Time Enough For Heroism, Part 4: I Get My Groove Back

By C. Mage

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If I'd known that I was going to end up this popular for all the wrong reasons, I would've had second thoughts about dying.

The DEO was up in arms about Medusa, and Supergirl certainly wasn't doing any better. She came to me twice, asking, even demanding to be taken back to Krypton to speak to her father and demand to know why he would even create a bioweapon like that. When I explained that there were serious dangers involved with going back within one's own timestream, she expressed her displeasure by punching a wall and leaving the room in a huff. Yeah, that doorjamb won't be a threat to anyone anymore.

I knew there was something I had to do, but...wait. SHE couldn't go to Krypton within her own timeline...but there was nothing outright about me doing it without her! Well, not egregiously, but she needed some connection to her home, and if the Medusa virus was created before she was born, or at least before coherent memories, then I could go there…as long as I didn't make any changes.

Only one problem. My TARDIS hadn't come back yet, and I wasn't about to stoop to using a Vortex Manipulator, even if I did have one. Do you have any idea what using one of those is like? Makes my skin crawl just thinking about it.

Okay. Put a pin in that one.

If Cadmus IS planning something...maybe I can draw them out…

I looked up briefly as I sat in the park. You know, feeding the birds is actually rather relaxing. Helps to pass the time while waiting for someone. I don't even bother to look up as SHE sits down on the bench next to me. "Hello, Gambler," she said cordially. "That disguise of yours might've been more convincing if you didn't insist on using the same wardrobe. You're looking rather well, for a dead alien. I'm amazed that Medusa didn't kill you."

"It did. I'm still a bit angry about that. Not just that you murdered me, but you murdered all the aliens in that bar as well." I looked down at my hands. "This is new."

"A message needed to be sent. 'The Earth is protected from aliens now.' All we have to do now is tailor it for Kryptonians and…"

"Stop. Just...stop." I put the bag of popcorn down and turned to look at her. "Time for you to get the message. The Earth IS protected now...by ME. So take your little Cub Scout army and retire, Lillian. Stop killing people. The Earth needs better protectors than a pack of racists and bigots."

"Who, like YOU?" She laughed. "Not only are you one of the aliens we're trying to protect the Earth from, but you are only one person. I have this park filled with undercover operatives. You couldn't even detect them coming, let alone stop them from coming into the park. If that is your application for 'Defender Of Earth,' you're not exactly making a wonderful first impression at the interview."

"Really? Call one of them. Call any of them. Ask them where they are now."

Lillian gave me an exasperated look and said, "Blue Team, sitrep." She paused. "Blue Team, respond and give your current position." Lillian paused again, looking at me while I continued to feed the birds. "Red Team, report….Green Team, report!"

"You could go through all the colors of the rainbow, and they won't answer. All of your teams are currently out cold and back at your base, lying next to each other like dominoes. Don't worry, they're completely unharmed, but will likely be terminally embarrassed." I smiled. "You're all alone out here, Lillian Luthor."

"And I suppose you brought me here to give me some threat to life, limb, public image or sanity, is that it?" Lillian scoffed. "Don't make me laugh. This is a rather public place for any displays of pow…" Her voice trailed off as she realized that the park was empty. There wasn't a single person in sight.

"I'm not here to threaten you, Luthor." I stood up and looked down at her. "I'm here to tell you the truth. I'm here to protect EVERYONE on this planet from everyone trying to harm it...regardless of whether or not they're natives. I'm here to tell you to pack up your tents, retire and find something else to put your unreasoning hatred upon. I'm going to give you a month; pull out of the monstrosity game gracefully. Pick up a hobby or two. Try to reconnect with your daughter; she seems to be a decent person. Maybe even make an apology to Supergirl and Superman while you're at it."

"And if I decide that you're just as big a threat to the Earth as every other alien out there?"

I started walking away. "Not every alien is here to cause death and destruction, Luthor. Just like not every human is here to cause pain and misery. But for the ones that are, they're going to find out they attacked the wrong planet."

"I'll never stop trying to destroy you and every alien creature on this planet, Gambler. And I'm not going to come willingly to the slaughter. If you come after me, you'll find that this is a very BIG world."

