The Justice League had spotted the craft heading towards earth days before. Just a small, single person spaceship that had appeared as a tiny blip on the Hall of Justice monitor. This was unusual, but not unheard of for the heroes of Earth. Thanks to prominent League members like Superman, Martian Manhunter and the Green Lantern, extraterrestrials did have a tendency to visit the planet from time to time. 

However, as the craft got closer, things started to get stranger. There was only a single life sign onboard, and it was faint, refusing to answer hailing messages in any Earth languages or frequencies. 

“Could they be hostile?” Batman asked, watching the monitor. The vessel was definitely coming to Earth and would enter the atmosphere in the next few hours on its current route.

“Possible, but unlikely.” Wonder Woman wound the coil of her magic lasso of truth tight, preparing to head out the moment they knew where the ship was heading. “A signal as weak as that could mean someone in some form of stasis.”

“That could mean they aren’t actively controlling the ship, right?” The Flash said through a bite from a massive chocolate bar. ”So we don’t even know if Earth is their intended target?” 

“No, Barry.” Superman said as he flew closer to the screen and examined the shape of the ship. “We are definitely the intended target. The thruster has corrected course several times… Could be an auto pilot though.” The Man of Steel frowned. Something about this seemed very familiar.

“Passing the ISS now.” Batman said, hitting a few keys on the computer. “We should have a visual now.” 

The monitor changed from radar to video and Superman stumbled back. “Oh my god…!”

“Clark? What’s wrong?” Diana asked, putting a hand on her friend’s shoulder.

“That ship… it’s Kryptonian!”

________________________________________________________________

The Green Lantern and the Martian Manhunter had met the ship as it entered the planet’s atmosphere and brought it down gently to Earth in an open field in Russia, miles away from any civilians. 

Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman were there minutes afterwards, with the Flash remaining at the Hall in case of any other emergencies. “Have you felt anything, John?!” Clark asked, flying up to the Manhunter, anxious for answers.

“Very little through the ship.” He responded in his deep calm voice. “But I do sense fear. Anger. Hurt. We will know more soon.” He stepped back as a hissing noise came from the ship as the hatch was slowly opened, vapour obscuring the interior. 

Suddenly a foot kicked out of smoke, striking the hatch, and breaking it clean off the ship. A figure, little more than a blue blur ran from the ship and towards the approaching heroes. The figure jumped for Batman first, effortlessly knocking the batarangs from his raised hand and knocking him to the ground before trying to make a run for it, screaming strange words in an alien language.

“After her!” Bruce wheezed from the ground.

“Wait!” Clark said, holding up a hand to stop his teammates. He recognized the language from the Kryptonian archives in the Fortress of Solitude. “She’s speaking Kryptonian! I think I can tell what she’s saying!”

“By the Gods…!” breathed Diana, as she helped Batman to his feet.

“She’s calling for her mother and father.” said Clark. “We are dealing with a lost child.”

“A lost child that almost broke my arm!” Batman grumbled, glaring in the direction of the mysterious visitor.

“That’s enough, Batman! I’ll handle this!” Diana flew off after the retreating figure. She didn’t need Amazonian hunting skills to track this new arrival. Their heavy, hard foot falls left a very obvious path. Flying quickly behind the alien, who did indeed seem very small the closer she got to her, Wonder Woman was able to throw the Lasso of Truth over her quarry and pull it tight.

“Ahh! What the heck!” A girl's voice called as the fugitive hit the ground, her arms pulled tight to her sides. She struggled and writhed for freedom, but the rope was too strong.

“Calm down, child. We mean you no harm.” Diana landed and approached her stunned captive. “We only wish to speak to you.”

“Who are you and how are you speaking Kryptonian?”

Diana finally got a good look at the alien. It was indeed a young girl, little more than a teenager with short blond hair, clad in a very familiar outfit of blue and red. Diana was only more surprised to see the red and yellow S emblazoned on the girl’s chest. She recovered quickly. She had a task to do. “My name is Diana. We are speaking because of the magic of this rope. It has the power of truth. One cannot lie while bound in it, but it also allows us to understand one another. You are on the planet Earth. Do you know how you got here?”

The young woman slowly shook her head, but she didn’t speak. While they were talking, Superman gently landed a few feet away. Both Clark and the newcomer had seen each other and locked eyes, not believing the existence of the other.

