She arrived on Earth in a mysterious Symbio-Ship with false
memories and awesome powers and abilities beyond that of mortal men and women....

Issue #13

City Confidential Part 2

Written By Paul Daimler

Power Girl stood under a tree, removed from the mourners at the gravesite. After two weeks, the dead girl was finally getting her funeral.

With her super-vision, Power Girl scanned the mourners. She had met with the girl’s older sister—the only family Dana Deacon had. She could see Dana’s sister Renay, standing closest to the coffin, holding the hand of her husband.

For a girl with only one surviving family member, the graveside was packed. In life Dana Deacon had a million friends, and they’d all come out in force to see her off. They were all experiencing grief, tears streaking their faces, sadness making their expressions cold. The media was cordoned off, held back on the other side of the wrought iron gates the kept Genesis Springs Cemetery safe from intruders and separate from the world that went on living outside.

Except that guy. Power Girl thought. One mourner was separate and removed from the rest of the crowd. He was tall and pale, his eyes deeply shadowed. He appeared angry. And not angry in the way a friend or loved one would be. Angry in the way people with grudges against humanity and the world would be. Killer angry.

“Are your cop senses picking up anything from tall and creepy to your right?” Power Girl asked into the small mic in her earring. She’d gotten Oracle to give her a second frequency in the earring communicator she wore and several transmitters.

From the crowd, Detective Ian McLean turned his head slowly toward the person Power Girl referred to. He did not respond to the small transmitter that looked like a lapel pin. He figured it would be suspicious if he started talking to himself during the graveside services. His pale green eyes focused on the tall guy Power Girl referred to.

Ian looked back toward the front of the group, where the minister continued to intone scripture meant to soothe the mourners.

Power Girl kept her attention on the tall creepy man. It was not the same man that she’d encountered and battled in the sewers. But, he had the same air about him. Something seemed to crackle around the man, a faint halo of energy. The man in the sewer had been some sort of magical construct—a being created by and existing wholly of magic. Magically constructs were never easy spells, since they required the resulting being to look and appear and act human. Anyone encountered the being shouldn’t suspect that there was any thing different between the construct and the average human. Power Girl wouldn’t have known that the being in the sewer had been a magical construct if not for his ability to thwart her. That weakness to magic that kept rearing its ugly head. She’d contacted the Silver Sorceress last week, trying to arrange some time where they could get together. Power Girl knew that her weakness to magic was really due to her not understanding the magical part of her own nature. She hoped that she and the Silver Sorceress could work something out that would allow Power Girl to understand that part of herself, so that she wasn’t so easily beaten the next time a magic user or magical being crossed her path.

But, was this magical construct also related to the Cult of Deedra? The one she’d ran into the sewers was undoubtedly related to them—he’d been guarding a statue of Deedra and was responsible for the murder of Dana Deacon, who had peripheral connections to the Cult of Deedra.

“Ian, I have an errand or two to run. I’ll keep the ear-mic on. Let me know if anything comes up or if you need assistance.” Power Girl said, looking across the way at Ian. The handsome police detective looked at her, and nodded his head, before turning his attention back to the funeral attendees.

Power Girl flew off into the afternoon, heading toward Starrware’s offices.

She landed on the roof, changed outfits, put on glasses and swept her hair back. She’d worn a wig so far on her dates with Ian McLean in her Karen Starr identity, but the wig wasn’t very convincing and it was a pain in the behind. She’d never necessarily paid much attention to protecting her identity through disguise. She’d kind of been of the school that power suits and glasses would be enough. Lately, she wondered if it was. But, what could she do? The wig was proving to be a waste of time and she was only wearing it on dates with Ian. Eventually if she wanted to move to the next level with Ian, she would have to remove the wig. And, at some point, if they became intimate, she would have to reveal her double-identity to him.

Karen frowned as she made her way from the roof, down the stairwell, and toward her office.

How was Ian going to take that news? Especially since he’d been working so closely with Power Girl these past few weeks. She was lying to him, and he’d made it clear a few times that he was big on honesty during their dates. His last relationship had ended due to repeated lies the girlfriend would tell. Maybe the life of a super-hero didn’t allow for relationships.