I stopped and turned back to look her in the eyes. "You'll stop, Luthor. Because if you keep hurting innocent people, you're going to make me angry. And the world can be a very small neighborhood when you've made me angry with you." I nodded to the half-empty bag of popcorn on the bench. "Try feeding the birds for a while. Think about your options." I put my hands in my pockets, deactivating the perception filters, making a note to collect them on my walk around the park.

That woman makes me angry. I shouldn't like that.

And yet, I do...and that concerns me.

Looks like the Luthors weren't ALL bad.

Cadmus was all set to send a missile to cover the area in Medusa, but they were stopped not by me, but by Lena Luthor, the estranged daughter. Lena suckered her mother into adding a different isotope to the mix, making the Medusa virus about as dangerous as strawberry jelly. Pretty impressed, actually. Anyone who can con someone as devious as Lillian Luthor certainly deserves the recognition.

Not to mention proving that she is definitely someone to watch...and not because she's easy on the eyes.

As for Kara, she and her sister seem to be reaching some sort of equilibrium, and Henshaw isn't yelling at me as much, so that's an improvement. I think I've finally gotten them to realize that I'm not here to harm anyone, and that I have the means to help them.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to apply for the position of DEO's Most Valuable Pet Alien. But these people need help, even though they're not eager to ask for it. And it took a long time for me to realize that it's not all about me, so if I can help them, I will.

Besides...I've grown rather fond of Earth.

I walked into the main center of the DEO to find Wynn with a black eye and Alex being absolutely GIDDY, and Alex is never giddy on duty. "Hello, Alex...you seem in good spirits today."

She turned to me and smiled. Alex doesn't usually smile when addressing me, so I took this as a good sign. "I am, thank you very much, Gambler."

I could tell right off why. "Sounds like someone's in love," I said with a knowing grin.

"And what makes you so sure?" she asked casually.

"Trust me. I have TWO hearts. I know. It's nice seeing you happy, I know you've been through it, but…"

"Hold that thought." I saw her cross the ops floor to see a certain lady cop walking in. You know, for a place that deals wtih supers and aliens, it seems like they'll let ANYONE in here. Wait. Scratch that. Maybe I shouldn't be so picky; they let ME in here…

"Gambler!" I broke out of my musings as Alex ran over. "Have you seen Kara?"

"Not since this morning. I assumed she went to work."

"She's not here or there, and neither is Mon-El." That dark look returned. "I should've known better…"

"Where was she last?"

"She was following up on a missing persons case. She found out that all the people who vanished went to the same place to receive blood tests. She's not answering her phone and neither is Mon-El." Alex's mood was now a complete one-eighty from the way she looked before. "I should've known something like this would've happened…!"

"Alex? HALT. CEASE. DESIST. This is not your fault. Let's talk with Henshaw and follow up on this. I'm coming with you."

"I need to talk to Maggie."

"Do that. I'll talk to Henshaw."

We showed up at the clinic to find the doors open and the offices deserted. We moved down into the basement, finding an arch of metal with a control panel sitting on a short pedestal to the left of it. As soon as I saw it, I knew this thing was going to be trouble. I moved to the pedestal.

"What is this?" Alex asked.

I was about to answer, but Henshaw beat me to the draw. "It's a transmatter portal. A way of moving between worlds. Can you open it?"

I looked over the controls. I shook my head. "There's absolutely no encryption on the controls, no locking mechanism. Probably to get the portal to open as fast as possible before people got too suspicious."

Alex looked over my shoulder. "You can read that?"

"Underwater, with the lights off and my eyes shut." I tapped a series of buttons and the portal not only opened, but the display told me what the destination was. "Hey...what do you know about a planet called, 'Maaldoria'?"

Henshaw's tone went dark. "Epicenter of the galactic slave trade."

"SLAVE TRADE? I've known about this planet for six seconds and I already despise the place. Wait, Supergirl and Mon-El went through, wouldn't they be ripping the place down the middle by now?"

"Maaldoria has a red sun."

Alex managed to look even more distressed. "They'd be helpless."

Winn spoke up. "Well, then it's a good thing we've got the Martian Manhunter to kick some butt, right?"

Henshaw didn't look enthusiastic. "Maaldoria's atmosphere is toxic to Martians."

Alex turned to look at the portal. "Then we're on our own?"

