"World's Finest Mix-Up" - Part Five

 

Part Five

            Kara grew to hate having a gun pointed at her. It happened quite often in a past regeneration – the one whose name she shared (except with a “C”). But she hated nothing more than someone pointing a gun at one of her friends, the one in this situation being Jessica. Kara could hear her whimpering behind her.

            “It’s gonna be okay, Lil’ Queen,” she reassured her little sister.

            “Oh, I very much doubt it’ll be, my beautiful sunflower.” The voice Kara heard didn’t come from either of the Luthors or even Otis.

            Emerging from the shadows was a mortifying figure – a tall young man dressed in a custom-tailored purple suit that consisted of an elegant coat and pin-stripe pants kept up by suspenders rather than a belt. Underneath it, he wore a light grey jacket, a green vest, and a light grey patterned shirt.

            However, the most striking feature about him was the chalk-white makeup on his face, which consisted of dark face-paint that blackened the spaces around his leering brown eyes. In addition to this, green hair-dye spread all over his unkempt, greasy hair, and a red slash of lipstick smeared all over a thin mouth with two gruesome scars lined at the corners, resembling a Glasgow Smile.

            Unfortunately, he didn’t come alone. He was accompanied by a gang of armed thugs and a pack of vicious Rottweilers.

            “Erm, excuse me?” Earth-13 Luthor confronted the clown. “This area is restricted. We are conducting valuable research here. So, you and your goons must leave the premises immedia—!”

            He was abruptly cut off once the clown aggressively grappled him, placing a knife in Earth-13 Luthor’s mouth and pressing the blade against the inside of his left cheek. “You wanna know how I got these scars?” the clown asked, indicating those on his own face. “I’ll tell ya how. One fine day, I was minding my own business, sitting at the bus stop and waiting for the bus to come. And then, out of the blue, this guy comes up to me with a switchblade, demanding money. I told him, ‘I’m sorry, sir…but I only have enough for bus fare.’ So, he makes a deal with me: a smile for your life.

            So, I give him the biggest, brightest smile my face could muster. But then the mugger tells me, ‘That’s not good enough!’ He then hands his switchblade over to me and proceeds to hold me at gunpoint, telling me to put on a real, big smile…or else he’ll kill me. So, not wanting to die in such an undignified way, I take the switchblade, put it to my mouth, and…”

            SLICK!!

            The clown’s knife sliced through Earth-13 Luthor’s cheek like butter, blood gushing out instantly. The eccentric young entrepreneur dropped dead to the grated floor to the horror of Otis, Kara, and even Jessica and the disappointment of the surviving Luthor. “There goes the perfect business acquisition,” he dismissively uttered.

            “Now then,” the clown said, cleaning the blood off his knife and surveying the four remaining victims in front of him. “Who’s next?” He glanced towards the terrified Jessica, whose tear-drenched face was buried into the fabric of Kara’s hoodie hanging at her hip. “How about you, sweetheart? Care for a cut?”

            Kara shielded Jessica. “You stay away from her, you psycho!”

            The clown advanced on her. “You have a lot of fire, sunflower. I like that.”

            “Then wait ‘til you get a load of me!” A voice shouted from above.

            All eyes looked skyward to a walkway overhead where another clown stood. This one appeared to be much older than the other with a flashier and more colorful sense of style, his suit much brighter than the other clown’s – complete with a fedora. His makeup, while more together than the other clown’s, seemed to be more organic, as if his chalk-white skin and green hair were his actual features.

            He was in the accompaniment of his own militia of men, whose basic uniforms consisted of indigo leather jackets with patches that had the face of their clown commander, along with playing card patches, sunglasses, and various kinds of black hats.

            “Open fire on ‘em, boys!” the older clown ordered, and his goons obliged accordingly. This prompted the younger clown’s men to return fire, initiating the most violent gunfight Kara had ever witnessed. Otis was caught in the crossfire, dropping dead right in front of Kara, Jessica, and Luthor.

            Seeing Otis gunned down urged the three of them to seek cover, retreating behind pillars of steel, cylindrical containers. Kara focused on Jessica, who was frozen stiff with a blank expression on her face. “Jessica? Honey? Are you alright?” She didn’t answer Kara, who could only conclude that the poor little girl was in total shock from the violent series of events that transpired within the last few minutes.

            “Well, she’s definitely scarred for life,” the unsympathetic Luthor observed.

            Kara fired off a cold stare at him, only to notice one of the goons from the elder clown’s gang cornering them. He aimed his gun at the head of Luthor. “Now, let’s talk for a sec,” he beseeched in a display of cowardice. “It’s not me you want to shoot. I can pay you more than the painted freak you’re working for.” He then gestured to Kara and Jessica and advised the goon, “Shoot them! They’re witnesses!”

            What an unbelievable jerk! Kara mentally grimaced.

            For a fleeting second, the goon seemed to have considered Luthor’s bargain, but he cocked his pistol, ready to blow the megalomaniac away. The gun fired; however, Luthor’s life was spared when a red-and-blue shape swooped in between him and the gun. The bullet struck the shape, only to ricochet off of it and puncture a steam pipe.

