Rise of the Arcanah concluded.

The fiery pain increased, but Kara dutifully ignored it. A red and orange flash blinded Kara's eyes briefly. Janai somehow slid from Kara's grasp. The alien teen felt a sharp pain in her leg. She glanced down, and a six foot purplish blue lizard had sunken its sharp teeth into her calf.

Kara howled in pain, as every nerve in her body seemed to be on fire. How is this possible? Her alien mind grew more focused. She shook her leg with all her might, and the Janai lizard flailed in the fiery wind surrounding them. The creature had sunken its teeth deeply into her skin but would not relent.

The hilltop shook with the epic struggle that was going on between ultimate good and ultimate evil. Ariana attempted to strike the Janai lizard with her sword, but the ancient weapon merely bounced off the human slash reptile's bony, scaled skin.

Below, Bruce dove for cover as his bat jet targeted and fired its missiles and machineguns. Three out of the four stinger missiles had blown up the Arcanah armored transports. The last missile had impacted the base of the hillside, causing a minor localized tremor.

The hillside hit was enough to destabilize the entire knoll. Ariana tumbled backwards off the hilltop and immediately unfurled her golden white wings to keep from falling. Kara, now truly pissed, grabbed the Janai lizard by her swinging tail, and tried to yank the mysterious beast off of her leg.
Kara and Janai lost their footing, and fell towards the ravine below.

Clark could run no longer, and fell into a craggy pit, which was only about ten feet deep, but he couldn't muster the strength to break his fall or leap upward. He anxiously glanced around looking for any possible kryptonite, but found none. This felt different, like he was weakened but not deathly ill.

Two shadows soared down from the sky in the midst of the battle. The Kansas Guardsmen were beginning to gain the upper hand on the zombie warriors, blasting most of the evil clones into dust and a milky purple substance. The Guardsmen hadn't noticed the airborne intruders.

The MPD had begun rounding up the remaining Arcanite soldiers, who offered very little resistance, as if they'd all lost focus at the same time. Bruce continued to direct the bat jet to strafe the Arcanite garrison with the machineguns, continuously splattering the purplish fluid in every direction.

Eventually he'd cleared a path towards his fallen charges, whom both still lay unconscious at the edge of the battlefield. The Batman had nearly reached them, when he observed the low flying shadows. "Now what?" He growled, scowling at the latecomers.

The shadow beings dove into the pit where Clark had fallen. John Jonz stood his unconscious passenger against the wall of the pit. "Kal El?" Clark glanced at the body, recognizing his own red flannel shirt, blue jeans, and work boots. "John? What's going on? Who are these Arcanites?" Clark pressed his alien friend for answers. The Martian Manhunter gestured for him to be silent.

"Relax Kal El." John urged. "We, or should I say, you, have a problem." The greenish hued alien began. "All of this time travel has somehow altered your physiology, splitting you in half. This is you." John carefully lifted up the head of the comatose doppleganger.

Clark saw his own face, lost in a blank expression, it's eyes open, barely breathing. "What? I mean that's not Bizarro is it?" Clark asked warily. "No, this is actually you. Your powers and capacity have been reduced." John explained. "You were literally in two places at once."

"How do we fix this?" Clark doubled over, partially from shock, partially from exhaustion. "I'm not exactly sure. Jor El never covered this in his training classes." The pleasant Martian quipped. "Should we go to the fortress?" Clark inquired, though he hated to leave in the middle of a battle. "Possibly. First, Kara's in trouble. If you wish to save her, we must act now." John considered.

"At only half power, I'll just have to make the best of it." Clark sighed. He took a deep breath, and readied his leap. "I can help, though I'm not entirely back to my old self either." John confessed. "The flight here was exhausting for me. I need to get back in shape." He jeered.

"Can we leave him, I mean me, here?" Clark asked. John nodded. "Let us hope that this final battle won't take long." Clark put his hand on the alien's broad shoulder. "How about a leg up?" He smirked. John helped by flipping Clark upwards.

The younger alien grabbed onto the edge of the pit, clumsily clambering over its cracked ridge. The movement attracted Bruce, who began to jog over to him. John leapt straight up, as Clark grasped the Martian's thin fingers, and eventually his palm and forearm, and hefted him above the ridge.

