Chapter Eighty-Three: Deep Cover Part One
"The depths of which Superman will sink to exert his power and dominance over those who perceives to be less than him shows know bounds. He keeps hiding in the shadows and then only swoops down when he can show he is a strong and powerful man. Is this the man who you want your young daughters to look up to? I think we should discourage such deplorable behavior from this man. And link hands together as women so we can show how toxic he is. He's spreading his influence to the world and it makes women think it's acceptable to scream for a strong man to save them. No self-respecting woman would ever dare yell for Superman to say them."
Chloe's stomach turned in knots. Every single one of Grace Godfrey's words caused Chloe's lunch to almost escape out of her mouth with dinner and breakfast racing to join it. Grace's intentions had been suspect at best. She thought at first Grace was only out of the money and using feminist talking points as an attempt to line her own pockets.
The moment the truth popped out, it showed that Grace was far more deplorable and disturbing than Chloe even realized. Grace's face looked very manic when it flashed over the television screen. Her nasty teeth gritted together as her fist shook together.
"Yeah, I want to put something through the television."
Chloe turned over to see Tess had rejoined her in the Clocktower. It had been a LuthorCorp offsite facility which they used to monitor the situation. Chloe watched the image of Grace and finally muted it. She only could take so much. Putting Grace on close captioning and showing her words was slightly less bothersome than hearing her shrill voice scream about how much better she was to all men and wome.
"Don't take it out on the television. It's done nothing wrong."
A small shadow of a smile passed over Tess's face. It was really true, the television did not do anything wrong. It was just the means to show Grace's disgusting diatribe to the rest of the world. Tess bent her hair back and allowed strands of red hair to flop away from her face.
"No, I suppose it hasn't," Tess said. "She's really much worse when you realize how off her intentions are. And she's doing a good job in planting those seeds of discord."
Tess took out a couple of blueprints Indigo sent over with what she could find out about the Reach. They were seeking the mothership now.
"And speaking of discord, the Reach really is looking like the heroes," Tess said. "They want to better humanity."
Chloe pulled a face at the thought of the Reach. The only truth they spoke was Darkseid was about ready to invade Earth. That much could be verified by them previously. The Reach swore they needed the Fortress which made Chloe wonder if there was some shadow of truth to that.
"Do you think the Fortress could stop Darkseid?" Chloe asked.
Tess dropped the cup of coffee on the desk. She poured herself a glass. Seconds passed before Tess mused upon Chloe's answer.
"Maybe."
No other words could be needed. Tess was certain that Lara, Alura, Raya, Astra, and everyone else inside the Fortress knew a lot more than she did. The Reach must have had a strong idea they could use the Fortress to make the Earth protected against Darkseid.
"I wonder if the Reach knows that Darkseid's agents are already on Earth," Tess said.
Chloe almost dropped the pen clutched between her fingers. Tess raised a pretty good point and one that Chloe did not even consider until she brought it up. The Reach might have been used as pawns to weaken the Earth's defenses. It added another layer.
"It's funny, "Chloe said. "I…."
"You thought the Reach were willingly working with Darkseid?" Tess asked.
Chloe answered with a nod. Tess just responded with a slight shrug and returned to drinking her coffee. She looked at the woman across from her.
"Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. I guess you might say they're either willing pawns or unwilling pawns. Pick your poison. Both as likely."
Chloe figured about as much. She watched as the words flowed across the television screen. Grace's words grew more manic and almost a parody of a feminist talking point. Maybe that's what she was doing. Grace was ridiculing everyone while claiming to be a feminist, especially the feminists.
"She thinks men and women are sheep to be manipulated and pushed aside when necessary," Tess said. "And given the world where she comes from it's hard to disagree."
A signal started to beep sent from Indigo. Tess decided to go over to the screen and get to work before Chloe had a chance to catch her breath. The skilled computer hacker threw her arms together with a pouty expression. Tess would have looked amused had she not started frowning.
"Uh, oh," Tess whispered.
"What?" Chloe asked. "Uh oh?"
"Mmm, hmm," Tess said. "She won't be happy that they have a fleet of ships submerged deep under water."
Clark felt they were getting the runaround for some reason. Kara walked a couple of steps behind him, Carol hovered off to the side. Daisy and Alex brought up the rear. Every step brought them closer to the Reach Mothership. Alex pushed her ear piece in. Her other half remained silent, at least for the most part. She hoped it would stay silent for some time to come. They were already in a tense enough situation without the Beetle being trigger happy.
"Where are we going?" Daisy asked.
"This is where Indigo said we could find the Reach's main mothership here on Earth," Clark said.
The five stood on the edge of the beach. Water slapped across the waves from where they stood. Clark, Kara, Daisy, Carol, and Alex moved in. They all waited something to come out on the other side.
"There's nothing here, though?"
Kara scanned the edge of the island. She sounded uncertain. Something hit Kara across the side of the head and caused her to stagger back. Carol reached out to catch her sister before she dropped down onto the ground. Kara brought out her deep breath and wiped a drop of blood off her face.
"Maybe there is something there?" Carol asked. "Okay?"
"Fine," Kara said. "I'll be fine…once the ringing stops at least."
The ringing started to cease. Kara pressed the side of her ear. Alex moved over and scanned the edge of the island. The Beetle armor around her clicked and made Alex shudder. Something was going to happen and she could feel it. Carol put a hand on the shoulders of both of her sisters.
"Something there," Daisy said. "I figured about as much."
Daisy put one finger into the water surrounding the island and sent a vibration through it. The backlash fired Daisy back and almost made her land hard on the ground. Clark helped her up and Daisy took a couple of deep breaths.
"There's something really strange about this island," Daisy said. "I don't know what, but it's not…."
"The Reach is using some kind of cloaking field to disguise their ships," Alex said. "We're going to have to break it open and see what we can find inside."
Alex moved over the edge of the island with a hand extended back. The others moved back to allow Alex to get to work. She knew what she was looking for and knew what had to be found. The lights flashed over the island as Alex located the item in question. It was a normal looking tree at first.
"Kara, Clark, heat vision it right at the center," Alex said.
The Kryptonian cousins did not hesitate to do what had been asked of them. Two bolts of white-hot light shot out of their eyes and connected with the side of the tree. The tree burst out into flames from the impact being delivered without any problem. Clark and Kara stepped back to smell the smoke coming off of the tree from where they were.
The island shifted and turned into the Reach Mothership. The facility had been compromised. Alex moved onto the ship with Daisy, Kara, Alex, and Clark all following. She knew this facility the best thanks to the connection to the Blue Beetle Scarab so it was best to let her lead the way.
"You know where we're going?" Daisy asked.
Alex didn't say anything. A large blue key jutted out of one of her fingers. It overload the security system and allowed the doors to crack open to bring Alex inside the room. She stepped in with Clark following, Daisy following, and then the others following in front of them.
They opened up the doors and noticed several vats full of a substance. Clark stepped inside and put the scanner from the Fortress up to it. The scanner beeped a couple of times before showing Clark what they had to deal with.
"So, what's the deal?" Daisy asked.
"The Reach was telling the truth about what's in here and lying at the same time?" Clark asked. "The nutrients in here are very healthy, but they have extremely addictive properties. People can take them once and improve their lives, but they have to keep taking them. And eventually, they can't stop taking them. The Reach could withhold them, ot make people compliant."
"Good health always comes at a price," Alex said.
"I don't think the Reach has gotten to that step of their plan," Carol said.
The ship shifted underneath them. They all wondered what the hell the Reach was after. There were so many questions yet to have been answered. And the footsteps coming around the corner just made them even more on edge and very nervous.
"We got to find the main core and shut it down," Alex said. "If we find the ship's core, we take out the Reach."
A brilliant smile came over the face of the Reach Ambassador. The people of this planet were much like children. They could be lead by the most shiny of things. They followed the strong voice who told them what they wanted to hear and gave them what they wanted to hear. She saw them as the type of people who would throw their freedom away for the biggest sense of security possible.
