Chapter 47

                                    

                                          
"Good job, kid," another hero patted her in the back.

Turning towards him, Kara watched the white costumed man giving her cousin a nod of respect before continuing to walk towards his own table. She didn't recognize him no matter how hard she thought about it so, shaking her head, she took a sip of her water and refocused on the conversation.

"Do you think you can heal them all?" Kal asked between bites of his own lunch.

"Yes, I will be watching for any hidden commands, but most of the victims should be able to recover with time and psychological treatment," Martian Manhunter answered. "Even the worst cases should be recoverable if I receive permission to block their memories from a relative."

"You know," Kara wondered out loud. "If there's too many for you to take care of, I bet there's something in the Fortress's database that's capable of physically erasing memories, I remember Uncle mentioning something like that once."

Both Manhunter and Kal looked at her with blank faces for a full second. "Ah... I'd really prefer you didn't build something like that Cuz."

"What? It's not like I'd be making a mind control device, that's probably much harder and not my specialty, but destroying a few neurons is easy and could help! I'd just have to scrap the device later to avoid it being stolen."

"It will not be necessary, there are only a few cases where such drastic measures need to be taken. I'll be able to deal with all of them myself," the Martian quickly answered, giving Kal another nod and walking away.

"... I just can't take you anywhere, can I?" Kal asked, a hand in front of his face, but Kara could hear the amusement in his voice. "Did you have to make him uncomfortable like that?"

"I think that's mostly the psychic blocker, really. M'gann had the same reaction," Kara shrugged. "Unfortunately, I'm not turning that off. The damn eldritch monster kept getting through it and almost incapacitating me anyway, I don't want to think about what would have happened if I didn't have any protection."
Kara took one last bite of her meal, using a napkin to wipe her mouth. Her mask being broken by Wrath's punch had been annoying, but having the lower part of her face free to eat or even talk was actually very convenient, she'd have to take that into account when making her next one.

"Fair enough. Are you going to stay here much longer?"

"I... no, I think I'm done here," Kara answered, taking a second to look at the refugee camp they were currently in, a huge open space created by the heroes and capable of housing a few thousand civilians for some time. "There's only so much I can personally do and I'm exhausted."

"Good, I took the day off, but I'll probably be leaving in the afternoon too, after we finish all the shelters," Kal said, finishing his own meal. "It's gonna take a long time to fix this."

A long time was relative. In her previous life, Kara would have thought the place might never be able to recover from what had happened. On Krypton, it would have already been halfway rebuilt, here...

Well, the city of Salem was not quite a total loss. Kara had done her best to coordinate the efforts after the main battle and she still felt a small headache from overworking her mind for several hours, but, now, the worst was long over.

From being flattened by a falling tentacle, destroyed by rampaging monsters or incinerated by a resulting fire, a little less than a quarter of the city had been damaged. Still, with all the help they had already acquired and heroes... or even some villains with synergetic powers volunteering, it would only take three or four months for Salem to be rebuilt, perhaps even better than before.

With dozens of heroes working the entire night and most of the morning, every abomination save one had been properly disposed of and every affected civilian was undergoing treatment, with several magical heroes examining the spells ravaging their bodies.

Some had been easily reverted to their normal form, while others had been more deeply affected and a surprising amount actually had their meta-gene activated by the event.

Out in the sea, the giant finger was contained. The limb had started to mutate into a truly impressive aberration, but both Aquaman and Mera had showed up, the King had destroyed the creature's newly grown head, disabling it long enough for his wife to lift it out of the sea with a pillar of magical ice.

Now, Mera, Zatara and Fate were working together to bind the creature, Fate keeping it locked in place with a giant ankh of golden light and the others freezing the water around it, enchanting the ice to keep it asleep.

At the entrance of the camp, Kara saw Aquaman arriving, Aqualad walking close by. Focusing on the man, she narrowed her eyes before releasing a sigh.

"Really, do I have to keep reminding people I can clone limbs now? It's pretty easy," she grumbled. "And why a harpoon?"

"His hand is a recent loss and I suspect the harpoon is enchanted," Kal answered. "Probably temporary too, just a placeholder until Atlantis can craft him something custom."

"Huh, guess they would have the capacity to make him something better," Kara said, her annoyance diminishing at the thought. "Well, tell him I offered anyway."

"I will."

Together, the both of them flew up, watching the devastated city from the air, with craters and collapsed buildings everywhere. The place looked like a warzone, but it was already being cleared of debris and repairs would start in a week. Most heroes had already left, but a few were still helping out, their costumes standing out amongst uniformed construction workers.