Then how do you explain Lois and Clark? Karen chided herself. Of course, instantly she thought of Batman and Wonder Woman. Neither of whom had experienced much luck in love. Batman’s most significant relationship was with Catwoman… and that was just weird.

“Karen, your noon conference call with Felicity Raymond has been rescheduled for four o’clock. There was some sort of super-villain fight in Manhattan.” Beverly said, “And they’ve evacuated everyone.”

“I don’t miss New York.” Karen sighed. “Is everyone OK there?”

“Yes. The villain attack was several streets away. There were just chemicals involved, so they wanted to get everyone out.” Beverly replied.

“Makes sense.” Karen replied. “Do you know if the super-villain issue is under control?”

“Felicity said the Titans were on it.”

“That would be taken care of.” Karen said, slightly relieved. She hadn’t felt like flying to New York to kick some villain butt. She was way behind here, and Felicity having to reschedule opened up a little time for her to work on some projects that were falling behind. Lately, it seemed like balancing between Karen Starr’s private life, Starrware, her super-hero career, plus Justice League Europe missions were too difficult. Something had to give. But, the truth was she wasn’t willing to give any of it up. She’d learned, only recently, that her lack of personal life was part of what had left her so unhappy all these years. She was feeling a lot better than she had in a very long time about the direction of her life. Friends, a potential boyfriend, a very successful software company that was (hopefully with Minerva Bates on payroll) would be moving away from producing just software and moving into electronics and machines that would help people improve their lives and the planet.

“I’m not looking forward to that conference call.” Karen grumbled. As part of Starrware’s restructuring, which had led them to move to Century City, the New York offices would be closing within the year. Karen and Felicity were working out the best way to do that—with minimal loss of jobs.

Karen hated the thought there would be lay-offs, especially with their profits up and the actual business of Starrware doing so very well. They just didn’t need two East Coast offices so close together. And Century City made more sense as their base of operations—which was why they’d moved offices from San Francisco instead of just combining with the New York offices. There were so many computer and technological companies popping up in Century City that industry people were starting to call it SV2—for Silicon Valley 2.

But, to continue their upswing in profits, they had to make smart business decisions. And, it meant having fewer offices in the United States. They were down to five, with two of those closing over the next year. When all was said and done there would only be three. One in Los Angeles, the one here in Century City, and a small office in Chicago. Although Karen wasn’t sure how much longer they could keep the Chicago office open. The rent was getting higher and higher. And, they wanted to actually open a factory to produce more of their products within the U.S. Karen didn’t like that they exported so many jobs to their division in Japan.

“Ah, the joys of business.” Karen sighed, picking up the stacks of reports that had come in from their factory development team. They’d been scouting locations in Chicago for their factory. After only five minutes of flipping through the files at super-speed, Power Girl sighed, setting them all aside. Everything was too expensive.

She worked through her stack for two hours, clearing away the majority of what had accumulated. The best part of super-powers was using them to breeze through day-to-day drudgery. Super-speed made cleaning the apartment much simpler than it would have been without.

She was getting ready to go over production reports from Japan, when the ear-mic buzzed.

“Ian?”

“Hey, PeeGee.”

“DON’T call me that.” Karen growled.

“You know, Power Girl is quite the mouthful. Isn’t there something shorter I could go with? A nickname?” Ian McLean asked.

“No. It’s Power Girl.”

“Ok, PeeGee.”

Power Girl groaned, “What’s up?”

“I followed the weird guy from the funeral after the funeral.”

“And?”

“He went back to the Kestler Building in downtown.”

“The Kestler building?”

“Yeah. There are no connections within that building to the Cult of Deedra that I can tell.” Ian replied.

“What’s in that building?”

“Well, it’s odd. The building directory lists lots and lots of business that call the building home. There appear to be over three hundred companies listed as using space on the eighty floors. I did some research though, and it appears that all the companies listed are dummy corporations. None of them actually exist. Well, one of them does.”

“Really? And that business has no connection to the Cult of Deedra?”

