Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2016 14:42:33 GMT -5
Justice League of America Chapter 9
Written by Sonofdarkchild
Ariella smiled as she flew through the air. The wind in her face through her hair back, giving her an unobstructed view of her surroundings.
A flock of birds came up behind her and settled into a formation around her. Ariella looked around at them. She then accelerated, leaving the birds far behind. The ground became nothing more than a green blur.
Ariella swerved upwards and began ascending, only stopping when she was above the clouds. She gave a contented sigh as looked over the horizon.
Up here in the sky, she was free.
HONK HONK
“Hey! Move it!”
The sound of the car horn brought Ariella out of her daydream. Her motorbike had been stopped at a red light, and she had noticed a billboard over the intersection that featured Supergirl. While staring at the former superhero Ariella had gotten lost in thought.
“Some of us got places to be!” the man in the car behind her yelled. Ariella hit the gas and resumed her drive to school.
Ariella attended Stanhope University, which was an average university that Leesburg's high schools fed into. It was Ariella's first semester there, and she hadn't started thinking about what she wanted to major in yet.
She parked her bike in one of the college parking lots and met up with her two best friends, Michelle and Jessica. Michelle had been the head cheerleader in high school and was already trying out for the squad at the university. She was tall and good-looking, with long, blonde hair.
Jessica was a redhead who was on a mission to save the world and was constantly taking up new causes. During high school Michelle's looks and Jessica's activism earned them the nicknames 'Supergirl One and Supergirl Two.' Jessica always objected to being called Number Two.
In contrast to them, Ariella was plain. She was attractive, but not like Michelle was, and she didn't have the same drive as Jessica.
They were on odd group. Michelle had decided to join Jessica's crusades because she thought it would look good on her college application and resume, and Ariella had done so because her uncle was also part of the group while they were in high school. He and Jessica used to date.
Though she wasn't as into 'the cause' as Jessica, Ariella stayed with her when they started college because she was more comfortable with her old friends than trying to make knew ones.
Michelle waved her over. She and Jessica were sitting on a bench outside of the student union building. Ariella frowned. They're proximity to that particular building meant that Jessica would sooner or later launch into a tirade about racism. Ariella actually agreed with Jessica on that subject, but hearing the same speech all the time had become grating.
“Tryouts left no time for homework?” Linda asked Michelle, who was busy scribbling down an assignment that was due in twenty minutes.
“Too much on tv.” Michelle replied. “Would you miss 'The Walking Dead' just for homework?”
Ariella grinned. “My grandpa would kill me if I put tv over homework.”
“And he has a gun to carry out that threat.” Jessica said with a tone of disapproval.
“Because he's the chief of police.” Linda finished. “Jess, chill. I wasn't being serious.”
“How's Wally?” Jess asked, changing the subject.
“As far as I know he's doing good.”
Michelle snapped her notebook shut and declared triumphantly “All right! I'm finished!”
“And with plenty of time to spare.” Ariella observed. “I think that's a new record.”
“Let's get some snacks before class.” Michelle suggested. “I had to skip breakfast to get this done.”
Ariella nodded. “Sounds good.” Jessica also agreed.
As they left Jessica looked back at the student union building and remarked “It's hard to believe this was once the site of such a serious racial incident.”
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The school day went slowly for Ariella. She had a hard time paying attention in class. She was constantly daydreaming about flying.
She was very glad when her last class ended and she could drive her motorbike home. Not that Leesburg was any less boring than Stanhope.
Nothing ever happened in Leesburg. Its one claim to fame was having been home to a superhero nearly twenty years earlier.
Ariella again passed a billboard of Supergirl as she reentered the town. Pictures of Supergirl were all over town. The flowing blonde hair, the blue spandex leotard, the red cape, skirt, and boots. The iconic look was everywhere.
Ariella sometimes thought that perhaps it was constantly seeing Supergirl that made her dream about flying so much. Her dream was to be a pilot, because pilots could fly anywhere in the world.
