Chapter Eighty: Stand Together or Fall Apart
The moment Lois Lane returned back to Earth after making a trip into space, she could feel something was really wrong. Lois moved into position down onto the ground. She could hear the screams of people. One of the Intergang goons rushed down the scene of the battle as fast and as far as his legs could carry him.
Lois pushed her ear piece into her ear. "Okay, Chloe. What's the situation here?"
"I'll try and get you caught up," Chloe said. "Intergang's got a new weapon. It releases a virus which affects people who are not completely human."
A few seconds passed with Lois pushing her fingers back and touched the top of her dark haired. Lois dropped down to the ground and heard the thumping off to the side. "Define the term not completely human. Because there are a lot of empowered people out there with the meteors, not just aliens like Clark and Karen and…."
A couple of seconds passed with Lois taking a second to adjust her thoughts. She realized that Intergang was just was being used by the person who gave the weapon. Lois looked from her left and noticed a truck rolling down the area. She moved closer into the back of the truck.
"No matter what, don't you dare let anyone get ahold of this truck!"
The two goons off to the side nodded. They clutched their weapons into each other. All Mannheim told them to do was to make sure to hold onto whatever was in the back of this truck.
"Hey, boys!" Lois yelled. They looked up in the sky in time for Lois to smash one of the weapons out of their hand. "Sorry, too slow."
The gang member disengaged the blaster and fired at Lois. The Green Lantern flew off to one side and came back into the top of the armored shoulder of the Intergang member. Lois flipped the gang member over onto his feet and forced him to land onto his back with a large crash.
"Yeah!" Lois yelled. "You're going to have to…."
One of the Intergang goons on a building fired a net at Lois. Lois dropped to the ground to be ensnared by the object. She struggled against the net with Lois ripping her way out of the net. The attacker went to fire another gun. An arrow caught the back of the blaster and it exploded.
The Green Arrow descended back down to the ground. She fired an arrow through an open window. Tear gas filled the area and the goon rushed out of the area. The goon swung his fist at the attackers. The Green Arrow blocked the attack and caught her enemy with a repeated series of punches to the head. She snapped her fist back and sent the goon flying back down to the ground.
"Duck!" she yelled.
Lois ducked the dagger coming an inch away from parting the back of her head. The goon caught the dagger back into her hand. The goon summoned the dagger back and flipped it into the air. The dagger exploded down onto the ground off to the side of Lois.
A bright seal of green energy brought the dagger down to the ground. The Intergang goon rushed towards the goon. An arrow fired down onto the ground. The Green Arrow drew back the bow and propelled another arrow at the goon. The blast knocked the Intergang goon back.
"Keep them away from the truck!"
One of the attackers had been flipped up into the air and ascended up. The loud crack echoed with one of the goons being dropped down. A figure dressed in black moved through the shadows. The Intergang leader followed the attacker moving out with the scope of his gun.
Batwoman flipped into the air and grabbed the goon around the arm. Both of them struggled against each other with Batwoman catching her attacker repeatedly with a series of elbow smashes. The final elbow strike cracked the goon down to the ground. She flipped back up behind the attacker.
The attacker fired two bullets at Batwoman. She disappeared into the light just in time for Lois to nail the attacker with a construct. The Green Arrow shot the weapon out of his hand. The Intergang member dropped down to the ground with the breath driven out of her.
"They're setting up one of the relay stations!" Chloe informed them. "There are three of them in total to release the bomb. You're going to have to stop them."
Lois viewed three of the goons putting down a large tower on the street. The tower sunk in the ground and burned into the ground. Lois backed up to get a closer look at the tower.
"Yeah, I can see it," Lois said. "What do we do to stop it?"
Supergirl hovered high above the sky. She twisted back a couple of inches before leaning back down onto the ground. The van containing the DEO agents rolled up.
"I think that if we shut down one tower, we can get the other two to fall," Daisy said. "But, it's just a shot in the dark."
Agent Alex Danvers stepped out of the back of the truck. The hairs of the back of her neck prickled up in the worst possible way when looking around. She sensed something bad was going to happen if they made one wrong. Daisy's shot in the dark was going to work.
"There's, it's the relay tower," Kara said.
Daisy lightly rocked the ground underneath them. A mine exploded from underneath her quaking hand. The heat emitting from the ground made all of them step back.
"They lined their mines with lead covering said," Daisy said. "That explains why you didn't see them."
It took a minute for Daisy to locate all of the mines. She disabled the second mine and then the third mine. She ran over the ground which had large holes in the ground after blowing up the minds. The two Danvers sisters moved in. Alex's body covered with the armor and she prepared to get to work.
"I'll break down the walls," Alex said. "And why I break down the walls, you can do what you do best and hack the technology."
Daisy nodded, Alex pretty much took the idea out of her mind. She rubbed her hands together and prepared to get to work. Alex leaned down meanwhile and studied the shield.
'It's a standard shield,' the Blue Beetle scarab informed her. 'If I'm not interrupted, I should be able to get in here in a couple of minutes. If I am…well you won't be able to run fast enough. And whatever bacteria is inside of this bomb is going to go off and kill everyone it touches.'
The matter of fact statement from the Blue Beetle did not jar Alex. She moved into the edge of the object.
'Knock out the first tower and the other two won't be able to uplink, right?' Alex asked.
'Correct,' the Blue Beetle said. 'Unless they trigger a manual explosion of the bomb. But, surely no one could be that reckless, because of the potential fallout it could be cause.'
Alex realized they would have to secure the bomb because people were in fact that reckless. She keyed her way into the side of the bomb. Alex drew in a breath. One step in and several more steps to go.
All three girls tensed up. Daisy had to be right next to Alex to hopefully uplink to the other towers. She heard a loud rumbling in the distance. A huge robot moved over with one of the Intergang goons riding in the front of it. It held two laser blasters on either arm when directed at the heroes.
"Do you think you can stall him for a minute?" Daisy asked.
"Right, stall," Supergirl said. "Hey, ugly, I'm up here!"
The Intergang member turned his attention to the Girl of Steel as she hovered up in the sky faster than a speeding bullet. The goon pointed the weapons up. Supergirl deflected a punch off of the shield. She bounced back and lead the Intergang member back away from the tower.
"You just wait, little girl!" the Intergang member yelled. "I'm going to stomp you! It's going to be sweet when I put you down onto the ground."
Supergirl avoided the Intergang goon from trapping her in a glass bubble. She bounced high into the air and struck the goon down onto the back of the glass ball. The goon staggered and swiped a blast at Supergirl. Supergirl repeatedly withdrew her attacks and pound at him.
The Girl of Steel adopted an approach of two punches and one dodge. She continued the ritual with several swipes. Kara floated back, forth, and all over the map. The large armor wearing goon approached Kara as fast as he could go. He clicked the two cannons into place.
"Oh, you're going down!" he yelled. "I might not be able to take down Superman. But, you're just as good."
Kara caught the underside of the armor with a blast from the heat vision. The attacker turned left for Supergirl to smash through the robot. She hoisted him high into the air and hung him up on the ledge of the building. The mad scrambling from the goon only caused Supergirl to smile.
The two Intergang goons moved their way to secure the tower. Kara corkscrewed down to the ground and landed right in front of them. Her fist impacted the ground and rocked the goons back. One of them withdrew a glowing knife at her. Kara blocked the hand and wrestled the knife away from her attacker.
'I hope you can do it soon.'
Lashina gritted her teeth when cracking the electrified whip. She tried to ensnare Superman's ankle with the whip. The Man of Steel broke free of the whip and landed down onto the top of the head of the Female Fury.
Another Fury ran over Superman with all of the force of a truck. Superman crashed down to the ground and looked up just in time to get a good look at the Female Fury leaping up high and almost stomping his face in. Superman blocked the attack from the Fury and pushed her up.