The invasion plan was on schedule. Unfortunately, the Kryptonian had been less compliant as she figured. The Reach were not ignorant to the potential that Fortress held. They needed to have it in their hands and show the power of it. They would bring all of their enemies to their knees.
The story they spun about Darkseid's interest really did put them into a panic. The Reach always invoked a name of a powerful conqueror to get to they want. And as always, a planet's media presence played very nicely into the palm of their hands. Everything was coming up precisely as planned and soon the Reach would achieve their goals.
"G. Gordon Godfrey is a perfect platform to spread our message," one of her underlings told the Reach Ambassador. "He's a pawn, a perfect pawn."
"Yes, and we don't have to manipulate him," the Ambassador said. "He's willing to implicate Superman on any matter of items. Soon public opinion will force the human governments to act and seize all of his assets including his Fortress."
Earth would be the new base for the Reach, humans would be very willing and very fertile slaves for them to spread their power, and the Fortress would be the ultimate weapon to tie it together. Anyone who was strong enough to resist would have been crushed by their enemies. The Reach prepared themselves for this battle.
The Ambassador walked a couple of steps to come and meet with the Reach Scientist. The Reach Scientist dropped to one knee before the Ambassador. The Scientist extended a hand to tell the Reach Scientist to rise and the Reach Scientist did in fact rise.
"It will be ready to be marketed on their planet soon," the scientist said. "It will hit those with this…as the human scientists have referred to it, meta-gene."
One calculating smile spread over the face of the Ambassador. She had to have the meta-gene people most of all. They survived a meteor shower and gained extraordinary powers. Those extraordinary powers had to be under the control of the Reach and nothing more. They could hardly wait for the next phase of their plan.
A signal started to beep through the room. The Ambassador moved over to the central console of the ship and began to type in commands. The woman's eyebrows rose and lifted when trying to lock onto the ship as it was. She drew in a deep breath.
"No, that's impossible….."
Strange coding appeared on the screen. The Reach Ambassador locked into the protocols to attempt to bypass the images on the screen. The coding continued to flow down at a certain level and bamboozle them all. The Reach Ambassador bit down on her lip and kept working feverishly to try to break whatever hacking had been done.
"No, it can't be!" she yelled.
"No one could have bypassed that security protocol without help," the Reach Scientist said.
The Reach Scientist put his fingers on the edge of the console. The Ambassador's face turned into one of the more obvious scowls possible.
"Yes," the Reach Ambassador said. "No one could have broken free without help…they would need Reach Technology to get around the ship. And that can only be one person."
They of course referred to the unspeakable one. The rogue scientist created the Blue Beetle as an attempt to take them down. The Reach lost track of the rogue element which did not put them at ease. It just raised so many more uneasy questions. They prepared to deal with it in due time by creating something to take it down.
"It's….I don't know what to make of it," the Reach Scientist said. "It's finally found a champion worthy of holding it. and now…it could compromise everything if we're exposed."
"No, it can still be salvaged," the Reach Ambassador said. "Is there any way that the Blue Beetle can be converted and subverted into serving our cause?"
"Always possible, but I'm not sure how much I would advise it…."
"I would advise crushing it."
The two Reach representatives turned around just in time to see a large and imposing figure. The Black Beetle stood taller and prouder. The ultimate enforcer in the Reach looked down on them with glowing red eyes which even terrified the Reach Representatives. Their hold on him had been slippery at best.
"Let me crack it open and see what is inside. The meat inside won't be able to survive."
"Get to it and take it out and bring it back here," the Reach Scientist said. "I want to know how that scientist circumvented all of our safeguards. I'd prefer it to be in one piece."
"I make no promises."
A large kingdom rested deep underneath the ocean with imperial palaces and castles as far as the eye could see. The kingdom had wonders which could not have been seen on land. Atlantis had been lost to the world, but over the past several years, they returned and it had been shopping.
Queen Mera sat on the throne of Atlantis. She took in a deep breath when looking out to the sea. She sensed something was very off. The past several days had been an exercise in frustration. She personally visited the United Nations and told them it might not have been a good idea to trust the Reach at face value. The Reach were like many conquering races. They were much too benevolent to the point where they were beginning to overplay their hand. Mera clutched the side of her face, nails digging in.
Footsteps came from outside. Mera wondered if this would have been the information she had been waiting for. Much time passed before a striking tall brunette girl stepped through the front way. She wore a very grim expression on her face when coming to Mera.
"Queen Mera, you're…you're not going to like this."
Mera turned towards the girl who fluttered over. The medallion on her neck flashed in light. It allowed her to switch between walking on two legs and also swim through the waters of Atlantis. Mera reached in and put a hand on the shoulder of her young aid.
"I've seen much on this day I do not prefer and do not care much for. Please enlighten me on the latest news, Lori."
The girl, Lori, drug in a deep breath. She took out a box and placed it in front of her queen. The box opened up to reveal a large metallic orb which shined bright in the light. Mera's gaze fell upon the orb and a deep frown came over her face.
"The guards found this, lying on the sea floor."
Mera did not recognize the technology. Foreign technology being placed in the sea rarely ended up leading to anything ideal. She flipped over the technology in the palm of her hand and spent the next couple of minutes studying it.
"Someone's planning something," Mera said.
The nervous shift of her young mermaid assistant made Mera stand up a bit straighter. "You mean…you mean someone….one of the enemies of Atlantis, they're trying something?"
Her voice grew a little bit higher and a fair bit more frustrated. Mera shook her head.
"No, not an enemy of Atlantis. An enemy of the world…and it's as I've always said….."
"An enemy of the world is an enemy of Atlantis," Lori repeated.
Mera nodded. The people of Atlantis, especially the Royal Council, disagreed with her way too many times. They thought the land dwellers problems should not have been something that the people of Atlantis should burden themselves with. Mera disagreed with them constantly. It had been a constant source of friction and argument.
However, if they had found a way to plant something at the bottom of the sea, well it now became a problem for the people of Atlantis. Mera rose up to her full height and Lori took a very nervous step backwards. She looked at the Queen who stood to her highest height.
"I want a full scan of the sea," Mera told her guards. "I don't want a single inch of it untouched, do you hear me?"
The guards nodded and took this threat seriously which pleased Mera. She wanted to properly assist the damage. Lori shifted against the wall one more time.
"Do you have something to ask of me?"
Mera's eyes fell onto Lori with a very gentle stare. She opened her mouth for a brief second and nodded at her Queen.
"Who do you think it is?"
Lori gave a pretty loaded question and to be honest, Mera had no idea who was behind this. Well, she had an idea, but it would be unwise to say who it was without any proof. There were way too many people who threw accusations at people.
That being said, there were many groups of people who she did not trust.
The guard came back with a detailed scan of the scene. The stony look on the man's face told the story. The man had been terrified pretty much out of his life and Mera could do nothing to appease him if she wanted to.
"You're not going to believe this….there's an entire invasion force of alien ships…."
The images shown to Mera told the story. An entire invasion force of alien ships of similar design to the one which the Reach Ambassador and her fellow representatives arrived in. Mera very nearly applauded them for slipping them in under their nose for so long.
It was very galling how she spent so much time in front of the United Nations to argue the Reach was not as good as they put themselves in. At least now she had proof of an invasion force at the bottom of the screen.
"I'm going to deal with this."
Mera picked up a trident and stepped from the palace and moved outside. About six guards followed her. The Queen did not bother to slow down so they kept up. She merely just walked with a purpose.
The crew took their steps through the lab. They knew every second was a second more that the Reach could enact their plans. The radio interference down there became immense. They had been cut off from technical support.
"It was bound to happen sooner or later," Daisy said. "I don't like it but I guess we're going to have to be doing this blind."
None of them liked where they were going or the fact they had to do this blind. They moved around the bottom of the ship. Alex held out her hand and the scanning for the power module continued. She felt the energy cascading into the palm of her hand.
