Empowered, Part II

I knew that the Justice League was headquartered on a satellite, but I had no idea how to find it. Rumor was, it was cloaked from most human technology. So I did the next best thing. I flew to Gotham (the flight took under a minute!) to visit the Hall of Justice.  The League no longer officially met there, but there were a few supers on staff there, and it was open to the public. Despite my new body, I didn't want to be seen as a trespasser until I had a chance to tell my story.

Black Canary was on duty. She came out to meet me when she saw "Power Girl" arrive on the security monitors.  Right away, she knew that I wasn't the original Kara. It was only then that I discovered that my face still retained some of its Asian features.  I could tell that Canary knew something was up. Her pulse started to race, and she eyed me like I was some kind of impostor.

"You're not Kara. Where is she?" she demanded of me.

I shifted awkwardly. "It's a long story. Can we talk somewhere privately?"

Canary still looked suspicious, but she led me to a conference room. I couldn't help but wonder if she had a stash of kryptonite, just in case I should prove to be an enemy. (Power Girl's immunity to kryptonite was a well-guarded secret at the time.)

I took a deep breath and told my story.  I did my best to leave all of the details in, but there was still so much I didn't know.  Black Canary looked at me skeptically, but apparently I convinced here that I wasn't there to trash the hall, and she began to treat me respectfully, if somewhat formally.

"I summoned Superman as soon as I suspected something was up. He'll want to have a look at you. If your story checks out...wow." Suddenly her expression turns melancholy. "If your story checks out, that means we've lost Kara." From what I understood, Power Girl usually kept her emotional distance from other supers, but the death of a colleague would hit anyone hard.  "We can't simply admit you to her place on the League, not without proper vetting and training. We're going to have to insist that you follow some guidelines about using your powers until you're cleared."

She was interrupted when the door flew open and Superman flew in in a streak of red and blue. He looked me up and down, and I realized that he was using his x-ray vision to more fully scan me. Suddenly, I felt very naked before his gaze.  The Man of Steel frowned after a few moments. "Well, she's clearly not Kara.  And yet she appears to be kryptonian.  Come here...what did you say your name was?" Superman had a gentle manner about him that made me want to trust him. I had admired the Man of Steel my whole life. I realized I was having a fangirl moment.

"It's Marcus," I said reluctantly.  Superman raised an eyebrow.

"When Kara transferred her lifeforce to him, her powers and body imprinted on his DNA and rewrote almost everything about him. Only his memories and personality remain intact."

"This must be a terrible shock to you," Superman said, his voice full of sympathy.  "Come here. Stand in front of me and face me. Put your hands against mine and push."

I did as I was told. I pushed him back a few feet.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm testing your strength. I had a pretty good sense of how powerful Kara was." I could see that his gentle face was now troubled.

"Don't go easy on my account," I said. "I'd like to know how strong I am, too."  We resumed the exercise, with Superman bracing himself this time. Again I pushed him back almost effortlessly. I was about to accuse him of mocking me, but I realized that his face was showing strain and effort. That could only mean...

"Marcus, I'm going to have to ask you not to leave this building until I can consult with the rest of the League.  Dinah, don't let her out or allow anyone to see her until I return."

"Should I put her in a cell?" Black Canary asked. I knew their intentions were good, but the thought of being made a prisoner made me nervous.

"I'm not sure we could hold her if we tried," Superman said before flying off.

I did my best to reassure Black Canary.  "I promise I won't go anywhere. I'm as curious as you are to find out what's happened to me," I said.

Canary looked worried, as if I were a bomb that might go off at any time. But she did nothing to restrain me.
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I stayed in the Hall for the rest of the day.  There were some residential suites still maintained, so my time there was far from uncomfortable.  I was allowed to test my abilities in the gym. I maxed out all of the weight machines, which meant I could bench press more than a hundred thousand tons. There were some steel plates which were fun to melt with my heat vision, and I tested out my x-ray vision through the walls of the Hall. I'm not sure I'll ever get used to having powers, but at least I had a better sense of how to control them.

Black Canary provided pizza and beer around 6:00.  I wasn't hungry, but I appreciated the gesture.  eating made me wonder how I would support myself if the League decided they didn't want me.  I had no ID for my new body. Could I get a job in construction or as a courier without papers? The thought of modelling or otherwise selling my image wasn't appealing to me in the least.  I saw how the press had treated Kara before I became her.

Shortly after dinner, I had my first visitor.  The Batman was easily recognizable, although he did not even so much as greet me. He just glared at me from under that cowl of his until I was made to feel profoundly uncomfortable.

"Can I...um...help you?" I asked.

"Superman says you're off the charts," he said in that raspy voice of his.

"I guess so," I said. "All we did was push against each other for a minute or so."  I really didn't like where this was going.

"The others are all still debating about what to do with you.  A few want to give you membership immediately.  A few want to exile you out of our universe. One thing is clear. We can't just leave you to your own devices."

"Why not?"

"You're a lose cannon.  Right now, I'm not sure we could bring you down if you went rogue, or if you were mind controlled.  I hate situations I can't control." The threat was evident in his voice.

"I'm sorry. I didn't ask for this," I said, feeling more uncomfortable by the minute.

"No, and you don't deserve this," the Batman said. He reached into his belt and pulled out a glowing green stone. It looked a little like the red stone I had swallowed that morning.

"What's that?"

The Batman frowned even more than usual.  "This is the one surviving piece of kryptonite from your home universe.  Kara knew I had it, just in case.  We tested it on her twice. Each time, she was on the floor and gasping for breath within a few seconds."

"I don't feel anything at all."

"That's what worries me."

"So you don't trust me because you can't kill me?"

"You catch on fast."  I can't believe I used to idolize this guy.

"So I take it you're going to vote with those who want to send me to another dimension?"

The Batman took a long time before responding. Even though I could apparently clean his clock now if I wanted, something about the guy still frightened me.  "We'll see. I have a lot of respect for other members of the League.  If they vote to keep you here, I'll honor that. But I'll have a close eye on you."

"Good," I said, really wishing he wouldn't.

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A few hours later, Superman returned with the news.  I was to be granted probationary membership in the League. Effectively, that meant I had trainee status. I was going to be allowed to ride along on a few low-risk missions to observe.  Then, when the time was right, I was going to be assigned to a team that mixed rookies and veterans. There were always going to be at least three supers around me, just in case I did go nuts.

If I did go nuts, it was going to be from all the paranoia that these dudes were sending my way. Really, all I wanted to do was to experience superpowered flight and to diddle myself silly. But there was a big part of me that was thrilled I had been asked to join the League. If they could really look into my heart, they would know that this was a dream come true for me. I wasn't about to fuck that up.