The Batman skidded to a halt, not entirely aware of what he was seeing. Before venturing any further, Bruce redirected the bat jet to cease its assault and cruise to a higher altitude where it would recon the area, and hopefully quickly locate Barb, Dick, or any new Arcanah threats.

"Kent? What the…?" Bruce began as the two super speedy aliens zoomed past him. The Batman caught a breeze and a glimpse of them, but not much else. "Communication is definitely not his strong suit." Bruce grumbled as he eyed the crumbling ridge.

Kara and Janai lay at the bottom of the rocky crevice. They were momentarily stunned, but otherwise uninjured. Kara's calf finally began to bleed, as the Janai lizard twisted beneath the super girl's leg. "Grrrr!" Kara began kicking Janai in the head with her free leg. "Get off of me you bitch!" Janai cursed as she released her grip on the alien's leg, and turned back into appearing as a female human.

Ignoring the pulsing pain and shredded skin of her long leg, Kara turned again on Janai, pinning the derelict creature's shoulders against the floor of the ravine. "Why don't you just die?" Kara growled. "Because she can't." Another female voice said from behind them.

Kara half-turned, expecting to see Ariana there, but instead glimpsed a young woman that she'd never seen before. The newcomer was dressed in a black leather jacket, white cocktail shirt, and wore black fishnet stockings. "Who are you?" Janai hissed, literally.

"Who I am isn't important, what I can do, is." The woman said in a level tone. Kara's eyes narrowed, but before she could respond, the woman lifted one hand and faced Janai. "TNEPRES ELIV DLROW ROUY OT NRUTER. Extracto!" The woman shouted, and immediately Janai reverted back to her lizard self, cursing vehemently, and disappeared in a puff of purple smoke.

"What was that all about?" Kara limped to a standing position, rubbing her shredded leg. "I simply said: 'Return to your world, vile serpent' backwards." Kara was about to question the stranger further, but she disappeared in a foggy white smoke.

Clark and John, now in human form, finally located Kara, and they each took one of her arms across their shoulders, and helped Kara hobble up the ravine and onto flatter ground. The battle began to wind down, as Clark lifted his cousin up, with some difficulty, and faced her towards the hazy late afternoon sunshine. Kara's skin began to rapidly repair itself, as John watched with concern.

One by one the Arcanite creations disappeared into a vile smelling purple liquid. All explosions, and weaponry discharges ceased, leaving the Kansas Guardsmen, and the MPD scratching their collective heads. Bruce had made his way to Dick and Barb, and Clark, John, and Kara returned to the pit and the body hidden within it.

"This whole thing has creeped me out!" Kara remarked, walking more steadily now. "Now how are there two of you, Kal El?" John gave them the abridged version of the ailment. "Tachyon Distortion Syndrome?" Clark echoed. He then explained to Kara about the time traveling mission.

"Kal, you have to keep going, if you're right and the Eye of Rao is the only way to prevent Earth's destruction, then I'll help." Kara offered. "First we must put the two of you together somehow." John reminded them. "We'll have to consult the ice fortress and hope for the best." Clark suggested.

Kara informed them about the oddly dressed woman who had dispatched Janai. Something jogged Clark's partially damaged memory, but he couldn't place the image. "For now, can you take me, the other me, back to the farm?" Clark asked Kara, who was feeling much better by now.

Kara sighed, and glanced around for Ariana, but didn't see her. "Sure Kal, as weird as this is, I'll be glad to go home." John and Clark joined the Batman in helping Dick and Barb back to a nearby, undamaged troop carrier. "Jonz, I don't know why I'm surprised to see you in the middle of this mayhem." Bruce remarked with his traditional brooding scowl.

"You two know each other?" Clark had forgotten that whole part of his life within the original timeline. "We've met." The Batman said devoid of emotion. "He doesn't care much for aliens." John playfully explained to Clark. "It's not that, it's just that I have enough problems on this planet, without involving any others." Bruce commented as he pulled out some emergency oxygen from a spot on his utility belt.

