.
"I'll be right there!" declared Kara.
She and her cousin had never really connected. She had always felt overshadowed by him and resented his every well meaning act. He angered her greatly after the Crisis by not letting her know immediately that he had survived. Now she did not care about anything except finding him and making things right!
She landed in the Smallville kitchen before Lois had put down the phone.
"What happened? How did he vanish? Could he just be on a case?" she asked.
Lois said, "I was serving him dinner when he literally popped out of sight! I don't think it was his idea! Oh, Kara, with the baby and all I can't rush out to track him down like I would have years ago. Can you please help? He is so sorry about the differences between you..."
"Forget them. He's family. You all are! I have a good idea who took him. That little creep from the land of Zrff!" she said.
"Stay put. I'll be back a.s.a.p.! Kltpzyxm!" she said.
Invoking the backward spelled name of Mr. Mxyztplk transported only those who knew the trick to his wacky land called Zrff! She had a hunch that imp had spirited Superman away for a joke.
She appeared in the fairytale land where the Imp, as she preferred to call him, lived as a court jester to the harmless and ineffectual king.
She saw streamers of light and sparklers everywhere as crowds of little people filled the streets.
"What's going on?" she asked one eager watcher.
"The wedding of King Nmrttl to his beautiful young bride, of course! Don't you ever get out? Those legs are long enough!" he snapped.
She smirked at the little man's sarcasm and watched as a wheelless wedding coach rolled along. There she saw a bald, childlike old man wearing a crown sitting next to a ravishing young blonde in an ornate harem outfit!
Yellow Peri! She's Mxyztplk's daughter! He used to control the poor king, and now he's making his daughter the new queen! What a creep! thought Kara.
She flew up toward the coach, only to be stopped by guards on flying platforms. She used super breath to topple them all and landed them gently. "I demand to see the king of this nuthouse!" she bellowed.
Yellow Peri smiled. "You? My favorite toy! How dee-lish! But you're not dressed for the ceremony. Be my maid of honor... or just my maid!" she laughed. Power Girl's uniform then changed to a maid's uniform of black hugh heels, fishnets, and a brief tunic.
She melted the coach tapestry so it dropped down and slapped Peri in the head.
The King gazed at her in wonder! "Stop the wedding!" he cried.
"Good! You've come to your senses and aren't going to marry this little witch!" said a smiling Power Girl.
"No! I want to marry you!" declared the staring king!
KARA'S QUEST: Part 12
Kara frowned in dismay as her maid outfit flickered into a wedding gown.
"I am not here to marry anybody! I just want you to release my cousin Superman!" she snapped.
King Nmrttl said, "But you are so very pretty! Please be my wife!"
Yellow Peri said, "Look, Kingy, I am the bride to be, not this bleached blonde muscle girl! She is nothing but trouble! She and her cousin drove Daddy into early retirement! I'll send her packing soon enough!"
She snapped her fingers and Power Girl found herself becoming enormously fat.
"See, she'd look bad during swimsuit season!" giggled Yellow Peri.
Power Girl bobbled her double chins and said, "Change me back, or I'll tear this crackerbox palace down around you both!" She smashed her fist through a building and shook the wall precariously.
"She would pick the dinette!" teased Peri.
The King said, "Please don't hurt my land. I am King, you know! We do not have your cousin! I swear it!"
Power Girl returned to normal and nodded. "Okay, but I'd avoid marrying this Barbara Eden wannabe," she said as she exited the land at the whim of the Peri.
"Left a little going away gift for you Blondie!" called the Peri as her silvery laugh echoed.
Power Girl emerged on Earth only to find herself feeling tingly all over. What did she do to me? she mused.
Lois looked up eagerly. "No luck?" she asked.
"None. But I won't give up," she vowed.
Elsewhere Colonel Future smiled at a floating talisman in an odd device.
"See boys? Olsen's memory revealed this little beauty to me and in my time displacement ray the item is here, but also surrounded by a chronal null field which makes it 1898 for the talisman. Thus, though powerless in our century it will work for us, since for all intents and purposes for the talisman it is the last century!"
The goons frowned. "Okay, whatever you say, boss."
He laughed at them. "That device lets me tap the power of the talisman to grant three reality-altering wishes, and I wished Superman out of our world with the first one!"
KARA'S QUEST: Part 13
Colonel Future smiled benignly at his dense associates. "My poor benighted employees, the memory probe we did on Olsen (Superman's pal, in case you forgot), told us of a talisman in his apartment. This Indian relic had the power to grant three wishes once each century. Jimmy Olsen, how I hate that vulgar nickname, used the magic up during his time with the talisman in the 1950's. Being of a singularly loyal or fawning nature, he tried to use them to benefit Superman. I have no such motivation. The talisman is useless in this century. Thus, I placed it in the aforementioned chronal displacement device which makes it 1898 or so for the area in which the talisman sits. Thus, the magic is back. It was hidden from sight during the 19th century in a cavern and thus unused. I used the first wish to eliminate Superman from this world and now I shall use the second one to fulfill a long cherished desire of mine."
The gang filed out in some confusion.
Colonel Future gazed at his balding and portly frame and said, "Youth is not to be sought since I am exactly as mature as I want to be. Thus, I wish for eternal vigor!"
He glowed and was filled with stamina. "Now, I have ensured that Colonel Future is a name that shall live on in the centuries to come. I shall use the final wish to add to my legacy! I wish for a fully grown and loyal son with all my superior qualities!" he declared.
A handsome young man appeared. He looked like a younger version of Future and had an eager look about him.
"Father, I am glad to see you well. What may I do to serve you and thus serve the family?" he asked.
"Excellent! Edmond, my boy! I shall defer to you this time. What new ideas do you bring to the table?" he said.
"Battle armor! It is the wave of the future, so to speak... Here's my idea..." he spoke eagerly and with a combination of his father's brilliance and his own youthful flair!
The future is good, thought Colonel Future.
KARA'S QUEST: Part 14
Kara looked at herself in Lois Kent's mirror.
"I can't see any change yet. That witch Peri said she had left some 'gift' for me. With her that always means transformations! What do you think, Lois?"
"Well, honey, you do look a bit younger, I suppose," said a frowning Lois.
"Great! She may have turned me back into a baby again, only in steps this time. Well, Clark is our first problem, not my impending toddlerhood," she said.
She flew off and then returned with a little device.
"Some of the boys at S.T.A.R. offered me this trinket. It is set to do one thing: It detects Kryptonians! It'll lead me to Clark if he's anywhere on Earth!" she announced.
Lois sat down wearily. "Thank you, Kara. I hesitated to bother you and I know you and Clark had some problems."
