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-Earth-616
Carol Danvers, better known to the universe at large as Captain Marvel, stood floating in Earth’s ionosphere. From her vantage point she could see the curvature of the Earth below and if she looked up all she could see was the dark void of space. Carol drew in a deep breath and tightened her grip on the red gemstone she held in her hand. The Reality Stone, one of the impossibly power Infinity Stones. Carol had found it outside her dimension and now was guarding it from the entire universe. There wasn’t a faction in the galaxy that wouldn’t wage all-out war to acquire one Infinity Stone and in almost all cases it would be spectacularly bad for everyone if they did.Carol looked down at the stone and sighed. It was too dangerous to keep near Earth, she know that. And yet having the stone had already proved to be an invaluable tool. She could use it to ask other versions of Captain Marvel across the infinity of realities for advice, and that was just the most basic application of the stone’s power. Carol was Earth’s first, and best, line of defense, and didn’t she have an obligation to use every tool at her disposal to protect the planet?That thought however led Carol down dark paths in her memory. Unbidden images of Tony Stark’s broken body rose to the front of her mind. Carol shut her eyes and forced the memories back down. When she reopened them she stared out across the planet and watched as the sun broke out across North America.“Standing here feeling sad for yourself isn’t going to fix this Danvers,” Carol said to herself. She looked down at the stone again and sighed. “There is one thing I can do to solve this conundrum, phone a friend.” She closed her eyes and focused on the stone, willing it to find the right dimension. Unbeknownst to Carol, a Skrull scout ship slipped into Earth’s orbit under cloak to escape detection. On board the ship the pilot looked back at the ship’s captain. “Sir, the rumors were true, the accursed Captain Marvel does have an Infinity Stone.”The ship’s commander leaned forward in his seat and templed his fingers together. “Excellent, in that case that Infinity Stone will soon be ours, and with it we can rebuilt the Skrull Empire.” All of the Skrulls on the bridge bowed their head reverentially. “Tk’rlt bring us in closer.”“Yes Command Al’grt,” the pilot said.“Hl’phlt ready the guns,” Al’grt said. “Are you sure this is wise?” the executive officer asked. “The moment we power on the guns the Earth’s will know we’re here.”“Calm yourself N’kklt,” Al’grt said. “When we do power on the guns it will be too late for the Earthers to do anything about it. We will have the Infinity Stone and our crusade can begin in earnest.”“If you insist commander.” N’kklt sat back down in his chair.“Weapons, the moment you have a point blank shot you take it,” Al’grt said.Hl’phlt nodded his head. “Yes sir.”Al’grt leaned even farther forward in his chair. “Soon Captain Marvel, you will pay for every crime you have committed against the Skrull people.”Unaware of the impending danger Carol continued to search across alternate dimensions for someone to give her the advice she needed. When she found the version of herself she was looking for she reached out with the stone to open a portal to that dimension.At that moment the Skrull warship dropped its cloak and fired on Carol. The blaster fire didn’t hurt her, but it did cause her to lose her connection to the Reality Stone. Instead of a portal there was a large explosion that caught Kara and Skrull ship, blinding them both.When Carol’s vision returned she found herself plummeting towards Earth. She looked over at her hand and saw that she had lost the Reality Stone. Before she could pull out of her dive she crash landed in a desert. The force of the impact was enough to knock out even the mighty Captain Marvel.
-Earth-38
“Come on Alex, don’t you think it’s time you started dating again?” Kara Danvers, better known to the world as Supergirl, asked her sister Alex Danvers as they walked into the command center of the DEO.“We’ve been over this Kara, I want to work through the adoption first,” Alex said.“That doesn’t mean you can’t go on dates, just start swiping right! Have you seen the new app where you swipe up? That makes so much more sense to me.”Alex pressed her fingers to her temples as if to ward off a headache. “Kara, stop, I don’t want to date right now, there’s too much on my plate at the moment. Besides, shouldn’t I be asking you the same question? You’ve been single longer than I have after all.”Kara scowled at Alex. “That’s, it’s different, you aren’t an alien who can benchpress a tank.”“That never stopped you from dating in the past,” Alex said.Kara plucked at her cape. “Okay fine, I won’t ask about your dating life.”Alex grinned at Kara, satisfied that she had made her point. “Thank you.”“So what’s on the docket for today?” Kara asked Alex.“Right now nothing,” Alex said. “Things are looking calm in National City at the moment.”“So we’re about to be invaded by space monkeys, great,” Kara said.“That is statistically speaking unlikely,” Brainiac-5 said. “There are very few species of interstellar simians, to say nothing of how specious it is to say something bad will happen because things are going well at the moment.”A Klaxon started to sound causing the trio to turn and stare at the main display of the command center. “You were saying?” Alex asked Brainy. “What have we got?”“Is it space monkeys?” Kara asked.Brainy typed on his tablet. “It is not a space monkey. We have a single small object de-orbiting. The estimated impact zone is just outside the city.”“Where did the object come from?” Alex asked.“Unknown, according to our sensors it appeared in the ionosphere with no warning,” Brainy said. “At this point I cannot say if the object dropped out of warp or arrived in some other manner.”“We can figure out where it came from later,” Alex said. “Kara, go see what this hunk of space debris is, and if it’s a threat.”Kara nodded her head. “You got it boss.” She spun on her heels and started to walk towards the balcony.“And call if you need help!” Alex called out after Kara. “She didn’t hear me,” She said to Brainy.“Of course she did, she’s Supergirl, she had the best hearing on the planet.” Brainy recoiled when he saw the expression on Alex’s face. “Ah, you were not speaking literally, of course. If you need me I’ll be, somewhere else.”Kara landed on the lip of the crater formed by the mystery object’s impact. She took a quick survey of the surrounding territory to see if anyone had been hurt by the crash. When she was satisfied the area was clear Kara floated down into the center of the crater and found a blonde haired woman dressed in a blue, red and yellow costume lying there.Kara toggled on her radio. “Uh guys, that mysterious object isn’t an object, it’s a person.”“A person fell out of thin air and crash-landed outside of National City?” Alex asked.“That’s right, and I don’t think she’s dead either,” Kara said. “I’m going to take a closer look to check.”“Be careful Kara. If someone can survive crash-landing from orbit then they can certainly hold their own in a fight, even against you,” Alex said.“You worry too much, there isn’t anything I can’t handle,” Kara said before turning off her radio.“I want a response team on a chopper now,” Alex said to Brainy as she walked out of the command center.At the crater Kara approached the uncurious woman and nudged her with the toe of her boot. “Uh, hello, strange lady who fell out of the sky are you okay?”Carol Danvers groaned as she sat upright and tried to take stock of her situation. “What the hell hit me?” She asked no one in particular.“The ground, you fell out of orbit,” Kara said. “Care to explain how you got here?”“It’s a long story,” Carol said. She looked Kara up and down. “Who the hell are you?”Kara set her hands on her hips. “I’m Supergirl.”Carol stood up and dusted her hands off. “Yeah, that doesn’t mean anything to me. Now if you’ll excuse me I have a stone I need to find.” She pushed herself off of the ground and started to fly away.“Oh no, we aren’t done talking,” Kara said. She flew ahead of Carol and came to a stop in front of her. “If you think I’m going to let you traipse around my planet like you own the place you are sorely mistaken.”“Oh, so you can fly too? That’s nice, now get lost cheerleader.”“I am not a cheerleader,” Kara said. “Why is that so hard for people to understand?”“It’s not my fault, that’s what you’re dressed up like,” Carol said. “I don’t have time for this.” She shot up in the air to get away from Kara.“You can’t get away that easily,” Kara said as she chased down Carol “At least tell me your name,” She said as she pulled alongside Carol.Carol dropped back down to the ground. “Captain Marvel, can I go now?”“Unless there’s something about you I don’t know about you aren’t Captain Marvel,” Kara said. “It would take too long to explain,” Carol said.“You’re from a different dimension,” Kara said. She set her hands back on her hips.“Okay, not that long at all,” Carol said. “There, we exchanged pleasantries, see you later.” She turned as she got ready to take off again.“No so fast,” Kara said. She clamped her hand down on Carol’s shoulder. “You can’t possibly think I’d let an unknown person with superpowers run around in my city unsupervised do you? I’m taking you to the DEO where we can have a nice long chat about who you are and why you’re in this dimension.”Carol reached up and grabbed Kara’s arm. To Kara’s amazement she pulled it off of her shoulder. “Hard pass. I’m not a fan of answering question when I have work to do.”Kara reached out with her other arm and caught Carol by the wrist. “That wasn’t a request.”“Okay, you asked for it,” Carol said. She drew back her arm and punched Kara square in the chest, knocking her back ten feet. “You want to dance, let’s dance.” Her fists crackled with energy.Kara stared at Carol’s glowing hands. “That’s new, but you punched the wrong person.” Kara flew at Carol and punched her in the stomach.Carol’s eyes narrowed. “That’s quite the punch you’ve got there kid. I’d be impressed if I wasn’t so annoyed.” She raised her hands and fired a pair of energy blasts at Kara.Kara raised her arms to shield herself from the energy bolts. “You are not making a good case for yourself.”“Then it’s a good thing I’m not here to make friends,” Carol said before she launched herself into Kara, landing punches that knocked Kara backwards.Kara wiped at her mouth and saw a drop of blood when she pulled her hand away. “Not many people can make me bleed.”Carol dropped her arms to her sides and let out a deep breath. “What are you kid? You’re like punching a Hulk.”Kara cracked her knuckles. “You’re about to find out.” She kicked herself up off of the ground and flew straight at Carol.“Oh hell, this is going to hurt,” Carol said to herself as she watched Kara’s fist approached her. Before she could duck out of the way Kara landed a right hook to Carol’s jaw. The hit staggered Carol, and before she could catch her breath Kara rained more punches down on her.Carol raised her arms over her head to shield herself from the blows Kara was landing on her. In a move born out of desperation Carol drew in all of her power and then let it explode in one enormous burst that sent Kara tumbling backwards. Carol pushed herself up to her feet and settled into a boxing pose.Kara picked herself up off the ground and drew in a deep breath. “Are you sure you want to keep at this? You can barely stay on your feet.” Kara swayed a little unsteadily as she spoke.“As a good friend of mine likes to say, I can do this all day,” Carol replied as she wiped away a trickle of blood from her face.Kara let out a sigh. “Okay, well, suit yourself, but remember you asked for this.” Kara charged Carol again. This time she shot her cape out and wrapped it around Carol’s wrists. She jerked back on the cape and pulled the surprised woman closer to her. Kara used the opening to deliver an uppercut to Carol’s jaw that boomed out across the desert floor and sent Carol tumbling to the ground unconscious. Kara slumped to the ground and heaved a sighed of relief. “I am so glad that worked.” She toggled on her radio. “Alex, we’re going to need the DEO’s strongest cell.”Miles away from Carol and Kara’s battle, on the outskirts of National City, a homeless man named David Fens was sorting through an abandoned dumpster when the glint of something shiny in the distance caught his eye. He investigated further and found a shallow crater in the alley with a large red gemstone sitting in the bottom of it. Fens looked up and down the alley to make sure he was alone before he ran over to the crater and picked up the stone. Fens felt a rush of electricity the moment his fingers touched the stone and let go of it. Fens then knelt down and stared at the stone for a long moment.“A rock like this had to be worth something, and I can’t just leave it here,” Fens said to himself. He reached into the pocket of his tattered jacket and pulled out a rag which he used to wrap up the stone. He thing picked up the bundle and ran out of the alleyway.
