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Legion of Super-Heroes
Time Won't Let Me
The Time Institute was designed in such a way that the potentially dangerous chronal energies employed in the various research projects conducted within its confines could not possibly penetrate the heavy shielding within the building. This safety feature was designed to protect the city in which the facility was located from the perils of science gone wrong. On one particular evening the staff members of the facility found themselves on the outside so to speak due to the fact that one visitor had locked himself within the main lab of the Institute after programming the hover-droids with strict instructions to admit no one else.
Thus, a young man named Rond Vidar waited uneasily outside the locked doors and worried about his friend who had been shut up inside the lab for hours. "I respect Brainiac 5 too much to interrupt his solitary work even if I could subvert the droid's programming. I also feel too much sorrow and empathy for his pain to willingly intrude upon him on such a painful anniversary," explained the brilliant young man.
An insectoid being nodded in agreement. Cicadia Senius was also a close friend and colleague to the Legion's inventive genius. He had witnessed the miracles Brianiac's 12th level intellect could produce and he was aware of the damage the scientist could also do when circumstances or emotional stress overburdened his reasoning process. "Wwwe should not do else than wait and pray that he comes through this crisis of the soul as well as he has weathered many another storm of more physical danger!" said Senus.
Rond shrugged. "The others lack our understanding of just what this day means to Brainiac 5. They even mock him for his folly in grieving for a legend from ten centuries ago!"
Senius said, "They do not know the depths of his feelings for Supergirl. If they knew how a passion for her has relentlessly driven him in so many ways, they would understand that the anniversary of her death during the Crisis is as fresh a wound to him as if he had just buried a beloved wife or sister!"
Inside the sealed lab, Brainiac 5 sat in front of a large Time Viewer and dictated his thoughts via a tiny remote link to another of his creations, namely the auto-computer called Computo. He gazed unblinkingly at the screen through tearful eyes. The screen could display any moment in time from the remote past, alternate realms, or the previous moment. For hours on end, the sorrowful genius had indulged a terrible grief by watching the life and death of his greatest love unfold.
A beautiful blonde woman in a solid blue dress and red cape stood beside three of his Legionnaire friends in a scene plucked from years before. She nodded sadly as Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl, and Triplicate Girl explained that she was no longer eligible for membership in their teen group of heroes and heroines due to the fact that red kryptonite had transformed her temporarily from girl to woman. Kara Zor-El (Supergirl) smiled her winningly demure smile and Brainiac smiled back ruefully.
"Kara was not able to join the Legion when she was first asked to do so. That was for the best. Even though my technology had been the means by which the female Legionnaires had been able to travel back to the 20th century and invite Superman's cousin to follow his example and join the team in our own 30th century, I had not yet perfected other devices with which I could safely join their number," Saturn Girl said.
He adjusted the dials on the machine and displayed the planet Colu years before the previous scene had occurred. He saw a solitary child who excelled at every scholarly pursuit while still being isolated from and rejected by his peers who simply could not compete with nor understand one whose mind carried the bio-engineered 12th level genius of his famous ancestor Vril Dox. Vril had defied and triumphed over the computer tyrants and their humanoid construct the infamous Brainiac generations before. Now, his 5th generation descendent Querl Dox bore his honorific title of Brainiac with a mixture of pride and regret. He knew he was smarter than his peers or his teachers; however, an advanced intellect could not remove his feelings of loneliness and alienation.
The Time Viewer also had sound although Brainiac 5 did not need to hear the audio from that past image to know exactly what he had said to himself years before in a painful moment of bewilderment. "I know why the other students feel insecure around me and why they compensate for said insecurity by mocking me or abusing me in a physical manner. Still, having the answers to why they behave as they do offers me little comfort while suffering from their conduct," said the boy who was Brainiac 5.
That boy on the screen adjusted a device that played holo tapes and he saw a caped figure dart out of the past to champion the cause of justice on a planet called Earth. The dark-clad hero wore a cowl and cape with a bat emblem on his chest. He stood next to a young boy in red and green as they guarded the city called Gotham. Gotham City was now nothing more than a neighborhood within the larger Metropolis. However, the tape the boy Brainiac had viewed revealed the city long ago when it had been home to the heroic Batman and Robin!
"While their physical prowess was flawless, it is their keen deductive minds that interest me. Batman and the first Robin tower above all other detectives even those of note such as Earth's Nik Noir or Thanagar's Shymantha Hol," said the boy on the screen.