Kara patted her on the shoulder. "All families have problems. I will never forget how kind you both were to me when I arrived on this earth. Don't let my bad temper and defensiveness keep you away. I love you both!" she said breathlessly.
Lois kissed her and watched her fly off with the tracker.
England! This says a Kryptonian is in England! Has to be Clark. As far as I know no other Kryptonian ever arrived here on this Earth except for Kil-Lor, and he met his doom long ago according to Clark, she mused.
She saw the financial district of London itself and zoomed in as the device beeped its way toward a crowd of business men and women.
A gray-headed man with broad shoulders and a blue suit edged through the crowd near a blonde woman in a green suit and heels.
"That's the old blue suit alright! Why'd he come here?" she wondered.
She landed and said, "Excuse me sir..."
He turned and she saw a very tanned man with a heavy beard.
"Ah... sorry... I thought you were someone else!" she stammered.
"Blasted new wave punks! Probably a druggy. One of them Culture Club types!" he said as he hurried off.
Kara said to herself, "I was sure that device pointed to him."
Perhaps it pointed to me! said a blonde whirling around at super speed and changing into a familiar black thigh boots and leather costume. She looked exactly like Kara!
"Nike! That's impossible! I was Nike!" she gasped.
Then her evil twin slapped her through a wall, and the fight began!
KARA'S QUEST: Part 15
She crashed through the wall and was staggered by a series of sharp punches from Nike. The woman may have looked like Power Girl, but she fought like Wildcat or a berserk Wonder Woman! She pummelled Kara through the ground.
Power Girl flashed heat vision into her foe, who yelped in pain and kicked her in the face.
"I have seen you on the news, luv, guess this was meant to be, you know? Two super women can't share the Earth. We might show up in the same dress or somethin'!" she said.
Kara blasted her with super breath and froze her solid for all of a second. Nike erupted free and sent icy shards flying.
"Guess you'd better make like a good little girl and scarper off to save your public!" she sneered as she shattered a wall with the same breath trick.
Kara flung herself forward to shield a panic filled crowd of commuters.
Nike said, "Faster than the speedin' bullettrain?" and heaved a passenger filled subway train in the air.
Kara moaned at the sight. She shook off the last of the crumbled wall and sped off to catch the train -- literally! Got to match the velocity or I'll do more harm than good! she thought. She pulled up even with the train and slowly steered it down to earth safely and remarkably gently!
"You better leave the innocent out of this catfight!" she yelled.
Nike posed in midair, "No one is that innocent!"
She caused the gas jets under the street to ignite and Kara fell in a fiery explosion that left her weak and angry. She sped around using sheer wind speed to snuff the fires and Kara saw the shattered remains of her tracking device.
"Well, whoever that witch was, she must have been the Krytonian it detected. If Clark had been here he would have risked anything to stop her rampage," she said wearily. "Back to the drawing board," she muttered, since there was no sign of Nike.
She returned to Lois Kent's home and was greeted by her eagerly.
"Kara! Jimmy called and told us that Colonel Future kidnapped him, probed his mind, and stole an Indian tailsman from his collection of Superman memorabilia. That talisman was powerful magic! It could explain what's happened to Clark," she said.
Kara smiled. "I bet it does, too. Now, an idea I should thought of first." She scanned the room and said, "I detect some faint energy trace, but it doesn't feel like magical energy! Still, I could get some help from an expert!"
"Good evening, Mrs. Kent! A pleasure to see you on this most delightful evening!" chimed a mellow voice as a fat man entered the home without knocking.
"Hocus? Or is he Pocus?" said a confused Kara.
Lois said, "He is Hocus and he's welcome, but this is a bad time. It's Clark... he vanished while doing research... we summoned Power Girl to try to find him. Magic may have been involved."
"Dear lady! Sweet frail blossom! Let your most humble servant exercise his own formidable magic powers to track your beloved spouse!" said the ex-stage magician.
"Oh brother!" sighed Kara.
"I can get Dr. Fate, or maybe the Spectre, or even Johnny Thunder?" said Kara.
"Nonsense my pretty!" said Hocus. "I can track the magically abducted Mr. K. As the lovely Lois can attest I have been a master of the mystic arts for decades. Indeed it is my midwest tour that brings me here."
Lois nodded reluctantly. The transformation of the terrible stage magician to "real" magic user had led to a bizarre adventure back in the 1960's that left her shuddering with embarrassment.
Hocus touched his forehead and rubbed his other hand through the air.
"Ah, the mental vibrations call to me. I sense... how utterly odd! I sense that magic has drawn poor Kent to the past... the American past in fact!" declared Hocus.
"What! Time travel! That would explain it!" burst out Kara.
"I can't bug poor old Professor Nichols again so soon after the trip to Krypton. So, I guess I'll go by my own speed," she vowed.
"Wait, Kara! If you go to a time when you already existed you'll become a ghost!" said Lois.
"I may have had my aging slowed, but I'm not that old! Think, Lois!" she fumed.
"Kara, I mean that Clark would have also been a phantom if he had been pulled back within his own life span. You could not even see him," said Lois.
"I better use a time device taken from a JSA foe, Per Degaton, then! It's back at Headquarters. That way I'll remain solid no matter when I end up!" she vowed.
"Ah the vagaries of time travel!" mused Lois.
"Do you know where... when Clark was taken?" asked Lois.
Hocus said, "Alas, no dear heart, I can't be sure."
Power Girl wasted no time in activating Degaton's time machine after scanning the JSA records about the device.
She was spinning through the centuries until a sudden jerk slammed her off her feet and into the air.
"Machine was yanked into this era! I had hoped to home in on Clark by pure mental direction via hooking the old Amazon mental radio of Diana's to the Degaton device. Something stopped us short," she said. The second jarring impact left her dazed.
She saw the large cars and poodle skirts of the 1950's and realized when she had landed. She looked up from the ground to which she had tumbled and blinked.
"I know you!" she said to the red-headed man leering down at her behind a spacious country house where weird lab equipment loomed near the windows.
"Yes, indeed? Alexei Luthor at your service!" he said.
KARA'S QUEST: Part 17
"I don't know you, but I have a feeling we are going to become intimate friends very soon," said Luthor as he pulled Kara to her feet.
She jerked back and said, "I know enough about you to loathe you!"
Luthor scowled, "And I know enough about you to know that as my machines detected you are a Kryptonian. That makes you powerful here under the lesser gravity and yellow sun of Earth. And that in turn makes you valuable to Alexei Luthor's brilliant mind!"
"You plucked me from my time machine because I am Krytonian?" she asked.