Supergirl had moved to Leesburg when Ariella's mother, Linda, was her age. Back then the town was constantly under the threat of supervillains. Ariella sometimes wished she could have seen Supergirl in person, but the heroine had died saving the world before she had even been born.
After the first Supergirl died, a spaceship carrying Superman's cousin crashed on earth. That Kryptonian took on the name Supergirl, but she never visited her predecessor's hometown. That Supergirl had retired a few years earlier, and there was a fierce debate on the internet over who was the 'real' Supergirl, the first one, or the one who was related to Superman by blood?
These debates usually forgot someone. Between the first one and the Kryptonian, there had been another Supergirl. She hadn't been around for long, and her costume looked as cheap as anything, but she had protected Leesburg for a short time.
Ariella often wondered about that Supergirl. It was known that the first one died and the last one retired, but no one knew or even seemed to care why the one in the middle disappeared as suddenly as she had appeared.
She got home and put her bike in the shed.
Her grandmother was home. A deeply religious woman, Sylvia Danvers had become a minister ten years earlier. Her once-brown hair had gone completely gray over the years. At the moment she was sitting on the couch, examining a sculpture she was holding with a sad expression.
Sylvia looked up an smiled when Ariella came in. “Hello, dear. How was school.”
“Fine.” Ariella said mechanically. She saw which sculpture Sylvia was holding, a small statue of the first Supergirl.
There were many sculptures through the Danvers house. All of them were made by the same person, Linda Danvers. Ariella's mother.
At the age of nineteen Linda had been recognized as a world-class sculptist and had gone on to do exhibitions of her work in faraway lands like France and the Middle East. Her death at the age of twenty-one had caused the value of her sculptures to skyrocket.
Ariella never knew Linda, because her mother die shortly after she was born. And because no one knew who her father was, she was raised by her grandparents.
Fred and Sylvia Danvers could have made a fortune selling Linda's sculptures, but they had not been able to part with them. So the house was full of stone angels and little people.
When she was small, Ariella had wanted to learn to sculpt like her mother. However it quickly became clear that she had not inherited Linda's artistic talent, just her hair and height.
Now the sculptures just creeped her out. She thought of them as ghosts haunting the house, refusing to leave any of them in peace.
“Do you want something to eat?” Sylvia asked as she put the sculpture back. Ariella nodded.
As Sylvia went into the kitchen Ariella picked up the Supergirl sculpture. Sylvia seemed fonder of that one than of any other.
Ariella had heard the story about how Supergirl first came to Leesburg to solve the kidnapping of Linda. One of the few things about Supergirl her grandparents had been willing to tell her was that the superhero really liked the statue Linda had made of her.
It was common knowledge throughout the town that Fred Danvers and Supergirl had a good working relationship after she had saved his daughter. But he was rarely willing to share any stories about what it was like to work with Supergirl, no matter how much Ariella asked.
It was like he was mourning Supergirl almost as much as his own daughter.
Sylvia came back with a muffin for Ariella, who devoured it down enthusiastically.
After she was done, Ariella went upstairs to her room, which used to be Linda's room. On the way she passed her uncle Wally's room.
While Wally was technically her uncle, being her mother's brother and her grandparents' son, he and Ariella were born barely a week apart. They had gone to the same schools until he had been accepted into a prestigious Ivy League university while she went to Stanhope.
Wally was a genius, her grandfather was the top cop in town, her grandmother was a religious leader, and her dead mother was an acclaimed artist. Everyone in the Danvers family had something special about them.
Except for Ariella. She was as average as average could get.
Fred came home shortly thereafter. As the chief of police he worked long hours, and it was starting to show. His hair had turned mostly gray, his back was constantly hurting him, and he always seemed exhausted.
They sat down to eat dinner after Fred came home. Sylvia made sure to give Ariella and extra-large portion.
Wally had often complained that Ariella got special treatment, which was partially true. When she did something wrong it often reminded Fred and Sylvia of Linda's childhood, which caused her to escape punishment many more times than she should have. Wally didn't have that luxury.