"Are we close?" Kara asked.
"Close, but this is where I think they could spring a trap."
'And we'll crush them when we do.'
The Blue Beetle's bloodlust almost terrified Alex at times. She moved down the hallway. The Blue Beetle tensed up.
"Someone's coming," Alex said.
Daisy, Kara, and Carol all turned around. Clark hovered across the sky at them.
A blast of golden light came inches away from striking Clark in the head. He dropped down onto the ground. Daisy slammed her fist through the air and a sonic blast knocked the two guards with guns off of the ground. Daisy moved over to try and take them out before one of them called for reinforcements.
"Company's coming!" Daisy yelled.
Kara zipped in front of the metal door and shoved it shut. She had no idea how long it was going to hold or if it was going to hold completely at all. The door started to rattle on the other side with Kara holding it. Sweat rolled down the side of her face.
The wall on the other side blasted open. Debris filled the hallway as a large hulking figure who resembled a giant black beetle stepped in with several more smaller guards in red battle armor which resembled red beetles. The Black Beetle stepped in with a sadistic grin on his face.
"Good afternoon, meat," The Black Beetle growled.
'Okay, what is that?' Alex asked her other.
'He's the Black Beetle,' the Blue Beetle said. 'The Reach created that scarab to take me down, much like my creator created me to take the Reach down.'
The Black Beetle held out a cannon and blasted Carol down to the ground. The Black Beetle grabbed Carol by the back of her head and curb-stomped her down onto the ground. Daisy tried to attack the Black Beetle. The quake powers absorbed into his armor and then ricocheted back against Daisy to knock her down on the ground.
"You're not worth my time…."
Superman came down to the ground. Black Beetle blocked Superman's attack and flipped him down onto the ground.
"Blue Beetle's mine! Deal with the rest of this meat!"
The two moved face to face to square off with each other. The Blue Beetle and the Black Beetle stuck out their arm cannons and walked around each other. Neither was willing to back off from the other.
"You're going to rejoin the collective in your proper place."
The other guards moved in to engage the others. Carol, Daisy, Kara, and Clark braced themselves for the fight of their lives against these Red Beetle enforcers.
"You're just their pawn," Alex said.
The Black Beetle's arms retracted into two razor sharp swords and he rushed Alex. Alex jumped into the air to engage the Black Beetle. The two clashed together with Alex dropping down to the ground.
'We're going to have to not hold back against him.'
No sooner did that big of advice be delivered, the Black Beetle pounded the Blue Beetle in the face and knocked him back.
"And here I thought this was supposed to be the ultimate weapon against the Reach. I suppose it's only good as the meat it has in the middle."
Chapter Eighty-Four: Deep Cover Part Two
One of the guards stepped forward to engage an adversary with Superman staring down at him. The cannon aimed towards the Man of Steel and fired a glowing orange orb at him. Superman evaded the attack with swift precision and dipped around the attacker with a series of attacks. The attacker returned back and slashed two large knives at Superman. The Man of Steel blocked the attack and pushed back with both of them going back and forth.
The attacker jumped straight into position. The Red Beetle aimed a cannon down onto the ground to rock Daisy. Daisy put her hand into the ground and rocked the ground underneath the attacker. The attacker staggered a slight bit forward until Daisy reared a hand back and caught her attacker flush across the face with a vibration. Daisy slammed her fist down on the ground with another attacker.
Kara and Carol stood side by side with each other. The two girls did not say any words. They watched when the Red Beetles charged towards them. Kara caught one of the Beetles around the head and flipped it down to the ground. The Girl of Steel struck the Beetle with the full force of a punch. The armor protected the enemy from a full attack. Kara drove up and nailed it.
"On your right!"
One of them flashed through the shadows at Supergirl and tried to take a shot at her. She came up and rocked her enemy with an huge uppercut punch to the chest. Two more of them grabbed Supergirl around the head. Her knees bent with the creatures trying to grab onto her.
"You will submit to your superior, Kryptonian."
"Hardly!"
A loud crack resounded with Supergirl pushing away. The Red Beetles recovered and the guards aimed their attacks at Supergirl. Carol dropped down and grabbed both of the Red Beetles around their heads. They were hoisted off of the ground and smashed down against each other. They cracked into each other with a resounding thud. Carol dropped them at the next move.
Daisy chanced a glance over her shoulder. She brushed her hair out of her face and sighed. "Don't look now, but there are more on the way. We better be ready."
The Blue Beetle flew back at the hands of the Black Beetle. The large enemy packed a huge punch with rattled Alex inside of her cell. She drew in a deep breath and looked up high for the Black Beetle to come down onto her. The Blue Beetle blocked the Black Beetle and pushed him back.
"You're going to succumb to us! You're going to succumb to the power of the Reach."
Both teleported onto the balcony high above the battle. Blue Beetle struggled to get underneath her adversary and blast him as hard as possible. The Blue Beetle knocked the Black Beetle back several feet before aiming a cannon at him. The energy blast grew intense when firing against the Black Beetle.
'It's not enough,' The Blue Beetle warned her.
Sweat beat down the top of the Blue Beetle's face as the struggle continued. Her teeth gritted together when trying to push forward.
"I've been sent here to crush you. And I'm going to bring your broken body and lay it at the feet of my masters. Without the Reach's technology, you're nothing but a scared child."
The Black Beetle smashed through the Blue Beetle's energy attack with an energy attack of his own. The Black Beetle smashed his fists into the body. Alex felt like a mouse trapped inside of a tin-can being punched around. She dropped down with the breath, pained as it might be, barely able to go through her body.
"Stand up and face me!" The Black Beetle yelled. "Come and face me!"
One blurry eye opened with Alex holding herself up and standing as firm as possible. The Black Beetle cracked both on his fists down across the back to force her to wobble and almost collapse down. The Black Beetle impacted the side of the armor and rattled her something fierce.
"Is that as hard as you can hit?" The Blue Beetle asked.
The Blue Beetle flipped up and slammed down onto the back of the Black Beetle. Several punches followed having been chained together in an never ending succession. The Blue Beetle knocked the Black Beetle down onto the platform and tried to break through the armor.
'It's like trying to break through an iron gate with nothing but a toothpick.'
Alex preserved through the attack and kept smashing against the armor. A series of punches rocked the Black Beetle. The two of them edged deeper into the platform and they were underneath a lamp.
'We have to get out of here….it's an electromagnetic chamber…it's going to shut down…'
Black Beetle forced his hands on the back of Alex's neck and forced her down to her knees. Alex thrashed and struggled as the Black Beetle put the pressure on. No way she could get out no matter how much she tried and Alex tried to break out.
"I'm willing to take one for the team…now!"
A burst of electro-magnetic energy shot through the area and shot down both of the Black and Blue Beetle scarabs. They all dropped to the ground with a sickening impact being heard by all.
Three Reach Scientists pealed the Blue Beetle off of the ground. The human who wore the suit had been sealed inside for the moment thanks to a failsafe function. It did not matter they would break it open and take out the creamy center from the inside.
The Blue Beetle would be one of the Reach's top soldiers one way or another. They would refuse to allow anything less.
The images of G. Gordon Godfrey could be seen on the television screen. Godfrey wore a very big smile on his face. He stood by the Reach's tower with a pair of Reach guards standing on either side. The Reach's Ambassador had a big grin on her face.
"Today, we begin the next step in humanity's evolution," Godfrey said. "You hear about every liberal on the planet saying that we should do what we can to stop climate change. Yet, no one offers any solutions to the matter, only offering complaints. Well, we don't have complaints, we only have solutions with my new friends in the Reach. Isn't that right, Ambassador?"
The Ambassador nodded with a big smile popping over it.
"Yes, the future is now. We're filtering the toxins out of the air. People can breath easier. In time, you can drink out of the water."
"That's quite the feat," Godfrey said. "Although, the biggest infestation in the entire sea needs to be taken care of before the people of this planet could breath easily."
