capeandcowl | one ✩ voice

Entry tags:

karen starr | power girl

one ✩ voice

[ The ID on the Network appears as Power Girl.

As the audio begins, anyone with a good ear or paying close attention will notice there isn’t complete radio silence between the time the feed turns on and when a woman begins speaking. There’s a passing wind that lightly filters in through the speaker – and are those wings flapping in the distance? ]

Okay, I get it; Lachesis does not appreciate a hands on approach. Does she really call herself that? I guess she doesn’t get memos, but I thought I washed my hands of this alternate universe mess a while ago and I’m seriously not interested in being apart of it.

The City... that’s original. [ A light scoff. ] Should have stuck with New York.

If anyone from the JSA or the League is—oh. One second. [ The audio cuts for about five minutes before it’s switched back on and Peej sighs. ] That was a close call.

Sorry, as I was saying: All-stars or JSA, Leaguers, Titans, heck even Legionnaires ... this is Power Girl. I think I’ve gotten the gist of the situation, but if there’s anything else I need to be briefed on get in contact with me ASAP.

[ Not that her voice will betray how she really feels, but she really hopes she’s not stuck in another alternate universe by herself again. ]

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I've missed you, too.

[It feels like a wait has lifted as she embraces Karen, but she's still concerned. Helena doesn't want to be mourned or for anyone to feel guilt over her, especially not her best friend.

The hard stuff could wait, Hel figured. Today was a dream day. Today would be happiness through tears.]

I just want to look at you. It's been ages. Let me take it all in.

[ She shifts away awkwardly; feelings have never been her forte. She could do a lot of posturing, but the fact is that Peej gets downright awkward when facing her emotions. Especially those related to her loneliness. ]

I'm still the same old Power Girl.

[ She has changed. She's gotten smarter and matured over the years, but it doesn't come to her to say any of that. ]

[She may be the same old Power Girl, but Helena can tell her experiences have changed her. Of course, this particular situation probably isn't helping.]

You certainly are. Just how I remember. You've scarcely changed a day.

[ If she wakes up tomorrow to find out this is all another cruel hoax she's leaving someone in a body cast. ]

Alright... can you tell me what the heck is going on here? Misfit's nice, but I had to get files out of her in order to help.

It's a long story, but to make it short, the porter pulls people into the City from various universes. Initially we were meant to replace the police force. Every imPort has powers. We're given a stipend and a place to live. It's just like the brochure would suggest.

Or rather, it is at first glance.

The brochures weren't very helpful. It may as well say, "You've been kidnapped. Tough."

What's this about dimension hopping, though?

On occasion, we've been sent to other universes as well, and as a general rule they're usually much worse than this one. [Helena lets out a long suffering sigh.] We're talking dystopian, torture-fueled nightmare worlds.

[ She should have known. Her brow knits together in deep thought. ]

To do what? Her "dirty work" as someone's said earlier?

That's one way to look at it. [She shudders thinking about it.] For all the power we've been given here, we really have very little control over this situation.

[ That's how she always feels when thrown into these multiverse shenanigans. She hates the feeling of powerlessness. ]

Any efforts to change that?

Of course. [Though it's a struggle to come up with any in recent memory.] Lachesis apparently has a nasty habit of killing anyone who gets too close.

Talk about a witch with a capital B.

[ She pushes her windswept hair out of her face to look at Helena proper. ]

Truth be told, I'm still trying to get to the bottom of who built that machine in the first place.

Anything? [ She's good with computers, but this is one machine she can't even touch, let alone figure out. ]

There's nothing, Karen. Not even anecdotal evidence about who could be responsible. [She scowls.]

Something's really not right here. There's no way after all this time we haven't come up with anything. [ Her eyes flicker over the city now. A whole new universe.

Again.

It's frightening, to be honest. Helena being alive leaves her feeling overwhelmed with joy, but confusion -- and concern. Past experiences leave a terrible sense of foreboding in her gut. ]

Agreed. But I've looked and found nothing. Dick was here for years. He didn't find anything either. And my father was...

[Her voices trails off.]

The greatest detectives from dozens of universes have investigated this to no avail. And it all started nearly five years ago.

So... [ She promptly turns back to Helena, looking apprehensive. ] What have you been up to this whole time? I heard Bruce was here, but was he the one from our Earth or...?

I've been building a life for myself. Bruce was here for a time, long enough to establish WE. But he wasn't really my father. Rather, he was from an alternate Earth.

[ She extends a hand, clasping Helena's shoulder briefly. ]

I'm sorry. It must have been hard.

[ They're not like the others; they're always looking for that piece of home that's been lost somewhere in the multiverse. ]

It hasn't been easy. But I've got a new lease on life here, and no home to go back to.

[She feels like a jerk the second she says that. That wasn't probably insensitive.]

[ She deflates a bit. It's hard not to think of home in these situations. A home that no longer exists in both the universe and people's memories. That's what really makes it unfair, that they remember everything while others don't. ]

Are you happy here? [ She asks cautiously. ]

[Helena has to consider this seriously. She longs for home, aches for it everyday. But home is gone, and besides that, she'd given her life in the Crisis. All the hopes and dreams associated with home were gone to time. Everything she had known and love, and every secret desire she'd ever had was lost and forgotten. This world was all she could ever really have.]

Yes. I have a life here, and it's a good one. I have a purpose and a place here, and I can do good things. And besides that... [She looked down at her feet, eyes slowly turning up to meet Karen's.] I have a family here. Perhaps they aren't my relatives by blood, but I have them and they're mine.

[ She folds her arms, squeezing herself lightly. Her expression falters at the thought of friends and family. She had lost a lot over the years. Losing Kal, Lois, and Helena had haunted her and hurt her more than anyone would ever know.

But she's made a life on a new Earth. She's got the Society, she's done well with Starrware so far, established a civilian identity to have normal human contact again.

It's not fair, she keeps telling herself. She doesn't want to have to choose again. ]

Then I guess the possibility of coming to my universe when we find a way outta here is out of the question.

[ It's worth asking, she feels. She's found Helena -- or vice versa, whatever -- so why can't they just head back home together? She found a place in that world, she's certain Helena can, too. ]

[Helena doesn't know what to say. The City has become her home. She's happy here. And she has Damian and Jason, and Kate especially. She can't stand the thought of leaving them willingly.]

I don't know. I love my life here. I know it sounds crazy.

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