Despite her special treatment, Ariella and Wally got along well most of the time. Except sometimes Wally would look at her funny, like he saw something in her that made him sad.
As they ate, Fred told them about his day. At his age he no longer went out into the field, but from his point of view being the chief of police was much worse. He had much more paperwork and was constantly meeting with annoying politicians and reporters.
Like Ariella, Fred had grown bored with his life, though in his case it was due to age and physical problems.
After dinner, Ariella watched the television with Sylvia. She had no homework due the next day, and laughing at reruns of 'Whose Line is it Anyway' was how they bonded.
When at last the time came for Ariella to go to bed, she went happily, because she knew she would dream of soaring through the clouds.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In a dark dungeon, a fallen devil continued to sulk in his imprisonment.
He was one of the most feared beings in the universe. With a gesture he reduced Kryptonians to ashes.
Until she came along.
Supergirl. She had seemed much weaker than his usual opponents-she was even human! And yet she tapped into a power beyond his comprehension and managed to imprison him in a void beyond time itself.
Still he did not despair. Though trapped, his power could still extend throughout reality. He captured Supergirls from many timelines, killing them all. He knew that eventually he would find the one who had defeated him, and when she died, he would be free.
But he hadn't counted on her finding him first. This time she was full of a rage he had not witnessed before. It had frightened him. But then she did the last thing he had expected, the thing that angered him the most.
She sacrificed herself.
Supergirl reached even deeper into the power that bound him. His prison was strengthened to the point where he could no longer influence anything on the outside. He was trapped, forever alone with nothing but the corpses of his many victims to keep him company.
Each body was once a Supergirl from a different timeline. He remembered how he killed each of them. Recalling the grisly details was the only thing that gave him comfort.
He wished the corpse of one Supergirl in particular was among them.
What galled him the most was that, even if by some miracle he could escape from his fortified prison, she wasn't out there for him to kill anymore.
With her final act, she robbed him of any chance for revenge.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The next Saturday Ariella went to the mall with her friends. The trip started out well enough. They all bought new shoes. But then something set Jessica off. Ariella had no idea what it was. All she knew was that Jess had started yelling at a security guard at the top of the escalator. The guard also seemed to have no idea what he had done to deserve her anger.
Eventually the guard decided that he had had enough and began to walk down the escalator. Jessica made to run after him, yelling “I'm not done!” When she stepped onto the escalator she was moving too fast. Her speed, combined with the downward motion of the escalator and the separating of the floor into stairs, sent her tumbling over the age.
Arielle screamed in horror, and the world seemed to slow. Without thinking, she leapt over the egde herself. A third of the way down she caught Jessica. The fall seemed to take forever, and Jessica was screaming so loud. Ariella started to wonder how far down the fall was. At this rate both she and Jessica would be killed.
Then she was standing on solid ground, unharmed. Jessica was still screaming, but in slow-motion.
The sounds around Ariella were growing louder. She dropped Jessica the final three feet and covered her ears with her hands. She closed her eyes in pain from the noise.
The guard made it down the escalator. “Aaaaaaarrrrrrree yoooooooouuuuuu ooooooookkkkkkaaaaaayyyy?” he asked too slowly for Ariella to understand.
Ariella couldn't take it anymore. She bolted. Out of the mall. She didn't stop to get her motor-bike. She just ran straight home. It only took her a couple minutes. The sounds of the traffic blasted through her head, further fueling her desperation.
When Ariella made it home, she pushed the door open, breaking the lock like it was made of paper mache.
Fred and Sylvia came into the living room as soon as they heard the loud noise.
“HelpmeIdon'tknowwhatshappeningithurtsplease!” Ariella screamed. Her grandparents didn't seem to understand what she was saying. Fred motioned for Sylvia to stay where she was. Tentavely, he approached Ariella.
“Iiiiiiittttttt'sssss aaaaallllllll rrrrrrriiiiiiiiiighttttt.” he said. He led Ariella to the couch and sat her down.
