11891/Trouble in the family

Trouble in the family
Date of Scene:	06 July 2022
Location:	Lower Levels
Synopsis:	Problems with Kara are discussed, plans are made.
Cast of Characters:	Clark Kent, Donna Troy, Victor Stone

---

Clark Kent has posed:
    Different superhero groups have a myriad of ways to reach out to each other if they need to talk to share info. Some are more cryptic than others, depending on the heroes involved. Fortunately, the Justice League and Teen Titans already have lines of communication, so it's not difficult for Kal-El to set up a meeting with a couple of the Titan's leaders. When they enter the Hall of Justice, they are ushered into the private elevator and into a meeting room.

    Kal stands up from the table and greets them, saying "Welcome, and thank you for coming on short notice. I'm a bit worried over something and wanted to get your opinions." A firm handshake is offered to each of them, and he indicates seats beside his own.

    "If you'd like something to drink, we've got a fairly wide selection of beverages." He may be Superman, but he grew up on a farm and had good manners instilled in him from the beginning.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna responds to Superman's greeting with a brilliant smile. The man has, after all, been a friend and role-model to the Titans ever since they started out on their course. The smile drops quickly after the handshake though. "Let me guess," she says. "Kara."

    The Titans had received two separate warnings that something was not right with Supergirl. Donna had passed on the intelligence to the Justice League, though it would hardly be surprising if they hadn't received their own inklings by now. Or possibly even a visitation from the girl of steel herself, who is apparently on a quest to remove all traces of Kryptonite -- or 'murder rocks' as she seems to have taken to calling it -- from the world.

    Honestly Donna is a little torn. She can certainly sympathize with Kara not wanting there to be Kryptonite around. She's seen the effect it had on Kara, when Braniac exposed her to some. She doesn't want her friend to go through that again. On the other hand, what happens next time Zod shows up? It's useful having some around.

    What's more worrying is that the reports have suggested that Kara is not in her right mind, possibly quite literally. She has been being /mean/ to people, and that's very unlike Kara.

    "I'm fine," Donna says with a polite nod to the offer of a drink, as she takes her seat. "Though depending on how this conversation goes I may need a stiff drink by the end of it."

Victor Stone has posed:
    Vic shakes Kal's hand just as firmly, with a smile, not quite as brilliant as Donna's. But, then, it's hard to smile as brightly as Donna does. He goes to sit down in one of the offered chairs, shaking his head. "I'm good, thanks. And yeah, if one more person on the team's got identity issues I might need something stronger than a beer."

    Well, the oldest of the Titans aren't exactly /Teen/ Titans anymore. They do, in fact, have alcohol at the Tower. Don't tell the press.

    "Any chance it /isn't/ Kara? Any chance there's, I dunno, some alien menace incoming that we can just punch instead of one of our friends acting all weird and--" He stops, gives Donna a sidelong glance. Clears his throat. "Sorry. Just kinda been a... rough few months. Anyway, what do you need?"

Clark Kent has posed:

    Kal sits back down after his guests do, shaking his head with a rueful smile and addressing Donna first, "I know that feeling all too well." He picks up a remote, pressing a button to activate a holographic display. It's the start of a recording Donna and Victor have probably seen already, Vivian's interaction with Kara.

    He doesn't start it playing yet, instead saying "I'm afraid it is Kara. Vivian sent a copy of this to Reed, who forwarded it to me. I'm more than a little worried about it, as you can imagine."

    In a quick aside to Victor he adds "I think I would prefer something to punch too. This sort of thing is very tricky to deal with."

    "Is there any chance we're looking at a leftover doppelganger? We have sensors to warn if there's a new incursion, but if it had been here for a time it wouldn't set off any alarms."

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna returns Vic's sidelong glance with one of her own. Identity crises have been a thing of late, as Donna knows all too well. Though for her, having technically not existed for a significant chunk of those last few months, that roughness has hit pretty hard in the last couple of weeks and that's not something she really wants to address right now.

    She sighs softly and leans back in her chair. "I'm pretty confident it's not Kara's doppelganger. You remember what she was like -- she was a whole lot /nastier/. However when I last saw her, she was rather repentant. I don't think..." she breaks away, frowning. "Okay. So actually Kara's was the first of the doppelgangers we really dealt with. I mean properly. I don't know if you had anything much to do with that alternative world the doppelgangers came from after we dealt with Zhed'Zhud'Ger'Uth. But on that world, Themyscira was never conquered. The divine protection of the island held the creature's psychic influence at bay. The Amazons there couldn't leave the island or risk being lost to it, but they were safe as long as they stayed, and they allowed in a large number of refugees to build an opposition, waiting for the opportunity to do something. After we delivered the cure that Tony Stark and SHIELD developed, they have been able to go out into the world again and start fixing things."

    "I explain all this, because after we defeated ZZGU and took Kara's doppelganger prisoner, Kara and I took her to Themyscira. The Amazons there agreed to hold her as a prisoner and rehabilitate her. And she seemed eager for that absolution. I can't guarantee that she didn't change her mind and break free, but it's unlikely. She was extremely well guarded. Besides, that Kara didn't speak English. If she has learned to since then, it would be with a Themysciran accent. And certainly she wouldn't have been here for a long time, or the Amazons there would have got word to us. SHIELD maintains some interaction with that world."