“Not that I can tell. The only business in that building is called ‘Ancient Histories’. According to what I can find about it, it’s an import-export company.” Ian said. “It’s just odd… and feels somehow connected, although I’m not sure what.”

“Let me look into it. I have a friend I can consult.”

“The mysterious Oracle you mentioned?”

“One and the same.” Power Girl said. “I’ll let you know what I find. Also, I’m going to the sewers tomorrow to do some more research. I feel like there is something down there we’ve missed.”

“Agreed.”

The stench of the sewer was overwhelming. Power Girl was just thankful that it was cool down here. Had it been warm, the smell would have been worse.

“Another day in the sewers.” She mumbled, entering the large chamber she’d fought the creepy tall man in. The statue of Deedra was still here, it’s marble eyes gazing at Power Girl as though it had secrets to tell.

Walking over to it, she looked at the smooth marble, noting Deedra’s beauty. She’d contacted Aquaman and got all of the information in Atlantis’s archives about Deedra. It wasn’t much. Not enough to really apply to the current situation, and mostly stuff she’d already known. Oracle’s information on the Cult of Deedra had shed more light.

Power Girl removed the map tucked into her belt. It was a map of the sewers from the city records department. The plans and maps had been highly inaccurate. But, her searches of the sewers the past few weeks had begun to correct that. The map was filled with notes and drawn-in tunnels and corridors not on the map.

If only it wasn’t lead-lined, I’d have finished down here in a day. She thought. The lead pipes and plates that made up so much of the structure here effectively blocked the x-ray portion of her super-vision—making her have to search the sewers one corridor at a time.

Power Girl was getting frustrated. The Cult of Deedra and the creepy tall man were the best leads they’d had, but there was no further info. And, the man at the funeral appeared to be unrelated, despite also being a magical construct. Nothing was adding up.

The Cult of Deedra was connected to Dana Deacon through Lisette LeBlanc, Dana’s madame, who was also the head of the Cult. The hotel Dana had died in was owned and designed by the Belasco family—the same people who had designed most of Century City, including the sewer system. The creepy thin man had undoubtedly strangled Dana Deacon. He was a magical construct and had been blurred out in the surveillance videos of the hallway going to and from Dana’s room. Of course, they couldn’t be sure it was the same magical construct. Ian had mentioned the fact that the guy at the funeral might have been the magical construct that had killed Dana. The thought had crossed Power Girl’s mind, but she wasn’t sure. It didn’t feel right. The creepy tall man had been guarding this statue of Deedra. It was all connected, and wrapped up with a prophecy Oracle had uncovered about her death at the hands of someone called Adramelek the Terrible, and the rebirth of Deedra on the mortal plane.

“I hate cosmic crap.” Power Girl said to the marble statue.

Studying the room from the center of the room where the statue stood, Power Girl noticed an area against the wall where the stones were worn, with no sludge or algae growing. Going over to it, Power Girl noted that it corresponded with a narrow archway.

With a gentle a gentle push of the wall within the archway, it pushed in, sliding backward across the stone of the sewer floors. Beyond the hidden door was a dark corridor, a grimy light bulb flickered farther down the hallway.

Further surveying the chamber, Power Girl found three other hidden doorways—four in all, each on a different wall and each seemingly corresponding with North, South, East, and West.

Power Girl made marks on her map for each of the hidden doors, then folded the map, tucking it back into her belt.

“Let’s see what’s behind Door #1.” She said, stepping through the doorway. While her super-vision couldn’t see through the wall lining the walls, it still worked enough for her to see well in the dark corridor.

Cautiously Power Girl advanced, knowing the creepy tall man or some other magic based threat could lurk around any corner.

After twenty uneventful minutes of searching, Power Girl found herself at a door. She opened it, coming out in someone’s wine cellar.

Going upstairs, Power Girl discovered that she was in a kitchen. It was large and looked like a restaurant kitchen.

“Power Girl?” One of the sous chefs looked at her in confusion.

“Where am I?” She asked.

“Uh…” The chef looked around nervously, “You’re in the public cafeteria kitchen for the Mayor’s mansion.”

“The mayor’s mansion.” Power Girl whispered.

“Yeah. Why are you here? Is there a super-villain?” The chef asked.