The large Female Fury staggered back into Diana. Diana reverse-bearhugged her from behind. The two women wrestled with each other until Diana took the Female Fury on one way trip to Suplex city by driving her down onto the ground.
Diana did not have enough time to bask in her triumph. Two of these vicious women grabbed Diana around the head. Diana elbowed one in the face and grappled with another one. The Female Fury slammed a huge rod into Diana's face which doubled her over. The redhead Fury's eyes flashed with blood red furry.
"It's a pity!"
She smashed the rod into Diana's face and dropped her down onto the ground.
"Granny Goodness would have enjoyed someone like you in her camp," she said. "But, now you're going to be underneath the ground where you belong!"
Power Girl flung the enemy she fought over towards the enemy Diana fought. The two enemies collided together. Power Girl watched them tangle together in a mess of hands and feet. She wordlessly dropped down and helped Wonder Woman rise to her feet.
"Thanks," Diana said.
Karen returned a never nervous grin. She noticed the Female Furies trying to push themselves back up off of the ground. As much as Karen thought she would have been very pleased with what happened, they were most certainly far from behind out of the woods just yet.
"Don't thank me yet."
Diana and Karen stood shoulder to shoulder with each other preparing to fight the two warrior women. They had no idea what happened with Superman, but at this point, it did not matter to them. They would have to fight as much as possible.
An energy tube entered. Karen popped her gazed over her shoulder and opened her mouth very wide. A figure dropped down on the ground in front of the Furies.
"You!"
Barda appeared dressed in battle armor. The last time anyone saw it had been leaving War World. She wasted little motion in smashing her fist into the chest of one of the Female Furies to drive her enemy down to the ground. The wind knocked completely out of the enemy from the impact.
The other Female Fury jumped on Barda's back and started to hammer away at the woman. Those fists did pretty much nothing. Barda spun around and caught the Female Fury across the face with a huge punch to drop her down to the ground. The Female Fury covered up with Barda dropping back and punching her opponent as hard and repeatedly as possible.
Lashina stepped over to face her former field leader and grouped.
"So, it's the bitch!" she snapped.
"So, it's Granny's former lapdog," Barda said.
She matched Lashina's voice with the same amount of fury that she delivered. A none too happy Lashina dove in to engage Barda. Barda blocked Lashina's hand and twisted it down to the ground. The smaller woman landed down to the ground with a solid pop.
Lashina spoke a nasty comment in an alien language and rushed towards Barda. Barda blocked her and pushed her down onto the ground. Lashina struggled with Barda forcing her down underneath her boot.
No matter how many times Lashina moved in for the attack, Barda pretty much had a counter for everything Lashina had. Barda smashed her foot down into the top of Lashina's head and further cracked her down onto the ground. The wind knocked out of the Female Fury with each successive punch and each stomp as well. Lashina's fists curled up against the ground as she struggled and scampered for a standing position.
"And this is why I'm still the best around," Barda said to Lashina.
Lashina against struggled to her feet. She rushed Barda one more time. Barda deflected another Lashina attack.
Superman popped into position past one of the Furies. The Intergang goons standing around the weapon completely scattered. A brave thug tried to shoot Superman in the back. Hawkgirl put a stop of his attempt to be shot down with a vicious mace to the back of the head.
Barda grabbed Lashina's head and pushed her down to the ground. Lashina gasped with Barda putting the pressure underneath the chin of Lashina.
"You're good," Barda said. "I say you're very good. But you won't be great until the moment you stop being Granny's bitch."
Lashina struggled out of Barda's grasp and flew down against the ground.
"Please tell me that's being disabled," Superman said.
"Actually, we're almost good to go," Chloe said. "You can safely remove the power core out of the machine now, because the automatic relay won't trigger."
Superman tossed one of the Intergang members off the side. He landed firmly into the dumpster and hit like a piece of garbage.
"That's good to know," Superman said.
Two strong hands whipped out the power core and resulted in sparks flying everywhere. The Man of Steel leaned back with a smile on his face. He was pretty pleased.
The woman in the purple hood dropped down. A very morose expression spread over her face as she looked from the left and to the right.
"Children, it's time to go," she told them.
Lashina scampered to the ground and looked back at Barda. She slammed her whip on the ground to cause an electrified barrier to flash up. This resulted in Barda taking half of a step back.
"Next time, Barda!" she yelled. "Next time, I'm going to get you!"
The Boom Tube opened up and the Furies scampered through, their work having been done. Their plan did not succeed, unfortunately.
The woman in the purple hood made her way through the portal. Superman grabbed her around the head and the two of them struggled.
The hood only came off for a scant moment. The moment was long enough for Superman to get a clear look at the face of one Grace Godfrey. Godfrey's eyes bugged out in anger just one second before she stabbed Superman in the chest and departed.
Power Girl rushed over to check on him. Superman waved off her words with a gargling tone in his voice.
"I'm alright…it was Godfrey….Grace Godfrey!"
Chloe always hated to breathe easily before everything was completely verified. She did a quick run of the computer system back at the tower.
"Clark took out the energy core," Chloe said. "And the DEO is moving in to take command of the relay towers, and they are also going to take the virus and study it. It's not going to be released. And Mannheim lost some serious manpower and weapons."
She would have judged any day when something like that happened to be a good day. A day which Chloe could take a long drink of her coffee without any problems, and just bask in what just happened.
'It was pretty close,' Chloe admitted to herself. 'It was way too close what happened.'
Another second lost and they would have been infected. Many people, not just aliens, would have been infected. Chloe watched Tess approach her out of the corner of her eye.
"I'd say we did it," Tess said. "But, you know there's still a lot of work to do."
"Yeah, I know," Chloe said.
She took a long drink from her coffee. Tess took the chair which Chloe offered her along with the cup of coffee Chloe offered her. Today had been a long day and something that Tess just wanted to sit down. Tess took a second to collect her thoughts.
"I'm glad Barda returned home," Tess said.
"I think all of us are glad," Chloe said. "They weren't expecting her."
Tess shook her head and took another long drink of coffee. "And now, they will be expecting Barda, unfortunately. And they're going to be prepared for her to come at them."
Chloe had to admit Tess had a point. Still, they did have another very powerful warrior on their side. She really could not argue that was a problem. Not that Diana, Shayera, Karen, and anyone else, they could not hold their own.
"Mannheim's feeling the heat as well," Tess added almost as an afterthought. "He's going to be out of commission for a while."
One problem was off their hands. Unfortunately, with one problem being off their hands, there were still a couple more obvious problems to go. Tess brushed a strand of hair out of her face and contemplated what the next move would be. And the next move might be something interesting as well.
"Grace is connected to Apokolips," Tess said. "And this coming war…she's here to divide the people and spread propaganda. Unfortunately, there are people who are too afraid to call her out right now. Or maybe she's blackmailed them."
"And if she's connected, her brother's connected to," Chloe added.
Tess finished off the rest of her coffee with a long drink.
"Obviously," Tess answered. "Obviously."
They still had a lot of work to do. They knew that Grace was an obvious phony and likely her brother was as well. The veil came down off of her. There still was the matter of exposing their lies to the general public and that was a big problem. Until the general public wanted to listen, they were still going to believe what they wanted to believe.
The phone off to the side of the desk rang. Tess knew who could be calling after today of all days. She picked up the phone.
"Yes," Tess said curtly.
"You should sound happy about the work we've done together," Lillian said. "I know you don't trust me and you trust my intentions even less. We have the same end goal to make the world a better place. We just have a different methodology of getting there."
"Obviously," Tess chimed in through one of the simplest and most casual tones possible. "Obviously, our methods are always going to be different."
"Don't be upset with me," Lillian said. "The truce continues until the moment our mutual enemies are taken care of. We have to stand together, or we will fall divided. Goodbye, Lutessa."
Tess did not even bother having the call traced. She knew that Lillian did not call from any place which could be easily tracked. They were back at square one and it was most frustrating.