"Not quite." Everyone turned to me. "You may not have the option for a Martian or a Kryptonian or a Daxamite...but you've still got a Time Lord." I smiled. "And I have something they don't, apart from a lack of vulnerabilities."

"What's that?" Alex asked.

I smiled, then put my fingers to my lips and whistled, then turned to Alex. "We don't need a portal to get there." Behind me, my TARDIS faded into view with a slight thump.

Alex blinked. "Are you saying you could've done that at any time?"

"Yeah, pretty much." I turned back to the console. "How lovely, time-space coordinates...got it." I started to tap on the control module for the portal. "I'm going to leave this open, make sure they don't think we actually have a Plan B for getting off-planet." I finished activating the portal, then went to the door of the TARDIS, turning to Alex and the others. "Winn, you're with me."

"Uh...no. No, I can't. I can't go…" he stammered, then walked away from the group. Alex looked at me, then went after Winn to talk to him.

As they talked, Henshaw walked over to me. "Are you sure you want to do this? You just...regenerated. You're not exactly the same person you were before, admit it."

"Trust me. Whatever face I wear, I'm the Gambler. And I'm not going to stand by and do nothing, because if I do, I'm helping the Bad Guys." I nodded. "Besides, if Supergirl and Mon-El are de-powered, that's going to complicate things. We don't know what's waiting for us on the other side."

"Agreed."

I saw Winn coming over, looking less unsure. "Okay, I'll get the portal going and…"

I fired up the portal. "Come on, Winn. You're traveling first class." I went to the TARDIS, which opened at my approach. "Give me a few moments to sort things out?"

"Don't take too long," Henshaw cautioned.

"I'll be sure to get there a minute ago. Just a few moments?" I moved inside, closing the doors and closing my eyes. "All right. Show me."

I turned around to see that the whole steampunk decor was gone, replaced by light, light from everywhere. The walls, floors and ceiling were covered with constructs that seemed to be made of light. The central console was no different, the controls all made of coherent light, and the oscillating time rotor was a mass of crystalline structures. I ran my fingers over the controls, feeling the slight give, touching the coherent light. "Well...LOOK at YOU." I looked over the ceiling, which showed a starlight sky that shifted, Gallifreyan symbols ringing the edges. "You have OUTDONE yourself, my friend...I am impressed with the new look."

A slight bleeping sound drew my attention as something rose from the console...a sonic screwdriver! Silver metal with blue lighting...it was PERFECT. I picked it up and put the old one in its place, where it would be absorbed back into the TARDIS. "Thanks, pal." I patted the console, then came back to the door and opened. "Come on in, Winn. I only travel with the best."

He entered the TARDIS and the doors closed gently behind him. He looked around in wide-eyed wonder, like a kid who just landed on Hedgewick's Amusement Planet for the first time. "Wow….SOMEBODY is a TRON fan...is this...a dimensionally-shifted construct?"

I blinked. Usually, people who come in just say that it's bigger on the inside. "Well, TARDIS stands for, 'Time And Relative Dimensions In Space.' So, congratulations, you're the first to recognize it for what it is." I felt immensely better knowing he was on board.

"And it's a time machine? So you could go…"

"EVERYWHERE." I grinned. "Business before tourism. Maaldoria...here we come!"

Winn and I stepped out of the TARDIS, the portal within sight. "Isn't someone going to notice the big silver cylinder out in the middle of…?" He stopped as he looked behind him at the rock face of the small hill we just exited. "Nice. Camouflage."

We turned as Alex came through with a group of DEO troops. "Okay, Gambler. You better know what you're doing."

I raised my sonic tool and moved it around, then found a series of signals. "This way. Winn, stay by the TARDIS. We may need to make a fast exit. The TARDIS will let you in. NO JOYRIDING." I grinned as I walked with Alex and the other troops

As we made our way to the station, I reviewed the information I gathered while scanning the area. "This place doesn't much in the way of sustainable life. They must have had more...ah. Planet's got traces of complex mineral compounds that could've been quite lucrative for any spacefaring culture. All gone, now. The station must be an old mining outpost. Probably upgraded the locks, but kept the storage chambers intact."

"You're certainly not the Gambler we first met." Alex smiled. "So, how do we get in?"

"Front door."

