They called her Juden.
Her name, the ones that her parents had given her, was long gone. If
there was a place in her mind where her name remained, she paid it no
notice. She was Juden after all. The lowest of the low. But in that,
there was so much room to grow.
They had showed her when her father went to build the second, and it
was said, grander, Treblinka. It didn't matter though, her father's
work was for naught. Treblinka was but a memory now, its glory forever
lost when the cursed Russians advanced. Treblinka was burned to the
ground, so that the Allies, who would never understand greatest, could
not use it for their own propaganda.
But there were still stories among the faithful. Stories that one day,
when the war was over and the weak lay beneath the feet of the strong,
that there would be a new Treblinka. One bigger, one better than
anything anyone had ever imagined.
Her father would not see it. Nor should he. As part of the Mieczi i
Plug he had been uncovered like the others. The 'Sword and Plough' had
been little more than a pin prick against the great good. But she was
glad to have had her part in revealing the lies of her father. She was
glad to have been taken from the weakness and placed on the path of the
righteous. Placed on the path of the strong.

The sounds of fighting echoed through the streets of Warsaw. She was
used to it. Since the first couple of days of the new year the fighting
had drawn close to the city. The Russians were advancing to the east
alongside traitorious Polish troops. Troops that had taken up arms
against Mother Germany in some desperate and delusional idea that
Poland might once again become its own country.

Juden knew it to be a lie. It was the lie of her father. A lie that had
to be stomped out, as it had with the Ausserordentliche Befriedungsak,
as it had out in Wawer years before. The lies had to be uprooted from
the soil before they had the chance to grow. Before they turned into
something that the Z.O.B. and their ilk  of "resistance" could use.
They were trying to destroy those who were smart, those who were
assisting the right and noble cause that was the Nazi destiny.

She would not let them.

The fighting was drawing closer. Not just outside the city any longer,
but in the streets themselves. Some were saying that the city would
fall soon. No one seemed to know where Governor General Fischer was,
nor who was leading the defense of the city. There were, thankfully,
enough soldiers around that knew her. That knew what she had done for
the cause, to keep the others from taking advantage of her more than
she asked for.  She was starting to develop after all, and men, even
uber ones, had needs.

They protected her against the rioters in the street the best that they
could. After all, there were some among them that would in their
hysteria lash out against the truly righteous. Sooner or later, she
knew, they would be brought to heel. If not under Fischer, then perhaps
when Bridgadefuhrer Szreckenbrach took personal charge of the
situation...

There was an explosion off to her right. She hoped for that soon...
there was no telling how long the city of Warsaw would be able to hold
off against the forces of darkness.

She looked around, wondering if the ruins of the barracks would be safe
for a little bit longer... wondering how long she had before she saw
the Russians round the corner. Or worse, the Z.O.B..  She had picked up
a pistol off one of the dead "revolutionaries". The Nazi's, or perhaps
the Z.Z.W. who were, it was said, much harder up for weapons,  had
stripped the body of everything except the sidearm, apparently. She was
glad to have it. It wasn't much, but it might give her time.

She watched the corner, waiting for the moment that she would make her
proud stand. She was thus surprised when someone landed behind her.

He asked something that she didn't understand. She looked at him in his
bright red and green costume with a flowing cape. He was wearing a
mask. "He's speaking English" she surmised, "He must be one of those
American mystery men."

"I do not understand," she answered in Hebrew. She hated the sound of
it in her mouth. Far too foreign. But she had made use of it while
inflitrating various native organizations to bring about their
downfall. She had used it to carry messages from one loyalist to
another.

He stared at her blankly for a moment, muttering something into his
ring, "Do you understand me now?" he asked in perfect German.

She stared at him blankly for a moment, and then gave him a cautious
smile, "You speak German?" she asked.

He shook his head in surprise, "No, but my ring is translating for
us..." if there was a question to go along with his declaration, it was
left unsaid.

"I was asking," he said," If you planned on using that," he indicated
the gun in her hand.

She shrugged, "Only if I have to."

He considered it for a moment before nodding, "Understandable under the
circumstances. I'm Green Lantern, with the Justice Society, the city is
about to fall to the Russians, and we're bringing any one who doesn't
want to live under the occupation to points behind the Western Front."