From outside the city, relief efforts were being organized, trucks of supplies and manpower arriving to help clean up what was destroyed, the government and several nonprofit organizations busy at work to help out.

Heck, Kara could even see some LexCorp trucks arriving, she'd have to keep an eye on them, but they were probably here for the good publicity, Rao knew the company needed it at the moment.

A news helicopter flew close by; the cameraman focusing on both Kryptonians and Kara knew her relative anonymity was over, she just hoped she wouldn't find any smut fanfic about them anytime soon.

Oh, she knew they would be made. She just REALLY didn't want to know about them.

Looking down at the city, Kara tried to locate Kori working. The Titans had shown up sometime before midnight. They hadn't openly debuted as a team, but they had been working as much as possible alongside their respective mentors.

Still, most of the team had classes today and left after the worst was over. Kori herself had stayed, accompanying Wonder Woman instead of doing their morning training in Greece.

Finally, Kara managed to find her girlfriend, the Princess was listening to what one of the volunteer engineers was telling her, nodding her head before darting inside a building and destroying its support beams, the entire structure collapsed a second after she flew out of a window, her hands patting at her Amazonian costume to get rid of the dust.

Kori caught her staring and waved animatedly, her face opening into a huge smile. Getting a thumbs up from the man she had been working with, the Tamaranean flew up in a straight line towards Kara. They had traded a quick greeting when Kori arrived, but they hadn't met face to face.

Unable to help herself, Kara's face morphed into a smile as the girl smashed into her. Kori wrapped her arms around her neck, pressing their bodies together before capturing her lips and making Kara lose several seconds, possibly a full minute.

"Hello Starfire," Kara breathed out, remembering they were out in public while resting her hands at the woman's waist.

"Greetings Supergirl, I am most pleased to see you well," the orange beauty said and then buried her face in her shoulder and squeezed Kara as tightly as she could, almost making Kara lose control of her flight.

"Hey Starfire, it's alrig... Ouch!" she yelped as Kori actually pinched her. "What the...?"

"Humph! Ire! Vexation! This is the second instance of you battling something beyond your capabilities." Kori pouted at her. "Please, have you any idea how distraught I was? You must give me your oath that you will not participate in another such battle without me!"

"That's not fair, I couldn't have predicted Lobo," Kara answered, doing her best to resist how cute Kori's puppy dog eyes were. She failed. "Alright, I swear I'm not getting into such fights without you again if I can help it."

Kori watched her with eyes narrowed in suspicion but, eventually, nodded in satisfaction. "Very well, I will believe you."

"Thanks Starfire, sorry for making you worry," Kara couldn't help saying, allowing Kori to hang off her neck like a scarf as they both floated, the constant noise from the helicopter telling her everything that had just happened was being recorded.

Behind her, there was a bright flash of light. Turning around, Kara watched as the iceberg currently containing the eldritch finger disappeared into a huge ankh of light, Doctor Fate floating in place for a little longer while Zatara and Mera started leaving.

Catching Kal giving her an amused smile, Kara glared at him. "Shut up."

"I didn't say anything!" Kal defended himself. "Still, I can't say I'm not relieved hearing you're taking her with you when getting into fights."

Kara shifted in place unhappily, her hand gripping Kori's arm around her neck for support. She really hated having him worry about her, Rao damn it.

Almost faster than she could see without accelerating her thoughts, Fate flew towards them, stopping a few meters away to just... glare at her for a moment. Finally, he turned towards her cousin and spoke, dispensing with any niceties. "The beast has been fully contained within the tower, but this battle will have dire repercussions. I must speak with the Justice League."

"Nice to meet you Fate. Diana has told me a lot about her time with the Justice Society of America." Kal flew closer, a characteristic smile on his face as he greeted the older hero.

"The child of Gaia was a staunch ally at the time," Fate acknowledged. "Regardless, we have much to discuss and most of it isn't good tidings. I will require your presence in the Tower of Fate in ten minutes."

Kal gave her an apologetic look, but Kara was already leaving anyway and she understood her cousin had hero work to do. After a night to think about the battle, she had recognized both demons involved and realized they really weren't good news, for anybody.

Kara knew she had deviated from the original plot of the YJ animation pretty hard, but she had thought things were better now. Unfortunately, with Gluttony and Wrath present and helping Klarion, things would probably get much harder.

