THE MAID OF STEEL # 39

The Time Trapper stood near the crystal ball in the center of his throne room, the various members of his council standing with him. There were seven members in total, and all but two were assembled watching Supergirl hovering in the air above the billowing clouds of toxic waste that were all that were left of Chemo in Limbo.*

*last issue.

“She is losing control of herself,” The purple-eyed blonde woman said quietly. She’d been hiding within the Time Trapper’s lair outside of time for eons… or so it seemed. “Soon the moral compass that Supergirl had will finally erode beneath the pressures.”

“And she will not hesitate to destroy Lord Xenon when they come face to face.” Rip Hunter said, “And therefore the universe might live.”

“And so it begins.” Alexander Luthor of the lost Earth-3 of the original multiverse said.

“It began long long ago.” The Time Trapper said, the voice rippling from within the darkness of the hood’s folds. “We are just moving into the times that not even I can see, with all of my powers and abilities and means.”

“Events across the board are moving quickly.” Waverider said, “The universal breach* was unforeseen and has had devastating effects on Hypertime. Lord Xenon knows where she is now and will stop at nothing to break free of the prison of false realities hiding his world away. We must move quickly.”

*see Dangerous Toys.

The Time Trapper clenched his fists tightly, “I should just banish Supergirl to the future. I helped shift her into the past before… If we send her to the 31st Century she’ll be able to grow strong and gain control over her powers… lose this darkness. The Legion will give her the strength she needs.”

“We can’t just shift her into the future without her consent.” The purple eyed blonde woman said. “What about her free will?”

“What about the fact that if she isn’t strong enough to stop Lord Xenon, the entire Universe will crumble?” Rip Hunter said, “You know that I’m normally on your side on these things—“ his eyes met the purple-eyes of the blonde woman. “But, this is the world. And it’s her destiny to go to the 31st Century.”

“A Supergirl is destined to be a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes and adventure in the 31st Century.” Alexander Luthor said thoughtfully, “Not necessarily this Supergirl…”

“Not this Supergirl per say, but to defeat Lord Xenon, this Supergirl needs the reinforcement and experience she can only get in the future.” The Time Trapper said dismissively. “Here she often has to hold back and keep her powers in check. The threats here in this time while devastating, are smaller. In the future she will be able to fight entire armies, stand up to rogue sentient planets, and save the entire Universe alongside others just as powerful. It will give her the ability to hone her talents, since she will have enough support that she doesn’t have to do all the heavy lifting.”

“That was a downright glowing recommendation for the Legion of Super-Heroes.” The purple-eyed woman said with a lifted eye, “Considering how much time and energy you devote to thwarting and destroying them…”

“Pish.” The Time Trapper said with a wave of his hand, “You will never understand me. I am beyond the mere comprehension of one such as you.”

The purple-eyed woman did not respond, merely looked thoughtfully at the Time Trapper. There was a rumor that he had once been one of the Legion… corrupted and driven mad. Could it be true? She had long ago stopped guessing at the Trapper’s origins.

“If we’re going to send her we have to do it soon.” Waverider said, “Monarch will soon block all time travel…”

“Then it’s settled.” The Time Trapper said, “I will find the right moment and shift Supergirl to the future. We can leave her there long enough for her to grow strong enough to defeat Lord Xenon and then bring her back only seconds after she first left. It will be like she was never gone.”

“I don’t like this. Not one bit.” The purple-eyed woman said, shaking her head slowly. “Sending her against her will… It’s just wrong.”

“We have no choice.” The Time Trapper replied quietly, his voice taking on an odd cadence. “She has to be stronger than she currently is, or she’ll lose to Lord Xenon… and the Anti-Monitor will be reborn. And, not even I can prevent him from destroying everything if he merges with his other two forms of Lord Xenon and Monarch.”

The purple-eyed woman sighed, staring at the image fading from the Time Trapper’s gazing crystal.

From the abandoned city of Cibola—hidden in the lofty heights of the Kentucky mountains by it’s mystical nature, the Angels Three stood within their temple.

“So we are agreed.” Haurvatat said, crossing his arms across his chest-plate. His armor was forged from shimmering gold and decorated with bits of coral and seashell. “We will go to Midway City and test this newly emerged Angel of Fire.”

