ALL NOVEL Chapter 49.2
She did manage to pierce his skin quite easily with Nth metal, but that had almost been a given and she currently had a VERY finite amount of the metal. Finally, Kara had some sensors put on the Captain’s body and asked him to transform.
That Zeus's power could reach Billy even in Kara’s sanctuary wasn’t exactly a surprise, but it was still unwelcome. It seems she still hadn’t managed to block divine influence reaching her bases despite the latest adaptations she had made. Would she need to find more Nth metal to fully protect things?
Billy looked far too small on the examination table. The kid wore his school clothes, the sensors appearing directly on his skin and under the clothes, causing him to shiver from the cold.
“Did you get anything, Miss Kara?” he asked, pushing himself up on his elbows.
“Just a second,” she watched the information on the screen, finally smiling a little. “Yep, it’s not everything I hoped for but, frankly, I didn’t expect anything so…”
From behind her, Kara caught Amber trying to peek at the information. “So, what was all that about?”
“Mostly testing ways of getting through his defenses to be honest,” Kara explained, pointing at the robotic limb. “Most of those are things I have adapted into weapons.”
“And why, exactly, do you need to get through his defenses?” the girl narrowed her eyes, putting herself between Kara and Billy’s untransformed body.
“Don’t worry, that’s just how I’m used to doing things,” Kara smiled at seeing the scene. “On my planet, I used to find faults with other projects; I’d then find exactly why that fault happened. Most of the time, it’s not exactly easier this way but, with magic, I don’t have much to start with. Also, well, Billy isn’t the only one with this particular set of powers.”
“You’re talking about Black Adam?” Billy asked, lying back on the table.
“Well, you’re pretty much one of the strongest magical beings on the planet, getting through your defenses would definitely help me against all other spellcasters,” Kara smiled at him. “But, yeah, Black Adam is one of the ones I’m most concerned about.”
Stepping away from the table, Kara made sure to save all the data she had, making two copies and putting one in her pocket. From the other side of the room, her Karabot pushed two exam tables, both with mattresses.
“Alright, do you girls want to change clothes before we start? I’m gonna have to put the sensors directly on your skin,” Kara turned to look at the twins, but they just shook their heads.
Both of them took off their outwear, revealing superhero costumes behind. Amber wore a black leotard under her jacket, yellow lightning patterns all around the costume. Amy’s was far more modest: dark blue in color, the costume had a skirt and covered all her limbs, with a small, white cape over her exposed back, a thunderbolt imprint on it.
Amber stood straight, a hand at her waist as she dared Kara to critique her or her sister’s costumes, but Amy was as red as a tomato, avoiding looking at anyone and doing her best to cover her modest chest with both hands, the costume wasn’t even revealing, not much different from a dress really.
“We thought it best to have the costumes, we’re not cleared to leave the labs without supervision yet but, just in case you know?” Amy said, sounding nervous.
“I can work with that,” Kara shrugged. She needed to get the sensors on skin, but that was easily accessible with the costumes.
“I like it, it reminds me of my own costume,” Billy commented, causing both girls to turn away from him and avoid his eyes.
An hour later, she was done with gathering information, it also seemed like Zeus' power was getting… annoyed at constantly being swapped between them, actually causing Billy to wince by giving him a small shock.
Kara doubted very much that Zeus himself was constantly watching over the boy, and Billy had said he could call upon the power as many times as he wished, but being drawn to Amber and Amy seemed to make it… harder to use after a while.
Probably something to do with Billy being pure while the girls… not as much. In any case, Kara didn’t want to take any risks and she had enough information to continue her study.
Seems like it really was the Power of Zeus that protected Billy from her teleportation, because Kara couldn’t use the teleportation gun against the girls when they were channeling it.
Against Black Adam… it really could go either way. The supervillain was empowered by a different divinity, so it was entirely possible that his protections were not the same, but Kara didn’t want to risk it.
Still, she had a lot of information and, actually, replicating the twins' meta-ability seemed entirely possible with some work, much easier than manipulating the magic directly. Kara already had some thoughts about that, even if they required some of the limited materials in the Fortress.
Looking at the time, Kara noticed it was getting late. Unfortunately, the Titans were still out and the girls had a curfew, so they wouldn’t be able to meet the team this time.
That’s what she gets for not warning Kori she’d be doing this today, but it was a last minute thing, Kara had called Billy in the morning and he was already going to visit the girls.
“Alright, we’re done here today,” she said, pushing herself away from the console. “You guys want to see the magma chambers?”
“YES!” all three of them answered immediately, the girls putting their clothes back on.
Both Billy and Amber went ahead, led by the Karabot towards the artificial volcano, Amy wasn’t as eager, walking calmly beside Kara, paying attention to every part of her lab with a spark in her eyes.
“I thought Rhode Island didn’t have a faultline,” Amy asked, feeling more comfortable with her costume covered.
“It doesn’t, I made an artificial volcano to generate thermal energy.”
“Won’t the magma eventually cool down and solidify?” The girl lifted both eyebrows, trying to think about the facility.
“Yes, but the chamber is large, it’ll take half a year for the magma to cool down enough that the energy generated starts to drop,” Kara smiled at her. “When that happens I’ll just compress the resulting rock, use it to reinforce the chamber and refill it again. I’ll be able to do that thirty times before I have to start taking the material out.”
“That… seems like a lot of work,” Amy commented, her voice sounding uncertain, as if afraid to criticize her.
“Not with my tech, Krypton was far more developed than Earth,” Kara shrugged, finally stepping into the elevator chamber. “I confess having a volcano base did factor into my choice, but the alternatives were only marginally more effective.”
The elevator dropped, traveling down towards the magma chamber in only a couple of seconds, the doors snapping open to reveal Billy and Amber looking at the flowing magma behind a transparent crystal wall.
The observation room was expensive to make and maintain, needing constant shielding to keep safe from the heat, but the view was really nice.
“You know, I once fought in a volcano,” Billy commented, looking back at Kara and Amy as they arrived. “Doctor Sivana didn’t have such a nice view though.”
“Did you beat him?” Amber asked.
“He wasn’t there, just some robot of his,” Billy answered, a smile on his face as he remembered things. “It was pretty nice, being able to fight all out without having to worry about civilians.”
Kara herself was interested in hearing the story, mostly to see if she could find the location later, so they sat down in front of the flowing magma slowly moving against the crystal, the red light illuminating them and making for an interesting atmosphere to tell tales.
Finally, Kara took the kids back to STAR labs. Technically, the twins only needed to check in with the lab twice a week, the medics there acting almost like probation officers, but the two of them didn’t have legal guardians and, because of their power, the government couldn’t put them in a group home.
Kara knew Red Tornado himself was actually thinking of adopting the pair but, because of his current legal situation, the court was still discussing his viability. On one hand, he was a well established hero that could clearly give them the help they needed and, on the other, it wasn’t so long ago someone had sued him to try and regain their ‘property’.
She had thought to try and help out, but really, there was nothing she could do to accelerate the process that Batman wasn’t already handling. At this point, it was left to the lawyers and the Judge.
Still, Kara made a mental note to take them out more often. She’d have to have a member of the League with her for the court to accept it, but it wasn’t like she didn’t spend time training with Kal or Wonder Woman every week.
Captain Marvel stayed with them for a little longer while Kara stepped out, teleporting back to the Fortress. She wanted to start experimenting as soon as possible.