Batman placed the small mask over first Barb's mouth and nose and then Dick's. "Should we get them to a hospital?" Clark asked as he tenderly brushed Barb's scruffy bright red hair from her eyes. "Nope. They should be all right. The hospitals around here will be overloaded. I'll take them back to Gotham with me as soon as they revive and have them checked out professionally." Bruce said.

Just as Kara was about to leave, the mysterious white fog reappeared, startling Bruce. The beautiful young woman solidified. "Zana?" Bruce gasped. "Hello, uh…Batman?" she glanced nervously at the group. "Bruce, is fine." He sighed. "That whole secret identity thing isn't working too well for me today."

Clark forced his mind to recall the magical beauty. "Zatanna?" He mumbled. "Clark, you remembered. I'm flattered." She teased. "I see you two have met." Bruce remarked with a hint of jealousy. "You're here because…?" Clark prodded.
"Because somebody is messing with the timelines." Zatanna accused. "This kind of interference doesn't get past the eyes of the magical realm. I've been made aware of your mission." Her eyes narrowed as she faced Clark. "You're here to stop me?" He wondered aloud. "No. I am here to provide guidance." Zatanna waved her arms in the air.

"At the moment you have a split personality problem." The pretty magician indicated the Clark doppelganger in the pit, with a wave of her wand. "I can get yourself together, so to speak, but it will have a price." Zatanna bargained. "What would it cost?" Bruce immediately inquired.

"I'm glad that you remember that all magical intervention has a price." Zatanna said haughtily. "This price isn't necessarily good or evil." She hinted. "Out with it Zana, what's the deal?" Bruce prompted her sternly. "Clark must move onto the next shard of his adventure, and I must go with him." She sauntered over beside the young alien.

Batman looked at her blankly. "Do I want to know?" He asked no one in particular. "No!" Clark and Zatanna chorused. "That's it? You want to join me in the next shard?" Clark was skeptical. "No strings attached?" Bruce frowned. "It's too simple."

"Magic is only part of the next sequence of events." Zatanna added vaguely. "So what? You want me to give you a ride with the Eye of Rao?" Clark frowned. "Can't you just zap yourself into a time shard?" Zatanna shook her head, letting her long raven black hair fall to the side.

"It doesn't work like that, Clark." Zatanna explained. "I will explain further, but for now I'll take your word at its face value, and rejoin you with your renegade half." Kara retrieved the catatonic Clark Kent, and handed him to John, who stood the double up next to the true Clark.

Zatanna closed her eyes, forcing her mind to concentrate. A brown, leather bound, ancient looking spell book appeared in Zatanna's outstretched hands. She placed the book against her ample chest. She smiled and uttered a clever, meaningful spell:

The vile criminal elements this day will rue;
The pressure's great, we're under the gun;
Spirits of time and place ring true; I beseech you
Please let the two become one.

Immediately the two Clark Kents shimmered into each other. Clark fell to his knees briefly, and Kara held her breath. Clark's eyes opened. "Are you okay?" Bruce asked with concern. Zatanna beamed. "Of course he's okay. These spells always work." She added cockily.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Clark stood up, feeling like he'd awakened from a relaxing nap. He stretched leisurely and grinned at the beautiful spell caster. "Thanks Zatanna." Kara edged in closer. "Do you still have your powers, Kal?" In response, Clark picked her up and leaped out of the damp fog. "You bet, kiddo!" He kissed her on the cheek, as she reddened.

Clark soared high into the sky carrying Kara. "He's…uh…flying." Bruce deadpanned. "Yes he is, Bruce. Clark cannot deny his true nature." Zatanna explained as she watched Clark and Kara split away from each other, flying side by side. "Just like I cannot deny mine." She added as the spell book vanished. John watched with concern.

"How do we know that the Tachyon Illness won't resurface in the next shard?" John wondered aloud. Zatanna dismissed his worries with a wave. "I gave him a sort of magic vitamin spell, along with the other one. It should protect him against any more split personality issues."

"Did you want me to cure Barbara and Dick?" Zatanna offered. Bruce shook his head, smirking. "No, thanks. That's why we have Medical Insurance." He quipped as a smile reached Zatanna's lips.
Bruce rubbed his square jaw. "About this time shard thing…?" He began, but it was too late. Zatanna had disappeared and John had flown off.