“Not quite. I’m investigating a case.” Power Girl said.

Turning and going back down into the wine cellar, Power Girl left the sous chef scratching his head.

The tunnel came out in a small stone building situated in the middle of Jackson Park, and now used for the power generators for the park’s street lights and the giant bubbling fountain. Power Girl’s knowledge of the area, thanks to Oracle and Ian’s research told her that Jackson Park had once been part of the grounds of the Belasco estate, given to the city in the 1960’s for public use by Evelyn Belasco.

She went back down into the tunnels, finding the third tunnel came out in an old warehouse filled with dusty crates. Making her way out of the warehouse, she spied a series of storefronts across the street. This part of the Waterfront District had become trendy and hip in recent years, slowly being taken over by yuppies, New Yorkers, and Gothamites escaping escalating home prices and crime rates in their own cities.

“Well, well, well.” Power Girl said.

The area had been nicknamed “Riverview” and housed many trendy boutiques and restaurants. One of the stores housed here was an occult shop, the one operated by the Cult of Deedra. The same shop that was downstairs from the Cult of Deedra’s temple and offices in Century City. A store called “Deedra’s Chain.” A store that was directly across the street from the warehouse.

Power Girl made no more marks on her map, and then went back into the tunnels—coming out in the main chamber.

The fourth and final door brought Power Girl out downtown, in an empty office building covered in dust and spiderwebs. She looked across the street. There was the office building that Lisette LeBlanc used as a front for her “legitimate” businesses.

“All four tunnels connect to Belasco or LeBlanc and their cult.” Power Girl thought. The one came out at the mayor’s mansion. Several Belascos had been mayor of the city over the years, and currently Damon Belasco was running for mayor of Century City.

She needed to get back to the office soon. Karen Starr had a follow-up conference call this afternoon with Felicity Raymond about the closure of the New York offices.

Taking a moment to make a few final notes on the map, Power Girl leaned against the statue of Deedra. Only to have it slide away with a noisy rumbling.

“$%#@&*!” Power Girl shouted, tumbling backwards into the darkness in the hole that the statue’s base had covered.

Landing with a thud, Power Girl looked up into the chamber. She was on the floor of a tunnel hidden under the chamber.

Pulling herself to her feet, Power Girl followed this tunnel. It took her five minutes before she came to a stone cover. Pushing it aside, Power Girl came out into fresh air, with trees all around her. She heard the rushing water of the river that divided her from Century City.

“That one goes under the river.” Power Girl said. To her side, the Tower of Power sat. It’s tall tower sat in the center of the massive complex. Power Girl remembered the convention here a few months back—when she’d fought the Gang and the mystery woman disguised as Batgirl who’d died in her arms.

The Gang had messed with her head and memories, during a battle in this very area.

It had taken a few weeks, but after breaking Ms. Mesmer’s hypnotic suggestions, Power Girl had remembered the mysterious guy who’d appeared from a magical gateway moments before the Gang’s attack. A magical gateway that had looked like the star of Arion. The very star on her belt—one made of crystal given to her by her mother. The guy had been wearing a black version of Power Girl’s costume designed for a male.

She had heard him say he was looking for something.

Power Girl made a mark on her map.

Looking down at it, she could clearly see a pattern that each of the tunnel’s destinations made.

It was giant star, with the chamber housing the statue of Deedra and the Belasco Ambassador Hotel in the middle of it.

“I’m not sure what exactly it means…” Power Girl said, “But, it definitely means something.”

Flying toward Gotham City, Power Girl got Oracle on the earring transmitter.

“Oracle, I have a map with marks and notes. I’m bringing it to you now. I want to drop it off so you can play around with it.”

“Sounds good.” Oracle said, her voice smooth and calm.

Ian McLean was at his desk when the phone began to beep.

“McLean.” He barked into the phone. He was in the middle of a forensics report on Dana Deacon’s body. The full report had come back today and it was odd.

“Someone just walked in and confessed to the Dana Deacon murder.” Detective Lyons said, her voice precise and controlled.

“Really? Creepy tall man?” Ian asked.