“Yes. We must make sure she is strong enough to withstand the tests to come.” Armaiti said, “She is an unknown factor in the war between Wally and the Carnivore. If she turns toward the Carnivore, all could be lost and the Earth will plunge—taking the Heavens with it.”

Asha’s dark eyes blazed, “Agreed. This self-christened Angel of Fire must be put to the test.”

“Then let us go.” Armaita said, her dark skin glistening in the bright light of Cibola.

With the flapping of their wings, the Angels Three took to the sky.

Thorul Estate was a palatial home situated outside of Midway City, not far from where the wilderness of Hawk’s Valley became thickest. It had been built nearly a hundred years ago and had been home to the Thorul family since the beginning.

Selena Moonstone sat in her wheelchair, straining every part of her body to get the dead-side of her body to respond. The doctors said that they were impressed that she’d improved as much as she had—after the brain aneurysm and stroke she’d suffered few would have survived. The doctors weren’t very positive about her chances of a full recovery, and Selena mostly agreed with them.

However, for most of her life, Selena Moonstone (or Lena Thorul-Andru before she’d assumed the persona of a television psychic years ago—using her telepathic powers to her advantage) had not listened to what others said. Her own counsel was the only one she’d trusted for years now. Her terrible powers had helped her get by in life, and now that they were gone, all she could think of was avenging herself against the girl who had caused it all—Linda Danvers.

The books sat in stacks on the desk before her. Volumes on black magic that she’d collected for the last ten years. Selena had always had an interest in the occult, one that now only seemed to have increased ten-fold now that her powers were gone. She knew that magic was the way.

In her current state, even reading and flipping pages could be stressful, and even though her entire body cried out that she should take a break, Selena kept pushing herself to read more, to absorb more knowledge.

“It’s time for your medication.” The voice of Selena’s daughter Nasthalia said, coming into the room, her face unhappy.

Selena didn’t need her lost ability to read minds to know that her daughter was less than pleased that she was having to play nurse maid to her crippled mother. Selena and her daughter’s relationship had always been abrasive at best. It made no sense that she was here, taking care of her, especially when there was an entire staff that could do so.

“I don’t need it.” Selena said, her voice slurred and mangled by her the side of her face that did not respond. “It just makes me sleep. And, I still need to go through the rest of this stack of books today.”

“There is no secret cure in those books.” Nasthalia said, rolling her eyes. “Magic isn’t real.”

Selena did not respond. Her daughter lived a sheltered life—assuming that creatures like Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Batman, Green Lantern, and the Flash were merely created by science. Why was it so easy for people to assume super-humans walked among them, but discount magic? Selena knew that Zatanna was a true magic-wielder—not an illusionist like so many chose to believe.

Nasthalia set the three pills down that Selena had to take three times a day, setting a glass of milk down next to them.

“Take your pills and drink up.” Nasthalia said, barely able to control her contempt.

Selena decided to not make an issue of it, she picked the pills up and took them, swallowing them with a heavy gulp of milk.

Giving the still half-full glass back to her daughter, she watched Nasthalia walk out of the room still looking disgusted.

Once she was gone, Selena spit the pills out from where she’d hidden them under her tongue. She tucked them into a pocket in her skirt, getting back to her books.

Linda Danvers sat at her desk, watching on her laptop the final promos for her interview segments that would air all next week. She’d spent all morning filming them, and even though it was only a little after one o’clock, she was tired from the long morning of forcing smiles and appearing at ease as she introduced the segments.

She’s spent all day yesterday interviewing vapid movie star and star of the Secret Hearts soap opera Delora Huston. It had been the most excruciating assignment she’d had so far and she’d spent each moment wanting to throttle the shallow empty-headed woman with her fake tan, fake blonde hair, and surgically enhanced chest. Why did they have her doing these fluff pieces when there was real stories out in the city? It had only been two weeks since Chemo had been unleashed on Arrington Park, and yet all they were giving her were fluff pieces. And, the actual coverage of Arrington Park did nothing to reveal the devastation that had occurred there.

