Fanfic: Rhulan vs Young Justice

    Long ago Rhulan searched through the multi-verse for her brother, her method however was flawed, seeking out anomalous energies in the infinite multi-verse trying to stay close to the portal she had originally sensed him through in an attempt to narrow it down. Her first few encounters via this method lead her into conflicts with local beings, or rather she let herself be drawn into these conflicts. Before long she decided perhaps it would be best, especially to keep from being noticed by any higher level beings of those universes if she down played her involvment and focused on her search. However although she tried to keep from becoming a player in their universes sometimes her mere presence alone was enough to alter their histories. She would need a more direct, concentrated means to find her brother, using a far more stable gateway. For this reason she returned to Aesperia. However finding the world in ruins and being controlled by alien forces she remained on Aesperia and eventually united the world through her power becoming the Empress.

 

    Now centuries later, having established her rule, and utilizing the technology of the Ark ship she has decided to use probes and sensors to search the multi-verse. However her curiosity gets the better of her as time goes on, and now she seeks to once more explore these universes for her own reasons.

 

    ******

 

    Deep below the Metal Castle is a labyrinth of tunnels, these passages are not stone, mortar, brick, and the like but rather constructed of smooth plastic like walls, lights, and sliding doors with holographic screens. Even with Aesperia in a new age of technology this place would still seem futuristic. In one of the many labs in this place manned by man, machine, and homunculi, two scientists are working on a very top secret project in a secluded and massive room. One wall has a giant rectangular screen on it with two control panels.

 

    The two men bow to Rhulan as she enters the lab, “Empress,” they say in unison.

 

    “Well,” says Rhulan, “have you located it yet?”

 

    “Empress,” says one man activating a holographic screen before the massive screen showing overlapping bars, “the energy signature you provided has lead us to this alternate multi-verse; however we could not trace your specific reality anchor to the time and place you specified.”

 

    “Well,” says Rhulan, “you only just began to unlock the ancient secrets of this technology, I did not expect specific conclusions so soon.”

 

    “My apologies,” says the other scientist, “what we mean is that we…can’t.”

 

    Rhulan raises an eyebrow alarming the men.

 

   “I…I mean,” says the scientist fearfully, “we have and haven’t and can’t. There is…”

 

   He indicates the diagram, “there is a temporal anomaly affecting this multi-verse, most of its time lines seem to overlap.”

 

   The other scientist pushes a few buttons bringing up one of the overlapping time lines

with a green zone going back and forth into the past and future from a red zone.

 

   “This red zone,” says the first scientist, “seems to be the focus of most of these time lines, it inches forward or backward during each…reboot, as best I can describe it but always seems to remain with in a period of twenty too one hundred years, while also altering its past…and strangely…and I can’t really understand this…its future…even though once it hits a certain point linearly with in this red zone it then starts over…”

 

    “Retcon,” whispers Rhulan.

 

    “Empress?” asks one of the scientists.

 

   She shakes her head, “I will assume then that my trace would be erased from their memories and history, even given my intention to travel to roughly the same point in time. Heh, guess worrying about overlapping myself is not a problem, however…”

 

   She takes off her cape and drapes it over the control panel, its changes forming into a shadow shrinking or perhaps merging with the control panel, if nothing else it fuses enough that the control panel turns black.

 

    “I wander,” says Rhulan, “something vague returning to my memory, I left a trans-dimensional communication device in that universe. I wander if it would be erased during these temporal reboots or simply move positions.”

 

   Her hand glows purple as she waves it over the control panel. The holographic screen vanishes and a circular dimensional window opens in the massive screen as though someone had ripped it like a cloth. In the window the hexagonal device Rhulan had once upon a time given to the super-hero known as Wonder Woman is plain to see, sitting in a museum under glass on a pedestal.

 

   “Well then,” says Rhulan, “lets see what wanders await me this time.”

 

   As she heads for the portal she pulls her cape off the control panel in one swift movement as though it had simply been draped over it. She turns and says, “I will return shortly, after I’ve had my fun.”

