Chapter 49

                                    

                                          
Kara stepped out into the mountain, a new, fully repaired mask on her face. She had thought about switching —maybe wearing a simple domino mask with computer lenses and holographic projectors incorporated to change her facial features— but, in the end, she decided against it.

She could see some advantages to having her mouth uncovered, it was far more convenient but, with things like fear toxin, joker venom and people who could turn kryptonite into gas, she couldn't justify the danger of having her nose and mouth exposed.

Also, the full mask had held up to two punches from a powerhouse like Wrath; those punches would probably have hurt far more if she took them directly on her exposed mouth instead of an extremely strong metal.

"Try not to stray from the path illuminated by blue lights," she warned her companions. "The Captain should be both fast and strong enough to protect you from any of the defenses, but it's best not to risk it."

Behind her, Amy and Amber paused, glancing around the room and hesitating to get down to the floor. The girls looked good, much better than when Kara had last seen them at STAR labs.

They both wore jeans and matching domino masks, but Amy had a white wool blouse, her hair held in a ponytail, while Amber had chosen a more rebellious look, having cut her hair short and wearing black boots and a small leather jacket.

"I... what?" Amy turned towards her, one of her hands holding back her... 'Sister' who was looking at the defenses with interest.

"I thought you said you had already updated the defenses?" Captain Marvel asked, his face turning to frown at her.

"I did. In the places we were going to use, not the entire mountain," Kara shrugged, starting to walk out of the Zeta-Tube chamber. "It's a safety feature. I can activate all the defenses from a single button, but deactivating or adding another person requires me to update every one of my devices independently."

Amber herself seemed perfectly happy with the situation, her eyes following the energy cables that feed the sunstone defenses. Kara would have to take most of them out once everything had finally finished growing, making the devices charge passively. Either that or find a way to block another electrokinetic from sensing them.

"Can't you just do it yourself then? You're pretty fast, or I could do it for you," Marvel offered, his eyes glancing worriedly at one of the turrets hidden in the ceiling. "Would only take me a few minutes too."

"Nope, they can't be updated at the same time and take 20 seconds each. I couldn't have any speedster just running through the base and deactivating everything," Kara smiled, looking between the worried Captain and the two girls watching him. "I guess you're just gonna have to stay close to your girlfriends then. Since you're already coded into the defenses, nothing you couldn't stop should activate with you nearby."

"They're not my girlfriends," Marvel glanced away, his face blushing slightly. "Can you not, please?"

Far more interesting, Kara caught Amy flushing in embarrassment as well, while Amber gave the superhero a glare, as if it was his fault they were being teased, either that or because he was denying things.

The kids were still too young to be actually dating, but the girls clearly had a crush on him, how amusing... and strange, it was usually the other way around.
Plus, Billy was definitely too young for them. Then again, they could see what he'd look like when he was older every time he transformed so, well, Kara couldn't blame the teens.

"Sorry, I'll drop it now. I just couldn't resist," she said, turning a corner and making sure neither girl stepped into the white corridor, the one where one of her unfinished Karabots was still slowly reprogramming the defenses. "I'll start teasing again in three or four years, after you've started puberty, should be much funnier then."

Captain Marvel was just about to pass her by, content with getting the concession from her when he heard the second part, stumbling and giving her an exasperated look, as if he could already see it happening and was suffering ahead of time.

"Stop teasing him," Amber gave her a glare, a spark of electricity running through her fingers almost unconsciously.

"Don't worry, I already said I'd stop... with this particular topic," Kara snorted, attempting to mess up Amber's hair only to get zapped in return, her costume's defenses easily absorbing the charge.

Eventually, they started making their way down towards the grotto, Captain Marvel turning towards her. "I thought you asked me to help with some experiments?"

"Yep, but we're using my own lab, not the Mountain's."

"You have a secret lab inside the secret lair?" Amber asked, looking up at her with some approval.

"Yep, don't tell anyone," Kara said, stepping in front of the last safety check, letting it scan her body.

"Ah... about that, I'm definitely telling the Titans," Captain Marvel sighed, shaking his head. "Sorry, Miss Kara, but I learned my lessons about keeping secrets, even by omission."

"Don't worry, I meant anyone outside our circle of friends. I don't really care if the Titans or the League knows, I just didn't mention anything because it didn't come up," Kara answered, waiting until the door started to open.

