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 #14

To Infinity And Beyond Part 1

Written By Paul Daimler

Elsewhere….

The sky stretched out before her, the darkness of night combining with Gotham to create a blight against the horizon. From her vantage point, she looked down at the city below. A phantom tingling in limbs that no longer could move as she heard sirens blaring, crying out in pain for the tragedies that filled the nights here.

"You look pensive."

She turned to the voice, swiveling her wheelchair away from the railing of the penthouse's balcony. Here fifty stories above Gotham City, they seemed immune to the horrors going on below. Of course, that was one of the traps of this world. The illusion that anyone here could be safe… it was almost laughable.

"You startled me." She smiled, "How did your patrol go?"

"It was what I've come to expect." The woman shrugged as she walked out onto the balcony. The visor on her face and the skin-tight black and yellow body suit made her seem distinctly out of place among the classic Greek sculptures and plants. "A typical night in the life of Dr. Midnight."

The woman in the wheelchair grinned faintly, "Where there many of Monarch's patrols out tonight?"

"His armies were out in full-force tonight." Dr. Midnight said, her smile grim. She walked slowly to the railing, leaning on it and looking over the night spread out before her. How had she ended up here? It all seemed so far away from L.A. and her medical career. L.A. is gone. A voice reminded her gently in her head. "This world has become so dark. And, all the heavy-hitters are gone. I wonder why we keep at it some nights. Honestly I do, Hel."

"Because we have to. Monarch may have taken out Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Fury, Power Girl, and Green Lantern, but he didn't take us all out. He may have gotten ‘the big guns', but the rest of us must preserve. You know as well as I do that David can slay Goliath." Helena Wayne shook her head. "And we are an army of Davids."

"Spoken like a true leader." Skyman said, landing on the balcony. His star-spangled white clashed with the dark dreary night.

"Just doing what I can from this chair." Helena sighed.

Skyman walked over, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Your dad would be proud."

"I just wish he was here. He would have ended this long ago."

"Don't be so sure." Dr. Midnight said from the railing where she continued to watch the night. "If Superman and Wonder Woman fell so easily before the might of Monarch, surely your father would have fallen as well. Perhaps it's best that he was dead a good seven years before Monarch came."

"I just wish I could have saved them." Helena said.

"One day you'll stop beating yourself up over that." Skyman said, "Those more powerful than you didn't walk away from that battle."

"If you want to get technical, neither did I." Helena replied.

"Touche." Skyman chuckled. Together, he and Helena joined Dr. Midnight at the railing.

"Yolanda is patrolling the waterfront." Dr. Midnight said. "There was a report of some weird activity down there. A light show or something.

"Maybe it's a meta." Helena said hopefully.

"That's what Yolanda thought. She said the reports made it sound like the same light show that occurred when Tora and Vivian arrived." Dr. Midnight replied.

"Do you think it could be someone appearing from that other Universe?" Skyman asked Helena.

"Anything is possible." Helena replied, "I hope so. We can use every hand we can get in this war. And, Monarch has ensured that no new metas have arisen in the past few years."

"Got to love genetic manipulation through the water." Dr. Midnight replied. "Speaking of which, I need to go down to my lab. I'm working on an additive to counteract the one that Monarch uses in the water and food."

Once Dr. Midnight was gone, Helena and Skyman lapsed into silence, standing there, looking out across a strangely calm Gotham City. Somewhere, very far away, a siren continued to cry even as it moved further and further away.

Century City…

"You guys just never seem to learn." Power Girl said, knocking Ace through a wall. The giant robot smashed apart as it went through the brick and concrete. "After all of these years, it seems like you Royal Flush boneheads would have just thrown in the towel and gotten jobs."

"We are far more persistent than that." Jack said.

"You are persistent. And at least smart enough not to rob any banks in any state with a three strikes and you're out law. I will give you guys that." Power Girl easily missed the blast from his electronic eye. The blast plowed into the King, knocking him off his feet and to the floor—unconscious. "But, you're still out-matched, out-classed, and out-of-luck."

A solid punch to Jack's face left him unconscious and Power Girl turned her attention to the Queen, who had a sack full of money and was running toward the bank's front entrance.