She stared at him for a moment. So the cracks between the so called
Allies were indeed as large as some had indicated. She licked her lips,
wondering how best to use that information for the greater good of the
Reich. Then she inwardly shrugged, there was very little chance that
the SS had not already come across such information. There was even
more of a little chance that they were not all ready doing everything
in their power to enlarge those divisions on their own.

"Are the Russians not our saviors?" she asked, donning the mask of the
typical Jewish Communist. She hated the foul words in her mouth, but
allowed them, for the moment.

The man called Green Lantern shrugged, "If you see it that way I
suppose." he declared, "But anyone wanting to go to the west is being
allowed to do so. We're taking them through Nazi lines and into Allied
terrority. If you're not interested, I'll leave you to whatever luck
you can make and wish you the best of luck..."

"I was... just wondering," Juden allowed pass her lips, "The West
certainly does sound the better option."

Green Latern nodded with a smile, "There's a whole great big wonderful
world out there miss," he declared, "I hope that one day, when this is
all over, you'll get to see it."

Something stirred inside of her. "I think that I would like to do
that," she said, as the feeling within her grew, "I think that I would
like that very much."

She sat on a cot feeling helpless. In the corner, her co-worker, Craig
Morris was dying. And she couldn't do anything about it.
Just sit and wait, and hope that the one they called Dr. Mid-nite would
be able to stabilize his condition enough to move him somewhere that he
could get better. Or more to the point, that they could find someone to
get him home to the wonders of modern medicine, a luxury missing from a
makeshift field base in the middle of a war zone in the past.
She shook her head, wondering how she - and Dick - were going to get
back. Clark would know, she was sure of that. After all, Superman found
a way out of everything. On the other hand, of late, she was lucky not
to fall over tying her own shoe laces.

"I was wondering if I would find you here," someone said. The woman's
voice sounded familiar. Linda looked up as a well built blonde woman in
white and red spandex entered through the flap, "Once the boys
described you, I figured there was only one person meeting your
description..."

Linda stared at her for a moment, trying to place her, "I'm sorry... do
I know you?" she asked.

The woman looked shocked for a second, before starting to laugh, "I'm
sorry... I forgot, we haven't had much time to get to know each other.
Not yet anyway. I'm Power Girl..."

Linda shook her head, "I've seen Power Girl. She was in the League.
You've got a similiar look, but you're not the same person."

Power Girl chuckled, "Of course not. She's from Atlantis. I'm... not.
Don't worry, it'll all make sense in time. Once things come full
circle, we can sit and talk and have a good laugh about you not
recognizing me. I'll make you whip up a couple of omelets..."

"I don't like omelets..."

"I know silly... that's why they call it punishment."

"I know you then..."

"Yes"

"Obviously we've hung out in the past..."

"Mine at least..."

"Meaning?"

"Your future obviously... ask Rip about it when you meet him. He'll
explain..."

"Rip?"

"Hunter. Don't worry.... I shouldn't even be telling you this much.
Other than you're here for a reason. At least that's what you figure
out then... and tell me not to tell you now... but then I didn't listen
to you then, so I'm not sure why you thought that I would now... unless
you figured that you then wanted you now to know what you told me not
to say, so you told me not to say it rather than telling me TO say it
which would make me clam up... follow?"

Linda shook her head, "Not a word."

Power Girl shrugged, "It'll come in time then. Come on.... I'll
introduce you to the rest of the guys."

Linda's eyes went back to where Craig was being operated on, "I should
really stay here. I owe it to..."

"There's nothing you can do here. Trust me, I know." she said, grabbing
Linda by the wrist and pulling her along through the flap. Gathered
outside, were men in some of the gaudiest costumes she had ever seen in
her life. As well as the most meaningful ones. She was face to face
with legends... and all she could think to say was, "Hi, I'm

Maid of Steel
" The Gate Through Which The Righteous Pass  "
Issue 12
July Year 2
Script by Gary Dreslinski
Plot by Barry Reese
Edited by Ralph Angelo

She sat and talked for hours, trading stories. Mostly listening to
their tales. Listening to what they were doing in Poland.... trying not
to gush too much. At their request, she didn't tell them how close to
winning they were. Or, even that they had won. Not that any of them
doubted. She looked from face to face, and there wasn't a doubt there.
They knew they were among the righteous. They knew their cause was
just. It was only a matter of time before history would be shaped to
those ends.