Godfrey's eyes locked onto the camera with a very nasty smirk on his face when locking onto everyone watching.
"I'll tell you who is the biggest infestation in the entire ocean. The People of Atlantis, they think of themselves to be higher than humans and they live under water. They claim the entire ocean is their territory. They don't respect the countries around them. If you ask me, they should be all forced out of the sea."
Behind Godfrey out by the sea, a redheaded woman dressed in a skin-tight green outfit rose all the way out of the sea behind the man in question. The Reach Ambassador noticed her rising and looked a bit tepid. Godfrey had gone on one of those rants.
"Mera dares storm up to the United Nations and tries to cause trouble. She claims that the Reach should be not taken at face value. Yet, where she was to complain about Superman? She should be brought up on charges for treason against the entire human race and if I had any season about it, I'd tell you what I'd do to her…."
"What would you do to me, Mr. Godfrey?"
Godfrey turned around, his mouth opened, and no sound came out. He locked eye to eye with the Queen of Atlantis herself who did not look too particularly pleased with Godfrey or the Reach at the moment.
"You call the Reach benevolent. Let me ask you a question. Is this the action of a benevolent race?"
Mera ripped several large war ships out of the sea on bubbles. They all had a similar design with the Reach ship which arrived outside of the United Nations.
"They are all armed and ready to be launched upon the Earth once your guard was down," Mera said. "Or at least they were until I dismantled them."
"You can't do this!" The Ambassador yelled.
"You also might be interested on an island a little bit out to the coast which is a huge battleship, armed with Reach Soldiers," Mera said. "I bring before you proof that the Reach has conspired to invade."
"The fleet….the fleet was there because Darkseid's coming!" The Reach Ambassador managed in a shaky voice.
"Oh, is it?" Mera asked. "Well, maybe people would have been a bit more secure if you told them that fact up front in the first place. After all, you said there were no secrets to your new friends on Earth. The Reach was nothing, but transparent, were they? Having a fleet buried in the ocean and having it there for months before you made your presence known is not the actions of someone who is transparent."
Godfrey was gobsmacked, his supporters were all looking terrified at having their worldview shattered, and the Reach Ambassador glared at the Queen of Atlantis with a fury.
"And in the future, keep your junk out of my sea!"
Mera crushed the ships one at a time and the Reach Ambassador almost looked faint.
The expression on the face of G. Gordon Godfrey resembled one of absolute terror. He stammered and stammer and stammered some more. He tried to get the words out.
"You're just like the rest of them!" Godfrey bellowed out. "You deceived humanity. You've fooled us with lies! You are deceivers! You are traitors to humanity! This just proves that aliens like Superman cannot be trusted. This just proves that….."
"This just proves how you got caught with your pants down."
A small group of anti-Godfrey protestors, with Leslie Willis in the middle stepped up. She wore a headset and looked on at Godfrey with a grin popping over her face.
"So, tell me, Gordon, how does it feel to look like a fool? Because, sixty million people just watched to look like a total idiot. They saw you with your pants down. You spent the last several weeks prostituting yourself for the Reach and this is what you get."
All of them jeered at Godfrey and a couple of seconds passed with Godfrey looking even more angry than ever before. The fists of the talk show host clutched together. Leslie held the microphone out in front of him.
"So, do you have any words for every one of the sixty million people watching my broadcast who just saw your façade be exposed? How you're nothing but a lunatic?"
Godfrey grew very red in the face.
"Get her out of here!" Gordon yelled. "Get her out of here."
"So, I'm going to take that as a no comment," Leslie said. "Well, G. Gordon Godfrey will have to work double time in spinning this one folks."
Security formed a wall. The Reach Ambassador slipped out through the confusion of the situation. Gordon hurled his headset on the ground and stormed off. He had been made a fool out of, not only on national television, but all over the Internet.
And once something went on the Internet, it never came off.
Kara watched her sister be kidnapped by the Reach off from the distance. Rage flew through the eyes of Supergirl. She pushed forward with both arms extended and rocked the Red Beetle with the most vicious pair of punches possible. The Girl of Steel stepped back and grabbed one of the Beetles around the head and knocked him down to the ground.
Carol had been jumped by about six of them in succession. They all held Carol down to her knees and there was a struggle where she tried to pop back up. The glowing lights came inches away from Carol's face. One of them retracted a huge blade and almost stuck it into the back of Carol's neck.
"STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTER!"
Supergirl exploded into the scene with fists of furry and feet to match. The Girl of Steel dropped back down to the ground and waited for the Reach to get back to their feet. The Beetles scrambled around. Kara knocked the Reach Soldier hard with a vicious punch with doubled him over. More sickening punches from Kara rocked him about the area of the chest and the back of the head.
Daisy moved her way through the door. Panic set in. Daisy lost track of pretty much everyone else. She raised a hand and started to rock the door open.
"Damn it!"
The entire place would come down on their heads if Daisy tried to rock it open that way. One of the Reach soldiers came close to attacking Daisy. Daisy blocked it and knocked him back against the wall. The latest attacker came down.
Kara, Carol, and Clark all fought the Reach Soldiers which caused Daisy to focus on the door. She clutched the side of her face deep in heavy contemplation. The more she studied the door, the more Daisy realized something.
'I'm going to have to do this the old fashion way.'
"Can you hear me?"
A voice in Daisy's ear caused her to jump about three feet off of the ground in and into the air. She did not really expect to hear anyone right about now. Daisy stretched back a fraction of an inch.
"Yeah, Chloe, I could hear you. I swear, we lost connection when you got disconnected."
"To be fair, we kind of did," Chloe said. "Indigo has been working around the clock to try and take down the Reach's dampeners. And I think it's safe to say, she did."
"Yeah, pretty much….I'm plugged into this port. Alex has been captured."
"Yeah, we should really get those doors open," Tess said.
The Reach's forces might have been depleting rapidly, but Daisy knew that there would be more on the way. The door was beginning to get hacked in. Several minutes passed before the doors sprung open.
"Let's….."
The gust of wind from a blur shooting in the direction towards the door almost knocked Daisy over. Daisy came very close to landing on her face on the ground from something going past her.
"Go?"
Clark knocked three of the Beetles back and they ended up trapped in cages on the ship which were intended for prisoners. Or maybe rogue Reach agents as well, it was very hard to tell.
"We better hurry," Clark said.
Carol followed an instant later ,with Daisy and Clark moving in. Kara already had gotten a head start and there was no easy way to see where she might have gone.
A very groggy Alex Danvers opened her eyes. She could tell instantly what kind of situation she had entered and it was about what she expected.
"Soon, she would be the ultimate warrior for us. The Blue Beetle is a powerful weapon."
"This process could kill the person inside of the scarab," one of the scientists said.
Another scientist waved his hand. "It's just meat in there. The person inside of the shell is of no great importance. We need to make sure our priorities are in line. We can't be worried about the plight of meat."
The Reach Scientist nodded and took out a drill. Alex's eyes flickered open. The table flipped over and she laid on her front now. They were preparing to access the back port of her costume.
Her other had been silent for this entire time. Something crackled deep inside of her body. Alex could feel the system rebooting. Alex took in a deep breath.
"Soon, the Blue Beetle will return back home to the fold of the Reach. Prepare to enter the system. Prepare to enter the mode."
The Reach Scientist plugged into the back of the Blue Beetle scarab. Laughter came from the occupied inside of the suit a second later. It was very muffled, but clear as day it could be laughter. Said laughter confused the scientist.
"Do you not understand, meat? This will lead to your end."
"No, this will lead to the Reach's end," Alex said in a tired voice. "And Indigo, they acted just as you predicted. They could not resist taking the Blue Beetle bait."
"Naturally," a distorted voice said. "Now that you are hooked to the main ship, I can take over."
