Chapter Ninety-One: Shadows Over Metropolis Part Three
Daisy wiped the sweat of her forehead watching the progress of this situation. She had some good news and some bad news, and breaking it all down brought her some frustration. One of the drills had been disabled at least for the moment. The bad news as she saw it was that there was going to be more than come.
Many people grew stronger during times of adversity and nothing caused more adversity than a world which was about ready to be crushed by some kind of alien invasion. Daisy looked at the computer and then towards Alex who stood behind her.
"There's more of these things, aren't there?" Alex asked.
Daisy threw her hands back with a frustrated half-grimace. "You know there are. And I think that if we can find the signal that's putting them down, we can shut them down for good."
"How do you think we can do that?"
Another small squandron of Parademons dropped down on the ground. Their numbers slightly dwindled them what they were before. Daisy would have been ignorant not to see them as a threat. Placing her hand down on the ground allowed the meta to rock their worlds just a littleb it. Daisy took a deep breath.
"I can find the signal," Daisy said. "I'm going to need you guys to keep everything off of my back so there's no trouble. If they attack, there's going to be big trouble. Is that understood?"
Diana jumped in from the other side. One of the Female Furies on the ground rushed at her with a large knife. The Amazon Princess avoided the swing of the knife and came back with a series of punches. The Fury blocked the next punch and tried to nail Diana flush in the side of the face with the kick. Diana blocked the kick. The Fury flipped up and fired another kick.
The Princess of the Amazons avoided the kick one more time. She grabbed the fighter around the back of the head and hoisted her up off of the ground. The Fury struggled against Diana's grip. Diana's arms wrapped around the woman's waist and ragdolled her against the ground. Diana planted the attacker down onto the ground as fast and viciously as humanly possible. The Amazon stepped back and left her adversary down for the count.
"We'll hold them as much as we can."
Shayera slammed herself and her mace down onto the ground. The demonic creatures closed in on the warrior hawk. Shayera gave them a very evident grin and motioned for them to come at her. They all did just in time to receive a violent mace attack to the side of the face. Shayera whipped the mace down and sent them all flying for cover. Shayera pulled back and hammered her adversary with multiple strikes with the mace.
"Keep it up," Shayera said swinging her mace. "Come on! I WANT MORE!"
Daisy put herself at the machine and accessed it. Time ran very short to be perfectly honest.
"Are you there?" Tess asked.
"Yeah," Daisy said while flicking the bead of sweat off of her face. "For what it's worth, I'm here and I'm ready to go. I hope you have some kind of idea where we're going. Indigo would be a lot of help right about now, you know."
Tess sighed. "She's got her own important mission right now. I have complete and total faith you can pull this off, Daisy. You just got to believe that you have the mental strength and do it. You can do it."
'I can do it,' Daisy thought feeling silly for this mantra.
One of the breathe of the demonic creatures inched closer to Daisy. Daisy did not have to turn around to engage the attacker. Alex slammed down onto the ground and put the blade of her outfit down against the back of the Parademon's neck. A shower of blood came out of his neck.
Daisy accessed the drill and now backtracked to the signal of the ship. Everything was slowly coming together. She just had to keep her wits about herself.
A loud bellow signaled one of the larger female Furies charging Diana. Diana blocked the woman's huge uppercut punch and grabbed the arm before popping it against her back. Diana slammed her fist against the chest of the enemy. One punch, two punches, and three punches before Diana slipped the leg out from underneath the fury. Diana grabbed the leg and then dropped her full weight down on it. The Fury scrambled to her feet for a second before the leg rolled out from underneath her.
This allowed Diana to plant her boot into the face of the Female Fury and render her absolutely unconscious. The Amazon backed off with a very slight smile on her face.
One of the Parademons tried to make a name for itself by rushing Diana from behind. Shayera planted the edge of the mace into the back of the creature's head to take it out.
Darkness fell across the people of the Earth. Many people decided to go down to their base desires. One of the men swung a baseball bat out of frustration and smashed into the windows of the shop. Several other people grabbed onto a car and rocked it back and forth before tipping it over.
"We're not going to stand for this!" one of the rioters yelled.
A group cowering near an office building watched the horror unfold. Several angry people stormed down the streets of Metropolis in a very unruly manner. They smashed pretty much everything in their path in anger. Windows, vehicles, anything, and a couple of members of the Special Crimes Unit moved their way in. One of them fire a warning shot into the crowd.
"We have an alien invasion going on!" one of them yelled. "We don't have time to deal with this."
"You never have time to deal with our plight!" one of them yelled. "We are seeing our homes being torn apart….."
The loudmouth flung a rock towards the Special Crimes Unit representative. More rocks, along with bottles and batteries, and pretty much everything they could get their hands on flung at the people. More members of the SCU, this time riot squad members stepped in. One of them held a canister and flung it into the crowd.
A shotgun blast went off in the distance. A bullet flew through the air. Two fingers caught the bullet before it struck a child.
"ENOUGH!"
The loud voice got pretty much everyone's attention stopping the riot. And when the riot stopped, pretty much everything stopped from the cops to the rioters. They all turned their attention off to the side to see Supergirl floating above them. She dropped down to the ground, hands clasped firmly on her hips.
"Don't you see it?" she asked. "Don't you see that's what they want?"
"Yeah, what do you know?"
The loudmouth had the starch taken out of him a bit when several of the young girls who were holed up in an office building glared at him. The glares of anger replaced with another emotion. Fear, fear of what might happen next if this went unchecked.
"I know a lot," Supergirl said. "I know that people can be better than this. You have been better for this before."
More than a few people faced the ground although many of them still stared up at Supergirl. They stared up at her in anger.
"There's good in all of you," Supergirl repeated. "I know there can be. I know there still is. Darkseid has not extinguished that yet."
The Girl of Steel hoped she was getting through to them.
"My mother told me stories about the planet Earth when I was a child. The people had potential she said. It might not be the most advanced planet, but there was a strong spirit within everyone on it. People, when they are motivated, she said, could be do to great things. She appealed to my planet's government to try and put Earth under Krypton's protection."
Supergirl's deep sigh showed pretty much how this particular situation went which was to say it did not go all that well at all.
"They said no, because humanity was not a race full of hope, they were doomed from the beginning. They were doomed to be destroyed. They were doomed to die from the start."
Supergirl brushed the strands of blonde hair away from her face and bit down on the edge of her lip hard.
"Don't prove them right, please don't prove then right," Supergirl begged them. "I know you are much stronger than this. You're much stronger than an angry mob. Rise up and fight…fight like you've never fought before. Don't fight each other."
Some of the people dropped the bottles they were about to throw.