 

    ******

 

    “Hold it lady!” yells the security guard, not an older man as one might expect, maybe in his mid forties.

 

    The person however he is speaking too is Rhulan who at this late hour has appeared in the museum and flipped the glass lid off the hexagonal talisman, simply labeled [Talisman, North American, unknown tribe] It is covered in corn husks and strings hiding the real device inside. As the guard looks on she rips off these exterior decorations revealing the device hidden within.

 

    As she turns the guard raises his gun, “I…I mean it lady, you just…”

 

   She steps towards him, or rather in the direction of the exit.

 

   *Bang!* in his stressed out state not to mention her appearance and the fact he saw her on camera appear through a portal the man believing her a super-villain has opened fire. He drops his gun and back off as he sees Rhulan drop the bullet from between her fingers onto the floor. With out a word Rhulan walks past the man who takes a deep gulp as she does so; backing up further afraid to even be touched by her cape.

 

    As she steps outside there is a flash of black and green and a loud crash as she grabs the ankle of this attacker and flings him through the glass door into the museum. The man is on his feet and extends a bow staff.

 

    “You’re new,” says the man, “sorry ma’am but here in Gotham we prefer if you visited the museums during normal hours. Oh and not take the exhibits.”

 

    “A comedian,” says Rhulan, “child you would be well advised to not pursue this action.”

 

   “uh, yeah,” says the man, he takes a quick swipe at Rhulan’s hand holding the talisman,

but finds an unseen force suddenly blowing him back. He stands his ground trying to fight against the unseen force as Rhulan opens her cape; the inner lining turning black and tosses the talisman inside.

 

    The force is released but instead of falling forward the man leaps back. He stands ready, studying Rhulan, well aware a fight here could damage the exhibits and that this opponent is stronger than the typical Gotham City villain. As she steps outside and goes down the steps an arrow flies at her. She takes no action as it is aimed at the ground. The head releases a strange gas. Rhulan flips her wrist and a wind blows the gas away.

 

   “Hold it,” says a young blond woman in green leather aiming her bow at Rhulan.

 

  “Stay sharp Artemis,” says the young man coming out behind Rhulan, “she’s tougher than she looks.”

 

   “Tough enough to use an explosive head?” asks Artemis, “Because that’s what I have aimed at you.”

 

   “Go for it,” says Rhulan, “wouldn’t be the first time someone has tried to blow me up.”

 

 “No!” yells the man known as Nightwing by his comrades as Artemis releases her arrow saying, “She asked for it.”

 

   Rhulan grabs the arrow in mid-air. Nightwing leaps off the side of the stairs as the arrow explodes. A faint blue glow inside the explosion and Rhulan walks out of the smoke unphased.

 

   “Children,” says Rhulan, “you are both clearly human, unless one of the big hitters of your world shows up…I do believe one called himself Super-man, or Wonder Woman, you are severely outclassed.”

 

    “Oh yeah.” says Super boy jumping down from an invisible vessel.

 

    “Sorry we’re late,” says Miss Martian floating down from the cloaked bio-ship.

 

   “Not that I’m complaining,” says Nightwing, “but why are you here?”

 

   “Watch tower picked up a boom tube,” says Super-boy, “she’s Apokalptian.”

 

   Rhulan raises an eyebrow, “So you think I’m a world ender from a…boom…tube?”

 

   She smiles at Super-boy, “your world is truly a strange one…that symbol.”

 

   She crosses her arms and levitates just off the street, “so are you related to Super-man and Super-girl?”

 

   “Whose Super-girl?” asks Super-boy.

 

   Rhulan frowns, “Well…that’s disappointing. But I take it Wonder Woman exists in this iteration of your timeline.”

 

   “Great,” says Nightwing, “another time traveler, just what we need.”

 

   “We’re wasting time,” says Miss Martian as her eyes glow.

 

  “Megan!” yells Superboy as Miss Martian starts to foam at the mouth and transforms into her true white Martian form and falls to the ground.