"Won't they get a bit nervous seeing a group of armed aliens coming?"

"Nope." I took out one of the perception filters and hung it around my neck. "They won't even see us coming."

Alex turned to look at me in shock, then blinked. "Where did you go?"

"Still here. Just employed a little tech that'll make us harder to notice. It's called a perception filter. People looking at us won't be able to, because their eyes will suddenly want to look in a different direction. The next best thing to being invisible."

"Weird."

"That's me all over."

We made our way into the station easily enough. There were only two guards and I made sure there were more interesting things to see than us. "Stay close, everyone, the filter's effects aren't that wide."

Alex looked at the control panel for the door. "Give me a few minutes. I'll have this door open before…" The door started to slide open as she ended with, "...I finish my sentence?" The troops moved to the sides as soon as the door opened, revealing some humanoid aliens I didn't recognize...and a human woman wearing a slinky red dress, slit up the side. Oh yes. THIS woman was Trouble.

"Hi there. We're lost. Can you direct us to the nearest Howard Johnson's?"

The woman looked at me, her mind wrestling with the absurdity, which distracted her long enough for Alex and the DEO guards to disarm her guards. "Well, well...ROULETTE. Long time, no want to see. Last time I saw you, you were running an alien bloodsport racket and you were working really hard trying not to be found and arrested."

I blinked. ALIEN BLOODSPORTS? I was starting to seriously rethink my stance on not killing people. "REALLY?"

Roulette looked at me. "And who are you supposed to be? Marshal Dillon?"

"Lady, and I'm using that term gratuitously, I am the LAST alien in the cosmos that you want to make angry right now. So you're going to show me where all the slaves are being kept. ALL of them."

"And why should I?" She scoffed. "I don't see an 'S' on your chest, so you'll excuse me if I'm not particularly impressed." I looked at her for a moment, then drew my Schofield and put a bullet through one high-heeled foot. WOW, could she shriek. She managed to collect herself enough to shoot me a look filled to the gills with hatred. "YOU….SHOT ME!"

"You impressed now?" I moved in closer. "And before you start thinking you're clever, you're right...I DON'T have an 'S' on my chest, so you should really consider the sorts of things Supergirl and Superman won't do, and what I might do."

As we made our way deeper into the station, Roulette hobbling along with her foot bandaged up, Alex looked at me. "You really shouldn't have done that. The DEO has rules."

"Then I guess it's a good thing that I'm not officially part of the DEO, so I can get away with things like that. Admit it. She had it coming. Kidnaping people, selling them off as slaves? She's lucky I only shot her ONCE."

My sonic tool beeped at me and I held it up. "Interesting. I'm getting some energy readings from this direction. Looks like it might be the control center. I'm going to head that way, see what I can do to make life more difficult for the Maaldorians here. I've got my sonic tuned to your frequency, we can talk that way."

"Are you going to be okay on your own?" Alex asked. "Let me just send a couple of operatives with you."

"I'll be just fine. Trust me." I grinned, then took off down the corridor. As I ran, I saw a pair of guards coming down the corridor. They looked up at me as I stopped, then pushed my long coat back, revealing my pistols. They looked like long-handled Colt .45s, but I'd done some work on them. Now, instead of lead, they fired meson bursts. "FILL YOUR HANDS, YOU LILY-LIVERED POLECATS!" I yelled, a fierce joy bursting within me.

Heaven couldn't be any better than this.

They pulled their rifles up, but I was there first, and they went down without nary a sound. I continued on, finding that most of the guards relied on devices used to subjugate the slaves through the collars that they wore. Very few were actually armed, probably to prevent the accidental or capricious death of the "merchandise".

Somebody's going to pay for this.

I found the control center, but that wasn't the only thing I found. Apparently, this wasn't just the Maaldorians' main office, it was also their leader's home. I put the perception filter back on to see four guards armed with glorified cattle-prods, one of the Maaldorians (I could tell because he was dressed better and looked more smug than the others), and five women of various alien races, all kneeling nearby with expressions on their faces that clearly stated, "I would rather be ANYWHERE but here, but I'm just trying to be dead inside so I don't have to think too much about being enslaved" and wearing collars around their necks, like they were PETS.

I used the sonic tool to disable their toys, then I decided it was time to introduce myself.