"I believe in this planet," Supergirl said. "I believe that even though everything seems at it's darkest, you can stand up. You can stand up and fight."
"She's isn't wrong," the loudmouth said.
The rioters all calmed down. Supergirl could not be happier. It might have been just one fire of many she had to put out. The Girl of Steel knew however that there was much more to do.
'Darkseid's not going to have this planet. Not if I can help it.'
Kara's mind went elsewhere as she amended this last statement.
'Not if we could help it.'
Superman's initial assault only served to enrage Darkseid. The ruler of Apokolips stood across from the Man of Steel. Superman struck while he had the opportunity. The Man of Steel slammed through the air and went to punch Darkseid out. Darkseid blocked his hand and took a couple of seconds to relish at overpowering Superman.
"I told you once!" Darkseid yelled. "And I told you again! As strong as you are, you can't beat me!"
Darkseid smashed Superman down to the ground. The Man of Steel dropped to his knees against this very powerful warrior. Darkseid's fist drilled Superman with the force of a hammer. Another two hammer blows sent Superman back.
Superman had to fight and he fought to nail Darkseid with a huge haymaker of a punch. Superman reared back and repeatedly slammed his fist deep into the face of Darkseid. Darkseid staggered forward and then rolled back a few feet.
"Kryptonite or no Kryptonite I'm going to crush you underneath my feet!"
The Man of Steel ripped the pavement Darkseid stood up and flung him into the air. He grabbed Darkseid around the waist and hurled him forward. Both of them smashed through several windows of office buildings. The loud bang, bang, bang, boom continued to echo the more Darkseid flew through them and Superman flew out with him to the other side.
Both fighters dropped down to the ground. Superman rose up against Darkseid. He nailed him with two huge punches in succession. Each punch came closer to dropping Darkseid.
Superman reared back and punched Darkseid hard in the face. The enemy rocked. Superman reared back and punched Darkseid in the face once more. The alien menace staggered back a little bit. The flesh on his face cracked. Superman reared back and rocked Darkseid the hell down to the ground. The Man of Steel stepped back from Darkseid and allowed him to roll over onto the ground.
Darkseid pulled himself up to one knee and Superman drove his knee into the back of Darkseid's neck. Darkseid struggled to get up to a standing position. Superman pulled up Darkseid and flung him back against an office building. Superman flew through the air and cracked Darkseid in the face.
A bit of confidence and a bit of hope came from the Man of Steel. He drove Darkseid into the square of the park. Both of them landed against a fountain and cracked it before they hit so hard. Superman flew through the air and went for Darkseid.
Darkseid's eye beams discharged and nailed Superman flush in the chest. The "S" shield burned from where Darkseid hit him. Darkseid hurled the piece of the broken fountain at Superman and drilled him in the chest. Superman staggered a bit and dropped down to the ground at the feet of Darkseid.
Anger flooded through the body of Darkseid .He reached over and tore the statue off of the ground at the base. Darkseid marched the statue over and flung it down to crash it down upon the back of Superman. Superman's fingers curled from the impact of the statue. Darkseid lifted the statue up over his head again and again, the statue crashed over his back.
Darkseid ripped the spear off of the hand of the statue and stabbed Superman in the shoulder. The spear broke off at a force. Darkseid grabbed Superman by the cape and flung him around .Superman's body hit the ground violently.
The foot of Darkseid smashed into Superman's face. He felt every ounce of that attack. Superman pulled himself up struggling to get to his feet. It was like he swam in quicksand. Darkseid approached him with intensity in the blast.
One omega beam strike sent Superman hurling towards the ground. The Man of Steel flipped onto his back like a glorified turtle. He struggled in his attempt to get up. The breath having been knocked out of his body, but he had to get up.
Darkseid's eyes narrowed. He would enjoy ripping Superman apart piece by piece. Another Omega Beam attack struck Superman and flipped him over onto his back. Superman's nails dug back against the ground with his attempt to get up being furious.
Once again, Superman rose to his feet. Darkseid blasted him one last time dropping him down onto the ground and onto his back for the very last time.
"In the end, you fall before me."
Darkseid stood over Superman, grabbed his head, and smashed it into the ground repeatedly. The Man of Steel groaned as Darkseid rammed his fist deep into the side of his neck.
"Let me make one thing clear. Super or otherwise, you are merely a man And I am a god."
Superman drove down onto the ground. The Kryptonian's vision blurred and he blacked out from the pain at the hands of Darkseid.
Most of the invaders from Apokolips left Metropolis Square. Pretty much everyone who knew the score thought that this might not have been the end. Barda, Shayera, and Diana stood shoulder to shoulder with each other.
"Hera!" Diana breathed out.
A large and dark war machine rumbled down the city streets. It smashed over cars and toppled buildings in an indiscriminate manner. The members of the MCU stepped into the picture and stared down the machine. Maggie Sawyer offered one eloquent statement regarding the machine which barreled down upon their city.
"We're kind of fucked!"
There was no kind of about it, they were very fucked. They were completely and utterly fucked. One of the members of the MCU pointed up. The others gasped at the very image of the person strung up on the edge of the War Machine like a piece of meat.
Superman had been strung up on the War Machine, groaning.
"There's your hero, like a martyr."
The people looked up to gaze upon the fearsome Darkseid who stood very tall and proud at his greatest hour and at the Earth's darkest hour. Everything pretty much came into place and Darkseid stood taller than everyone. He ruled the world and stared down upon them.
"I've done it," Darkseid said. "You thought he could beat me. And I admit, he gave me a much stronger fight than I anticipated."
Darkseid pushed his hand against Superman's face and forced him to glare upon the people he failed to protect. And the people which Darkseid would crush, only keeping the strongest as mindless slaves. The others would perish for their weakness.
Some of them started booing and others picked up items to hurl at the side of the war machine. Darkseid just adopted a very stony grin when peering down at these angry people.
"Get it all out of your system," he advised. "You will soon be crushed no matter how hard you fight. Your destruction is now at hand."
"SUPERMAN GET UP!"
They all started to get louder. One blurry eye from Kal-El of Krypton opened up. His face was swollen, his body was ravaged, and it hurt just to draw in breath. Darkseid did not put him out of his misery just yet, and Superman could feel signs of life.
"Get up, Superman! Come on, you can take this bum!"
"He's lost!" Darkseid yelled.
"No, you have, you punk. You're nothing, but a chump without your followers and your little war machine. You think we're scared of you. Come on. Come at me, bro! Come at me!"
Darkseid chortled at the arrogance of the humans. He would crush them all. Several of his minions rose up from the top of the war machine. All of the Female Furies who did not get captured or were injured joined him.
"Round them up," Darkseid said. "It's time for them to know the meaning of the word pain. Earth will burn and there's nothing that Superman can do about it."