“No.” Lyons said her voice suddenly a little less controlled. “It’s Alberto Delucca.”

“As in mayoral candidate Alberto Delucca?” Ian asked with a raised eye-brown.

“One and the same. He just confessed to the whole thing. And he knows stuff only the real killer could know. We’re in interrogation room five. Get over here. Now.” Lyons said, her voice growing urgent.

“On my way.” Ian closed the file he’d been flipping through, and grabbed a notepad before rushing from his office.

“OK. Thanks Felicity. Let me know if any one there is interested in the five positions that just opened up here. I know the marketing team would love if Simon or Ali were interested in moving here. Tell them we’ll cover relocation costs, if that helps. I’d rather lay-off as few people as possible.”

“Just send me a list of all positions available.” Felicity said, “And, I’ll call you tomorrow when I’m done with the meeting with tech support.”

“Sounds good. Have a good one Felicity.” Karen said, disconnecting. She sighed heavily. She didn’t often get tired, not these days when she was nearly invulnerable. But, she did feel weary sometimes. These lay-offs were making her feel weary. As was the continued investigation into Dana Deacon’s murder and whatever the prophecies Oracle had uncovered really meant.

The ear-transmitter’s tone went off on a frequency only Karen could hear, sounding with the tone Oracle had programmed for Ian.

“What’s up?” She asked.

“Alberto Delucca just confessed to the murder of Dana Deacon. And, he knew stuff that no one else could have known—unless they were the killer.” Ian said.

“It has to be some sort of spell…” Karen said, speaking in her normal voice. As Karen Starr, she spoke with a slight dialect to make her voice sound different than the voice she spoke in as Power Girl.

“Well, it could be. The problem is that in a court of law some kind of spell is going to pale next to an actual confession with information that lines up and checks out.” Ian said. “Even more perplexing is that suddenly we have evidence with fingerprints from the crime scene. Evidence we didn’t have until I just checked. Evidence that firmly implicates Delucca.”

“It just appeared. Like magic.”

“Yeah. And, I just re-watched the video tape. Suddenly the person going into Dana Deacon’s room isn’t blurred out. And it’s Delucca.”

“And with Delucca’s confession and all the evidence, he’ll obviously be going up the river for a very long time.” Karen said, “That has got to be a relief to Damon Belasco.”

“Just what I was thinking. His only competition now is the incumbent.” Ian sighed. “I know that this isn’t right. Delucca isn’t the one who did this. But, the proof says otherwise. Delucca says otherwise. And, his eyes… his eyes are weird PeeGee. It’s like they’re emptied out.”

“Some sort of spell.” Karen sighed. “And don’t call me PeeGee.”

Ian chuckled. “We also got full autopsy results. Dana Deacon wasn’t quite human.”

“Meta?”

“Not quite. Genetically she was slightly… alien. The forensics people got a hit from STAR Labs when the entered the coding. It cross-referenced you.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. And Aquaman. Apparently Dana Deacon was Atlantean.” Ian said. “And, not only that, but she had a heart defect. If she hadn’t been killed, she wouldn’t have lived for more than a few months at the most.”

“This is all getting so weird.” Karen said.

“I agree.” Ian said. “Do you want to meet me for coffee at six?”

“Uh…” Karen hesitated. Ian had a date with Karen Starr at seven o’clock. It would be cutting it pretty close time wise. She had the stupid wig she was wearing when they went out to deal with… and not setting it properly made it look lopsided.

“It can’t be long. I have a date tonight.” Ian replied, “But, I thought I could bring you these files so you could sort through them.”

“That would work.” Karen replied.

“Good. See you then.”

“So, what do you make of it?” Power Girl asked Oracle thru the earring transmitter, changing from Power Girl clothes to Karen Starr clothes on top of one of the many buildings where she strategically kept spare clothes around Century City. Over the last few weeks, she’d added blonde wigs—in case she was going to meet Ian McLean. The wig seemed more important the more time she spent with him as both Power Girl and Karen Starr. Wearing her hair slightly different with glasses didn’t seem like quite enough to fool someone she was dating.

“Well, each of the locations that those tunnels come out at from the central chamber make a star pattern. When criss-crossed with some of the smaller chambers, the star symbol greatly resembles the Star of Arion.”