Barda watched as Clark did some squats without his shirt on. She would have been lying if she did not admire the scenery around her. Barda's tongue hung out for a moment before retracting back firmly into her mouth.
"Did you find anyone?" Clark asked her.
Barda returned back to the conversation at hand and shook her head.
"I found….I found a few people who could be interested," Barda admitted. "But, unfortunately, after Granny's done a number on them, there's no walking back from that."
"In time, they might be able to see the light."
The wound Grace gave Clark almost healed. She was as cutting with her knives as she was with her words.
"And now she's doing it with women at their most vulnerable," Clark said. "How are we going to stop her?"
"I'd say we break down the doors of that shelter and find her," Barda said. "But I somehow know that something like that really isn't in your playbook."
"You're right, it isn't," Clark said. "We're going to have to let the people know there's no reason to be afraid of us. It's not going to be easy."
Barda watched as Clark moved over in front of the crystals. The Fortress flashed through with some lights which performed some kind of routine medical examination or something which brought Clark back to life.
"No, it won't," Barda agreed. "And Darkseid has sent two of his most powerful persuaders to Earth. Everyone is going to be divided which means…there really won't be a very unified front to stop him."
The story had been the same several times. A planet divided could not stand up against Darkseid. One united really did not have much more of a chance, but they at least could stand taller. Darkseid thrived on making worlds as miserable as his very existence. It was a very awful quality for a very awful individual.
"Is he coming?" Clark asked.
"Yes, he is," Barda said.
"We'll be ready."
Barda caught Clark with a smile and would have liked to say that his naivety was charming. She brought her hand up and put it on the slight scar on Clark's chest from when Grace stabbed him.
"I'm going to tell you this, you're never going to be ready for Darkseid. He will come at the moment when Earth is at it's lowest. But…given all that I've lost, I'm more than willing to stand beside you. Maybe you will be the one to break the cycle."
The two drew even closer together as if by some force just drawing them together. Barda put her hands on the back of Clark's head and offered him a smile.
"You have to be the one to break the cycle," Barda said.
Clark put a hand on Barda's back and the two lingered closer together. Barda took a second to consider her next couple of actions. They could define her.
"I never have had a chance to thank you for opening my eyes back on War World."
The next action done by her mouth was not words, but a kiss. A kiss which smashed against Clark's lips. Barda had to lean down to give Clark the kiss. She moved her hands over the back of his head and grabbed onto his hair. Their tongues pushed together with Barda just barely winning the dominating battle of their mouths.
Barda tore Clark's pants away to leave him naked from the waist down as he was from the waist up. She moved back and ripped off her battle armor.
Clark marveled at the amount of female flesh and given that Barda was over seven feet tall, there was a large amount of female flesh for him to grab onto.
The Man of Steel pushed Barda back into the room. She grasped on his throbbing cock and gave it a hard squeeze. The manhood rose in Barda's hand as Clark backed her off near the bed.
The two dropped down onto the bed on the Fortress. Clark took control of Barda's amazing breasts and gave them a squeeze. The juicy orbs squeezed into Clark's hand and wiggled.
"I'm not going to want to wait for long," Barda said.
"You're not the type of woman who waits around, are you?" Clark asked.
Barda had been tormented by thoughts of this god on those cold nights when she traveled the universe for sympathetic ears. Clark's manhood rose up completely for Barda to grab her hand around and give it a very hard squeeze. Barda curled her fingers around Clark's hard rod and then pushed her hand down around it. Clark groaned the second Barda played with it.
She put him into her mouth and sucked on Clark for a few seconds. The heat of her mouth made Clark extend. His cock, as hard as an iron rod, pushed past Barda's lips and into her mouth.
Barda really pulled herself up to his lap. Her breasts were level with Clark's eyes. Clark took them in his hands and grabbed them on her not so subtle encouragement. His hands moved down to grasp her ass and position Barda over him.
One large drop brought Barda down onto Clark's hard cock. She filled herself up so much that Barda needed to repeat the process not only once, but a third time. Each time, Barda felt Clark's cock enter her deep. Her womanhood stretched with a very delicious feeling from Clark entering her body.
"Yes!"
Barda slammed herself down onto his crotch. His manhood shoved deep inside of her body as she took his large impressive cock into the depths of her powerful body.
The feeling of Barda stretching her walls around him made Clark groan. Barda's pussy muscles flexed around Clark when squeezing him and releasing him. Clark reached over to grab Barda around the back and lower her down onto him.
She came very suddenly and gave Clark's cock muscles a work out with the sheer force of her orgasm. The bed's reinforcement also got tested with how forcefully.
"You must have really wanted this," Clark groaned the second Barda dropped down onto his cock.
"You have no idea," Barda said.
Clark had some idea. He squeezed her nipples which Barda gave a squeal of excitement for. She rose and dropped repeatedly on Clark's massive prick. She took Clark into the depths of her cunt and hung onto him. Clark grabbed every inch of flesh he could while burying himself into her.
"You have no idea…how much I need this!" Barda cried at the top of her lungs. "Give me your cock…give me all of your cock!"
The two lovers matched each other with Barda working herself to another orgasm. Clark pushed himself deep into the strong warrior woman.
Strong flesh smacked against each other. Barda dug her nails into Clark's shoulder and almost drew some blood when pushing down onto him. She threw her head back and moaned. Barda released him and then took him inside of her. She could feel the need to have that seed pushed into her body.
"KAl-EL!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Barda pushed down onto Clark's hard tool. She stretched down onto his long cock when pressing inside of her very tight and very able cunt. Clark's manhood stretched her completely out and made Barda squeeze Clark's manhood with her tightness.
Every time Clark went into her, it was like a new and very tight adventure. He was only barely aware of the pair of eyes watching her. Clark's muscular body smashed into Barda's. Her breasts surrounded Clark's line of sight. He buried his face into her chest.
"Suck them," Barda said. "Suck them really good!"
Clark put his hands on Barda's lower back and pushed down on his cock. Her body stretched around Clark's hard cock and slammed down onto him.
"Closer!"
The bed might have been close to reaching its finish too. Clark could not really tell. He put his hands on Barda's back to try and slow her down. Barda was just plowing through and more importantly plowing his cock.
Several orgasms later, with the bed barely remaining standing, Clark reinforced his will just enough to bring Barda to another orgasm. Barda's screams could wake the dead. Clark nestled himself between her warm breasts as his balls lurched forward.
Powerful alien seed shot deep into Barda's body. His balls shot their load through her body. Barda pushed up around him and then released him with a few hard pumps.
Barda almost had been dazed by the sheer force of seed in her body. Clark held onto her back and slammed himself more directly inside of her.
"So good," Clark said.
"Very hot as well."
Clark pulled out of Barda only to see Karen's beautiful face closing in on his recovering member. She had her shirt off and two very nice breasts out. Karen took Clark's cock in hand and slipped it into her mouth. She sucked on his manhood to make it strong and long one more time.
"Perfect," Karen said. "And now let's see….."
Karen shoved her fingers into Barda's pussy and drew the combination of juices from her. The fingers came from Barda's cunt and straight into Karen's mouth. She sucked on them and drew a favorable moan when doing so.
"Have to have more."
Clark got a full view of Karen taking off her pants and exposing her black thong. Her ass swayed when crawling on top of Barda. The two powerful women shared a kiss. The sight of their breasts pushing together resulted in the blood rushing from Clark's head straight into his cock. His throbbing member desired taking both women and pretty much having his way with them.
He moved over and pulled Karen off of Barda. He pushed Karen over onto the bed and straddled the top of her. He grabbed Karen's chest and squeezed it to make her feel pleasure.
"Take me, please," his cousin begged him.
Karen's thighs spread apart for Clark to take. The Last Son of Krypton aimed his cock at her and submerged himself directly into her scorching heat. Clark grabbed onto Karen's chest and pulled almost all the way out of her and drove deep into her body.