“EverythingsslowandsoloudIcanttakeit!” Ariella screamed again.
Fred put his hands on the sides of her face. “Looook aaat meee.” He said as fast as he could. “Loook aaat meee aaand breeathe.”
Ariella took a deep breath.
“Thaat's iit. Breeathe.”
As she concentrated on her grandfather and took deep, calming breaths, the world slowly spead up. It took more than five minutes before it was back to normal.
Ariella burst into tears and hugged Fred. Sylvia came over and hugged her as well.
“What's happening to me?” Ariella sobbed.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
There was a great boom that reminded him of a supernova. His prison shook violently. The stone began to fall from the ceiling.
He moved against the wall to avoid being crushed. Cracks were forming in all of the walls as the entire structure was shaking itself apart.
He looked up through one of the many holes that were appearing in the ceiling. He saw the blackness of the void.
He smiled and began to float up through the ceiling to the next floor. The upper floors had been completely destroyed.
As he surveyed his surroundings, he knew he was free, free to do whatever he wanted, to whomever he wanted.
But his first priority was finding out how this extraordinary event had occurred.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ariella and Sylvia sat at the dining room table as Fred went to get something.
“You're not sick.” Sylvia assured the frightened girl. “You need to understand that. There's nothing wrong with you.”
“Then what's going on?” Ariella demanded.
“Something we hoped would never happen.” Fred said as he returned.
“You-you knew about this?”
Fred placed two pictures on the table. “It's time you learned the truth.”
Ariella looked at the pictures. One was of the second Supergirl, the one everyone forgot about. She had never seen a good picture of that Supergirl before. No one had ever gotten a closeup of her face.
And yet the Danvers had one hidden away for nearly twenty years.
Ariella turned her attention to the other picture, which she recognized as one of her mother. Her eyes widened.
Her mother's face was identical to the second Supergirl's. The only difference was the shape and color of her hair.
“But...Mom was....how?” she asked.
“Your mother was Supergirl.” Sylvia confirms.
“The crappy Supergirl.” Ariella observes.
“Don't talk about your mother like that!” Fred snaps at her.
“She was both.” Sylvia informs her. “The first Supergirl didn't die. She just lost the power to change shape.”
Ariella looked at her grandmother like she was from Mars. “You're serious.”
Sylvia nods. “Your mother was the same Supergirl whose face is all over town.”
“She died to protect you.” Fred said. “Had she lived you would have had powers like hers from birth. But it was decided that they had to be removed to keep you safe.”
“So I've had superpowers my whole life?” Ariella asked.
“They were supposed to be blocked away permanently.” Fred said. “This could be very bad.”
“Bad?” Ariella protested. “This is....this is...”
Ariella got up and stood at the side of the table. She took in a slow, deep breath, and extended her arms to either side.
She rose on her tippy toes, and then off of the ground entirely. She floated in place three inches above the floor.
Ariella's voice went up an octave as she yelled in joy. “Grandma! Grandpa! Look at me! I can fly! I can fly!”
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Deep in a secluded forest, far away from civilization, a white-haired woman sat and meditated.
“It's time.” a small voice said from behind her.
She opened her eyes and turned around. A small boy with large glasses and a baseball bat stood behind her.
“Wally.” she said. “It's been a long time. You haven't aged a day.”
“Neither have you, Mae.” Wally the god-boy replied.
“I go by Twilight. And what do you mean, 'it's time?'”
“Xenon is free.” Wally told her seriously. Twilight looked troubled. “It will not be long before he finds out about Ariella.”
“To go up against that monster,” she said in a hoarse whisper, “after what he did.”
“I know it's hard for you.” Wally said. “But she can't face him alone. Not yet. You owe it to Linda to help her daughter.”
“You're right.” Twilight agreed.
“Good-bye, Mae. We shall not meet again.” Wally steps back into the bushes and disappears.
Left alone, Twlight's features begin to change. Her hair glows gold and her face loses decades. She stands still, crying silent tears, and wearing the face of the original Supergirl.