"Time travel? How pedestrian? How Degaton!" he scoffed.
"I will use your power to level my hated enemy... your father, perhaps? Superman!" he asked.
"No! My cousin!" she said, firing heat vision at Luthor's boots.
The heat ray never reached the evil genius.
"Feel so weak! What happened?" she gasped as Luthor shoved her to the floor with ease.
"That draining sensation is due to the fact that my other little beauty, Redstar here, is sapping your body by dosing you with red sun energy," he pointed to a lovely redhead in a black and red bodysuit.
She smiled wickedly. "Hello, Comrade!"
"Yes, she is the benefit of my helping the benighted Russian government with metahuman development. I appropriated her. Socialism works both ways you might say!" he laughed.
The woman called Redstar poured on the red sun rays until Kara felt helplessly in Luthor's now much stronger arms!
He strapped her into a machine and looked her over.
"Odd, you seemed older minutes ago. How old are you, ten or twelve?" he asked absently.
"Perhaps, the red rays retarded her aging?" suggested Redstar.
"Bah! Let the thinking be done by one with a mind of worth. You do the grunt work," he ordered.
Kara frowned. "I have deaged to being a little girl! It's not the radiation, but Peri's spell!"
"This device will create a perfect duplicate of any Krytonian. That's why I wanted to snare you when I detected your alien body in our time. I assumed I'd have to use your cousin but you'll do nicely," he laughed.
Kara strained against the device but could not move. Rays of a new sort bathed her young (and getting younger every minute form).
Luthor said, "This machine will make a perfect duplicate of any Kryptonian, only it will increase your attributes like power, speed... oh, and tendency for evil, I might add. Thus, you will serve me better."
Kara gasped as the rays lifted their radiance to reveal... a baby!
"Bah! It produced an infant! What good is a super-powered infant to me? I can't wait for her to mature! The machine is a failure!" he ranted in rage.
Kara smiled. "It increased my attributes as he said, and for now that meant not only powers but the deaging magic of the Peri! That's why it made me as a baby!"
She slipped free as the bonds loosened due to her smaller size. She moved at super speed through the room and melted every machine in sight. Redstar gasped as she was tossed out the window before she could fire her weakening red rays.
Kara smiled in anticipation of victory when her rampage opened a cabinet of lead. A red rock fell in her lap and pulsed faintly.
"Red Krytonite!" she gasped and knew no more.
KARA'S QUEST: Part 18
Kara's rampage left Luthor's lab in ruins and he fled as the chaos attracted police. He left behind his ruined machine and in his haste left the stunned Kara, but snatched the baby.
"I'll let the red K do its thing on you and take your infant twin for my own plans," he shouted and fled.
Kara woke up in smoke and fire and coughed from the smoke. The heat was intense and she crawled desperately away from the lab's ruins.
A handsome man rushed up the drive followed by cops.
"Look! A girl!" he cried and carried her to safety.
"Poor kid!" muttered a cop.
"I'll bet she lived with that kook who moved in as well. He turned me down for a job, even though we are both scientists," said the man carrying Kara.
"Where am I? Who am I?" muttered an amnesiac and powerless Kara.
The red Kryptonite had robbed her of memory and powers.
"Honey, you were in a fire with your dad... I guess. My wife and I will take care of you til he can be found," said the scientist as his buddy the police chief nodded.
"Fred, you and Edna take her in for a while. Her old man may be missing, or worse," said the Midvale police chief.
Fred Danvers nodded. "Sure, how about staying with us for a while. What's your name?"
Kara weakly recalled this much."Kara..."
"Karen, it is!" said Fred Danvers.
The childless and loving Danvers family took in the amnesiac, powerless, and now twelve-year-old Karen and raised her with love for the next three years!
The red Kryptonite normally would not have affected her for more than two days or so; however; the Peri's spell, along with the weird rays of Redstar and the bizarre machine of Luthor's all made it last longer.
Karen lived happily as a normal girl with the family until one day when her memories and her powers all returned! She also gained her lost maturity for good.
She explained her situation as best she could to the Danvers and Fred immediately declared that he would help her track down the missing duplicate Kara that would also have aged about three years by then. "Luthor is no fit parent for any child, much less a super-powered one!"
Kara said, "The other Kara won't get her powers until she matures fully like my cousin did. I thank you both for everything. You've given me a life I might have have had if my rocket had landed much earlier and I had lived a normal youth on Earth with a normal identity!"
They hugged her tearfully and she and Fred put together a device to track the energy constantly eminated by Redstar!
They landed in the woods at the Rockies and Power Girl burst through a cabin hidden in the woods. She slapped Redstar down as Luthor yelled in dismay. He fired a sonic blaster at her and she stomped the floor hard enough to make the cabin shake and the gun fall away.
Redstar fired red solar fire at her but she dodged the first blast. The mere proximity of the energy weakened and slowed her until Luthor could toss a net over her struggling body.
"It is kinetic energy. Your own strength holds you firm!" he laughed.
Then Fred Danvers crashed inside with a gun.
"Leave her alone, you monster!" he shouted.
KARA'S QUEST: Part 20
Power Girl struggled with the net, but as the evil genius said, her own power held her tightly in the net.
Danvers and Luthor struggled with the gun and a shot shattered Redstar's belt device. She screamed as she lost the one thing that allowed her to contain her energized body intact. She vanished in a red solar flare as Luthor slipped away in the night.
Kara's powers surged through her at once and she had enough raw might and speed to rip through the net before it could back her own power back at her!
Danvers cradled the baby duplicate of Kara made by Luthor's bizarre machine.
"She's an angel, but not much older! I guess her aging is slowed!" said Kara.
"Edna and I will raise her as our own since she is all alone here. We'll call her Karen Danvers. Her powers won't kick in until she grows up," said Fred.
Kara kissed them both and flew off in the Degaton machine.
KARA'S QUEST: Part 21
Kara did not know that the Danvers raised Karen in England where he found a job at a lab. They did love her, but the bizarre machine that created her had also instilled within the infant evil tendencies. They surfaced fully when she reached maturity. She also developed into the super powered menace known as Nike, that Power Girl fought and met for the first time only shortly before she took the time trip that led to the young woman's creation!
As Kara continued her journey through time in search of a magically displaced Superman, she did not realize that poor Hocus had wrongly keyed in on the fact that the talisman was displaced to the 1890's in order to work. Nothing guaranteed that Superman himself had been sent through time!
Back on the phone between Metropolis and Smallville Jimmy Olsen and Lois Kent exchanged more information.
