The sun shined brightly in the sky in Metropolis, as the summer weather was in full force, and it was a picture perfect, beautiful day, with the hustle and bustle that was common with the city being in full force. Everyone was in a bright and cheerful mood, and there was no reason to be unhappy for today would be a great day for many reasons, one where it would be perfect.
Yet in every perfect day, there was always one dark storm cloud that was brewing, and thus it threatened to rain on that day until everyone had been sent into a tormented and depressed state of mind.
A dark haired girl took slow steps towards the front entrance of the Shining Light Foundation, walking slowly, yet carefully. The young girl was about fifteen years of age, dressed in a black cloak that was pulled over her head, and it had a pendent depicting a raven pulled over it. She entered the office, where a red haired girl dressed in bright colors, with a green blouse, and a red skirt, with blue boots walked over here.
"Hi, welcome to the Shining Light Foundation, my name is Megan, how may I help you?"
Despite Megan's sunny and cheerful demeanor, the demeanor of this other girl was anything, but, the expression that was on her face was one that was sullen, and brooding, crossing her arms, and she took a step forward. "I wish to speak to the owners of the Shining Light Foundation on an urgent matter."
"And whom may I ask is speaking?" Megan asked, looking at this girl, her expression still dark, still brooding, not even one bit of emotion crossing her face.
"Rachel, Rachel Roth," the girl replied, her eyes dark pools that bored into Megan, and made the girl shiver. Megan Morse wondered if this girl ever smiled, ever showed any emotions at all, but that was beside the point.
"Well Rachel, sit down, and I'll see if Mr. and Mrs. Potter can speak to you," Megan replied in a happy and sunny voice, before she turned around, and Rachel was not done speaking as of yet.
"Do try and convey to them that this matter is urgent."
'They always are,' Megan thought at that moment, a knowing smile crossing her face before she left, and Rachel sat in the lobby of the Shining Light Foundation.
Rachel could sense that this was a structure built in part by magic, which meant that this was the right place to go, and find someone to help her. Help was something that she needed, and if her sense was right, these were the people who could help the young girl the most. Crossing her arms, Rachel waited in an impatient matter, tapping her foot on the ground, and drawing a deep breath at that point.
Emotions were something that could have been a problem, and they caused her powers to go wonky, which was why Rachel vowed to turn them off at any costs. She reached forward, grabbing the pendant that she wore, the raven swinging from her cloak. The pendant once belonged to her mother, and it was a gift that Rachel was given before her mother passed on.
Her mother was the one that warned her that this day was coming, and Rachel was not looking forward to her sixteenth birthday, which would be in a few days. She could sense his hand involved, and a dark presence stalked her, which caused Rachel to be very tormented, with the looming specter of her father showing up.
Rachel wondered when this Megan girl would return with the Potters, there was no time to wait, but if they were who she suspected they were, they would have many responsibilities. She just hoped that they would put aside to help her.
The elevators opened, and Rachel got up, pleased that she did not have to wait too long. True to form, Harry and Kara Potter exited the elevator, and Rachel could feel automatically that they were extremely powerful, which was something that caused a bit of a distraction with her. Rachel got up to her feet, and Harry walked up to her, a smile crossing his face.
"Rachel, isn't it?" Harry asked, and Rachel offered a slow nod. "I welcome you to the Shining Light Foundation, I know it much be a shock what you're going through but..."
Rachel put up a hand to stop Harry, and there was a moment where she took a long sigh, before speaking. "I am not infected by the meteors, so do not worry about that. That is not the reason why I'm here, my powers are natural."
That was something that caught both Harry and Kara for a loop, with the two locking eyes, and communicating briefly without words like they were always able to. There were just many times where Harry and Kara had the instincts that there was something about ready to happen, although this was a point where both of them had this sense of foreboding, and they were getting that from this girl.
Although how she figured in at this point, neither of them could say, and it was Harry who had broken the very long silence that had been created by this revelation.
"So, you're not infected by the meteors."
"We've established that, yes, my powers were natural, and dangerous, powerful magic," Rachel responded, turning around at that moment, and looking out the window. She never appreciated the beauty in the world until the end, or near the end. She could sense that his will was in the city, there were those who worshipped him, and believed that he would bring about some kind of change.
Well he could bring about change alright; there was a certain amount of change that did come along with the end of the world. Nothing would ever be the same again.
"So, exactly why are you here?" Kara asked, in a curious voice, and the blonde Kryptonian was more than curious. "You can tell us, you did come here, and you want to let us know, don't you?"