Victor Stone has posed:
    Vic peers at the display, and then sighs. Yep, it's Kara that this is about. He frowns thoughtfully through Donna's explanation, and then nods. "Yeah, of all the dopplegangers, Kara's is the /least/ likely to show back up. This is... probably not that. I mean, I wouldn't rule it out, but..."

    He shakes his head. "So what other options are there? Mind control or influence, some other kind of shapeshifter, or just... Kara having a /really/ bad time of things?" He raises an eyebrow and looks between Donna and Kal. "We've only got the two reports so far and that's not /quite/ enough to make a pattern just yet."

Clark Kent has posed:
    Nodding as Donna elaborates the doppel-Kara's security arrangements and current situation Kal shrugs slightly. "I was hoping for the easy solution to this, but it looks like that's not what we're working with. And her questions about Kryptonite are worrying as well. If something is controlling or influencing her, she's either looking for a way to make herself safe or a way to be able to take out those of us most able to match her strength. Neither one of those is what I would call a good thing. There's a reason I haven't gone looking to remove it all from the planet, and that's because there needs to be something to counter the various Kryptonians should one or more of us try and take over like Zod."

    He sits back, pressing the button to play the scene as it sounds like Victor may not have seen it. He has the volume low and continues the conversation as it plays. "Mostly, I just wanted to get your take on things as they stand. I would appreciate if you have any Kryptonite that it be moved to someplace secure that Kara doesn't know about until we figure out exactly what is going on."

    "Also, if you could give a heads up to the other Titans you can trust to keep a secret, we can see if this is more than having a bay day or two. Because Victor is right, we don't have enough to say there's definitely a problem. But that" he motions at the recording "is not the Kara I know, and it isn't the Kara you guys know. So we need to find out what's going on. For now, I'll stay in the background, because my stepping in would alert her to something going on. You, on the other hand, would be expected to ask her how she's doing and such."

Donna Troy has posed:
    "Reports are she's being mean and dismissive to people," Donna says to Vic. "Mocking. That's just... that's just not Kara. She doesn't have a mean bone in her body. I refuse to believe that this is just her having a bad time of things -- I'm with Kal on this one. This is not the Kara we know. Besides, we're pretty close. When she's having a bad time, normally she'd come and talk to me."

    "I don't really buy the shapeshifter idea either." Donna puffs her cheeks back and looks to Kal. "This interest in 'murder rocks' as she puts it -- I mean honestly that part /does/ sound like Kara. She is not a fan. When you guys went on your pilgrimage to Krypton, we had a visit from Zod's crew. When I admitted to her that we used Kryptonite against them -- well not them directly, but to disrupt their ship -- she was not happy with me. She understood the necessity in the end, but she wasn't happy about it."

    "A shapeshifter wouldn't have a personal interest in Kryptonite. And if they were trying to get their hands on some for nefarious purpose and pretended to be Kara to get some, it would make a whole lot more sense to be friendly and ask nicely than to be rude to people and make veiled threats."

    Donna leans forwards again, elbows on the table, fingers intertwining. "No, I think some form of mind control or mind alteration is the most likely explanation here. So the question remains what to do about it. Given the reports so far suggest she's kind of... self-centered and egotistical rather than gone outright supervillain, I wonder if we could maybe persuade her that something isn't right. "

    "As for sources of Kryptonite -- we don't. Not exactly, anyway. Robin sourced some for us when Zod showed up. We returned what was left over. However when we used some on the Sunstone Crystal of Zod's spaceship it kind of infected it, and they had to shed parts of the infrastructure. We do have some samples of the Kryptonite-infected sunstone. It's weird, but it's not exactly Kryptonite. Our sample has been magically warded so I'm pretty confident Kara can't get at it. However the Fantastic Four also have samples, and they should be warned."

Victor Stone has posed:
    Vic narrows his eyes and nods. "Yeah I'm with you on that, Donna. I'm just... keeping options open, y'know? Whatever's wrong with Kara, I want to be sure we fix it, but that means knowing what's wrong."

    He watches the scene, shakes his head slightly. "How do we find out? I mean, who could get at a Kryptonian like that, mentally? Pretty powerful telepaths, something magical...?" He sighs. "I've got the feeling we might have to just... ask her how things are and see how she reacts, though."

Clark Kent has posed:
    "Reed is the one who let me know about this, so he's already slightly on guard. Once we're done here, I'll ask him to make sure the security of his samples is stepped up a notch." He looks between the two Titans and asks "Is there anyone else you think we should bring in on this for now? I don't know that we want everyone around Kara looking at her weirdly, that would probably make things worse. But we do need to keep tabs on her until we get this all straight. I don't want her to graduate to full supervillain when nobody is looking."

    Sitting back in his chair, he taps one finger on the table while he thinks. "Okay, so I'll keep in touch with you while you look into the situation. I'll have Reed make sure his Kryptonite stays unknown and secure." He mentally checks those off the list he's building in his head. "If you think it would help to have me talk to Kara, I'm available any time. She just might take it as 'telling the adults' on her, as it were."