“The one I wear on my belt.” Power Girl looked at the crystal belt-buckle. Her mother Kara of Argo City had given it to her before helping her leave a fake Earth-2 that Power Girl had been cast into while fighting Brainiac 2.5 at the Dawn of Time.

“One and the same.” Oracle said, “What do you know about the star?”

“Only that it was my grandfather’s symbol and when using bolts of magical energy, it manifesting around his hands in that pattern. I saw it about a month or so back during that thing with the Gang at the Sci-Fi Convention. There was a guy who came through it wearing a costume that looked a lot like mine.”

“You didn’t mention that before.” Oracle said sharply.

“I didn’t know if it mattered much.” Power Girl replied, pulling on blue jeans and socks. She and Ian were doing pizza and a movie today. Luckily she had picked up lots of casual wear. Her time not remembering being Power Girl (thanks to Ms. Mesmer of the Gang) had pointed out a lot of things that were lacking from her life as Karen Starr. One of them had been jeans, T-shirts, and non-work clothing.

“You don’t think it mattered much? Geez, PeeGee. There is a Cult of Deedra that is somehow connected to your ancient Atlantean heritage and they’re responsible for murdering a girl who has Atlantean genes and have somehow framed an innocent politician so that one of their members has a better shot at becoming mayor, and it’s all tied up with some ancient prophecy going back to ancient Atlantis saying that someone called Adramelek the Terrible is going to kill you… and you don’t think it’s important?”

“Well, I’m mentioning it now.” Power Girl sighed, “And you know that I hate being called PeeGee.”

Oracle sighed, “OK, Power Girl. You need to start really paying attention. A year ago, when you were still in San Francisco, I would have said keep on with what you’re doing. But, since you’ve arrived in Century City, things have started to get a little weird for you. And, it looks like there are supernatural forces tied in to your origins at work. You need to be careful. And you have to pay attention to everything. Even the smallest thing.”

“Duly noted.” Power Girl groaned. “Anything else Mother?”

“There’s no reason to be sarcastic about it.” Oracle replied, “I’m just worried about you.”

“OK. I’ll report everything.” Power Girl said, switching to a long-sleeved blouse and beginning to arrange the wig on her head. “Now, if you’ll excuse me,” she slid her glasses up her nose. “I have a date.”

“Good luck.” Oracle said, signing off.

Finishing her transformation between identities, Karen Starr leapt from the top of the building landing in a blur that normal human vision couldn’t have detected. Making her way out of the alley onto the street Karen headed toward the restaurant where she was meeting Ian.

Ian was waiting out front for her as she came walking up.

“Sorry I’m late.” Karen smiled. Her glasses slid down her nose, and she pushed them back up. “My train was running late.”

“No worries.” Ian grinned widely. “How was your day?”

“Pretty good. And yours?”

“Good.”

“I hear you guys got a confession on that Dana Deacon case you’ve been working on.” Karen said.

“Yeah. We did. There will be a press conference tomorrow. But, let’s not talk about that.” Ian said, leading Karen into the restaurant. “I want to leave murder and confessions at work. And concentrate on having dinner with my favorite lady.”

Karen giggled, blushing. Then she chided herself mentally for acting like a brain-dead bimbo with no self-esteem at a compliment.

Renay Deacon-Montgomery stood in the dark night, looking down at her sister’s tombstone. The street lights lining the cemetery aisles cast orange-tinged pools of light as the darkening night brought about a frosty chill. It was late Spring, but a chill pervaded the evenings lately.

“Damn it Dana. Why did you have to fall in with the wrong people? You should have never left home.” Angry tears burned Renay’s cheeks. “I promised momma I’d take care of you. But, you wouldn’t have it. You had to leave home and chase the big city life. Big money. And look where it got you.”

Renay’s deep brown eyes filled with anger.

“Money.” She spat, “It was nothing. You and I were better than that. Momma told us we were special. Descendent from a great people. We are children of Deedra, Dana.”

Renay shook her head.