-To be Continued
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Who is she?” Alex asked Kara. They stood in the DEO’s detention center along with Brainiac-5 looking at an unconscious Carol Danvers locked away in a cell.“She said her name is Captain Marvel, so she’s obviously from another dimension because Captain Marvel does not look like that,” Kara said as she pointed at Carol. “Or, you know, she’s crazy.”“Agent Dox, do you have anything for me?” Alex asked Brainy.“Ah yes Director, I do,” Brainy said. He stepped in between the cell and the Danvers sisters then turned to face them. “I have no idea who this woman is.”Alex rolled her eyes. “That’s very helpful Brainy.”“But it is, knowing that we don’t know who she is — her fingerprints aren’t on file, her face doesn’t match any database, there are no hits on her DNA — means that she most assuredly not from this planet. Which is knowing more about her than we did before.”“Do you have anything else?”Brainy checked his tablet with the results of Carol’s lab tests. “Her DNA is unlike any I have ever seen. Some of it is definitely human, while some of it is of an unknown origin.”“She’s a meta?” Alex asked.“I did not detect the meta gene. No, her DNA, along with her other anatomical oddities are of what I can only surmise to be alien in origin.”“So she isn’t just from another dimension, but another galaxy as well?” Kara asked.“That would appear to be the case,” Brainy said. Kara took a step towards the cell holding Carol. “What do you mean by anatomical oddities?”“I’m glad you asked,” Brainy said. He typed on the tablet and it projected a hologram of Carol. “Observe, in addition to her modified genetic structure, her organs are also different from a baseline human.”Alex cocked her head to one side. “How so?”“For instance her brain, she has an extra lobe.” He zoomed in on Carol’s brain to illustrate his point.“That’s amazing,” Alex said. She leaned in closer to the hologram. “What’s the point of it?”“The only way to know for sure would be to cut her head open and explore.”“We aren’t doing that,” Kara said. “Are you sure the anesthetic we’re pumping into the cell will keep her under?”“It should,” Alex said. “But considering her unique physiology who knows.”Kara stared her shoulders. “Pump out the gas, wake her up.”“Are you sure?” Brainy asked. “This building would not survive if the two of you resumed your fight.”“We need answers and we won’t get them if she’s asleep,” Kara said.“This is a huge risk Kara,” Alex said.“It can’t be helped,” Kara replied. “Wait, I have an idea. How long will she stay under after we’ve removed the gas?”“We have no idea, an hour, a few minutes, it is very hard to say with any certainty,” Brainy said.“Then I’ll have to move fast,” kara said.“Move where?” Alex asked Kara.“Don’t worry, I have a plan,” Kara said.“I’m impressed Kara, I never would have thought to come back to the old DEO headquarters,” Alex said. “This is the perfect place to interrogate our mystery guest when she wakes up.” They were standing in the powered down command center of the old DEO base.“I know right, it just hit me. This place is remote and well shielded. I’m just glad the DEO didn’t sell it off after we moved downtown.”Alex surveyed the dark room. “You and me both.”Briany walked into the room from the containment area. “It’s time, she’s waking up.”Alex and Kara walked up to the door, but before they entered Kara put her hand on her sister’s arm. “Why don’t you let me go in there alone at first. I can take a punch better than either of you.”Alex shrugged out of Kara’s grip. “Not a chance Kara, I’ve got my fancy suit and Brainy has his Legion ring, we’ll be fine and you need the backup.”“Director Danvers is correct, we will not let you face this woman alone,” Brainy said.“I am both very mad and very grateful for both of you,” Kara said.“Welcome to my world,” Alex said.“Okay, lets do this,” Kara said. “And remember we’re trying to resolve this peacefully so let me do the talking.”“Right, because you’re such a diplomat,” Alex said.“Well I’m also not the director of a top secret government agency, or Brainy,” Kara said.“Fine, this was your idea; we’ll do things your way,” Alex said.Kara smiled at Alex. “I knew you’d agree with me eventually.”Kara pushed open the door to the containment cell and found Carol sitting strapped to the bed in the center of the room. Kara walked over to the bed and unstrapped Carol from her bindings. “Hey, how are you feeling?” Kara asked Carol.Carol groaned and blinked her eyes. “Where am I?”“A bunker far away from everyone,” Kara said. She folded her arms across her chest. “Now who are you, really?”Carol sighed. “Fine, Colonel Carol Danvers, United States Air Force, Retired. Do you also want my service number?”Alex elbowed her way past Kara. “Did you say Danvers? What sort of game are you playing at?”“I have no idea what you’re talking about, that’s my name,” Carol said. She narrowed her eyes as she glared at Alex.“That’s my name,” Alex said. “You think you can just fall out of the sky and take my name?”Kara placed herself in between Alex and Carol. “Alex remember, she’s probably from another dimension. She doesn’t mean anything by having the same last name as you. It’s just a coincidence.”“Seems like a pretty big coincidence if you ask me,” Alex said.“No bigger than Kara having a Nazi doppelgänger,” Brainy said. “Infinite possibility is the hallmark of the Multiverse.”Alex frowned. “She’s using our name and she doesn’t deserve it.”Carl leapt out of the bed and advanced on Alex, her fists blazing with power. “I don’t deserve my name? I’ll be happy to show you just why I deserve every name I have.”“Considering her powers are working in this cell we have confirmation that she isn’t a metahuman,” Brainy said as he took a step back from Carol.“Enough!” Kara shouted. She stepped in front of Carol. “Colonel Danvers, we aren’t looking to start a fight with you, I promise. Alex, yes it’s weird she has the same last name as us, but alternate dimensions are weird so get over it already. Who knows, maybe she’s my doppelgänger or something.”“For the record, that is exceedingly unlikely,” Brainy said. “Her DNA is not Kryptonian, and I’ll be quiet now.”Kara stared at Carol. “Just tell me one thing Colonel. Are you a good guy? I mean I know you aren’t a guy, or maybe you are. I’m not trying to misgender you, I just meant good guy as in the opposite of a bad guy.”Carol lowered her fists. “You mean am I a hero?”Kara nodded her head. “Yes a hero, are you?”Carol chewed on her lower lip. “I’m the boss of space back home, so I guess you could say I’m a hero.”“The boss of space?”Carol slipped into a more relaxed posture. “That’s right. I’m the head of a team called Alpha Flight. We protect the Earth from alien attack.”Kara looked over at Alex. “That sounds like the DEO.”“We operate, well operated, out of a space station, not an underground bunker,” Carol said.Kara started to laugh. “A space station, seriously? Oh man, Winn is going to be so jealous when I tell him about this.”“How did you get here?” Alex asked.“And what is the source of your powers?” Brainy said.Carol raised an eyebrow. “You are a nosy bunch, anyone ever tell you that.”“It’s their job,” Kara said. “And I gotta say it would go a long way towards us trusting you if you did tell us. But maybe if you’re willing to not start a fight that would put any civilian lives at stake we could have this conversation somewhere less bunkery.”Carol shrugged. “I didn’t come here to fight, so why not?”“That’s the spirit,” Kara said. She turned to face Alex. “What do you say director, should we go back to HQ?”Alex glared at Carol. “I have no problems with that as long as Colonel Danvers doesn’t try to level any city blocks along the way.”“I never intend for that to happen, but sometimes a giant space slug lands on Times Square and you’ve got to do what you have to do,” Carol said.“Been there, bought the t-shirt,” Kara said as she clapped her hands together. “We obviously won’t hold any hero related damage against you.”“That’s still up in the air Kara,” Alex said.“Yes kid, you’re very scary and I promise I won’t knock any buildings over if I can help it,” Carol said. “It’s not like I want to be stuck in this stupid dimension anyway.”“Believe me, why you’re here is the main thing I want to talk to you about,” Alex said.“Then let’s talk,” Carol said.“We’ve got plenty of time to do that when we get back to the DEO headquarters,” Alex said.Carol glanced down at the hand that had been holding the Reality Stone when she crossed dimensions. “I really do hope you’re right about that.”High above the surface of Earth-38 the crew of the Skrull scout ship was assessing the damage done to their craft. “Commander,” N’kklt said over the ship’s intercom. “The ship’s engines are fully operational again.”“Good work,” Al’grt said. “Hl’pht, where are we?”“The same place we were before sir, in orbit around Earth, except it’s wrong. The stars are in the wrong positions.”“This must be the work of the Infinity Stone Captain Marvel has. Do we know where she is?”“No sir, we don’t, she vanished from our scans the moment the explosion happened,” Hl’pht said. “However I do have the general location of the Reality Stone. It is on Earth.”“Set a course immediately,” Al’grt said. “Now we don’t only need that stone to restore the Skrull Empire, but also to get home. Commence surveillance of this Earth. If we are going to find the stone it will be in the best Skrull fashion.” Al’grt grinned. “Through subterfuge.” The other Skrulls on the ship’s bridge cheered. “Don’t worry my friends, our situation might look bleak now, but I am confident we will emerge from this triumphant.”“And whose fault is it that we are in this situation in the first place Al’grt?” Nl’klt asked as he stepped back onto the bridge. “You, it’s your fault, you and your foolish vendetta against Captain Marvel.”Al’grt leapt from his chair and grabbed Nl’klt by the throat. “You forget your place Nl’klt. I am the commander of this ship, not you. Unless you want to try to change that?”“No, you are in command,” Nl’klt said as he gasped for breath.Al’grt tossed Nl’klt to the floor. “And don’t forget it. You are a stalwart second in command Nl’klt, so long as you remember your place. If you cannot do that then I am sure I can find another member of the crew eager for a promotion. Do you understand?”Nl’klt’s face twisted into a snarl. “I understand completely Al’grt, but remember this, you have the crew’s backing as long as they think you can get them out of this mess of your making. If you lose that confidence it doesn’t matter what you do to me because your fate will be worse, I promise you that.”“Go back and check on the engines again,” Al’grt said. “We wouldn’t want the stealth system to deactivate at an improper moment now would we?”“No Commander we would not.” Nl’klt spun on his heels and walked off the bridge.“Does anyone else have any complaints?” Al’grt asked. The rest of the crew focused on their workstations. When there was no reply Al’grt grinned. “That’s what I thought.”Back in National City, in the headquarters of Tycho Industries, the chairman and owner of the company, Simon Tycho, sat in his office reviewing documents on his computer. A knock on his office door distracted him from his reading. “What is it?” Tycho, a young man in his late twenties shouted. “I’m sorry My. Tycho,” Tycho’s assistant, a young and very attractive woman, said as she entered the office.“I thought I made it very clear I was not to be disturbed. If Tycho Industries is going to rebound from last quarter I need time to think.”“I know Mr. Tycho, but Mr. Etten wanted me to pass this along to you. He said it would be important.” The assistant approached the desk, placed a USB drive on it, then stepped back.“Etten is the reason we’re in this mess in the first place. He couldn’t research himself out of a paper bag.” Tycho took the drive and plugged it into his computer. After he examined the new documents he turned his attention back to the assistant. “Where, how, did he find this?”“Our survey equipment picked up on it last night. Dr. Etten thought you would find it interesting.”“This could save everything,” Tycho said. “We have to find this power source and study it. Get me Shanks from the Special Tasks team, and Dr. Etten while you’re at it.”“Mr. Shanks, are you sure sir?”“Like I said Ms. Chancellor, I want this power source, and I don’t care what it takes to acquire it.”Ms. Chancellor nodded her head. “Of course Mr. Tycho, I’ll get right on that for you.” She backed out of the room leaving Tycho alone with his thoughts.
-To Be Continued-
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Alex, Carol and Kara were all seated around a conference table in the DEO headquarters. Brainiac-5 entered the conference room holding a tray with a pitcher of water and four glasses perched on it. “I was lead to believe when partaking in negotiations in this epic, refreshments were required.” He set the tray down in the center of the table.“Brainy is an alien android from the future,” Alex told Carol.“That is not precise. My name is Querl Dox, but you can call me Brainiac 5. I first came to National City from the 31st Century with the Legion of Superheroes to stop a plague from ravaging the future. We succeeded, but for reasons that do not need explaining at this juncture I have remained, attached as a technical consultant with the DEO,” Brainy said.“I’ve always hated time travel,” Carol said.“That’s what my friend Barry says too,” Kara said. She poured herself a glass of water. “Thanks Brainy.”Brainy sat down at the table across from Kara. “You are most welcome.”“Okay, can we try this again from the top, only without the hostility?” Alex asked.“Of course,” Kara said.“If it gets me home faster I’ll do it,” Carol said. “I need to feed my flerkin.”“What’s a flerkin?” Kara asked.“It’s a cat, mostly, only more alien and eldritch horror,” Carol said.“That sounds, charming,” Kara said.“As much as we would all love to hear about your pet you were going to explain to us why you’re here, Colonel, Captain?”“Carol is fine for now.”“Okay, Carol, who the hell are you and how did you wind up in my city?” Alex banged her hand on the table.“Somebody is wound a little tight,” Carol said.“Alex hasn’t been on the job long,” Kara said. “She’s still getting her bearings and feels like she has to live up to the standards of her predecessor.”“You are not helping Kara,” Alex said.“Well Director, like I said in your murder bunker, my name is Carol Danvers, retired Air Force, leader of Alpha Flight, active member of the Avengers, and current holder of the title Captain Marvel. I came here by accident. I’ve been consulting other versions of myself in other dimensions.”“Is that one of your powers?” Kara asked. “No exactly no,” Carol replied. “I came into possession of the Reality Stone a short while ago, and it lets me travel between dimensions.”“Reality Stone, what’s that?” Brainy asked.“A part of a set of impossibly powerful artifacts called the Infinity Stones,” Carol said. “If you gather all six of them together you have complete control over everything. They’re a big deal as you might imagine.”“And you thought it was a good idea to bring something like that here?” Alex asked.“The other five stones are somewhere in my home dimension so you don’t have to worry about them,” Carol said. “But I did lose track of the Reality Stone when I crash landed, so finding it is my top priority.”“We can help with that, can’t we Alex,” Kara said.“We’re going to look for this stone at any rate. I’m not crazy about something called a Reality Stone lying around where anyone can find it,” Alex said. “Brainy, an object this powerful has to, I don’t know, emit something we can track.”Brainy steepled his fingers together. “That is a sound hypothesis Director Danvers, I will see what I can put together based on all available evidence.”“And keep an eye out for anything strange,” Carol said. “If someone does find the stone they might start to experiment with it, and who knows what will happen if the stone gets used outside its home dimension. The local reality might start to unravel.”“That’s a lovely thought,” Alex said.“Believe me, this wasn’t my plan, something must have happened when I was using the stone to knock me off course so badly.”“Do you know what it was?” Kara asked.“I was attacked, but I didn’t get a good look at who it was.”“Is there a chance they followed you here?” Alex asked.“It’s not outside the realm of possibility,” Carol said.“So that’s another thing on the pile to worry about, great, this day keeps betting better and better,” Alex said.“Cheer up Alex, it’s not all bad,” Kara said.“It’s not?”“No, we’ve made a new friend and I’m sure she’ll be happy to help clean up her mess,” Kara said.“Oh, you’re one of those people,” Carol said.“One of what people?”“Cheerful,” Carol said. “I only get along with cheerful people in small doses.”Kara frowned. “There’s nothing wrong with having a little optimism.”“No Kara, of course not,” Alex said.“She finds you wearing,” Carol said to Kara. “ I can tell.”“That’s, not entirely true,” Alex said.“Alex and I have different personalities it’s true, but we work well together because of those differences.”“It’s like Steve is in the room even though I’m in another dimension,” Carol said.“What was that?” Kara asked.“Nothing, just thinking out loud. So you’ll help me find the Reality Stone?”Alex placed her hands on the conference table. “We don’t have much choice do we? If this stone is as dangerous as you say it is then it’s the DEO’s duty to make sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. Brainy, how quickly can you have a detector put together?”“I will start on it right now,” Brainy said.“That’s what I like to hear,” Alex said. Brainy stood up from the table and left the room.“Thanks for the help,” Carol said.“It’s our pleasure,” Kara said. “We are here to help people after all.”“Somehow I don’t think your sister agrees with you,” Carol said. She leaned back in her chair and grinned at Alex.“Is there anything else useful you can tell us about the stone?” Alex asked.“It’s red, and dangerous, sorry that’s all I’ve got,” Carol said. “I wish I had more for you, I honestly do.”Alex stood up from the table. “We’ve done more with less. Kara, you’ll keep an eye on our guest while she’s here right?”“I, er, sure?” Kara said.“Thanks, I have to go to a budget meeting, but I’m sure I’ll talk to you more Colonel.”“Like I said, call me Carol,” Carol said. “I’m not one for formality.”“I’m sure I’ll remember that eventually,” Alex said before she walked out of the conference room. “She’ll come around sooner or later,” Kara said. “Alex takes a little while to warm up to people is all.”“That assumes I want her to come around on me,” Carol said.“Of course you do, everyone wants people to like them on some level,” Kara said. But enough about that, tell me about yourself, how did you get your powers?” kara leaned across the table. “Were you experimented on?“Why would you think that?”“When we first brought you to the DEO, Brainy ran some tests on you, to make sure you weren’t carrying any contagions, and we saw that your DNA is a big mix, and your brain’s weird compared to an average human as well.”Carol let out a sigh. “No, I wasn’t experimented on.”“That’s relief, but how do you explain your weird brain?”“You aren’t going to give up on this are you?” Carol said.