What intrigued her the most was that they kept insisting that they
weren't the Justice Society, or the Super Squad... but rather a group
of heroes on a mission of mercy. Supergirl wasn't completely sure what
the distinction was, until she finally read it on the face of the Green
Lantern.

She felt her eyes go wide, "You're not here with the government are
you?"

Alan Scott didn't meet her gaze.

Ted Knight, Starman did, "We're here on our own miss." he explained,
"The Alliance with Russia is rather... well, interesting at the moment.
There are factions in the State Department that thought it best if the
US use Poland as a buffer zone between our boys and the Russian forces.
There were others that thought that we should simply divide the place
up fifty-fifty." he glanced back over his shoulder at his companions,
"And then there were us. People who thought that the Polish people
shouldn't end up in the middle when the sides came crashing in on
them."

Supergirl looked at him for a moment, looking into his eyes. There was
a purity there, a sincere belief in doing what was right, regardless of
the cost. She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.

"What was that for?" he asked, red-faced.
"For being you..." she answered, "I know that you don't want to know
about the future..."
"And I still don't... there are some things man is not ready to
handle... some things that I would rather experience when they come..."

"But I'm going to tell you two things ANYWAY... (1) When the time
comes, its not your fault. It's really not...."
He stared at her, images of disaster flashing in his eyes. None of them
even coming close to what truly loomed before him.
"and (2) Your sons love you. They grow up loving you beyond
imagination. Even if they don't always show it..."

"You know my... sons?" Ted stammered. He gazed at her starry-eyes,
brimming with questions. He opened his mouth to speak, but then snapped
it shut, "No, I'd rather not know any more." he rose to his feet, and
started to walk away. He turned back to her at last minute, "Thank you
though." he added, before turning back to his duty.

Supergirl stared after him. She stared after them all, watching as they
helped refugees, organzing the people that they were bringing piecemeal
from Poland for their journey further west. She watched them at work,
knowing that she was seeing first hand what being a hero was about. It
wasn't about beating the snot out of some whacko in the middle of a
street. It was about being there for the little guy. It was about
helping those who could not help themselves.
She felt the lump in her throat growing. In her time as Supergirl... in
Mae's time on the planet... in Linda's life... she had tried to do
good. Not all the time, and never really accomplishing much. The patch
of Linda's life before the merging came to mind. But she had grown into
the idea that she was a hero. She watched the man they called at Sword
helping a couple of young girls find their parents and felt shame in
her heart. He didn't know it - but in a few years time, no one would
know who he was. The name "The Sword" wouldn't end up being an icon.
His work would go unnoted by the greater annuals of history. But he did
it anyway. He did it because it was the right thing to do. He did it
because he could.
There was some guy flying into occupied Poland in a flying submarine,
the Red Torpedo he was called, bringing people back and forth as well
as providing aerial support and transport for his better known
teammates. He too would be lost.
On the other hand, people on the street would discuss her costume, or
lack of it.

She got to her feet and walked over to where Power Girl was consulting
with the Atom.
"I want to help," she declared.
Power Girl gave a "told you so" smile to the Atom.
"We assumed that you wouldn't want to interfere with the way things
were supposed to play out... or something like that... that you were
just here to observe, like the last guy..."
Supergirl shrugged, "Observing has never been my strong suit. What you
people are doing here though, that's something that I want to know that
I had a part in. It's doing something really worthwhile... something...
what was that?" she looked suddenly over to the opposite side of camp,
where many of refugees were resting while waiting for transports to
arrive.

Power Girl raised her eyebrow. "I don't hear anything..." she remarked.

Atom shooked his head, "Me either... are you sure that..."

His words were lost as the ground rocked with an explosion.

Juden felt the air go out of her. It was so hard to breathe... so hard
to think...

She had been in the camp... the relocation camp she noted, as much as
they said that they hated the way of the Masters, they certainly aped
their ways like the good dogs that they were. She wasn't completely
sure how she had agreed to come along... other than the gut feeling
that she was more likely to find a way to help the cause if she was
alive. If she was in the enemy camp, learning their secrets, perhaps
they would reward her when the time came, when the enemy was crushed.
They would surely know that SHE had not turned traitor to the cause...
to the only thing that really held any meaning in her life anymore.