 

   “What’d you do?!” screams Super-boy lunging at Rhulan.

 

   She vanishes and appears in the air, actually standing on the bioship. Sparks fly from her body making the ship uncloak.

 

   “Psychic backlash,” says Rhulan, her voice broadcasting through their head pieces,

“The other martian in the other iteration made the same mistake, although I do not believe he turned into a monster.”

 

   “She’s no monster!” yells Super-boy leaping into the air.

 

 

   Rhulan swings her hand throwing a purple energy fire ball. Super-boy strikes at it, the violet explosion throws him back to the ground smashing into the sidewalk. He staggers up, his hand burning.

 

    “Stand down!” orders Nightwing, “we aren’t prepared to fight someone like this, not here…we can’t endanger civilians.”

 

   “but…Megan!”

 

   “He is right.” comes the deep voice of Dr. Fate as he appears, “this enemy is a creature of chaos.”

 

    “Oh goody,” says Rhulan floating away from the bioship to float down the street from Dr. Fate, like two gun slingers from the old west.

 

    “Be gone!” says Dr. Fate as he unleashes his golden blast.

 

   Rhulan just stands there with her hand out and absorbs the blast.

 

   “Impossible,” says Dr. Fate.

 

   Rhulan *zips*, appears right in front of Dr. Fate and back hands him.

 

   Nightwing catches him, his helmet falling off.

 

   *Raaah!* yells Super-boy as he leaps into the air after Rhulan.

 

   “Thunder Cannon.” She says as she unleashes the beam like electric blast, sending Super-boy smashing into the side of the bioship which spins, clipping the sides of a building.

 

   Rhulan smiles and flies into the air, opening a sigil like portal, as she walks through it.

 

    ******

 

    “Father.” says Zatanna, “are…you’re free?”

 

    Zatarra the man who was the host of Nabu, the spirit that would change its host to the super-hero known as Dr. Fate is now free of Nabu, sitting in the watch tower infirmary.

 

    “There will be time for reunions later,” says Martian Man Hunter, “for now we need to assess what happened.”

 

    “I agree,” says Zatarra, “Nabu was confused, he sensed chaos magic, but what he saw absorbed his magic somehow. Her blow…*heh* didn’t just slap me, but hit Nabu directly. I think most of the force was aimed at him instead of me.”

 

    “I agree,” says Martian Man Hunter, “considering the state Miss Martian and Super-boy are in.”

 

    “What?” asks Zatanna, “are they hurt,”

 

   “Not by much,” says Martian Man Hunter, “but enough. Red Tornado is running the museum security footage through the villain and hero database to see if anyone has encountered this woman before.”

 

    ******

 

    In the watch tower conference room, Super-Man, Bat-man, Wonder-Woman, The Flash, Martian Man Hunter, Zatarra, Captain Marvel, two Green Lanterns, Hawk Girl, Hawk Man, Plastic Man, and a few others are looking over the security footage.

 

    “No one I know,” says Wonder Woman.

 

   “She may have been trying to goad a fight,” says Hawk Girl, “find a worthy opponent she knew about.”

 

   “You thinking someone new?” asks Hal Jordan.

 

   “Yeah,” says Hawk Girl, “someone out to make a name for herself, there was boom tube activity just before she showed up right?”

 

   “Yes,” says Super-man, “given her powers I too think she is likely Apokaliptian.”

 

   “I don’t believe so,” says Bat-man, “the team reported the way she was talking implied she might be another time traveler.”

 

   He clicks a remote showing Impulse and Booster Gold, “we have had a few recently.”

 

   “Do we know her current whereabouts?” asks Jon (other Green Lantern).

 

   Zatarra waves his hand over their global locator, “Dr. Fate’s encounter was not with out gain, we can potentially locate her. However only when she uses her magic, however I can not promise anything; even Nabu did not sense her until the battle had already started.”

 

   The League looks at the map, as a red dot flashes on the screen.

 

   “I’ll go,” says Super-man as he thinks, “I have to know how she knew about a super-girl?”