The Reach Scientists discovered, perhaps a bit too late, that their ship had been compromised. Indigo worked her way into the ship. She could not get in completely without having someone assist her along the way. And Alex was that someone who could assist her a hundred percent of the way.
"We can't get back into the system!" the Reach Scientist yelled. "Everything's been shut down….the Blue Beetle has installed a virus."
"Yeah, you don't really want to plug strange technology into your main frame without knowing where it came from. Even us primitive humans know that."
The Island started to rip up off and start rising up out of the water. The Blue Beetle scarab completely engaged. The Reach and several of their soldiers stepped into place. The entire mothership rocked back and forth as they had been lead off of the ground.
'You're back, right?' Alex asked.
'Yes,' The Blue Beetle said. 'I would say go after the Reach, but they have bigger problems than us right now.'
"You either can find a way to get out or get your revenge on me."
The Reach Scientist saw a very important navigational component of their ship begin to smolder over their shoulder. There had been no question about it. They would need to get out of here in due time.
"I vote revenge."
The Black Beetle jumped up onto the deck and came after the Blue Beetle. The Blue Beetle retracted the arm cannon and pointed it at the Black Beetle.
"Seriously?" Alex asked. "Because, you know, we don't have time for this and…."
A super fast blur of light shot through the doors and knocked the Black Beetle over the railing with a thunderous force. He flew down to meet a power core which sizzled and coasted the lights of the ship to flicker on and off. The downed Black Beetle was looked.
Supergirl popped in and looked down at her. Both of the sisters smiled. Clark, Carol, and Daisy came out as well.
"You okay?" Supergirl asked.
"Fine," The Blue Beetle said. "The plan worked just fine."
This was the first Kara heard of any kind of plan. She would have to let it go for a moment as more explosions rang out all over the ship. Several loud hisses and several more loud crashes followed. She turned to Clark who already scooped up Daisy underneath his arm. Kara scooped up Alex, and Carol flew solo. They all made their way through the front exit of the ship. All of the doors sprung open.
"Thanks, Indy," Clark said.
"You are quite welcome."
The five passed through the edge of exit of the ship. The floating island fortress ripped out of the ground along with the Reach ships as they rose out. An energy portal opened and several escape pods shot from the island. They all vanished without a trace.
Mera lifted the remainder of the Reach's fleet out of the ocean. The Queen of Atlantis wore a determined look upon her face. Anger flowed over every inch with the ship rocking above her head. The island ripped in half and dropped down to the ground. Several ships had been deposited out on the field.
"I've transported the Reach to the furthest corners of the universe," Indigo chimed in. "They won't be back. Not for a long time anyway."
"And I've got some good news as well," Chloe piped in. "The Military has rounded up the few members of the Reach here on Earth, along with Godfrey. He's going to be raked over the coals big time for championing them."
"So, that's one down," Clark said.
Godfrey actually being rounded up was an excellent bonus to today's events. At least one of them, his sister was still active and as nasty as ever. Clark supposed that he could not have everything in life, no matter how ideal that would be.
"And the Reach Ambassador is not among the captured," Tess said. "We don't know how many Reach ships Indigo ported off or how many Reach soldiers were on those pods."
Some people would call today's events the end. Clark disagreed with these people in saying today was the end. No, it was just the beginning.
The Reach Ambassador prepared to run and get out of there the moment the charade was up. Once she received word the main ship had been infiltrated and infected, it was time for her to escape.
Escape was not easy especially with two robed figures dragged her across the round. The terrified Reach representative had been plucked from Earth to a hellish nightmare word. The skies rained with blood and fire shot out of the ground. Said ground looked like no life could be brought upon it. The barren ground made the Reach Ambassador terrified of where she might have been.
"Look, I can give you anything…we have treasures…just take anything. Please, we've suffered enough today."
The robed figures seemed unmoved by the plight of the Reach Ambassador. She knew where they were taking her and fear gripped the woman when being dragged down across the ground. The heart-stopping next stop would be at the feet of the feared one.
The Reach Ambassador crash-landed to the ground. She adopted a very terrified hands and knees stance on the ground with the Ambassador trying to get up to a standing position.
"You've failed."
That graveling voice came from the shadows. The Reach Ambassador had a number of excuses burning her tongue to spit out. She knew that none of them would satisfy the person in question. That stare of supreme hatred locked down on her from above. She felt chilled, colder than anyone.
"You failed, and at the same time, you served your purpose."
The Reach Ambassador did not dare ask the reason why this entity thought of it.
"Discontent and distrust has been planted among the people of Earth. My Glorious Twins fanned the flames, but the Reach made it work. Humanity is now more divided them ever. And if they stand divided, they will fall. And division causes the darkness to seep in."
A whimper came from the woman on the ground. She was too petrified to stand up and those demonic eyes in the shadows
"Humanity's heroes will fall one by one. And then, Kal-El, he will fall as well. There will be nothing in this world left. There will be nothing other than the darkness."
The sinister voice dropped down to a very chilling calm.
"There is nothing left other than Darkseid."
"Please!" The Reach Ambassador yelled at the top of her lungs.
"You've outlived your usefulness. You've only served it for a fleeting moment."
The terror gripping the Reach Ambassador was even more so. She finally found it to stand up and face the darkness.
"I can give you anything. The Reach has riches beyond your wildest imagination. Anything you want…anything….anything you can…just take it…take it all."
One Omega blast from the shadows incinerated the Reach Ambassador where she stood. Dust fluttered to the ground after she disappeared. The offer had not been entertained.
Chapter Eight-Five: Setbacks
The Reach Invasion only broke the door open for something bigger. Tess knew it. Godfrey had been under an immense amount of heat, but the damage was already done. While some people started to slowly open their eyes, and started to question what Godfrey said, others did not. Tess could hear on the news people debate back and forth.
"Sure, the Reach ended up deceiving us. But, do you think that Superman is any good? I don't think Superman is any good at all. As far as I'm concerned, he could be just as bad if not even worse. And who says that the Reach were not pawns of his to make himself look bad?"
"Godfrey's a nut, but let's face it, he brings some good points up. Superman hides his technology and a secret powerful Fortress where humanity cannot benefit from it? I think if we gave him a right to live on our world, we are entitled to have access to his technology. To understand and to study it, because if we don't know what he has available, how can we trust him?"
The buzzwords the mainstream media latched onto always interested Tess and anyone else watching it. The word "trust" amused Tess given how the media used it. They spun their narratives and only gave the slightest bit of evidence. They offered no evidence Superman planned something conquering the world. They only gave mindless rhetoric and hammered away at this talking point.
Those who believed Superman to be a hero, they only regarded this with as much distrust as normal. Those who looked for a reason to disregard Superman and paint him as a villain, they latched onto these talking points.
'Confirmation bias at its finest,' Tess thought.
Grace did not say a peep as of yet after her brother had been censured. Tess expected her silence not to last very long. And speaking of silence lasting not very long, a knock on her door brought Tess up out of her thoughts.
"It's unlocked."
The door opened and the stunning redhead stepped into the office. Mera dressed to impress in a female business suit which would allowed her to fit on land about as much as the next person. She crossed the office and locked fingers with Tess with the both of them shaking hands.
"Good afternoon, Queen Mera," Tess said.
"I have something for you," Mera said. "Where is Superman?"
Tess almost answered until a whoosh behind her brought Tess out of the conversation. Superman dropped straight down onto the ground off to the side behind Mera. The businesswoman just broke out into a very slight smile and inclined her head with a nod towards the Man of Steel.
"Ask and you shall receive," Tess said.
"It's a pleasure to meet you again," Superman said.
Mera took the hand of the strong man and nodded. She had been in this mess with the Godfreys about as much as Superman was. It gave Mera some twisted sense of appreciation to see G. Gordon Godfrey hauled away and prepared to be raked over the coals for questioning. It could not come soon enough. The trash Godfrey talked about aliens and also the people of Atlantis made Mera just smile and be content.