            Kara couldn’t believe her crystal blue eyes when she noticed the yellow House of El crest stitched onto a long, flowing red cape. The individual who had saved her, Jessica, and – to a lesser extent – Luthor was Superman himself…or at least one of many variants of him Kara had encountered throughout the infinite dimensional corridor.

            This Superman appeared to be one of the more traditional variants with classically designed, silky smooth tights as opposed to a body suit made of hardened material. In spite of that aspect, there was no residual damage left from the gunfire it sustained.

            Superman dispatched of the mortified goon with a simple puff of air that blew him ten feet across, knocking him into another steel container. After the deed was done, the Man of Steel looked directly at Luthor and asked, “What trouble have you caused this time, Lex?”

            Luthor chuckled nervously. “Nothing that couldn’t have warranted being saved by you, Superm—”

            BANG!

            Luthor was sent collapsing to the floor, completely unconscious.

            Superman didn’t realize it at first, but he noticed Kara holding a lead pipe that she clocked the diseased maniac over the head with. She threw it to the floor afterwards and told Superman, “Sorry. He had it coming.”

            “Can’t argue with that,” Superman casually acknowledged. He then noticed the petrified Jessica and asked, “Is she with you?”

            Kara nodded, gazing disconcertedly on Jessica. “Yes, she is. Poor thing’s in shock.”

            “Rightfully so,” Superman said. “This is no place for a child.”

            “No kidding,” Kara remarked. As she refocused on Superman, she sparked with urgency once she sighted another thug aiming his assault rifle on Superman. “LOOK OUT!”

            Superman swiftly turned to face the thug, expecting to deal with him just as the one before. That was until a dark figure dropped from above and landed atop of him, knocking him out in one blow. Superman gazed on the dark stranger, who ended up saving him, though it wasn’t necessary.

            He was quite put off from the fact he was dressed like a bat.

            “Nice outfit,” Superman told him, though the stranger didn’t return the sentiment.

            It did not take Kara very long to recognize the bat-man by his namesake. Like Superman, this was one of many variants she had encountered through the Infinite DC. His outfit was total body armor, made from a bulletproof substance that Kara presumed to be Kevlar. This was certainly a Batman of a realm different to the one Superman hailed from.

            Suddenly, the sound of jets flying close overhead drew their attention to a skylight. It turned out not to have been jets but a fleet of alien ships, along with three individuals that flew without the aid of craft, right over the Ace Chemicals factory.

            “Friends of yours?” Batman asked Superman.

            “General Zod – both of them,” Superman identified. “This is gonna get messy.”

            “You deal with your problem, while I’ll deal with mine,” Batman insisted. Not waiting to get any approval from Superman, he vanished through the cloud of steam that had developed through the area via the punctured pipe.

            “Well, he’s pleasant to work with,” Superman teased. Turning to Kara, he instructed, “Ma’am, you’re gonna have to leave this place before it gets any more dangerous for you and your friend.”

            “I wholeheartedly agree with ya, Supes,” Kara said. “But that machine of Luthor’s needs to be shut down. It’s the whole reason why all of this is happening.”

            “I did notice it on the way in,” Superman confirmed. “But how do you intend on shutting it down?”

            Kara groaned. “I have a way, but I don’t know if I can do it all on my own.”

            As she lamented on the difficult task ahead, she heard the familiar grind of TARDIS engines reverberating throughout the atmosphere. They resounded close behind her, prompting her to turn and face the area in which a Type-Z TARDIS – her signature TARDIS – materialized.

            Its doors opened and, to Kara’s surprise, Craig ran out of it.

            “Craig!” Kara cried.

            “Kara!” Craig returned, rushing up to embrace her.

            Tears streaming down her face, the overjoyed Kara asked Craig, “Are you alright, lil’ bro? What happened? Where did you go?”

            “I’ve been with you…or another version of you.”

            Kara wasn’t entirely sure what he meant until she saw two more passengers exit the Type-Z: a goth-looking woman who dressed as if it was Halloween and a rugged man in a letterman jacket. “I dread to wonder which of them the other version of me is,” Kara uttered.

            The goth woman raised her hand with a playful giggle. “That would be me: Elvira – Mistress of the Dark,” she said.

            “Doesn’t exactly ease my concerns, but I’ll take what I can get under these circumstances,” Kara said. “I’m assuming you’ve already figured out what to do about Luthor’s machine.”

            “Ohh, yeah,” Elvira verified. “That Quantum Sphere’s gotta be extracted and ditched outta here, if we wanna stop the convergence.”

            Her thoughts ran simultaneously with Kara’s. “But we have to do it carefully, so we don’t create a black hole.”

            In watching the two women work together, Superman concluded, “Seems like you ladies got it from here. I’ll try and hold off the two generals and their armies for as long as I can.”

            “You won’t have to go in alone, Supes.” Elvira turned to Eddie and blurted out, “It’s feedin’ time, Venom!”