“My god… Who are you and why are you wearing that emblem?” Clark asked in hushed wonder.

“What did the big blue one say?” The blonde asked Diana. “Why can I understand you but not him? And how in the name of Flamebird did he get that crest?!”

Diana motioned for Clark to come closer. “Hold the rope, then she can understand you too.”

Clark did as she asked. Suddenly, both Clark and the girl found themselves asking each other the same questions at the same time.

“Where did you get that emblem?”

“It belongs to my family.”

“YOUR family’s!?”

“That’s not possible!”

The other league members watched, bewildered, from a distance. “Is this really possible?” Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern asked, knowing how much another Kryptonian on Earth could change the world.

“More than possible, Hal.” The Martian commented. “There’s only one way two people could possibly be that in sync…”

One final time, Superman and the child spoke in unison. “What is your name?”

They were quiet for a moment before the girl spoke, “Kara Zor-El.” She stated, maintaining fixed eye-contact.

“Kal El.” Clark replied softly.

Kara stared at him in disbelief. “Is this… is this some sort of sick joke? There’s no way… Kal El is my baby cousin, I just saw him a week ago! He’s only little! I was bouncing him on my knee!” 

She started to panic, “Is this a dream? Yes! That must be it! That explains the familiar name, the black spiky monster and the hot lady with the magic rope!” She paused for a moment blushing, the magic of said rope making her say too much.

She took a deep breath and continued, “Please, tell me I’m dreaming. I’ll wake up back at home any moment now….”

Diana and Clark exchanged a glance. Maybe they would try a different tactic. “If this is a dream, do you remember what you were doing when you were last awake?”

Kara paused in thought. “I was talking to my dad… He…said he had a surprise for me…” She looked down at her outfit. “The ceremonial dress of our family. A gift for each of us at adulthood.” Her smile faltered as the rest of that fateful day came back to her. “He locked me in a pod, once I was dressed… Mom came and tried to stop him. They fought… they were hurt…” 

Tears had begun rolling down her cheeks. “Mom said something about Uncle Jor’s crazy plan… and dad… something about keeping me safe… Oh... Oh no…!” She looked up at the strange adults all around her, sobbing without restraint, “What happened to them?”

Clark began to cry softly too and got down to her level, wrapping his strong arms around his cousin. The long sad story of their family could wait for a little while. For now, they were just two lost children of a dead planet taking comfort in the embrace of family.

________________________________________________________________

Having calmed down from the initial adrenaline rush of panic, from waking up in her strange surroundings, young Kara had gone with the others quietly. She knew she was far from home, in a very strange place, and these bizarre adults were her best way of finding out just what had happened. She trusted the pretty one called Diana, and the big one claiming to be Kal El, so she travelled away from the crash site with them in an unusual stealth ship. 

Kara gazed out the window and saw another vessel, sharp and black like the angry dark creature, that seemed to be picking up the escape pod and flying off with it in a different direction. “Hey! Where’s he taking that?! That’s my dad’s ship!” She called out in Kryptonian to Clark in the seat across from her. 

Kara still couldn’t believe this man with the massive chin was her baby cousin, even if he did resemble her uncle in a few ways. How come he was suddenly an adult? Who were his weird friends? Why did everyone else call him “Clark”? Nothing was making any sense. But he was definitely a Kryptonian and he spoke her language a little. Maybe they could communicate without the golden rope if they kept their sentences small and simple.

He did seem to understand and rushed to the window beside her, but he didn’t look concerned. Trying his best with his limited vocabulary, he responded haltingly in her tongue, “Friend take ship… watch at computer. Looked where you’ll be.”

She looked in horror at the man who had just butchered her language. “Friend?” She repeated, trying not to stare.

Clark wasn’t sure if there was a word in Kryptonian for “Bat”, so he tried his best to sign his meaning. He put his hands on either side of his head, his fingers up like the pointed ears and complimented the gesture with a moody pouty face. 

Kara actually laughed at this; his meaning instantly clear. So, this guy wasn’t as dumb as his sentence structure implied. Still, it was clear they would get nowhere fast this way. “Rope.” She said simply, holding her arms up like they had been tied together in case he didn’t know the word.

He nodded and made a strange hand motion, fist clenched and thumb pointing up, before going to retrieve the length of golden rope from the pretty lady, who was piloting the vessel.