“Not at all,” Kara said. “If we’re going to work together then I need to know who I’m working with. I’m perfectly happy to tell you anything you want to know about me.”Carol sighed. “My DNA got mingled with a friend’s of mine when we were both caught up in the explosion of a device called the Psyche-Magnetron. But then I had my powers stolen from me, only to get them back when I was on a trip to outer space with some friends. I can see you followed all of that.”“I, yes, no, could you repeat that?”Carol laughed. “The important thing is that I wasn’t experimented on, that time at least, and I have powers. The how doesn’t matter as much.”“No, I suppose not.”“So what’s your story?” Carol asked Kara“Me? Oh, well, I’m an alien, obviously. My home planet was dying so my parents sent me to Earth where I have my powers thanks to the yellow sun.”Carol nodded her head. “That’s not the strangest thing I’ve heard, thought it was pretty rude of your parents to send you here alone.”“They, uh, didn’t have much choice, there wasn’t time to make a bigger ship.” Kara looked down at her hands.“And you grew up with Alex when you got here?”Kara nodded her head. “That’s right, it wasn’t always easy, but the Danvers were very good to me.”“Still, that must be hard, being the only survivor of an entire planet.”Kara looked up and started to wave her hands. “What? Oh no, I’m not the sole survivor of Krypton. My uncle sent his son to Earth as well. He actually arrived decades before I did, my pod got knocked off course, he’s a hero on Earth too, Superman.”Carol raised her eyebrows. “Somebody has a high opinion of himself.”“When you can fly, and are nigh invulnerable what else are people supposed to call you?”“In my case Captain Marvel. So that must make you what, Superwoman? I know you said, but I wasn’t paying attention.”Kara dropped her gaze back down to her hands. “No, Supergirl, the name wasn’t my idea, but when the Queen of All Media picks out your name you’re stuck with it, you know?”“I’ve certainly heard worse codenames, and Supergirl is easier to fit on a headline. Plus, I’m not one to talk about derivative superhero names.” Carol looked down at the logo on her suit. “Though in my case Marv was dead and I took the title to honor him. I take it that’s not the case with your cousin?”“No, thankfully Kal is still among the living. He protects Metropolis and I’m here in National City.”“I have no idea where either of those cities are,” Carol said.“You don’t have a Metropolis or National City on your Earth? That’s so strange,” Kara said.“That’s what makes traveling between dimensions so exciting,” Carol said. “Sometimes it’s just like home, and other times your friend is a carrot instead of a tree. Yes, I’m friends with an alien tree.”“You live a life of wonder, clearly,” Kara said. She looked over at a clock on the wall. “Oh shoot, I have to get to work. Are you going to be okay here on your own? I know there isn’t much to do, but maybe Alex can wheel in a TV or something.”“You have a job?” Carol asked.“Of course I have a job, why wouldn’t I have a job?”“I thought this.” Carol motioned around herself to indicate the DEO. “Was your job.”“No, no, I do this because it’s the right thing to do, but it doesn’t pay my bills. I’m a reporter for Catco Worldwide Media during the day.”“I have a friend who works as a freelance photographer to fund his crimefighting so that makes sense,” Carol said. “So you need to head into the office for something?”“There’s a big article I need to finish for the next issue of the magazine.”“Mind if I tag along? I was an editor for a magazine once a lifetime ago, and a bestselling author on top of that. I might have some tips for you.”“You were a magazine editor?” Kara asked.Carol stood up from the table. “Don’t look so surprised kid, I contain multitudes.”“I mean I always like to have more eyes on my work, but don’t you want a change of clothes or something? That costume’s really cool and all, my friend Winn would flip out if he saw it, but it’s a little…”Carol looked down at her blue and red costume. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”“It’s a little ostentatious don’t you think?” Kara said. “I mean maybe it’s not where you’re from, but here it isn’t exactly something a random person on the street would wear. I’m sure we can find some clothes that would fit you.”“Relax Kara, there’s no need for that,” Carol said. She activated the disguise feature of her costume and it shimmered away, replaced by her civilian clothes.“That was so cool,” Kara said. “How did you do that?”“Kree technology built into my suit.”“I am seriously jealous,” Kara said. “I have to wear my costume under my civilian clothes.”“Even the cape and boots? How does that work?”Kara grabbed Carol by the hand and pulled her over the table. “Come on, we have to get to CatCo.”“But you didn’t answer my question,” Carol said as Kara dragged her out of the conference room.Tucked away in an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of National City, David Fens sat behind a pile of cardboard boxes clutching the red stone he had found. Fens was considering how best to sell the stone for money when his stomach growled.“What I wouldn’t give for a hamburger right about now,” Fens said to himself. The stone warmed in his hand and before Fens could drop it a ray shot out of the stone and hit a loose box lying on the floor. To his amazement the box transformed into a hamburger and fries sitting on a plate.Fens ran over to the plate and cautiously pushed a finger against the burger. The heat of the patty caused him to jerk his finger back. Throwing caution to the wind he picked up the burger and ate it.After he finished the burger Fens looked back at the Reality Stone. He picked it up again and turned it over in his hands. “I wish I had a beer,” he said after a moment’s consideration.The stone again heated up and another bust of energy shot out of it and struck a rock on the floor. The rock vanished and its place was a frosty beer bottle. Fens picked up the beer and chugged it in one swallow.“Ok rock, what else can you do?” Fens said as he set about testing his newfound power. He was so absorbed in what he was doing that he didn’t see the air behind him rippled and the ground underneath the disturbance cracked and turned to dust.
-To Be Continued-
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“And here’s me,” Kara said as she lead Carol to her desk in the CatCo newsroom.“Yes, that’s certainly a cubicle alright,” Carol said.“I’ll find you a chair, it won’t take long for me to finish this article,” Kara said before she walked away from the cubicle leaving Carol alone.“Excuse me, who are you?” A voice said from behind Carol. She turned around and saw a dark-haired woman dressed in an expensive looking dress staring at her.Carol set a hand on her hip. “Who wants to know?”“Lena! Hi, don’t worry, she’s with me,” Kara said as she rushed back up to her desk pushing a wheeled office chair in front of her.“Kara, so nice to see you,” Lena said as she and Kara shared a hug. “Who’s your friend?”Kara glanced over at Carol. “Ah, this is, my cousin, er, Alex’s cousin, Carol, Carol Danvers.”Lena’s expression softened. “Carol, hi, I’m Kara’s boss, Lena Luthor. Where are you from?” She held her hand out to Carol.“A little town in Maine you’ve never heard of,” Carol said as she shook Lena’s hand.“Carol’s a magazine editor, so I thought I’d show her how we do things at CatCo,” Kara said.“Just be sure not to give away any of our trade secrets,” Lena said to Kara.Kara chuckled. “Of course not.”Eve Tessmacher walked up to Lena carrying a cellphone. “Lena, its R&D, they have a question about the updates to the image inducer firmware.”Lena let out a sigh. “I’m sorry, I have to take this, it was nice meeting you Carol. Kara, we’ll talk more later I’m sure.” Eve waved to Kara as she followed Lena out of the newsroom.“Lena’s great, but she’s awfully busy,” Kara said.“I don’t know, I’m pretty suspicious of business types like here. They always have an angle they’re working.”“That’s not entirely how Lena operates,” Kara said.“I don’t mean to bad mouth your friend Kara, but in my experience there has to be a certain level of amorality in a person to be the head of a major corporation. I work with one regularly back home and at best you can say he tries at the empathy thing.”Kara frowned at Carol. “Lena isn’t like that. She goes out of her way to help people.”Carol held up her hands in surrender. “Okay forget I said anything.”“Hey Kara,” James said as he stepped out of his office. “Who’s your friend?”Carol took a step towards James. “Hi, Carol Danvers, I’m her cousin, and who are you?”James chuckled. “I know her cousin, and you aren’t him.”Kara stepped in between Carol and James. “Carol, James knows the truth about me, and the DEO. He’s one of my cousin’s best friends.”“Not one of, the best, just to be clear,” James said.“That distinction really matters to me,” Carol said.Kara looked around the newsroom then pushed both Carol and James into James’s office. “Carol’s a superhero James, from another dimension.”“What, you mean like Barry?” James asked.“Yes, like Barry, but from a different dimension than Barry.”James nodded his head. “That’s weird, but okay. What are you doing here?” he asked Carol.“There was an accident, I’m stuck here, but working on getting home.”“And I asked her here because the alternative was a cell in the DEO. Carol says she was a magazine editor on her Earth so I figured CatCo would be a comfortable environment for her.”“That’s maybe overstating things a bit,” Carol said.“You mean you weren’t a magazine editor?” Kara asked.“No, I was, but that was forever ago is all. Still, I’m happy to be here and not cooling my heels with your sister. I can tell when I’m not wanted.”“I still say she’ll come around on you.”James crossed his arms. “Kara, don’t you owe me a feature?”“Yes, I do, I was trying to work on it when you and Lena rudely interrupted me.”James smiled. “I see, well if you want that piece in the next edition I’ll need it on my desk in the hour.”Kara nodded her head. “Right, of course, I’ll get right on it.” She saluted James and walked back to her desk.“I’ll go with her,” Carol said. “I’m sure you have better things to do than babysit me.”“You said it, not me,” James said with a chuckle.Carol backed out of the office then joined Kara at her desk. “Well he’s a hottie.”Kara looked back towards James’s office. “Yeah, I, er suppose.”Carol leaned against Kara’s desk. “Oh there’s a story there then.”“No, no story, and besides I don’t have time for storytelling.” She adjusted her glasses. “I have to finish this story, so I guess there is time for storytelling, just not that story, which doesn’t exist anyway.”Carol let out a sigh. “Out of the seat kid.”Kara looked up at Carol. “What?”“Your story, you need someone to edit it before you send it to print.”“We have editors,” Kara said.“And I’m guessing your editor has already sent this piece back at least once, do I miss the mark?”Kara fidgeted with her hands. “No, you, er don’t. It hasn’t come together like I wanted.”“Then move over. It’s been a while since I’ve done any editing,” Carol said. She shoved Kara to nudge her out of the seat. “Go and get a cup of coffee or something so I can read in peace.”“I, er, okay,” Kara said. She stood up from the office chair to let Carol sit down. “How long do you need?”Carol started to scroll through the document on the monitor. “This shouldn’t take me too long, give me twenty minutes or so.”“Twenty minutes, okay, I suppose I can call Alex and see if she’s made any headway in finding your wayward stone.”“That’s a good plan, you do that,” Carol said without looking up from the computer.Kara rolled her eyes then walked over to a quiet corner of the newsroom before she pulled out her phone and dialed Alex’s number. “Kara hi, what’s up?” Alex asked as she answered the phone.“Just checking in to see if you have any updates on our search for Carol’s missing stone.”“Brainy is still working on his detector. He says it will be ready in an hour or so, assuming she wasn’t lying.”“You think she’s lying?”“I don’t necessarily trust her,” Alex said. “I’m not saying she’s lying, but I don’t trust anyone who falls out of the sky.”“That’s probably fair, but why lie about it?” Kara asked.“I don’t know yet Kara, but better be safe than sorry, besides we picked up a strange signal in orbit shortly after Carol landed and that can’t possibly be a coincidence.”“She did say someone attacked her right before she came here.”“That doesn’t make me feel better,” Alex said.“I didn’t mean it too,” Kara said. “There are threats that might not have anything to do with Carol.”“Maybe, but I have to be suspicious of her because you refuse to,” Alex said.“And that’s why I love you,” Kara said.“While we’re on the subject, I can’t say I’m thrilled about taking her out of the DEO,” Alex said.“We couldn’t keep her cooped up in the DEO this whole time,” Kara said. “Plus, did you know she used to be a magazine editor?”“Kara, you didn’t.”“She offered to edit my story, I didn’t suggest it,” Kara said. She glanced over at Carol who was still reading off the computer and scribbling notes on a piece of paper.“This is the story you’ve been having problems writing?”“Yes, but I’m sure I’ve cracked it this time.” Kara could hear Alex sigh over the phone. “Whatever, I’ll call you if we find anything.”“When you find something,” Kara said.Alex paused and Kara was certain she could hear her sister counting to ten in her head. “I’ll call you, in the meantime, keep Colonel Danvers out of trouble.” Alex hung up the phone before Kara could reply.“Trouble with Alex?” James asked as he walked up behind Kara.“Not really, just a slight disagreement over how we should be treating Carol. Alex thinks I should’t be so trusting around her.”“That sounds about right for both of you,” James said. “So what is going on?”“She’s a really powerful superhero from another reality who lost an unfathomably powerful object that could destroy the world. Alex and Brainy are working on that one.”“So just a normal Tuesday then?”Kara smiled at James’s joke. “Exactly, we really do live messed up lives don’t we?”“How much danger are in right now? Is this another Worldkiller situation?”“I don’t think so, I hope not,” Kara said. “We just have to find Carol’s Reality Stone and problem solved.” Kara snapped her fingers. “You can help. Keep an eye out for anything strange, like reality warping strange.”James nodded his head. “Sure, I can do that, but are you sure I can’t do more?” Kara held up a hand, cutting James off.“No, keeping a watch is all the help I need,” Kara said. Her expression softened when she saw the hurt look on James’s face. “Oh James, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”James sighed, then patted Kara on the shoulder. “It’s okay Kara, I know my the authorities have a tenuous relationship with Guardian these days.”“You don’t have to put that costume on to help me, or anyone really, I hope you remember that,” Kara said.“It’s hard to forget when you tell me that every chance you get,” James said.“It never stops being true.” Kara threw a soft punch at James’s arm.“Hey Kara, I’m finished reading over your piece,” Carol said as she walked up to James and Kara holding a sheet of paper.“That didn’t take long,” Kara said. “So what’s the verdict?”Carol looked over at James. “Do you want to tell her or should I? Nevermind, I can. Kara this is nowhere near ready for print.”“I, but, what?”“Where did you go to J-School?” Carol asked. “Nevermind, it’s probably someplace I’ve never heard of.”“I, er, didn’t,” Kara said. “Ms. Grant gave me the job because she thought I had what it took.”“Which she does, which you do,” James said.“I’m not questioning your qualification,” Carol said. She waved the piece of paper in Kara’s face. “This is the work of someone trying to impress J-School types, I have no use for it, and neither should your readers.”“Snapper would have a fit if he heard you say that.”“Don’t get me wrong kid, for meat and potatoes reporting your buddy Snapper is right, but this isn’t that. It needs your opinion, your perspective to guide the reader. James knows what I’m talking about don’t you?”James sighed. “She’s right Kara, this could be the piece that puts your on the map, like Clark or Lois. It needs your voice, and that’s not coming through, rework it, write the way you want it, and not how you think Snapper wants it, and I promise you that you’ll get all the space you need in the next edition.”“Trust me on this Kara, I’m not a J-School snob myself. I wrote a book, made a lot of money, then bought a magazine. I know good writing, and this isn’t it, not yet at least.”Kara sighed then reached for the piece of paper. “Fine, I’ll write it all over again.”“That’s the spirit kid, and I’m more than happy to look over your shoulder as you write to make sure you’re still on track.”“I’d appreacte that, but we can’t do it here, I don’t have my notes and research here.”“So where is it?”“My apartment,” Kara said.“Fine, your apartment it is.”Kara clapped her hands together. “Great.” She turned to face James. “Can we use your office?”“For what?”“Unobtrusive take off spot,” Kara said.“You willingly let her fly you around?” James asked Carol.“Nope, I can fly as well,” Carol said.“Of course you can fly. In that case, by all means, my balcony is your balcony.”Kara gave James a quick hug. “Thanks James, you’re the best.” She dashed into the office and took off from the balcony.“You know,” Carol said to James. “I haven’t known her long, but that kid really is something.”“She really is,” James said.“It was nice meeting you Jimmy, but I have to fly,” Carol said.“It’s James, not Jimmy,” James said.“I don’t know, you look more like a Jimmy to me,” Carol said before she blasted off from the balcony, leaving James alone in his office.Back in his abandoned factory, David Fens was sitting on a throne with piles of gold surrounding him. He stood up from the throne and reached into a pile of golden coins. He picked some up and let them spill through his fingers.“I’m finally rich,” David said to no one in particular. “But how do I spend it?” He knew that he would have a hard time explaining to a bank how he had come by a fist full of doubloons.As David considered his pile of treasure he failed to notice the team of men dressed in black tactical gear who had slipped into the factory. The team spread out and slowly converged on David’s position. When they were close enough, the point man raised his silenced carbine and fired a single shot at the back of David’s head.The last though to pass through David Fens’s mind was that he really should look for a fence to sell his gold to. Then his world went black. The point man approached the body and pulled up his balaclava.“Mr. Tycho, this is the retrieval team. We located the object.” He pointed to the Reality Stone which sat on one of the arms of the throne. Two of the men sprung into action and used tongs to place the stone inside a high-tech box. “Excellent news Shanks,” Tycho said over the radio. “I trust you were able to retrieve it without any difficulties?”Shanks looked down at the corpse of David Fens. “No sir, no problems to report.”“That’s why I pay you the big bucks Shanks. Return to base as quickly as you can. I need to examine what you found.”“We’re on our way sir, and I think you’ll like what we found.” Shanks motioned for the team to follow him and they left the factory the way they arrived, leaving David Fens lying face down in his pile of gold coins.