"Yeah I did, and yeah I will," Rachel responded, taking a long and deep breath. "I've come here because I need the help from the Heralds of Death to stop a presence that could threaten all of the human race, and eventually all moral life throughout the universe."
Kara and Harry sat up straight, and rigid, looking at the girl, and Rachel's expression never changed, never wavered.
"Don't worry, I sensed you, and I know the legend, but I won't tell anyone," Rachel responded, and she took a deep breath. "There is something important that you need to know, and I hope that you can stop him when he comes."
"Who's coming?" Harry asked, getting a bit impatient, and Kara looked like she shared his impatience.
"Trigon is coming," Rachel answered in a voice, and Kara and Harry were confused at the significance of this statement, but had a feeling that they would find out all too soon about what Rachel meant by what she said. "He's coming and you have to kill me before it's too late."
One thing Clark could say about his life is that there was never a dull moment, but granted, that was something that might tend to work to his disadvantage. As strong as his powers were, there were always going to be people who were stronger than him, and many of those people were not going to be all that friendly. Yet, Clark had the one thing that a lot of those people who were wicked, and had been twisted by the power had.
He had determination, and a never say die attitude that would allow him to seize the day, and win the moment, as he made his way from the Daily Planet building. Lana was going to meet him outside just like she always did after work, and Clark saw Lois move off in the other direction, waving at her, with Lois just moving off quickly, giving him a courtesy wave.
For some reason, Lois seemed to be a bit snippy about the fact that Clark was trying to show the new secretary, Miranda, around the office, and had voiced this much, many times. When Lana found about it, she just warned Clark to watch his back, but Clark failed to see what the problem was with an unassuming secretary.
Kara had told him that there was a potential enemy lurking around every corner, but Clark thought that was a pragmatic attitude to take, even though Harry argued that it was a realistic one.
Clark Kent was pulled out of his musings, his super hearing picking up the muffled screams of a girl, something that was not a good thing. At super speed, Clark sped into the alleyway, but stopped to get a sense of his surroundings. The three figures were dressed in red cloaks, with shaved heads, and a weird symbol carved into their forehead, not to mention that they spoke in monotone.
The Last Son of Krypton stood in the alleyway, waiting and watching at that moment, and sure enough, they gave him reason to interject, at that time when the girl was shoved against the wall.
"She's not the one," one of the robed figures stated.
"Then kill her," the second robed figure replied, but before they could do the dastardly deed, Clark sped in at the speed of light, and grabbed one of the figures around the wrist, flipping him onto his stomach.
Another super speed in at the speed of light, and Clark scooped up the girl, before sprinting her to safety, before the robed figures could figure out what was going in. Clark paused, and looked at the figures, but the leader seemed to speak in a crisp monotone.
"No matter who you are, or what powers you have been gifted upon, no one will stop his coming," one of the figures said, and his eyes began to glow orange, but Clark sped forward, and knocked the figure into the wall.
The figure landed hard against a set of trash cans with a clatter, and another one of the figures grabbed Clark from behind, smashing his face against the wall, before he leapt high into the air, Clark's legs dangling from underneath him. The figure retained the ability to fly, and had Clark up over the ground.
The figure hurled Clark back to the down from hundreds of feet up, but acting quickly, Lana sped up, catching Clark in her arms, before she landed on the ground. At that moment, both Clark and Lana sent a duel blast of heat vision, but the robed figure used a shield to block the attack.
"So do you have any idea who these guys are working for?" Lana asked Clark, raising an eyebrow in confusion.
"You tell me, and we'll both know," Clark responded, shrugging his shoulders, once he was firmly on the ground, but the three had their eyes glowing.
"None shall compromise the passage of the master."
"Sounds like your standard crazy cult types to me," Lana remarked, rolling her eyes slightly when she heard their words.
"You will not delay the master's coming, for it has been written that his vessel will hold him in an Earthly form upon her sixteenth birthday, and she shall be his portal to where he will bring forth change to the world, which will be his new domain."
Lana was quite fed up with the melodrama that these three were giving her, so the dark haired girl flew up to try and engage them, but the force field knocked her back, with Clark having to run in this time. Clark caught Lana in his arms when she propelled back off.
"So, I guess we're even for today," Clark remarked, but two bolts of magical energy shot at them, and forced the two to stagger. "Something tells me this is going to be a hard one to defeat."
"Yeah, I got the message," Lana responded in a crisp voice, before she peered up at the three figures, who appeared to be summoning something, and whilst her knowledge of magic was scant, what they summoned could not be any good.