Clark held out the rope and Kara wrapped the end around her wrist. “There. This will be easier.” She said, feeling the magic flow through her. “Your accent was terrible!” She winced, the rope making her say more than she meant to, once again.

“Sorry.” chuckled Clark. “I’ve not had much practice with native speakers. Maybe you could give me a lesson sometime?” He immediately regretted saying this when he saw Kara’s smile fade.

“So it’s true? What Uncle Jor was saying about Krypton, before I left?” She turned to face Clark, with tears in her eyes. “Is it really gone? Are my parents...?” She could barely finish the sentence, unwilling to say aloud the unavoidable truth.

Clark gently placed a comforting hand on his cousin’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Kara. I can’t imagine what it must be like for you. I was so little when I left Krypton, I can’t even remember…”

“BUT HOW!?!” yelled Kara, pushing Clark’s hand away. “How are you…?!” She gestured wildly at the man’s form. “How are you like this!? Why did you say you were Kal El?! I saw him a few weeks ago! He’s only a baby! YOU CAN’T BE HIM!!”

“Kara, please!” said Clark, urgently. He didn’t want to have to restrain the child, but he knew how potentially dangerous a scared Kryptonian on Earth could be. “I’m not sure how, but I think something must’ve happened with your pod that’s caused… this!” He gestured back at the preteen.

“What are you talking about?” Kara asked, her voice quivering.

“I left Krypton the same time as you, Kara.” explained Clark. “Jor El, my birth father, placed me in a pod when I was just an infant. I’m now 27 years old. Krypton’s been gone for a long time.”

Kara shook her head. No,that couldn’t be right! She clearly remembered being placed in the pod, back on Krypton, mere hours ago. She had been watching her parents argue, right before the pod’s stasis system had… put her to sleep…

Realization dawned on the poor girl, as she collapsed into her cousin’s arms and sobbed. The Man of Steel didn’t know what to say. He had always dreamed of one day meeting one of his Kryptonian relatives, but he had never believed it would actually happen. A million questions were rushing through his mind, but at that moment, he couldn’t bring himself to focus on a single one. All he knew was that there was a child in front of him who had lost everything, and needed to be shown love and comfort, so that was what he did.

As Superman embraced the crying child, Diana looked back from the cockpit with sadness in her eyes. “Great Hera…” she whispered in quiet prayer. “Please help us guide this lost child, safely. Show her your mercy and your love, for she needs it now more than ever.” The Princess of the Amazons finished her prayer, as the plane flew onwards towards home.

________________________________________________________________

The rest of the flight back to Washington DC and the Hall of Justice was mostly silent. Kara had a lot to think about, and none of it was good. Things weren’t helped by the fact the noise from the ship’s engines seemed to be getting louder all the time, and her eyes seemed sensitive to the light from this strange world’s sun.

Wanting to distract herself from the sensory overload, that she assumed was the start of some form of panic attack, she grabbed the rope and asked one of the most important questions she had. “Are we really the only Kryptonians left alive?”

Clark took hold of his end of the lasso once more and said, “No. I’ve met three other Kryptonians before. If they survived, there’s a small chance others might have too. They’d probably be on other planets, or in stasis like you were.”

“Well, that’s good to hear!” Kara said, feeling a small relief to be at least one fifth of her entire remaining culture, rather than one half. It wasn’t much, but it was an improvement, and there was still a chance for more Kryptonians to be out there, among the stars. “Who are the others? Are they on this planet too?”

Clark hated to let her down, but figured honesty was the best policy. “Well… they were here for a short while. But now they’re in the Phantom Zone…”

“The Phantom Zone?!” Kara repeated, certain that the rope must have translated incorrectly. 

The Phantom Zone was a pocket dimension discovered by her Uncle Jor for the imprisonment of Kryptonian criminals. Kara shook her end of the lasso and tried again, “You did say the Phantom Zone?” 

“Yes, that’s right. His name is Zod. With his wife Ursa and their muscle, Non, they tried to take over the planet. Trapping the three of them in the zone was the best way to stop them...” Clark trailed off as he noticed Kara’s entire body tense up.

“Zod...?” said Kara. “As in General Dru Zod?! The entire planet is gone and of all the people to survive-!” Her voice grew higher as she got more upset, and the noises made by the wind, engine and even people on the approaching ground were overwhelming her thoughts. She paused for a moment, “Excuse me...” 

