Tales From the Cave-Megan Morse and the Seven Dwarves

Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away—called Happy Harbor, California—there was an alien girl who lived in a mountain.  Well, technically, it was only a mountain on the outside.  On the inside, it was a hi-tech superhero hideout for teenage superheroes.  But you get the idea.

This girl was from the planet Mars, but had come to escape the raging war that had left her an orphan.  Her name was M'gann M'orrz, niece of the famed Earth hero Martian Manhunter.  She had skin as green as emerald jewels, eyes like two tiny pools of sparkling caramel, and long hair as red and radiant as the setting sun.  She was indeed very beautiful.  And although she had many friends, the person she wanted to be closest to kept his distance.

His name was Conner Kent, and although he and M'gann shared some special moments with one another, he mostly avoided her.  He was only interested in getting his DNA donor, the great and powerful Superman, to notice and accept him into his life.  He often took M'gann for granted, from her warm, comforting smiles to her kindly-intentioned homemade cookies.

Meanwhile, all the way on the other side of the Earth, there was a small but powerful country called Bialya.  It was ruled by a tyrannical woman named Queen Bee.  She reigned over her country with an iron fist, threatening to execute anyone who dared question her authority.  But of all her flaws—wrath, pride, greed—perhaps her most dominant sin was her vanity.

Queen Bee was extremely beautiful, and loved to flaunt it.  She had her servants give her daily beauty treatments, complete with facials, manicures, pedicures, massages, waxings and deep-cleansing rinses.  She wore only the finest dresses and gowns, and adorned herself in gold and jewels.  Not only that, she made it her mission to see that no other woman could become more beautiful than her.  She made the other woman rub their faces with acid to distort their features, and dressed them in shapeless black frocks to hide their figures.

But perhaps the biggest example of her desire to be more beautiful than anyone else was her enchanted mirror.  It had been a present from Ra's Al Ghul, imported from India, made of shining gold and adorned with glittering rubies, emeralds and sapphires, completed with only the purest and clearest reflective crystal.  Every morning after rising, before she'd do anything else, Queen Bee would stand before her mirror and repeat the exact same statement everyday.

"Magic Mirror, on my wall,
Tell me who is the fairest of all."

And every single morning, mist would appear in the crystal as a deep, mysterious voice came from the mirror and repeat the exact same answer.

"You, my lovely lady Queen,
Art the fairest ever seen."

As long as the mirror spoke these words and these words only, Queen Bee was content.  But little did she know, that was all about to change.