Written by Sonofdarkchild
Ariella smiled as she flew through the air. The wind in her face through her hair back, giving her an unobstructed view of her surroundings.
A flock of birds came up behind her and settled into a formation around her. Ariella looked around at them. She then accelerated, leaving the birds far behind. The ground became nothing more than a green blur.
Ariella swerved upwards and began ascending, only stopping when she was above the clouds. She gave a contented sigh as looked over the horizon.
Up here in the sky, she was free.
HONK HONK
“Hey! Move it!”
The sound of the car horn brought Ariella out of her daydream. Her motorbike had been stopped at a red light, and she had noticed a billboard over the intersection that featured Supergirl. While staring at the former superhero Ariella had gotten lost in thought.
“Some of us got places to be!” the man in the car behind her yelled. Ariella hit the gas and resumed her drive to school.
Ariella attended Stanhope University, which was an average university that Leesburg's high schools fed into. It was Ariella's first semester there, and she hadn't started thinking about what she wanted to major in yet.
She parked her bike in one of the college parking lots and met up with her two best friends, Michelle and Jessica. Michelle had been the head cheerleader in high school and was already trying out for the squad at the university. She was tall and good-looking, with long, blonde hair.
Jessica was a redhead who was on a mission to save the world and was constantly taking up new causes. During high school Michelle's looks and Jessica's activism earned them the nicknames 'Supergirl One and Supergirl Two.' Jessica always objected to being called Number Two.
In contrast to them, Ariella was plain. She was attractive, but not like Michelle was, and she didn't have the same drive as Jessica.
They were on odd group. Michelle had decided to join Jessica's crusades because she thought it would look good on her college application and resume, and Ariella had done so because her uncle was also part of the group while they were in high school. He and Jessica used to date.
Though she wasn't as into 'the cause' as Jessica, Ariella stayed with her when they started college because she was more comfortable with her old friends than trying to make knew ones.
Michelle waved her over. She and Jessica were sitting on a bench outside of the student union building. Ariella frowned. They're proximity to that particular building meant that Jessica would sooner or later launch into a tirade about racism. Ariella actually agreed with Jessica on that subject, but hearing the same speech all the time had become grating.
“Tryouts left no time for homework?” Linda asked Michelle, who was busy scribbling down an assignment that was due in twenty minutes.
“Too much on tv.” Michelle replied. “Would you miss 'The Walking Dead' just for homework?”
Ariella grinned. “My grandpa would kill me if I put tv over homework.”
“And he has a gun to carry out that threat.” Jessica said with a tone of disapproval.
“Because he's the chief of police.” Linda finished. “Jess, chill. I wasn't being serious.”
“How's Wally?” Jess asked, changing the subject.
“As far as I know he's doing good.”
Michelle snapped her notebook shut and declared triumphantly “All right! I'm finished!”
“And with plenty of time to spare.” Ariella observed. “I think that's a new record.”
“Let's get some snacks before class.” Michelle suggested. “I had to skip breakfast to get this done.”
Ariella nodded. “Sounds good.” Jessica also agreed.
As they left Jessica looked back at the student union building and remarked “It's hard to believe this was once the site of such a serious racial incident.”
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The school day went slowly for Ariella. She had a hard time paying attention in class. She was constantly daydreaming about flying.
She was very glad when her last class ended and she could drive her motorbike home. Not that Leesburg was any less boring than Stanhope.
Nothing ever happened in Leesburg. Its one claim to fame was having been home to a superhero nearly twenty years earlier.
Ariella again passed a billboard of Supergirl as she reentered the town. Pictures of Supergirl were all over town. The flowing blonde hair, the blue spandex leotard, the red cape, skirt, and boots. The iconic look was everywhere.
Ariella sometimes thought that perhaps it was constantly seeing Supergirl that made her dream about flying so much. Her dream was to be a pilot, because pilots could fly anywhere in the world.