She let go of the rope and started screaming a loud stream of Kryptonian profanities and curses, as she stomped up and down the aisle of the invisible jet. Clark and Diana might not have understood the words, but the meaning was clear.

She let out a final scream and slammed her foot down hard enough to make the plane dip for a moment. The surprise upset the teenage girl’s balance and she fell back to her seat. She took a deep breath and said one more word in Kryptonian that Clark could understand, “Sorry.” She didn’t seem to know her own strength.

“We’re landing!” Diana called from the front. Even she had been shaken by the sudden “turbulence”. The jet hovered over the Hall of Justice as the roof opened up and it was lowered gently into the hanger.

Kara looked out of the window as the jet lowered. She caught a brief glimpse of the city lights in the distance. The architecture was so strange and different from anything on Krypton, but beautiful in it’s own way. As the jet entered the hanger, Kara spotted her father’s pod lying on the floor next to the sharp, black ship, piloted by Kal’s “friend”.

Kara turned to her cousin. “Kal, is this where you live?” She couldn’t help but wonder what her cousin had been up to for the last 27 years.

Clark chuckled. “No, this is just where me and my friends gather to…” He paused, trying to think of how best to describe the role of the Justice League. “Well, let’s just say we work together to try and help the people of this world. Oh, and you can call me “Clark”.”

“Clark?” said Kara. The word sounded so strange in her mouth. “Why would I call you that?”

“It’s the name my parents gave me.” explained Clark. “My Earth parents, that is. Jonathan and Martha Kent. They found my pod when it first landed on Earth when I was a baby. They took me in and raised me as their son. When I was old enough, they showed me the ship that I arrived in, and I learned about my Kryptonian heritage…”

“So… most of your life you had no idea you were different from the people around you?” She thought about that for a moment and what it would mean.

“Well… as I got older, there were a few hints I wasn’t human. I’ll explain it later.” He got up from his seat and helped Kara up from hers. As they exited the vehicle, Diana nearly tripped on the unexpected new dent in her ship’s floor.

Kara, making her way out of the vessel, found herself in a wide hall with a high ceiling. In the center of the room was a massive table with many chairs, and along the walls were large computers, strange vehicles and clear displays of colorful costumes. “What did you say your friends do here, Kal…I mean...Clark?”

Before Clark could answer, he looked up as two figures floated down through the closing hanger doors. Kara recognized them as the other strangers from when she had first emerged from her pod. One was clearly not from this planet, with green skin, red eyes and completely bald. The alien stared at Kara as he landed gently in front of her, making her feel slightly uneasy, as if he could read her thoughts.

The other stranger looked more like a regular Earthling, though his outfit immediately drew Kara’s attention. “You!” she gasped, “You’re a Green Lantern! I thought you guys were made up!”

The man smiled when he heard the title. “Well, always nice to meet a fan.” He gave a small salute. “Hal Jordan, Protector of Sector 2814, at your service.”

Kara blinked in surprise. Had he just answered in Kryptonian?

“Oh, you might be wondering how we’re talking.” Hal grinned, holding up his hand to display his power ring. “This thing also works as a universal translator. Saves me a lot of trouble.” He turned to his alien companion. “That reminds me. John, you wanna do your thing?”

The bald green alien said something in an unrecognizable language, before looking back at Kara.

Feeling slightly unnerved, Kara looked to Clark for support. Her cousin smiled back at her. “It’s okay, Kara” he assured her. “John’s a friend of ours, and he says he can set up a telepathic link so that we can all understand each other. He just needs your permission first.”

She stared between the strange men around her. “You… want me to let him inside my brain? Are you serious? Can’t I just keep holding the rope?”

Diana took hold of the lasso to join the conversation, “I am going to need this back eventually, Kara. Being able to talk freely will help everyone here.” She held out a section of the rope to John to give him the chance to reassure her personally.

The green man took the rope and spoke in a slow, deep and oddly soothing voice. “Greetings, Kara Zor-El. I am J’onn J’onzz of the planet Mars. I swear to you by the red sands of my world that my telepathic link will not invade your thoughts or memories.”

Kara stared at the Martian a moment longer. Then she remembered what Diana had said about the lasso making it impossible to lie, and she nodded her approval. “Okay, J’onn. Go ahead.”

The green man’s eyes briefly glowed a brighter shade of red and he let go of the rope. “It is done.”

“Really? That’s it?” Kara asked, surprised she could still understand him. She hadn’t felt a thing.