"Fuck!" Karen yelled. "Oh, that's good….great RAO, that's fucking good! You're fucking cock is the best, Kal-El!"
She pushed her thighs around Clark to push him deeper into her warm pussy. Clark held onto Karen's chest and squeezed it. Her eyes glazed over the very moment Clark drove hard and fast into her. Karen rose her hips up off of the bed for her.
Barda watched Clark appear and disappear into the woman beside her. She was getting a bit frustrated. Clark's fingers reached over and drove into her pussy. It quelled Barda's fire at least for now.
Karen wrapped her legs tightly around Clark's ass and made sure he did not leave her center. The first eight inches slid into her while the remaining four inches teased her. Clark pushed deep inside of her body and then pulled out of her. The bed rippled underneath her.
"OOOH, YES!" Karen screamed.
Steady thrusts gave way to more rapid-fire thrusts with Clark pushing into Karen's body. Karen received Barda's pussy on her face.
"Use your tongue to give me relief!"
Barda's demands had been answered by Karen. She used this act of attempted dominance as a way for Barda to submit to her. The warm tongue vibrated against Barda and made her bounce up and down on her face.
Clark groaned at the very hot sight above him. His cock strained as it buried as deep as possible into Karen's very warm and powerful sheath. He groaned the second he slipped inside of Karen. He pulled almost all the way out and drove his big cock inside of Karen's tight body one more time. Her walls closed around Clark and stretched against his organ.
Moans coming from Karen's throat vibrated through her pussy. Clark held onto Karen's chest for leverage and dropped down into her. His big cock submerged into her body. Their bodies molded together in the dance of pleasure. Clark pulled almost all the way out of her and drove down into her.
He became closer to the edge and closer to cumming one more time in her. Karen just retightened her grip around him.
The feeling of sweet release just blasted through Karen's body the moment Clark drove himself into her. His balls slapped against her.
"If you need a break, I can pick up the slack."
Barda just needed him even more than ever. Karen shoved her tongue inside as if to say she could handle him the rest of the way through this round. Karen ensured that Barda would have another extremely powerful orgasm.
Renewed vigor spread through Clark's being as he plunged into Karen. Her pussy ensnared his hard cock and released him with her walls. Karen pushed against him and drew Clark deeper into her body with constant and never ending thrusts.
Clark only had so much time to give. He made sure Karen finished her orgasm. Barda also came all over Karen's face at the same time. Clark caught a glimpse of Karen's face. His beautiful blonde cousin had her face soaked by another woman.
The Man of Steel drove his huge cock inside of Karen and spilled his warm seed into her. His massive balls clenched and released to coat Karen with their gift. Karen flexed her walls around him as Clark poured his seed into her body.
The bed remained standing even though it wobbled a bit more. Clark pulled away. Seconds after he left Karen, his cock entered Barda's mouth. Karen shifted over to suck on Clark's balls. The two women gave him a very sloppy tandem blowjob.
They were really for more, and Clark was within less than thirty seconds. The night would be long and it would cause them to blow off some steam.
Chapter Eighty-One: Contact
The last couple of days had been very interesting for Clark to put things mildly. After, Intergang's latest failed scheme, they went mostly dark. Mannheim in particular had been underfire from what Clark could find out.
"He's going to wiggle out the charges, just barely," Chloe said. "At least that's what my source is saying. He's not going to be able to act against you."
A small smile popped over the corner of Clark's face. He won a battle and the war was going to go on. He flew across the skies and the fields of Kansas. Clark listened in for any trouble. It had been second nature for months and months on end to deal with a meteor mutant every week.
Over the last couple of years, they trickled completely down. Clark still felt the need to visit Smallville, even though he spent a lot of time in Metropolis. His mother was returning this weekend to check up on the farm so today appeared to be a good time for them to get together. The other reason Clark wanted to be here was to check up on Maxima, and also, Connie, Alicia, and Tara to see how they are doing.
She dropped down to see Connie piling some wood into a wheelbarrel. Clark's younger sister flashed him a smile and moved over to hug him.
"Hey, how have you been?" Connie asked. "You've been keeping busy, haven't you?"
Clark just gave her a smile and helped her haul away the last bit of the firewood into the wheelbarrel. "Yeah, I have to keep busy after everything that's happened."
"Okay, I think I've got it fixed," Alicia said. She shook her head. "CLARK!"
Alicia teleported right in front of Clark's body and she wrapped her arms around him. The two moved closer to each other and met in the center with a very passionate kiss. Connie shook her head and even Tara, who just poked her head out of the barn seemed amused.
"It's been forever since you've been over," Alicia said.
"Actually, he was over here about two weeks ago," Tara said.
One dirty look from the older girl towards the younger girl made Tara just flash a smile at Alicia. Alicia moved over and held her hand against Clark's.
"I thought about coming to visit you, but there's a lot of work to be done here with the fall harvest coming, and…well you're busy enough without worrying about me," Alicia said.
"I'll try and stop by more often," Clark said.
Alicia just smiled. She thought about seeing what she could do to step out on the field and help out Clark and his ladies. Unfortunately, she hit a mental stumbling block. Alicia's nightmares about her death became less and less, but she didn't want to push herself.
"And when you're ready to go out, you'll be ready. Don't force yourself."
The Meteor Mutant flash a brilliant grin at her boyfriend and leaned in with a quick kiss. She pulled back.
"Maxima is back behind the barn," Alicia said. "I'm not sure if we should have left her alone."
Clark moved behind the barn and saw Maxima ripping several weeds out of the ground. Her hands plastered with dirt and her teeth gritted together. Maxima tugged the plant roots out of the ground and shredded the weeds in half with her bare hands.
'What did those weeds ever do to you?' Clark asked.
The droning voice of Grace Godfrey explained everything.
"Every single day, I'm going to rally the call to have women stand up and stand together. All women have to stand together to fight the toxin influence Superman corrupts young women and girls with. They consider him to be a beacon of height. He seeks to destroy everything we have accomplished. He's a disgusting individual."
"And you would know, wouldn't you?" Maxima spat scathingly.
Clark approached Maxima a little bit further. She turned around on instinct and smiled. Maxima threw her arms around Clark and almost lifted him off of the ground with one of the most potent kisses any woman could ever give. The two indulged in each other for the next couple of minutes before Maxima pulled away from here.
"I wish to ask you for permission to go to this Grace Godfrey and teach her a lesson," Maxima said. "For, she's disrespecting my King, and I cannot allow this to stand. She must be taken care of."
The fierce determination in the eyes of the warrior woman made Clark very amused. Clark put a gentle hand on Maxim's shoulder
"We can't do that," Clark said. "I know it's very tempting to do something to her. The truth is going to come out sooner or later, and Grace is going to be disgraced. You have to understand that's going to happen sooner rather than later."
Maxima looked like she would respect Clark's wishes for the moment. She personally thought of Grace as nothing but a lowly peasant who belonged no higher than the bottom of the boot. And the fact Grace tried to tell her, the Queen of Almarac, how she should be able to think as a woman made Maxima want to rip her spine completely in half.
A punching bag rocked back and forth. Barda wound up high and punched at it. Another couple of punches caused the bag to swing back and forth on the chain.
The door opened and Tess watched Barda for a long couple of minutes. Her series of punches drilled into the side of the bag. Tess could see the fire in Barda's eyes. She understood and recognized that particular expression very well. The same very danced in her eyes on a constant basis. She followed the progress of Barda pulling her arm back and punching her.
"We're one of the two to escape her pull."
Barda stopped punching on the bag. She turned around to go look towards Tess who stood before her. Barda respected Tess as a fellow warrior and a great survivor. The two of them locked eye to eye with each other.
"I went to one of Granny's orphanage's here on Earth and I've blocked a fair bit of it out of my memory," Tess said. "You know how her abuse is mostly psychological, even after you esecape."
"Even after you escape, she has her imprint on you."