Linda sighed, wishing she could forget the destruction as easily as the powers that be were trying to here at the TV Station. But as Supergirl she’d barely been able to stop Chemo and so many lives had been lost. She considered it her biggest failure so far.

Joan Dale-Trevor had been in constant contact with her, assuring her that she’d done the best she could with the situation and that she couldn’t take the blame for Chemo’s attack. But deep in her heart, she knew that Chemo was there because she lived there. The fact that Clark and Karen hadn’t had much contact with her since, only made her feel more convinced she was to blame.

And, public opinion about Supergirl had only continued to turn sour. Kevin Yates of the Meta-Research Development Group was gaining more supporters in his attempts to outlaw any meta not directly sanctioned by the U.S. government and having gone through a training program. While Linda saw the wisdom in training, she did not approve of having to operate through the government. Especially when it appeared that the government agencies in charge of meta-humans seemed to want to stick them on the Suicide Squad or make their lives miserable.

Linda picked up the phone on her desk, dialing Peter Barton’s direct line.

“Peter.” She said as her producer and director Peter Barton answered.

“Hey, Lin. Are you finished watching them?” He sounded nervous. Linda knew that Peter took a great deal of pride in his work.

“These promos are perfect. You’ve worked your usual magic.” She cooed, even though she did not feel like stroking his ego.

“Thanks, hon.” He said, sounding relieved.

“I’m going to call it a day. I have a migraine. Besides, we don’t have anything else lined up today, do we?”

“Nope. We’re still editing your segments for next week. I’ll have at least two for you to look at tomorrow.” Peter said.

“Sounds good.” Linda replied, “Have a great day Peter.”

“You too.”

Linda hung up, then gathered her things and headed out.

When she hit the street outside of the TV studio, she felt slightly relieved. Fresh afternoon air greeted her lungs and she realized that she had nothing else to do today. She had no desire to go back to her apartment where a Buzz waited, possessing her boyfriend. Nor did she want to visit her friend Donald Henry—the hero Silverhawk who had appeared on the scene recently. She just needed some space. And, her friend Craig Morris was currently off on some Midnight Men adventure.

Linda found an alley where she transformed to Supergirl without any one being the wiser, and took to the sky. High above the city, with the people reduced to specks on the sidewalk and the buildings looking like children’s toys, she felt a small measure of relief.

She floated there, her back to the city below, staring at the sky above. The sky up here was a deep blue as she was close to the last layers of atmosphere before space. Her mind turned to the Time Trapper—he wanted her to go to the future and hang out with the Legion of Super-Heroes. More and more these past few weeks she had found herself contemplating the offer. Maybe some time in another century was just what she needed.

She found herself almost completely relaxed and the last tendrils of stress having melted away when the screams from below reached her super-hearing.

Brains had spent so much time these last weeks in her lab, toiling over the samples of protoplasm she’d gotten from Supergirl after using her proto-bomb on her, that she hadn’t been home to own apartment more than a few hours here and there. She knew that she should go home and rest, but she couldn’t stop now. She was so close to a break-through.

The pink spongy material had not been very forthcoming originally. In her first few weeks, Brains had mostly been concerned that she would use all of her samples without yielding anything of use.

Now she was finally starting to see results. The protoplasm was beginning to respond to her various tests. And now she appeared to have caused something to change within the protoplasm.

Twelve test tubes lined her work station. In each of them protoplasmic samples the size of her fist writhed and wriggled.

Brains smiled broadly. Finally they were getting somewhere. She had been stalling the Council for weeks now, telling them any day now she’d have results for them. Up until today she had been concerned that she wasn’t going to have anything concrete for them.

Now she had all that she needed to convince them that she was worth the time and money they had been funneling into her.

Looking at the vials featuring blood and tissue samples, Brains bit the corner of her lip. What she planned was far more ambitious that anything she’d ever tried before. This went beyond the science and technology she’d crafted for the Council before. This put her in the leagues of Cadmus and Dr. Frankenstein. The blood and tissue had cost her a pretty penny, and if Lex Luthor ever discovered that she had them there would be hell to pay.

“Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.” Brains said, her eyes moving from the vials of blood and tissue to the protoplasmic writhing in the twelve test tubes.