Brainiac 5 did not need the screen to recall that day when his hobby of studying the career of the Batman of the 20th century had led him to tapes of Supergirl. The lovely girl had been aiding her cousin Superman and the Dynamic Duo against the plots of an alien actor! This case was less remarkable to the young Dox for the detective work his hero displayed than for the introduction to his eager eyes of the girl he would ever call his only love!
"Kara! So vibrant even on holo tape! It was tapes like that one that led me to fall in love with her. It was a mere schoolboy passion with one notable difference. My sensibilities were such that I came to realize an abiding passion for her that would not allow me to let it die or remain a thing of image and sound alone. I had to achieve the goal of meeting her! From that moment on my resolve was set. Time studies would become my other passion. I had to first master time in order to bring my Kara to me and win her love! Irony: I fell in love with a woman who had lived and died a thousand years before I ever drew my first breath! Still, awareness that she would die did nothing to cool my love for her. I knew from earliest youth that time can not be changed without creating potentially disastrous repercussions. I also knew that certain events around that era could not be fully recorded or understood due to various chronal storms and ebbs! I had no way to know her death would occur during the Crisis. History is almost completely distorted after that point," he said.
"Still, I vowed to master time itself and possibly save her from a fate that history declared could not be altered!" he said in a broken voice. He adjusted the Time Viewer and replaced the image from his own childhood with one of a slightly older Brainiac 5 watching the newly formed Legion of Super Heroes battle a renegade Green Lantern in front of another Time Viewer within the same Time Institute of years before.
"It was that chance encounter with the Legion that gave me the notion that I could do more than merely save Kara from her fate. I could be with her as a partner, friend, and lover by actually encouraging the new team of young heroes to use such a time machine to actively recruit Kara as well as her famed cousin. I handled that situation well. I merely suggested trying to bring the boy who inspired their creation to their era to join the team through mutual friends the Legionnaires met that day at the Institute where I had become one of many pupils. I encouraged them to use the time machine I had perfected with the aid of others at the Institute. They succeeded in bringing Superboy - Superman as a teen - to join their ranks. I had merely to offer myself to them as more than a friend and scientific advisor and then bring Kara from her time to our own!" He said to Computo's link.
He changed the scene again to show himself achieving membership alongside of Supergirl during her second attempt to join the team. She was excited and pleased to be a part of the team of colorful heroes who did the same kind of noble deeds she also performed thus far only in secret. She had been acting as Superman's secret weapon during their own era. She was thus doubly pleased to have friends of her own age with whom she could share experiences.
"Note: Sun Boy and Shrinking Violet failed to achieve membership that day although later they were granted said honor. That day was Kara's... and mine! I earned membership when she did. I could not have wanted it any other way! We formed an almost instant bond. We were the new members. She was not exactly how I had envisioned her. She was more exciting. She could do what no image on a Time Viewer could ever do! She could surprise me! She could defy my most carefully calculated scenarios! She could make me feel the need to win her love. She could reduce me to a stammering shyness I had never experienced before!" he said with a rueful smile.
He fingered the golden belt on his costume. "My first force field belt impressed the Legion members as did my natural gifts of intellect; however, what none of them realized was I had designed it not to safeguard myself so much as to possibly keep Kara safe from any perils she might face. She thought I meant it as protection against Kryptonite and she took it thankfully like some girls would receive flowers from their suitors. Still, she did not know I had hoped it would defy some unknown cruel fate that eclipsed mere Kryptonite as a threat to her life! The belt failed due to chronal energies she absorbed during her passage to her own era. I never stopped trying to perfect a better method to keep her safe! I never worked with a greater desire to succeed!"
He rubbed his eyes and left the Viewer as he paced slowly back and forth. "My talents did assist her in achieving her first public triumph! That fact can not be denied or erased by a fickle fate. It was my use of the first Brainiac's shrinking ray that allowed Supergirl to capture the so-called Infinite Monster upon her revelation to the adoring public! She asked me for the use of such a device and I gladly supplied her with one. She defeated the Infinite Monster and won the hearts of the world! She already had won my heart!" he said.
He spoke louder as his emotion increased. "What good did it do me? I brought her into my life. I came to know and love her as more than just an image from history. Still, even so I could only gain a few precious times with her. I could not prevent her death. The Crisis itself was so unstable a temporal event that no one could safely determine that it would bring about her death! Some reports from that era claim Supergirl was still active as a heroine after it ended. So little about its true origin survived to our era that we could not even be certain what cosmic event was the Crisis in question!" he shouted.