"The only thing taken from my place was the talisman so it's a sure bet Future used it to get rid of Superman. But in what way?" puzzled James Olsen.
"Tell me more about your use of it back in the 1950's," said Lois.
"Well, gosh, I used it to create a magical Super-Girl to be his sweetheart. Sorry, about that Lois! She was blonde and had all his powers and a costume like his, too. Of course, she didn't work out. He secretly loved you. He had me just cancel the wish and she went back to where she came from. She was a real doll, though. Then I accidently caused him to lose his powers and finally did something right and let him go back to Krypton to meet his folks. That used up the magic for this century."
Lois snapped her fingers. "So the holder of the talisman can cancel the wishes at anytime?"
"Right! So if we find it we can bring back Superman!" said an eager Jimmy.
"Thanks Jim! I'll keep you informed," said Lois, hanging up the phone.
Kara was headed back in time again in the Degaton time machine when she felt a jerk to the machine.
It must be keying in on Clark... but since he was alive in the 1950's will it be the younger one or the modern one? Funny, it didn't pull me to him in Luthor's time, she mused.
She spun to earth and tumbled out of the machine into the ground.
Looking up, she saw red boots like Superman's, except for the fact that they had high heels on them. The bare legs in them were definitely not male and the blue minidress with the S emblem fit curves decidedly female.
"Supergirl?" she gasped.
"I am the Super-Girl and the perfect mate to Superman! You won't take him from me, you cheap hussy!" said the blonde beauty.
She kicked Kara in the face and the fight began!
KARA'S QUEST: Part 23
Power Girl slipped aside and tackled the Super-Girl in front of her. She rolled her to the ground and they tumbled down an embankment.
She scanned the sky and saw the signs of 1950's America! Can't be the Earth One Supergirl. Different boots, a little bigger, romantic attachment to Superman! This is so weird! she thought.
They split the ground in their struggles and came racing upward again in an explosion of dirt.
"I am made for him! You can't come between us!" hissed the angry Super Girl. Heat vision lanced out to tear across Kara's costume.
She belted Super-Girl in the chin and followed up with two strong punches. Ted Grant would be proud in his sexist pig way! she thought.
Super-Girl spun around and around at super speed and the whirlwind she created knocked Kara flat. Before she could move an icy sheath covered her legs and pinned her to the ground. She shattered it with a punch and fired her own heat vision at the blonde fury. The Super-Girl flinched in pain and flew off. Kara chased her into the sky and saw no one.
"Where'd that super Sandra Dee go?" she muttered.
A whizzing wind announced her supersonic return as she hit Kara in the stomach like a bullet!
They fell to earth and Kara lay still. Her foe drove a high-heeled boot into her side.
She pretended to be stunned and used her other senses. She heard a laugh from the distance and scanned that direction to see a wild-haired old man. His facial hair was curled and old fashioned, even for the 1950's.
She slammed both legs into Super-Girl and when she fell, Kara flew toward the little man.
He frowned and said, "You fear me!"
Suddenly, she did!
Kara shook in fear of the little man as he smiled in malice. "You fear me and you can't stand up when I am near you!"
She dropped to her knees at his feet.
He looked her over carefully. "My, my, my! What a beauty! You love me! You want to kiss me!" he crowed.
She kissed him passionately even as her mind rebelled.
Super-Girl landed suddenly. "Who are you? Why did you order me to be jealous of this woman? She is a stranger to me!"
The little man called the first Psycho Pirate said, "Can't hold two such super powered women at once!"
Super-Girl approached him menacingly and Kara caressed him.
"You hate her! Kill her!" he screamed.
Kara's anger grew and she slammed Super-Girl to the ground in raw fury.
She pounded her and her mind raced. The Psycho Pirate? Not the one I met. He obviously controls our emotions. I still don't know who this Super-Girl is, but she is as helpless as I am. Unless...
Kara rolled back from Super-Girl and aimed a deadly punch at the blonde with a wild sweeping swing.
Super-Girl easily ducked, "I don't want to hurt you. We don't need to fight!" she said.
When Super-Girl ducked, Kara blew with her super breath over the blonde's head. The air hit the Psycho Pirate directly and tossed him a mile away!
Kara recovered and said, "Get him before he can speak!" They raced to him and slapped him into a stunned state.
As their minds cleared they talked.
"I am Super-Girl -- the perfect mate for Superman," said the high heeled blonde.
Power Girl said, "Did you also come from Krypton?"
Super-Girl frowned, "I don't have a past. I only know I am Superman's ideal mate and partner. See the costume?"
Power Girl grinned, This Barbie doll has nothing going for her but looks, heart, and power. She really has no past. She must be magic. Maybe whatever or whoever zapped Clark also made her, and that's what drew me here. I can't use the talisman here or it'll mess up time. I guess I must go deeper into the past. She started to climb back into the machine and head for the past, when Super-Girl stepped inside too!
"The shielding stuff is melting! Is that bad? The fight must have damaged it," she cried.
A flash blinded both super blondes.
When Super-Girl looked up she saw a sign that said, "Duran Duran in concert tonight on MTV!"
"Where am I?" she said sadly.
Kara frowned as she cleared herself from the time machine wreckage.
Our fight messed it up! Great! Just great! she mused.
She saw a sign that said, "Bing Crosby in concert tonight at Radio City Music Hall!"
Where am I? she wondered.
KARA'S QUEST: Part 25
Kara realized that the damaged Degaton time machine had tossed her back to 1939, as shown by the Metropolis signs and clocks. She had made her way there as if by instinct.
I could just leave by my own power but that would put me no closer to Clark. I guess I better do just that! she mused.
She started to fly off when a cry caught her attention.
"Some kind of robbery! Better shut things down fast!" She soared over the busy city and admired the old clothes and cars until her super vision spotted the source of the cry.
A green and gold costumed man was leading five thugs out of the First Metropolitan Bank.
I'll take this creep down easily! she thought.
She flashed heat vision from her eyes and the thugs yelped and dropped the suddenly red hot guns.
"What the--?!? That's sure not that Superman guy!" whined one thug.
"No matter the gender, I'll beat the do-gooder into submission!" sneered their costumed boss.
"You get her! Yeah! Go for it, Moon Man!" cried a shifty punk.
Power Girl smiled. "Yes, Moon Man! Show me how tough you are!"
He fired rays of concentrated force at her and increased the pressure.
She fell flat, to her surprise then literally blew him backward as well.
"You actually moved me. I didn't expect that in these good old days!" she declared.
She charged him and smashed with pure determination through an alarming array of energy fields he created as protection. Then she tackled Moon Man and slammed him through the pavement. He jumped back up to ram Kara in the stomach.