“The bastard turned himself in.” Renay said finally. “The police called me today to tell me. They’re releasing his name and everything tomorrow. So, that man who

The silence of the graveyard was overwhelming. Renay hugged herself against the chill in the air.

“You shouldn’t be here alone.”

Renay spun around toward the sound of the voice. Standing behind her was a tall man, his skin pale and gray in the darkness and weak shadows cast by the orangish lights.

“Who are you?” Renay gasped, backing away from him instinctively.

“I am Caliginous. There are those who seek an audience with you. I am here to take you to them.” The words falling from the man’s lips were flat and hollow, sending shivers down Renay’s spine.

“Stay away from me.” Renay said, her voice trembling.

“I don’t think so.” Caliginous said. “My mistress and master have need of you. Hopefully you won’t be flawed as you sister was. Because you my dear have a great destiny if you are not defective.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about creep.” Renay said, her voice growing cold. “But, if you come any closer I’ll make you regret it. I may not look it, but I’m pretty tough.”

Caliginous chuckled, “I don’t doubt it. Your genetic line has certain advantages. But, I was designed to make short work of people with those advantages.”

“We’ll see about that.” Renay replied.

“Your sister fought me as well.” Caliginous said, darkness began to seep from his eyes.

“Her sister fought alone.”

Both Renay and Caliginous turned toward Power Girl, hovering in the air behind Caliginous.

“However, I think Renay and I should be able to make short work of you creep.” Power Girl said, “And hopefully it’s very short, because I had to leave my date. And, I am wanting to get back.”

“Out of my way Power Girl.” Caliginous said, “I have my orders to take the woman.”

“Tough.” Power Girl said, kicking out with her foot and knocking Caliginous over.

“Yes. I am.” Caliginous said, standing up.

“Not what I meant.” Power Girl said, “But of course, you would be too literal. Magical constructs have little to no sense of humor.”

“I don’t need a sense of humor.” Caliginous said. He reached up, grabbing Power Girl by the ankle and dragging her down. His fingers burnt through her boot, making her ankles feel like they were on fire.

“That hurts you big dumb oaf!” Power Girl pulled her foot free, kicking Caliginous in the head with her free foot

“You’re weak when it comes to magic!” Caliginous roared, leaping into the air, grabbing onto Power Girl, and dragging her down to the ground. He landed on top of her and began punching her in the face.

Power Girl gritted her teeth against the pain, lashing out at Caliginous, her fists slamming into him solidly. He grunted with each blow, but kept punching her back. With one hand, he began to choke her. Power Girl felt the pressure against her throat as he cut her air supply off.

“GET OFF OF HER!” Renay screamed, ripping Caliginous off of Power Girl. She tossed him through the air. Caliginous flew several feet, landing with a heavy thud several yards away.

Renay pulled Power Girl up from the ground where she’d fallen.

“I thought you had super-strength and stuff. Aren’t you Superman’s cousin?” Renay whispered as a bruise slowly rose and darkened Power Girl’s cheek.

“I do. I’m Superman’s very distant cousin, and mostly Atlantean.” Power Girl said. “And, magic is one of my weaknesses. And, Caliginous over there is a magical construct. So, he’ll be able to do more damage to me than the average super-villain.”

“Atlantean?” Renay said, “Like the underwater Atlantis?”

“No. Well, sort of. My people are from before it sank. I’m the granddaughter of an ancient Atlantean sorcerer.”

“Arion?! You’re the granddaughter of Arion, Lord of Atlantis?!” Renay gasped.

“How do you know his name?” Power Girl asked.

“Your grandfather is revered by my people.” Renay said.

“So, you are aware of your Atlantean heritage? STAR Labs caught Dana’s DNA during the autopsy.” Power Girl asked.

“My mother immigrated from Venturia during the 1940’s. When Queen Clea went mad and declared war against our sister city Aurania my mother escaped with the help of Queen Hippolyta, coming to America where she met and married my father.” Renay said.

“So you and Dana are Atlantean Amazons.” Power Girl said. “That’s explains your strength.”

“Wait. He’s coming back.” Renay said, “Let’s discuss this later.”

“Agreed.” Power Girl said.

Caliginous came running toward them, black energy crackling from his fingertips.