Barda bent down and did several stretching exercises. She hated that so many women had been under Granny's pull. Yet, despite Barda's hatred for Granny, there was something far more sinister coming around. Barda recalled the true monster in this game.
"We escaped her, we are one of the lucky few who were able to escape her and live to tell the tale," Barda said. "There were others who were not so lucky. There were many who Granny ripped apart when they tried to get out from underneath her heel."
"And many she crushed just as well just to prove that she could," Tess said. "She's a sick woman and we both know there's something wrong up in that mind of hers."
Tess offered Barda a water bottle. Barda opened up the water bottle and downed it in one swift drink. The cool refreshing taste relaxed her in a few seconds. She dropped down onto the workout bench and Tess followed her.
"That Woman's Shelter that Granny has opened on Earth, it's only a front," Barda said to Tess. "It's just an excuse to create more Female Furies. And it might not be the worst idea if we end up shutting it down."
Tess could see that fire in Barda's eyes once again. She knew what Barda had in mind to shut down that particular place of operations. Tess would have been a liar if she had not been considering taking some of the steps that Barda did.
"We're going to have to expose them all," Tess said. "Granny and the Godfreys…and we're going to have to do it in a way where the people can't do anything, but understand that they are the monsters they are. The court of public opinion is swinging towards their favor."
People would eventually believe anything after a constant wave of propaganda even though the propaganda was complete bullshit. Their crusade against aliens was a point which resounded with a lot of people because it played off of their most base fears that something really bad was going on.
'If the world only knew they were aliens,' Tess thought.
The phone off to the side rang and Tess wasted very little time picking it up. Barda raised an eyebrow, but wisely said nothing as she allowed Tess to conduct her phone conversation in piece.
"Yes," Tess replied. "Yes…oh, it's been approved. That's great…and we want to make sure she remains on the air. She's the strongest voice against them and the most that people listen to. Thanks."
Tess hung up the phone and could have smiled.
"Leslie Willis is back on the air," Tess informed Barda. "She was against the Godfreys pretty much since the moment they started their campaign. And now, she's going to jump back in."
Only one sponsor backed out of the deal from sponsoring Leslie's radio show and as always, the management began to get a sudden case of cold feet of being behind her. A bunch of so-called Women's Rights Groups also complained about how her content was toxic and harmful for them, and there were some hit pieces written about her by the mainstream media, which Leslie was not shy about deconstructing live on the air.
"Trying to silence her has made her only more popular in some circles," Tess mused, more to herself than to Barda.
"They don't like voices of discontent," Barda said. "I'd keep my eye on this woman."
Tess intended to. It would be amusing to see what would happen. She expected Grace to double-down on her propaganda at the very least because that's what extremists always did when their backs had been put against the wall.
Clark stepped into the kitchen at the Kent household and he could hear his mother moving around the kitchen. It was almost like time had frozen and Clark returned to a much more simpler time in his life. Well, about as simple as Clark could have been in his life. Those days fighting the meteor mutant of the week in Smallville might not have been as simple as Clark thought they were.
Martha moved her way to the front and fixed Clark a plate to eat and something to drink.
"So, how's Washington, Senator?" Clark asked.
Martha just shook her head. "Clark, when we're both at this dinner table and this house hold, it's still Mom."
An amused smile filled over the face of the Man of Steel as he had been reprimanded by his own mother. Martha had a plate ready for him just like old times.
"And to answer your questions, we're constantly talking about what to do with the current problems in the world," Martha said. "And also at home, the budget, terrorists, and what to do with visitors of other world's….some people unfortunately believe everything they hear and rear in the news."
Clark knew she was talking about the Godfreys.
"They have been relentless over the past couple of months," Clark said. "It's almost enough to make you scream."
"I know," Martha said. "You must not let it get to you."
An argument about how Clark was not letting it get to him formed on the tip of his tongue. One look from his mother stalled that argument before it could fly out the gates. He was letting it get to him, wasn't he? Clark just nodded his head in understanding
"You shouldn't let the vocal minority get to you," Martha said. "There are still people out there who get behind and believe in their heroes even though they don't show it a lot of the time. You should not allow yourself to be taken down by the vocal minority."
Martha took a deep breath and patted her son on the shoulder.
"Those who appreciate are often more tranquil. Actions speak louder than words. Those who have something to complain about, often just speak more loudly, because they have no actions. They have nothing other than their complaints."
Clark understood what his mother was telling him. He took a large drink of the orange juice at the table and a smile came across his face.
"You're still a symbol for many people out there," Martha told him. "And the best way to answer your critics is to keep doing what you're doing and show that they won't drive you away. Your father always said that a measure of a man is how he goes about his business, despite people going against him."
No question about it, Clark would have to agree his mother had a point. His parents always had been a source of wisdom.
"Yeah, I would have to say she's right."
"Chloe, come in!" Martha called. "How have you been?"
Chloe just smiled and stepped into the room. She hugged Martha in greeting.
"Well, I've been doing good enough," Chloe said. "I think we'd all be doing better if we can stop this onslaught….Clark mentioned to you what the Godfreys truly are."
"Yes," Martha said. "And I believe you and I hope you find the proof to expose them to the rest of the world."
Chloe moved over to the table and slipped her hand onto Clark's knee. Clark responded with a brief smile directed to Chloe as the two moved together against the table.
"Your mother has a point," Chloe said. "If you stop being you, then all of them have won. They don't like you? That's fine, because there are a lot of people who appreciate what you do."
The two long-time friends and lovers joined together. Chloe put her hand on Clark's knee and gave him one of those smiles of hers.
"I know I do," Chloe said. "We all do…some loud mouth like Godfrey, both of them, isn't going to define what Superman means for the world."
"Thanks," Clark said. "And I know."
He put a hand to his cheek. The now very visible scar Grace carved into his cheek served as a constant reminder of everything Clark had to go against. He had a lot to do.
Chloe pulled away from the conversation and held the cell phone which was buzzing. She moved into answer it.
"Chloe, you should turn on the television, you're not going to believe what is happening," Lois said. "There's trouble. Big trouble."
Now, Lois's words stirred Chloe's unfortunately notorious curiosity and she wondered what the hell was happening. She supposed it would be only a matter of moments before she would find out.
Several delegates at the United Nations argued with each other. They had a new problem which they were going to have to deal with. And this was not going to be a very easy problem for them to handle by any stretch of the imagination.
Several figures appeared at the edge of the entrance of the United Nations. Several of them dressed as guards which resembled giant beetles of different colors. The leader dressed in a set of white robes with a golden beetle mask who stepped in front of the delegates.
"Do not be alarmed," the ambassador said, her voice very soft and calming when she spoke. "We belong to a group of aliens known as the Reach. And you can be assured that we're not here to find. We are here to help benefit humanity as it moves into its next stage of evolution."
"How do we know you're not like all of the rest?"
The Reach Guards remained tranquil and passive underneath the voice of such accusations. The Ambassador just broke out into a light smile and decided to address the facts of the matter to them.
"I understand. We have been visitors of many worlds where the inhabitants have been distrustful of our intentions. However, there is no need for alarm. We will not harm the people of this planet. In fact, we intend to do the exact contrary. We will help the people of Earth become much better and much stronger. We are willing to share our technology and our advances to make Earth a much better place."
The woman decided to correct her tone.
"And from what I've seen of Earth, it's already a very beautiful and strong planet," the ambassador said in a soothing voice. "However, we can always make things better. You strike me as a race of people who want to be the very best you can be and anything less than your best is an insult."
The members of the United Nations all spoke. The members of the Reach released a sphere into the air. The delegates in the United Nation received a blast of light from the spear. All of them sighed and felt relaxed.
"So, tell me how do you all feel?" the Reach Ambassador asked all of them.
"I don't know about you, but I feel great!"
The other delegates in the United Nations all broke into similar statements of appraisal. The Reach Ambassador broke out into a slick little smile. This had been more than too good to be true. They appreciated their technology.