"I can increase my own mass 'til I hurt even a super doll like you!" he laughed.
"Well, I don't care for punks who hit women!" said a brash voice from above as Superman bounded to the ground.
"Superman!" cried Moon Man.
"You've heard of me? Good. Can't say I know you though. I must have missed your wanted poster!" laughed Superman as he marched forward and grabbed Moon Man.
He tossed him skyward and used heat vision to melt the stone hanging from Moon Man's neck. It refused to melt, and merely glowed dimly.
Moon Man landed softly as he decreased his mass. Superman blew him skyward again and leaped up to meet him with a hard right cross.
His foe fell and said, "Take this, you jerk!" He fired at Superman, who stood still with a cocky smile and allowed the ray to bounce off his chest.
"Can't move a Man of Steel!" he said.
"No! Don't!" cried Kara. "It'll deflect into the gas tanks!"
She flashed forward to shove a group of mechanics aside as her super body shielded all from the deflected ray's exploding blast.
KARA'S QUEST: Part 26
"Didn't think of that!" said a sorrowful Superman.
Moon Man had made good his escape.
"You could have hurt someone with that grandstanding! Those rays may not hurt us, but they could kill a passerby!" she said angrily.
Superman smiled ruefully, "Say, you're alright! I never met another super human before that was a good guy... or gal! I should have thought it out. Sometimes I just charge in without using the super brain too! I won't forget this lesson or the warning to be more careful."
Power Girl smiled back at her cousin. It was so weird seeing him as a brash young man. "Was I that reckless when he first met me? No wonder I drove him up the wall!"
"I am Superman!" he said.
"I'm... I'm Lightning Girl!" said Kara. I'd better not give my true name and history to him at this point in history! He does not even know a Krypton exists yet!
"How'd you get those powers?" he asked.
"I was caught in a lab accident. Lightning hit me and knocked me into a table of chemicals," she fumbled.
"Sounds reasonable!" he replied.
"Do you need help finding a place to stay in Metropolis? I know a good apartment for rent in my building. I can even supply you with a background if you need friends or an introduction," he offered.
"I... sure! Let me join you for a while," she said on impulse.
I might enjoy seeing this side of him. I never knew him except as the scolding, legendary older cousin! she mused.
They went to the alley behind the Daily Star after he changed to Clark Kent. "I pose as a meek guy to throw off any curious co-workers like--" he started.
He must sense I can be trusted, or he's a lot less worried about his ID, thought Kara.
"Lois Lane!" said a suddenly appearing young woman. She thrust out a hand.
Kara had barely had time to don clothes from a nearby store at super speed. Leave money later! she mused. On a whim she added a pair of horned rimmed glasses from Clark's extra supply.
"This is Clara Kent. She's a visiting cousin just in from... Gotham!" said Clark.
"Pleased to meet you," said Kara, mimicking Clark's shy and bookish demeanor on a whim.
Lois smiled, "Do you always hold family reunions in the Star's alley? Bring her up, Clark, show some gumption!"
Clark said, "Sure, Lois. Clara, this is my friend, Lois Lane."
"Make that co-worker Lois Lane. I'd not call us friends. My friends have spines," snapped Lois.
Kara watched, amazed. Lois never talked that way to Clark if my day. Back then she was a real witch!
KARA'S QUEST: Part 27
As Clara Kent she followed Clark and Lois up to where George Taylor ran a busy city room. A chubby office boy smiled admiringly at Clara.
"Hi, Mr. Kent, who's the lady?" he said.
"Jimmy Olsen, office boy supreme, meet Clara Kent!" said Clark.
Clara shook hands with young Jimmy, who gazed up at her with a look akin to adoration!
"You know, Mr. Kent is my hero. I want to be a reporter just like him someday!" said Jimmy.
Clara mused, I can't picture the bald Jimmy Olsen I know as this plump little boy!
"I'm sure you'll go far," said Clara demurely.
"Kent, Lane, get in here!" said the grim Taylor.
"I want this Moon Man covered. His powers, motives, et cetera," barked George Taylor.
"Yes, sir! We'll get right on it. Superman and a newcomer Lightning Girl fought him earlier today. Here's my story," said Clark after some super fast typing.
Lois frowned. "Lightning Girl? Is she some sidekick like the Crimson's partner, Wing?"
"Could be, Lois!" said a smiling Clark.
Kara smoothed her long pink dress and merely frowned.
Is Clark smitten with me? That's all I need. Clara better leave town, a.s.a.p.! she thought.
Jimmy ran up with a glass of iced tea. "Here, Clara! Thought you might like a drink," he said beaming.
"Thanks!" she giggled, in character. Now, Jimmy has a thing for me too! I'm messing up history already! This was a bad idea!
KARA'S QUEST: Part 28
Later, back at the roof of the Daily Star, Lightning Girl and Superman planned how to find and capture Moon Man.
"Say, I like that new costume. What happened to the old one? It was a bit racy," asked Superman.
"I thought for this time... I mean for Metropolis, I'd wear something more in keeping with my name!" she said.
She had made and now wore a golden mask and short cape over a little yellow dress with a pleated skirt and slippers.
I figured too much Power Girl in 1939 might have consequences, so I made this more timely Lightning Girl outfit to finish this one case before I get out of here, she thought.
"Clara, what is your real name?" asked Superman.
"It's... Hey, I have an idea. Let's track the Moon Man by his power stone. It seems like more than a decoration. It must give him his powers. Where could he find a moon rock like that?" she interrupted.
Superman grinned. "That's an idea! The moonstone came from that meteor shower that happened last month. I know where the rocks landed. Let's check it out."
They arrived at the site, with Superman leaping and Lightning Girl flying.
"You know, I bet you could fly like me with those muscles and this gravity. Try it," she offered.
"I can, but not for long. I hope to develop that power more when I get time. I stay pretty busy," he said.
The field was lonely and the stars were lovely.
Please, don't let him make a move on me! thought Lightning Girl.
Superman spotted the hidden base first. "A building in those woods. A perfect hideout and close to more space rocks," he offered.
They separated and closed in on the house.
Moon Man did indeed lurk within. His gang of four new thugs cried out as the Kryptonian duo rockets through the window and the wall.
"This time I know how to beat you!" declared Superman. He grabbed the stone and tossed it into orbit at super speed.
Moon Man frowned in disbelief. He moved for a second fragment on a lab table, but Kara cut him off and tripped him. He fell at her slippered feet and lurched for the door with his gang.
Superman clipped him and he fell backward. A blast of breath by Kara sent him into his startled gang too. They rounded them up and carried the rocks to the authorites.