I put away the perception filter, which caused the leader to freak out just a little. "WHO ARE YOU?" he bellowed, making the collared women wince and pull away. "Where di you come from?"

"I'm the one shutting your operation down." I pulled my guns. "Back off, boys...the GROWN-UPS are talking. Anyone tries anything cute and your boss is going to end up with a new mouth...a few inches south of the one he was born with. Understand?"

"Move back, you fools!" the leader said, then narrowed his eyes at me. "I am Slavemaster Garet. Who are you?"

"I'm the Gambler." I looked around at the girls. "It's okay, ladies, everything is going to be all right."

"If you were intending to make an impression, Gambler, you succeeded...but you failed at everything else. The collars of the slaves here, until they're sold, are tied to my vital signs. Kill me, and they will die rather horribly."

"Let me guess. Biomonitor linked to your control center, linked to the slave collars, not to mention the security measures keeping this operation under control and running smoothly." I started backing up to the control console. "All so you can keep the slaves from doing something they really want to do, like reduce you to bite-size pieces. Heavily encrypted, of course."

"Of course. It would take several days for even the smartest human to unlock."

"Well, I've got some really bad news for you." I holstered the gun in my left hand and drew out my sonic tool, adjusting it. "I'm not human. I'm a TIME LORD." I activated the sonic tool, shutting down the control center in seven seconds. The collars on the slaves in the room detached and fell off, causing most of the women to reach for their throats in surprise...then their faces turned vengeful, their hands reaching for Garet's throat.

I turned to the guards. "Now that your weapons don't work and all the doors in this structure are now unlocked...NOW woukd be an excellent time to start RUNNING." They looked at each other and took off in silent, but hasty, agreement.

I turned back to the women, who were reducing Garet to an oily smear. "Ladies, we're getting out of here. ALL of us. If there's other slaves here, show me where." I turned as one of the women, an orange-skinned woman with green eyes, took my arm.

"I can show you."

"Good. Everyone, come with me."

When we met up with Alex and the others, I was extremely pleased to see that the kidnapped humans, along with Mon-El and Kara, were with them. "Where's Roulette?"

"Currently enjoying the five-star accommodations here. We need to move, NOW."

"What's up?"

"We just met the buyers," Kara said, then stopped as she saw the people, mostly women, following me. "Who are they?' she asked.

"Surprisingly unimportant right now! Let's move!" I picked up the rear to make sure that any stragglers didn't get left behind, as Mon-El joined me after picking up one of the guards' weapons. "Bet you were surprised when the gates started opening."

"Didn't notice. We sorta got out on our own."

"You escaped WITHOUT your powers?" I was officially impressed.

"Actually, it was all Kara's doing."

"Guess she wasn't as powerless as I thought. Nice work." I stopped as I saw the Maaldorians joined by a pair of thin, red-hued humanoid aliens. They looked at us threateningly, then lowered their weapons as they saw us...and then BOWED.

I held my guns up, but after seeing the gesture, I changed my mind about shooting. "Keep going!" I called out, seeing one of the female aliens fall. I holstered my guns. "Mon-El, cover me!" I yelled as I ran back, lifting the woman bodily and running back to join the group.

We left the station, thankfully without losing a single person. She's a super girl, that's for certain. We continued towards the portal, moving as fast as we could. By the time Mon-El and I had gotten to the portal, almost everyone had gone through, but the aliens who had bowed to Mon-El and I apparently hadn't gotten the word out to the rest of the Maaldorians. They were shooting at us to try and cut down as many people as they could.

Mon-El sent a lot of return-fire their way, but one of the Maaldorians got in a lucky shot, hitting the portal frame. I saw the portal horizon flicker and yelled, "MON-EL, FREEZE!" He stopped right before the portal deactivated, leaving Winn, Mon-El, myself and the woman I was carrying behind. "Quick, over here!" I whistled and the TARDIS opened for us, and we ran inside and the doors closed behind us.

I brought the woman I was carrying to a nearby sofa, then went to the control panel. Mon-El was looking arounf, then said, "It's….BIGGER on this INSIDE…!"

"IS it?" Winn asked, then turned to me. "Are we safe in here?"

"Trust me, that entire station could be dropped on us from five miles up and we wouldn't even feel the bump. All we need to do is head home."