"Yes, but this is only a small sample," the Reach Ambassador said. "This device healed many of your ailments and turned back the clock on the process of human aging by a few years. Just by this small exposure, the Reach has expanded your life by at least five of your Earth years."
"And you can do more than that?" the American delegate asked.
"Oh, we can do much more than that if you give us a chance. We should not horde this technology. It should be shared with the universe for we can help those."
"And there you have it!"
The scene of the United Nations cut away and one look of the face of G. Gordon Godfrey flashed on the television screen.
"These people have done more in one hour on Earth than Superman has done in all of his years living off of this world," Godfrey said in his usual rough tone of voice. "This group, the Reach, decided to come and visit the leaders of the free world, our representation. They were up front about their intentions and they should they had the best thoughts in mind."
Godfrey's face came up to the television screen so any viewer would get a bit too much of a look at Godfrey.
"Now, tell me something," Godfrey said. "Is Superman sharing his technology? Has he showed us anything he might use? Has it shared any of his advances with the human race? Has our Kryptonian hero, our man of tomorrow, made any headway of doing anything to help humanity."
Two red words flashed upon the television screen and flashed the words "Absolutely Not!" for the entire world to see.
"Superman hordes his technology at his supposed Fortress. He claims that it's a place for him to be alone, but what is he really planning up there? He's unwilling to share his technology to help humanity grow. Which leads me to one conclusion, he's planning to utilize that technology to enslave us once we grow too dependent on him!"
Godfrey's last few words flew out of his mouth with a disgusting amount of spittle coming across the television.
"Superman is Adolf Hitler posing as a boyscout as far as I'm concerned!" Godfrey yelled. "He's fed you lies….and I appreciate the Reach for showing us how a group of aliens who is up front about their intentions. Who come in and do the right thing. They share their technology with smiles on their faces, instead of putting themselves all the way up here beyond the rest of the world."
Godfrey stretched his hand up high to showcase what he meant. The television journalist's face contorted into one of the more obvious sneers possible.
"Not one single Kryptonian advancement has ever helped anyone on this planet. And if you ask me, that's a shame. The world leaders should grow a set of balls and force Superman to comply and share his technology with us. And if he's unable, and unwilling to do that, then we should hunt him down like a war criminal before he enslaves our planet!"
They went to commercial with the camera panning in on the disgusting face of G. Gordon Godfrey.
Clark arrived at the DEO and moved past the security checks as quickly as possible. Several government agents moved around the area of the big television screen. They saw the Reach showing up. And immediately, none of them were very happy about this.
"Can you really believe people are buying this bullshit?" one of the agents asked. "I mean, I know the United Nations would buy this bullshit, but seriously, normal people buying this?"
Daisy faced Clark the second that he walked into the room.
"So, how's the situation here?" Clark asked.
"Well, as you can tell, it's not good," Daisy said. "We can't afford to let the Reach make their move. And it's putting Alex on edge, or rather her plus one on edge."
"Can…can I go and see her?" Clark asked.
Daisy consented to Clark's request and led him down the hallway towards the gym area. They opened the door and came across Kara putting her hand on the shoulder of a very agitated looking Alex.
"Alright, calm down," Kara said. "I'd…say it's going to be okay, but considering it's the Reach…."
She could only imagine Astra's reaction right about now. It would be foolish enough to think Astra would not know about the Reach as they showed up.
"You can say it's fine, but it's not fine," Alex said. "They're here. I can't believe that they're here, but they're here."
'We should go after them and destroy them,' the scarab said after a few minutes pause.
'No, we can't do that,' Alex thought. 'Not until we show the people what they truly are.'
'It's already begun, just like it's begun on several other worlds,' the scarab said. 'This is my purpose. My purpose is to take down the Reach…they must have found that I'm here.'
"Alex, promise me you're not going to do anything reckless," Kara said.
Alex Danvers could really not make that promise because her other half was really wigging out at the moment. Daisy grabbed Alex's shoulder and held her back.
"You know something, I'm fine," Alex said. "I'm just fine….I have this under control."
Her arm retracted into a large cannon which could have blasted through the door at a moment's notice. Alex held her breath and counted to ten and the armor retracted back to normal, although there were a few more sharp points on it.
"The Reach is already beginning their invasion and they're doing it under the guise of diplomacy," Kara said.
'Yes, that's what I'm saying!' the scarab yelled. 'Every minute we waste on this planet on courtesy is a moment that….'
"It can't be a coincidence that they're here," Clark said. "Think about it for a second. Godfrey needs something to make me into an even bigger scapegoat for his rants. And suddenly, this supposed peaceful alien race shows up and yes, I know they're not peaceful, but….they show up and Godfrey can just double down on his hit pieces."
Alex nodded, biting down on her lip.
"So, you think Darkseid could be behind the Reach as well?" Kara asked.
The very thought terrified her.
'The Reach are normally not pawns,' the scarab said. 'But, Darkseid might be one of the few that could…manipulate them accordingly.'
These words failed the scarab just seconds after they had been spoken.
"It's possible," Alex said. "And we're going to have to prepare for the worst."
Clark had been doing that way too much as of late.
Chapter Eighty-Two: In Our Reach
Large crystal screens in the Fortress of Solitude showed the broadcast of the traffic going around the United Nations. Astra adjusted a couple of settings on the Fortress. Lara, Alura, and Raya watched the woman very nervously. It was very surprising she kept her composure now. The three women just waited for the other foot to drop and for Astra to say something.
The fact she said nothing at all and only gave a glowering look when directed through the screen at the reach. Astra pushed her ear piece in.
"Faora, the moment the Reach looks at anyone cross-eyed, I want you to take them out," Astra said. "We'll deal with damage control later."
The only reason Astra did not really say a single word or signal for an attack just yet was because she wanted to see what the game of the Reach soldiers were just yet. She walked over towards the front of the fortress.
"Is Kal at the DEO?"
"Yes, he's there," Lara said. "We don't really know what the Reach is planning."
Astra figured they would know what they were heading to Earth for instantly. She racked her brain to think of the resources that the Reach could be after. The only thing Astra could think of was the blue beetle scarab which was the ultimate weapon to be used against them. And Astra had her doubts about that. She would have sooner sealed the beetle and it's holder in a vault until the invasion passed.
'And it begins,' Astra thought to herself.
The members of the United Nations greeted the Reach representatives with big smiles on their face. It sickened Astra how much these people could turn on a dime. Yet, what do you expect from politicians?
"We have shared the people of Earth some of our technology," the Reach Ambassador said. "And we will share you much more soon enough. We have brought advances to his planet far beyond your wildest dreams. But we also bring you something else. We bring you knowledge. Knowledge of a great threat which comes to you far beyond the stars and threatens to infect every inch of your planet."
A few seconds passed as Astra waited for the other shoe to drop. Alura grabbed her sister's arm in warning. Astra settled back down for a few seconds and waited for them to drop. They all had a sneaky suspicion of who the Reach was going to implicate with their words and their accusations.
"His name is Darkseid."
That was among the last people Astra would have expected. The rules of the game changed a whole lot now compared to her expectations and now Astra wondered what in the name of Rao was going on her. Lara, Raya, and Alura wore various stages of surprise. The delegates of the United Nations all muttered to each other.
"Darkseid is one of the most vile forces ever to watch the universe," the Reach Ambassador said. "He seeks to subjugate many planets in exchange for the Anti-Life equation. A fiendish equation which can rewrite reality intoany image that Darkseid feels the need to."
Astra now was very curious as to where the Reach was going with this plan.
"This menace will be coming, but fortunately the Reach has advanced knowledge," the Reach Ambassador said. "We have brought forth more inventions. We are currently commissioning, with the permission of the world leaders of course, a water filtration system, which will lead to cleaner water at a cheap and efficient cost. And we are building a tower which will reduce air pollution and restore Earth to a more comfortable atmosphere. We hope to combat the problems and enhance the strength of humanity."