During her time at Luthor’s labs, Matrix—a.k.a. Supergirl, had been subject to many tests. And while Luthor’s records indicated that she was primarily protoplasmic in nature, during some tests he’d been able to draw actual blood and tissue. Apparently Matrix had somehow been able to replicate actual human tissue. And, while Matrix had destroyed all the samples of her protoplasm Luthor had, she had been unaware of the blood and tissue he’d drawn.

Smiling, wickedly Brains knew that those samples were the key to everything now that the protoplasm was responding to her testing and experimentation.

“Soon the Council will see that I am the only one suited to being the next one to sit at their table.” Brains whispered to herself, “And, if they don’t see it that way… I will have the means to crush them and take over.”

Senator Gayle Marsh looked at the stack of reports on her desk. The devastation from Chemo’s attack on Arrington Park kept rolling in. She sighed heavily. It would take years for the affluent suburb to recover. Frowning deeply, she clenched her fists, anger flashing through her.

She knew that Lt. Jacobs was behind this.

She’d vetoed his idea to bring Chemo to Midway City to endanger it’s people—making it look like yet another of Supergirl’s old villains coming to settle a score, and catching the people of Midway in the crossfire. Gayle had gone along with it up until Jacobs had hired that moron Dynamic. After people had been hurt, Gayle had told him to hold off. And, she had unequivocally stated that he was not to go to the Council and attempt to get Chemo.

Gayle Marsh’s expression darkened.

She wasn’t a bad person. She had never been, even though she’d been labeled a villain as far back as her first appearance in costume as Psi back in Chicago—when she’d fought Power Girl. Then she’d been manipulated by her then-guardian Dr. Pendergast, who had attempted to use her as an agent against an otherworldly horror called Decay that Pendergast was convinced was slowly infecting the world. He had been convinced that it was Power Girl—but later Psi had realized it wasn’t Power Girl, and Pendergast temporarily became a vessel for Decay—before she’d shifted them both back to dimension Decay was imprisoned within.

After her stint in the Suicide Squad and temporary death—the one reversed by the Dominator’s Gene-Bomb, Psi had rededicated herself to stopping Decay. Sensing Decay’s power in Midway City, she had come here—getting involved in politics so that she would be in power when that horror attempted to cross-over again and claim Earth for it’s self.

It was only during the past year or so that Gayle Marsh had realized that Pendergast had merely mistaken the super-powered blonde that would be the vessel for Decay’s corruption of the world. Working for prophesies, he had assumed that the woman he was looking for was already among them. Little had he known….

It had not been Power Girl. It was Supergirl. The strange life-form that as far as Gayle could determine was part-human part-science experiment-gone-wrong part-something otherworldly. That otherworldly presence within Supergirl reeked of Decay. He extrasensory powers and elevated psychic powers sensed as much.

As soon as Gayle had sensed that presence not long after Supergirl had arrived in Midway City, she had dedicated herself to passing legislation that would make it illegal for Supergirl to operate within the state. If Supergirl were kept away from the seat of Decay’s power on this plane, then surely all would be safe until she could figure out how to banish Decay from this world forever.

However, thanks to Lt. Jacobs, her attempt to keep Supergirl out had left all of Arrington Park devastated. She looked to the glistening town on the other side of the lake from Arrington Park—christened Arlington Park. It was where Gayle Marsh’s quite but lavish mansion sat. She rarely went home, spending her time instead in her penthouse here in the city. Had Chemo ended up on the other side of the lake. The people of Arrington Park were all affluent and well-to-do. Arlington Park on the other hand… the richest of the rich lived there.

Gayle frowned.

She had never been able to read Lt. Jacobs. The thought had not troubled her much up until lately. She had never really tried. Now she realized that there might be something more to Jacobs than she had thought. And, that lack of knowledge could cost her everything…

Reaching out, Gayle used her psychic powers to locate Lt. Jacobs. In the past weeks, she had learned to find the psychic vacuum that existed where ever he went. Going over to her cabinet, Gayle moved the secret panel to reveal her Psi costume.

She was wearing it more and more these days… and she was afraid of that. It would be far too easy for someone to put two and two together and figure out that the once super-villain was actually Gayle Marsh.