"The vessel will not be compromised, and all who step within our way will be obliterated from the tapestry of life," the three figures droned in unison, and a bolt of purple energy shot down right at Clark, leaving him no time to react.
Lana, being that much quicker, had time to react, and she dove in front of the purple bolt of light, with it striking her down to the ground. Clark's eyes widened in abject horror once Lana dropped to the ground, and the woman's body went completely limp, only just the faintest heart beat able to be heard from Clark.
Clark gritted his teeth, and tried to engage these three figures, knowing that he was out numbered, and likely outclassed, but Lana had been struck down like she was a fly on the wall, protecting him, so he had to do something.
Before Clark could do anything, a blonde blur shot from the sky, past him, and knocked the three figures back with a huge impact. Clark had hoped it was Kara for a moment, but his face fell when he realized that it was the other one. On the one hand, she was able to save him from likely getting curbed stomped, but on the other hand, that meant that Clark owed her big time.
Karen dropped down, pulling the crystal out of the belt on her uniform in an attempt to get a fix, but when the three saw the crystal, and felt the power, they fled.
Clark bent down, checking on Lana.
"Lana, wake up, please wake up!"
"She jumped in front of a bolt of magical energy, didn't she?" Karen asked in a cool and collected voice.
Clark opened his mouth at that moment, and shut it, that was what exactly what was happening.
"Yes, she got hit because she was protecting me, and if I didn't freeze, Lana would still be up and about, and this is all...OWW!"
Clark's little trip down the road of guilt was cut off when Karen wrapped him hard across the back of the head with her fist.
"Yes, you are an idiot, and yes this is your fault, but hopefully these are mistakes that you will learn from, Kal-El," Karen replied to Clark in a harsh voice, she was not going to coddle Clark like everyone else seemed to do. He was supposed to be a man of steel, so he should be able to take criticism. "Guilt won't solve what happened, now take Lana back to the farm, and we'll sort this out."
Clark had no choice, gingerly scooping up Lana in his arms, and Karen roughly grabbed Clark around the wrist, teleporting the group of them back to the Farm.
"You're the only one that can help me with this."
Rachel was now moved into a room in the Shining Light Foundation, with Harry and Kara standing there, and this seemed like a situation where most normal people would be beyond hysterical, but Rachel remained rather calm.
Harry considered the possibility that her powers were heavily tied into any emotions, so she tried not to show any, but this was the closest that she came to losing control of her powers. The young Herald of Death watched the teenage girl look out the window, and Kara tried to step toward her, given a pacifying voice.
"Whoever this Trigon guy is, he won't find you here."
Rachel's eyes snapped towards Harry and Kara, and the girl shook her head, before closing her eyes, and tilting her head back, giving a long sigh. Then it was only after all of those actions, where she spoke in a crisp and deliberate voice.
"You don't understand, Trigon will find me, he has empowered people to find me, and they're going after every single girl, until they find me. All won't matter, is that I have been created to bring Trigon to this world upon my sixteenth birthday, and it's the end of the world as we know it, and no one will feel fine."
Rachel said all of this without taking a breath, and without any humor her voice, giving a long and mournful sigh. There was a moment of pause while she considered the situation, and folding her arms against her chest, and tilting her head.
Kara broke the silence, with a gentle voice. "Why don't you just tell us what has been happening, since the beginning?"
Rachel offered a prolonged sigh, before she stated in a calm voice. "It's complicated."
Harry and Kara's eyes met each other that statement never led to anything, but a headache for either of them, something that had been proven time and time again, yet if this girl was in danger, there was no complications that could be too complicated. The two Heralds of Death looked at her with an encouraging voice, and Rachel decided to speak, closing her eyes as she recalled.
"This Trigon is my father, and he's an extremely powerful demon who has been trapped in a prison of his own creation by the people of Azarath."
Harry and Kara had vaguely heard of this Dimension through their studies to be Heralds of Death, but there was not much they truthfully knew about it. Both Heralds invited Raven to continue, and the teenage girl did.
"They managed to expel Trigon's evil from the universe, but it was not without a price. The fact was this monster forced himself on one of the women in the dimension, and sired an heir. That heir was...me."
Rachel closed her eyes, feeling guilt about what could be brought upon the world by her creation, but yet Harry and Kara did not say anything, rather they pressed her on.