"No you won't. And YES I CAN!"
Superman broke free of the containment and flew up to nail Darkseid with an uppercut punch to the chin. This action earned him thunderous applause from the crowd.
"Yeah, fuck him up Superman!"
The Man of Steel dropped to the ground and stood before Darkseid. Superman sent his heat vision at the ground to burn Darkseid's feet. Superman rocked him with a couple more punches.
"You should have killed me!" Superman yelled. "But, you didn't!"
Superman grabbed Darkseid around the neck and forced him to a nkeeling position.
"You should have done your gloating over my rotting corpse. But, your ego, you couldn't allow that, could you? You couldn't just kill me. You had to make a scene to crush them."
The Man of Steel nailed Darkseid in the chest with a couple more punches and smashed him down against his own War Machine. The Parademons ran in for an attack.
Astra ran interference, with her Kandorian Army. They sent the Parademons packing to leave Superman and Darkseid to throw down one on one with each other.
"Your ego wants to say you crushed me," Superman said. "But, I'll never admit defeat to you."
The Man of Steel reared back his fist and nailed Darkseid as hard as possible. The huge punch rocked Darkseid and sent him back a couple of feet. Superman swung his arm back and nailed Darkseid as hard as possible with another roundhouse right punch. More punches followed the more Superman drilled into Darkseid.
"It's not ego. It's facts."
The Omega Beams flashed through the air towards Superman. Superman caught the beams in his hands and pushed them back to nail Darkseid directly in the face. The impact launched Darkseid off of the ground and sent him crashing down with one vicious attack.
Superman lifted his burned hands up, wincing from the pain. He still stood very tall and very proud. The Cape of the Man of Steel fluttered in the distance.
"You fall alone."
"No!"
Power Girl jumped into the battle and slammed a huge truck against the chest of Darkseid which sent him flying off into the distance. Darkseid flipped over onto the ground. Supergirl nailed him with Heat vision the second he dropped. Her fury increased.
"He doesn't!"
Darkseid's eyes glazed over when dropping down onto the ground. The Ruler of Apokolips pulled himself up to see three Kryptonians closing on him on.
"If you're going to stand next to him then you're going to die next to him!"
Darkseid held up the Motherbox and pushed a button to activate a boom tube to summon the rest of his forces to Metropolis to burn the city to the ground.
A click and yellow lines emitted in the box. Darkseid tried to toss the box away. Instead, it fused to his hand by some mysterious force.
"Indigo messed with more than your Kryptonite," Superman said
Darkseid's forces ripped off of the ground. His war machine sucked through the portal which had been opened. Darkseid remained rooted to the ground despite the fact his armies were flying through the portal.
Superman rushed towards Darkseid and punched him in the chest. Both of them flew through the portal into oblivion.
Metropolis grew calm, but Superman was gone.
Superman dropped down upon the rocks. The Man of Steel watched as the red skies burned around him. The Man of Steel came to one evident conclusion.
'I'm a long way from Kansas.'
Darkseid rose up upon the rocks. The gravity caused interference with his ability to stand. The god, being very adaptable, rushed towards the rocks. He landed down upon the rocks in front of Superman. Superman stepped back and eyed Darkseid.
"You're going to die here."
The ruler of Apokolips charged Superman and nailed him with a violent punch to the side of the head. Superman's knees buckled out from underneath him. Darkseid smashed his fists down into Superman's neck with an endless fury. The once calculating enemy descended into rage.
"This didn't go the way you planned. Did it?"
Superman headbutted Darkseid hard which sent him backwards. The Man of Steel figured this would have to be wrapped up very soon. He was losing reserves when standing in this universe without the yellow sun. Superman nailed Darkseid repeatedly with punches down across the back of his head.
One of the jagged rocks nailed Superman in the stomach. Darkseid beat him across the back of the head and forced him down to the ground. Darkseid's nails dug into Superman's scalp while grinding his face into the ground. Kryptonian blood splattered against the rocks from Darkseid's violent attack.
"It's a true pity nowhere is going to be around to hear your screams," Darkseid said with a vicious smile. "Unfortunate, for you."
Superman's eyes glazed over and determination, the faces of people depending on him flashed into his mind. Superman struck Darkseid and rocked him back. He summoned all of the strength to nail Darkseid with as many punches as he could.
"It's only a matter of time…."
With great effort, Superman hoisted a large rock up and smashed Darkseid in the chest with it. The menacing man staggered back with Superman repeatedly nailing him with more attacks. Darkseid's leg started to crumple from underneath him. Superman nailed Darkseid as hard as possible with his most vicious assault. Superman held Darkseid back and slammed him onto the ground.
"You talk too much!"
The Man of Steel flew at Darkseid and knocked him over the edge of the cliff. Darkseid gripped onto the cliff and pulled himself to the ledge. Superman hung from the cliff kicking his legs in a furious attempt to prevent him from dropping down straight to hell.
One beam of light shot through the air and cracked the rocks. Superman avoided the Omega Strike knowing that it could kill him.
Superman extended three fingers and jammed Darkseid's wrist which loosened his grip of the rock. More jams of the throat rocked Darkseid. Superman nailed him with a violent elbow strike and knocked him off of the edge of the cliff into oblivion.
A very long fall and a very hard landing greeted Darkseid. Superman yanked himself up to a standing position. His knuckles soaked with blood when walking across. His face covered in cuts and burns, his clothes tattered. He had been in a worse spot.
"Kal!"
The voice echoing through his head did not prevent Superman from collapsing down to the ground. The Man of Steel had been spent and he had absolutely nothing left. A warm hand gripped his and pulled him up.
Superman allowed whoever grabbed him to lead him out because he had nothing left. A flash of light made Superman disappear.
Chapter Ninety-Two: Brightest Lights
A crowd of women surrounded a ice cold slab on the table where Superman laid unconscious. Karen stood at the front of the slab and put a hand on his face. She could feel his body showing a few minor signs of life. A shudder came through him the more he shifted over on the bed. Kara stood a couple of steps behind Karen.
Lois, Lana, and Chloe all hovered in the background. They racked with nerves and rightfully so. The trio of women paced back and forth in the back of the room. Lana leaned back against the wall and took in a couple of deep breaths. She took a couple of deep breaths.
"It was a good thing you were able to pull him through the portal in time," Lana said after a moment's pause. "Another moment of you waiting to pull him through and…."
Lana did not finish her sentence. There was no need for her to finish he sentence. The grim reality set in with them all. Lois put a hand on the shoulder of the dark-haired woman and sighed. They were very close to seeing the end of Clark Kent in the worst possible way.
"He's still here though," Chloe said.