"Yes, it is," Mera said. "I just wish we did not have to meet when we are at the edge of a war."
The people in her kingdom disagreed how much this war affected them until the moment where an entire fleet of alien ships had been found on the ocean floor. Mera showed them how much it affected them. The war affected them big time and they would not stop.
"I have several crates of technology my people managed to salvage. I think you agree that it's best if we keep it out of the hands of any government."
Clark and Tess made eye contact and would have to concur. Mera clapped her hands and a group of six guards carried three large crates in them. The Reach's fleets were stripped down and all of the vital components have ben grabbed.
"Some of these they could be used against Darkseid," Tess said.
Clark had a question or maybe it was a concern. He figured it would be best to voice it now and get out of the way. "Are the United Nations going to be pleased with what you've done?"
A small smile came over the face of Mera. She took a seat on the desk to ensure that everything was in the boxes.
"I don't think they will be. But, that doesn't matter. The Untied Nations aren't pleased with a lot of what I'm doing. And the feeling is more than mutual most of the time?"
The Man of Steel thought it was a fair enough assessment. When Clark was younger and more naïve, he put a lot of trust in the government. Now he realized they were susceptible to mistakes and lapses of judgment and emotional calls just as much as the next person. These qualities failed to make a person malicious, but ignorance caused harm to people.
"Thank you," Superman said.
"I should be thanking you," Mera said. "Superman keeps the entire world safe and that includes the seas."
"And Darkseid coming threatens everyone," Superman said.
Mera nodded in response. She knew it, they all knew it. The coming of Darkseid was not going to be something they were going to easily have to deal with.
"If you need any help, the people of Atlantis will be there and we will be ready to do what's necessarily."
A modest looking sports car came down the street. Leslie Willis made her way down having been proud to beat the rush hour traffic. She got herself a couple of burgers and a shake and would have had a quick bite to eat before doing the afternoon podcast.
Leslie stepped out to the side parking lot of her apartment. She had been set up with half of the building thanks to having friends in pretty high places. She stepped up to unlock the door only to stop short from opening it.
'Shit.'
Someone already had been there and Leslie's keen sense to spot trouble hit a very high level. She reached over to send a quick call to the police before stepping further inside.
Leslie leaned in to get a good glimpse down the hallway and search out the smashed bits of glass on the ground. Someone broke open the door of her studio. Leslie stepped inside to survey the damage and took a good long look at several damaged pieces of equipment. Everything looked pretty bad from where she stood. Leslie put her hands down and peered into the distance.
Something fell over in the hallway behind the studio. Leslie threw open the door and followed pursuit.
"Hey, you motherfucker, get back here! You think you can just wreck my shit and not have to pay for it!"
Leslie raced down the hallway in hot pursuit after her. Another figure grabbed her around the back of her head. She fell down onto the ground with the goon pressing something against the back of her head.
"GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME!"
The controversial radio host tried to grab a knife she had on her at all times for protection. After Grace's followers threatened to beat the shit out of her if they saw her in public, Leslie prepared herself for a fight. The large goon's grip around her shoulder pushed Leslie down and a stun gun brought Leslie down.
"How do you like that? You're nothing but a piece of human garbage! You think you can talk bad, harass, and bully feminists! How do you like that? You stupid cunt!"
Two more masked figures kicked and punched at Leslie and tore at her clothes. The woman on the ground showed how much of a scrappy fighter she was by pushing away from the attackers. They all kicked and punched at her. Leslie struggled against them.
A blur came down the hallway and Supergirl dragged two of the attackers off of Leslie. They came down the hallway as fast as they could. The third woman looked ready to throw down and fight. She swung the baseball bat at Supergirl. The bat cracked against Supergirl's chest and broke it in half.
The mask came off to reveal a rather butch looking woman with a purple Mohawk. She angrily rushed and pounded at Supergirl.
"Alright, calm down," Supergirl said.
"We're going to rip down the Patriarchy!" the loudmouth yelled. "DEATH TO ALL MEN! DEATH TO TRAITORS! WE WILL BE STRONG! WE WILL SURVIVE!"
Leslie stunned the loudmouth with her own taser gun. The butch broad dropped to her knees. Leslie grabbed her by her earing and pulled the woman up.
"If the Dyke Lord wants to say something to me, Gracie can say it to my face! Gracie thinks she can just send her flunkeys in to fuck with me. I don't think so. I'm not going to let her push me around."
The door opened and three members of the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit stepped in. The butch woman stood up to her feet and spat in the face of one of the officers. They moved in to restrain and cuff her.
"THIS IS ASSUALT!" the butch woman yelled. "THIS IS OPRESSION! YOU DON'T FUCK WITH ME!"
"You have the right to remain silent," the officer said. "Anything you say can and will against you in the court of law….."
"Your court is just another symbol of the Patriarchy we will dismantle!" the loudmouth yelled. "This ain't truth, this ain't justice. We're not going to be silenced. You can't stop us, you can't stop us! YOU CAN'T STOP US!"
She gritted her teeth and bared them at the police. Maggie Sawyer stepped in. She looked very agitated as if this was not the first time today she had to deal with some nutcase Grace Godfrey supporter.
"You all are a bunch trash!" the loudmouth yelled. "You're nothing, but straight white cis scum, and you all should die. Someone show put your asses down and you wouldn't be so privileged, would you? Grace Godfrey champions the oppressed. The only good cop is a dead cop! DEATH TO ALL PIGS!"
"Cool it," Maggie said. "I'm Lesbian and part Hispanic, and I think you're out of line. So cool it, alright."
The loudmouth finally shut up. Maggie thought she defused the situation for now.
"Are you alright, Ms. Willis?" Maggie asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Leslie said. "She thinks she's going to shut me up though, Gracie has another thing coming."
Maggie put her gaze on the girl. She was not the biggest fan of Leslie Willis either and she stirred up a lot of trouble. The woman made some good points, but these were points which anyone who had sense could make. Maggie thought that Leslie just riled up her enemies because she relished the controversy.
The MCU officer knew she might have been fighting a losing battle to try and get Leslie to understand how dangerous her actions were. Maggie resolved to try the best she could.
"You should back off for your own safety," Maggie said. "Grace might go the way of her brother. You just got to be patient."
"Oh, no, now's the time to strike when the iron's hot," Leslie argued. "I've got a big broadcast at Metropolis Square. I've even invited Gracie to show up in person so we can have a face to face chat. I doubt she would have the spine to show up, but you never know. I think we know she won't step out of her safe space to face me."
Boy Leslie did know that there was going to be not a chance in hell Grace would show up for a meeting. She just wanted to plow that final nail into the rapidly sinking credibility of Grace Godfrey.
"Look, I don't agree with what Grace is saying either," Supergirl said. "But, maybe you should listen to Detective Sawyer? She only has your best interests in mind."
"Yeah, so did my mother, and I didn't listen to her either," Leslie said. "Look, if the MCU have their panties in a knot, let's arrange some extra protection. I'd look like a punk if I cancelled now. You can either help me or back off, but I'm not going to step back."
Maggie threw her hands up into the air in the universe sign of defeat. She could not get through this thick woman's head no matter how hard she tried.
"Are you pressing charges against the attackers?"
"Sure, let's throw the book at them," Leslie said
Clark returned from his encounter with Tess and Mera. He stepped outside of the DEO and walked through the security checkpoints. He passed the inside of the hallway and smiled at the security. They greeted him with the same courtesy as well as he walked passed.
Daisy, Carol, and Alex wanted to meet with him. They acquired some of the Reach's technology. Daisy called Tess and already was making plans to meet with her at LuthorCorp.
Kara dropped down right beside Clark. Instantly, Clark noticed a very agitated flash in Kara's eyes. He reached over and grabbed her hand forcing her to jump up.
"Sorry," Kara said. "I just got back from meeting with Maggie Sawyer. She's not in the best mood after dealing with Willis. And I can't say that I blame her."
"What did Leslie Willis do now? "Clark asked.
