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cyclone-rachel · 2 years ago

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don’t know if I’ll live ‘til tomorrow // a supergirl fanfic

All Querl hears is Lex’s laughter.

His taunting- so, Coluan, you were only mostly dead? No matter. You can die with her- as he rushes forward, making it to Supergirl’s side simultaneously in time and too late.

All he sees is the Fortress of Solitude, ice surrounding him, the rest of the people he tried to save- fading from sight, pulled away from him, as though he’s the one who’s been put in a bottle this time.

All he feels is Kara’s hand in his, as they land in a place they both know well.

“We’re in the Phantom Zone.”

Their hands haven’t left one another since they got there.

“Your ancestral memories.” Kara says suddenly, if only to hear something at all. “Do they have anything that could help us? I mean, Indigo was sent to Fort Rozz with my aunt and uncle, but…”

“I should ask you for any information.” Querl answers. “You were the one who had to stay here for over twenty years.”

“In my spaceship.” Kara tells him, shivering. “Not out here. And besides, it’s… different now.”

“Indeed.” Querl says as he squeezes her hand. “And as for your question, yes. Besides Indigo herself, I actually have several ancestors who’ve found their way here.”

He lets himself laugh, a little bit.

“You would think they’d expect after a while that any kind of criminal act would get one sent to such a place as this. Especially when dealing with those who discovered it in the first place.”

“The Kryptonians.” Kara says. “Yeah.”

“And, surprisingly, one of my doppelgangers that we met after the Crisis briefly suffered the same fate, while he and the Legion were fighting a child of General Zod.”

“How did that one get out?”

“He had the help of his friends.”

“…Oh.”

“I remember it.” Kara says. “Being here. Or, somewhere like here, anyway. My mother- Alura- well… she certainly didn’t expect my pod to be knocked off-course, when I was sent from Krypton. But she said I would sleep most of the way. And I tried, some of the time.”

“But not for decades.”

“No.” Kara agrees, sighing. “Even when I got to Earth, I was afraid to fall asleep- because I didn’t think it was real. Like I would wake up in my pod again, and every hope of escape would be taken away from me. I’d just be stuck there, for years, and nobody would know.”

“And now you have returned.” Querl answers. “Is this how it looked before? You said it was different.”

“It is different.” Kara emphasizes, looking around her. “It seems… fragmented.”

“Like the universes collided with one another.” He observes. “Of course.”

“Which will make it more difficult for them to find us.” Kara says, shoulders slumping. “I can’t imagine where they’d even start looking.”

And without a twelfth-level intellect, the process will be much slower, she thinks.

She imagines it for a moment- Alex or someone else finally forcing an opening, pulling her into the light. Kara asking how long it’s been, and her sister hesitating, before telling her how many years. Or worse, it’s not Alex at all- maybe this time it will have been hundreds of years, or thousands. She pictures the Legion rescuing her and Brainy, his friends happy to see him but saddened when they also glimpse her.

“But they will be looking.” He says. “As for our situation… if you had not been in your pod, is there anywhere here that you would have gone, to keep yourself safe?”

“Yes.” Kara says, a little more confident. “There’s one place.”

“I… I hate him.”

“Who?” Kara wonders, but remembering all they’ve recently been through, she knows the answer right after she asks.

“Lex.” She corrects herself. “Yeah. I feel the same way.”

Brainy squeezes her hand again, this time tighter, stepping closer beside her as they continue walking.

“Everything I did was to keep you safe.” He says. “I was sworn to secrecy by one of the other versions of myself- the woman, who called herself the director of the DEO.”

“The one who looked like she could’ve been your sister.” Kara says. “I remember.”

“She told me this was the only way to make things right, that her universe was the closest to ours, and if I did not work with Lex, disaster would occur. Leviathan would win. I could not let that happen.”

“Of course.” Kara answers.

“I knew how much you would lose trust in me.” Brainy says. “But that was necessary. I only hoped that you would forgive me, once it was all over.”

Kara nods.

“I do.” She says. “If that counts for anything.”

“Certainly, in this situation.” He answers. “Thank you.”

Kara smiles at him, and he tentatively smiles back, before going on.

“Every step of the way, I hated working with him.” He says. “Every time he would threaten you, or make some derisive comment about us or any of our friends, I was only more determined to defeat Leviathan with him so that he could be stopped as well. But it had to be in that order. Until then…”

“You were inhibited.”

“Yes.” He agrees. “You see the cruel irony in this situation. But now, I have stopped Leviathan, nearly at the cost of my own life were it not for all of you, and Lex is…”

Kara squeezes his hand.

“Our friends can handle him.” She says. “I hope. But… how did you stop Leviathan? I wasn’t sure, J’onn and Alex said that they were fighting them, but they just vanished.”