Karen took another moment to look him over. Yeah, he was still here, for all of what it was worth. He had been ravaged in this battle against Darkseid. Karen did not even want to even deconstruct all of what happened to the Man of Steel. She put a hand on his forehead.
"It's ready."
Lara crossed the room with Raya waiting. She helped Karen walk a half conscious Clark over to the pod. He groaned with every step as they edged very much closer to the pod. Karen wanted to reach out and tell him that everything is okay.
"Just hang in there," Karen whispered guiding him over across the room to the pod.
What else could she say at this possible time? Karen did not know how much damage had been caused. Clark followed Darkseid through the portal. She had no idea what the trip across the universe could have done to him physically rather than mentally.
Clark sealed inside of the pod. Raya activated a dial which sent waves of yellow solar radiation in the pod. The waves danced across his face. The Last Son of Krypton's body recharged inside of the pod. Raya bit down on her lip and ran her finger down across the console. She monitored the green wavy lines flickering back and forth for any changes. And there would have to be changes for them. There always were changes.
"Raya?" Lara asked.
"The physical damage is going to be undone soon enough," Raya said. "I don't know about the mental damage or the emotional damage, if there is anything."
"He's strong. Stronger than he should be."
Those words from Astra signified her brief appearance. She had been with the Kandorians rounding up anything that had been left behind. The last thing they wanted was a bunch of people, ignorant of how dangerous the technology was to be playing around with it. They had their work more than cut out, unfortunately. Astra bit back on her lip and permitted a sigh to leave her body.
"Yes, he's very strong," Raya added. "And we're going to have to stand by him."
They watched the mental scanner to ensure that Darkseid did not hitch a ride back through the portal in Clark's mind. It was a very unfortunately possibility. He had taken on vessels before according to their intelligence. Clark Kent posed a very enticing target all things considered.
Lana tapped her finger on the edge of the Fortress Wall. The visions of darkness stopped and they had been replaced by a vision of light and of purity. There was a moment of calm coming to the people of Earth. They had no idea how long it would last.
"What a day."
Lois's words brought a smile to Lana's face. What a day was right. What a life they lived. Everything they had been through, all of them as a collective, had been leading up to this moment. Earth's greatest challenge came with one of Clark's greatest challenges.
Karen leaned back against the wall and took a deep breath. Kara held up her watch and it had a message sent to her.
"DEO," Kara said. "I better go and tell them what's up…you know how to get in touch of me if anything changes, right?"
Karen nodded and allowed her cousin to slip off into the night. She watched as Alura joined them in the Fortress. The machine had been used to scan the minds of the phantom wraith who took on the name of Divine. She currently decided to head to Paradise which was a much more comfortable existence for her. Connie also had been put through the machine.
Now it was Clark's turn, and so far everything was happening so good. They had to make sure everything was okay with him. They did not want to leave anything at all to chance because they had been taking way too many chances lately and not many of them were paying off.
Kara returned to the DEO as planned. Alex stood waiting in the hallway. She looked like someone who had been through a hell of a battle which Kara could not fault her for. Kara reached over and grabbed her sister's hand while sitting down next to her.
"You found him," Alex said. "That was a scary couple of minutes."
"Felt more than a couple of minutes," Kara said.
Alex let out a sigh and just smiled at her sister. Did it feel like more than a couple of minutes? She really did not recall all that much. She just let her hair come back against her face with a smile rising. It really took some thought to get everything back together.
"Humanity has been through many trials, but today, they rose up, especially in Metropolis," the newscaster said. "The stirring speech given by the heroine known as Supergirl inspired many, not just in Metropolis, but around the world. We have not put our best foot forward, listening to the lies of the disgraced G. Gordon Godfrey who painted aliens in a negative picture. When he himself had been a visitor from another world in disguise."
Kara slipped a cup of coffee into her hand and drank it.
"Maybe other future visitors of this world would like to follow the example set forth by Supergirl and not follow the example set by G. Gordon Godfrey," the newscaster said a moment later. "Perhaps this example will be one that many will follow, both on this world, and off this world."
"They're giving me too much credit," Kara said. "Anyone could have given that speech."
Alex just answered by squeezing her sister's hand. She looked Kara straight in the eye. "Well, maybe, anyone could. But, you were there and you kept your head cool. And I couldn't have been more proud of the way you handled things."
Despite everything that had gone on and despite her growing number of worries and dreads, there was a huge part of Kara who just had to smile at her sister being proud of her. Everything was finally coming up the way it should and Kara just looked at her image on the television screen.
"Superman saved the world from Darkseid," one of the people on the television screens said. "But, I have to give credit to Supergirl. They saved the people from themselves."
Kara had the decency to look pretty flustered. Alex caught her sister with a light kiss across the cheek which made her even more flustered.
"You did good," Alex said. "You know, I'm going to have to treat you something special for your birthday."
The Girl of Steel closed her eyes and grinned. Had she almost forgotten about her own birthday? Okay, maybe she did a little bit. There had been a lot of things on her mind to be fair, and she was starting to forget about the little things, even though it was those little things which made life worthwhile.
"You're famous."
Carol stopped over. She moved in to give both of her sisters hugs which they returned.
"Yeah, I know," Kara said. "I just did what I felt was right."
The oldest Danvers sister squeezed the younger one on the shoulder. "You did what was right and it paid off amazingly. I have to say, that's pretty good of you."
Both of her sisters praising her made Kara a bit anxious. She did do the right thing, just because she had to do the right thing. It was not out of anything to want a pat on the back.
"And don't think your role is forgotten," Carol said. "You and Daisy both…speaking of which….."
"I left her to give the report the main office," Alex said.
Carol just whistled. Boy, Daisy was going to love Alex for that one, saddling her with all of the busy work. Then again, she had been used to being under pressure from what Carol heard.
"Anything about Clark?" Carol asked.
Alex had been meaning to ask about that, but had been side tracked. Leave it to her responsible older sister to bring up a question which was so important. Kara's eyes narrowed for a second as if she had really tried to figure out how to best describe it.
"He's going to be okay?" Alex asked patting her sister on the hand. "Isn't he?"
Kara took a second to calm herself down. "Yeah, I think he'll be fine. I mean, he's stronger than many of us. He threw everything against Darkseid."
"You gave him strength," Carol said. "If it wasn't for your speech with the people, he wouldn't have been motivated to stand up and fight the way he did. You're really did something great."
Kara just once again wondered why her sisters were pumping up her ego. If her head got any bigger, it might not be able to pass through the door. The footage of her speech a little bit ago played on the television screen. Kara wondered how in the world they could have gotten their hands on something like this.
'The news media. They'll get their hands on anything they can, especially if it's ratings dynamic.'