He altered the settings on the Time Viewer and said, "I have little choice but to focus once more on the events leading up to her death. Perhaps, in some manner seeing the train of events will bring me peace!"
He watched the Viewer as it displayed two costumed women talking on the top of a tall building. One of the women was clearly Supergirl herself while the other wore a costume much like that of the Batman. He listened and sighed as their words echoed with an ominous hint of the tragedy to come. Batgirl spoke of her concerns about the strange weather and red skies that seemed to warn of an even more dreadful crisis to come.
Batgirl looked up at her friend and said, "I'm so scared. I don't think I was ever cut out for being a hero!"
Kara had replied calmly and compassionately, as was her habit. "Do you remember when we first met? We had been abducted by Bat-Mite and Mr. Mxyzptlk. They were impersonating us as part of some crazy bet involving Superman and Batman! That first case together made us friends. As a friend I can tell you that while the threats we face these days each time we put on these costumes are far more deadly than the pranks of two imps, you are still one of the most capable women I know! I would trust you with my life and that's because I know deep inside no matter what fears or doubts you may be having, you are a true heroine!" she said.
Batgirl shook her head. "I know I've done okay in the past but this time we're not facing Lilibet Windsor as a fake Cleopatra or even the Annihilator! The whole world seems at risk and I'm a smart woman who can fight well. What good can those skills do in a crisis like this?"
Kara said, "There are thousands of people out there without powers like mine- they're all ordinary people trying their best to keep this world from falling apart. That's all any of us can aspire to do!"
Batgirl said, "She doesn't give a moment's thought to herself or her safety. Yet I know she cares if she lives or dies. She's a hero through and through."
Suddenly, Supergirl's super vision enabled her to spot a pilot in danger. She explained the situation to Batgirl and rushed off to rescue him. Batgirl watched from afar with bat-binoculars. Supergirl snatched the pilot to safety in seconds.
"You saved me? But why? We're all going to die anyway!" said the startled man as she flew him to safety.
"We fight to live as long as we can live. That's the only way to live and still be able to live with yourself!" said Supergirl.
Brainiac 5 nodded resolutely to himself. "She was so noble right up to the end. She joined Superman soon afterward and together they convinced Blackstarr to use her cosmic powers to stave off some Crisis spawned damage to the universe. Even during that epic battle she refused to give up hope although she expressed certain anxieties to Superman!"
He watched for a few moments as Kara convinced Blackstarr to restore the boundaries of Earth 1's damaged universe, then he adjusted the dial again and saw the Maid of Steel fly off to her Chicago apartment at super speed.
She swooped inside an apartment at Fargo Street and tried to study for a few moments before she sighed and put down the book. "I can't shake this ominous feeling. It's just a vague sense that something bad is going to happen. I think I need to see my folks or at least one set of them!" she said. She fed her cat Streaky II and said, "I'll be back soon. Don't get into too much mischief!"
She soon soared over California, and reached a small but comfortable looking home. "Seems so odd to find Mom and Dad here. I never have lived in this house that they bought when Dad switched from his old lab in Midvale to run the new STAR facility out West. I guess I'll always think of Midvale as my Earth home!" she said.
Fred Danvers put down his pipe in surprise and called out to his wife Edna. "Edna, Linda's here!" he said as he received a kiss and hug from his adopted daughter.
Kara assumed her Linda Danvers role with a super fast change of costume and hair. "Daddy, it is so good to see you again! With all the crazy weather going on, I wanted to spend some time with you and Mom!" she said.
Edna emerged from the kitchen. "Linda! How are you? Is something wrong?"
Linda laughed and hugged her mother. "Now, are you trying to say I only visit when I'm in trouble?"
Edna said, "Why no. Still, a mother can tell when her child is worried. I know you have not been seeing anybody since you broke up with the deceitful Phil Decker. Is there a new man in your life?"
Linda sat down in a soft armchair and said, "Now, Mother, a modern woman's life doesn't revolve around a man. You know that! I've been happily single for a long while now. School is going great too. I relish learning what makes people tick. Kind of the way Dad loves to tinker with gadgets in his lab."
Fred said, "Speaking of labs, my work at S.T.A.R. is beginning to be really stimulating. Those cosmic anomalies popping up of late have us scrambling for answers!"
Linda nodded. "Those weird storms are just obvious signs of something worse that is yet to come. They are outward manifestations of an as yet hidden threat."
Edna said, "And your own anxiety is a sign of something too. What's wrong, honey?"