She had waited with the others, trading stories about the American
Mystery Men who had brought them to the gathering place, trying to
gather as much information on who they were, on what they could do, on
what their plans were... the more that she knew... the more use she
would be when the SS eventually came and liberated them all.

She hated being wth the Jews though. She hated the way that they
looked, the way that they smelled. She hated what they had done to her
country... to the world. She held her tongue, and her breath among
them...
listening, waiting.

She held her tongue, until someone said something about Adolf Hitler.
She didn't hear the whole comment, but the very mention of the name
brought out a primal reaction. The vemon the speaker placed in the
name, the hatred toward one of the greatest men in the history of the
world... vemon that she had never heard before. No one in Warsaw would
ever DARE speak like that. No Jew would ever presume that they were
able to speak like that under the liberation that the Nazis had brought
to Poland. None of the propaganda that the "government in exile"
slipped through to raise spirits ever dismissed the greatest of Hitler
so thoroughly. They lied about the cause of course, but they never
INSULTED him.

Juden felt something in her gut, something raw, something primal...
something rising through her. It tasted bitter.

It tasted - like power...

She felt it flowing up through her, felt it coming out of her, flowing
toward her foes.

She heard the screams, felt the explosions as they rocked the camp.

It started low in her gut, in the place from which the power grew. It
followed the flow of the power upward, through her... soon she realized
it for what it was. The sound of her own laughter. She let it, and the
power, continue to flow against anyone who stood against the True
Way....

Supergirl arrived to see a young teenaged Jewish girl hurling Wildcat
away from her with some sort of energy bolt.
"What's going on?" she asked, with Power Girl and Atom in tow behind
her.

Hourman shook his head from behind the shield that Starman had erected.
"I haven't seen her before, I think she's one of the ones that Green
Lantern brought in."
"The energy she's throwing around?"
Starman looked unsure, "I haven't had enough time to tell for certain
its source. But it does appear that she is the source of it rather than
a conduit."
"There's that at least" Supergirl remarked, as she saw the both the
Flash and Green Lantern keeping a step ahead of her at getting would be
victims out of the path of her destruction.
"What's she saying?" Supergirl asked.
Power Girl shrugged her shoulders, "I can't really make heads or tales
out of it."
Hourman and the Atom listened for a moment. They shook their heads. "I
know its German, but it sounds more like she's reciting something than
speaking..."
"Perspective," some said from behind them.
Supergirl turned to come face to face with the Sandman, "Do you know
what she's saying?"
He nodded, "Of course." he responded matter-of-factly, "She's reciting
a passage from Mein Kampf." 

"She's a Nazi then?" Atom asked, "Not just some little girl with her
powers out of control?"
Sandman nodded again, "It certainly sounds like she's a Nazi..."
Wildcat, who had stumbled over to conference on what to do next,
grinned savagely, "Good, that means I don't have to treat her with kid
gloves..." he said, before bounding into action.

The man in the cat suit was bounding her way again. Juden saw him
clearly, even through the haze of power. More to the point, she felt
his approach. He wanted to hurt her.. he wanted to stop her.... the
energy snapped out again at him, like the hand of justice. He dodged
it, ducking under, coming under her chin with a hard shot.

She fell backwards, wondering if her jaw was broken. But, the power
wouldn't let her stay down. It wouldn't let her stay weak. The power
rose her back to her feet. It filled her limbs. The cat man attacked
again. She met him with a punch of her own, one that knocked him into
the sky. Where he fell, she never knew, but he never came back into the
fight. Somehow, that was enough.
Green Lantern and the one who ran fast were keeping the Jews from
her... they were going to pay for their insolence... after all, why
would God give her such power if it were not to do his work on earth?
If she was not meant to use it to help the cause of the just?


She reached out with the power, it sprang to her finger tips like an
old friend. She reached out for the Green Lantern. "Die!" she
commanded. The energy leapt from the tips of her fingers and slammed
into the shield of green. Alan Scott strained to keep it intact for
long enough for him to get one last group to safety.

Starman blasted at her with his rod, she knew that he was hitting her
with some sort of ray, but she didn't feel it. It was as though the
energy was simply becoming another part of her. As though it didn't
matter.

Rex Tyler rushed forward... a true Man of the Hour, side by side with
The Atom. She met them blow for blow, pausing only to bat Starman aside
with contempt.