Kara did not want to go down the road of blaming the victim or anything. Clark placed a hand on her shoulder and it calmed her somewhat.
"Some women attacked Leslie's studio and they were beating Leslie when I found them," Kara said. "She gives about as good as she receives. The ringleader was about three times her size. Big beast of a woman."
At least, Kara thought it was a woman. Sometimes you could never tell with some of these people these days. Another figure moved in and Karen appeared next to both Clark and Kara. The three Kryptonian survivors walked down the hallways.
"Godfrey has been fired, not that he would have been able to come to work being in government custody," Karen said. "But, Grace, she's doubling down on the hate speech towards me, especially Superman."
"I'm shocked," Clark said in complete dead pan.
"She's also saying that Willis orchestrated the attack," Karen said.
Clark had been shocked by this even less.
"And since her equipment was damaged, Leslie might not be up and running for a couple of days," Karen continued. "That gives Grace plenty of time to hammer on her narrative until she's blue in the face."
The three made their way through the final corridor of the DEO. Kara took a couple of deep breaths. Humanity was at each other's throats, which was what Darkseid wanted. They needed to find some way to rally together and keep standing despite all of the hate, lies, and fake news which was being propagated by the mainstream media.
"The alternative media is being shut down," Clark said. "Leslie's an acquired taste, and she can be a bit extreme. But, doesn't she deserve to have a say?"
"She's going through with the rally, despite the fact Maggie strongly suggested she shouldn't," Kara said. "And I can't say I really disagree."
Kara just imagined something very distract happening to Leslie while at that rally. She could not put her finger on exactly what it might be. She just imagined them staging another attack and putting countless people in danger. Leslie claimed it would be the day that the final nail had been driven into Grace's credibility.
"Maggie's arranged for support, but I don't think it's going to be enough," Kara said.
"We'll be there," Karen said. "All three of us…we should be able to give her enough protection."
Clark hoped that Karen was right. The three crossed the hallway and moved to meet with the DEO the latest intelligent report.
A trip to Smallville to relax for a couple of hours sounded like something Clark could get behind. He moved over the fields of Kansas and past the sign which designated Smallville as the Meteor Capital of the World which stood strong for almost twenty years as that designation.
The Man of Steel kept moving. The DEO prepared for the next wave of the invasion. This rally of Metropolis Square that Leslie held where her Livewire Podcast would be a potential target. Leslie insisted to anyone who would listen the broadcast would go on as planned. The provocateur invited Grace to show up and anyone else who wanted to defend, including any of her "White Knight Cuckhold male fans."
Both sides were reaching the apex of this war of words. Clark feared someone was going to get caught in the middle and that someone could unfortunately be an innocent person.
He looked down where Lana walked down the path between the Potter House and the Kent Farm. She looked up with a smile. Clark signaled that he would come to see her in a minute. Lana waved her hand as if to tell him it was fine and she would wait.
The Man of Steel dropped down right next to a field. He caught sight of Maxima crouched in a battle pose. The powerful warrior queen came eye to eye with Diana. The two circled each other in a moment before Maxima charged forward.
She moved towards Diana with a fury dancing through her eyes. Maxima backed Diana back with a huge punch which caused her to stagger back. Maxima swung her hand back and went for another punch at Diana. Diana blocked the punch once again and hoisted Maxima off of the ground. The Queen flipped off of the ground and landed on her feet.
The two warriors circled each other for a moment. Clark watched the battle with a certain amount of appreciation dancing in his eyes. Maxima and Diana kept circling each other, neither wanting to back down from the other. They locked up one more time for battle with Maxima flipping Diana down to the ground which surprised and also pleased the Amazon Princess.
"Good," Diana told her. "You're doing much better."
Diana placed her hand underneath Maxima's chin as she bent down and shoved her back. As much as Clark could and would watch this battle all day, he had other rounds to make on the farm. He looked around for Connie. Clark did not have to search the farm for too long as Connie popped out of the barn. She rushed over with a smile to her face and also a hug.
"Good to see you, after all that's happened," Connie said. "So, how are you feeling?"
"I'm hanging in there," Clark said. "How about you?"
Connie responded with a very light shrug of her shoulders. She could not really complain all things considered. The two of them walked over where Alicia finished pulling some weeds on which had overtaken the path on the farm. She stepped up, wiped the sweat off of her brow. Her expression brightened a little bit the second her eyes locked onto Clark's. Alicia's arms threw over his neck and she moved in for a passionate kiss on him. Clark held the back of her head and deepened the kiss. It was a nice exchange between both of them, if he had to say so himself.
Tara swung her fist at a bag by the barn. Barda, who stopped by, held onto the bag. She gave the younger girl an encouraging smile.
"So, the big one's coming up, isn't it?" Alicia asked. "What can we do to help?"
"I need someone to be ready to defend Smallville," Clark said. "Do you think you girls are up for it?"
Alicia and Connie both nodded, unable to believe they had been given such a task of great power. They would not mess it up, not if they could help it at least. They moved over to meet Barda. Barda stepped into position and greeted Clark with a nod.
"You might only have a matter of weeks before the next move now," Barda said. "You locked up his chief of propaganda, but that's only one thing out of the way."
"Do you think the Reach worked willingly with him?"
Barda paused for a second and shook her head.
"He was able to use their visit on Earth for his advantage, to make humanity nervous," Barda said. "It's very…."
A loud scream came from up the pathway, and Clark jolted his attention towards Lana. Lana looked very faint before dropping onto her knees. She gave two screams and then a terrified whimper. Clark rushed over and put a hand on Lana's shoulders.
"Lana, are you okay?"
Connie rushed into the barn and got Lana something to drink. Lana rose up and nodded in response.
"Physically, I'm alright," Lana said. "Mentally, that's another matter entirely….you won't believe what I saw."
Clark steered Lana into a lawn chair. Connie returned with a towering glass of water. Lana gulped it down and relaxed just a tiny bit at the feeling of the water coursing through her body. It was the best feeling, the best test for sure.
"I saw Superman in chains," Lana said. "You were kneeling at the throne of Darkseid, Earth went up in flames, and Darkseid…he was awful. He stood in the ashes."
He never once relinquished Lana's hand. Lana took a deep breath. Maxima and Diana had been broken away from their sparring session by the screams.
"It's almost time," Barda said. "You'll know when he arrives."
Clark returned to see Chloe. Chloe walked around in a night dress and a pair of panties. She had been monitoring the DEO's satellites to see if they could find anything on any invaders. Chloe bit down on her lip for a second.
"Well, so far, nothing yet," Chloe said. "Once Darkseid invades, well, you'll know. If Lana's promotion is correct, he's coming straight for you, and he's not going to be subtle about his intentions at all. I don't think he's completely done softening up Earth for the attack."
"What's his next move?" Clark asked.
"I couldn't even begin to guess," Chloe said with a shrug.
Clark pacing back and forth made Chloe a bit wary. Him being wound up like this was not going to be a good thing for the future survival of the people of Earth. Chloe popped up to her feet and looked Clark straight in the eye.
"Beyond knowing where Apokolips is, there's no chance we could strike first," Chloe said. "You could ask Godfrey, I suppose, but that would involve you breaking into a government institution. And I doubt he would even help you in the first place."
Clark supposed Chloe had to be right. Chloe reached in and took his hands .
"Don't worry about what Lana saw," Chloe said. "I don't know why, but if…if you work to prevent that from happening, you might cause it to happen. You're going to be anxious and you're not going to go with what's natural. And that's what you should do. You should go with what's natural."
The two long-time friends and lovers enjoyed the moment of silence. Both the silence and the peace was not going to be for long.
"I guess you're right."
"Aren't I always?"
Clark could not help, and smile at the expression on Chloe's face. Chloe lightly pushed her fingers against the side of Clark's face and leaned in.
"You should relax," Chloe said. "Or let me find a way to relax you."