Linda shook her head. "I honestly don't know. I just have a feeling of dread. I know the thing to do is to ignore it and keep on trying to make things better. That's what you've taught me. That's what my Kryptonian folks taught me when they sent me away from the destruction of Argo City. They had survived one disaster when Krypton died and Argo was spared within its protective shield and they were not about to see me die when the anti-kryptonite began to break through the lead shields. They always believed in never losing hope!"
Fred nodded. "Zor-El is a wise man. I've never found his equal as a lab man."
Linda said, "Wise and caring. That's how I see both of my two dads and my two moms!"
Edna said, "Can you have a dinner with us? The pot roast is nearly done."
Linda hesitated then said, "I'd love too."
Brainiac 5 switched the Time Viewer ahead. "She spent one last happy evening with the Danvers before she returned to battle the Crisis. I notice she also made stops at San Francisco's KSFTV where she briefly worked and at Vandyme University where she studied drama. She wanted to revisit the past where she had been happy. Ironic, how I'm doing the same thing vicariously," he said.
He watched Supergirl cross the country to briefly visit New Athens Experimental School and the set of New York's "Secret Hearts" soap opera. She had worked at both places as well. However, she lingered longest at the small community of Midvale.
She landed outside the Midvale Orphanage and scanned the place with her super vision. She saw two children playing in the main yard. "Great Krypton! It's good to see the old place again. I spent my earliest days on Earth at Midvale Orphanage. It looks like the kids are getting ready for a special event. Mrs. Hart is retiring!" she said as she noticed a colorful banner.
"Ah, Melanie, you are such a baby!" taunted a boy with red hair.
A small blonde girl rubbed at her eyes and shouted. "I'm not a baby! I just wanted to give Mrs. Hart something just from me."
The boy said, "We're all giving her a present and cards. You should just learn to draw and then you could too!" He ran inside and left the little girl alone where she began to weep.
Supergirl rushed over and bent down next to the child. "Hello, why are you so sad?" she asked.
Melanie said, "I want to make something for Mrs. Hart. She is so nice. I don't draw well like the others!"
Supergirl said, "I bet we can make a nice gift for Mrs. Hart together. There are many different ways to show someone you care. Drawing is just one way," she said with a gentle smile.
Melanie looked up and said, "You're pretty. You dress like Superman! He's my hero!"
Supergirl laughed and said, "Mine too! Now, why don't we take this rock and work with it!" She scooped up a small stone and used her super strength to shape it into a heart shape and polish it until it was smooth and shiny.
Melanie smiled broadly. "It's pretty! I could give it to Mrs. Hart. It's like her name!"
Supergirl hugged the child and gave her the altered stone. "Right! See? We made a nice gift together!" The child ran inside clutching the rock as Supergirl watched for a moment. "Mrs. Hart was always so kind to me when I lived at the orphanage. I'm glad I could contribute to her retirement and help that lovely child at the same time!" she said.
She reached the house she had lived in so happily with the Danvers during their years at Midvale. She entered unseen and walked around the empty home. "I'm so glad Dad didn't sale this dear place. It's precious to me. I couldn't bare to think of strangers living here!" she said.
She smiled as she recalled memories from her time in the happy home. "Dick kissed me under that tree by the side of the house. He was so determined to prove that Linda Lee was really Supergirl! I'm glad we were able to continue our special friendship after we both were adopted. I saw Dr. Malverne, Dick's father, when I passed his office coming here. He looks well. I bet he's so proud of Dick and his progress in law school." she mused.
She had last seen Dick Malverne around seven months ago. He had briefly reentered her life only to eventually part from her again. She was happy in Chicago and he was really still looking for the girl she had been and not the woman she had become since leaving home.
She gathered some wildflowers and made one final stop in the small community. "Midvale Cemetery. It's a well-tended resting-place but today even in the warmth of the sun, it gives me a chill. Must just be my imagination! I can resist far colder temperatures." She placed them on one grave and knelt briefly by the headstone.
"Jan, I never met you but Mom and Dad told me all about you. They were so proud of their soldier son. I want you know that you are not forgotten. Death doesn't remove a loved one from the memories of those left behind!" she whispered.
Brainiac 5 watched as she flew over the New Athens Experimental School and Stanhope College before heading for Superman's arctic Fortress. "She felt the need to return to some of her former homes. What odd impulse led her to make that pilgrimage? I know all too well that after one last stop, she joined me and other heroes aboard that satellite where we all learned more about the true nature of the threat," he said.