"Home…" The woman stirred, then looked up at me. "I have no home to go to…"

"Well, neither do I...but you can come along with me."

Mon-El took a closer look. "That's a Tamaranean. Their planet was sacked, their people nearly destroyed. It was too far away for Daxam to intervene...but I doubt the rulers would've helped Tamaran even if it had been in the same planetary system," he added bitterly.

I shook my head. "The more I hear about your people, Mon-El, the less I like them. Come on." I went to the controls. "Next stop...Earth."

The TARDIS materialized in the DEO, right where it been before, and we walked out to encounter something I'd never experienced here: actual APPLAUSE at my arrival. "Hey, I think she needs medical attention," I said quickly, carrying the EX-slave out of the TARDIS.

"She's from Tamaran," Mon-El added.

"Come with me. We'll bring her to the the balcony outside." Henshaw moved quickly ahead and I followed along. The TARDIS closed behind me before anyone could sneak inside, thank Rassilon.

"Might filling in the new guy about people from Tamaran?" I said as we exited onto a wide, sunlit balcony.

"They gain energy from ultraviolet radiation," Henshaw said as he indicated a padded bench in direct sunlight, and I laid her on the bench. She was still dressed in her slave outfit, but in this situation, that was actually a good thing, since she could likely absorb more UV rays. "Supergirl and the others are en route. Think you can handle things from here?"

"Sure." I figured Mon-El would want to see Kara again, and it drove home the realization that Supergirl wouldn't be into me, probably ever. Mon-El connected with her, worked alongside her. I was more of an alien here than she was.

The Tamaranean was staring to look better already, not nearly as gaunt as she was before. Her eyes were closed, and she looked much more peaceful. She was actually smiling a little now. After spending Heaven-only-knows-how long stuck under a sun running way too short on UV rays and doing things I don't even want to think about…

She began to murmur in her sleep, then her eyes flew open. They were glowing green, with no pupils or irises, but I didn't need those to know she was startled. "Easy, miss, stay calm. You're safe. You're free." She looked up at me, then before I could react, she pulled my head down and planted one right on my lips.

Did not see that coming.

She drew her head back, then cocked her head slightly and said to me in Gallifreyan, "I thought your language would be simpler."

"What, wait, how do you know how to speak my language?"

"I can absorb the knowledge of a native's language simply by touching them."

"By kissing them?"

"Actually, touching them with my hand is sufficient."

"Then why did you kiss me?"

She smiled. "It wasn't just to learn your language. What is your name?"

"People call me the Gambler. What's your name?"

"I am Princess Koriand'r. Well...no longer princess. I am a slave, now. I suppose I am your slave."

"Uh, no, no and VOID, no. You're nobody's slave anymore. Not you and not anyone else there. Right now, the only ones there are a bunch of embarrassed Maaldorians."

"Not a slave….then….what do I do?"

"I figure 'anything I want' should be pretty high up there on your To-Do List. Just as long as you don't cause any trouble."

Just as I was saying that, Alex and Winn came out onto the balcony. "Gambler, we have to talk with you a-MMMPH!" That last sound was caused by Koriand'r standing up and walking over to Alex, kissing HER on the lips.

"And what does she do?" I asked myself sourly.

Koriand'r parted from the kiss, then said in English, "Much improved. This is the native language of this world, I can tell...good. I like this language better."

"Why, thank you," I said, tipping my hat sardonically.

"I am Koriand'r. It is an honor to meet the ones responsible for my freedom." She bowed deeply.

Alex turned to look at me, then said, "We're glad we were able to help you," she said, still a bit flustered over the greeting she received. Winn was trying not to stare at the amount of orannge skin that was being displayed. "We can provide you with clothing and a place to stay, and we can help you if you want to stay on Earth."

"I would! I have so many questions!" Koriand'r walked off with Alex, questioning her at rapid-fire speeds. I watched them go, then sat down on the bench. Winn walked over to the bench and sat down next to me.

"Nice work on Maaldoria."

"Thanks. Hey, you want to help me out with a few things?"

"Are you going to be gone long?"

"Winn, I have a time machine. We can go for a year and be back five seconds from now."

Winn smiled. "There is merit in your argument. But where are we going?"

"Krypton."

