A Sunny Day In DC
The air twisted and tore, throwing a blond haired man in a red, blue and yellow outfit into the sky above Gotham.
Xander quickly regained control over his flight and looked at the rapidly shrinking tear in the sky. "Well, that sucked," he decided. He sighed and looked around the city, noting all the dark alleys and gothic architecture, quickly figuring out where he was. "At least they exiled me to the right universe," he said, wondering which version of the local DC Universe he was in.
Using super speed he broke up twelve muggings, five car jacking's, and one drunk driver by destroying their weapons while leaving the perpetrators untouched. Having their weapons reduced to balls of twisted metal caused every one of the criminals to rethink their plans for the day and the drunk driver to wonder what had happened to his car and why he was sitting on a rough metal cube in the middle of the sidewalk.
A blonde haired girl in a similar outfit appeared in front of Xander in a blur of speed. "Who are you? Where are you from? Why didn't you turn them into the police?" she asked rapidly.
"Xander," he introduced himself, holding out a hand to shake. "I'm from another universe, don't know where and have no way back. A lot of criminals commit crimes because they have no other way to feed themselves or make a living and I'm not sure what the local laws on superheroes even are."
She shook his hand. "Kara Zor-El. Are you of the House of El or did you just copy the design?"
"Magically adopted into the house, which is a bit of a story, but yes, I am Kryptonian," he told her, guessing what she really wanted to know.
"So... not an alternate version of me?" she asked curiously, looking him over and seeing how similar he looked to her as compared to Kal and finding very few points of similarity with either of them beyond the hair and eyes.
"I was actually a magical clone of you or one of your alternates, at one point, but I got it sorted out so I was me again, though Kryptonian," he answered, having to make an effort not to use his X-ray vision, on the cute and perky blonde that was hovering in front of him.
"Do you have all my memories?" she asked nervously, freezing in place as she considered some of the things she did and thought in private.
"An alternative you," he reminded her, "so probably not any of your actual memories, even if some might be similar in parts."
"Would you object to coming to meet my cousins and his paranoid friends so we can fill you in on everything you need to know and make sure you're safe?" she asked hopefully as she relaxed and smiled once more.
"You sound like you've run into alternate selves before," Xander said, surprised as he hadn't thought it was actually that common in any branch of DC he knew of.
"I think everyone in the League has, at least once," Kara said with a shrug.
"That's a bit surprising. Well, I've got no objections to some local introductions and paperwork," Xander agreed.
Kara took his hand and tapped her right ear. "Two to port."
In a flash they were gone.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"... And the only two things left are to meet J'onn and then medical," Kara told Xander as he finished scanning a pamphlet on registering as a former resident of a parallel universe in the US.
"The help with paperwork and registration are great and the files you had me read are helpful, but wasn't I supposed to meet your cousin and his paranoid friends?" he teased.
"J'onn will do a light scan of your mind to make sure you are who you say you are and if you like, he can do a deep scan to make sure you are who you think you are and that no one has implanted any commands or programming in your noggin," she explained, smirking. "My cousin is usually busy but hang around enough and you'll meet him."
Xander blinked. "Just so you know, only the fact that you're cute has made this seem in any way reasonable," he flirted. "Besides I doubt he's my type."
Kara laughed and lead him down the hall, waving hi at a few capes along the way.
J'onn J'onzz aka the Martian Manhunter was waiting in the medical bay.
"I've been possessed twice, once by a primal hyena spirit," Xander warned, once the introductions were done.
"That's helpful to know. How complete a scan would you feel comfortable with me performing?" the Martian asked.
"Let me know if you find something interesting and I'll trust in your ethics to keep the rest to yourself," Xander replied. "Just be careful, my mind is a scary place."
"I'll keep that in mind," J'onn said a glint of amusement in his eyes.
Xander looked around the medical bay while J'onn did his thing and Kara ran a blood sample she obtained from him with a red penlight and a lancing tool. He found his mind considering various ways to use time and dimensional travel to create a large enough population to restore currently near extinct races while he waited. "Be sure to destroy my sample," he told Kara, knowing that if the blood sample was left lying around Lex or Waller would get their hands on it and he'd have to deal with evil clones or some mystical hoodoo targeting him.
"Will do," Kara promised, adding a sample of her own blood to the machine and checking something.
"Anything?" Xander asked J'onn as he tapped his chin and looked thoughtful.
"The numerous mental overlays you've undergone has given you a rather unique viewpoint and enhanced your ability to empathize with others," the Martian replied. "Other than that, your mind is your own."
"That's what I like to hear," Xander said cheerfully.
"And done," Kara said, hitting a button and destroying both blood samples. "You have a clean bill of health and your blood is Kryptonian, not bizaro or cloned or spliced and surprisingly divergent from the house of El while still registering as distantly related."
"Also good," Xander agreed. "Now what?"
"How do you feel about chili?" Kara asked shyly.
0o0o0o0o0
"What can you tell us?" Batman asked J'onn as he entered the monitor room.
"He's a good man, not born of the House of El as he said, but adopted into it," J'onn offered.
"Should he be offered a place in the League?" Wonder Woman asked.
"It would be a poor fit," J'onn said. "His philosophy is quite different than your average hero and is best suited for dealing with demonic threats, which he's had a fair amount of experience with."
"Reserve member, call in on mystical matters?" Superman suggested.
"Also disaster relief and search and rescue," J'onn added. "While being a full member wouldn't be advisable he is still quite willing to help people."
"What did the medical tests show?" Superman asked.
"Kryptonian, no anomalies, responds to red solar energy and kryptonite as normal, has much less energy stored than either you or Kara, and his genes are compatible with Kara's," Batman finished up.