"On the Monitor's satellite Kara and I found ourselves together among a sea of costumed beings from a myriad of times and worlds! She clung to me at first. I can still feel her touch! She said that she was glad I was there!" he said.
He paced across the floor again as his agitated increased. "My presence brought her comfort! How I wish I could have done more than that! I had no idea she was going to die before the Anti-Monitor met his own demise. All I did was offer her bland reassurances," he said in disgust. "I recall her exact words! She said 'Brainy, I have felt like this Crisis might be more than I can handle. I've felt as insecure as I did when I first left Argo City to its own fate all those years ago!'"
"I tried to make her feel better. I said that history showed no massive disruption or major disaster in her era. I even glibly said Supergirl's career was a long one even after the turn of the century! And yet all the time I knew that the temporal anomaly that was the Crisis was literally changing all the known rules of the universe. Still, to this moment I can't believe all my sources were wrong. They show Supergirl as being active long past the 1980's," he said.
He stopped and returned to adjust the Time Viewer. "Still, I am getting ahead of myself. Before she joined me on that satellite or we tried to make some sense out of how the parallel earths were merging, she went to the Fortress of Solitude and spoke once more to her real parents on their new home of Rokyn. I was the one who gave her the communicator that allowed her to see and hear them even when their world was not in sync with Earth. I pray that gesture shortly after they first reached Rokyn added pleasure to her life!" he said.
He watched Supergirl enter the hidden Fortress and activate the communicator. She smiled winningly as she saw the home of her father and mother.
Zor-El and Allura greeted their daughter warmly. "Kara, love, it is wonderful to see you! I have been working with Nightwing to keep order here. The odd weather and strange clouds of antimatter have many here fearing a second doom like that that befell lost Krypton!" said the brilliant scientist.
Allura, a mature but lovely woman who resembled her daughter, said, "Kara, are you and Kal able to deal with the problem? Are others joining you in this Crisis?"
Kara replied, "I'm glad to see you both. We are trying to bring some sense of order and calm here too. Things are okay so far but I needed to see you and hear your voices. I know I've been an independent woman for a long while but it still feels so good to hear you two say things will all be fine!"
Zor-El frowned. "Kara, they will be fine. Science and courage may make all things right!"
Allura nudged her husband. "Above all else love and faith will keep you safe!"
Kara smiled and nodded. "Thank you both! I'll remember that. You said those words when you sent me here all those years ago. I thought I'd lost you forever! How happy I was when I later learned you had both survived Argo City's doom. Rao watch over you both. I love you!"
"We love you too!" said Allura as the signal broke up.
Kara had wandered around the Fortress for a few final moments. She caressed a display showing her friends Comet the Super Horse and Jerro the Merman. "I've been so very fortunate to find so many caring people on my adopted world. I won't let them down now. I'll see this thing through and honor their efforts on my behalf!" she vowed.
She departed from the Fortress and soon ended up among the other heroes aboard the massive satellite of the Monitor. That enigmatic being's aide Lyla had explained the peril to the assembled heroes and they had raced to try to bring order to the surviving parallel earths!
"Kara had joined a group of heroes on Earth S. She had aided them in calming a maddened Marvel Family. After she restored hope to a dispirited Mary Marvel on that world, she helped the heroes, who set out to confront the Anti-Monitor himself in his evil dimension," he said as if noting calculations in his head.
He said, "Her final battle. I can barely stand to witness it and yet I can not turn away!" Tears filled his eyes as he watched the tragedy unfold.
Supergirl, Superman, Captain Marvel, Captain Atom, Dr. Light II, Wildfire, Jade and other heroes followed the tragic figure of Pariah as he guided them into the Antimatter Universe which housed the Monitor's evil counterpart the Anti-Monitor. It was there the heroes would make there a stand against his power!
The first assault came when his rocky creatures attacked the heroes and Kara immediately displayed her heroism and leadership skills by bravely shattering one and using her super breath to scatter the fragments across the weird Antimatter Universe before it could reform!
Superman was clearly proud of his cousin and his own courage was shown when he began an effort to destroy a huge solar collector that their foe was using to reduce the vibration differences between the earths.
The new Dr. Light watched in concern. She had courage too but she also lacked the inner nobility that so motivated the two Kryptonians. Thus, she saw Superman fall to a brutal attack by the Anti-Monitor. His scream attracted Kara's attention and she rushed to protect her beloved cousin without thought of her own past fears!