"No more Moon Man! We made a great team," he said.
Lightning Girl smiled. "You work well with anyone. You have no need of a partner. But if you ever need one look in Gotham City!" she said.
"I must go. I'll never forget working with you," she said.
Superman smiled. "I'll look you up in Gotham."
She flew back through time to our era. Got to start over and find him in a new way. Time travel is not working, she thought.
Superman smiled as he went home. "That girl was something else! I hope I can find a partner in Gotham!"
KARA'S QUEST: Part 29
As the time-displaced magical construct called Super-Girl found herself in our time, she immediately sought her ideal mate: Superman!
She flew over the city and marveled at the odd cars and what appeared to her 1950's sensibilities to be wildly futuristic clothes.
"Ah! There is the Daily Star where he works as Clark Kent," she said with a smile.
She swooped inside the office and walked up to a reporter. "Hello, I am Super-Girl. I seek Clark Kent!" she said.
He stood up and said, "Well, Legs, he no longer works here. Can I help you?"
Super-Girl laughed and said, "I hardly think so!"
Jimmy Olsen gulped and ran out of his office.
"Nice job! Clark hired this... model before he retired. She was to help Superman in a charity ad. She's a real human fly!" he said nervously.
He ushered the blonde into his office and slammed the door.
"I remember you! I created you! It was years ago! Remember, Clark doesn't want folks to know he is Superman!" stressed Jimmy.
"Why ever not? He should be proud! He is to be my mate, you know?" she said happily.
Jimmy was worried. He knew this girl came from the very magic item that had been taken from his home. Was her appearance linked to Clark's abduction?
"Superman is not--" he began.
But the blowing curtains showed she had departed.
Seconds later she landed at Smallville dressed in a red dress and heels. Her hair was swept up in a bun.
"Hello! I am Mrs. Kent, Clark's mate. Where is he?" she said in a perky tone.
Lois Kent choked in dismay.
"Who? What? Come inside!" she gasped.
"Listen, Clark is married to me. You need to go back to that limbo land or help us track him down! Are you mentally linked to the device that conjured you?" she said eagerly.
"I am Debbie Kent, Clark's wife!" she started.
"No! You are a magical dream girl created by a glorified stick!" said Lois.
"I can find it. But I really am meant for him!" she said tearfully.
KARA'S QUEST: Part 30
After some fast talking by a frustrated Lois, the magical construct called Super-Girl accepted the idea that by going to the JSA and then following her own connection to the tailsman held by Colonel Future, she could save Superman -- her ideal mate!
She carried Wildcat as Green Lantern flew beside them.
"This must be the place!" declared Super-Girl as she landed in front of a tall penthouse.
"Do a vision scan to see how many foes we'll be facing!" said Green Lantern.
Super-Girl nodded, "Yes Sir! I see around twelve thugs and the Colonel Future your computer file showed to me."
Wildcat nudged Green Lantern. " 'Sir'! Didja hear that? This babe treats us with respect, unlike Power Girl! She even smiled and said thank you when I opened a door for her!"
Green Lantern smiled. "I'd not get too used to a dainty and feminine Kryptonian female in the group if I was you! I mean how often have you even seen Kara in a skirt?"
Wildcat nodded. Super-Girl and Green Lantern smashed into the villain's headquarters with her might and his green energy battering ram complete with ram's head!
Colonel Future sputtered in alarm. "Get them! Use wood on that Green Lantern fellow!"
Green Lantern frowned. This weakness is getting entirely too well known to the underworld! he mused. He slammed a shield between his friends and the energy rifles leveled at them by Future's army.
Super-Girl allowed the rays to bounce off her chest and then blew six thugs into each other with a puff of super breath.
Wildcat swung into the goons with a wild abandon. "You punks wouldn't last three rounds in the real ring!" he laughed.
Colonel Future ran for the talisman, though he knew it was devoid of power. Green Lantern caged the portly conquerer, while Super-Girl smiled prettily and handled the tailsman.
"This is the one! I think we can just get him to cancel the wish about Superman!" she said tossing back her hair.
Wildcat gripped Future's tunic. "Undo what you did to Supes or I'll work some magic on your face! And at no time with my fingers leave your chin!"
Future frowned. "Common thug! Vulgarian!"
"I undo wish one! Restore Superman!" he said desperately.
"Nothing happened!" said a pouting Super-Girl.
"Nor will it. I'll see to that!" said an armored figure.
"Son!" cried Future.
"Call me the Futurian!" he said.
KARA'S QUEST: Part 31
The Futurian looked like a twenty-something version of the Colonel. He wore green and purple armor.
"Leave my father alone, you crass street punk!" he hissed at Wildcat.
"Talks like his old man too!" said WIldcat.
Electric pulses shot out of the armored man's hands and Wildcat nimbly shoved the old man in front of him.
"Stop, son, you'll electricute me!" ordered Colonel.
Futurian frowned and concentrated. "I draw the very air into any matter I choose. Like this!" he yelled as his ran a suddenly forming wooden spear at Green Lantern, who gasped as Super-Girl melted the deadly weapon inches from his chest.
"Thanks Super-Girl!" he said as he created a platform beneath Futurian and toppled him backward.
He righted himself with boot jets and sent a red ray at Super-Girl. It knocked the blonde flat and she moaned in pain. "Solar rays weaken Kryptonians as my father taught me!" said the smug Futurian.
"That's the way, son, melt that Kryptonian Cover Girl!" called his father.
"Get back!" cried Alan Scott as he charged into battle.
KARA'S QUEST: Part 32
Super-Girl moaned softly, "Oh, my love! Where are you?" as she held her stomach in pain.
Wildcat bent over the shapely blonde. "What'd that creep do to you, honey? Red sun rays don't make Supes sick like that."
Super-Girl said, "I think his armor is magical in nature, and that affects me more than most things!"
She sat up slowly and saw Green Lantern dueling with Futurian in midair. Neither gave in and both had grim looks on their faces. Super-Girl saw Alan fall beneath a literal mass of logs that appeared over his head at Futurian's command. He fell hard and Super-Girl weakly flung herself at the Futurian. He blasted her and she gritted her teeth and charged forward against the ray!
Girlie's got guts! mused Wildcat as he ran to clear the logs off the injured Green Lantern.
Super-Girl grew red and feverish as she braved the magic ray. She clutched Futurian desperately and ripped his armor free of his chest with an anguished heave. Then the girl fainted to the floor.
Wildcat charged in and connected with a series of rapid and near lethal punches! Futurian's unshield chest and face bore the brunt of the ex-champ's fury. He dropped to the floor and his father jumped to shield him.