The most valuable piece of technology clung to Tess's hand as she walked through the fortress. She should be pleased that one of the greatest trials Clark would ever encounter had been passed. Only, she figured that something was off. There was something else wrong going on that she could not put her finger on.
'You just have to be pessimistic,' a voice in the back of her head said.
Tess disagreed with her thoughts being pessimistic. She was more of a realist, really. Tess clung onto the circuit board when edging closer to the cave. She was close to entering the Fortress as numerous thoughts crossed her mind.
'He'll be okay,' Tess reasoned with herself.
The warmth of the Fortress Portal cascaded around her body. She noticed Chloe hanging around at the edge of the Fortress entrance. Both women responded with smiles directed at each other. Chloe caught sight, being the very observant girl she was, of the Circuit Board in Tess's hand.
"Is that what I think it is?"
"That's the rest of Indy after the sacrifice she made," Tess said. "I'm pretty sure the Fortress has the capabilities to rebuild her and make her stronger than ever."
Chloe did not doubt they had those abilities for a second. They would hate to lose a valuable ally who had a lot of personal information. She might have derived from Brainiac, but she deviated from his core programming. Brainiac 8 renamed herself into Indigo as a tribute to the baseline coding programming which eventually involved into the Brain Interactive Construct.
"So, what's the latest prognosis?" Tess asked. "Any news?"
"He's being scanned right now," Chloe said.
"The scans are almost complete"
Raya stepped out of the side entrance to look at Tess and Chloe. Chloe had been very surprised and she leaned in to ask the news.
"So, what's up?" Chloe asked.
"We'll know once Lara and Alura look over the final results," Raya said. "Is that…."
"It's what's left of Indigo," Tess said. "I salvaged it, or rather Helena found it and brought it up to me. I think you can agree that the United States Government having their hands on anything alien right now is not a good idea."
They would have a hell of a cleanup effort. Already, the Kandorians raided several warehouses which belonged to Mannheim. Those warehouses filled to the brim with insane amounts of alien technology as far as they eye could see. It impressed them all how much technology had been in there.
"We're going to see what we can do to get her back online," Raya said.
"Thank you," Tess said. "She's more than a machine to me."
Indy was not only her personal assistant, but a close friend and someone which Tess valued the input of. Raya just smiled and walked Tess deeper into the Fortress.
"Anything on what Lionel was scribbling in his Journal?" Chloe asked.
"No, nothing at all," Tess answered by shrugging her shoulders. "I think he might have stumbled on a lead to the Anti-Life Equation. Which, I don't think anyone should read, or it has ever been meant to read by any human."
Chloe would have to agree with a shudder. The few hints on the equation she heard when Lara and Alura explained to her did not seem very good. Of course, no one was able to piece together the rest of the formula. It was the biggest taboo in the universe.
"I don't think I would be able to pry anything out of the Guardians," Lois said.
"And were you able to pry anything out of the Guardians?" Chloe asked.
Lois laughed. She did not even bother to ask for their help in dealing with the Darkseid invasion. She was pretty sure there was going to be a long and painful meeting with the Guardians after this was all said and done, regarding everything that happened.
'Won't be any worse than explaining to the General why his rental car ended up in the kitchen when I was twelve,' Lois thought. 'Boy was that pretty awkward.'
Movement came from the Fortress lab. They all turned around and Lois was the first to set eyes on Clark.
"You look like something the cat dragged in, ate, and then properly spit up."
Clark just responded with a nod. "Well, to be fair….it's good to see you as well Lois."
The explanation had been lost at his tongue which caused Lois to break into a fit of laughter. Tess and Chloe just shook their heads.
"I take it you're feeling better," Chloe said.
"I'm not half-dead any more," Clark said. "I think that's the main thing."
Chloe nodded as Alura and Lara came out of the Fortress.
"He's physically healed and mentally…there's nothing wrong from our scans," Lara said. "My recommendation is that he takes it easy for a couple of weeks, and I'm saying this not only as a mother, but as a doctor."
Chloe just shook her head. It was nice that Lara thought that Clark would take it easy in any way whatsoever. He would be up because there would be a crisis. He would hear those cries for those help. And those cries would signify Clark showing up wherever there was trouble. They would all yell one thing.
"This looks like a job for Superman!"
Kara returned from an outing with her sister. Alex really did seem to treat her pretty nicely for this Birthday outing. She did hint the best surprise was to come, although Kara had not been able to pry it out of her sister just yet. Alex had been hinting around, and Kara was starting to get a bit agitated that Alex had not quite fit inclined to spill the beans.
"You'll know when the time comes," Alex said. "What I want to know is how you enjoyed today so far?"
"Oh, you're amazing, well you and Carol both," Kara said. "It's a shame that Carol had to be called back so soon."
It always was a shame that Carol got called back a bit too soon and did not get to partake in the same fun they did. Kara's lips curled into a very obvious smile and she had something add.
"Even though her singing kind of kind of….."
Kara stopped as if she was trying to find the right words when the sisters went out for Karaoke with each other while at the bar. Alex just grinned at her sister and shook her head.
"Not all of us is gifted as you are, sis," Alex said. "You are truly amazing out there, an angel on the microphone and….."
Kara put her hand up to stop Alex's gushing. "You stop that right now. It's going to be hard for Supergirl to fly and save the day if she hasn't an overinflated head."
Alex shook her head in response. The two of them made their way towards the house they shared. It actually had been equipped for a few nifty security features courtesy of the DEO in case any alien threats came calling. And Alex suspected there would be some who would come calling sooner rather than later.
"Thanks for the great time," Kara said. "I appreciate it."
"Anytime."
Alex leaned in and kissed Kara on the lips. It was far from a sisterly kiss as well. Kara had been surprised, but not entirely pleased. This kiss put so much into it.
"Happy birthday to me indeed."
They heard someone arrival outside. Kara turned around and her face lit up like RAO itself.
"Clark!" Kara yelled. "Hey, you're back….I'm glad you're okay too!"
Kara threw her arms around Clark's waist and pulled him into a hug. Clark wrapped his arms around Kara's slender waist and leaned down. He looked straight into her vibrant blue eyes which shined with so much life it was almost intoxicating. Clark swooped down and caught Kara with another kiss across the lips.
"Happy Birthday."
"Yeah," Kara said. "I swear, I've been waiting for my eighteenth birthday forever."
"That really isn't an exaggeration, you know," Alex said. "Given how many years you were trapped in limbo before Carol found you."
Kara really shook her head. Yeah, Alex really needed to remind her about how much the wait was longer. She leaned in to Clark and realized he kissed her. Dreams did in fact come true. Kara's fingers dragged down Clark's bicep and she stopped with a smile crossing her face.