Several feet out of the bank's entrance, there was a loud explosion as bright orange dye exploded in a cloud around her.

Chuckling, Power Girl lifted the Queen by the scruff of the neck, pulling her from the orange cloud that slowly settled down the asphalt of the parking lot.

"Seems like after all of these years, you would think about dye packs. How dumb can you be?" Power Girl asked her as she flew her toward the Century City police department. Landing on the upper level of the parking garage, where a handful of officers were rushing to cars to respond to the robbery, Power Girl dropped the Queen.

"Here is one of them." She smiled. "Will someone kindly arrest her? I'll head back to the bank and take care of the last one. Oh, and make sure to call and ambulance. Two of them are out like lights and might need some medical assistance."

Power Girl flew off, leaving several police muttering and scratching their heads, even as the Queen was cuffed and read her rights.

"Sometimes I feel pretty useless with her around." One of the cops sighed, as he and his partner climbed into their car to respond to the bank robbery.

"Yeah. But, at least we aren't having to deal with as many super-villains as before. I like that she deals with them crazies and leaves us the normal ones."

"I guess that's something."

It was just Power Girl's luck that she'd been leaving the Century City First Federal Bank after depositing Starrware funds when the Royal Flush Gang had arrived. So clueless they were, they didn't even notice her duck behind a desk off to the side and change into Power Girl. She had then proceeded to stop their robbery, which in and of itself wasn't that big of a deal. It was a super-hero rite of passage to stop the Royal Flush Gang. You fought them. You stopped them. You put them in jail. Rinse. Repeat. The first time it had been really exciting. Eight years later? Not so much. Surely there was some young new hero who needed their first super-villain throw down that could have stopped this.

"Just one of the perks of being the only meta in Century City." Power Girl said, although in a lot of ways being the only meta here was odd. Most cities had a couple. Even Metropolis and Gotham, where Superman and Batman ruled the roost, had multiple heroes operating within their borders. Why had Century City gone so long without a hero of its own? And why weren't more flocking to it now that she was here? It was an interesting question.

Arriving back at the bank, she found that Jack and King were still passed out. But, Ten was nowhere to be seen. Ten (the one member who actually changed) was generally the most unpredictable and usually the one to look out for. It was probably why the Royal Flush Gang had a new Ten every time you turned around—the Tens always got smarter and better and moved on.

A quick scan of the area with her super-vision showed that Ten had escaped.

"Smart lady that one." Power Girl shook her head, "Probably the last time she'll be in the Ten costume as well."

The police arrived and Power Girl answered their questions and waited until they were finished with her before flying off into the early afternoon. She would be late getting back to the office, but Beverly was used to that by now. She often wondered lately if Beverly knew that was Power Girl. More and more Beverly would make little comments suggesting that she knew. And, it wasn't like Power Girl was good at keeping her identity secret. Cheryl had figured it out without a problem. And, her disguise of slicked back hair and glasses, did little to disguise her.

Flying back toward the office, Power Girl swerved just in time to miss a giant sparkling gateway that exploded in the air in front of her.

"Power Girl." A voice called from the other side of the gateway.

"Who wants to know?" Power Girl asked. The gateway sparkled green and white.

"I do." The voice replied.

The gateway exploded outward, consuming Power Girl.

With a cry of surprise, Power Girl shut her eyes tightly. Opening them seconds later she found herself standing in a massive room. Massive pillars looked out on a tapestry of space, and long curtains draped down, revealing stone walls and doorways on either side. In the center of the room was a giant crystal globe that glowed lightly. On the other side of the crystal globe stood a tall humanoid in a purple hooded cloak. Beside him stood a blonde woman wearing a light lavender gown and a serene look.

"Welcome to my lair Power Girl." The purple hooded figure said. Power Girl couldn't quite tell from the voice if it was a man or a woman. Although something made her assume it was a man.

"Who are you?" Power Girl asked. She studied her surroundings intently, trying to mask her surprise when she realized the scenery revealed wasn't the night sky from Earth—or even the Milky Way galaxy. It was instead a view of the Universe. Just below it, was the solid uniform black of oblivion.

