Six Months Later

Six Months Later

You can't aimlessly wander forever, Sue.

The thought echoed in her head yet again as she walked through the streets of Metropolis -- a city that, in her old universe, didn't exist. She'd been moving from place to place for half a year, unable to settle down, slowly processing the fact that everything she knew was now gone. She looked at her phone, pulling up the website for the city's local newspaper, the Daily Planet; on the front page, there was another article about the city's beloved hero, Superman. It served as another reminder of Sue's old life, fighting alongside the Fantastic Four and others like them. After reading the article, she couldn't help but wonder -- did this world have a Fantastic Four? If so, she hadn't found any evidence of them. Obviously, it had crossed her mind to seek out the address that, in her universe, would have been the Baxter Building. She'd obviously also considered looking up this world's Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm, and her multiversal counterpart here (if they even existed), but she hadn't quite been able to bring herself to do it just yet. I need a little more time, Sue thought. Just a little more time.

As she continued to walk down the street, she heard a loud crash. Looking over to the source she saw people, running and screaming, trying to evacuate as a series of metal tentacles began emerging from the street. It had been an uneventful six months for Sue since arriving in this world; she hadn't come across something like this since having to leave her old life behind, but she didn't hesitate to spring into action; she wasn't about to let anyone get hurt.

The tentacles were attached some strange robotic creations Sue didn't recognize; nevertheless, she wasted no time generating a **** field to separate them from the escaping civilians, following that up by constricting the **** field around the robots. Laser focused on her task, she was able to not only resist the pressure the robots exerted trying to escape the field, but also to crush the metallic invaders; it was a decisive victory for Sue, but as she looked around to make sure the civilians were okay, she realized she was now the center of attention. This had been the first time she'd used her powers in public -- looks like it was about to become a lot more difficult to stay off the grid.

"Um, I think you're all safe now," Sue told the crowd. "Now you can get back to your day." She turned away and started to walk off, but was quickly stopped by a hand on her shoulder. Sue turned to see a very attractive dark-haired woman standing in front of her, holding a recorder and notepad, a press badge identifying her as a member of the Daily Planet.

"Not so fast, Miss...?" the reporter asked.

"Um, Susan," Sue said. "Look, I should probably go. But I'm glad I could help."

"Susan. Nice to meet you. I'm Lois Lane, reporter for the Daily Planet," she said. "Would you mind answering a few questions for me...?" She asked.

"With all due respect, I'd rather not," Sue answered politely, hoping to end the conversation quickly. "I just wanted to help those people. I'm not looking to attract attention to myself."

"I understand, and I totally respect that. But would it be too much to ask you a few questions, off the record? You're new here, right? I'm a very well-connected woman, I can help you if you need it," Lois offered. "If you need time to think about it--"

Lois was interrupted by a familiar guest, who landed right between the two of them.

"Hey, Lois," Supergirl greeted the reporter. "Superman's off-world right now, so I'm on Metropolis duty..." she began, looking at the wreckage around them. "...but it looks like it wasn't needed. Who did this?"

"Uh, that'd be me," Sue said, raising her hand sheepishly. "No big deal. I saw people in danger, so I stepped in."

"Well, you did a fine job," Kara said, impressed. "Taking out a group of rogue Brainiac drones without breaking a sweat? That's pretty impressive. You've done this before, haven't you?"

"Yeah..." Sue admitted. "...a few times. I'd rather not talk about it, though."

Kara could tell this was a touchy subject for Sue. "Fair enough. I know when not to pry... unfortunately for you, that's her job," she said, gesturing to Lois. "You might wanna watch out. She'll get a story out of you one way or the other."

"It is my job, but I'm not looking to put you on the spot," Lois reassured her. "I'd just like to talk a little, off the record."

Sue looked to Kara, who gave her an encouraging nod. "You can trust Lois. If you've got questions, she's the right person to talk to... and if you're willing to talk to her, I'm sure she can help you. We both can," Kara said, extending a hand to her. "I'm Kara, by the way. Also known as Supergirl."

Sue looked at Lois & Kara. They seemed sincere in their offer, and she got the feeling they were trustworthy. Besides that, it had been six months since arriving on this world -- she knew she couldn't stay in the shadows forever. Maybe it was time to finally take a step forward. "Well, I do have plenty of questions," she said, shaking Kara's hand. "The name's Susan Storm."