"This is it, isn't it?" Kara asked. "The other part of my birthday present?"
Alex just smiled and patted Kara on the upper back. She leaned closer to her sister, brushing a lock of hair away from her face. "Why don't we step inside?"
The trio made their way inside. Alex lead the way to Kara's bedroom. The bed had been large enough where three people would be fit. Some might call it cramped, but Alex disagreed. She much preferred the term cozy, thank you very much.
"I'm glad you're okay," Alex said.
"Yeah, I am too," Kara said.
Alex decided to take a step and kiss Clark firmly on the lips. Clark wrapped his arms around the waist of the woman and pulled her in close to him. The DEO Agent's tongue passed into Clark's mouth and moved. Clark held her in close and kissed her even harder.
Kara folded her arms with her lip stuck out with a pout. Alex really did milk the kiss all too much. Kara grabbed her sister and pulled her off of Clark.
"You can stop that," Kara firmly said.
"Stop what?" Alex asked with a look of faux innocence.
"Upstaging me on my birthday."
Kara swooped in and gave Clark a hell of a kiss to show her sister out it was done. Okay, she did not have as much experience as Alex had, or really any experience at all. Clark's arms ensnared Kara and tightened around her. The warmth of both of their bodies colliding with each other had been immense. Kara had been overpowered and brought on the bed.
Alex sat down and prepared to enjoy what was going to happen next. She already unbuttoned her shirt and pulled it off, sitting in nothing but a black bra from the waist up.
The kiss intensified with Clark feeling up Kara's body through her clothes and slowly stripping them off. Kara had been put in a daze as Clark relieved her of her clothes one garment at a time until she was sitting on the bed wearing nothing other than her bra and panties. Alex stripped off her pants and moved in.
Clark took his eyes away from the birthday girl for a minute to see Alex sitting next to him in a lacy black bra and thong with a grin. The beautiful brunette pounced Clark and attacked him with a kiss. Kara pulled him away and kissed him.
Both girls stripped off Clark's clothes leaving him in nothing but a pair of boxers. Kara pushed Alex off to the side.
"Let me unwrap my present."
The present came out in the form of a large cock. Kara clasped her hand around the base of Clark's cock and stroked him with a hungry gaze locked upon his cock head.
"Alex, you got me the economy size," she aid.
Kara's tongue traced over Clark's hard, swollen head. Her hand moved down to clasp his balls and give them a squeeze. She opened her mouth wide. Kara saw her adoptive mother go down on Clark and also her aunt, so naturally she wanted to be the next one to have his huge cock into her.
"Oh, Kara, you're mouth feels so good," Clark grunted threading his hands through the back of her hair.
She relaxed her throat muscles and dropped down. Kara touched down onto him and spiked his huge cock into her mouth.
One sister was amazing, but two was even better. Alex cupped Clark's thick balls in her hand and then squeezed it.
"These just demand to be sucked," Alex said before going down and doing exactly what she demanded.
Alex showed a lot of talent by taking Clark's balls in her mouth and sucking on them very hard. His eyes glazed over from Alex licking his balls and taking them hard into her mouth. She moved up and licked the part of Clark's cock which did not slide into Kara's mouth.
Both lovely sisters worked over Clark with immense worship of his large tool. Their mouths slid over the edge of his cock and took him inside. Clark's eyes shut and opened the second they worked him over. He was getting closer to some kind of climax. Alex's hand curled underneath his balls and gave him a very steady squeeze before Kara sucked him hard.
Eventually, Clark's muscles tightened and shot the load of cum. Kara took her birthday surprise with eagerness. Some of it splattered against her nose and face with Kara getting most of it in her mouth. She tasted her cousin.
"Oh, you know how to treat a girl right."
Alex grabbed Kara's face and gave her sister a very intense kiss. Both of them connected with each other, their tongues pushing together. The cum buried in Kara's mouth had been shared between them. Alex spent some time relieving Kara of the rest of her clothes.
Clark, cock extended proudly in the air, looked up. Kara hovered in the air and allowed Clark to see all of her. Her legs spread in the air with beauty and poise. Kara then slid down and mounted Clark. She descended down onto his cock taking it inside of her.
"Oh, Rao, it's so big!" Kara moaned.
The youngest Danvers sister took her cousin's cock deep inside of her chambers. Kara threw her head back with Clark grabbing her nipples and squeezing them. Kara rose up and dropped down on Clark's cock.
Alex observed her sister throwing herself into riding her cousin's cock. It was truly a magical sight. Her eyes glazed over when looking at Clark's hard cock appearing and disappearing after her sister's beautifully tight pussy. Alex had been growing weaker with desire which she could not suppress. Her fingers danced over her nipples and Alex let out a very passionate sigh.
"Ride that cock," Alex murmured underneath her breath. "RIDE IT!"
Kara rode that big cock for everything that it was worth. It slid deep into her cunt and stretched her out. She grabbed onto Clark's torso and mounted him. He returned the favor by touching Kara's body. She loved being touched by his strong hands. They were making her body heat up with excitement.
Clark only drilled Kara harder when he caught sight of Alex masturbating at the edge of the bed to the sight of her beautiful sister riding the cock of the strong man underneath her. Clark grabbed Kara's ass and squeezed it very tightly. She rose up and fell down onto him.
"Cum for me, Supergirl."
She was getting a reward and a birthday present all wrapped up in one. Clark referring to Kara by her codename made her pussy throb. She rose up and dropped her pussy down onto his swollen rod. It stretched Kara in so many amazing ways which she could barely even begin to sound off on. She tried as hard as possible to hold it together. But there was no question about it. She was cumming all over his hard rod and it felt so good to have his cock buried deep inside of her body.
Kara's moisture coated the throbbing member. He gave her his Kryptonian cock with power and speed. Kara rode him and leaned down to worship his strong body with her beautiful one. Clark's hands planted on Kara's back. He drove her down to an orgasm.
The intense milking of her pussy muscles around Clark's cock had to be bringing her closer. Kara summoned all of the energy going into her at her pussy to squeeze Clark. Kara's tenseness clamped down around Clark.
"I need you," Kara said. "I need your cum."
The skin slapped together repeatedly with Kara speeding up her thrusting down upon Clark's iron hard tool. She wanted Clark to lose it inside of her.
Clark made Kara earn it though with a few more rises and a few more drops. He smiled as the picture of Supergirl recklessly throwing away her inhibitions for her cousin's cock played out in front of him. He throbbed inside of her. Kara's pussy was working him over to the edge of an orgasm. Clark cupped Kara's wonderful tits as she sprung up and crashed down upon his cock.