Her laughter became louder. "Is there no one strong here?" she bellowed
in English... somehow the power was giving her access to languages as
well... was there no limit to what she could achieve for the Reich?

"I guess I'll have to do!" Supergirl answered, driving her fist into
the girl's face with full force.

The girl flew backward. She rose to her feet, licking her lips, "Not
bad," she responded, "But how do you respond to this!" she said,
blasting Supergirl with energy.

Supergirl planted her feet firm in the dirt, folding her arms in front
of her.

When the barrage ended, she was still standing there, although the
overcoat she had been lent was gone. She was back to the ripped out S
white shirt outfit.

"How?" the girl whispered, and got ready to attack again.

"Well, I might have helped a bit!" Johnny Thunder answered from on top
his mystical thunderbolt. "Get her YZ!"

"Whatever you say boss!" YZ laughed as he lashed out against the girl.
She stumbled back at bit in the face of the mystical onslaught.
Finally though, she reached her hand out, palm poised outward.

YZ went in for another attack, but bounced against a force field.

Starman glanced at the others and nodded. As one, he joined his attack
with that of Green Lantern, The Flash, Johnny and his thunderbolt,
Sandman, Power Girl and Supergirl. The force field rocked at the first
blow. It shattered with the second.

Power Girl rushed forward, "I thought you looked familiar! I should be
committed for not knowing you instantly!" she shouted as she struck her
opponent over and over again, "The evil of Blackstarr is..."

The girl cackled as her energy started to crackle around her,
"Blackstarr is it?" she remarked, "I rather like it! All the world
shall fall before the might of Blackstarr then! I shall give it to the
Fuhrer as a gift and show of fidelity."

"Over our dead bodies Ratzi!" Johnny called out as the YZ struck at her
again. She didn't budge from where she stood.

"That was the general plan," she explained. "The more of you I take
with me now, the less that I have to worry about later."

She reached out with a gesture, and Johnny fell from the sky, the
lightning bolt prone on the ground.

Power Girl jumped forward, glowing a faint green.

Blackstarr met her with her fist, but the blow slipped off its intended
target. She tried again, with the same results. Power Girl, on the
other hand, struck blow after blow, "This is for my family"  she cried
out in rage, pounding her opponent.

Blackstarr crumpled under the onslaught, falling to the ground.

Power Girl rushed forward to finish her off. The Flash cut her off, "We
don't kill," he reminded her, "Even monsters."

Power Girl's eyes burned with hatred, "You have no idea..."

Jay Garrick fell into her arms, revealing Blackstarr standing behind
him.

"No, I don't have any idea. But I will... I swear 'Power Girl' one day
I WILL know how you know me. I will know who you are... and that family
of yours will die at my hands..."

With that, Blackstarr rose into the air.

Alan Scott went after her. But she batted him from the sky with ease.

Supergirl and Power Girl went after her as well... but all they caught
was her wake.

Supergirl stared at the sky, wondering where Blackstarr had gone.
Fearing that she knew.

She tried to talk to Power Girl... to Kara... but she had all ready
left. Off on a mission she had been told. Linda knew better. She was
out looking for Blackstarr. Out trying to stop the future from
happening.
In the future, she was going to warn Supergirl about the threat of
Blackstarr. She was going to warn her that Blackstarr was coming for
them in Midway. Was it coincedence that had brought her to the time and
place of Blackstarr's birth? Or something more? And, far more
importantly, she had wiped the floor with the JSA... or at least part
of it... brand new. How much more powerful had she gotten since then?
What more might have she learned?

Linda wasn't sure. She willed herself back into being Supergirl at the
sounds of footsteps. Since the fighting had ended, the rest were trying
to save as many people as possible before Warsaw fell to the Russians.
She knew that they would ultimately not save enough.
Ultimately, the Russians were going to set up their own government.
Ultimately things were going to only truly improve when the Cold War
ended.
But they couldn't know that. And even if they did... she doubted that
it would stop them. It was the sort of thing that heroes did.

She looked back up at the sky. Somewhere, in the future, provided that
she got back of course... Blackstarr was going to return. Supergirl was
going to be there. To fight. To die if need be. To... somehow... end
her threat once and for all.

NEXT: Supergirl's stuck in the past. How will she get back? What will
be the price? And what awaits her return?