-To Be Continued-
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Carol and Kara walked into Kara’s apartment. Kara tased her keys onto the dining room table. “Have a seat on the couch and I’ll get my notes.”Carol looked around the apartment as she sat down on the sofa. “This is a nice place. When I get home, if I get home, I should look into getting a new apartment.”“Where do you live currently?” Kara asked as she walked into the living room carrying an armful of binders and folders.“A space station,” Carol said. “Well, I used to live in a space station, but we had to blow it up attempting to save the world from, you know what, it’s a long story, and I’d rather forget it happened.”“Your world sounds amazing,” Kara said. She dropped the folders on the coffee table in front of the sofa.“It has its moments,” Carol said. “But it also feels like its going to spin completely off of its axis if we let it.”“I know the feeling,” Kara said. “If it’s not the Worldkillers, it’s the Daxamites, and if it’s not the Daxamites it’s my aunt and uncle.”Carol raised her eyebrows. “Aunt and uncle? That list took a turn.”“They were from my home planet, so they all of my strengths.”Carol rubbed her jaw. “Say no more, I remember you right hook.Kara chuckled then adjusted her glasses. “Look at me being a terrible host. Do you want anything? Coffee, tea, wine?”“You don’t have to get me anything, thanks,” Carol said.“Are you sure?” Kara asked. “I was going to pour myself a glass of wine. The tannins help me think.”Carol closed her eyes and sighed. “I’m an alcoholic Kara. I’m in recovery and I’ve been sober for years, but still.”Kara gasped. “Oh Rao, I’m so sorry. That was so thoughtless of me. Here I was about to open bottle of wine in front of you.”“No, if you want to have wine that’s fine. I can handle watching other people drink.”“Nope, if you can’t have any I won’t either,” Kara said with a shake of her head. “It would be rude of me to do anything else.”Carol smiled. “You’re a good kid.”“I am not a kid,” Kara said. She sat down on the sofa. “If you include all the time I spent in suspended animation I’m probably older than you are. So where should we begin.”While they were working on Kara’s story her cellphone started to ring. Kara glanced down at it and saw Alex’s name on the caller ID. She grabbed the phone and stood up from the sofa. “Hey Alex, what’s up?”“Brainy’s finished with his detector so if you and Captain Marvel want to come back to the DEO we can find her way back home,” Alex said.“That’s awesome, we’ll be right there,” Kara said.“Did you sister find the Reality Stone?” Carol asked as soon as Kara hung up the phone.“No, but Brainy finished his detector so it won’t be long now.”“And she wants us back at the DEO?”Kara tapped on her nose. “Got it in one.”Carol activated her uniform and it replaced her civilian clothes in a shimmering blur. “In that case what are we waiting for? I need to get home to my Flerkin.” Carol flew out the window before Kara could respond.“Flerkin has to be a made up word,” Kara said to the empty apartment as she changed into her Supergirl costume.Despite Carol’s head start, she and Kara arrived at the DEO at roughly the same time. Carol looked over at Kara and nodded in appreciation. “You are quick kid, I’ll give you that.”“Please stop calling me that,” Kara said as they walked into the DEO.“Never going to happen. What have you got for us?” Carol asked Alex who took a step back and looked around the room.“Okay, I didn’t realize you were giving the orders now,” Alex said after she composed herself.Carol pulled up to a stop. “Sorry, old habits, I’m normally the person in command, this is your rodeo and I didn’t mean to step on your toes.”Alex nodded her head. “Apology accepted. Let’s find that stone and get you home.”“And out of your hair?”“You said it, not me,” Alex said. The two women smirked at each other.“So Brainy built the detector, does that mean we know where the stone is?” Kara asked.“That is correct,” Brainy said. He held up a cellphone sized box with wires and flashing lights affixed to it. “This device should be able to narrow in on the unique frequency of objects from the Colonel’s home dimension. I have also constructed a larger scale version here at the DEO to give us a starting point for our search.”“Sounds good, now hand that gizmo over and tell me where to go,” Carol said. She held her hand out to Brainy.Kara reached across the table and took the detector from Brainy. “I think I’ll take that. Since I’m not from your dimension I won’t risk creating a false positive.”“That won’t be a problem,” Brainy said. “The detector can compensate for the Colonel’s bio-signature.Kara pulled the detector closer to her. “Better to be safe than sorry.”Carol rolled her eyes. “Fine, if you want the toy you can have the toy.”“You two, take Brainy and find the stone,” Alex said.“You can fly?” Carol asked Brainy.“Yes, all members of the Legion of Superheroes can with this.” Brainy held up his Legion flight ring.Carol shrugged. “Okay, if you say so.”Kara clapped her hands together. “Right, now that we’ve got that settled, let’s go find ourselves a stone!”Brainy, Carol and Kara landed outside of the abandoned factory David Fens had called home. Kara looked around the ruined industrial zone and then down at Brainy’s detector. “I think it’s inside there?” Kara said as she pointed at the factory.“Is there anything inside?” Brainy asked Kara.Kara looked at the factory and squinted as she scanned the building with her x-ray vision. “I don’t see anyone inside, that but that doesn’t mean it’s empty.”“What do you mean you don’t see anything inside?” Carol asked.Kara tapped on her temple. “X-ray vision, very handy.”Carol raised her eyebrows. “I bet, have any other tricks you want to share with the rest of the class?”“We can do a full accounting of Supergirl’s many abilities when we get back to the DEO,” Brainy said. “Right now our priority must be on retrieving the Reality Stone. I’m sensing damage to the fabric of space time already.”“I’ll go in first,” Kara said. She launched her herself at the factory before Brainy or Carol had a chance to protest. She flew through a broken window and landed in the center of the empty building. Brainy and Carol arrived not long after.“Doesn’t look like the place where you’d keep one of the most powerful objects in the universe, but what do I know?” Carol said.“The signal is strongest over there,” Kara said. She pointed in the direction of a corner of the factory floor obscured by abandoned boxes and shipping containers. “Be careful,” Carol said. “The Reality Stone can be an incredibly dangerous weapon in the wrong hands.”“We aren’t looking for a fight,” Kara said. “We’ll talk the problem out instead of trying to solve it by punching.” Kara passed the detector to Brainy before she approached the stack of shipping containers. She rounded the corner of a shipping container and pulled up to a dead stop. “Oh no,” she said when she saw the body of David Fens.Carol ran over to Kara’s side and took stock of the scene. “That’s not good.”“No, it is not,” Brainy said. He waved the detector around as he surveyed the floor. “The Reality Stone was here.”Carol nodded in the direction of the throne. “Obviously.”“However, the trail runs cold here. There is no indication that the stone left the building, but it is safe to say that it has.”Kara knelt down next to the body. “Someone else came for the stone and killed this poor man to get it.”Carol kicked at a pile of gold bars lying on the ground. “And put the stone in something shielded when they left. So we’re back to square one, what now?”Kara stood up and squared her shoulders. “We get a forensics team from the DEO to look for clues and secure all this stuff since it might be dangerous.”“And after that?” Carol asked.Kara sighed. “We figure that out when we get there.”“It is safe to assume whoever took possession of the Reality Stone is not planning on keeping it locked away in vault. I will refine my detection methodology and the moment they use the stone we will know where they are,” Brainy said.“I’m sure you will Brainy,” Kara said. “See Carol, it’s not a total disaster.” She glanced down at David Fens’s body. “Just mostly a disaster.” She toggled on her radio. “Alex, I have bad news.”While Kara reported in to the DEO Carol knelt down next to the body. “I’m sorry we didn’t get here sooner. I’m sorry I was even here in the first place, but we’ll figure out who killed you.” She stood up and looked over at Brainy, who had watched the entire exchange. “What, have a problem with that?”Brainly blinked rapidly in response to Carol’s outburst. “No, not at all, I was merely surprised at your level of empathy towards a man you didn’t know.”“Why would that be surprising?”Brainy cast his eyes around the rom before returning his attention to Carol. “It should not have been. You have my apologies for thinking otherwise Colonel.” Brainy bowed his head to Carol.“You don’t know me, so I can forgive you this one time Commander Data.” Carol spun on her heels and walked towards the exit.“Ah, that was a pop culture reference made to break the tension, how very witty and apropos,” Brainy said as he followed Carol out of the factory.In a lab deep in the bowels of the Tycho Industries headquarters Simon Tycho found his top scientists working. “Let me see it, let me see it,” Tycho said to his lead researcher.“Mr. Tycho, we haven’t finished our initial survey of the object yet. We don’t know if it is hazardous to humans or not.”“I don’t need to hold it Jurgens,” Tycho said. “I want to see it. Surely I can do that without violating your precious safety protocols.”“Yes, right, of course Mr. Tycho sir,” Jurgens said. He pressed a button on a console behind him causing a blast door to descend. Behind the blast door the Reality Stone sat in a high tech containment device that rested on a metal table inside a clean room. Advanced scientific equipment was arrayed around the stone recording everything about it.Tycho pressed his face up to the foot thick Lexan window. “Remarkable, what have you learned about it so far?”Jurgens cleared his throat. “As you might imagine it is certainly extraterrestrial in origin. We haven’t figured out what it is made out of beyond that though. The material is impossibly resilient. We have been unable to do anything to the stone to alter it. Heat, cold, nothing has an effect.”“But will it do what I want?” Tycho asked as he turned to face Jurgens.“It is a power source if that’s what you mean sir,” Jurgens said. “We have recorded energy fluctuations coming from the stone.”“Can we harness it?” Tycho asked.“Not yet sir. It is completely unlike anything I have ever seen before, and it will take time to safely tap into the stone’s energy.”“Jurgens, time is one commodity we do not have an abundance of,” Tycho said. “The investors are looking for progress, and after the disaster that was the Phantom Drive experiment we need something to show that Tycho industries can go toe to toe with L-Corp.” Tycho pointed at the Reality Stone. “That rock is our leg up on Lena Luthor. Figure it out now or I find someone else who can. Do I make myself clear?”Jurgens bobbed his head up and down. “Yes Mr. Tycho, crystal clear sir.”“Good, now follow me. We need to develop a plan of attack and I have a few ideas I want to discuss with you.” Tycho motioned for Jurgens to follow him and they, and the rest of Tycho’s entourage left the lab, leaving behind a single researcher.The researcher, an unassuming man in his mid-thirties, reached into the pocket of his lab coat and withdrew a futuristic looking communication device. “Commander, this is Hl’pht, do you read me?”“This is Commander Al’grrt, we have you Hl’pht. What is your status?”“I succeeded in locating the Infinity Stone. A group of Earther scientists are trying to experiment on it to learn its secrets.”“Can we obtain the stone?” Al’grrt asked.“I will need backup, but yes Commander.”“You’ve done well Hl’pht,” Al’grrt said. “Maintain your cover for now and keep up your observation of the stone.”“Understood commander,” Hl’pht said. “If I may ask sir. What are we doing about Captain Marvel? She is certainly looking for the stone too, and unlike everyone else on this world, she knows who we are.”“Don’t worry Hl’pht, I have a plan already in place that will deal with Captain Marvel. She won’t be expecting us in another dimension. Our surveillance has already located Carol Danvers and I dispatched Tk’rlt to take care of her. She will be dead within a day.”“That is good to hear. Do you need me back at the ship? I can slip out at any time.”“Stay where you are Hl’pht. Report back if the situation changes. We are close to a grand victory . The restoration of the Skull Empire is at hand.” Al’grrt ended the call and Hl’pht placed the communicator back in his pocket. He looked around to make sure the conversation had gone undetected then walked out of the lab.