He had been opened for suggestions. Chloe leaned against Clark before following up with a very passionate kiss on the lips. Clark held the back of Chloe's head. Her eager hands moved a bit lower and undid Clark's belt.
"And good thing there's one way to reveal tension."
Chloe had Clark's cock out of his pants and into her mouth after a second. Her ministrations brought it up to its full length in a little bit. Chloe performed a prolonged make-out session with Clark's head while cupping his balls and giving them a nice firm squeeze.
A warm seal surrounded Clark's very big cock. He sighed when Chloe sucked him hard and fast. Clark threw his hands around the back of Chloe's head and worked his cock into her warm cavern of a mouth. He looked down with Chloe giving him a very passionate blowjob. Her warm lips encased Clark's prick and released him with a couple of very prominent sucks. The loud popping sensation around Clark's cock before he had been released made him feel really good.
Chloe thought Clark's cock deserved worship more often than it was given. Her lips passed over the head and down to the base. She cradled the young man's balls and squeezed them. Chloe pulled him out of her mouth before going back down onto him.
"You're amazing," Clark grunted.
With her confidence spiked, Chloe went to town on Clark's big cock. Every single inch of her warm lips caressed and pulled on Clark's member. She rocked back a tiny amount and sucked him harder than ever before. Chloe's nose pushed down to the base of his cock and then released him. Clark grabbed the back of her head and pushed deeper inside of her mouth.
"Fuck," Clark said. "Oh, this is amazing."
Chloe sucked him down with an amazing look of lust dancing in her eyes. Her vibrant eyes locked onto Clark when she sucked him.
After a few minutes, Chloe rose up. She wanted more than just to suck his cock. He pulled off her night dress to reveal a nice set of round breasts. Clark got the hint and grabbed onto Chloe's ample chest. He scooped up his friend and pushed Chloe down onto the table off to the side.
Clark returned the favor from earlier, worshipping Chloe with kisses. Her body received the full court treatment of Clark's very able lips. His tongue came down from her cleavage, past her belly button. Chloe's panties came off at a the speed of light. Clark rotated his warm tongue against Chloe's pussy. The taste of which drove him completely mad and made him want more.
"Take me," Chloe said with a breathy moan.
Her hips came up all the way off of the bed to meet Clark and his tongue. Clark delved deep inside of Chloe and it made her feel really good. She almost lost all sense with Clark rubbing his tongue into her warm body. Chloe clamped down onto Clark's head.
Clark got her cannel nice and slick. He sucked on her nether lips and made Chloe breath. Her entire body shook and Clark was throbbing because of the taste of her perfect pussy.
The two lovers enjoyed the moment before Clark's mouth left Chloe's perfectly warm pussy. He climbed on top of Chloe and aimed his cock against her entrance. Chloe gave a deep breath of pleasure the second Clark pushed himself up against Chloe's very moist entrance. Chloe spread her thighs out for Clark and prepared to take his cock. She prepared to take all of his cock inside of her tight body.
"Do it!" Chloe encouraged him.
Lust overtook both of them. Clark's throbbing balls needed relief and they came at Chloe's pussy. He drove down into Chloe. Chloe reared up and almost broke her nails on Clark's back. Her enhanced body came up to meet Clark.
Clark watched her breasts jiggle when driving into her. Her sexy legs wrapped around his firm ass. Clark reared back and pushed down into her.
"You're cumming already?" Clark asked.
"Are you really complaining?"
Chloe tightened around Clark's cock and no, he really was not complaining. He brought his throbbing hard cock deep inside of Chloe. Their flesh smacked together as Chloe's orgasm rose to a fever pitch. The two grunted when pushing into each other.
It became obvious that Clark was not the only one who had been very frustrated. Chloe tried to turn Clark over so she could ride him. Clark smiled at her attempt which she deflated on the desk. Clark pumped his rod into her and lead her to another orgasm.
"Sorry," Chloe breathed. "But, I really want to ride you. Please…let me ride you! PLEASE!"
Those begging yells only made Clark drive his hard cock deeper into Chloe's snug quim. She grabbed onto him tight, with each thrust bringing them both to a more lustful round of pleasure. Chloe tightened up around him and released his throbbing hard cock.
"Good things come to those who wait," Clark told her. "You better get ready to cum again."
Chloe's pussy gave way and milked Clark all the way inside of her. The two connected with each other. Clark gripped Chloe's legs and gave them a working over. The more Clark worked over her legs, the harder she was cumming. It was very intense the way her pussy grabbed onto him and released him.
"Give me more!" Chloe yelled. "Give me more!"
More had been given. Chloe's body contracted and released her juices. She exploded in a lustful shriek one more time. Clark buried himself deeper inside of Chloe. Her insides molded against his cock the further he pushed into her. His ball thick balls kept bouncing and working their way inside of Chloe.
"More will be given just if you ask nicely."
The content feeling Chloe experienced had been beyond all joy. She took his cock hard.
Clark now pulled out and floated backwards to the computer chair. Chloe walked over towards him and mounted his big cock from behind. She jammed herself pussy first down on Clark's glorious prick. It filled up her body like there was no tomorrow!
"Oh, fuck!" Clark yelled.
"I know the feeling."
Chloe bounced up and down on Clark's lap to drive him deeper inside of her body. She needed this cock and needed it more than life itself. She had been sustained by the depths or rather the heights she would go for this cock. Clark grabbed Chloe's firm ass and pulled her down onto him.
Sensual smacking of flesh filled them. Clark pushed his cock up to meet Chloe's eager loins. Their bodies fought together for dominance. Clark held onto Chloe's chest. A few squeezes of her breasts made Chloe more eager and more willing to debase herself for Clark's sake. Her warm loins closed in on Clark. Her entire body flushed with lust when moving up and driving herself down.
Chloe knew everything would be reaching a fever pitch sooner rather than later. Her heart raced the deeper she drove onto Clark. His massive prick stretched out her body. Chloe squeezed him inside of her walls and released him with constant rises and drops. She drove down onto his lap with a pleased moan coming form her.
"Getting closer," Clark said.
He grabbed Chloe's firm ass and guided her down onto him. Their loins pushed together the deeper and faster Chloe dropped onto him. It looked as if lust burned through Chloe's eyes with her driving down onto his prick. Clark gave another groan to feel Chloe ensnare him.
Chloe did not want this ride to last. Clark now hovered off of the chair when she rode him. Chloe tightened her legs around him and leaned back. Clark attacked her breasts with vigorous sucking. Chloe encouraged this behavior. Never had a feeling like this been so good. Clark really knew what she wanted and gave it all to Chloe.
Juices trickled down past Clark's crotch and dripped all the way to the floor. Chloe grabbed onto Clark and rode him like there was no tomorrow. Their loins pushed together the further Chloe rose and dropped down onto Clark. She engulfed Clark deep into her body. The feeling of lust dancing through her eyes only spurred Clark on. He buried his massive rod deep inside of Chloe and pulled out.
"Getting closer," Chloe murmured to reflect Clark's words.
Chloe received immense amounts of worship on her immense chest. She drove down onto Clark, working over his meaty cock. Their thighs slammed together with huge amounts of lust being evident.
Eventually, something had to give. Clark's balls throbbed the deeper he rammed into Chloe. Their thighs connected together with lust being evident. Clark never once let up on Chloe.
They indulged each other to relieve their frustrations with Clark driving himself into Chloe. His balls sized up and started to send a load of cum deep inside of Chloe's clenching pussy. Chloe grabbed Clark's rod hard and drove down onto him to milk him of everything in his balls.
"Yes," Chloe gasped out with thinly veiled pleasure obvious in her eyes. "YES!"
Chloe spiked herself down pussy first onto Clark's big cock and milked him of every single drop she could. His balls emptied their way into the feisty blonde.
She came several times as well before they settled down. Clark floated them onto a bed where they rested.
At least until the second round. For now, Chloe had been content to put her head on Clark's shoulder.