With a hiss, the wall snapped open, a jet of air being released from the openings in the walls and a cloud of white smoke spread through the floor. "Don't mind the smoke, there's a small leak I'll fix later, but it's not harmful."

"So, why do you need us here anyway?" Amber asked, tracing a finger on the wall as they descended the stairs.

"Your powers interact very well with Billy's magic, I want to study it," Kara answered absentmindedly.

"I thought you couldn't mix magic and tech?" Amy too asked, getting interested in the talk. "I read that magic can't be controlled with technology, it actively doesn't like it."

"That's... not exactly true, it's just VERY hard to even be able to sense magic, much less manipulate it. You usually need special materials," Kara explained, turning on the lights on the entrance to her mountain lab. "I was able to build a device to destabilize magical sources, but the only targets I have are... well, let's just say I want to study other magical sources more before trying to use my own for anything but causing destruction."

"Ah! Yeah, I saw what you did in Salem, I don't think anyone wants you experimenting with that," Captain Marvel said, walking behind the girls and making sure they were safe. "Also, didn't know you had more of it."

"I do, and even I don't want to make a mistake with that. Don't have enough Nth metal to defend myself if I do."

Finally, Kara stepped into her lab, another Karabot looking exactly like her dutifully working to keep the place clean and monitor the energy production. Kara was fairly sure there was nothing wrong with the geothermal power plant, but there was no need to risk it by leaving the structure unattended.

Walking inside, the first thing her companions saw was the bowing robot replication, all three of them stopping short as they looked at Kara's features, the robot getting up from her chair and bowing politely.

Looking at the robot, Kara briefly glanced down at her own chest and grunted in annoyance, damn Wrath. She had prepared the Karabot before fighting against the demon, so she'd have to modify it again and reapply the skin grafts if she wanted the robot to pass for her doppelganger once more.

"Don't mind it, that's just my robotic double. Good for alibis, menial labor and tricking my enemies."

"Cool!" Captain Marvel and Amber said at the same time, trading a glance and a smile.

"Does it have weapons?" Amber asked, her eyes shining.

"Is it intelligent like Red Tornado?" Captain Marvel asked, trying to mask his eagerness.

Amy just shook her head, seeming frustrated at her companions before finding a spot to sit on, her eyes focusing on the experimental table in the middle of the room. Kara had put a mattress to make it more comfortable, but it still looked intimidating for the girl.

"It's funny you should mention Red Tornado," Kara commented. "It does, in fact, have weapons. The design is more or less based on Tornado's blueprints, with a weaker wind core inside, but it's not sentient or sapient, just programmed with a good but limited AI."

"Indeed, I am capable of answering rudimentary questions, but any problems outside my programming would leave me unable to articulate a correct response," her robotic duplicate answered, already opening space towards the examination table.

"So, do I just...?" Captain Marvel asked, looking at the table with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, I'm gonna start with some personal experimentation just to check on some things, then I want to see your transformation before we start experimenting with the girls," Kara explained, sending a command to tilt the examination table forward. "I'm not really gonna try to use your magic —don't want to risk Zeus getting offended or something— just study it."

Captain Marvel easily lay on the table, his back resting against the mattress as it returned to its natural position parallel to the ground. From the sides of the table, twenty centimeters wide manacles snapped into place, locking all of the Captain's limbs including his neck.

Behind her, Amy and Amber gasped, but she ignored them, tapping on her computer as fast as she could. Finally, spotlights shone upon the captured hero and a large robotic arm rose from the floor, hundreds of sharp instruments unfurling from the hand-like tip as if it was a spider spreading its legs, a circular saw starting to rotate.

Finally, Kara finished typing and relaxed. "Sorry about that, I forgot to change the settings."

"Kara..."

"I said I was sorry. It was an honest mistake!" she protested. "I'm not exactly a medic, the table is supposed to be used with robots, not people."

With a snap, the locks retreated, the robotic limb curling back into a ball before leaning away from the table, letting Captain Marvel relax again, behind her, Amber and Amy glared, their hearts beating hard in their chest and electricity crackling from their bodies, particularly Amy's woolen sweater.

"Alright, let's start small," Kara said, ignoring the duo behind her. "Can you just extend your hand?"

The Captain glanced warily at the robot arm, looking perfectly friendly and harmless, the sharp tools hidden from view. Still, he obeyed and, with another command, the robotic arm extended a single finger, letting Kara pick up one of the devices it held, a much smaller copy of her teleport gun.