“Good.” Another deep voice said from behind them. Kara turned to see the black angry creature moving towards them. “Now that the connection is up, we can move forward more easily. Sorry I’m late. I had to make a quick stop in Gotham.”

“Batman! Wait for me!” A higher voice called out and a smaller figure ran out of the black ship. Kara was expecting another little black beast, but instead saw a human child, a boy slightly younger than Kara wearing a brightly colored outfit running to meet them, with a huge dopey smile on his face.

“What in the name of Nightwing…?” Kara muttered to herself, curious how two people so different could seem to be working together. “Clark, why does the black monster have a small child with him? Is he the beast’s thrall? Or perhaps the creature is his pet?”

There was a ringing silence in the hall and Kara turned slowly redder as she remembered that everyone in the room could understand her now. The silence was finally broken by the boisterous laughter of the colorful child, and soon after, Clark and Diana joined in. The Green Lantern was trying his best to not laugh and even the Martian smiled just a little.

“Bruce, just show her. It’ll be the easiest explanation.” Clark asked once he had stopped laughing.

The creature sighed and brought his hands up to his face. He pulled back the black skin to reveal a very human face. Hard and a bit grim, but human. “Oh… so it was just a helmet and armor…” Kara couldn’t help but feel silly for not realizing it sooner.

The one called Batman, or Bruce according to Clark, looked at Kara with a serious expression. “I suppose any malicious intention would have been revealed by the lasso.” He said, staring at Kara as if she was carrying a deadly weapon. “Still, another Kryptonian could be cause for concern, for numerous reasons.”

“Hey!” Kara snapped. “What’s that supposed to mean?!”

Suddenly, there was a loud cracking sound accompanied by two brief flashes of light. Two more figures had suddenly appeared in the hall with unbelievable speed. One was wearing a bright red outfit with gold accents, while the other was a red-haired boy, roughly Kara’s age, wearing a similarly patterned outfit, with the colours reversed.

The boy who had accompanied Batman waved at the fast kid in the gold outfit. “Hey Wally!” he called out. “Look who Bats and Supes found in Russia!” He pointed at Kara.

The kid named Wally was suddenly across the room and standing next to his friend, in the blink of an eye. There had been a brief few nanoseconds where Kara glimpsed a golden blur moving between the two points, but the boy’s running was almost instantaneous. “What?! How did he…?!” Kara gasped.

“Whoa!” said Wally, smiling at Kara in awe. “Hey there! Are you like… Superman’s sidekick or something?”

“Sidekick?” She repeated in confusion. “Superman?” She asked Clark, guessing correctly that the term referred to him.

“Another title this world has given me. Sidekicks are young partners in our work.” Clark explained, trying to give Wally a look without directly telling him to tone it down.

“So many strange names you have for things on this planet… And strange people.” Her gaze returned to the red-haired one who seemed incapable of sitting still. “Are all humans as fast as this one?”

“Not exactly. Wally here is a special case.” The small boy in the cape said, not seeing the proud smile on the golden one’s face. “In fact, everyone here is a special case among humans in one way or another.” 

Kara started thinking about what everyone had said. “Strange exceptional people working together… You people, you’re heroes aren’t you? Like the old stories about Nightwing and Flamebird from Krypton…” She froze, saying the name of her planet had brought it all back to her after a momentary reprieve. “Krypton… Oh Elders! What am I gonna do?!”

“You could join me and Robin!” Wally said excitedly, not knowing all the details of Kara’s story. “We’ve been thinking of starting a team of our own for a while now and it’d be great to have you…”

“Shut up!!” The blonde screamed, glaring at the fast-talking idiot. She would have said more, but at that moment her eyes glowed red and a powerful blast of fiery red energy shot out of them.

Kara leaped back in shock. The smoke cleared a moment later, leaving Kara staring at a red-hot hole in the wall behind where the speedster had been. “What… just happened…?!” Kara whispered in silent wonder.

“You nearly blasted Wally with heat vision!” The boy called Robin yelled from across the room. Wally had scooped up the shorter boy and ran him to safety with his super-speed. The boys were still clinging to each other.

“That was scary… but kinda awesome.” Wally admitted, in no hurry to let go of his friend.

Kara looked around, worriedly. The Green Lantern and the one called Batman had adopted combat stances. The older speedster had rushed over to his companion to make sure he was ok, and J’onn and Diana were staring at Kara with serious expressions.