'Yes, because slaves who drop dead before you get all that you can out of them isn't going to serve your agenda, is it?'
The United Nations watched the plans get drawn up. They all nodded and pretended to know what the Reach was talking about. The ignorance of these delegates could be the Earth's downfall. All involved received some really bad flashbacks to the downfall of Krypton.
"All we require is one more thing to help us repel Darkseid. We humbly ask one of Earth's protectors, Superman, to relinquish his Fortress of Solitude."
"And now I understand," Astra bluntly stated.
Everyone understood where the Reach was coming from now that the information had come on the news. They wanted their hands on the Kryptonian technology. They would not be able to reach the Fortress of Solitude on their own accord, not without any assistance they would, anyway. Alura brushed her hand back from her face with several very obvious thoughts entering her mind at a rapid fire rate.
'They want the Fortress,' she said. 'And they're going to begin to paint us as the enemy, to guilt us into handing it over. It's not going to happen. Not if we can help it.'
They had a lot of work to do and now it was going to be time to expose the Reach to show the people what they were truly all about. Astra could see them and the problems they caused more clear than anyone.
"We better be ready," Astra said.
Superman hit the skies of Metropolis. No matter what, he wanted to give people plenty of assurance that he was up there high in the sky and out to save the day no matter what the circumstances. And when a group of Intergang members attacked a scientific research facility, it was high time for Superman to get involved.
"I'm closing in on them. Two minutes and counting!"
That declaration was the last one Clark had a chance to give before something caught his attention. Several armored beetles stood in front of the tank Intergang brought out into the city. One of the beetles launched an electrified mine underneath the tires and forced the Intergang goons to retreat.
Another pair of Intergang thugs, this time dressed in bodyarmor, were all the ground. The Reach electrified the armor and dropped them down to the ground. The nervous people cheered just as Superman dropped to the ground.
"Everyone stand down!"
The leader of the army told the Reach to stand down. They all backed off as Superman came there. They did not show any aggression. Superman was most certainly not going to show the first signs of aggression especially in such a very public venue.
"The Son of Jor-El, it's an honor to meet you."
One of the scientists from the Reach stepped out and extended his hand for Superman to shake. The Man of Steel stood back and waited for the other foot to drop. He reached in and very cautiously took the hand of the Reach Scientist before shaking it. Both pulled away from each other at this particular instance.
"I know you might have heard some mistruths about the Reach," the scientist said. "We are in the same boat….I believe we may have heard some half-truths propagated about your mainstream news media. I know, as I sure you do too, that we should believe what we see, and not believe what other people tell us."
Superman crossed his arms together and nodded. The two individuals, both the Reach Scientist and Superman, stood side by side with each other. Neither wanted to be the one to speak the first word.
"The Reach is here to help," the scientist told Superman. "But, we're concerned that you're not helping the people of Earth by leaving your Fortress of Solitude locked. We can do a lot of good by preventing Darkseid from heading to this Earth."
"The technology in the Fortress can be too dangerous….."
"So, wait, are you saying, are you admitting for the entire world to see, that you have dangerous alien technology which you can use to enslave humanity? Is that what I'm hearing from you?"
The only and only G. Gordon Godfrey appeared on the scene as if someone dropped him out of the shadows from mid-air. Several of his supporters crowded around. One of them held a crudely drawn sign with the Planet Earth on it and a picture of Superman with a large boot drawn by his ass as if it symbolized him being kicked off of the planet. Godfrey shoved the microphone in Superman's face.
"Do you think your Kryptonian people are a master race?" Godfrey asked with his usual bulldoggish look baring down on Clark. Clark stepped back to see Godfrey's eyes locked onto him. "Do you think you're superior to everyone else? Is that why you think your technology is too dangerous for us humanity?"
Superman refused to answer Godfrey's questions.
"Transparency is important," Godfrey said.
"Yes, but the truth will be revealed before too long," Superman said.
"And the truth isn't revealing yourself to be this beacon of hope, isn't it?" Godfrey asked. "I have nothing to hide, but can you say the same thing? They say, don't trust the Superman, and you are the pinnacle of this. You have weapons, you have them, and you're going to use them on us. I'm not going to rest until you're off of this planet."
"GO HOME YOU FILTHY ALIEN!"
One of Godfrey's supporters threw a battery at Superman. The battery bounced off of Superman's face and did not affect him any way.
"It's your fault that I can't get a job, you jerk!" a Hispanic gentleman yelled while shaking his fist at Superman.
"Yeah, go back to where you came from!" a dark-skinned man yelled.
"You are a fucking dickhead!" a white man yelled.
The rioters all yelled and pointed their fingers at Superman. They all chanted him to go home. Superman shot up out of the sky. The Reach already had gone before the riot started. Godfrey stood in the middle with a very smug smile on his face before walking out and getting into a car. He left the rioters in the middle of the street. Some of them hurled rocks, bottles, and anything else they could get their hands onto up into the sky at Superman. The Man of Steel noticed the SCU arriving on the scene.
They released canisters of tear gas into the area and Superman moved back.
"Okay, we've got something," Daisy said. "And are you okay?"
"I'll be fine," Clark said. "It's just…they've been riled up."
One of them wielded a noose in his hand and screamed incoherently what he would do with Superman if he got his hands on him before he had been shot in the shoulder with a tranquillizer dart and dropped where he stood.
"Leave Superman alone!"
One of the rioters moved over to attack a young child who screamed this before the SCU tackled one of the men to the ground and subdued him. Everything was breaking out into chaos and it was most certainly a situation Clark was not used to dealing with.
Leslie Willis, back in the air, finished showing a clip of the riot scene which had been stirred up by G. Gordon Godfrey. Then, she showed another clip of a citizen being trampled and stomped into the ground.
"This poor guy, he was taken to the hospital, and he has severe injuries which has left him in a painful critical state!" Leslie cried over the broadcast. "And all of it is thanks to G. Gordon Godfrey! Godfrey, I know I talk about Gracie all of the time, and you sit on different ends of the political spectrum. Your sister riles up a bunch of ultra-liberal lunatics who are interested only in social justice and virtue-signaling. You on the other end, you represent the very worst of the ultra-extreme far right!"
Now back on the air, Leslie had been broadcasting through a wider audience. So many people watched her broadcast that they crashed the server.
"You might represent an entirely different extreme then your sister," Leslie continued. "But, that doesn't mean you're any less responsible for anything that's happening! There's blood out there and it's on your hands, Gordon! And after months of railing on aliens, you are suddenly buddies with a group of them, you're buddies with the Reach. I'm not buying it for a second, pal! I see your agenda as clear as day."
The words came out as Leslie sternly looked forward.
"Anyone who has sense, should take a close look at what the Reach's technology is really doing," Leslie said. "You might be pretty surprised, and you might be horrified to see what these people are really doing. I don't trust them. They played their cards as far as I'm concerned when they claimed they wanted Superman's Fortress. Oh, of course it's for security."
Leslie took a second to scoff at these words.
"This is the same assbackwards logic that gets our phone lines tapped because it's to protect our freedom. Let's be honest, the only thing you or anyone else can be secure about is the Reach is taking over every corner of our lives. They want the Fortress because they are afraid it could stop them."
The woman clicked her tongue for a second.
"And Gordon, Gordon, Gordon," Leslie said. "The Reach is doing the exact same thing you're accusing Superman of doing. The exact same thing, and your big talking point is that Superman will make humanity dependent on him. Well, guess what, you're endorsing an entire race of people making humanity dependent on them. I think this proves without a shadow of a doubt how much of an utterly hypocritical piece of shit you are!"
Leslie needed to take a long drink of water to cool her nerves. She really had been riled up with this rant and nothing was really going to stop her, not if she could help it.