He said, "I just wished Superman away! I can't tell where the magic sent him. I cancelled the wish like you ordered. Leave my boy alone!"
Green Lantern sat up bruised, but otherwise intact. "He's telling the truth. Superman is still missing. I can only assume the wish brought about some other non-related means of eliminating him! even with the magic ended, he remains missing," said Alan Scott.
Super-Girl frowned and started to fade away.
"I am being drawn back in time to where I belong! If you find my Superman, tell him I loved him truly!" she said.
"She's gone!" cried Wildcat.
"So are the Futures! Teleportation, I believe!" said a grim GL.
Wildcat tossed the useless talisman down in disgust.
KARA'S QUEST: Part 33
Kara arrived back at Smallville only minutes after she first left. Her years as Karen Danvers and her time as Lightning Girl had delayed her search not at all due to the vagaries of time travel.
"Lois! No luck, I can't find him."
Lois nodded sadly as she put down the phone.
"Green Lantern called to say that he claimed the talisman, and Future was behind it as we thought, but nothing they did brought Clark back. In fact, Green Lantern added that the talisman's magic was somehow powered from the 1890's and that was what poor Hocus homed in on wrongly. Wherever Clark is, he's not lost in time!"
Kara hugged her and tossed her slippers and outfit as Lightning Girl on the sofa.
"What's that?" asked Lois.
"I'll tell you another time. Just a reminder of an adventure," said Kara.
She studied the loving and now maternal Lois and mentally marvelled at how she had changed from the mean tongued shrew who tormented a hapless Clark in those early years before becoming first his friend and then finally his lover.
"We'll find him yet. Green Lantern says the JSA will search everywhere for Clark. He added that perhaps they can even call in the Spectre if needed," said Lois in a brave manner.
Kara said, "Let me do another scan of exactly where you last saw him at the table."
The beautiful blonde did so and said, "I detect something new. A lingering and almost faded energy signature. The magic made the energy hit Clark when maybe it was never intended to, but it was the energy that took him, not the magic! I was thrown off by Future's theft and that crackpot Hocus," she steamed.
"Can you trace it?" asked an eager Lois.
"Sure! ...Or at least I hope so. I've got to try. He'd do it for me!" she vowed.
"It doesn't go anywhere. It just vanishes right here!" she said puzzled.
"You mean he is here but not here... like he might be on Earth One?"asked Lois.
"Yes! And that would be a huge problem since Starman said no one can cross over right now. In fact that leads me to doubt that he could be there either, come to think of it," said Kara as she smashed the table to splinters in her frustration.
"Easy, honey. That won't help Clark," said Lois.
"I know, but I feel so helpless and I don't like it at all!" said Kara.
"Well, I know you won't hold your feelings in! You're not a shrinking violet!" said Lois.
"Wait, Earth One's Atom -- he shrinks. Maybe that energy is a shrinking ray like the belt the Atom uses. It's some kind of white dwarf something or other. I need Al Pratt!" she shouted.
A startled Al Pratt found himself carried into the farmhouse minutes later.
"Kara, you know, I was only back from that honeymoon adventure for about thirty minutes when you showed up at the house. Mary's going to be steamed!" he explained.
"Look, you know more about Ray Palmer and he knows more about shrinking than anybody else I know. Can he use some physics do-hickey to tell if the energy is reducing in nature?" she shouted.
Al smiled. "Yeah! I can! And I admit using my brains and being wanted for them for a change makes me feel ten feet tall! Ray -- being the other Atom -- told me all his secrets once. He and I never bonded like Jay and Barry, but we are friends at least. He is far advanced in his field and I am just a college prof with special insights due to my lifestyle, but he shared his stuff with me."
He set up the equipment he needed as Power Girl fetched material at super speed.
"Oh yeah! You called it correctly. The pattern almost matches Ray's work. Nearly but not quite. Superman is right here! Just in some microscopic world... some subatomia between the molecules of our location!" declared Al.
"Can you replicate Ray's equipment? Shrink me down too?" asked Kara.
"Kara. I don't think--" started Lois.
Al said, "Yeah, but it is really new to me and I'd hate to risk--"
"Do it now!" shouted Power Girl.
KARA'S QUEST: Part 34
Power Girl found herself shrinking at the estimated exact spot her cousin had been seated at earlier. Good thing he was at a table where we can easily replace the chair in alignment. Otherwise I might miss his destination altogether! she mused.
Al had activated the modification of Palmer's Principal as best he could and Kara admitted that it certainly worked.
"I never dreamed that this microscopic world had such depth, so many nuances... It's like a new universe all to itself down here!" she marvelled at the sights and colors and diversity.
"What the--?!? I thought I saw a scene like in Ancient Rome!" she said.
She saw towers looming high around a courtyard and worst of all she saw a dark nightmarish symbol of her adopted world's tragic past.
"The swastika! The Nazi flag here! No wonder Clark is in trouble if he's here!" she said.
She leaped upward and tumbled back down to the ground. "I've lost my powers!" she said.
"Of course you have! This world is one with a red sun, you shameless hussy!" said an old woman. "It is our protection against the likes of you and that demon seed you call a cousin!" she said bitterly.
Power Girl went up to the withered old crone. "What do you mean this world is protected against Superman and me? Why would we pose some special threat to your world?" she asked.
"Because you are the sworn enemies of the High King! But he has your evil cousin, yes he does! He will soon slay him and we shall hold a celebration!" cackled the old woman.
Power Girl headed off for the main castle. "We'll see about that!" she declared.
She shoved her way past jeering stormtroopers who gave way before her as if in answer to some previously given order. She then gasped in horror as she saw her cousin chained to a hulking revolving platform.
He was bound so that the sheer mass of the chains and the motion of his prison would constrict his chains ever tighter. He was pale and looked haggard.
"Superman! What have they done to you?" she cried.
"Kara! No! Get away! He'll capture you too!" shouted Superman in alarm.
"Who? Who is this High King who hates us so?" she asked.
"Does the name Luthor ring a bell?" said an evil voice. A bald man with a malevolent look appeared with armed guards of honor around him.
KARA'S QUEST: Part 35
Kara saw the evil bald man in his regal robes.
"You're not Alexei Luthor! He has -- or had, rather -- red hair. He's dead anyway," she said as guards grabbed her and twisted her arms behind her back.
"Allow an old man a little joke. No, I am not Alexei Luthor, but I have done more than he could do. I have made this world over in my image!" he laughed.
"Luthor was no Nazi!" said a weak Superman.