He reached them, concentrating his attention on Power Girl. The black energy from his fingertips burnt into Power Girl’s uniform, burning it away and searing into her flesh.

“@#$*! IT BURNS!” Power Girl screamed, kicking Caliginous away.

Renay tackled him, punching him in the face over and over.

“Why doesn’t it hurt you?” Power Girl asked, massaging the burns on her skin. They were beginning to heal, indicating that despite their magical nature, she had some resistance to them.

“I don’t know.” Renay said, punching at Caliginous’s face.

“GET OFF OF ME WOMAN!” Caliginous screamed, punching Renay aside. “I have to get your to my mistress and master alive, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be a little bruised and battered.”

“Such a gentleman.” Power Girl said, kicking Caliginous in the gut. He hurtled backwards, landing on his butt and skidding several yards away.

Renay layed on the ground groaning.

Caliginous pulled himself up. The black energy crackling around his fists grew wider, making the air sizzle.

“It’s a good thing you’re a magical construct.” Power Girl said, her eyes turning bright red. “Otherwise, this might make me feel bad…”

Twin rays of heat vision exploded from her eyes slamming into Caliginous’s chest. He screamed out in pain, but Power Girl only intensified the ruby rays.

“Get down Renay.” Power Girl called, “I think this is going to be—“

Before she could finish the sentence, Caliginous exploded in a spectacle of black energy that knocked Power Girl off her feet, sending her hurtling through the air. Power Girl smashed through a tombstone, landing at an awkward angle on her hip.

“Well, that’s that I suppose.” Power Girl said, pulling herself to her feet and going over to Renay, who had dropped down when Power Girl told her to get down.

Standing slowly, Renay dusted bits of dirt from her forehead.

“Well, I know he’s probably who really killed my sister. I should feel like justice was served, but magical constructs are not entities of their own and always act on the behalf of their master’s commands.” Renay said, shaking her head.

“I think I know who sent him. Who he was trying to take you to.” Power Girl said. “There is a Cult of Deedra active in this city. I know they’re behind him. And, this. I just don’t have prove.”

“Deedra?” Renay asked with a raised eyebrow. “According to the religion of Venturia and Aurania, Deedra was the original goddess who gave birth to our people and way of life. Her chains are the chains that hold existence together. And she created the Darkworld to house and hold all of our evils.”

“I don’t understand why they’d do evil in her name if she’s the birth goddess. What I’ve been able to locate about her says that she’s revered as a good and kind goddess.”

“Deedra was the mother of us all. And she’ll be the death of us all.” Renay said quietly. “The myths say that Deedra will be reborn, absorbing the Darkworld, and then she will destroy all life on this planet, taking everything to the next level of existence. I doubt this Cult of Deedra consider themselves evil. They are merely attempting to bring her back, as prophesized so she can end this world.”

“Birth goddess and goddess of destruction.” Power Girl whispered. “Why would they kill your sister? It makes no sense.”

“According to our legends, Deedra can only be reborn through the flesh and blood of a daughter of Atlantis.” Renay said quietly. “Caliginous said she was flawed. He must have meant her heart defect. If they were going to use Dana as a vessel for Deedra’s rebirth… it wouldn’t have worked. She would have had a heart attack and died and Deedra’s essence would have been lost forever.”

“Then they’ll want a replacement.” Power Girl said, looking at Renay knowingly. “You’re not safe.”

“I am.” Renay replied. “I had the same defect Dana did. A genetic flaw that was a result of our Atlantean Amazonian mother taking a mortal groom. The only difference is that I had an organ transplant. The transplant makes me ill-suited as a vessel. I’m safe once they go through my medical records. If anyone is not safe, it’s you.”

“Me?” Power Girl asked.

“You’re Atlantean and super-human to boot. If anyone could host Deedra’s essence it would be you.” Renay said.

They were silent for several minutes.

Finally Renay broke the silence, “I have to get going. My flight leaves at midnight.”

Power Girl watched the woman leave, standing there in the cemetery for several minutes.

Finally, Power Girl flew off into the night, heading back toward the restaurant where she had left Ian waiting.

THE END