“I bottled them, if you can believe it.” Brainy answers. “I uploaded the mortality code that Lex tasked me to get, and used a bottle I found in the DEO vault.”

“You say that as if we didn’t find you almost dead of radiation poisoning.” Kara tells him. “But, if there was any doubt you were good to your core, I think it’s gone now.” “Yes.” Brainy says. “It is.”

They come across a cave, when trying to find shelter.

Neither of them have kept track of time, in this place, but without the sun and cut off from any kind of knowledge, Kara and Querl are both tired, and decide to take the risk to rest.

But because this is the Phantom Zone, and no good things happen in such a place, the path inside the cave leads in two directions, so for the first time, they split apart to investigate each.

And when they reunite, Kara finds Querl trapped.

It doesn’t seem too serious at first- if Kara had her super-strength, she could easily break the crystal encasing one of Querl’s feet. And even without it, she still tries, but the crystal only grows in response.

“My great-grandfather discovered the Phantom Zone.” Kara says. “I don’t think he ever wrote anything about this.”

“Then we will have to keep trying.” Querl answers. “I believe in you.”

And however strong that belief is, it doesn’t free him. As much as Kara keeps looking for a solution, she can’t find anything. She so badly wants to help him, or do anything to make sure he’s safe- Rao knows he’s done much more of that for her, especially in recent days- but the crystal keeps growing over his body, and he’s even more trapped than they already are.

“How long do you think I have, Kara?” he asks, when the crystal has reached his waist.

She tries not to imagine him asking that question just before they found themselves here, when she and the others had found him in Leviathan’s headquarters, practically radiating from how much exposure he’d gotten.

Back then, at least, they’d found a solution. Alex had given him the boost to his system he’d needed to survive, and everything had been okay.

Here… Kara wishes she could analyze the material he’s stuck in, or shoot it with her heat vision (in a way that wouldn’t incinerate him, of course) or any number of things.

But it’s only a matter of time before there’s no more of him for the crystal to encase, and even before then, there would be no telling what else came to find them here.

Until then, however, they just… talk. Try to pass the time, however they can. They tell each other the meanings of their names, share stories of their childhoods on Krypton and Colu, anything works- except discussion of their present situation, and how little time they have left.

When the crystal comes up to Querl’s neck, he confesses that he loves her- that he always has.

For a moment, Kara wants to accept it, tell him that she loves him too.

But…

It feels off, somehow, and when she says “No.”, his expression gives him away.

“What have you done with Querl?”

“Kara Zor-El.” He says, image-inducing into a form she doesn’t know- a tall woman resembling Brainiac 8. “It took you long enough to figure it out.”

“You’re Brainy’s mother.”

“Hello, Kryptonian.” Says the woman- Brainiac 4, Kara realizes. “It was exhausting pretending to be civil to you.”

“How are you even here?” Kara asks.

Brainiac 4 waves her hand dismissively.

“It matters not.” She says. “I am here for my son. I had heard that he’d escaped to the twenty-first century, to avoid the plague that our relative had released, and was under the protection of Supergirl. Imagine my surprise when I learned he and Supergirl were in the Phantom Zone of all places together, just as my great-grandfather and yours had been two hundred years before your time. And, for that matter, that he had nearly died protecting you.”

“He did that because he’s a hero, and my friend.” Kara answers, wishing now more than ever for the sunlight, something to give her strength. Even without it, though, she could still deal with this woman. “What did you do with him? Where is he?”

“You think I would tell you that?”

“If you do, maybe I’ll think about letting you go. You’d still be trapped anyway.”

Brainiac 4 frowns.

“I suppose that’s your famous compassion.” She says. “But no matter. Have you forgotten that you are trapped in here as well? We are no better off than one another, Kara Zor-El.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. Our friends are coming to find us, and soon, you’ll be stuck here alone.”

Kara imagines it- Brainiac 4, watching as Kara and Brainy and their friends leave the Phantom Zone, trapped with only the Phantoms for company. She can’t pretend it doesn’t give her a tiny bit of happiness.

“You truly still believe that?” Brainiac 4 asks. “Look around you. The Phantom Zone has changed- the collision of the pocket dimensions from infinite earths… it would take a twelfth-level intellect to navigate such a place. And even if my son had not come with you, he and your friends would be ultimately helpless. They would be set upon by countless Phantoms, consumed by their worst fears, and this time there would be no Fort Rozz to pull you free.”

Kara didn’t like the sound of that, definitely. But just recently, hadn’t she believed in the entire world? She’d held out hope that they would disconnect themselves from the Obsidian North program, break themselves out of the digital world where their lives were being threatened. She’d hoped, too, that Brainy wasn’t truly under Lex’s control, and he had proved that. She could still trust her friends, that they could overcome anything, and they surely trusted that she and Brainy would stay alive, long enough for them to be rescued.