"Compatible?" Superman asked. "Why did you have her run that test?"
"I didn't," Batman replied, not saying anything more.
"He's weaker than Kara," Wonder Woman noted. "Is that from lack of solar exposure?"
"Most likely," J'onn agreed.
"Meaning he'll get stronger over time," Batman noted aloud. "Is there anything else you feel we should know about him?"
"I would suggest working with him on rescue and humanitarian missions and getting to know him for yourself," J'onn said. "I've said all I believe he'd feel comfortable with me saying already."
"So... Kara ran the compatibility test on her own?" Superman asked awkwardly.
"Considering the number of male Kryptonians available..." Wonder Woman hinted, amused.
"Point," Superman conceded with a sigh.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"I usually don't go here as Kara," Supergirl said as they landed in front of a diner in Metropolis.
"I haven't bothered with a secret identity," Xander said. "Of course I haven't had time to have a life yet, I'd just gotten my place set up and comfortable when I got booted out of the universe for being an anomaly, since that reality lacked Kryptonians. If I wanted privacy I just carried a bag marked props and people assumed I was a public entertainer and left me alone."
"And that works?" she asked surprised.
"Well ... it was Florida and they hadn't heard of Superman," he said thoughtfully.
"The 'S' is pretty well known here," she said with a grin.
"We could just dress in regular clothes and let it go at that," Xander suggested.
Kara smiled as she considered that. She could dress in something nice without hiding or acting to maintain the honor of her House. "I think I'd like that. Now we just need clothes."
"Cash and a thrift store," Xander suggested. "Thankfully we have powers well suited to legally acquiring cash in a hurry."
"Really?" she asked curiously. "Why a thrift store?" she added before he could answer.
"Yep, easily. Because clothes that have obvious wear help you blend in much better," Xander replied. "New clothes means money, a disguise, a recent accident or a gift... many possible things, while old clothes just mean old clothes."
"That makes sense," she agreed thoughtfully.
Xander scanned the city, searching for something before saying, "River outside the city," and zipping off with Kara following him as he played follow the leader tossing in a few loops and rolls just for fun, making her laugh.
"What's here?" she asked as they floated over the river just under the bridge.
"A purse buried in the cement since the 50's," Xander replied, gesturing to a cement pillar.
Kara used her X-Ray vision on the bridge support spotting the purse instantly. "I see it, but how will we get it out without damaging the structure?"
"We cut a section of cement out and replace it," Xander replied, as he turned and spotted a granite boulder. He floated over to it and placed a hand on its surface. After a moment's concentration, he pulled his hand up and a perfect rectangle of granite came up with it as if glued to his hand.
"How did you do that?!" Kara demanded, never having seen Kal pull anything remotely similar.
"You concentrated on pure strength rather than aura manipulation, didn't you?" Xander guessed.
"Aura manipulation?" Kara said curiously.
"Most of our strength and invulnerability comes from the aura we generate around ourselves," Xander explained. "The first universe I was tossed into, I started off pretty weak, and there were still very few people that were strong enough for me to worry about and the ones that were could give superman a run for his money, so instead of bashing my head against a wall, I worked on finesse."
"Can you teach me?" she asked as Xander handed her the granite plug and flew up to place his hand on the concrete support.
"Sure," he replied. "Ready?"
"Ready," she answered as he took a deep breath and pulled his hand away, a neat rectangle of stone coming with it, which she quickly replaced with the matching granite plug.
Xander grinned and tapped the cement rapidly, breaking off chunks until he had a smooth sphere the size of a basketball. "Now let's find an antique shop."
"Why are you leaving it in the cement?" Kara asked as they flew off.
"Antiques are more valuable with a bit of history to them," Xander explained.
"So cutting it open in front of the store owner, with a picture or two makes it more valuable," Kara realized, as understanding dawned.
"Heroes are celebrities here," Xander said thoughtfully. "I'd forgotten about that."
Before she could question him, she heard a screech of metal tearing and the sound of gun fire followed by metallic laughter. "Crap it's Metallo, this is going to hurt."
"Why?" Xander asked.
"Near indestructible robot with a kryptonite core, the best we can do is distract until Kal arrives," Kara explained.
"Or we could hit up the metal refinery for a load of molten lead to pour over him and make him someone else's problem, via orbital launch," Xander suggested.
Kara paused and considered that. "I don't think that would kill him, but I'm not sure."
"How many people has he killed or maimed?" Xander asked.
"Hundreds," Kara replied.
"From the sounds of it there's a good chance he'll survive and legally and morally he should have been executed long ago. We aren't trying to kill him, but I say protecting the general public is more important than risking them by trying to take him down gently."
"Agreed," Kara said, thinking he made a lot of sense and wondering why she hadn't thought of it that way before.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Metallo has robbed the Metropolis First National Bank," Flash informed Superman from the Monitor Room. "Kara and Xander are handling him, so you've got a couple of minute's lee-way."
"I'm dealing with a landslide in India, it's going to be at least half an hour before I can get away," Superman answered over his comlink. "Is Wonder Woman available?"
"Negative, big guy, she's dealing with Giganta over in Russia... and it looks to be a moot point anyway," Flash said.
"What?! What happened? Is Kara okay?!" Superman demanded worriedly.
"Considering Metallo just went past the Watch Tower, I think she's fine," Flash said with a grin.
"Track Metallo and keep me appraised of the situation, Superman out," Superman said, a bit of pride leaking into his voice.
"What's Metallo's trajectory?" Green Arrow asked curiously.
"Lunar," Flash replied amused.
Typed by - Sitheus Maximus / Ipsith