"No, he was not. He served himself alone! But I served him well for long years and I was a Nazi! Thus, I have made this microworld over in my image, not Luthor's, although he would be pleased to see his hated foes bound and ready for slaughter!" said the High King.
"Tie the little blonde to her cousin's chains that they may die together in time," he said.
Kara found herself tied to Superman's bonds and they were left alone.
"Kara! How could you come here alone? We are powerless here. What happened to Lois and our baby? Is he well?" asked Superman.
"They're fine. I mean, Lois has been worried sick for the last day or so, but that's normal," she started.
"Kara! I think time passes differently here. I have been a prisoner here for weeks as far as I am concerned. That's why I am so weak," he said.
"Who is that High King?" she asked.
"Martinson! Luthor's first and most loyal aide. I first fought him years ago before I met Luthor himself. He is as deadly as his dead master. Can you summon help? Does anyone know we are here?" he asked.
"Al Pratt and Lois know what I have done in coming here. They may get the JSA to help, too," she said.
"I hope so, because Martinson plans my execution tomorrow," said a dejected Superman.
KARA'S QUEST: Part 36
Kara turned to Superman in their cell. "I thought I saw a Roman-style section when I first arrived here. I know Martinson mixed Nazi emblems with castles!"
Superman said, "You're right. I don't know the true origin of this world, but before Martinson conquered it with Luthor's technology, I believe someone used it to steal or shrink sections of Earth throughout history. I know that I spotted a caveman-type location, too."
"That could explain things like the Lost Colony!" suggested Kara.
"True! But now let me think of how we can get free. With you here to help I feel renewed. I know nothing stops Power Girl!" he smiled.
"I do have an idea. The belt I'm wearing is the device Al and I used to get me here. I can slip it on you and activate the controls like so... and you're free!" she said, matching action to words.
Superman shrank free of the chains and then regrew to his former size.
"Great plan, Kara! Now, stopping Martinson once and for all... well, that looks like a job for... Power Girl and her cousin!" he said meaningfully.
Kara smiled. He was giving her the lead and letting her step out from his shadow.
They raced through the castle to see a squad of guards. The now-human Superman crashed through them like a Titan of old myth. He fought with skill and courage and a selfless nobility that once again proved that with or without powers he was the world's greatest hero!
Kara did well herself, and soon they had reached Martinson's personal throne room.
"You free? Well, That is no problem. I will merely slay you here and now myself!" he chuckled.
His loyal aide the old crone fled in fear. She entered a chamber where a pod hovered in the air.
"My Master's seed must not be ruined in this death struggle with the upperworld demons. No, no my pretty. Your old Nanny shall keep you safe until you can be born. Your gest... gest... your pre-birth pod... will be your fortress!"
KARA'S QUEST: Part 37
Power Girl said, "You don't know how angry I am! I'll tear this matchbook world down around your ears, you skinhead tyrant."
Martinson laughed, "Brave words, you dizzy harlet! I'll see your corpse displayed for my masses." He hit a computer and a weird gun swiveled toward the heroes.
"My Geo-cyclotron will use the power of our world's very thermal core to eliminate you both! Even Luthor never beat you!" he laughed madly.
"Okay, Baldy is Fruit Loops!" whispered Kara.
The weapon pulsed and Superman charged forward. He spun Martinson around and belted him with a strong right hook. The scientist fell, but hit his machine on the way down.
"Great Scott! This thing's drawing on the mircroworld's very core as a power source. It could go the way of Krypton if we don't stop him!" he cried.
Kara saw a computer and recognized it as some type of sighting device. "Superman, this must be what brought each section of the Earth above down through out the centuries to this place. Can I reverse it and let them go back to where and when they were stolen?"
Superman frowned, "Kara, I know this much: if you don't try something this world is doomed by the madman's death ray!"
Kara did as she suggested. The microverse shuddered as areas as diverse as a street from ancient Rome and a mountain peak from prehistory or a town from the 1960's all faded away and hopefully returned from whence they were first stolen.
Superman turned and said, "Martinson, this world of yours will die due to that weapon you activated unless you help me stop it. Think of your loyal subjects."
Martinson scoffed, "I think I'd rather see it die than see the mighty Superman triumph once more!"
Superman shoved him down and watched him flee into the castle's next hallway.
"Let him go! We've got to save this world," he said.
"Kal-L, with the stolen times returned... or so I hope... why not just leave with the belt? There are no other people left here," she said.
Superman frowned "Okay, I suppose you're right. A empty world is no loss, but from one who lost his birth planet, I just hate to see such a world die. But I won't leave without Martinson. He can't die here."
Superman ran down the hall bravely as Kara followed.
Meanwhile, Martinson saw his loyal old aide and the gestation pod of his heir.
"Woman, this world is dying! Let me save my heir!" he roared.
He switched on the computer and activated a weird glowing energy field that hovered over the gestation pod. It blinked out of sight.
"Master, what did you do to yon seedling?" she said.
Martinson scowled, "I could not let the baby die here. It would end my legacy. I sent his gestation chamber through my computer and hopefully transmitted my heir's essence or future brain pattern away to live... and to conquer all who destroyed my microworld!"
"But, master, won't the baby be damaged by the electronic impulses?" she said tearfully.
"No! He may be more computer than man, but all the better to kill Superman and avenge the loss of my dominion! My heir... my brain-child shall survive!" laughed the insane Martinson.
Superman hurried in, only to see an energy field block his path. "Come with us, Martinson, we're leaving! Don't be a fool," he urged.
Martinson and the cowering old woman stayed in place as their world fell around them.
"Never! I die but I shall see you and yours exterminated! For Luthor and for me!" he said.
Superman saw the building crumbled and let Power Girl hit the belt that popped them into the real world in the Kent kitchen.
KARA'S QUEST: Part 38
Lois Kent flung herself into her husband's arms.
His friends Green Lantern, Wildcat, Red Robin, and Jimmy Olsen were all gathered there by now as well.
"Thanks to Kara, I'm home!" announced a joyful Man of Steel.
Lois said, "Thank you Kara!"
Kara smiled. "We're family! I'd do anything for Kal... even apologize for being a stubborn, hateful brat over the years!"
Superman hugged her. "I am very proud of you. I'm proud to be your cousin."
Elsewhere, in the space that led off from the shattered Microworld, time moved at a different rate than it did on Earth Two. Thus, while only minutes had passed to those now reunited in the Kent farmhouse, years had progressed for the computerized pod's occupant.
Now, a computer/humanoid hybrid, the heir of the Microworld had grown to maturity already and had been educated by his father's computers. He had one goal: to kill Superman for stealing the shrunken world he saw as his birthright. He had a name: Brainiac!