            On this note, Eddie morphed into his hulking razor-toothed, long-tongued black alien counterpart, whose hunger was evident as he shouted, “I’ve always wanted to feast on Kryptonians!” He leapt to insurmountable heights, crashing through the skylight and into one of the Kryptonian spaceships, destroying it.

            Overwhelmed by the baffling and raucous character known as “Venom,” Superman could only say, “I’m gonna have a lot of questions after all this.” He took off afterwards, soaring through the shattered skylight to assist his grotesque ally.

            “Kara?” She heard Craig address her, standing beside their petrified little sister. “What happened to Jessica?”

            “Get her into Elvira’s TARDIS,” she told Craig. “I’ll explain later.”

            Craig did as he was told, though his concern for Jessica outweighed his obedience.

            As soon as he was in the TARDIS, Elvira privately conversed with her past incarnation. “She wasn’t ready for all of this,” she spoke in reference to Jessica, while retrieving her trans-temporal sonic screwdriver from her cleavage.

            “I know that now,” Kara affirmed, also retrieving her sonic from her hoodie.

            “And you know what you’re gonna have to do when this is over.”

            Kara sadly huffed. “Yes, I know.”

            Chaos ensuing all around them, the two Gladiators of Gallifrey worked together, utilizing their sonic screwdrivers to reverse the polarity of the flow in antimatter and nuage energies contained within the Quantum Sphere. The sphere flickered in an array of colors and shook uncontrollably.

            “Our two measly sonics aren’t enough!” Elvira shrieked.

            “Doesn’t matter now!” Kara told her. “Our best chance is just to get it out of this plane of existence entirely! It’s the only way to stop the convergence!”

            They readjusted their approach correspondingly.

            The sphere glowed brighter and brighter in a golden hue until it vanished entirely.

            In result of the extraction, all the chaos around Ace Chemicals ceased: the inter-dimensional war between the two Joker gangs and the invasion of the General Zods and their forces. They all vanished with the Quantum Sphere, taking the fallen bodies of the two Lex Luthors with them.

            Batman approached Kara and Elvira at the same time Superman and Venom landed back inside the factory. “What just happened?” the Dark Knight questioned.

            “The convergence is over,” Kara told him. “Your worlds are now diverging from each other.”

            “But which of the two will diverge from this location?” Elvira pondered.

            She received her answer when they noticed Superman’s form slowly fading. “I guess that’s my cue,” Kal-El said with a smile. “Needless to say, this has been an experience. We made quite a team.”

            “I prefer working alone,” Batman stated.

            “So I’ve noticed,” Superman jested. “Regardless, some thanks are in order.” He held out his translucent hand for the Batman to shake.

            Resisting for only a second, Batman shook Superman’s hand until he was left holding nothing but thin air. “You’re welcome,” he said to his now-departed temporary colleague.

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            “Although I don’t get the whole ‘Mistress of the Dark’ motif you got going, it’s good to know we haven’t completely lost our maternal senses in this regeneration,” Kara observed of her future regeneration. She offered Kara safe passage to Earth-78 – the Earth where Superman had come from – where Kara’s TARDIS had remained in Lex Luthor’s underground lair during the divergence.

            “I’m gonna take that as a ‘Thank You’ for watching over Craig,” Elvira said.

            Kara snickered. “Yeah…thanks for that.”

            “No big,” Elvira brushed off. “I’d still do anything for the most important boy in the multiverse.”

            “I’m the most important boy in the multiverse?!”

            Believing their exchange to have been held in private outside their respective TARDISes, the two Gladiators were surprised when Craig emerged from Kara’s just as Elvira made her proclamation.

            “Bet your cute lil’ butt you are, lil’ bro,” Elvira guaranteed. She crouched down to his eye level, getting emotional as she kissed him on the head and told him, “I may spend the rest of my lives traveling without you by my side, Craig, but that doesn’t mean I’ll ever forget you.” She nodded towards Kara and advised, “And you make sure to never to forget her – that’s always been her greatest fear.”

            Craig glanced at Kara, surprised by this facet of information. “Really?!”

            Kara enfolded herself in shame. “It’s the first thing that crossed my mind shortly after I regenerated into this body. That’s why I came to your dimension as your new neighbor – to be with you again.”

            Hearing this more than lifted Craig’s spirits…it gave him a deep sense of security over his long-lasting friendship with Neas the Gladiator of Gallifrey.

            “And that’s also why I had to erase Jessica’s memories of me,” Kara added.

            This snapped Craig out of his euphoria. “Wait…What?! Why?!?!”

            “She had been through so much in this journey, Craig – much that leaves an impressionable girl her age with terrifying thoughts and dreams for the rest of her life,” Kara explained. “We wouldn’t want her to live with that burden, would we?”

            “No, definitely not,” Craig agreed. “But did you erase everything from her memory? Including all that time we spent with you when you were a boy?”

            Kara shook her head. “No, those are still there. But, as far as the Lil’ Queen is concerned, Kara Curtsinger and the Infinite DC don’t exist.”

            “So…it’ll just be you and me journeying together?” Craig asked.

            “For as long as we want, lil’ bro.”