"Surely you've heard of the Time Trapper." The hooded figure said.

"Vaguely. My mother and Supergirl have mentioned you." Power Girl said quietly.

"Yes. I've met both of them a time or two." It was easy to imagine a smile beneath that hood.

"What am I doing here? Both my mother and Supergirl have less than favorable opinions of you, and those are two women I give a lot of credence to."

"You are here because I need your help."

"My help?" Power Girl asked. "Why me? Surely you need someone a little more cosmic to help you."

"No. I need you." The Time Trapper said. "Your fate is entwined in this."

"Why is my fate such a hot topic these days?" Power Girl groaned.*

*see Power Girl #12-13 for more fate and prophecy for Power Girl.

"Because things are in a flux for you." The Time Trapper said. "You have just solidified your position in your Universe. You have accepted your destiny and your new place. You've let go of your past and embraced your future. And, the Universe has one last series of tests for you—just to make sure that you actually do belong here."

"I do belong here. I have a family. A mother. A father. Superman is my cousin. A very distant cousin, but my cousin nonetheless. My powers have leveled out and are stronger than ever. I have friends and people who care about me in my life. My personal life is better than ever. Great job. I have a guy I'm interested in. My days of being tested are over."

"If only it were that simple." The Time Trapper said, "You have your last ordeals of identity and existence before you. One of them, according to prophecies, is that you will die at the hands of Adramelek the Terrible."

"Who I've never met or heard of." Power Girl shrugged.

"Our greatest enemies are often those we've never heard or met until they announce themselves. Over the next few months, you'll meet your greatest enemies. And, you might very well die." The Time Trapper said.

"Is there a point to this?" Power Girl groaned. "Or did you drag me hear to tell me I'm going to die. Cause honestly… we all die eventually. Even you. At some point you'll just turn to dust. Nothing or no one lasts forever."

The Time Trapper chuckled.

The pretty blonde beside the Time Trapper sighed, "Let's just get to the point here."

"I'm all for that." Power Girl said.

The blonde shot the Time Trapper an icy glare.

"The Time Trapper is correct. You will meet your greatest enemies in the months to come. And, you might not make it through. Your death is destined. Whether you survive your death or not, no one can see. Not even the Time Trapper." The woman said. "Your fate is a blur once you and Adramelek enter your fight to the death. What the Time Trapper is offering you is help. You help him against his enemy, and he will help you with your enemy—giving you an edge that might help you survive the onslaught."

Power Girl didn't respond at first. She studied the blonde. There was something very familiar about her. Power Girl looked at her purple-tinted eyes, blinking from behind lush lashes. Where had she seen her before?

"What edge? And what does helping him entail?"

"I will explain all." The Time Trapper cooed lightly, stepping from behind the crystal globe and coming over to Power Girl.

Power Girl looked up into the darkness of his hood, realizing that she couldn't really see what was under there—even this close. She shivered unintentionally.

Elsewhere…

Yolanda Montez had stopped going by the hero name Wildcat several years back. After Monarch had killed Superman. Suddenly it hadn't been about costumes and secret identities, it had been about fighting for liberty and freedom from oppression.

Patrolling the waterfront of Gotham she marveled at how quiet it was. Everything was still and unmoving—except for her in the shadows.

She had abandoned the cat costume, trading it for a simple skin-tight bullet-resistant black body suit and a simple cowl. There were holes cut in the fingers and toes to allow her claws freedom of movement. But, no one looking at the lithe shadow moving through the darkness would have considered that she had once been the second Wildcat.

She often wondered what Gotham had been like in its heyday. When there were super-villains roaming the streets. When on any given night, one might fight the Joker or thwart the Penguin. As a kid, the Joker had seemed like the scariest person in the world—a psychotic serial killer clown. But, he had been nothing like Monarch.

Monarch was synonymous with genocide. He'd slaughtered the majority of the hero population, he'd wiped out entire countries, and he controlled the population through drugs in the water and food. And, as each year trickled by, Yolanda realized their chances of stopping him grew slimmer and slimmer. But, she'd long ago accepted that and made peace with it. She knew that one of these days she would end of falling in battle, probably crushed in Monarch's grip.