"Kal-El! He needs me!" she cried. Supergirl reached the scene of battle in time to see Dr. Light fall in defeat as Superman received a savage beating and Pariah cried out that there was no hope! "There's always hope! You can't give up hoping. Not ever!"
Supergirl struck the armored form of the Anti-Monitor and accused him of causing all the misery she had seen since the red skies first appeared! "You! You're the one responsible for all this insanity! For all those deaths! How could you care so little for life?" she shouted.
He swept her aside and spoke in a sepulchral tone. "First this one who you call cousin then you and all others. You shall be together only in the mists of eternity!"
Kara fell but continued fighting. "No! You're not going to kill Superman! I won't allow it! You hear me! All my life I've considered life the greatest of all gifts. But you're a blasphemy of life! You don't deserve to live!" she cried as she shattered his armored body!
She continued to pound away at the weakening foe while her example inspired Dr. Light II to carry Superman to safety and vow to no longer waste her own life with selfishness! Dr. Light obeyed but cried out in horror as she saw Supergirl glow brightly with the lethal energies being released by the Anti-Monitor! "He's killing her! I have to help you!" shouted Dr. Light II!
Supergirl turned to order the new heroine to escape with her injured cousin while there was still time! "No! Go! Go now!" she cried.
The Anti-Monitor rose up and grabbed her in his arms. "You turn in battle, girl? That is a fatal mistake!" he said.
"Kara!" shouted Superman in wide-eyed disbelief! As Superman screamed in shock and horror, Supergirl received a fatal blast of raw energy from her maddened enemy.
The Anti-Monitor fled and left the heroes to gather around the pitiful scene where Superman gently and tearfully held his dying cousin. "C'Mon Kara, don't give up. You'll make it. Please stay with us!" he begged.
"I can't but it's okay. I knew what I was doing. I wanted you to be safe. You mean so much to me... to the world. You succeeded in destroying the machines. Thank Heaven! The worlds have a chance to live. You're crying. Please don't! You taught me to be brave... and I was. I love you so much for what you are. For how good you are!" she gasped. She fell silent as life left her.
Superman bent over her still form in anguish. "It's not fair! She shouldn't have died for me. Where is the Anti-Monitor? I want to kill him!" cried a grief-stricken Man of Steel.
Brainiac stared at the screen as tears streamed down his face. "I was at her memorial service. I heard the words of tribute her peers and those she had influenced offered up as a final remembrance. Still, words seemed all too hallow an offering now that she was gone! Actions were needed. The evil of the Anti-Monitor was defeated. Other sacrifices were made. Other lives were lost. Tears and pain were felt. Still, now after all is said and done, I am faced with nothing but a sense of loss and so many regrets," he said.
"I have recorded my thoughts via the link to Computo. Perhaps, at a later time when my so-called genius can focus calmly on the data I will find those answers but then again what is the point? What is the point of even going on? Death would be either a last great mystery to solve or a final peace. I would seek either gladly. Still, another option is possible. Time may not be changed. To try to do so leads inevitably to ruin. Still, if I am to die surely doing so in an attempt to rest from history itself a loss I can neither comprehend nor withstand would be a notable method of ending life! I shall take the Time Bubble and try to save her. If I fail then all I have lost is a life rendered empty and devoid of meaning!" he said.
He turned away from the Time Viewer and rushed out of the lab past a worried Rond Vidar. "Brainiac 5, are you all right?" asked Rond. Brainiac 5 ignored his friend and entered a time bubble. He adjusted the controls with a desperate intensity and the machine flickered away into the tie stream itself to leave Rond staring in concern. "I pray he returns! His look was one of pure hopelessness!" whispered Rond.
Brainiac 5 set the controls to take him back in time to the very moment in time before Kara followed Pariah into the Anti-Monitor's home. "I have no idea if the craft can weather the combined effects of the chronal storms that rage around the time of the Crisis! I know it can not withstand the raw energies of the Antimatter universe! I must stop her from entering that dread place. I can't even speculate if my actions will make things worse in some way. I only know I need to try to save the only woman I've ever loved!" he said.
He watched as the time stream flowed around him. The weird pattern of colors and energies made it vital that he depend upon the controls within the craft. He could certainly not see clearly enough to determine his exact location by any less technological means!
Sparks suddenly began to flicker across the controls. "No! The energies are too much for the engine! The sheer power of the chronal flux is deteriorating the craft's structural integrity," he said.
He struggled with the damaged machine and saw a flying woman. "Kara? Can it truly be her?" he gasped. He steered the craft in her wake, as she seemed to beckon him onward.
