C2 The Girl Who Was Made Of Steel

Kara laid down on the surprisingly soft metallic surface of the medical bed while Kelor manipulated the surrounding tech to scan her for injuries and abnormalities.

The death of Kara's entire family was a bitter pill to swallow. She was grateful that she had another chance at life, but nothing came without cost.

She wasn't sure how she'd ended up in this life, but she didn't feel like she'd possessed the original Kara's body. She felt like she was her. The emotions she'd been feeling since learning the specifics of Krypton's demise were far too raw and painful to be anything but her own.

Whatever happened to her memories didn't matter all that much. Maybe someday she'd get them back, maybe they'd be gone forever. Either way, Kara didn't have much of a say, so she decided to put it out of her mind.

She had far bigger problems than her own reincarnation.

How many universes existed with a Supergirl but no Superman?

Shit, she hoped she wasn't in that weird Flashpoint timeline with two Barry Allens. Well, she was a blonde, so probably not. One Ezra Miller was already too much in her opinion. She also managed to avoid the fate of becoming a government science experiment immediately upon landing like her counterpart in that universe. For now, at least.

Kara wasn't sure of the state of the Earth, much less the entire universe. She could be on a world ruled by the Justice Lords for all she knew.

"Kelor, can you infiltrate any local communications networks?" Kara asked.

"Yes, Lady Kara," Kelor chimed. "I can access the internet, cellular network, television and radio broadcast systems from anywhere on the planet. If a closed network has any internet connection at all, I can gain entry as well."

"Excellent. In that case, I need a full report on this planet's current situation. Search for any relevant information you can find about recent events and notable individuals. Prioritize information about anyone with so-called superpowers, as well as news about significant advancements in technology," Kara ordered.

"The data will be transmitted to your communicator, Lady Kara," Kelor replied as Kara's medical diagnosis finished. Kara sat up and began to scroll through a projection of the data about this planet that Kelor appropriated from humanity's information networks.

"There are no complications from your time spent in stasis," Kelor reported, and Kara let out a small hum, knowing there were very few health issues that would persist after she took a stroll through some sunlight.

Kara's eyes narrowed as she confirmed Earth's current situation. Something wasn't right. The words she was reading didn't make sense.

The year was 2011.

The President of the United States was Barack Obama. That revelation was nice. A throwback to better days.

Kara did not find whole cities that she was expecting to see on America's maps. Starling City, Central City, Gotham, Metropolis, and their like straight up did not exist on this Earth. She was thrown for a loop and left immensely curious. 

She, Kara Zor-El, Supergirl, wasn't in a DC universe.

Where in Rao's name was she, then?

It was only after she expanded her research to world maps and history that she realized exactly what universe she'd been thrown into.

Wakanda.

Sokovia. 

Iron Man.

Captain America.

Apparently, Kara was in Marvel. That was unexpected...

Crazy, even, but what was a little more crazy when compared to the insanity that was her life?

She'd been prepared for DC, which was weird enough, but to be a Kryptonian in a Marvel universe brought everything she assumed into question.

Right. Yeah. Great. It was unexpected, but Kara could roll with the punches.

Based on what she could see, this was probably the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or close enough to it that she had some idea of what was coming her way. She hoped that's where she was, at least. She couldn't find any evidence of the existence of Latveria, so that probably meant no Fantastic Four.

The timeline matched with what she knew of the MCU, as well. Kara found herself somewhere in between the events of 'Iron Man' and 'The Avengers'.

First of all, awesome. Kara may or may not have squealed a little. Second, maybe not so awesome, because there really were an endless number of things in this universe that were serious threats to her.

On Earth alone, just this one planet, there were secret organizations, aliens, immortals, sorcerers, super soldiers, and more. The list was endless, really. There was no shortage of potential threats. Then again, DC wouldn't have been much better. Humans didn't change that much throughout the multiverse.

SHIELD-HYDRA would be a problem if they got wind of the presence of Kara or her ship. She would need to be extra careful to remain under the radar of the various governments and secret agencies infesting the world.

Still, this reality was one of infinity possibilities and, with all her advantages, there wasn't much Kara couldn't do with sufficient effort. She had more than a few plans and schemes running through her head now that she knew where she was.

According to Kelor, the damage to the ship wasn't critical, but it would take time to be repaired. They were grounded for at least a month or two. Kara could only hope nobody found them in that time, but at least the ship's stealth tech was still functional. They should be safe, but there was no telling what could come her way.

Before anything else, Kara needed to awaken her inborn gifts and become stronger. Without strength, she wouldn't be able to do anything else. Besides, she'd always wanted superpowers. Who didn't? She couldn't wait!

Kelor led Kara to her quarters where she played around with the ship's fabricators, designing the first iteration of her Supergirl outfit.

Kara loved highly advanced alien technology. After barely half an hour of work, she had a full costume ready to go.

Kara stood in front of a mirror and admired herself. She was around 5'3", a little petite, but she had curves in all the right places. Her chest, while not very large, was perkier than she thought possible, and her ass was perfect. She'd always wanted an ass that you could bounce a quarter off. Thank you Kryptonian genetics. Could she even get fat anymore? She doubted it.

Kara was no Powergirl, but she didn't necessarily want tits the size of her head, either. Kara's build was much more lithe, compact, and efficient. Kara knew not everyone was obsessed with giant boobs. You could have a lot of fun with a smaller, flexible girl. No back problems, either.

Not to mention she was cute as shit with her short blonde hair and adorable button nose. She was going to take the world by storm with the innocent yet sexy cheerleader vibe she had going on.