“I… I’m sorry… I didn’t…” Kara felt terrified, as she thought about all the strange things that had happened since she had arrived on the planet. Running across the wilderness at an incredible speed, hearing all those strange noises in the jet, stamping her foot to create that dent, and now shooting heat blasts from her eyes! “What’s happening to me!?!” Kara cried, as panic began to rise inside her.

She turned around and saw Clark staring at her, looking extremely concerned and almost...guilty? “Kara… I’m sorry…” he said. “I should have told you earlier, but there was just so much I had to say…”

“What do you mean, Kal?!” Kara’s voice was shaking with fear and confusion. “What’s the matter with me?!” she cried.

“Nothing’s wrong!” Clark reassured her, gently pulling Kara into an embrace. “You’re just… undergoing some changes…”

“Changes?” Kara repeated. “What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“I’ll show you.” Clark said, before looking at the other heroes. “We’ll be back soon. Don’t worry, I’m just gonna talk to her.” He smiled down at Kara. “Hold on tight.” he whispered.

Kara was about to ask her cousin what he meant but quickly got her answer when she felt herself being lifted into the air. With a small shriek, Kara grabbed onto Clark, when she noticed that he was the one lifting her.

“What…? How…? Are you…?” Kara gasped as Clark lifted her up into the air towards the ceiling. As they reached the top, a small hatch automatically opened and they flew out into the night sky.

Once again, Kara was awestruck by the skyline of the strange alien city surrounding them. Only this time, she was also distracted by the fact that her cousin was somehow able to fly, without any apparent use of a jet pack or levitation tech.

“Let’s go somewhere quieter.” said Clark with a smile. “I’ll explain what being on Earth means for Kryptonians like us.”

________________________________________________________________

It was both a relief and a disappointment for Kara, that Clark only had to fly a mile or so away from the somewhat pretentiously named “Hall of Justice”. She had been amazed by the experience of soaring through the air and watching the strange city far below, but it had also been a little frightening being so high up, with only Clark to stop her from falling. This wasn’t helped by the already long list of reasons for Kara to feel uncertain and afraid.

They soon landed on the roof of a large structure, which according to Clark, was known as the “Lincoln Memorial”. Kara had no clue who this “Lincoln” person was, but judging by the large statue of an important looking figure on a throne, which Kara had spotted before they landed, she felt it was a safe guess that he was someone incredibly important to the people of this world. Perhaps he was a superhero too? Maybe her cousin could introduce her?

As soon as they had landed, Clark had reassured Kara that they wouldn’t be interrupted. It was still a few hours before sunrise, and nobody would think to look for them up on the roof. He then proceeded to explain all the strange things that had happened since Kara had set foot on Earth, as well as why people called him Superman, and how he was able to fly.

According to Clark, the radiation emitted by the Earth’s sun was of a vastly different nature to Krypton’s. This radiation had a strange effect on the biology of Kryptonians, causing their cells to mutate and develop fantastic abilities! Growing up on Earth, Clark had been gifted incredible strength, invulnerability, and enhanced hearing and sight, along with x-ray vision, heat vision, freeze breath and the ability to fly.

He theorized that since Kara’s ship had been travelling through the local star system for quite some time before landing, she would have soaked up massive amounts of radiation, unfiltered by the Earth’s atmosphere. She was already beginning to develop her own strange powers, like the ones Clark had, and much more quickly than the years it had taken for the young boy growing up in Kansas.

Kara listened and watched as Clark demonstrated some more of his abilities. He floated up into the air, before shooting off into the night at a high speed, nearly knocking Kara to the floor. A few seconds passed before Clark returned, now carrying a large boulder.

“What?!” said Kara, bewildered. “Where did you get that?”

“It’s from a nearby park, about a mile west of here.” Clark explained, casually. “I’m only burrowing it so that we can do a little practice.”

Kara didn’t appreciate how flippant her cousin had been with the fact that he had seemingly flown a mile away and brought back a heavy chunk of rock, all in a matter of seconds. “What do you mean practice?” she asked.

Clark placed the rock gently down on the roof in front of Kara. “I want you to try and lift this.” He said, calmly.

Kara stared at her cousin, then at the rock, and then back to Clark. The boulder was almost as big as she was, and probably weighed a lot more. “What?” Kara placed her hand on the rock and felt it’s cold rough surface. “There’s no way…”

Clark simply smiled. “Just give it a try. I believe in you, Kara.”