"Don't know what era I am in! The control display is blank! I can only follow her and hope that this means I have merely overshot my desired destination and she has spotted me long before she ever entered the Antimatter Universe," he said.
He frowned as she led him out of the stormy section of the time stream to emerge in a quieter part of the strange zone between times. "That is not Kara! Her costume is all-wrong. Odd, her hair is shorter too!" he said. "Am I in some alternate universe? Perhaps, I've entered a divergent timeline!"
He waited as the blonde woman struggled with the chronal energies that surged around them in waves. "She is in need of help! I must get her inside!" he said. He caught her attention as she looked up and he waved her closer. "I must try to project my force field around her and thus allow her entrance into my craft!" He acted quickly and she soon stood before him as they vanished from the time stream to emerge in 1985.
"You saved me! All I knew has been lost! The cities are all gone! I am the only survivor! I fled into the time stream but the chronal energies overcame me. I would have been lost forever had you not arrived!" she said.
He looked at and shook his head. "You are not Supergirl!" he said.
She said, "I am. I am the Supergirl of 500,000 years from now! Or so I was. My era has been destroyed by the Crisis!"
He said, "You must be a descendent of my Supergirl. I suggest you remain here and carry on her legacy. I see you have met her. Your expression makes it clear!"
She said, "I am Lydia-7. I have met the Supergirl of this era. Your words have merit. How can you speak so calmly and so logically of the loss of worlds and entire eras?"
He said, "I know that in any crisis, you must fight to live as long as you can live. You must live that way in order to be able to live with yourself. You must never give up!"
She smiled. "Brave words."
He recalled the slightly different ghostly female figure that first led him through the storm to where he found and rescued this new Supergirl.
"A woman I love told me that. She taught me that and much more!" he said with a sad smile. "This spot is isolated enough that we should avoid alarming the locals. Would you use your heat vision to reconnect this severed wire?" he said as he opened up a control panel.
Lydia obeyed his instructions and he expertly made use of her super powers to repair the craft in record time. "You certainly are familiar with the use of Kryptonian abilities. My own are enhanced by the nature of the sun in this era," she said.
He nodded. "That is logical. Now, tell me, when you met Kara what was your opinion of her?"
She hesitated and said, "She was caring. She was valiant. I would like to find a place for myself in this era. She is no longer among the living?"
He shook his head. "No. She perished during the Crisis that created those chronal storms that almost wrecked my craft and left you stranded. I would suggest you seek out her cousin Superman. He will gladly help you adjust to a new era. He will also need your help. I know her loss has hurt him, has hurt us all deeply."
She said, "She was my ancestor. I will follow your suggestions."
He frowned. "Odd. Kara has never..! I spoke of you before as her descendent and yet surely you are more likely the heir to Superman himself. One such heir lives in my time and is a student at the Legion Academy."
Lydia said, "I tell you plainly. She is my direct ancestor. I would not err about such matters."
He nodded. "Her era may in fact be an alternate one. Kara could not have had a child. I would not believe that. She and I were too close."
He said, "Lydia, I am Brainiac 5. I am a member of a group of youthful champions called the Legion of Super Heroes from the 30th century. Perhaps, when you are more settled here, you would like to journey to our era and join us?"
Lydia said, "I am a solitary person. Still, I will consider your offer. I do appreciate your help. You rescued me." He reached out to take her hand but she stiffened and drew back. "I am not Kara Zor-El. I realize this is a difficult moment for you since you clearly cared for her. Still, you must not assume that I am anything like her." .
He said, "Of course not. That would be faulty reasoning. I am aware of that. Good luck to you. I wish you well."
She smiled slightly. "My thanks to you. I will see you again in your era."
He adjusted the time bubble and returned to his proper era. "Fascinating. I tried to rescue Kara but only managed to save one who is apparently her heir. I assume it was her career that the historical records I found claimed to be Kara's own continued after the Crisis. I would never have found her without following what I could only call Kara's angel. Such things are possible. I will take this result to mean that time must follow its proper course. She is at peace. She directed me to Lydia. She must be blessing her heir's desire to follow in her footsteps. I suppose she also was telling me that I should not forget her but also that I should carry on as she would have wished me to do," he said.
He said, "I will try to learn more about Lydia's possible ancestry. How could Kara have had a child?"
He greeted Rond Vidar who rushed up to the Time Bubble as Brainiac 5 exited the craft. "Rond, I am well. Forgive my earlier conduct. I know you were concerned about my irrational behavior," he said.