Supergirl had moved to Leesburg when Ariella's mother, Linda, was her age. Back then the town was constantly under the threat of supervillains. Ariella sometimes wished she could have seen Supergirl in person, but the heroine had died saving the world before she had even been born.
After the first Supergirl died, a spaceship carrying Superman's cousin crashed on earth. That Kryptonian took on the name Supergirl, but she never visited her predecessor's hometown. That Supergirl had retired a few years earlier, and there was a fierce debate on the internet over who was the 'real' Supergirl, the first one, or the one who was related to Superman by blood?
These debates usually forgot someone. Between the first one and the Kryptonian, there had been another Supergirl. She hadn't been around for long, and her costume looked as cheap as anything, but she had protected Leesburg for a short time.
Ariella often wondered about that Supergirl. It was known that the first one died and the last one retired, but no one knew or even seemed to care why the one in the middle disappeared as suddenly as she had appeared.
She got home and put her bike in the shed.
Her grandmother was home. A deeply religious woman, Sylvia Danvers had become a minister ten years earlier. Her once-brown hair had gone completely gray over the years. At the moment she was sitting on the couch, examining a sculpture she was holding with a sad expression.
Sylvia looked up an smiled when Ariella came in. “Hello, dear. How was school.”
“Fine.” Ariella said mechanically. She saw which sculpture Sylvia was holding, a small statue of the first Supergirl.
There were many sculptures through the Danvers house. All of them were made by the same person, Linda Danvers. Ariella's mother.
At the age of nineteen Linda had been recognized as a world-class sculptist and had gone on to do exhibitions of her work in faraway lands like France and the Middle East. Her death at the age of twenty-one had caused the value of her sculptures to skyrocket.
Ariella never knew Linda, because her mother die shortly after she was born. And because no one knew who her father was, she was raised by her grandparents.
Fred and Sylvia Danvers could have made a fortune selling Linda's sculptures, but they had not been able to part with them. So the house was full of stone angels and little people.
When she was small, Ariella had wanted to learn to sculpt like her mother. However it quickly became clear that she had not inherited Linda's artistic talent, just her hair and height.
Now the sculptures just creeped her out. She thought of them as ghosts haunting the house, refusing to leave any of them in peace.
“Do you want something to eat?” Sylvia asked as she put the sculpture back. Ariella nodded.
As Sylvia went into the kitchen Ariella picked up the Supergirl sculpture. Sylvia seemed fonder of that one than of any other.
Ariella had heard the story about how Supergirl first came to Leesburg to solve the kidnapping of Linda. One of the few things about Supergirl her grandparents had been willing to tell her was that the superhero really liked the statue Linda had made of her.
It was common knowledge throughout the town that Fred Danvers and Supergirl had a good working relationship after she had saved his daughter. But he was rarely willing to share any stories about what it was like to work with Supergirl, no matter how much Ariella asked.
It was like he was mourning Supergirl almost as much as his own daughter.
Sylvia came back with a muffin for Ariella, who devoured it down enthusiastically.
After she was done, Ariella went upstairs to her room, which used to be Linda's room. On the way she passed her uncle Wally's room.
While Wally was technically her uncle, being her mother's brother and her grandparents' son, he and Ariella were born barely a week apart. They had gone to the same schools until he had been accepted into a prestigious Ivy League university while she went to Stanhope.
Wally was a genius, her grandfather was the top cop in town, her grandmother was a religious leader, and her dead mother was an acclaimed artist. Everyone in the Danvers family had something special about them.
Except for Ariella. She was as average as average could get.
Fred came home shortly thereafter. As the chief of police he worked long hours, and it was starting to show. His hair had turned mostly gray, his back was constantly hurting him, and he always seemed exhausted.
They sat down to eat dinner after Fred came home. Sylvia made sure to give Ariella and extra-large portion.
Wally had often complained that Ariella got special treatment, which was partially true. When she did something wrong it often reminded Fred and Sylvia of Linda's childhood, which caused her to escape punishment many more times than she should have. Wally didn't have that luxury.