“I believe in them.” She says. “And in your son.”

“Are you sure that is wise?” Brainiac 4 asks. “How much has he told you, about his past before the Legion, about our family? Would you still trust him, if you knew that he was once a criminal, that he was arrested- even after the inhibitors were placed on him?”

“I would know that that wasn’t the whole story.” Kara tells her. “No matter what he did, he’s a Legionnaire now, and a Super-friend- and I still want to know where he is.”

“Of course you do.” Brainiac 4 states flatly, looking towards another pathway in the cave. “He is down that hallway; he’ll wake up soon. And as for you…” She gives Kara an evil smirk, and Kara does her best to return it with a glare. “We will meet again, Kryptonian.”

She leaves then, giving Kara an opportunity to run down the path, and soon take the real Brainy in her arms.

“So, you have finally met my mother.” Brainy says once he’s awake, fiddling with his Legion ring and not looking Kara in the eyes.

“Yeah.” Kara answers. “She pretended that she was you- and said we would meet again.”

“That sounds like her.” He tells her. “We should leave- help me up, please?”

Kara stands, and holds out a hand to him, helping him stand beside her, and soon they find themselves under what passes for sky in the Phantom Zone once again, doing their best to keep moving.

“What else did she say?” Brainy asks once they’re a good distance from the cave, eyes almost soft again as he looks at her. She’s always found it easy to talk with him, while they’ve known each other (recent events involving Lex Luthor aside) and yet it’s difficult now for her to form her answer.

“She… she said you loved me.” Kara tells him, without elaborating.

And he, in turn, doesn’t elaborate either- that, in this case, information gleaned from his ancestral memory... his mother was correct. He does love her, of course he does.

(It seems to be a constant, he thinks, as he recalls the memories he’s received from the other versions of himself- the one with the yellow boots, dancing with his Kara who wore a bright red headband with her costume, his female doppelganger getting married to a Kara with shorter hair, even the one who wore a jacket scribbled all over with equations fighting alongside his Kara who wore a different costume with a red ring. In every universe, the two of them were connected in some way, and that on its own was something to consider)

But that discussion can be saved for outside of the Phantom Zone, once everything can indeed be sorted out.

And besides, some inner voice taunts him, if you told her that was true, how would Kara be able to believe you now? She won’t trust anything coming from Fabala, even that.

Shut up, he thinks. We will talk about it later.

But later is something that literally does not exist yet, for the two of them.

All there is at the moment, is he and Kara, holding hands as they continue walking through the Phantom Zone, avoiding the phantoms that inhabit such a place and each grateful to the other that they are not alone.

“She also said you used to be a criminal.” Kara adds. “Even after you got your inhibitors. Is that true?”

He still doesn’t look at her, before he slowly nods.

“It is.” He confirms. “I… did not believe I had any kind of choice in that matter. On Colu, for thousands of years, to wear inhibitors is to be marked as someone untrustworthy, someone who must be restrained, and many of my ancestors have worn such a sign on their heads. And so, in keeping with that, when my father placed inhibitors on me at eight years old, I believed I too deserved them, and could not possibly become anything else. That is… until the Legion came to me, and asked if I would consider helping them.”

Kara smiles, squeezing his hand.

“What happened then?”

“It was not immediate. However, Mon-El was patient with me, and soon, I was in their headquarters, living in New National City, and I came across a museum- one that was dedicated to you. I learned about what you stood for, what you have done, and through your example, you gave me hope.”

He looks at her, smiling back, and then Kara feels it- the sunlight finally coming down on her.

“Do you feel that too?” she says, as he looks up, his green skin and blond hair illuminated.

“That’s our family.” He answers, and once they land, in a ship Kara doesn’t recognize, there’s no time wasted. Kara sees Kelly, Lena, M’gann, Nia, all present on the ship and looking overjoyed at her return, but Alex is the one she gets to first, and her arms anchor Kara as she finally hugs her sister again. Beside her, she can see J’onn hugging Brainy, and she can tell he’s smiling too, while the ship begins taking off for home.

#papa don't look #supergirl #supergirl au #supergirl season 6 #kara danvers #kara zor el #querl dox #brainiac 5 #karadox #ship: believe in all the possibilities #oh man it's finally finished #the kara and brainy in the phantom zone au #no idea how long this took #figured it would be appropriate to finish it on the anniversary of 5x10 #also one of these parts should be familiar to a few people #and i hope this is good!

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savanir · 7 months ago

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DP x DC prompt [3]

during one of the final psych evals at Arkham right before he gets to be released, the whole thing wrapped up so tidy, just a little relapse which involved a robbery. Getting sent back to Arkham, but he got to stay at the asylum so long that he no longer has to serve a prison sentence, score!

But during that eval his overseeing psychiatrist recommended him to have a change of scenery, some fresh non polluted air.