-To Be Continued-
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
When Brainy, Carol and Kara returned to the DEO they were immediately met by a stone faced Alex. “Welcome back, we have a new problem.”Alex lead them into the DEO holding cells. The lone occupant was a green alien dressed in a jumpsuit. “Meet our new problem,” Alex said.Kara leaned in closer to the cell. “What is he, she? I don’t recognize the species.”“Neither do I,” Brainy said.“I do,” Carol said. “That’s a Skrull, nasty sonsofbitches.”“How did an alien from your dimension wind up here?” Kara asked.“We can worry about that later,” Carol said. “Skrulls are shapeshifters, how did you catch this one?”“He picked the wrong building to infiltrate,” J’onn Jones said as he stepped into the room. “I stopped by to pay Alex a visit and found him skulking around.”“J’onn, it’s so good to see you again,” Kara said to J’onn. She walked over and gave him a hug.“It’s good to see you too Kara,” J’onn said.“And who are you?” Carol asked.“Colonel Danvers, Meet J’onn J’onzz,” Alex said. “He’s my predecessor as director of the DEO, and the Martian Manhunter.”Carol stepped forward and held her hand out to J’onn. “Martian, as in little green men?”J’onn chuckled as he shook Carol’s hand. “I don’t know about little.” He morphed into his natural Green Martian form. “But basically yes.”Carol let out a low whistle. “You don’t see that everyday. So you knew he didn’t belong because you recognized him as a fellow shapeshifter?”“I’m also a telephoto, his thoughts were wrong.””And a strong one if a Skrull didn’t fool you.”“I’m okay,” J’onn said.Carol pounded on the Lexan wall of the cell. “Hey Skrull, what are you doing here?”“That can’t possibly work,” Alex said.“We’re here for the Infinity Stone,” Tk’rlt said as he sat up on the cell’s bed.“Of course you are,” Carol said. “That’s not a huge revelation.”“Yeah, what are you doing here, in the DEO?” Kara asked.“Your organization is a prime target for infiltration to find the Infinity Stone,” Tk’rlt said. “Plus, it was our best chance to ambush Captain Marvel.”“You failed at the buddy,” Kara said.“Tell us where the rest of your crew is,” Alex said. “I promise we woon’t hurt you, but until we recover the stone we are going to have to detain you.”“Why should I tell you anything else?” Tk’rlt asked.“Because we are going to find them one way or the other,” Alex said. “And it would be better for you and them if you cooperate with us.”“Do your worst human, I will never betray my comrades,” Tk’rlt said.“You might not, but we’re still going to smoke them out,” Alex said. She looked over at the others. “I have a plan, let’s go talk in private.”Kara pointed at Tk’rlt. “You stay there,” she said before spinning on her heels and following Alex out of the detention center.“So what’s your plan?” Carol asked Alex as they filed into a conference room.Alex rested her hands on the conference table. “The Skulls are bad right?”Caorl nodded her head. “I think I’ve been fairly clear about that.”“Are they more of a threat than the Reality Stone?”Carol scratched her chin. “That’s a tougher question. Probably not in the long run.”“But we can’t ignore them can we?” Kara asked.“Only at your own peril. I’m not saying all Skrulls are bad, but these Skrulls are, and you can’t let them run around unopposed while we search for the stone.”“I completely agree, fortunately I’m confident we can do two things at once. Brainy, J’onn, I need you to find the Skrull ship for me,” Alex said.J’onn raised his hand. “Alex, I’m not a part of the DEO anymore. This isn’t what I do.”“J’onn, I need your help on this. You don’t have to do anything that would violate your oath of non-violence. All I need your to find is where they are. The DEO can handle it from there.”J’onn folded his arms across his chest. “I suppose if I’m just gathering intelligence I could do that. What did you have in mind?”“Great, I knew I could count on you,” Alex said.“How do you want me to help J’onn?” Brainy asked Alex.“I want you to figure out a way to detect these Skrulls,” Alex said. “They know who we are and they know where we are. I want to even the playing field.”Brainy bowed his head. “I will see what I can do. I assume I cannot experiment on our prisoner?”“What, Brainy no!” Kara said.“Non-invasively,” Alex said. “Don’t vivisect my prisoner.”Brainy took a step back from the conference table. “No, of course not, I would never do anything even remotely like that. It would be abhorrent.”Kara placed a hand on Brainy’s arm. “Relax Brainy, nobody thought you were going to cut open the Skrull.”“I did, if that helps,” Carol said. “Though I don’t really know you.” She shrugged.“If J’onn and Brainy are going to deal with the Skrulls, what do you want me and Carol to do?” Kara asked Alex.“You’re going to keep looking for the Infinity Stone,” Alex said.“That was an obvious answer on reflection,” Kara said.“The better question is where do you want us to look,” Carol said. “Unless I miss my guess, none of us are science types.”Alex straightened her back. “I have degrees in xenobiology I’ll have you know.”“Good for you. Maybe you should be the person working on the Skrull detector while we get Data over there.”Alex blinked her eyes. “That’s, that’s not a half bad idea, it’s been a long time since I worked in the lab, and figuring out how they shapeshift would be a challenge.” She drifted off, lost in thought.“Remember, don’t vivisect the Skrull, though knowing Skrulls, he probably deserves it,” Carol said. She tapped Kara on the arm and motioned for her to follow her out of the conference room.“Where do you think you’re going?” Alex asked Carol.“Out, to find the Reality Stone,” Carol said.“Keep her out of trouble,” Alex said to Kara.“I’ll, er, do my best,” Kara said before she ran after Carol.“You don’t like Colonel Danvers very much do you?” J’onn said.“You wouldn’t either if you were in my position,” Alex said. “She’s too much of a wild card for my liking, and Kara thinks she’s the greatest person she’s met since, I don’t know, Barry?”J’onn smirked. “I’m confident you’ll get a handle on the situation.”Alex looked down at the conference table. “It’s real simple, we find her stone, send her home, and her creepy alien enemies too now I suppose.” She sighed then looked at J’onn. “You’re comfortable doing this J’onn?”J’onn dropped his arms to his sides. “Am I comfortable posing as the alien we have locked up in a cell to find his spaceship and the rest of his crew? I don’t think comfortable is the word I’d use, but I am ready.”“I know I’m asking a lot of you J’onn, but we truly don’t have any other options available to us,” Alex said.J’onn held up his hands. “Alex, relax, I understand. We can’t let a hostile race of alien shapeshifters run around National City unopposed.”“Right, that’s right. So you’ll find their ship then report its location back here. We’ll keep tabs on your the entire time and if something goes wrong I’ll personally lead the rescue team.”J’onn smiled at Alex. “This is not the first time I’ve done something like this. I’ll be fine.”“Maybe so J’onn, but this is the first time for me, so be careful out there. If anything happens to you when you’re following orders from me,” Alex’s voice tailed off.J’onn walked around the table and hugged Alex. “Don’t worry Director Danvers, this is the right call no matter what the result is. If the roles were reversed it’s what I would do.”“I suppose that makes me feel a little better,” Alex said. “You be careful out there J’onn.” She wiped a tear away from her eye. “Look at me, I’m repeating myself.”J’onn tapped Alex on the shoulder. “I’m going to study the Skrull’s effects then try to make contact with his ship.”“And I will be here to provide whatever technical assistance is required of me,” Brainy said.Alex gave J’onn’s arm one final squeeze before she turned her attention to Brainy. “Okay, in that case you are going to help me develop our Skrull detector.”Brainy bowed his head. “I look forward to the challenge. Where should we begin?”“Hey Carol, wait up,” Kara called out as she walked after Carol.Carol came to a stop and turned to face Kara. “What is it?”“I was just wondering if you maybe, you know, had a plan for finding the Reality Stone, or if you dislike my sister so much that you’re going to fly around the city aimlessly so you don’t have to be around her.”Carol sighed. “I don’t hate your sister Kara.”“You have a funny way of showing that you don’t,” Kara said. She frowned and stared at the ground.Carol put her hands on Kara’s shoulders. “I promise you, I don’t hate her. I don’t like her, but that’s a very different thing from hate. Trust me, you’d know if I hated her.”“But why don’t you like her? We’re all on the same team.”“For starters she’s not a very big fan of me so I’m just retuning the attitude sent my way,” Carol said. “Also, just because we’re on the same side, it doesn’t automatically mean we’re going to be friends. It’s a personality clash, don’t worry about it kid.”“I really wish you’d stop calling me kid,” Kara said.“Never going to happen. Now for that plan. I thought the two of us would track down the only lead we have at the moment, our dead guy. Whoever killed him has the stone. We find the killers we find the stone.”“Oviously, but how?”“You’re a reporter aren’t you?” Carol said. “This is your story, who killed that man.”“I’m not a detective,” Kara said.“No, you’re better. You don’t have to worry about search warrants.”Kara rubbed her hands together. “I don’t know Caorl…”“Kara, if not you then who will?”Kara cocked her head to one side. “You really aren’t taking no for an answer, but then again, if I was stuck in an alternate dimension I’d do everything I could to make it home too.” She drew in a deep breath. “So where do we start, at the police station?”“I was thinking asking around with the other homeless people in the area, see if they saw anything.”Kara nodded her head. “Sure, let’s do that.”Alex walked into the DEO armory and found J’onn sitting on a bench. “Hey J’onn, are you doing okay? You look like something’s bothering you.”J’onn looked up from his hands at Alex. “And here I thought I was the telepath.”Alex said down next to J’onn. “Like I said before, if this is asking too much of you.”J’onn patted Alex on the knee. “No, that’s okay, there’s a squad of shapeshifting aliens somewhere in National City, and it only make sense to send another shapeshifter to stop them.”“Then what’s the problem?”“I haven’t done anything like this since I promised to follow my father’s path. What if I can’t live up to those ideas and save the city at the same time?”Alex placed a hand on J’onn’s knee. “I don’t want to say the ends entirely justify the means, but your vow can’t be a suicide pact. I won’t let it be. I like having you around too much, and who’s going to walk me down the aisle when I manage to get married?”J’onn raised an eyebrow. “Are you expecting that to happen anytime soon?”“No, that’s why I need you to not die tracking down the shapeshifting aliens.”J’onn chuckled. “I’ll do my best, but this won’t be easy. The minds of these Skrulls are slippery. Easy to notice compared to humans, but to actually know what they’re thinking is another matter entirely. I won’t be able to create the kind of psychic rapport I rely on when I normally impersonate someone.”“In other words you’ll be working without a net. J’onn, I repeat if you think this is too dangerous we can find another way, no problem.”J’onn shook his head. “When you’ve been in this game as long as I have you pick up a few tricks. Don’t worry, I just need to find their ship and I can take it from there.”“I don’t like the thought of you ordering you to risk your life,” Alex said. J’onn placed his hand on the back of Alex’s head and gave it a pat. “Now you know how I felt all those years as director.”“This is a strange way to prove your point J’onn,” Alex said as she bit back a tear.“Like I said, don’t worry about me. I have more tricks up my sleeve than just shapeshifting and telepathy,” J’onn pushed himself off of the bench.“Where are you going?” Alex asked J’onn.“To learn everything I can about our Skrull friend. If I’m going to be impersonating him then I had better be prepared. And you need to get to work on that Skrull detector.”Alex stood up and nodded her head. “Yes sir, I’ll get right on it.”
