ALL NOVEL CHapter 54.1
Kara stared at Dexter, her body frozen in place just as she was about to enter the room.
Dexter stared at Kara, his body frozen in place, a single paw lifted mid-step, and a golden meteorite in his mouth.
Kara’s heart skipped a beat, and she nearly threw herself back, her muscles tensing painfully before the entire situation registered in her mind and she relaxed.
Rao damnit, she had forgotten to erase Dexter’s access when she coded the locking mechanism.
Yeah, she had been a little distracted and the box wasn’t supposed to be a permanent thing, but still… She had to be more careful with that. Putting a mechanical lock as well would have prevented the problem. —always put redundancies, Kara, always overdesign!
Glaring from the cat to the open box he had dropped on the floor, she tapped the controls on her phone and activated her radiation shield before stepping into the room.
For his part, Dexter dropped the kryptonite, sat down, and started licking his paw, waving it over his head while pretending he had done nothing wrong.
Her heart hammered in her chest, the scare leaving her slightly breathless. Kara threw herself at her armchair and gave a few more commands through her phone, activating one of her Karabots. A second later, the cat jumped on her lap, his paw lifting and hooking small claws around her hand, trying to drag it closer to his head.
Unconsciously running a hand through his fur, she watched as the robot gently picked up the kryptonite before depositing it inside the box, locking the container, and putting it on top of her desk.
From her previous memories, Kara had already known the gold variety probably deactivated kryptonian powers, but could also cause amnesia or, well, who knows what else?
Thankfully, Kara had been experimenting with kryptonite for a month now and she could more or less analyze any new variation by their radiation, using the computers to simulate its effects on a kryptonian body with a 92% accuracy before daring to employ the meteorite on Im-El
Gold Kryptonite was simultaneously one of the most and least dangerous varieties she had managed to recreate.
On one hand, the radiation permanently destroyed a kryptonian’s ability to absorb sunlight, completely neutralizing all of their devastating powers. If that wasn’t bad enough, fixing the depowering was nearly impossible.
On the other hand, contrary to most forms of kryptonite, the radiation didn’t spread very far, requiring someone to be much closer to the rock to even feel its effects, the damage took a long time to become permanent and caused no physical pain.
Also, as she had just told Im-El, losing her powers wouldn’t be the end of the world. It would suck, sure, but her armor could already replicate most of her abilities… if at a slightly lower level.
“Come on, time to leave,” she said, grabbing both the container and the cat before walking back up the mountain.
Kal was waiting for her at the top of the stairs, a smile on his face as he watched Dexter squirming in her arms. Together, they turned back toward where the others were waiting and started walking slowly.
“You know, I used to have a cat too.”
“What?” Kara looked up at him, surprise in her face.
“Yeah, Fuzzball was great,” he said, a hint of nostalgia in his voice. Extending his hand, he ignored Dexter's swipe and let him sniff his skin before actually managing to scratch him behind the ears. “Found her when she was just a kitten trying to fend off some coyotes. I was afraid Ma wouldn’t let me keep her, so I hid her in the barn for a little over a week.”
“But… you lived on a farm?” Kara asked an amused smile on her face. “Did you really think they’d make you kick her out?”
“Well, I know that now,” he said, actually managing to take Dexter from her, the cat hanging bonelessly from his arm that way only cats can do. “In my defense, I must have been six at the time and Pa had refused to let me keep the Bison and Eagle I had taken home before.”
Kara paused, her mind picturing a young Kal dragging a huge Bison over his head into the farm, the creature utterly baffled at its situation.
That’s… Martha had to have pictures!
Putting the box inside one of her own pockets, Kara shook her head in amusement. “What happened to her?”
“At the time I thought she’d be with me forever, and she did have a long life,” he said, finally dropping Dexter to the floor when the cat couldn’t bear the indignity of being in his arms anymore. “One day she just came into the bed and... passed away looking at me. It was so unexpected I didn’t even register that her heart had stopped. She was the first living being I cared about that died.”
“Fuzzball had always loved the Moon, so, after she passed, I flew her up there and buried her in a place I knew she’d enjoy. Where I could always look at her and she could always see me.”
Despite everything, Kal had a bittersweet smile on his face, the memories clearly bringing him joy instead of sadness. Kara shook her head and smiled back at him. “You know, one day one of those NASA robots is gonna run into her grave and be very confused.”
“Heh, I think she’d like that, she had always been mischievous,” Kal laughed, making his amusement clear.
For a moment, they let the silence stretch between them, only their steps echoing through the hallway but, before long, Kal paused and turned fully toward her. “Kara, what’s wrong? You’ve been preoccupied for the entire day. I thought it was just about Im-El but…”
Stopping, Kara watched as Dexter glanced back at them, but continued walking, eager to get back to Kori. Her first instinct was to just say ‘nothing’ or ‘it’s fine’, avoid the talk entirely, leave it for later. But this was important, she couldn’t just backtrack.
Releasing a long sigh, she spoke. “… Do you have time after this? I need to talk with you.”
“I was going to accompany Im back to the farm, and get him settled, but Connor can do it if this is urgent?”
“No, it’s… kinda urgent, but one or two hours aren’t going to change anything,” she said, feeling a weight leaving her chest. “Anyways, I also have to put the kryptonite away so, can you meet me at the Fortress in an hour or two?”
“Yeah, I can do that. I’ll see you in two hours then,” Kal nodded to her, enveloping her shoulders with one arm and squeezing. “And, Kara, thanks for being here, for helping out, I really appreciate it.”
Feeling warm inside, Kara started walking again, soon reaching the main room to see Im-El tasting one of Kori’s snacks, his face turning purple as he desperately tried to keep the abomination down and not disappoint the smiling Tamaranean.
“Alright, are we ready to leave?” Kal said, getting everyone’s attention.
Kon and Im traded a look, the latter hesitated, but Kon wrapped an arm over his shoulder. “Come on, they’re going to like you.”
Kara stared at the duo, a mixture of pride and amusement on her face. Ever since he started living with the Kents, Kon had really grown up. It had only been a few months since he was the confused one, not knowing how to react to her actions.
“Don’t worry,” Kara said to the uncertain boy. “The Kents have my respect, I am certain you’ll like them. I will visit you tomorrow.”
“…Thank you,” Im-El nodded his head.
Approaching the duo, Kal patted the boy’s shoulder. “Let’s go, bye Kara, Starfire.”
Kara watched the three of them leave through the Zeta-Tube more than glad to see Kal taking care of the kids. Turning towards Kori, she tapped the box in her pocket and spoke. “Can you bring Dexter home? I have to drop this in a secure location.”
“Of course,” the Tamaranean beauty floated closer, wrapping her arms around Kara and giving her a quick kiss. “Do not stay in the room of testing for too long.”
“I won’t. See you.”
The cat released a long, suffering ‘meow’, his tail held high as he pawed the Zeta-Tube and glanced back at them, Kori didn’t even have to pick him up, just open the reinforced glass door and step inside.
Kara stared at the empty spot they had just been in for a few seconds before using her teleport platform to go directly to her moon base. She could have left the kryptonite in the Fortress, but she actually wanted to dispose of the stone, not just store it for later.
Also, she needed something to do until her cousin arrived else her anxiety would start acting up again.