Kara nervously slid her hands into the crevices in the boulder’s underside, and lifted. At first, she felt the resistance of the boulder’s weight, as gravity and the logical side of Kara’s brain thought, “This thing weighs a ton! How am I supposed to even shift it?!”

Then Kara looked at her hands, and saw that they were still moving! She could feel the cold, hard stone on her palms and fingertips, but none of the strain of having a ton of rock pressing down against her. The boulder clearly should have been heavy enough to squash her flat, but all that weight simply... no longer mattered to Kara!

“What in the name of Flamebird…” she whispered in quiet awe. Tempted by an idea, she gingerly let go of the rock with her left hand and was shocked to see she could still hold it in her right, with almost no effort. A smile came to her face and she laughed, throwing the stone high up into the air and catching it with her other hand. “This is amazing!” She called out, throwing and catching it a few more times, “This is incredible! This is…” 

She stopped mid-sentence and missed the rock coming down. She barely even registered the loud crash as the bolder fell off the roof and broke on the stones below. “This is not good! You mean to tell me that Zod and his goons had powers like this when they got to this planet too? Oh elders, that’s bad! That’s very very bad!”

“Kara, calm down!” Clark said, trying not to worry too much about the damage to a national monument that his cousin had just caused. “They’re locked up tight remember? And if they break out, I beat them before and I can beat them again.”

Kara didn’t stop though. “But they aren’t the only threats to this world are they, Kal? Your other friends have powers too, there are bad humans with abilities as well aren’t there?”

He nodded and sighed. “It’s true. There are threats of all shapes and sizes that me and my friends in the Justice League fight. Human, alien, magical, machine, or monster. I have seen it all.”

Kara looked at her hands, once amazed by their power, now she was frightened. “Am I a threat too, Kal? Am I a danger to those around me?”

Clark was silent for a moment. “I won’t lie to you, cousin. All of us with powers can do harm if we don’t keep them under control.” He looked over the edge of the monument at the crushed and cracked stone that would have been full of people hours before. “But we don’t need to be afraid of that power.” He looked up at her and extended his hand to her. “Kara Zor-El, let us help you. Let us train you. And in time, you could get the control to have a normal life among the people of this world.”

“And if I wanted to join you in protecting this world from Zod and those like him?” She asked, looking at his proffered hand, awaiting his answer before taking it.

“Then I would say, welcome to the Justice League, Kara.” They smiled and shook hands. After a moment Clark called to the night air, “I know you’re there, Batman!”

Kara looked up and around her, surprised to see Batman had snuck up behind them both. “Where did you come from!?”

“Don’t mind him, Kara. He does these kinds of things all the time.” Clark chuckled. “You heard all of that Bruce?”

“Heard and saw.” He answered in an annoyed tone, “You really couldn’t have caught the rock before it hit the ground?”

“I’m sorry! There was a lot going on!” Clark had the good taste to look embarrassed, knowing his friend would have to pay to fix the damages. 

“How are you feeling now, Miss Zor-El?” Another voice asked from the night before Diana flew in from the darkness to land beside the men.

“Diana, you were listening too?” Clark asked, surprised he had caught Bruce but missed her.

“Oh sure, most of us are around here somewhere.” She waved him off casually, “You know J’onn at least had to stay close-by or you’d lose the mental connection.”

Both Kryptonians were surprised that a pigeon flew up from the memorial and transformed into the large green man who gave a little wave.

Batman grumbled, “You were down there, and you didn’t catch the stone either J’onn? Do you people think I’m made of money!”

The Martian looked blankly at his friend, “You are personally and privately funding teleportation technology and building a space station, and you complain about fixing broken stairs? If you are not made of money, then I believe no human is.”

“There’s a difference…” It was all he could say, still recovering from the fact his quiet friend had said something very close to a joke. The man in black sighed. “So “Supergirl” here has decided to join the good fight?”

“Supergirl?” Kara repeated. Were they being serious? Were they giving her a nickname already? “Can’t I be Superwoman?”

Diana smiled and nodded her approval, liking this girl more all the time. “Maybe once you’re a little older and a little more seasoned. For now, little sister, you first need to learn control over your powers, then you’d need to know the ways of the wider world. Only then do I think you would be truly ready to join us as a fully-fledged hero.”