Despite her special treatment, Ariella and Wally got along well most of the time. Except sometimes Wally would look at her funny, like he saw something in her that made him sad.
As they ate, Fred told them about his day. At his age he no longer went out into the field, but from his point of view being the chief of police was much worse. He had much more paperwork and was constantly meeting with annoying politicians and reporters.
Like Ariella, Fred had grown bored with his life, though in his case it was due to age and physical problems.
After dinner, Ariella watched the television with Sylvia. She had no homework due the next day, and laughing at reruns of 'Whose Line is it Anyway' was how they bonded.
When at last the time came for Ariella to go to bed, she went happily, because she knew she would dream of soaring through the clouds.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In a dark dungeon, a fallen devil continued to sulk in his imprisonment.
He was one of the most feared beings in the universe. With a gesture he reduced Kryptonians to ashes.
Until she came along.
Supergirl. She had seemed much weaker than his usual opponents-she was even human! And yet she tapped into a power beyond his comprehension and managed to imprison him in a void beyond time itself.
Still he did not despair. Though trapped, his power could still extend throughout reality. He captured Supergirls from many timelines, killing them all. He knew that eventually he would find the one who had defeated him, and when she died, he would be free.
But he hadn't counted on her finding him first. This time she was full of a rage he had not witnessed before. It had frightened him. But then she did the last thing he had expected, the thing that angered him the most.
She sacrificed herself.
Supergirl reached even deeper into the power that bound him. His prison was strengthened to the point where he could no longer influence anything on the outside. He was trapped, forever alone with nothing but the corpses of his many victims to keep him company.
Each body was once a Supergirl from a different timeline. He remembered how he killed each of them. Recalling the grisly details was the only thing that gave him comfort.
He wished the corpse of one Supergirl in particular was among them.
What galled him the most was that, even if by some miracle he could escape from his fortified prison, she wasn't out there for him to kill anymore.
With her final act, she robbed him of any chance for revenge.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The next Saturday Ariella went to the mall with her friends. The trip started out well enough. They all bought new shoes. But then something set Jessica off. Ariella had no idea what it was. All she knew was that Jess had started yelling at a security guard at the top of the escalator. The guard also seemed to have no idea what he had done to deserve her anger.
Eventually the guard decided that he had had enough and began to walk down the escalator. Jessica made to run after him, yelling “I'm not done!” When she stepped onto the escalator she was moving too fast. Her speed, combined with the downward motion of the escalator and the separating of the floor into stairs, sent her tumbling over the age.
Arielle screamed in horror, and the world seemed to slow. Without thinking, she leapt over the egde herself. A third of the way down she caught Jessica. The fall seemed to take forever, and Jessica was screaming so loud. Ariella started to wonder how far down the fall was. At this rate both she and Jessica would be killed.
Then she was standing on solid ground, unharmed. Jessica was still screaming, but in slow-motion.
The sounds around Ariella were growing louder. She dropped Jessica the final three feet and covered her ears with her hands. She closed her eyes in pain from the noise.
The guard made it down the escalator. “Aaaaaaarrrrrrree yoooooooouuuuuu ooooooookkkkkkaaaaaayyyy?” he asked too slowly for Ariella to understand.
Ariella couldn't take it anymore. She bolted. Out of the mall. She didn't stop to get her motor-bike. She just ran straight home. It only took her a couple minutes. The sounds of the traffic blasted through her head, further fueling her desperation.
When Ariella made it home, she pushed the door open, breaking the lock like it was made of paper mache.
Fred and Sylvia came into the living room as soon as they heard the loud noise.
“HelpmeIdon'tknowwhatshappeningithurtsplease!” Ariella screamed. Her grandparents didn't seem to understand what she was saying. Fred motioned for Sylvia to stay where she was. Tentavely, he approached Ariella.
“Iiiiiiittttttt'sssss aaaaallllllll rrrrrrriiiiiiiiiighttttt.” he said. He led Ariella to the couch and sat her down.