-To Be Continued-
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“This is certainly a lovely section of town,” Carol said to Kara as they made their way through National City’s Skid Row.“It was your idea to come down here,” Kara replied. She looked around at the homeless living in makeshift shelters. “I should have brought something for these poor people.”“You do seem like the type who would do that,” Carol said. “I meant that as a compliment by the way.”“Of course,” Kara said. “You don’t help people less fortunate than you?”“I help them by making sure the planet keeps spinning,” Carol said. She jammed her hands into the pockets of the leather jacket she was wearing.“You should volunteer at a homeless shelter when you get back home,” Kara said. “It would do you some good.”“I don’t know Kara. I’m sure the second I did, Annihilus would crash through the roof or something.”“What’s an Annihilus?” Kara asked.“Big mean alien from the Negative Zone, always trying to conquer the universe. Looks like a giant bug. I know a guy who once stopped him from destroying the galaxy by pulling him inside out.”Kara made a disgusted face. “That’s just ew.”“It has no bearing on my story, I just like to repeat it,” Carol said. “My point is Annihilus is an asshole and assholes have a way of turning up at the most amazingly inopportune moments for me.”“I’m familiar with the phenomenon,” Kara said. “It’s a poor excuse for not spending more time with ordinary people. How can you protect them if you don’t know how they live?”Carol pulled up to a stop with her mouth hanging open. “My life before I got super powers,” she said after a moment’s consideration. “Look Kara, it’s different for me. I was in the military, defending my country was my job then and I’m still doing it. Only instead of sitting in a base in Germany I’m on a space station, was on a space station.”“Okay, that makes sense,” Kara said after a moment. “But I still think you’d be better served if you didn’t literally live over the people you’re trying to protect.”“A point you’ve made abundantly clear. Can we interview some bums now?”Kara crossed her arms in front of her. “See, this is what I was talking about. Show a little empathy for them for Rao’s sake.”Carol held up her hands in defeat. “Okay, that was in bad taste. I apologize.”Kara sniffed. “Apology accepted.” She spun on her heels and walked over to a makeshift tent. “Hello, is anyone home?” Kara asked as she knocked on the tent door.“Who wants to know?” the raspy voice of a woman said from inside the tent.“Hello ma’am, my name is Kara Danvers. I have a few questions for you. I’m writing a story about the murder of David Fens yesterday and I was curious if you knew him.”There was a rustling sound from inside the tent and a woman dressed mostly in rags emerged from inside. “What was that you said about David being murdered?”Kara nodded and took a step closer to the woman. “Yes, I’m afraid so, not very far from here in fact.”“Oh that’s awful, David, well David didn’t deserve that,” the woman said.“I take it you didn’t see anything?” kara asked.“I didn’t see anything like David getting murdered if that’s what you mean,” the woman said. “But there have been strange things going on the past few days.”Carol leaned against a bent metal fence post. “Like what?”“It all started with that light in the sky, then the odd lights coming from the factory where David squatted, and finally the black vans that were rolling through the area.”Carol and Kara shared a look. “Black vans? Do you remember anything else about them?”The woman scratched the back of her head. “No, to be honest when I see that sort of thing I do my best to be as hidden as possible. I’m not about to be picked up by some crazy person and used for science experiments.”“I can’t argue with your logic there,” Carol said. “Maurading evil scientists are a real threat.”Kara turned her head and glared at Carol “That is not helping.”“Where I’m from out of control mad scientists are definitely a thing. If that’s not true in National City, great,” Carol said to Kara.“They aren’t completely omnipresent,” Kara said. “Ma’am, I’m sorry, we never got your name.”The woman looked up and down the alleyway. “My name’s Constance.”Kara smiled at Constance. “Okay, I know you did your best not to be seen by these black vans, but was there anything at all that you remember about them?”Constance shook her head. “No, they were all black with no logos on the sides.” She snapped her fingers together. “There was one thing. They all had a little sticker on their rear bumpers, like an id tag or something.”“Were you able to see what they said?” Carol asked.“Nah, it was too dark to read it, but all the vans had them, that much I know.”“You’ve been a big help to us Constance,” Kara said.“David, he, well he wasn’t exactly a good guy, who out here is? But he didn’t deserve to get murdered, that’s for sure,” Constance said.“No he did not,” Kara said. “Constance, do you want us to help you find a better place to live? I know some people who can help get you back on your feet.”Constance shuffled her feet. “No, I, this is where I belong.”Kara set her hands on her hips. “No one deserves to live in a box. I’m going to send someone for you. This is non-negotiable and I will track you down if you try to run away. You deserve help Constance, let us give it to you.”Constance picked at the seam of her trousers. “I suppose I wouldn’t mind a hot meal or two.”Kara clapped her hands together. “That’s great, don’t go anywhere, someone will be along for you shortly.”Constance looked up and down the alley. “I’m not planning on going out on the town anytime soon.”“Good, well, not good that you don’t have anywhere to go, but good that you’re letting us help you. Thank you so much for all your help Constance and I promise we’ll help you find a place to live with an actual roof.”“That was a good thing you did,” Carol said to Kara as they walked away from Constance’s squat.“I did what any compassionate person would do,” Kara said.“Can you really find a home for her?” Carol asked.“My friend Lena runs an outreach charity. I’m sure she can find a bed for her,” Kara said.“Your friend sounds like a good person,” Carol said.“She tries to be,” Kara said. “But that seems to be a point of contention for some people.” Kara sighed. “Which is a long story you probably don’t care about.”Carol shrugged her shoulders. “I mean you clearly want to talk about it, but listening to gossip about people I don’t know isn’t exactly my idea of a good time.”Kara bobbed her head up and down. “No right, that’s fair. Why don’t we go to the NCPD and see if they know anything about these black vans.”Back at the DEO J’onn sat on a chair in the detention center staring at Tk’rlt locked in his cell. The Skrull paced around the cell until he finally stopped and pounded on the transparent cell door. “What are you looking at human?”J’onn stared back at Tk’rlt. “I’m trying to get the sense of you.”“You’ll get yours for holding me prisoner once my comrades find me,” Tk’rlt said.J’onn barked out a laugh. “If it makes you feel better to think that then go ahead, but it won’t happen. We’re far from the rubes you think we are. Shapeshifting aliens are nothing new, and the DEO can handle you and the rest of your crew.” J’onn stood up from his chair. “Honestly though, we don’t want to fight you. Tell me where your ship is and we can resolve this peacefully.”“If you want this resolved peacefully then don’t stand in our way as we look for the Reality Stone and Captain Marvel. They are none of your concern and as soon as we have them we will leave this planet.”J’onn crossed his arms. “I’m afraid that is not possible. The stone doesn’t belong to you and we don’t allow people to be murdered. We’ll help you get home, but that’s all we’re willing to offer.”Tk’rlt mimicked J’onn’s pose. “And if we refuse your generous offer?”“Then we’ll round you up and ship you back home, only we won’t be polite about it.”Before Tk’rlt could reply the building was rocked by a violent tremor. J’onn steadied himself and then glared at Tk’rlt. “Is this your doing?”“Not at all, I have no idea what that was.”“J’onn, we need you up in the command center now,” Alex said over the intercom.Back in the commander center Alex stood over Brainy’s workstation. “Would you mind running that by me again?”Brainy called up surveillance footage of the city on the main display. “There was a tremendous power surge from the Reality Stone and then the L-Corp building vanished. I do not know how.”“I would guess the Reality Stone is to blame,” Alex said. “Was the surge from L-Corp?”Brainy frowned as he stared at the display. “Unknown at this time. The energy burst was strong enough to overwhelm our sensors.”“Do we know where the L-Corp Building is?” Alex asked Brainy.“Assuming this was the work of the Reality Stone then it would be safe to assume it is somewhere else, but where that is even I can’t say.”“That’s, that’s horrible,” Alex said.As Alex was trying to figure out how to break the news to Kara there was another tremor and a flash from the location of the L-Corp building. When the glare faded the building had returned.“Director Danvers,” Brainy said.“I see it Brainy,” Alex said. Her cellphone rang and Alex pulled it out of her pocket. “Yes Kara, we were monitoring the whole thing.”“How did you know it was me?” Kara asked.“Who else would call me after the L-Corp building plays hide and seek with the National City skyline?”“So what happened?” Kara asked.“Brainy thinks it was the Reality Stone,” Alex said.“You think Lena has the stone?” Alex, she’s tough, but she wouldn’t murder a man to get access to something like the stone,” Kara said.Alex winced then pinched the bridge of her nose. “I didn’t say that Kara. It could just as easily been done to the L-Corp building, but the energy signature is conclusively the stone.”“Okay, okay I’ll take Carol over there. We’ll make sure everyone is okay and see if there’s any sigh of the Stone while we’re there. How does that sound?”“It sounds like a plan. I can send a team over to meet you there if you want it.”“No, the two of us can handle it. I’ll call you when we’re done there,” Kara said before having up her phone. She looked over at Carol. “We’re going to want to suit up for this part.”Carol activated her Captain Marvel costume. “Okay, let’s go investigate that building.”Back at the DEO J’onn entered the command center. “What was that?”Alex turned to face J’onn. “Our problem just turned into a full blown crisis.”In the lab at Tycho Industries where Simon Tycho was keeping the Reality Stone Tycho was glaring at this lead researcher, who was holding him back from a control panel. “What was that for?” Tycho asked. “It was working!”“Sir, you caused the L-Corp building to vanish from existence!” Jurgens shouted. “I had to shut the experiment down.”Tycho pulled free from Jurgens grip then straightened the lapels of his suit coat. “I don’t see the problem with that, and besides, that just means we have proof we can tap into the stone’s power. I’m confident you can refine the process.”“Sir,” Jurgens started to say.“Let me make one thing very clear. We are doing this. I don’t care about your reservations, we will crack the secrets of that stone. Science demands it. Our bottom line demands it. So you have a choice Jurgens. Either you can be a part in the most monumental breakthrough in energy since we cracked the atom, or you can leave and I’ll find someone else who has the proper vision to do what needs to be done. So what will it be?”Jurgens hung his head. “We will start reviewing the data from the stone’s activation immediately to see what we can learn from it.”Tycho patted Jurgens on the cheek. “Good man, I knew you’d see things my way. I want results on my desk in an hour.” Tycho started to walk to the door and turned around to face Jurgens. “And see if there’s anyway to miniaturize the containment vessel into something a little more portable okay? Great.” Tycho exited the lab leaving Jurgens standing in the middle of the room glaring at the door.Jurgens looked around at the other researchers. “You heard the man, we have an hour, stop looking at me and get to work.”
-To Be Continued-
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Carol and Kara landed outside the L-Corp building as fire and rescue crews started to arrive. Kara turned to face Carol. “Two questions, well really more like one question and a request. First of all, could you put on your helmet thing?”“Why, are you expecting a fight?”“No, not exactly, but we’re going to talk to Lena and it would cause too many questions if Kara Danvers’s new cousin also happened to be a superhero.” Kara wrung her hands together.“But you don’t wear a mask,” Carol said.“Yes, I do, my glasses, we’ve discussed this.”“You’re lying to me about that, there’s no way a pair of glasses make an effective disguise.”“You’d be surprised,” Kara said. “Now please, the helmet?”Carol sighed, then activated her Kree battle helmet. “You just like to see me put the helmet on.”“It is very cool,” Kara said. “You wouldn’t happen to have any fancy sensors built into it would you?”Carol shook her head. “Sorry kid, I’m a fighter pilot, not a scientist.”“That’s too bad, but no matter, we can make do without.”“What was your other question?”“I don’t know any polite way to say this so I’ll just be blunt. What am I supposed to call you in there?”“Call me? What’s wrong with Captain Marvel?”“It’s already taken, you can’t call yourself someone else’s name while they’re using it,” Kara said.Carol smirked. “I have friends who might disagree with you.”“It’s confusing,” Kara said. “Were there any other names you’ve used as your superhero identity?”“Let’s see, my Air Force callsign was Cheeseburger, and when I first became a superhero I went by Ms. Marvel.”“I am not calling you Cheeseburger, and Ms. Marvel is too derivative, what else you got?”“I went by Warbird for a while.” Kara made a disgusted expression with her face. “I can see you’re not a fan of that one.”“Sorry, it’s just Warbird doesn’t sound very heroic you know?”“You’ll get no argument from me there,” Carol said. “The only other option then is Binary.”A smile spread across Kara’s face. “Binary, I like it. That’s what I’ll call you.”Carol rolled her eyes. “Whatever makes you happy kid.”“Binary is a much better name than Captain Marvel, why did you switch?”“It’s a very long story that we don’t have the time to get into. Short version though is I took the title Captain Marvel to honor the memory of an old friend.”“Oh, well, that’s a very good reason to switch, keep using that name,” Kara said. “Once you get home that is.”“And to do that we need to find the Reality Stone, so instead of standing around here talking about what to call me, why don’t we start asking people here what the hell happened to them.”Kara’s ears turned pink. “Of course, right, we can go talk to Lena right now.” Kara pushed herself off of the ground and flew up to Lena’s office.Carol landed on the office’s balcony shortly after Kara and they walked into the office together. Inside they found Lena sitting on her sofa with full glass of Scotch in her hand. She stood up when she saw Kara and Carol enter the office.“Supergirl, what are you doing here?” Lean asked.“I got here as soon as I could when I heard what happened,” Kara said. “Are you alright?”Lena set her whisky glass down on an end table. “I’m fine, and so far so is everyone else who was in the building at the time of the incident.”“Can you describe what happened here from your perspective?” Carol asked Lena.“I’m sorry, who are you exactly?” Lena replied.“Lena, this is Binary, she’s, uh, a space cop of sorts who is here on Earth looking for a missing artifact of great power.”“Great, another alien,” Lena said.“What’s wrong with aliens?” Carol asked.“Nothing, but the problems that do arise from our alien visitors always seem to be life threatening. Good business for L-Corp though so I can’t complain too much.”“Yes, it’s always good to look on the bright side of things,” Carol said.Lena placed her hands on her hips. “And what is that supposed to mean?”Carol took a step towards Lena. “It means I don’t like people who profit off the backs of other people’s misfortunes.”“I provide a service that helps people, if I can make a little profit off of it, so much the better. So you can take your smug assumptions about Earthlings and cram them up your space hole!”Kara stepped in between Carol and Lena before Carol had a chance to respond. “Hey, whoa, timeout. This isn’t going to get us anywhere so let’s all just chill out for a moment and focus on what’s really important right now.”“Right, finding the Reality Stone,” Carol said. “You don’t have it do you?” She asked Lena. “The entire building vanishing like it did would be pretty typical for an experiment gone awry.”“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Lena said. “And even if I did I wouldn’t be so foolish as to experiment on something that dangerous here.”“You mean like Reign?” Kara asked.“That was different, and I repeat I don’t have this stone you’re looking for. This was done to us Supergirl, not something we did.”Kara nodded her head. “Don’t worry Lena, I believe you.”“So could you explain what happened?” Carol asked.“I don’t know. One minute I was sitting at my desk and the next I wasn’t anywhere.”Kara frowned. “What do you mean you weren’t anywhere?”“I can’t explain it any better than that, I wasn’t anywhere. It was very disconcerting. Then I was back in my office with no explanation for how any of this happened.”“That sounds awful,” Kara said.“It was not pleasant that’s for sure,” Lena said.“Don’t worry, we’ll get to the bottom of what happened,” Kara said.“Good, I’m sure if anyone can it’s you Supergirl.”Kara smiled. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”“Is there anything else? Any instrument recordings you took during the event?” Carol asked.Lena tapped on her chin. “The only thing remarkable was the absence of any recordings. We have a variety of sensitive equipment here — seismometers, gravimeters, things like that — and for the duration of the incident they didn’t record anything. It was like they all ceased to be.”“Definitely sounds like the Reality Stone,” Carol said. “Somebody is seeing what they have with it.”“Then we’d better stop them before the situation gets even more out of control,” Kara aid.