"Wait, you said that Krypton's destruction was a fixed event in time. Plus, we can't go back in time within Kara's existence…." His eyes brightened. "But nothing says we can't go back BEFORE her existence, right?"

"Spoken like a time traveller. Come on, while everyone is figuring out what to do with the refugees…"

As the door closed behind us, Winn walked over to the controls. "Wild…"

"Gambler, who is this?" Winn backed off, looking around.

"Be nice. Winn is a friend of mine."

"You? Make friends? Wonderful...now I need to rethink my entire universes."

"BE NICE." I turned to Winn. "Sorry. My TARDIS used to be owned by a really EVIL person, so the TARDIS can be a little bit...abrasive."

"Your time machine has an AI?"

"Not exactly. TARDISes aren't built...they're grown. A TARDIS is a living, conscious being. So please don't call the TARDIS 'an AI'. He'll get horribly offended." I walked to the controls. "We need to find a planet called Krypton. Used to exist a long time ago, was able to get the coordinates from a troublesome that looked like Kara's aunt." I slotted the sonic tool into the console.

"My, my, what trrouble you've been getting into. Shooting a defenseless woman in the foot?"

Winn's eyes went wide. "You shot someone in the foot?"

"It was Roulette, and she was the one responsible for the human trafficking."

"And you ONLY shot her in the foot?!"

"I've changed my mind." the TARDIS said approvingly. "I like this one."

"Don't YOU start," I said warningly.

Winn sat down on the nearby sofa. "This is going to be incredible. We're going to see Krypton."

"After traveling the first few million years, time travel gets a bit...humdrum."

"You're kidding me!" Winn said, shocked.

"I am. It NEVER gets old."

"I believe I've found the planet you're looking for. I'll bring it up on the display." The center console pulled up a full-color image of the solar system at the coordinates I'd provided. "This is just before it exploded." The image turned as I altered the timeline, showng the explosion in slow-motion, forward, then backwards. "Let's head back...before Kara Zor-El was born...twenty solar revolutions should do it." I dialed back the timeline, then stopped. "That date. That's where we're going."

"This is AWESOME…"

"Before you start planning which theme park rides you want to go on, remember that this is an alien planet. Just because Superman and Supergirl are nice people doesn't mean they all will be. We need to do some recon." I went to the dematerialization switch. "Next stop….Krypton."

I threw the switch.

As soon as we arrived, I activated the camouflage circuit so the locals wouldn't start shooting at us. That gets annoying after a while. I started scanning Krypton immediately, accessing their media centers to gain insight into their culture.

"Wow...we've actually travelled in time and space! This is SO cool…!"

"Well, afraid I've got some bad news for you...this is going to get tricky." I brought up another screen. "From what I've been able to gather so far, the culture is declining...like a falling brick. The planets government is an aristocracy. The people here aren't born, they're bred in a lab. MASSIVE cloning technologies at play here. Also, to say that Kryptonians are xenophobic is being KIND. They're also telepathic to some degree, capable of long-range communication. If we'd landed there, we would've been spotted in an instant." I pulled up some of the discussions being transmitted for public viewing. "School's in session. What are we seeing here?"

Winn took a closer look at the screen. "Everyone who's anyone has symbols on their chests, but while they're the same shape as Supergirl's emblem, there's different shapes. Aristocracy…House designations?"

"Bingo. And from what I can see, everyone is aligned to one House or another."

"So we'll need to look like we belong. Wait...I've seen Kryptonian script before, but everything's in English now?"

"That's the TARDIS at work. Universal translator. When we talk, they'll hear Kryptonian. I've got it. Best place to get information...a museum. Something small, out of the way...THERE. Museum on the edge of the city….Kandor. Hmm. Seems busy enough so we can blend in."

"Do we have to dress like they do?"

"Probably. Why? Hoping you won't look fat?" I said with a grin.

"I don't think any of these people have even HEARD of 'fat'."

"Not surprised. They probably removed the capacity at birth. Head down the corridor at the bottom of the stairs, I'm sending samples of Kryptonian fashions down to the matter-assembler. Hope you like being colorful."