As she neared the area she'd seen the flashing lights earlier, she looked around for signs that someone else had crossed over from the other Universe to this one.

Yolanda frowned, her eyes scanning the area. When Tora and Vivian had come through, both had been confused and had hidden in the shadows. Both of them had thought they were in Hell. From what Yolanda had been able to deduct, they'd been snatched from their Universe in the moments before their deaths.

Yolanda tapped the ear-ring mic, turning it on. "Hel… no sign of anyone. Maybe it was just a fireworks show?"

"There was nothing officially scheduled for tonight." Helena's voice came back calm and collected. "And, the systems I've hacked into for Monarch's general here in Gotham has nothing planned for tonight on the D.L. It may not be someone crossing over from Tora and Vivian's home Universe, but it's definitely not anything that should be going on."

"I'll do one more quick sweep of the area and then head back to Infinity headquarters." Yolanda said. "I'm getting the creeps down here Hel. Something feels off."

"Then make it quick. We've all made it this far by paying attention to those odd feelings and our instincts. I don't want you out there either. I've been feeling like something big is about to come down lately." Helena replied.

"Understood." Yolanda replied. Helena had become their leader in the aftermath of Wonder Woman's death.

Monarch had killed Superman first. Then Green Lantern. And then Wonder Woman. Once Wonder Woman had fallen, Helena—still the Huntress, and Power Girl had assembled everyone and led a major attack on Monarch—hoping to reveal who was beneath that helmet and hoping to crush him once and for all. It hadn't gone as planned. The Huntress had been broken—Monarch crushing her spine and leaving her with no feeling from the waist down. And Power Girl had died.

Yolanda had retired her costume the night Power Girl died.

"Oh, Karen…" Yolanda whispered, shaking her head.

"Yolanda?"

Yolanda froze. She turned slowly to the sound of the voice.

"It can't be." Yolanda whispered.

"That's what I was just about to say." Karen whispered. "You've been dead for a couple years now."

"I was going to say the same thing to you. I watched Monarch kill you. Right after he…" Yolanda shook her head. Yolanda's eyes filled with fire and anger, she took a deep breath, smelling the air swirling around Power Girl. Her eyes then cleared and Yolanda said, "You're from that other Universe aren't you? The same one Tora and Vivian came from."

"Yeah." Karen said, "The Time Trapper told me I would meet doppelgangers… versions of my friends and family… but I didn't…" Karen shook her head. "He didn't warn me that there would be friends who were no longer alive in my world."

"Helena is going to freak when she sees you." Yolanda said.

"Helena?" Karen asked.

"The Huntress."

Karen felt a quiet tremor go through her. Her memories of her first life—the one before the Crisis were mostly hazy now. Sometimes she'd dream about that life, or she'd be sitting behind her desk and she'd zone out—a memory recurring as vividly and clearly as though it were still real. But, she'd let that life go when she'd crossed through the First Light at the Dawn of Time and found herself in a ghost world version of her Earth Two. She'd embraced her new life and since doing so things had been on track in a way they never had been before.

Through those hazy memories, really dreams at this point, the clearest things she remembered invariably involved the Huntress… Helena Wayne, the daughter of Batman and Catwoman. She'd died during the Crisis, killed by Shadow Demons beneath a crystal dome the Titan Kole had erected to try and save the Huntress, the Earth Two Robin, and Kole herself. None of them had escaped.

But, this was an alternate reality, a Pocket Universe the Time Trapper maintained. He'd sent her here to defeat Monarch—his enemy. Something he'd had Supergirl help him do once before, when the Pocket Universe had been different.

I've rebooted my Pocket Universe so many times, even I've lost count. Each time Monarch is defeated, his essence returns to my Pocket Universe—where he's been tethered, and I change reality around him. And, each time he becomes someone else, I draw closer and closer to destroying him once and for all. The Time Trapper's words rang in Power Girl's ears.

"Hel," Yolanda said into her earring mic. "I found someone… from that other Universe."