"Closer," Kara mewled at the top of her lungs. "Closer, oh Rao, I'm getting closer."
She screamed out in pleasure with Clark driving himself into her. His balls started to lurch up and then began their discharge inside of Kara. The warm juices flowed from Clark's cock. Kara rode him out and took him down to the very last drop.
The second Clark left Kara, Alex pounced, and took Clark in her mouth. She had been very turned on by the thought of sucking Clark off after he had been inside of Kara. The combination of juices saturating Clark's cock only spurred Alex on and encouraged her worship of his cock.
His fuckstick extended high in the air. Alex wrapped her fingers around Clark and tugged on him to ensure he was standing tall and proud for her. Alex sucked the head and moved down to grasp Clark's balls in her fingers. He groaned the second Alex drove her lips over the tip of his head and took him inside.
"Mmm," Alex moaned sensually when bringing Clark inside of her mouth and then releasing him. "That's not bad, but I need it inside me."
Alex shifted around and got on top of Clark. She mounted him in a reverse cowgirl position. Clark put his hands on Alex's ass and gave it a squeeze. Her eyes screwed shut when lowering herself down onto Clark. Alex's first instinct was to drive down onto him. Fortunately, she opted for a smoother descent to take Clark's hard cock deeper inside of her body.
Kara sat up and smiled when watching Alex's descent. A buzz went through Kara's body the second Alex's beautiful pussy dropped down and submerged Clark inside of her. Alex's hair flipped over her face. Kara grabbed Alex and held her hair back.
The two sisters came face to face as Alex picked up her reverse cowgirl ride on the prize stallion underneath her. Alex dropped down onto Clark. Kara's fingers pressed through Alex's hair.
"Do it."
Kara rose to the bait and passionately kissed Alex while she rode Clark on the bed. Kara and Clark now were running their hands down Alex's body from either side. The pleasure cascading through Alex grew the deeper and faster she descended on the huge cock underneath her body. Her tightness clamped down around Clark and released him. The hunger burning through her body grew intense.
"Fuck," Clark groaned.
That word pretty much said everything. Clark's hands came up to grasp Alex's breasts when she continued the ride. Kara gave them enough room. Alex threw her head back and moaned in pleasure.
She came and came so hard. Alex's sticky pussy clamped down against Clark's rod and squeezed it before releasing him. Her juices trickled down.
The next sight blew everything away. Kara ascended in the air with her legs spread. Alex put her hand on Kara's thigh and stroked it. The juices trickling down it found their way in Alex's mouth. Then, her next movement pushed her tongue into Kara's pussy as she hovered in mid-air.
Clark could see enough of what happened to make his cock throb harder. Alex's warm pussy grabbed tight around his hard rod and squeezed him. She really was working him over all the way to the end.
The second load of cum of the evening was getting close to exiting Clark's balls. The third if you counted the load which splashed into Kara's mouth earlier tonight.
The two sister's shared a steamy makeout session with Clark's cock receiving a full workout on Alex's body. He ran his hands over as much as Alex's tight fit body as he could.
"Closer," Clark grunted fingers brushing against the blue marking of her back which represented the scarab after it had gone dormant.
Clark tried not to worry about that. His cock lurched and pushed into Alex's pussy. His cream came into her just as she finished. All three lover shared in their mutual orgasm with each other.
All three came down with Alex pulling away from Clark. Clark looked up with Kara laying on thin air and beautifully spreading her legs. She started with a finger down from her lips and ran it down to her body. The sexy sight restored Clark faster than any ray of sunlight.
"Come to me, Kal-El," she said. "Come on, baby cousin, so me what you have left."
Clark climbed onto the air on top of Kara. Both of them submerged into each other above the bed. They came dangerously close to smashing the ceiling. Kara's legs wrapped around Clark and she drove down onto his cock with one fluid drop.
From outside, one single figure observed the scene with a smile dancing on her lips. Karen observed and she had a lot of temptation to want to jump in to join the fun. She decided to let Kara and Alex have their moment along with him. Clark returned back to form and Karen could not have been more proud.
Karen decided to return to the Fortress and jump the first person who she saw. Whether it was Raya, Astra, Lara, or even Alura…hell if Chloe or Tess were still hanging out there, they would be the lucky girls. And hell, there could be an orgy, because the more the merrier, Karen always felt.
Cadmus had been very much shoved to the backburner with many of their projects. Lillian Luthor thought that both the Thangarian Invasion and Darkseid storming in had put their project to deal with Superman on hold. He was, unfortunately, needed, because Cadmus had not finished their greatest collection. The world celebrated an alien and unfortunately, they had grown to depend on him. He enabled their laziest tendencies.
Lex sat driven insane by him. Lillian only shoulder a small part of the blame on Kal-El's shoulders. Lionel, Lionel, that bastard, his name made her blood boil with all of what he done. She had to fake her death to get clear of him. Did he ever expect a fake? Lillian doubted he would be in position to answer.
'I did it,' Lillian thought. 'I out manipulated the master manipulator.'
She smiled in spite of everything. Of course, there was still a whole lot to do and not that much time to get it done. Cadmus cleared some of the resources, but it was only bits and pieces. One of the damaged egg shells laid on the table. The circuitry had been damaged beyond all repair. A pair of the armor of one of those Parademons and a fractured part of his spear laid on the table.
Astra was very careful in making sure that Cadmus had not gotten their hands on anything they could use. Lillian respected the woman as much as she would any alien. It was really amazing all things considered what transpired.
The alien metal they found, it was of potential interest. Lillian took a careful glimpse of it and studied it.
"The first run of Project Cyborg Superman will be ready to go, Commander."
The scientist giving the news caused Lillian's lips to curl into a smile.
"Aliens will be rendered obsolete," Lillian said. "Humanity will rule the day, it's our planet, and we will secure its future. No longer do we have to worry about Superman, for he will be irrelevant."
There was one piece of unfinished business Lillian intended to deal with. She hovered over the console and took a very close look at security network at LuthorCorp. Lutessa's network was pretty air tight.
"One small little hole," Lillian said. "Sweetie, you should know that I'll find a way. A mother always does."
And she was a mother who would do anything to have her son back and well again. Lex would be home, and not rotting in a cell. He was not the criminal, the alien who used, abused, and betrayed him was.
'Time for our family to become one again.'
Chapter Ninety-Three: Post Cards from the Future
Picture perfect Autumn weather shined over the people of Metropolis. It was one of those days where it was pretty good to be alive all things considered. The people looked up in the sky with a smile on their face without a single care in the world. Their protectors were there to keep saving the day. A couple of blurs came across the sky.