"I feel ridiculous…"

"You feel ridiculous? I'm the one trying to hide that I've got two hearts. I swear, how do you people COPE?" We walked out of the TARDIS, now disguised as part of the wall near what I hoped were the bathrooms. As we walked out onto the floor, I began to wonder if people even came to these anymore. As far as I can tell, there were only two other people here, both men, one more physically formidable than the other, staring at what appeared to be a three-dimensional representation of a battle. I looked around, trying to find a terminal that wasn't out in public.

Winn took out his smartphone and typed into a text document, "Won't they be able to hear us?"

"They're not superhuman here…" I whispered back. "Just relax."

"Now what?" Winn asked.

"We download their cultural data files. Won't take long; they're data management technology is based on crystalline structures. Data transfer rate is considerable." I take out a sliver of crystal and open up a receptacle, placing it inside and using the sonic tool to have information downloaded onto the crystal.

"How long?"

"Eleven minutes, give or take." I closed the access port. "Come on, let's take in the sights." As we walked around, keeping our distance from the two men, I found the art in the museum intriguing, but somewhat pretentious.

"So...aren't museums kinda redundant for time travellers?" Winn whispered.

"On the contrary." I grinned. "It's how we keep score. Naturally, since this isn't my reality, there's not as much chance for me to recognize…" I stopped as I found myself in front of an abstract painting with vertical writing on the side, with a V-shaped symbol under it. I blinked, then a laugh escaped me. I couldn't help it, and I covered my mouth as I saw it.

"I thought you said that I could read any language. All that is just gibberish."

"That's not gibberish. That's GALLIFREYAN," I whispered back. "Look at the plaque. 'This classic piece of art has inspired Kryptonians for eons, although the artist has never been identified. This piece was donated by the House of Zod from their priivate collection, claiming that one of their ancestors painted this piece. The artistic scrollwork on the piece is especially cryptic, and has yet to be translated. One can only wonder at the mysterious meaning of the symbols, and the enigmatic nature of the symbols has only contributed to the intensity of the artist's soul-revealing message…" I had to stop, trying to keep the laughter from being heard, and I pulled Winn away to another section of the museum. "Oh…..DEAR….!"

"What's so funny?" Winn asked, a bit bewildered.

"I know what the Gallifreyan writing says," I managed to say between fits of mirth.

"What does it say?"

I managed to control myself long enough to get the words out: "THIS END UP." I had to sit down or fall down. Winn blinked for a few minutes, then I found him sitting on the bench next to me, laughing fit to split. We calm down and sit there, Winn's breathing a bit heavily. "I knew the Time Lords travelled to other realities, but I never heard anything about this in the Archives."

"I thought you said you didn't know how you got here."

"Going through the dimensional barriers used to be so much easier….now, they're mostly locked down to prevent causality problems. Different realities have different natural laws, and even the most minor change could have disastrous consequences. What gives you superpowers in this reality turns you into a corpse where I come from."

"Uh, how long before that crystal thing finishes downloading from the database?" Winn asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because those two guys over there aren't looking at the exhibits anymore."

I turned to see them looking directly at us. "Oh, DALEK droppings. Winn, don't worry. I have a cunning plan. Head back to where the TARDIS is, I'll stall them." I leaned my head back against the wall, closing my eyes, waiting for them to go after the weirder target.

Namely, me.

"You're unusually talkative in a museum," said the bigger guy warningly. "I find it offensive to hear of any citizen behaving like some child in a serious place like this. Who are you? What House do you owe your allegiance to?"

"Ah, well, there's a problem with that. But I'll tell you, feel free to speak to my sponsor in the room over there." I pointed, they turned, I put my own perception filter on and walked as quickly as I could over to where the crystal had hopefully finished recoording the data. As I popped the door open and yanked the crystal, I saw them looking around, then beat feet back to the TARDIS.

"Where did he go?" I heard the big guy demand, frustrated.

"I cannot tell," his friend replied.

I entered the TARDIS and dematerialized, FAST.

JOR-EL

That was certainly odd. "Did that seem odd to you? Unexpected? Perhaps even...capricious?"

"I find it suspicious." General Zod narrowed his eyes. "What were they doing that they needed to hide themselves? Were they spies from another world?"

"Spies at a museum?" I chuckled. "Old friend, I think you're being a bt more paranoid. If anything, I wish more of our people, spies or not, came here."

General Zod hmped. "Perhaps."

.

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TO BE CONTIINUED….