Both demons were heavy hitters, but they weren't the real problem, it was their father that was the true danger. Trigon hadn't gotten involved with the YJ animation, but he was on the same level as the likes of Darkseid, Brainiac and Nekron... and he still had four other sons.

Hopefully, Raven, his only daughter, was still fine and not under her father's influence.

"I get it. Go take care of things," Kara waved her cousin away with a smile. "I'll see you home tonight?"

"Indeed, I would not leave you alone after such a dangerous engagement," Kori gave her a reassuring smile, doing her best to show support.

"Kara Zor-El, I also require your attendance," Fate commanded, his voice leaving no room for argument. "You were present for most of the fight yesterday. I will not allow you to leave before entering the Tower."

"Fate," Kal almost growled at the Lord of Order's tone. His protective instincts went into overdrive after what had just happened. "I really don't like what you're implying."

"Your 'cousin' does not belong to this place," Fate explained, turning away from her as fast as he could. "Her very presence grates on my senses, disrupting the balance and bringing chaos to this realm, but it is not our Fate to fight, I only require that she be scanned for any signs of the creature's hidden influence and will not be hostile."

"I see," Kal said, still looking at the Lord of Order with some worry. "Kara?"

Kara considered the demand. She was tired from the fight and spending hours working, but she also felt guilty.

From the show, she had known Kent Nelson would be attacked by Klarion, even if she hadn't known when, but, with so many things to deal with and how she had been doing her best to avoid the Lord of Chaos, she had actually forgotten about it.

There was also the mention of that damn creature's control lying dormant inside her, Kara already had an alien organ inside her body, and she had no desire to also have one in her mind.

"It's fine. I can stay a little longer."

"You sure, I can ask Zatara later?" Kal asked one last time and, when she nodded, relaxed his body. "Alright. Fate, will you need to look for this in everyone that was involved with the creature yesterday?"

"Yes. I will be spending the next month purging the being's influence from the affected civilians, but there is only so much damage they can cause," the Lord of Order answered. "A hero affected, much less a Kryptonian, represents a much greater risk, making it my priority."

"I understand, I'll gather everyone involved."

In the blink of an eye, Kal flew away, leaving Kara alone with Kori and Fate. With a wave of his hand, the Lord of Order created a golden portal behind him and teleported away much in the same way as Klarion had done during the fight.

"Come on, let's go to the Tower." Kara said, patting at Kori's arm still wrapped around her neck.

A couple of minutes later, Kara was sitting among more than a dozen heroes inside the tower. The room was large, at least a hundred meters wide and with a twenty meters high ceiling, giving plenty of room for flyers.

Despite the fact everyone present knew each other; the room was still divided into teams, with members of the Justice League and Justice Society standing in their own groups.

Strangely enough, Kara was sitting surrounded by the old guard, Kori and Dani at each of her sides while Kal was in the center of the JL group, speaking quietly with Aquaman and Wonder Woman.

Finally, Fate teleported inside the room, taking a second to look around before casting a spell to close the doors.

"Kent, I take it you're about to explain what just happened?" Alan immediately asked. The Green Lantern was back into his civilian clothes, his hair white once again.

Fate considered the man for a second. "I'm afraid Kent Nelson will not be able to explain anything."

"What do you mean?" Jay asked, leaning forward in his chair.

"Kent Nelson had abandoned his post as Doctor Fate for years now, his dereliction of duty giving free rein for the forces of chaos to act unopposed," Fate finally sat down, taking a second to look at everyone present. "More than a month ago, his imprudent choices finally caught up with him and, yesterday, I assumed control of his body to attempt to remedy the situation."

"You're going to wear him like a sock puppet you mean," Alan growled. "Kent told me he was afraid you'd do something like this and that's why he stopped wearing the helmet."

"I will not deny the situation is not ideal, but not for the reason you believe," the golden helmet took a second to consider his next words. "Even if I desired to relinquish control, which I admit I do not, I would still be unable to."

Noticing the green energy starting to gather around Alan and how the atmosphere seemed to be filled with hostility, Kal got up. "Wait, let's all take a breath alright," giving everyone a second to calm down, he turned towards Fate. "Can you explain the situation?"

"Very well, Kent Nelson was used as a gate for the creature known as Yog-Sotha. Once he put the helmet on, I was able to draw upon a portion of the creature's vitality to fuel my powers and seal the gate, but I could not fully block the connection," Fate leaned back, closing his eyes for a second. "I can't relinquish control without re-opening the portal, but neither can I continue to draw upon the creature's power to fuel myself. It means I have a limited time with which to find a new host and an even more limited ability to use my powers."