Riddler was rather convinced the guy was making this recommendation to everyone in Arkham in their own weird way to convince them to just leave Gotham and become someone else's problem. should he notify Batman about it somehow? nah, it’ll be more interesting to see how this is gonna turn out in the long run.

But can he leave the state? Can he even leave the city? he never really bothered to look into it, at least not legally, up until now if he felt he needed to leave for one of his plans he just did it.

Turns out he can, it’s a whole hassle and a half though, first a judge and then a probation officer and he’s pretty sure both were like “what the hell is this psychiatrist guy thinking!?” but at the same time, shrink probably knows what he’s doing (WRONG) so he’s allowed to go visit out of state family or whatever.

he had to wear this nice ankle monitor though, Wayne Enterprises™ tech, not overly bulky but still very present. real fancy, and a fun extra challenge heh.

now as for a good reason to leave New Jersey he’s going to need distant relatives, and he finds some, great grandpa walker also has a son, who had a son who had a daughter Madeline, who married some guy Jack Fenton, and she lives somewhere out in the boonies Illinois. great he’ll visit her.

far enough away in all sense of the word that there is no way she knows anything about him. it would be best to call her first though, be polite about it.

“hello, you have reached Fenton works, this is Maddie speaking”

“Riddle me this-” ah whoops, habit, oh whatever, “we don’t share parents, but certainly a part of your life, from laughter to strife. Who am I?”

there is a pause … he’s going to be a bit disappointed if she hangs up if he’s honest.

“cousins~” comes the cheery reply.

“correct! the name is Edward Nygma, we are distantly related you and I and well-”

“oh you simply must come visit!”

well this was rather easy, perhaps a little too easy, but she lives in the midwest so maybe just going with whatever some guy says over the phone is normal there? stranger danger not really a thing in a small town where everyone knows everyone?

things start to make a little more sense once he gets there and he’s starting to think some things might run in the family. like a preference for the colour green and weird hyperfixations and genius bordering on insanity. Though that remains to be seen, Jack does not seem like a very bright light after his very enthusiastic welcome.

their kids however are observant and sharp. young Jasmine is wasting no time trying to psychoanalyze him. and the boy, Danny, he had not really meant to and he swears he’s sticking with calling the kid Danny so he wouldn’t seem overly familiar, but he might have called him little bird a couple times now.

but that’s all whatever, he’s playing nice here. and he doesn’t even have to worry about his eccentricities tripping him up because this place is insane.

There actually is a local teen vigilante active but he seems about as loved as he’s disliked. and the ghost boy’s enemies are basically all his own kind, which another crazy thing to now know about. ghost. they are real actually, how is Gotham not completely overrun? and how do they even work? and where do they keep coming from?

Edward might be getting a little sidetracked here. He had fully intended to sneakily get his next big game plan underway all the way out here, ankle monitor be damned. but he hasn’t made any progress at all.

Instead he’s been listening to Madeline and Jack to maybe figure out what the deal is with these ectoplasmic entities, he has to know, at this point he might go crazier if he doesn’t.

He’s making Jasmine promise him not to get her doctorate in Gotham, he’s going back and forth with space riddles with Danny.

so yeah the whole thing kinda just became a vacation, maybe the psychiatrist had the right idea after all? hmm nah, probably not. but this is fun. He’s thinking about recommending this place to some of the others.

It's different enough to get the vacation feel, but enough crazy shit happens to make it all feel like home.

it is not until Maddie wants to talk with him about potentially switching the position of godfather of Danny to him rather than some weird rich friend of theirs that Edward realizes he might have lost the plot somewhere

Apparently the little bird basically begged them with a powerpoint presentation on how he likes Edward so much more than that Vladimir guy.

And honestly, the fellow sounds like a Dracula Lutho so even if it’s kinda sad Edward can understand why he’d be considered a better option. Even if the guy has more money and a huge company that makes him said money. And it’s not like the Fentons know about his Riddler activities.

Thinking it over, Edward does think that Danny would like Gotham and Wayne has that space program thing right? The kid is definitely smart enough for that (Nygma certified), and yeah Edward does quite like their space themed back and forth. So, fuck it, why not, what is the worst that could happen?

He doubts Maddie and Jack are gonna kick it any time soon anyway out here in the boonies, it’s just a title thing, a stamp of approval or something.

he should have known he was going to eat those words later… he had this whole beautifully elaborate trap set up for the whole Batclan, and he was just getting to the good part when his phone went off.

Had to put the whole thing on pause cause that particular contact wasn’t gonna get ignored. He did promise to be available.

If the whole thing he had planned now went tits up he could at the very least laugh later at the reactions of the bats as he told them to “hold up one second, I have to take this.” while they were all in various perilous positions.

Sadly he did have to go, he had a very distressed godson to pick up.