With her super-hearing Power Girl listened in, "Who?"

"It's Karen… Power Girl."

Power Girl could hear the awkward silence.

"It can't be."

Power Girl could hear the emotions in those words that finally surged through the earring mic.

"But, if she's from there… Tora and Vivian said…" Helena paused. "Are you sure she's not some trick by Monarch?"

Yolanda paused, taking a deep breath. "She smells right. She doesn't have that weird smell that the last Trojan horse Monarch sent."

"Don't remind me. Donna still hasn't recovered from that." Helena said quietly. "We should have known… Wonder Woman's mystic twin. I can't believe we fell for it."

"Probably not the time to rehash all of that." Yolanda said quietly. "Should I bring her back? Or do you want me to take her somewhere else where we can be sure she's the real deal?"

"You said she smells right…" Helena hesitated.

"Yeah. She smells like our Karen. And, she smells of that other Universe… like Tora and Vivian. After Wonder Girl and that Terra girl… I know what Monarch's genetic clones and magical constructs smell like." Yolanda replied. "This girl doesn't smell like that."

"Bring her to the safe house. Just to be safe. In case somehow she's been enlisted by Monarch. Both Tora and Vivian said that Monarch was a part of their Universe at one point. We want to make sure that Monarch hasn't enslaved their Universe and their Power Girl is on his side."

"If that's the case? How can we tell?" Yolanda asked, looking at Power Girl, her eyes clouding with a cat-anger.

"We'll figure it out. I'll have Tora and Vivian there. They're from that Universe. They'll know before us if there is a way to know." Helena replied.

"OK. We're on our way. See you there." Yolanda turned off the earring mic. "You could hear every word of that with your super-hearing."

"Yes. But, Helena is wise to be cautious." Power Girl replied, trying not to take it personally and putting herself in the shoes of the heroes of this world. The ones who had been fighting for their lives these past few years, trying to liberate their world from Monarch.

"So, which way is the safe house?" Power Girl asked, lifting from the ground.

"GET DOWN!" Yolanda hissed.

"What?" Power Girl asked, pausing in mid-air.

"You will have to stay on the ground. Monarch has sensors that can detect meta-humans. They're keyed to twenty feet above the ground. The second you fly above that mark, he'll know and he'll be here. You can't fight him alone."

"I'm tougher than the average monkey." Power Girl replied, smiling wickedly.

"That's what our Power Girl said. Monarch crushed her skull." Yolanda said.

"He killed me?"

"Yes. In front of Helena, right after he broke her spine and put her in that chair." Yolanda replied.

"Oh." Power Girl lowered herself to the ground. "I guess we walk then. Is it safe to use super-speed?"

"Yeah, just don't outrun me. He can't run his detection system on the ground. It interferes with the mind control stuff. And pace-makers. The old people with pace-makers are among Monarch's most ardent supporters. Some of them don't even require the extra mind control and chemical additives in the water. They never trusted us metas anyway."

"How long has it been like this?" Power Girl asked, keeping her speed in check so that she could keep pace with Yolanda.

"Nearly ten years. Since Monarch showed up at a Justice Society-Infinity Inc joint meeting." Yolanda said. "He said he had once been one of us. That he'd served as a member. But, never said which team. I knew right away that something was off. So did Helena and you…. Well, it wasn't you. It was our Power Girl. Or Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman was the first to question him. That lasso of truth of hers. She snared him in it and he instantly revealed that he was going to destroy all metas and enslave the world." Yolanda said. "We all sprang to action."

"I take it that it wasn't a success?"

"No. Not at all." Yolanda's jaw clenched. "Superman died."

"Superman died in our world too. He came back." Power Girl said quietly.

"That's what Tora and Vivian said. But, none of our dead have come back." Yolanda said.

"Tora and Vivian?"

"They claim to be from your Universe. They went by Ice and Crimson Fox." Yolanda replied. "They said they were swept away from your Universe just before death and ended up here. They said something about a Time Trapper."