“Anything you need and we can provide just ask,” Lena said.“We’ll be sure to do that,” Kara said.“Supergirl, be safe out there,” Lena said.Kara nodded her head. “I’ll do my best.” She tapped Carol on the arm and they both walked back onto the balcony. Lena watched as they flew away before she sat back down on her sofa and returned to her drink.At the DEO an agent dressed in a jumpsuit with a name tag that read Nelson walked into the detention center holding a tray full of food. “Okay Skrull, it’s time for your dinner. Now no funny stuff or you won’t get any of these Earth delicacies like Spam,” Nelson said to Tk’rlt who was lying on the cot in his cell with his eyes closed.Nelson banged on the door to the cell. “Hey Skrull, get up!”When Tk’rlt continued to lie motionless Nelson set the tray down and opened the cell door. “When I tell you to do something you do it.”Before Nelson could react Tk’rlt leapt off the bed and knocked out Nelson with a blow to the head. Tk’rlt then assumed Nelson’s form and ran out of the detention center, pausing only to sample the Spam on the tray. Tk’rlt made a sour expression on his face and continued on his way out of the DEO.Inside the cell Nelson reverted back into his normal form of J’onn J’onnz. J’onn sat up and turned on his radio. “Alex, he took the bait.”“Are you sure this is a good idea J’onn?” Alex asked.“It’s our best bet to quickly find the Skrull ship,” J’onn said. “I’ll follow the Skrull back to his friends, radio you their location and you collect them.”“And there’s no way any of that could go horribly wrong,” Alex said.“Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” J’onn said.“Just be careful J’onn,” Alex said.“Don’t worry about that, you’ll be ready when I call for you?”Alex looked over at Brainy who nodded his head. “We’ll be ready, you can count on us.”“Of that I have no doubt,” J’onn said. “I’ll call you when I have the location of the Skrulls.” J’onn shapeshifted into another unassuming form and left the detention center.Alex killed the radio connection and looked over at Brainy. “How close are you to having our little surprise ready?”“I have almost finished the design and will start prototyping soon,” Brainy said. “I would like to test the device before we deploy it in the field, but as the great poet once said, we can’t always get what we want.”“Work faster, if we’re going to stop the Skrulls we’re going to need that device.”Brainy bowed his head. “Of course Director Danvers, do not fear. I won’t let you down.”“You’d better not, and have we heard from Kara on how her trip to L-Corp went?”There was a gust of wind that blew through the command center as Kara and Carol landed next to Alex. “Everyone at L-Corp is unharmed. Scared out of their wits, but unharmed,” Kara said.“Was it what we were afraid of?” Alex asked Kara without missing a beat.“Do you mean was it the Reality Stone?” Carol asked. “I’m afraid that seems like the most likely answer.”“Lena doesn’t have the stone though,” Kara said. “Whatever happened, it was done to L-Corp, not an experiment there gone wrong.”“Are you sure of that?” Alex asked Kara.Kara nodded her head. “Yes, I believe Lena.”“Even after that stunt she pulled fabricating her own Kryptonite?”Kara narrowed her eyes. “Yes even after that.”“What do you think?” Alex asked Carol.Carol held up her hands. “I’m not getting in the middle of this. You two can argue about the suspicious lady to your heart’s content later. It’s possible she has the stone, but the way she described what happened. No, I don’t think so.”Kara held out her hands. “See, Carol is on my side.”“Okay fine, Lena doesn’t have the stone. So where do we stand then?”“Nowhere good,” Carol said. “We know someone has the Reality Stone and they’re experimenting with it. You never want people experimenting with Infinity Stones, even if they know what they have, and doubly so if they don’t.”“That doesn’t make me feel better,” Alex said.“Speaking of bad topics, where do we stand with tracking down the Skrull mothership?” Carol asked.“We have a plan for that,” Alex said. “J’onn is currently tracking it down.”“That’s great,” Kara said. “How?”“We let the prisoner go and J’onn is following him.”Kara blinked her eyes. “That’s a risky plan.”“You’re not wrong, but it’s a calculated risk. Once J’onn finds the ship he’ll call us and we’ll round up all the Skrulls in one fell swoop.”“That is a good plan, except raiding a Skrull ship is a recipe for disaster if you’re not careful,” Carol said.“We also have a plan for dealing with the Skrulls when we find them. Brainy has put together a disruptor that will prevent them from shapeshifting.”Carol looked over at Brainy. “Did you now? That’s impressive if true.”“Director Danvers helped with the design. In theory it will work, though obviously we haven’t had a chance to test it, but the science behind the device is solid.”“I’m sure it is,” Kara said. “That’s amazing work Brainy.”“I am particularly pleased with the design of the device,” Brainy said. “Even according to my own exacting standards it is a remarkable job.”“Yeah well, nobody likes a braggart Brainy, so just slow your roll until we know it actually works,” Kara said.“Have you had any luck triangulating the location of the Reality Stone after this past incident?” Carol asked Brainy.“Only in that I’ve narrowed its location down to National City without a doubt.”“That’s not very helpful considering whoever has the stone just blinked an office building out of and back into existence,” Carol said.“Yes thank you, I am keenly aware of my failure in this matter,” Brainy said.“Colonel, that’s enough,” Alex said. “Brainy’s doing the best he can, there’s no reason to beat him up over trying to accomplish the impossible.”Carol flexed her hands into fists then sighed. “You’re right, that was uncalled for.”Kara laid a hand on Carol’s shoulder. “Hey, we get it, everyone here’s been trapped in a different dimension or time from their home. We’ll get you back to yours, don’t worry.”“But first we need to deal with these shapeshifting aliens that followed you into your dimension. Do you think you can help with that?” Alex asked.Carol’s fist sparkled with energy. “There’s nothing I love more than punching Skrulls.”
-To Be Continued-
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
On board the Skrull ship Tk’rlt burst onto the bridge causing Al’grrt and N’klt to look up from their stations. “Tk’rlt where have you been?” N’klt asked. “You missed your last check in.”Tk’rlt rested a hand on a nearby chair as he caught his breath. “I’m sorry sir, but I was captured trying to track down Captain Marvel. She is working with the local authorities and I only just managed to escape.”Al’grrt stood up from his command chair and advanced on Tk’rlt. “And how were they able to capture you soldier?”“I’m not sure, I think they have a psychic helping them. The moment I entered their building I was accosted by a man and detained.”“A psychic?” Al’grt frowned. “Are you sure you escaped on your own?”“What do you mean sir?”“If Captain Marvel wanted to find us the easiest way would be to let you go and follow you back here.”“No sir, I was very careful, no one followed me.”A warning klaxon started to sound. N’klt looked down at a panel. “You weren’t followed Tk’rlt? Then explain to me why Captian Marvel is at our door.” He pointed to a monitor displaying a video feed from outside the ship. Carol and Kara, backed up by a squad of DEO agents, stood outside.“You fool Tk’rlt,” Al’grt said. “Man the weapons station. N’klt, get us up in the air.”“Sir, it won’t work, we can’t run from this fight,” N’klt said. “And what would you have us do?” Al’grt asked N’klt. “We can’t take on Captain Marvel in a straight up fight!”“No sir, but we are Skrulls and we should fight like it.”Al’grt pounded on the back on his chair. “N’klt, you are not completely useless. “Tk’rlt with me, we’re going to show these humans what happens when you attack a Skrulls ship.”Outside the ship Carol looked over at the leader of the DEO strike team. “Are your agents in position?”“Yes ma’am, and the suppression field is active too,” Agent Vazquez said.“I sure hope your friend knows what he’s doing,” Carol said to Kara.“He might be annoying at times, but Brainy knows his stuff,” Kara said.“In that case would you care to do the hours?” Carol motioned towards the ship’s door.“Oh no, I insist you go first,” Kara said. She curtseyed to Carol.Carol raised her right fist and let energy course through it. “Okay everyone, step back.” She pointed her arm at the door then fired an energy blast at it, knocking the door inwards. “Keep your heads on a swivel in there. We don’t know what they have waiting for us.” Carol flew through the door and into the ship. Kara looked back at the strike team, nodded, then followed Carol into the Skrull ship. The strike team went in close behind.As the strike team made their way through the ship Al’grt and Tk’rlt watched the DEO team from a hidden vantage point. “Tk’rlt, knock out then mimic the stragler,” Al’grt said.Tk’rlt nodded his head. “Yes sir.” He crept up behind the trailing DEO agent.“Everyone spread out,” Carol said over the radio. “And keep your eyes open.”The agent Tk’rlt was following walked down a side passage. Tk’rlt seized on the opportunity and tapped on the agent’s shoulder. The agent spun around and before he could react Tk’rlt punched him in the face, knocking him out.“Jorgenson, Jorgenson, come in,” Vazquez said over the radio.Tk’rlt grinned to himself and reached for the radio. “This is Jorgenson, I thought I heard something, but it was nothing.” Tk’rlt frowned when he realized he was speaking in his normal voice.“Did we forget to mention we deployed a suppression field that keeps you from shapeshifting?” Carol said over the radio.Tk’rlt felt a finger tapping him on the shoulder. He turned around and saw Kara standing in front of him. “Hi there,” Kara said. “For your sake Jorgenson better be okay.” She reached out with her index finger and flicked Tk’rlt on the nose, knocking the Skrull backwards. He slumped to the ground unconscious. “Got one,” Kara said into her radio. “And Jorgenson is going to be okay.”Al’grt ran onto the bridge and locked the door behind him. “Excellent work Commander,” N’klt said. “Your incompetence has gotten us caught.”“My incompetence?” Al’grt rounded on N’klt. “Not running was your idea.”“And if it wasn’t for you insane plan to steal an Infinity Stone from Captain Marvel we wouldn’t even be here!” The door started to shake from the force of someone on the other side pounding on it.“We aren’t defeated yet you coward!” Al’grt said. He ran over to the communication station. “Hl’pht, this is Commander Al’grt. You need to retrieve the Infinity Stone now. Captain Marvel found the ship and we need that stone if we hope to have any chance of success.”Before H’lpht could respond the bulkhead door smashed open and flew across the bridge. It narrowly missed N’klt and smashed into the ship’s damage control station. Kara stepped through the newly opened door with Carol close behind her.“Hands in the air and don’t move a muscle,” Kara said. Her eyes glowed as she stared down the Skrulls.“You boys better listen to her,” Carol said. “She packs a mean punch.”“Don’t worry, we mean you no harm,” Kara said. “As soon as we find the Reality Stone we’ll send you and Captain Marvel back to your home dimension.” Vazquez and the rest of the strike team secured Al’grt and N’klt. “Until that time however I’m afraid you’re going to have to be detained at the DEO for both your safety and the safety of the planet.”Carol looked around the bridge and then at Al’grt. “Where’s the last member of your crew?”“What do you mean last member of their crew?” Kara asked Carol.“A ship this size always has a minimum of four as a crew and we’ve secured three.”“Which means we have an extra Skrull on the loose in National City, great.” Kara toggled on her radio. “Alex, we’ve secured the Skrull ship.”“Great work Supergirl,” Alex said. “Did you apprehend all of the Skrulls?”Kara scratched the back of her head. “Not exactly, our expert says there’s one unaccounted for.”Kara could hear Alex pinching the bridge of her nose. “Do you have any idea where the missing Skrull is?”“No, but we’ll find out, I promise.”“Okay, you and the Colonel search the ship for any sign of our wayward Skull, meanwhile have Vazquez bring the prisoners back to the DEO.”“Understood, and don’t worry Alex, we’ll locate that Skrull.” Kara turned off her radio and looked over at Vazquez. “Take the prisoners back to the DEO, we’ll handle things here.” Vazquez nodded her understanding and the DEO team marched the Skulls off of the bridge.“And how exactly are you planning on handling things here?” Carol asked as she sidled up next to Kara.“To be honest I thought you might have an idea or two on the topic,” Kara said. “You have more experience with the Skrulls after all.”A light blinking on the communication console interrupted Carol’s train of thought. With a shrug she walked over to the console and pushed the button. “This is Captain Marvel, boss of space, who am I speaking to?”“Where is Commander Al’grt?” a voice said over the radio.“In handcuffs, tell me where you are and we can resolve this without me punching you back to our home dimension.”“You can’t stop me Captain Marvel, I know where the Reality Stone is, and you don’t.”“I wouldn’t be so sure of that you prune face,” Carol said. “This communication terminal can show me where you are, or did you forget how your technology works?” The line then went dead.“Can you really do that?” Kara asked. “Track the missing Skrull from that?”Carol kicked at the console. “Theoretically yes, but that asshole locked me out of the system remotely.”“No problem, Brainy can cracky any computer you throw him at.”“I just hope we have the time to wait for him,” Carol said. “The Skrull sounded like he was looking at the Reality Stone. It would be bad if he gets to it before we do.”Hl’pht jammed his communicator back into the pocket of his lab coat and looked around lab. Tycho and the other scientists were standing on the opposite end of the room from the Reality Stone reviewing data from the previous attempt to activate the stone. Hl’pht took a deep breath and walked over to the door of the containment vessel holding the stone.The guard keeping watch over the stone moved to stop Hl’pht. “What are you doing Hoskins? You know you can’t go in there.”Hl’pht grabbed the guard by the back of his head and slammed him into the wall, knocking the man unconscious. The noise caused Tycho and the others to look up from their work. “Hoskins, what on Earth are you doing?” Tycho shouted.Hl’pht allowed his features to revert back t other normal form. “My mission human.” He reached into his jacket and withdrew a Skrull blaster weapon. “Stay there, I would have no trouble shooting the lot of you hairless apes.”“Hoskins is an alien?” Jurgens asked. “That’s not possible.”Tycho folded his hands across his chest. “That’s not Hoskins you idiot, that’s an imposter who was posing as him. Remind me to add blood tests to the biometric security. What do you want alien?”“Isn’t it obvious? I want the stone,” Hl’pht said. He motioned towards the containment vessel with his blaster. Jurgens started to move towards Hl’pht but Tycho put a hand out to stop him. “No, wait, I want to see where this goes.”Jurgens stared at Tycho. “You’re not serious.”“So far we haven’t had much luck getting the stone to do what we want it to. Maybe he can show us how.”“That’s insane.”Tycho grabbed Jurgens by the lapels of his lab coat. “I’m the one in charge here, you do what I say or I make sure you can only find work at Big Belly Burger, do I make myself clear?”Jurgens pulled himself free from Tycho’s grip. “You’re a lunatic, I quit!” He ran out of the lab with the rest of the team close on his heels.“Cowards,” Tycho said to himself before returning his attention to Hl’pht. “Well go on, what you waiting for? I thought you were after the stone.” Tycho sat down in a chair and steepled his fingers together.“What sort of game are you playing at Tycho?” Hl’pht asked.“No game, I’m a scientist and I’m curious to see what happens when you touch the stone.”Hl’pht stared at Tycho before pulling open the door to the containment vessel. The Reality Stone sat perched in a device surrounded by magnets. Hl’pht reached out and lifted the stone out of the device. It was at that moment the world turned itself inside out.Onboard the Skrull ship Carol and Kara were knocked to the ground by a powerful tremor. Kara activated her radio. “Alex, what is going on?”At the DEO Alex held onto the console next to her to stay on her feet. “We’re not entirely sure, but it isn’t good.”“Reality has started to come unglued across National City,” Brainy said as he surveyed the screens in front of him.“We were too late to stop that Skrull from getting his hands on the Reality Stone and now he can’t handle the power,” Carol said.“That seems like a fair assumption,” Brainy replied.“Is there anything we can do to fix this?” Alex asked the group.“Sure, we find him and take the stone away from him,” Carol said.“Really, that’s all it would take?” Kara asked Carol.“I mean yeah, probably, but keep in mind we are dealing with a primordial force of the Multiverse. Nothing is guaranteed, we could just as easily be completely unmade. It all comes down to how strong you are.”“Brainy, what’s the prognosis?” Alex asked.“At the rate events are currently unfolding, National City will cease to exist within the hour.”Kara stared at Carol. “You said using the stone is a matter of strength? I’m the strongest person on the planet, and I am not about to let a dumb rock destroy my home.”“You remind me of a friend of mine from back home,” Carol said.“Is that a good thing?” Kara asked.“That’s a very good thing, she embodies our best selves, unlike me who’s just managing to stumble along.”“We don’t have time for mopey introspection. Brainy, with all this activity you have to know the stone’s location now,” Kara said.“You are correct Supergirl. The epicenter of the reality distortions is at Tycho Industries.”Kara nodded her head. “We’re on our way there.” She toggled off her radio. “Let’s end this shall we?”“I am more than ready,” Carol replied. The pair flew out of the Skrull ship and made their way towards the Tycho Industries building.