"The other people of the dimension suggested that my mother terminate me before birth, thinking that I could be used as a vessel for Trigon's return from the dimension where he had been banished, but she refused, and tried to raise me like she would any other daughter. Yet Trigon's influence returned, and he sent three powerful creatures, heralds for lack of a better term, to the dimension to try and abduct me. My mother sent me away, but all of the people of Azarath were slaughtered by my father's chosen minions."
"And these people followed you here," Kara responded in an even voice, and Rachel nodded, the expression on her face never wavering.
"Yes, and if it was not for me, they would all still be alive, and not only that, but countless people would suffer and get killed."
Harry gave Rachel an encouraging smile, and the girl continued for a moment.
"Trigon plans to use me as his vessel to this world, and my powers to reshape the universe into his own image, a reflection of him, dark and twisted, and utterly sadistic. All mortal life would bend to his whims, and he will not stop."
"We'll stop him," Harry answered, in a firm voice.
"Yeah, you can count on it," Kara replied, in an equally firm voice, she was not going to back down from a fight, even if it was an extremely powerful demon who could destroy each and every one of them.
Rachel pulled herself up, and looked out the window, seeing the beauty of the city, and the world. Would it be the last time that she would see it, that was the question that burned through her mind, and tormented the young half-demon? Her mystical abilities were strong, but they would not repel Trigon once he decided to take over her body.
"We're going to put you in our most secure room," Harry answered, after mulling over the matter in his mind at that moment.
"That won't stop him," Rachel said, and she added more essential information to the Heralds of Death. "I'm going to be used as the vessel within two days, and...the reason I came to you because you have the power to destroy me before Trigon can use me."
Harry and Kara immediately put their collective foot down on that issue.
"There's another way, there always is," Harry replied, looking at Rachel, his expression firm, and serious. He stepped forward to really consider the young half-demon, and Rachel just seemed to offer a glare to him regarding this situation. "We'll stop Trigon."
"You have to kill me, it's the only way," Rachel responded, persisting that point as she emphasized every word.
"And what makes you think he won't decide to use another?" Kara asked Rachel suddenly.
Rachel stopped, and stared at that moment, that was not a situation that she considered, but it was one that was entirely feasible. That did not make things much better for her, rather it made them extremely worse, but if she knew her father, he would want her alone.
"You don't really know what it's like, to be conceived for someone else's ambitions," Rachel remarked in a brisk voice to Harry, and it was at this point where Harry's eyes just snapped towards hers sternly.
"Yeah, I do."
Kara just led Rachel to their most secure room, hoping that it would hold her. It was supposed to be used as a holding cell for any intruders, but that was not the point, the point was to keep her safe. The same cell once held Clark Kent and Lionel Luthor, so it should have hopefully keep Trigon out.
Rachel stopped at the door, spinning around to face Harry, her eyes on his.
"You have forty eight hours to pull some magical plan out, for that's when Trigon comes, on the day of my sixteenth birthday. I hope you understand what's on the line."
Harry and Kara understood, and could understand the plight of this young girl as well, for she was one who lost everything she ever knew, another orphan of a race that was now gone. Now she felt that her only purpose was to be used as this monster's means to destroy people, but Harry and Kara would be damned if they would let that happen.
It was time to do a bit more research, to see if they could find anything more on Trigon that would potentially allow them to stop him, but for that the two Heralds would need some back up.
Lana was laid on the couch in the living room at the Kent Farm House, and Clark hovered in the background, while Karen checked over Lana. There was a moment where Karen was silent, and Clark just wondered what this other Kryptonian was going to say. There was an undercurrent of hostility in her face, and her voice, and Clark just thought she was a bomb waiting to go off.
"You should consider yourself lucky, she's merely been petrified," Karen remarked softly to Clark.
Clark stood up straight, and asked the one pressing question that was on his mind. "How is that considered lucky?"
"Because, with the blast of magic she was struck with, it could have blown her head completely off," Karen replied stiffly, and Clark found it hard to read the emotions in Karen's voice, she kept the tone she spoke in rather stiff and neutral. "She's going to be down and out for the next three days, but she'll be back to her normal self."
Karen turned away from Lana, and was about to walk to the door, but she stopped suddenly, and turned around to face Clark.
"And you need to feed her, make sure she remains hydrated, and check on her to make sure she's breathing," Karen added to him in a firm voice. "If you want her to live, that is."
"Is there any way to bring her out of that state before the three days are up?" Clark asked, and it was at that point where Karen gave a very long pause, before she turned to Clark, offering him the most honest statement she could give it.
"It depends, if you want Lana to become a vegetable, then sure, but otherwise, I don't think you'd want me to try," Karen answered in a brisk voice, before she turned around, unable to stand to look Clark in the face. "So, I would say it would be good to meet you face to face for the first time, but I detest lying to people."