    He looks back to the others in the room and asks, "Can either of you think of anything else right now?"

Donna Troy has posed:
    "I think Richards has the same stuff as us," Donna muses. "The kryptonite-infected sunstone. Vic can tell you more but -- it's fundamentally different. We don't know if it has an effect on Kryptonians, that's not something we thought sensible to risk finding out. Whether it might be possible to use it to manufacture kryptonite though?" She raises an eyebrow at Vic. "Using it as a seed-crystal in some solution that bonds to the impurities, maybe. There's a distinct possibility that Kara will be concerned it could be used in that way, and consider it almost as dangerous as the real thing. "

    "We can offer Reed, and anyone else who might perhaps be a League member who keeps a supply of the real stuff some magical wards, if that would help. But we might want to consider removing all known supplies to somewhere off-world until we can sort this out. Bury a cache on the moon with only a handful of us knowing the location."

    Donna drums her fingers rapidly on the table top a few times and then leans back hard in her seat. "Gods. I hate this. No I think it's best if we try to keep things as friendly and non-confrontational as possible for now. This is Kara, after all. We shouldn't lose sight of the fact that we need to help her. "

    "Our team has been warned to be on the alert. Whether that means someone looking at her weirdly -- well that can't be helped. It wouldn't be responsible to not warn everyone. This... this new Kara seems to have a big self-reliance thing going on though. She may just /not care/ how people look at her. If it comes to confrontation though Kal? Yeah it would be handy to have you around. And it may be a good idea if we warn the rest of the team to be sure not to be confrontational. At least unless there's two or more of myself, Caitlin, Vic, Kori, America or Mary Marvel present. "

Victor Stone has posed:
    "Yeah, I've been thinking about that, but not in any kind of meaningful way. Using the sunstone as a seed for Kryptonite, I mean. I wouldn't want to figure out how to make it and have that accidentally get out, you know?" Vic chews on his lip. "But maybe... maybe it'd be good to test what we /do/ have on a Kryptonian just so we can see what it does, if someone's willing. It might become important pretty quick."

    Cyborg sits back, brow furrowed as he thinks the problem through. "Hope for the best and prepare for the worst, I think. Come at her politely and friendly-like, but have whatever /actual/ Kryptonite we've got lying around should definitely be put somewhere safe, and someone else told about all this that /doesn't/ confront her. That way, if the confrontation goes bad and it turns out some supervillain's mind-controlling her, there's a backup plan."

    He huffs out a breath. "I hate this too. But... Kara wouldn't want to hurt any of us. She wouldn't want to do something awful to the world. She'd want us to help her."

Clark Kent has posed:
    "I would be willing to test it." Kal considers for a moment, then shrugs slightly. "I just hope it isn't the cause of her behavior, because if it's suddenly both Kara and I going bad, that makes for a much bigger problem. I'll ask Reed for a sample of his Kryptonite so you have that in reserve to keep me under control if the Sunstone test goes poorly." And that's typical Kal-El, willing to throw himself under the bus to help someone he cares about.

    "I'd suggest any testing we do be in the Watchtower. If anything goes wrong, there's a lot less damage I can do on the Moon then down here. Other than that, I can't think of further steps we can take." He looks to the other two again. "Any other thoughts or ideas? If not, I'll let you get back to your evenings."

Donna Troy has posed:
    "I'm confident she didn't get at our sample, anyway," Donna says. "But I guess that's something we could check up on with Reed just in case. Unless we've got reason to suspect that she did come in contact with it I'd be wary about any such tests. We don't want to have you out of it while there's a danger Kara is losing control, Kal."

    "Having said that... it's not impossible that there was some of the infected sunstone left in orbit. We tried to get it all but there was a fairly large amount. It's possible she went looking for some."

    Donna pinches the bridge of her nose. "Okay. Look, if it's decided that testing it is the right thing to do, it should be tested in absolutely minute quantities, build up the exposure very slowly and monitor for changes. And I'd strongly recommend that just in case this stuff /does/ turn out to turn Kryptonians grumpy that we take significant precautions. At a minimum... sorry Kal, but this just makes sense. If you're going to test that stuff out, it should be done when either myself or Diana are around to keep you lassoed until we can be sure you're not about to go on a rampage."

    She tilts her head in Vic's direction. "Unless there's anything else, want to go get that beer now? I could use one."

Victor Stone has posed:
    Vic holds up his hands in Donna's direction. "Hey, I was /not/ about to do /any/ testing without pretty in-depth precautions. You know me and lab safety." If anyone in the /world/ is a stickler for lab safety precautions, it's Cyborg. There's a reason he's /Cyborg/, after all, and not just "Victor Stone, MVP NFL Quarterback."

    (Look, a guy can dream, right? He totally would've been MVP, right? Anyway.)

    "I think we're good, though. Well, as good as we're gonna be with all of... this. We've got a plan, hopefully we're overreacting. If we're not... then we can handle things." A pause, and he adds, "Maybe we might want to think about using the lasso on Kara in general, if we can. Might help figure out what's going on. But... yeah. I could /definitely/ use that beer."