"But, everyone who listens to my podcast, they know the truth," Leslie said. "And I want to thank you all for following, for sharing, for tweeting, and putting the squeeze on these extremist fuckwits from both the left and the right. They need to be called out on their actions and their lies. I'm just one bitch with a forum, but together, all of us, we can make a different."
The woman brushed her tongue.
"And you saw Gracie's latest fairy tale feminism fantasy video, and how it got panned," Leslie said. "She's just going more manic. The forum's still open, Gracie, for you to come on my show and we can have a talk. I swear, I'll be a good girl and I won't rip you a new asshole. I'll just let you bury yourself."
The latest hits came in and Leslie had been very pleased with them, extremely pleased in fact. She could not have described how pleased she was in mere words.
"I would like to conclude today's broadcast by thanking my supporters, my fans, and most importantly, I'd like to also shout out to the lunatics out there for giving me so much material to work with. And Gracie, you have my phone number, you have my e-mail address. Time to come out of your safe space and talk to me, sweetie."
Clark noticed the second he turned up by the entrance of the DEO how hard they had been working. They had been working some heavy overtime to try and get everything they needed to do, done. Clark took those first few steps out and let out a very careful breath.
Kara moved her way into the room. She noticed Clark standing in the entrance. Kara rushed over and took Clark's large hand into his and pulled him forward.
"I saw what happened with the Reach and Godfrey," Kara said. "Are you okay?"
"I'm physically fine," Clark admitted.
Seconds passed and Clark tried to pass onto the one thing that really did bother him. And there were a couple of things which really did bother him if he was perfectly and completely honest.
"I'm more worried about the people. They spoke out against me and they paid for it. Godfrey's supporters were vicious to them. One of them was going to attack a child before Maggie and the rest of the SCU jumped in and prevented it from happening."
Kara could see everything was tearing Clark up in side.
"They've gone too far," Kara said. "They've gone much too far."
Clark swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. People always had the right to their beliefs and the right to their own opinions. However, when their opinions and beliefs went too far and put civilians at risk, Clark was going to have to question whether or not things were fine.
"How's Alex?" Clark asked.
Kara reached over and poured herself a cup of coffee. Normally, she did not need one. These days, Kara needed a nice little pick-me up to get her going.
"Well, her other half is still on edge," Kara said.
Clark figured about as much. The moved forward with several DEO agents moving forward. They had their scanners locked onto the tower as they attempted to deduce what the Reach was up to. Clark thought that was a good question to be perfectly honest. He did not have any answer to what the Reach was doing.
"So, I'm here."
Carol Danvers stood in the back entrance of the DEO.
"Hey, Carol!" Kara cried.
"Hey, sis," Carol said while reaching in to hug Kara. "Clark."
She greeted him with a short, but extremely passionate kiss on the lips. Carol pulled back to leave Clark hanging against the wall.
"So, they're still trying to figure out what angle to tackle this entire Reach problem with, aren't they?" Carol asked. "Things are getting bad out there…and I've heard that the military might attempt to take the Fortress by force."
"Astra's going to see that as an act of war," Kara said.
Carol sighed at her sister's statement. She was not certain it was an act of war. The Reach kept claiming Earth's defense was necessary and the Fortress was needed. The only truth to their words was that Darkseid was coming. Pretty much everything else had been a well-placed fabrication.
"And I don't see her being as wrong, unfortunately," Carol said. "So, where's Alex?"
One swift point from Kara directed the attention of her older sister directly to the war room. Carol and Clark both followed Kara. Alex sat, complete in blue beetle armor, in front of a computer monitor. Images of the Reach tower and the headquarters they had been set up flashed in front of her face. Daisy typed away off to the side to try and pull up some information. Her fingers moved at a blur across the keyboard.
"You think that they have something hidden?" Daisy asked.
"I don't think," Alex said. "I know. They were here for months before they announced themselves. And if we reveal them now, we might be able to shake the people's confidence that they are these beings."
Daisy looked up and invited Kara, Carol, and Clark into the room.
"We're waiting for the DEO to get ready," Daisy said.
"By the time the DEO's got in position, it's going to be too late," Alex said. "We're going to have to strike now!"
Daisy could find it hard to tell whether or not it was Alex talking or the blue beetle. Then again, the two interfaced very closely on this situation.
"If you're ready, I'm ready," Kara said.
No other planet was going to die on Kara's watch. She looked towards Clark, who nodded in response. Carol stood up straight and ready for battle just as much as Daisy did. Alex stood higher than ever in the armor which was designed to take down the Reach.
"We need to stop the Reach before they recall their fleet," Alex said. "And there will be a fleet. There are going to be hordes of ships."
"Are you in position?" Daisy asked.
"Yes, always," a modulated voice stated over the other end. "Ms. Mercer suggested that I do some work and I've already made some preliminary scans on the Reach's tower. I'm going to have to get inside when we're there. I'll meet you there."
"Good," Daisy said.
Alex's gaze dropped to her girlfriend for a moment. Daisy turned back around with a soft smile going across her face.
"What?" Daisy asked. You're not the only one that's making plans."
Carol, Daisy, Alex, Clark, and Kara moved out to investigate the tower. They would have to get to the bottom of this and hopefully piece together the Reach's inventions.
Something more personal filled Clark's mind. After today, and after what happened with G. Gordon Godfrey, Clark would have liked nothing better than to expose his cruelty to the entire world. Everyone needed to see the type of man Godfrey was.
And if the Reach had been exposed, then Clark thought that they would be going a long way to doing that.
A stealth ship left the DEO, and made their way through the tower. Carol piloted the ship and did it about as well as one could expect from her. The Reach would expect someone to come poking around and would be prepared for anything.
"If they spot us," Alex said. "We're going to have to fight."
'And we're not going to have to fight,' the scarab chimed in. 'We're going to have to fight to win. And more importantly, we're going to have to fight to destroy our enemies.'
This one single word coming from the scarab just brought a smile and a shake of Alex's head off. The ship flew into position and landed outside. The scanners picked up a lifeform moving around the outside of the ship.
"Indigo," Daisy said.
"And she's not alone."
Several armed guards made their way around outside of the ship. Daisy sighed and exited the ship, with Clark and Kara following her. She kneeled on the ground and the ground rocked underneath the Reach guards.
Kara took them out with stealth and speed. Clark moved over to pick up one of the radios that the Reach guards dropped and hold it over his hand.
"That's going to be perfect."
Indigo stepped behind them. She interfaced with the radio.
"We only have five minutes before the next guard shift changes," Indigo said. "But, this links into the Reach's entire communication network."
She slammed a wire through the top of the head of the downed beetle guards and absorbed the access codes necessary to access this network, or at least the part of the network where this beetle guard had credentials to.
"The tower has a signal on standby," Indigo said. "And the signal, it has a signal leading deal underneath the Pacific Ocean."
The worst fears of the entire group had been realized. Alex took in a deep breath. Her over half managed not to overwhelm her.
'So, they've been here for a long time, underneath our noses,' the blue beetle said.
"They must have slipped in, to prepare their invasion ever since the Thangarian invasion," Alex said. "They were under our noses the entire time. They just waited for the entire time to strike."
"But, how does Darkseid figure into this then?" Clark asked.
"Maybe…maybe the Reach is afraid of him just as much as the next person," Kara said. "Or they're unwilling pawns in whatever game he's playing."
"She has a point," Carol said. "Both of them are good actually."
"Two minute warning," Indigo said.
Clark was well aware the time had been running out. He really did have to figure out what to do now.
"Can you see if you can trace the location of the central Reach headquarters?" Clark asked.
"I'm in the process of doing so right now," Indigo said. "When the guards come, you're going to have take them out before they radio home."
"Don't worry, they won't make it," Alex said.
This trick could only work once, but it bought some time. Alex sent out a dummy distress signal to a Reach ship halfway across the world. It would buy them at least an hour and make the Reach think that Superman was there, instead of here at the tower.
"Accessing core tower database now."
It was time to unmask the Reach and show the world what they really were.