Tales From the Cave-Beauty & the Superbeast

Prisoner in the Cave

Conner dragged Geppetto to the main room, the latter still calling for his daughter. "M'gann! M'gann!" He looked over at Conner, his grief turning to rage. "You monster! You let my daughter go!" Conner picked him up easily. Even though his appearance had changed, he still had his Kryptonian powers. "She's no longer your concern!"

He threw Geppetto into the only working Zeta tube and typed in coordinates. "Take him back to wherever he came from!" Despite the old man's desperate pleas and cries, the tube whirred to life, and he was gone in a great big flash of blinding white light.

No sooner was he gone did Wally the candlestick come hopping in. "Isn't this great?", he exclaimed, jumping for joy. "M'gann's back! Now all we gotta do is get you two back together, and—" Conner turned around. "Get us back together?! I just separated her from her father! I doubt she'll want to go on a date with ME!"

"You said she's the only girl you could ever love!", Wally protested. "She's the only one who can break the spell!" Conner snorted. "Break the spell?! Wally, I gave up hope for THAT years ago! I'm surprised you haven't done the same!" Wally shrugged his metal shoulders. "Well, even if she doesn't break the spell, can't you at least offer her a more comfortable room? A tiny little cell isn't a girl's idea of homey." Conner scoffed as he stomped back towards M'gann's little prison.
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He found her crouched in the corner, her green face buried in her knees. Sensing his presence, she looked up, and he saw that her eyes were puffy and red from crying. She turned her head away from him. "You didn't even let me say goodbye.", she said. Her voice was shaking, but she still spoke in a tone as cold as ice.

Conner suddenly felt ashamed, something he hadn't felt in years. Maybe Wally was right. Maybe he could be a little more hospitable to M'gann. After all, she had just sacrificed her freedom to save her ailing father. The least he could do was give her a more decent place to sleep in.

He unlocked the cell and held the door open for her. He waved a deformed hand at her and said, "Follow me. I'll show you to your room." M'gann looked up at him in surprise. "My...My room?" "What? You wanna stay in this rathole?", Conner snapped, what little patience he had already wearing out. M'gann didn't ask any more questions. She simply rose to her feet, dusted off the skirt of her dress, and followed him into the hall.
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The hallways of the Cave were dimly lit. Familiar paintings now seemed scary. M'gann was frightened as she walked a few steps behind Conner, who was using Wally to light their path. She never thought Mount Justice, which held so many happy memories for her, would turn into a place of such despair. Right now, she felt scared and lonely and homesick all at once.

"Its funny.", she said at last. "I don't remember this place being so...gloomy." Conner turned his head to look at her over his shoulder, the shadows creeping on his face making him look even uglier. "A lot of things changed after you left." M'gann had a hundred questions, but Conner's expression told her he didn't want to talk about it, so she held her tongue and continued along the way.

Conner sighed as he stared at her. Somehow, it didn't surprise him that she had willingly agreed to take her adoptive father's place to save his life. It was a small comfort to him to know that she was still the same kind, loving, compassionate girl he had fallen in love with all those years ago, and was still in love with to this day. Wally nudged him. "Din't just stare at her like a creep.", he whispered. "Talk to her." Conner shrugged. "What do I say?" "Say something."

Conner looked back over his shoulder. "Well, I hope you like it here anyway, M'gann. This is your new home. Or your old one, depending on how you look at it. Either way, its yours. And you can go wherever you want." He made sure she was looking at him, then he added, "Except for my room." This caught her curiosity. "Why?", she asked. "What's in your room?" "ITS OFF-LIMITS!", Conner roared, turning around to snarl at her. That got her to be quiet for the rest of the walk there.

At last, they came across a familiar door. It still had Megan painted on it in pretty pink letters, and the flower stickers surrounding her name were still in tact. He punched in her passcode and the door slid open. M'gann stepped inside, and was surprised to see that everything was exactly the way she had left it four years ago. Her bed was neatly made, her butterfly sheets smooth and her heart-shaped pillows fluffy. Her books and knick-knacks sat on her shelves in perfect order, her clothes had been washed and pressed and hung in her closet, and there was not a peck of dust and dirt to be found. It was as clean and tidy as the day she had left.

"If you need anything, just call.", Conner told her as she took it all in. "Someone will come as soon as possible to help you." Wally nodded his head ever so slightly, so that M'gann wouldn't notice and freak out. "Good, good. Now invite her for a romantic dinner." Conner's twisted mouth formed a thoughtful pout. That didn't seem like such a bad idea. In fact, it was a pretty good one.

"You will join me for dinner.", he said bluntly, not sounding very nice. "That's not a request!" M'gann spun around just in time to see the door close, leaving her very much alone. At that moment, the pain of losing her freedom, her family, and all her hopes and dreams attacked her all at once. Not even the familiarity of her old bedroom could comfort her.

She ran across the room, flung herself on her butterfly sheets, and sobbed into one of her fluffy pillows. Just outside her window, the snow continued to fall harder and harder, the freezing blizzard outside matching the winter of despair that had arrived in her heart.