"Ice and Crimson Fox both died in my Universe." Power Girl said quietly. Her thoughts turning to the Time Trapper. He hadn't mentioned sending anyone else to this Universe. Her doubts about him returned. Was coming here the right thing to do? Before she could even really fully finish the thought she stopped it. There were people in this world dying. They were being oppressed by an evil dictator. She had to come here, even if the Time Trapper wasn't being completely honest with her—even if he had something unpleasant up his sleeve for later.

"Apparently not. Both ended up here in our Universe. They've been great assets to the Underground." Yolanda said. "There were no versions of either of them here in our world—so Monarch can't track them."

"Interesting." Power Girl said quietly. She scanned the dark Gotham streets as they moved along at super-speed. In her visits to the Gotham of her Universe, she'd never seen the streets this clean and this empty of people. Monarch's reign had certainly cleaned up the streets of Gotham. Something not even Batman could do. Too bad it was at the cost of freedom and liberty.

"We're almost there." Yolanda said quietly.

Against the dark cityscape's horizon, Arkham Asylum loomed.

"That's the safe house?" Power Girl asked, a chill going through her soul. She was one of the strongest heroes in her world, but even she felt nervous about entering Arkham Asylum—its hallways and rooms haunted by and lived in by the most demented twisted minds, and the most insane criminals.

"Arkham Asylum is empty these days." Yolanda replied. "Monarch went in and killed everyone within. Of all the criminals housed there, only the Joker and the Cheetah escaped."

"Of course the Joker escaped."

"No one knows where he is. The Cheetah is hiding on Transformation Island." Yolanda said. "The Amazons have managed to keep themselves safe. Not even Monarch can breach the mystic veils and protections of the Olympians. The Amazons have opened their shores to refugees—both woman and men at the cost of the eternal youth, to protect as many as they can from Monarch. But, even the Amazon's resources are limited. Queen Hippolyta has not been seen or heard since the news of her daughter and grandchildren's deaths reached her."

"Grandchildren?"

"Lyta Trevor. The Fury." Yolanda said. "Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor's first born. Their son Steve Trevor Jr, Captain Wonder, was killed by one of Monarch's agents—a mystic creation calling herself Wonder Girl. She claimed to be a mystic avatar, created from a fraction of Wonder Woman's soul. Their youngest daughter Donna is part of the Underground."

"What of Supergirl and Superboy?" Power Girl asked.

"Clark and Lois's daughter is long dead. As is his cousin Cir-El." Yolanda replied. "We've never had a Superboy."

They came to a stop as they reached a side entrance to Arkham Asylum.

"Our part of this building is deep in the sub-basements, shielded and blocked from Monarch." Yolanda pushed the door open. She tapped her earring mic on with a single touch, "We're entering the building now."

From his fortress in the middle of Gotham City, Monarch stood in his throne room observing the monitor screens that surrounded him on all sides. Scenes of different locations all over Gotham City flickered by as the nightly scans went through their standard protocols.

"Everything looks to be quiet, Monarch." The head of his honor guard said, handing a disc to him. "I scanned this disc for you that the Security Patrol turned in for the last hour. Everything looks quiet."

"If I wanted your opinions and interjections, I would ask for them." Monarch barked through his helmet, snatching the disc from the head of his honor guard. "There is something going on out there tonight. The security scans may have missed it, but there is something happening. There was an energy surge earlier tonight. Down on the waterfront."

"An energy surge? The detectors didn't capture anything." The head of the honor guard said, swallowing heavily beneath his full-face helmet. Monarch had been known to crush the skull of honor guards delivering bad news.

"No. They wouldn't. It was chronal energy. Difficult to detect. I only caught it because my suit is attuned… and I was scanning the area." Monarch whispered. "The last time such a surge was detected was when the Time Trapper sent those Team Titans through. I killed them. But, only after they nearly destroyed me."

"I remember." The head of the honor guard said, his voice trembling.

"Send an investigation squad down to the waterfront." Monarch said, "I want them to search… just to see…"

The head of the honor guard nodded, turning and leaving.

Turning his attention back to the monitor screens, Monarch growled to himself, "I will find your interloper Trapper. And I will crush the life from his or her bones and send them back to you in a box."

TO BE CONTINUED…