-To Be Continued-
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Carol and Kara smashed open the door to the lab deep in the bowels of Tycho Industries where the Reality Stone was being held. Kara looked around the lab and paused. “Well this is different. Is it just me or is this room bigger than it has any right to be?”The lab appeared to be the size of an airplane hanger and aside from random kaleidoscopic explosions of color that burst forth from out of nowhere it was completely featureless.“Be careful kid, this is the Reality Stone at work, there’s no telling what is up or down in here at the moment. We need to find that Skrull.”“You won’t have any luck there,” Simon Tycho said. Carol and Kara both turned and saw Tycho seated in a chair. Thick vines held him bound to the chair and he had a slightly too wide smile on his faec. “The moment he touched the stone he was unmade.”“Where’s the stone?” Carol asked.“At the center of that,” Tycho said and nodded at a giant pulsating ball of light at the other end of the room.“How do we stop this?” Kara asked Tycho.“You can’t Supergirl, everyone who has gone in there has been unmade just like the alien.” He pointed at a pile of lab coats that lay on the floor.“There has to be some way,” Kara said.“There isn’t, that ball is going to consume the world and rewrite reality in its wake. I am curious to see what comes out the other side,” Tycho said then giggled.“We can’t let that happen,” Kara said.“And we aren’t,” Carol said. “Because I’m going to fly in there and put a stop to this.”“I can’t let you do that,” Kara aid. “Out of the two of us I’m the nigh invulnerable one. I can take whatever that stone might throw at me.” Kara turned and started to walk towards the ball of energy.Carol grabbed the hem of Kara’s cape and pulled her backwards. “Don’t be stupid. This is my mess and I need to be the one to fix it. The stone is from my universe, not yours. Who knows what would happen if you tried to use it.”“We can’t stand around debating this,” Kara said. “This is my city and I’m going to save it!” Carol shook her head. “Kid, you’re, don’t even ever change. Keep punching holes in the damn sky.” Carol pulled Kara in for a hug. “It was an honor to have me you Supergirl.”“I’m not letting you throw your life away,” Kara said as she struggled to free herself.“Trust me, I’m not. I can absorb energy remember?”Kara drew in a deep breath then nodded her head. “Good luck Captain and if we don’t see each other again it was a pleasure working with you.”Carol looked over at the energy cloud. “You might want to get out of here, just in case you know, or at the very least get that asshole to safety.” Carol motioned to indicate Tycho.“If this doesn’t work is anywhere really going to be that much safer than right here?” Kara replied.“Suit yourself, and no offense, but I hope we never meet again,” Carol said. She saluted Kara then flew towards the ball of energy.“Good luck Captain Marvel,” Kara said to herself before she dove to cover Tycho from the ever expanding energy field with her cape.Carol hit the boundary of the field then grit her teeth as she was buffeted by the onslaught of power. She focused on drawing the energy inwards as she felt it start to eat at her suit. As she dove deeper into the impossibly large cloud of energy scenes from across the multiverse flit by her. Carol couldn’t stop to examine them because her inner voice told her the moment she stopped moving the energy from the Reality Stone would consume her. Eventually Carol burst through the vortex and into the proverbial eye of the storm. At the center of the cloud she saw the Reality Stone exploding infinitely and Hl’pht frozen, reaching out for it.“You just had to mess with things you didn’t understand,” Carol said to the frozen Skrull. “That’s okay, I supposed I barely understand what’s going on either. Probably nobody does when it comes to the stones outside of Adam Warlock or Thanos.” She reached out and patted Hl’pht on the cheek. “Don’t worry, I think I can figure something out. After all, I am the boss of space.” Carol cracked her knuckles and reached out to the exploding stone.The energy radiating from the Reality Stone threatened to overwhelm Carol. She saw alternate realities spin across of her line of sight like a kaleidoscope, each one moving faster than the previous. The temptation for Carol to let go and allow the stone to send her wherever it may was enormous.Carol shook her head. “Oh no you don’t you stupid rock. I am going to put everything back where it should be and you aren’t going to stop me.” She clamped her hands around the Reality Stone and released all the energy she had absorbed back into it. The world around Carol exploded in a swirl of colors and then went to black.Outside of the energy cloud Kara watched as the cloud pulsated and then collapsed in on itself. The lab snapped back into focus and reverted to its normal form. Kara stared at the empty corner of the lab where the energy cloud had been located and the small crowed of lab technicians who appeared out of thin air staring at each other.“Supergirl, Supergirl, what happened?” Alex asked over the radio. “Our sensors are showing something snapped everything back to normal.”“It was Captain Marvel, she saved the day and is, gone?” Kara replied. She looked down at Simon Tycho. “You are in serious trouble mister.”“You can’t pin anything on me,” Tycho said.“Aside from the man you had murdered, not to mention the damage you caused to the city,” Kara said. “You’re going to have a lot of explaining to do.”Tycho leaned back in his chair. “My lawyer is going to have words with you.”“He’s welcome to try,” Kara said as she crossed her arms.Later that night Kara stood on the balcony at the DEO and stared out at the city. Alex walked up behind Kara and leaned on the railing next to her. “So Simon Tycho just posted bail.”Kara sighed. “Of course he did.”“The good news is that we were able to link Tycho to the team that murdered the homeless man, David Fens. His lead researcher flipped on him.”“That is good,” Kara said. She nodded her head. “At least something good came out of all this.”“Are you still moping about Carol Danvers?”Kara turned to face Alex. “Of course I am. She vanished without a trace.”“Kara, I’m sure she’s fine. All the Skrulls vanished at the same time after all.”Kara sucked in a gulp of air. “No, I know you’re probably right, it’s just we don’t know for sure, and I would’ve liked a chance to say goodbye properly.” She kicked at the floor.“Who knows, she does have a stone that lets her travel between dimensions,” Alex said.“And yet she hasn’t yet. You’re really bad at helping, has anyone told you that?” Kara said to Alex.Aled chuckled then hugged her sister. “I’m sorry, I miss her too.”Kara cocked her head to one side. “I don’t believe you.”“Okay, I found her a little grating I’ll admit it.”“You know what I think?” Kara said.“What”“I think you and Carol are the doppelgängers, that’s why she annoyed you so much,” Kara said.Alex made a face. “I find that hard to believe, we are nothing alike. ”“She certainly wasn’t mine,” Kara said.“Why does she have to be either of our doppelgängers?” Alex asked.“Isn’t that how the multiverse works?”“Supergirl,” Brainy said over the radio. “There’s a cargo ship off the coast that has lost power and is adrift. They are in desperate need of assistance.”Kara sighed and tapped her radio. “Understood, I’m on my way.” Before Kara left the night sky in front of them swirled and blinked so rapidly that Alex wasn’t even sure what happened. Kara looked back at her sister and smiled. “Time to punch holes in the sky.” She took off like a shot and arced off in the direction of the ocean.Alex walked back into the DEO command center. “Brainy, what the hell was that out there?”“The phenomenon happened too quickly to be observed by the human eye. However, to a Kryptonian, or myself, it was quite legible.”Alex rested her hands on her hips. “What was it?”“It would be easier if I showed you.” Brainy called up a a slow motion sequence from the DEO’s security feed. Alex stared in amazement as she watched the stars in the night sky sequentially rearrange themselves into the phrase “Higher, further, faster, more,” followed by the star insignia from Captain Marvel’s costume.Alex stared at Brainy then gave him a hug. “So she did make it home.”“It would appear so.”Alex took a step back from Brainy then cleared her throat. “So what do we know about this disabled cargo ship?” Carol opened her eyes and found that she was once again floating in orbit over the Earth. From her vantage point she could see the ruins of the Alpha Flight station in the distance. Carl reached up and toggled on her communicator. “Puck, Sasquatch, anybody there?”“Captain, good to hear your voice,” Abigail Brand said over the radio. “You were uncharacteristically quiet for too long.”“Yeah, sorry about that, something came up,” Carol said.“Does that have anything to do with the Skrull ship that appeared out of thin air in the middle of Central Park?”“Guilty as charged Brand. Can you take care of those Skrulls? They tried to take a poke at me.”“I’m sure we can think of something appropriate to do with them,” Brand said. “But why ask me? Can’t you deal with them?”Carol looked down at the Earth. “I could, but I really don’t want to at the moment.”“That’s hardly an excuse boss,” Brand replied.“Dealing with arrested angry aliens is your job Brand, mine is arresting them. Now unless there is some other world ending crisis I don’t know about I am going to take the night off. Disturb me at your own peril.”Brand laughed. “You got it. Have a good night boss, and don’t worry, we can handle these Skrulls for you.”“I don’t get how he gets bigger every time I visit,” Carol said. She was seated in Jessica Drew’s living room and watched as her friend fed her son Gerry from a bottle.“Carol, I don’t know how much you know about babies, but grow is one of the only things they do, along with eat, poop, and sleep.”“You left off being adorable,” Carol said.“After you’ve seen what this kid leaves in his diaper you wouldn’t use the word adorable to describe him,” Jessica said.“I’ll take your word on that,” Carol said. “So where’s Roger?”“Out with Ben on a case,” Jessica replied. “He left as soon as he heard you were coming over.”“Jess. You know I don’t dislike Roger, I’m happy for the two of you even.””It’s not that, Roger guessed that you were looking for a girl’s night in. He even would’ve taken Gerry if I would’ve let him.”“And deprive me of these cheeks, never,” Carol said. She reached out towards Gerry then drew her hand back. “Does he have his zaps under control?”“Only one way to find out,” Jessica replied. “Besides, can’t you absorb energy blasts?”“After the day I’ve had I’d rather not risk it,” Carol said.“Okay put a pin in that,” Jessica said. “I’m going to put Gerry in his crib, pour myself a glass of wine, and then you can tell me whatever drama’s been bugging you.”Over several glasses of wine on Jessica’s part, and coffee on Carol’s, she told Jessica the entire story about her trip to Supergirl’s dimension. When Carol finished Jessica drained her glass and stared at her friend “Do you have it with you?” Jessica asked. In response Carol pulled the Reality Stone out of her pocket. “And you brought that to my apartment, where my kid is? What is wrong with you Carol?”Carol jammed the Reality Stone back into her pocket. “Sorry, but it’s not like I can just leave an Infinity Stone lying around you know?”‘No, I suppose you can’t, but if Thanos crashes through that window I am blaming you.”Carol held up her hands. “That is totally fair.”Jessica poured herself another glass of wine. “So what did your little dimensional excursion teach you?”“Beyond how much I like my home?” Jessica nodded. “I suppose that no matter what else I’m the best person to guard this stone, or at least the least bad person.”Jessica raised an eyebrow. “Really, it took a trip to another dimension to teach the lady who calls herself the boss of space that?”Carol tossed a couch cushion at Jessica. “We all have self doubts, even me, especially me.”“And if the worse does happen you could always call on that Supergirl kid.”“I could do a lot worse that’s for sure,” Carol said.“What’s she got that I don’t?” Jessica asked.“For starters, she’s stronger than the Hulk, and has a heart like Kamala, or Squirrel Girl, as opposed to your surly butt.” This time it was Carol who had to duck the thrown pillow. “But seriously, she has that spark that makes you want to be your best self. It was like being around Steve.”“Wow, high praise,” Jessica said.“I know, and I mean it,” Carol said.Jessica raised her wine glass. “In that case, to Supergirl.”Carol touched her mug against Jessica’s glass. “I’ll drink to that.”-The End-