“When can I start?” Kara said immediately, wanting to jump right into the fray.

Diana paused in thought. “Well let’s see… to train you, you’d need a quiet place with lots of room and sunlight away from prying eyes…” She smiled. “If you and Clark will follow me back to the Hall, I think I might know the perfect place.”

________________________________________________________________

Back at the Hall of Justice, Diana sat with Kara at a small table. They were waiting for Clark to finish discussing the matter of repairing the stone steps with Batman. J’onn was over by one of the windows, and appeared to be meditating, though the telepathic translation link still seemed to be working.

After a minute or two, the boy called Robin came in and offered Kara a large mug of a hot beverage with a strange white foam covering the top. “Here. I thought you could use this.” He set the tankard sized mug down in front of her. 

Kara was surprised to see her family crest on the side of the mug. Yet another item to add to the ever-growing list of things to question her cousin about. She wanted to ask what the strange beverage was, but that felt ungrateful, so she just said, “Thank you, Robin… I… I’m sorry about earlier.”

Robin smiled back at her. This boy seemed to radiate positivity in a way that Kara had never seen before. “Don’t worry about it. Wally did much worse when he was getting used to his powers.”

“Oh, Wally!” Kara winced, as she remembered the other boy she had almost incinerated. “Please, apologize to him too when you see him. I still feel bad for giving you and your boyfriend such a scare…” Not sure what else to say she took a sip of the drink. Her eyes bulged in their sockets. She had never tasted something as rich and sweet as this! 

“Uhh… Wally and I aren’t dating.” Kara looked up from drinking the liquid happiness to see Robin’s face had turned very red.

“Oh, I’m sorry! Did I use the wrong word?” She asked, hoping she could fake ignorance of Earth culture to get out of this gaff. 

“Yeah, I think you must have!” His voice was a little louder as the embarrassed junior hero made his way to the door. “Anyways, welcome to Earth, Kara! Enjoy the hot cocoa!” He ducked out of the room almost as quickly as his speedy friend.

“There I go again…” She sighed but smiled at the mug, “Hot cocoa?”

“Good, isn’t it? Lots of kids drink it when they’re cold, or sometimes just for comfort.” Diana explained, “If you think that’s good, wait till you try ice cream!”

“Or apple pie.” Clark added, entering and taking his seat.

“And don’t worry about that other slip up.” Diana leaned in conspiratorially, “You aren’t the first person to make that connection with those two. I think they’re the last ones to realize they like each other.”

“At least that’s one thing that is the same between Earth and Krypton. Boys in love are completely clueless.” She chuckled, taking another sip of the drink.

“Oh, girls aren’t immune to that either. Trust me.” Diana laughed, thinking of how oblivious the girls back home could be. “That brings me back to the offer I wanted to make to you. But first, Clark! Didn’t you say you had a plan for Kara too?”

The larger Kryptonian nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll be honest, the best I can think of is for her to move in with Ma and Pa. They’re out in the country, not many people to see her… She’d probably have to train by night out there and it’d be slow work…Plus, I’d need to talk with them about it first...”

“That’s about what I thought.” Diana said, turning her attention to the young girl. “Kara, I come from an island nation called Themyscira. My people, the Amazons, are proud and powerful warriors and, if I say so myself, made of stronger stuff than most normal humans. We could train you to use your powers in a quiet, beautiful place where the prying eyes of the rest of the world wouldn’t know about you until you were ready.”

She considered the two offers. A quiet place in the country with Clark’s Earth family, or an island far away with strangers. “I don’t know… It sounds like a lovely place…”

Diana took a guess at something she had felt about this young girl. “Did I mention that the Amazon warriors are all women?”

“What?”

“Tropical island of warrior women… lots of young girls your age to make friends with…” Her smile widened as she saw Kara’s cheeks turn pink all but confirming her suspicions.

Clark smiled at his friend. That felt like a dirty trick to get Kara to pick Diana’s option, but he couldn’t deny the better social opportunities she’d have in Themyscira over Smallville.

“That… actually sounds like a lot of fun…” She took a breath to gather herself. “Alright. I’m in!” Maybe this planet wouldn’t be so bad. It would be some time before it felt like home, but Kara was determined. After all, if her baby cousin could become a hero great enough to be known as Superman, how hard would it be for her to achieve the same greatness?

“Alright, Earth…” Kara thought to herself. “Get ready to meet... Supergirl!”