America especially wouldn't know what hit it. A cute blonde girl in a tight shirt and tiny skirt? There was no demographic to which she didn't appeal, except maybe the bitter old prudes who hadn't had sex in decades.

Who didn't love a little eye-candy?

Kara could easily see herself becoming a Tony Stark-level narcissist now that she'd been blessed with a delightfully sinful Kryptonian body and, really, she didn't think there was much of a problem with that.

She was hotter than the sun!

There was no reason not to be a little cocky when she looked this good. She would definitely need every last shred of confidence she could muster up if she was actually going to be a superhero.

Kara was a little embarrassed to admit that she was entranced by her own beautiful eyes. They were a bright sky-blue that shone with an inner light. If she didn't know any better, she would have sworn someone stuffed gems into her eyes.

Kara put on the clothing she created using the fabricator. It wasn't traditional Kryptonian clothing, by any means, but it did use their style as a base. Kara had gone through some of the archives on the ship and knew she needed to add some human touches to her first attempt at a superhero outfit, but she didn't forget to pay homage to her people's heritage.

Kara's Supergirl costume featured a blue bodysuit that hugged her upper body like a second skin and extended down to her upper thighs. No panty shots for any perverts out there, thanks. Over the base suit, she added a flared red skirt, a short red cape, red boots, golden bracers, and a golden belt. The symbol of the House of El, the iconic 'S', was displayed proudly on her chest in bold red and yellow.

Kara loved it.

She looked exactly like the Supergirl of her dreams. This was no costume limited by a third-rate TV studio budget. This was a piece of art designed by advanced alien technology, made with extremely durable materials that could likely withstand most modern weaponry.

Kara's look was finished with a thin silver bracelet.

This was Kara's personal communicator, and it easily re-formed to fit around the bracer on her forearm. It was made from liquid geo, a substance capable of transforming into any shape she desired. She could even form rudimentary weapons with it. It was like a smartphone on Kryptonian steroids.

Kara could use the communicator to contact both Kelor and her ship from anywhere on the planet. It had a variety of other functions from hologram projection to a built-in, self-updating star map. There wouldn't be any getting lost in space for this girl.

All Kara needed to do now was make this vision a reality. It was time for her to awaken her powers.

"Are you ready, Lady Kara?" Kelor asked anxiously. Kara still couldn't believe how much emotion such a small machine could convey with every bob and dip in the air. She was so grateful she had Kelor here with her. It would've been a nightmare waking up in this mess alone.

"I'm ready," Kara said confidently. "Don't forget to cycle out the atmosphere inside the ship until it's indistinguishable from Earth's. I'd rather not go through this more than once."

"Of course. Good luck, Lady Kara," Kelor replied. With a beep and hiss, the airlock engaged, separating Kara from the rest of the ship. With a deep breath, she nodded, "Open the hatch, Kel."

Kara slipped out of the ship the second the door opened. She took a deep breath, looking up at the sun barely filtering through the cover of clouds and trees.

It was more than enough.

Kara's vision started to go haywire, cycling through different spectrums of light. It caused a migraine so intense it felt like her head would split in two. Before she could do more than stumble away from her ship, she fell to the ground, convulsing in pain. 

It felt like knives were being stabbed into every inch of her body while molten lava flowed through her veins. She'd expected awakening her powers to be uncomfortable, but this was brutal. All Kara could do was curl up on the ground and wait until she was released from her agony.

The only slight relief came from the soft, cold, and dewy grass on which she laid, soothing her overheated body, even just a little.

She didn't know how long she laid on the grass, desperately wishing for an end to her agony, but eventually she regained her equilibrium.

Kara's body calmed as her new powers settled. Her body became denser and her skin harder, to the point of near invulnerability. She felt an energy rising within her like the blinding heat of a thousand stars.

Desperate for an outlet, the energy surged towards her head, burning new pathways through her eyes, and blasting outwards in an intense beam of heat vision.

Kara couldn't do anything but direct the river of energy, looking away from the ship and towards the surrounding forest. Her heat vision cut through dozens of trees, starting small fires everywhere it passed.

After a dozen seconds, the energy subsided, and Kara managed to close her eyes with a gasp of pain. "Shit!" she swore. "That was just about as bad as I expected..." She waited about a minute or so to make sure she wouldn't laser everything around her to death by accident and then cautiously opened her eyes.

Kara looked back at the ship he'd arrived on. It was much larger than she was expecting, but then again, it did have a Kryptonian genesis chamber inside. It would be almost impossible to hide such a large ship without cloaking tech, which they did have, thankfully.

Kara wondered if there were any other Kryptonian scout ships in any nearby systems. She recalled how during the Age of Expansion, many such ships were left scattered throughout various potential colony planets.

In one of the timelines Kara was familiar with, there was already a scout ship on Earth. The big question was whether or not that ship existed when she already had her own. If it didn't, were there other Kryptonian artifacts on Earth?

She supposed it didn't really matter, for now. She had lots of time to scout out this planet. She didn't have any intention of leaving any time soon, regardless of when the engines would be repaired completely.

No, before anything else, Kara was going to play with her new powers!

Kara's eyes glinted fiercely as she reached inside herself, searching for something. The loose rocks, sticks, and leaves around her started to float above the ground, fighting against gravity. Her cape rose behind her as she slowly ascended into the air.

She did it! It only took her a few moments to get the hang of flying. It was rather intuitive. Kara suspected a lot of what she was doing was controlled subconsciously, but that wasn't important now. She was flying! 

With a shout of glee, Kara rocketed upwards, into the cloudy sky.

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A/N: Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8 have been posted. Visit me at patreon.com/SlowestTurtle