Rond said, "I am glad to see you safely returned from your abrupt trip. Did you accomplish what you wanted to do?"
Brainiac 5 smiled slightly. "Let us say that I accomplished what needed to be done."
Epilogue
Two colorful young women strolled through Weisenger Plaza toward the famed HQ of the Legion of Super Heroes. The first girl had attractive features with dark hair and a fit physique. She was silent not so much due to reticence on her part but rather due to her orange complexioned friend's ceaseless chatter!
"Like this is soo totally starshine! Three days leave from the Legion Academy and the weather programming is set for sunny skies for the whole holiday! Could that be anymore excelsior?" said Comet Queen.
Laurel Kent smiled and smothered a laugh as her friend failed to wait for any possible reply. Laurel, a descendent of the legendary Superman, possessed his fabled invulnerability and she hoped one day to make the transition from Legion Academy pupil to active member of the group of super powered champions whose HQ loomed directly ahead.
Comet Queen's bizarre appearance and super powers came from the time she had plunged through the tail of a comet in the hopes of gaining powers and the chance to join the Legion. She had indeed gained super powers of flight and generation of an energy cloud but she had only managed to earn a spot at the Legion Academy where former Legion members Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel instructed their pupils in the fine art of being a hero or heroine.
A handsome youth with a flashy jacket and a stack of holo tapes flew by them with a radiant smile. "Sun Boy! He is totally Nebulae!" gushed Comet Queen.
"He is a hunk. That's 20th century slang. I guess he is on his way to college. He is a busy guy between being a LSH hero and continuing his physics studies too!" said Laurel as she watched him fade out of view.
Comet Queen rolled her eyes. "I'd like to stay after class with him! He is the Romeo Maximus of the LSH!" They continued walking around the complex and glanced upward at the HQ itself.
"You know Mr. Taine says the original base was smaller and was built to look like an early rocket," said Comet Queen.
Laurel said, "Sure. In fact the regrouped Substitute Heroes use it now."
As they passed the long row of statues, which depicted various members, Comet Queen frowned up at one particular statue. "Brainiac 5 is such a major chill factor!" she said.
Laurel shrugged. "I don't know. He has had a lot of emotional problems. I feel sorry for the guy. It can't be easy to be mega smart. The whole world must seem like children in comparison to him."
Comet Queen said, "He had a thing for Supergirl. That is totally morbid. He strikes me as the kind of man without any romance or passion about him. He's all science and no heart!"
Meanwhile, within the Legion HQ Brainiac 5 approached a brooding Timber Wolf. "Brin, would you please retrieve one of my data droids from the storage Tessaract -section 34-C," he said.
Timber Wolf scowled. "Yeah, sure. Why not. It's not like I have a life outside of this place! Not anymore!"
He moved off with his characteristic loping stride in the direction of the extra-dimensional storage tessaract. The section of Legion HQ designed for storage only took up a small amount of space in terms of the dimension in which it was located; however, due to the nature of Brainiac 5's design the area expanded nearly infinitely into extra-dimensional space.
He spoke into the remote that led to Computo and said, "Computo, disable tessaract- section 34-C for approximately the next two hours. "
Later, when Shrinking Violet attempted to access the storage tessaract from outside she noticed it slide open to reveal Timber Wolf locked in a passionate kiss with Lightning Lass.
She smirked slightly. "Excuse me. I didn't mean to interrupt." The couple turned and separately slightly.
"Sorry, Salu. We got stuck in this crazy storage center. It would not respond to any command we gave. We talked and worked things out. Ayla accepted my apology for not rushing off to join her when she decided to leave the team. She saw my side at last!" he said.
Ayla nudged him playfully. "I was stubborn. I mean I came back to the team too. How could I reasonably be mad at Brin for knowing what was really best for us all along. I should learn to trust his instincts! We settled everything while we were stuck inside the storage area. I didn't want to use my powers to fry the system since that might have left us trapped for even longer than the malfunction did. of course, now I really don't mind being in here!" she said with a wink.
Salu shrugged. "Young love. How nice. I'll leave you two to whatever!"
Brin said, "Ayla, Brainy will be sore that I didn't deliver his droid."
Ayla frowned. "That's funny. That's why I was inside here too. He asked me to bring one to him!"
Back in his multi-lab Brainiac 5 smiled as he saw the couple emerge from the storage area hand in hand. "Computo, your timing is slightly off. Recalibrate your system. You opened the tessaract a few seconds early. No real harm done though," he said.