Clark could not resist piping in at that moment. "Just what is your problem with me anyway?"
"My problem with you is that you refuse to embrace the wonderful heritage of one of the greatest races of the universe, and try and dumb yourself down to the level of humanity!" Karen snapped harshly, and Clark took a step back, taking a deep breath. "You are someone who is special, Kal-El, but obviously you can't handle that."
"I think that I'm mostly ordinary," Clark replied in a modest voice, and his expression remained on Karen's face, not trusting himself to look elsewhere. "And the name is Clark."
"No, I don't think I'll call you by your slave name," Karen answered briskly, and she turned around, unable to stand to look Clark in the eye. "Humanity will end up betraying you in the end, once they learn the truth. I've seen it happen before. The moment you were outed as an alien in the other world, people attacked you. They thought that you were another super powered freak, infected by the meteors, but once they understood that you were an alien, they tried to crucify you."
"So, you're from another dimension?" Clark asked suddenly, it all clicking. "So, you are a version of Kara from another dimension?"
"Yes, I'm your cousin, but thankfully not your direct cousin," Karen answered, before she turned around and face Clark. "Kara might humor you, but secretly inside, I think she's kind of ashamed of you, for how you've allowed yourself to be soft and weak, unlike a true Kryptonian would be."
"That's not true!" Clark snapped, his eyes flashing. "You know, you're acting like..like..."
"A bitch?" Karen asked, and Clark just nodded, not quite the word that he would use, but the terminology did fit, even if it would never fall out of his mouth. "Well guess what Clark, this entire planet is a big one. Humanity is not worth saving, the only reason I'm here because I'm duty bound, and there is a certain green-eyed sorcerer that I have my eyes on, who is a fantastic lay I should note, likely better than you would be. You strike me as a faster than a speeding bullet type."
Clark was not going to even dignify this comment, or any others this older version of Kara was given with a comment. Surely, his cousin would not have been like this, if Harry had not found her, but that was beside the point.
"I'm not going to baby you, and I'm not going to coddle you like your Kara does," Karen answered, stepping back, and looking at Clark dead on in the eye. "There is a dangerous threat that is coming for you Clark, and each day you refuse to embrace your heritage, is another day you put more human lives at risk. Every day you delay, you are ensuring that your own failure is sealed, and with that failure, the fate of the world."
"You and Jor-El should hang out sometime, you have a lot in common," Clark responded.
This was the absolute wrong thing to say, and Karen angrily struck Clark in the face, the force her fist connecting with his nose knocking him down to the ground. Clark fell, feeling his blood pouring down his nose, with Kryptonian strength and magic combined. She did not pull her punch either, like Lana sometimes did when they sparred, Karen really and utterly decked him in the face.
"Don't you dare compare me to that monster," Karen said, eyes flashing with fury, and Clark thought for a moment she was going to burn him with her heat vision. "He was the one who sealed the fate of all of Krypton, just like you're going to seal the fate of everyone on Earth because of your inaction. This is not some game where everyone can just hit the restart button, people's lives are on the line. It's high time you grow up, Kal-El, and stop play acting as a human!"
Karen seethed, he was so weak, and the fact he needed someone to protect him was utterly appalling to her. A true Kryptonian didn't need a protector, they could stand on their own.
Clark felt a stabbing pain through his head, and Karen turned around, before she sped off in a towering temper. This could be another version of his cousin alright, but with an even worse temper, and likely some deep mental issues. Clark wondered what happened in that alternate timeline that had tormented this version of Kara to such a twisted reflection.
He sensed her anger, but Clark also noticed something else, that being fear when she spoke of Clark potentially dying. Right now, Clark did think that she had one good piece of advice, and he would watch over Lana, until she got better.
Karen flew towards the Shining Light Foundation, her hair blowing in the breeze, and a frown pursed on her thick, red lips. The fact of the matter was today Clark did not know how close he came to dying, and how he could have gotten many more people killed. If he had embraced his heritage, and his full powers, those three thugs could have been more easily defeated before they had a chance to harm Lana.
Karen could not stand to see her cousin die again, even if it was not technically her cousin, and the blonde continued to fly forward with these thoughts in her mind. Clark really needed to man up, and take control, and stop being such a weakling that toed the line.
It was nothing against Lana, but Karen had a serious problem with Clark's inability to see what his hesitation was causing.
"So on the mortal end, I've only been able to find a little bit of information on our terrible Trigon."