However, right now she had no choice… this was something only Psi could do.

Supergirl streaked down from where she had floated, almost reaching peace, heading straight toward the sound of the screams. While the people of Midway City might be feeling uncertain about the benefits of having Supergirl as a resident, she was still determined to let as little trouble befall them as possible.

She found herself in the Red Zone, where people ran like they were on fire.

And, Supergirl quickly realized that several of them were on fire.

Standing in the center of the street were three people—they were all exactly six feet tall. A male with long shimmering blonde hair—so light it was nearly white stood in the middle. He wore armor that appeared to be gold with shell and coral. The folds of cloth that were draped around his waist, coming to his feet, appeared to be several layers of gold netting. His eyes were a deep green. The two women beside him were a study in contrast. One had dark skin with light brown eyes, her hair was long and flowing, the color of sand. She wore a gold chest-plate with precious jewels and stones embedded within it. Her skirt appeared to be woven from bright vibrant leaves. The woman on the other side had skin so colorless it was ivory colored. Her eyes were a curiously dark shade of orange and red and her long flowing hair matched the shade of her eyes. Her chest plate was decorated with entwined flames and her skirt was made of flowing layers of orange, red, and yellow silk that swished and swayed like dancing flames.

“Ah… the Earth-Bound Angel arrives sisters.” The male said, approvingly.

With her super-breath, Supergirl put the people on fire out.

“She moves to save the mortals first Brother Haurvatat.” The dark-skinned woman said.

“Indeed Sister Armaiti.” Haurvatat said, “She undoes all of Sister Asha’s delightful flames.”

“I don’t know who you freaks are,” Supergirl said, turning her attention back to the three people standing in the middle of the street—oblivious to the stalled traffic and the panicking people all around. “But, you’re going to regret coming to my city and hurting these people.”

Supergirl landed in the street several yards from them, steeling herself against the fight to come.

“Oh, how quaint.” Armaiti chuckled. “She fancies herself their champion. Let’s see how much she fancies protecting them after this.”

Armaiti extended her hand and with a flickering gesture pointed toward the ground beneath Supergirl.

Supergirl screamed as the ground disappeared beneath her—and then rose up to crush her before she could bring herself to fly. The pain was terrific as the earth attempted to crush her and in the pain she found herself thinking, “How can she hurt me?”

Sylvia Danvers walked down the streets of the Red Zone, oblivious to the danger that most people would have spent their time in a fear of.

Since the destruction of the Holy Queen of Heaven Church several weeks back*, Sylvia had spent all of her time helping fund-raise and doing what she could to help rebuild the church.

*see Supergirl: The Maid of Steel #34.

Initially there had been an incredible amount of anger within her directed toward her daughter. But, over the past few weeks, Sylvia had begun to let it go. Her daughter did a lot of good as Supergirl—and she was an Earth-Bound Angel. Sylvia had faith in her God that her daughter was only being tested—that the forces of evil were converging against her. Sylvia knew in her heart she had to remain strong for her daughter so that her daughter could persevere.

So caught up in her own thoughts, Sylvia did not notice Lt. Damian Jacobs following her. He’d been behind her for several blocks and turned when she turned, took the same streets she took, and was barely concealing he was behind her. Most people did not notice Jacobs however, and if most of them had turned to look, all they would have seen was a strange blur of motion that they wouldn’t have thought more than three seconds about.

She began to make her way up the steps of the church when the sounds of screaming reached her. She looked as people began running by, frantic and full of fear.

“—Supergirl!”

“—fighting super-villians—“

Fragments of sentences bounced toward her, all of them horrified and full of fear.

She found herself feeling guilt as she realized that her daughter was in the center of whatever horror was transpiring several streets away.

Lt. Jacobs made his way away from whatever was going on with Supergirl in the Red Zone. He’d wanted to spend the day following Sylvia Danvers, but whatever was going on involved the Angels Three. He needed to get out of there. They would surely see through his disguise if he wandered through their view. He wondered if most of the people he encountered in his day to day life realized who and what he really was.

He doubted it.