“EverythingsslowandsoloudIcanttakeit!” Ariella screamed again.
Fred put his hands on the sides of her face. “Looook aaat meee.” He said as fast as he could. “Loook aaat meee aaand breeathe.”
Ariella took a deep breath.
“Thaat's iit. Breeathe.”
As she concentrated on her grandfather and took deep, calming breaths, the world slowly spead up. It took more than five minutes before it was back to normal.
Ariella burst into tears and hugged Fred. Sylvia came over and hugged her as well.
“What's happening to me?” Ariella sobbed.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
There was a great boom that reminded him of a supernova. His prison shook violently. The stone began to fall from the ceiling.
He moved against the wall to avoid being crushed. Cracks were forming in all of the walls as the entire structure was shaking itself apart.
He looked up through one of the many holes that were appearing in the ceiling. He saw the blackness of the void.
He smiled and began to float up through the ceiling to the next floor. The upper floors had been completely destroyed.
As he surveyed his surroundings, he knew he was free, free to do whatever he wanted, to whomever he wanted.
But his first priority was finding out how this extraordinary event had occurred.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ariella and Sylvia sat at the dining room table as Fred went to get something.
“You're not sick.” Sylvia assured the frightened girl. “You need to understand that. There's nothing wrong with you.”
“Then what's going on?” Ariella demanded.
“Something we hoped would never happen.” Fred said as he returned.
“You-you knew about this?”
Fred placed two pictures on the table. “It's time you learned the truth.”
Ariella looked at the pictures. One was of the second Supergirl, the one everyone forgot about. She had never seen a good picture of that Supergirl before. No one had ever gotten a closeup of her face.
And yet the Danvers had one hidden away for nearly twenty years.
Ariella turned her attention to the other picture, which she recognized as one of her mother. Her eyes widened.
Her mother's face was identical to the second Supergirl's. The only difference was the shape and color of her hair.
“But...Mom was....how?” she asked.
“Your mother was Supergirl.” Sylvia confirms.
“The crappy Supergirl.” Ariella observes.
“Don't talk about your mother like that!” Fred snaps at her.
“She was both.” Sylvia informs her. “The first Supergirl didn't die. She just lost the power to change shape.”
Ariella looked at her grandmother like she was from Mars. “You're serious.”
Sylvia nods. “Your mother was the same Supergirl whose face is all over town.”
“She died to protect you.” Fred said. “Had she lived you would have had powers like hers from birth. But it was decided that they had to be removed to keep you safe.”
“So I've had superpowers my whole life?” Ariella asked.
“They were supposed to be blocked away permanently.” Fred said. “This could be very bad.”
“Bad?” Ariella protested. “This is....this is...”
Ariella got up and stood at the side of the table. She took in a slow, deep breath, and extended her arms to either side.
She rose on her tippy toes, and then off of the ground entirely. She floated in place three inches above the floor.
Ariella's voice went up an octave as she yelled in joy. “Grandma! Grandpa! Look at me! I can fly! I can fly!”
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Deep in a secluded forest, far away from civilization, a white-haired woman sat and meditated.
“It's time.” a small voice said from behind her.
She opened her eyes and turned around. A small boy with large glasses and a baseball bat stood behind her.
“Wally.” she said. “It's been a long time. You haven't aged a day.”
“Neither have you, Mae.” Wally the god-boy replied.
“I go by Twilight. And what do you mean, 'it's time?'”
“Xenon is free.” Wally told her seriously. Twilight looked troubled. “It will not be long before he finds out about Ariella.”
“To go up against that monster,” she said in a hoarse whisper, “after what he did.”
“I know it's hard for you.” Wally said. “But she can't face him alone. Not yet. You owe it to Linda to help her daughter.”
“You're right.” Twilight agreed.
“Good-bye, Mae. We shall not meet again.” Wally steps back into the bushes and disappears.
Left alone, Twlight's features begin to change. Her hair glows gold and her face loses decades. She stands still, crying silent tears, and wearing the face of the original Supergirl.