The spell that protected his true identity and hid him from the world while moving around beside them was so good that few would see through it. Supergirl certainly hadn’t, and she had been near him several times—of all the people he’d run into in his life, she was most likely to see him for what he really was.

Nor had Senator Gayle Marsh.

Lt. Jacobs smiled to himself. He’d been playing that fool like a fiddle for months now, getting her just where he needed her so that he could get Supergirl where he needed her. When he was done with Supergirl, she would be completely broken. And of course that did not bode well for her father Fred Danvers.

Making his way through parking garage where he’d parked his car earlier in the morning, he found the cool darkness of the parking garage a relief. He preferred the shadows. Too often his life as Lt. Jacobs involved being out in the sunlight, where all shadows were chased away.

Jacobs laughed. He knew Supergirl’s true identity. Was it why he had chosen the Danvers all those years ago? At this point he couldn’t remember. Of course, Linda Danvers had been a good ten years away from assuming the powers of the Earth-Angel and fusing with Matrix when he’d first come into their lives, but certainly the girl had glowed with a power beyond most mortals even then. There had been something about her… probably why the demon Buzz had chosen her for his games to begin with.

When he was done with the Danvers family, Linda Danvers would be broken, and the corruption of the Earth-Bound Angel would be complete—and the Carnivore would reward him greatly.

He reached his car before he realized that something was wrong. He’d been so wrapped up in his own thoughts and his disguise that he had forgotten to remain completely aware of his surroundings.

Her barely avoided the blast of intense psychic energy Senator Gayle Marsh unleashed upon him. Or should he say Psi? She was in her golden bikini with matching boots and the heavy black hooded robe that obscured her features.

“Wearing that old get-up more and more lately, eh?” Jacobs said, pulling himself to his feet from where he’d tumbled in avoiding the blast.

“I’m here as a warning Jacobs.” She hissed, “You cross me again… or threaten my agenda again and I’ll destroy you.”

Jacobs did not reply instantly. He was unsure if Psi could actually destroy him or not. She was certainly powerful, and she had blasted the demon Decay into another reality years ago—where it remained trapped to this day, despite the weakening of dimension walls here in Midway City. His powers were only slightly more than Decay—and right now with him in deep cover as a mortal, he did not have full access to all of his powers… it was part of the spell he’d woven to hide among them. To gain full access he’d have to drop the spell, and he couldn’t do that if he hoped to hurt Supergirl until everything was perfectly lined up.

Jacobs swallowed and took a deep breath. He would suck this one up, letting Psi think she had him under control. When the time came, he’d destroy her as well.

“Understood.” Jacobs said.

“Good.” Psi said, then flew off into the afternoon.

Jacobs watched her go, carefully guarding his thoughts—knowing her abilities might allow her to sense them.

The stone prison exploded as Supergirl used all of her strength to shatter it.

Flying back up to street level, she landed—facing the three villains who still stood there.

“Ah, very quickly she destroyed your prison Sister Armaiti.” Haurvatat said, “She’s quite stronger than even we suspected.”

“I don’t know who you are, but you’ll find that I’m a lot stronger than you suspect.” Supergirl said, her anger exploding and sending her flying forward toward them.

Haurvatat swatted her aside like she was a fly.

Supergirl slammed into a building, flying through the wall and ending up in a crack-den. Shacking dust and bits of brick from her, she flew back out into the street.

“Another quick recovery.” Haurvatat said approvingly. “She is talented. I’ll give her that.”

“You’ll find that I’m full of surprises.” Supergirl said, her anger tripled—and flames exploded from her eyes and the fiery wings unfolded from her back.

“So quick to pull out all the stops.” Asha said with a cluck of the tongue, “Foolish girl to reveal your cards so soon.”

Supergirl let the flames from her eyes shoot out in a column a blazing orange and red.

Asha extended her hand.

Supergirl watched in horror as the woman absorbed the flames.

Before she could even move, Asha sent a volley of the Angel Fire back at her.

When her own fire slammed into her, Supergirl felt all the oxygen in her lungs evaporate and blackness swum before her eyes. She collapsed to the broken ground beneath her.

“That was easy enough.” Asha said, “Perhaps we overestimated the newborn.”

TO BE CONTINUED