Superman and Supergirl flew shoulder by shoulder. The Girl of Steel looked towards her cousin when the wo of them flew as fast as possible to the destination. Kara only had one thing in mind when she was going to the destination.
"How many more of those outposts do we have anyway?"
Clark answered with a shrug. "I don't know. But, you know it's important for us to get all of them because if we don't, then that technology is going to fall into the hands of Cadmus, or someone else who should not have such dangerous technology."
Kara understood one hundred percent of the way. It was good to be reminded though just in case. She peered over for any signs of life. The warehouses which stored the technology had been among the most normal in all of the city. Looks deceived even the best of them, at least that's what Kara thought. Her eyes flashed all over the city with a bigger smile on her face.
'I'm sure glad they're happy we're up here doing our job.'
Chloe's voice popped up into the headset for both of them. "I'm here. And I'm not the only one who is here it turns out. There's a lot of trouble like you would not believe. Someone has got their hands on a tank and is trying to move it from the security facility on nineteenth."
"Could it be Intergang?" Kara asked.
Their tech support just gave an exasperated sigh. "There are still pockets of them out there, so it could be them. It could be someone else. You need to get that tank out of there by any means necessary. I don't want to put any pressure on you, even though I know you can handle it."
"I hear something."
Those few words from Superman signaled they were close. Just because Darkseid disappeared and they had a moment of calm did not mean they could not deal with all of the toys he left behind. And one of the toys amounted to a really giant and immense tank which they were trying to drive out of the storage yard.
Superman had other ideas though to prevent them from driving the tank out. The Man of Steel dropped down before the tank with a huge thud in front of it. His hands smashed the tank and subtly rocked it. The person driving the tank looked up with a horrified expression on his face.
"I'm sorry," Superman responded. "But this is about as far as you go."
The person driving the tank could have screamed. He pointed the gun at the tank directly at Superman. Two blasts of purple light cut through the air and fired at Superman. Superman performed a death-defying series of acrobatics to avoid the purple laser fire from cutting through the air at him. Superman threw himself at the front of the tank and put a very solid dent in it.
Three figures came out of the shadows. One of them held a grenade in hand. The grenade threw into the air. Superman punched the grenade back on the ground. Just in time, he dipped up with the grenade bursting open to reveal a cloud of green grass.
'Kryptonite,' Superman thought to himself.
The heart of the Man of Steel raced as they tried to use another grenade. Supergirl came back and wrapped her feet around the head of the good before flipping him down onto the ground. Goon number two pounced on Supergirl. She avoided being stabbed by a blade. Supergirl grabbed the man's wrist and twisted it back before pounding him across the back of the head on a repeated loop.
Supergirl turned the man's arm around and snapped him down to the ground. He had been taken down and rendered almost breathless. Supergirl put her hands on her hips and waited for something to go down. The person on the ground charged her with a knife and stabbed it towards her. She dodged the attack and came back to crack him in the mouth.
The tank shot out a shell which blasted a large force field in the air. High tech weaponry at its finest blocked Superman and Supergirl from attacking. The tank rolled back and smashed through the gates.
A wall of green energy impeded the tank from going much further. The one and only Lois Lane showed up to block the tank. The tank turned around three hundred and sixty degrees to fire at Lois. Lois dodged the blast from the tank and flipped through the air.
Lois threw a battering ram at the tank from her energy ring. The Green Lantern at this Earth drove back and rammed the edge of the tank.
Several more goons closed in on the battle. These armored figures wielded weapons which packed a punch. They fired at Lois. Lois manifested a solid dome over her body to block the fire and then fire back in kind to wipe them out. Only two of them dropped down to the ground, but it was two more down on the ground than they started with. Lois drew in her breath and waited for the Intergang goons to make their next move. One of them swooped their way underneath Lois and tried to take her legs out from underneath.
Power Girl came down to strike one of them down across the back of the head. The Kryptonian Heroine smashed her arm against the chest.
"Tank!" Power Girl yelled.
The tank still piloted by the man inside rolled towards Lois. Lois smashed underneath it on the ground. This attack allowed Superman to swoop down from above and grab onto the back of the tank to prevent it from rolling.
The tank ripped open from Power Girl holding onto the latch. The two Intergang members lifted out of the tank. They screamed in frustration as Power Girl launched them up onto the ground and sent them crashing down. The goons scrambled in a valiant attempt to get something done.
This latest pocket of Intergang thugs found themselves no match for this particular quartet of heroes. Another one of their weapons storages has been taken down and destroyed.
Tess Mercer redefined the term burning the midnight oils. She needed to get Indigo back up and running. While she would not be foolish enough to put all of her eggs in one basket and make Indigo a vital part of her security system, the only vital part of it, Tess would have to say that Indigo was the most vital part of the security system. Getting her back online was something that was of the highest priority for Tess Mercer.
'Darkseid really did a number on you, didn't he?'
Darkseid did a number on Earth even though as much time had passed. There were still alien pieces of technology lying around. Tess and the rest of the Daughters of Veritas did their best to secure any piece of any technology which could potentially fall into the wrong hands.
Cadmus, they were the worst hands. Tess did not hear anything of what Lillian Luthor had been up to. However, Tess did not think it sounded too off base to think the woman was up to something.
'And now, she'll go back to her original purpose after Earth has been secured,' Tess thought to herself in the most extreme amount of frustration possible.
Tess worked very carefully on securing Indigo and putting her back on line. The restoration of the woman took a little bit longer than Tess hoped and much longer than she wanted. Tess really hated setbacks and this one was leading to a huge setback. Tess's fingers worked apart.
"Error, please attempt to reboot system and reconfigure."
'Well, at least you run into the same frustrating problems on an alien computer that you do on an Earth computer. I'm not sure if that's reassuring, or not, but…just something to think about.'
The businesswoman worked forward. She kept her eye pealed to the scanner as well to see if any strange pulses of energy popped up. The watch on her wrist allowed Tess to send the signal and then the coordinates to Superman, who would then get a team to deal with. Intergang's membership depleted, but they were far from the only ones who would want to get her hands on alien technology.
"Get a drink of coffee and try this one again," Tess said.
She sprung up to a standing position and walked over. Tess looked at the cells. Lionel was still snug in his cell. The occasional outbursts tapered off now. Lex, on the other hand, Lex did not speak ever since the chilling proclamation he gave before Clark.
'He's got plans,' Tess thought. 'It's a true pity I won't give him a chance to implement them.'
Tess studied ways to take Lex. Exorcising the small parts of Doomsday's DNA which lingered him in, which kept him alive, was the most vital part. The madness left Lex for the most part. However, the strength did not. Tess kept Lex heavily sedated around the clock.
A loud thump caught Tess's attention. She reached into the case and pulled out a gun. It never hurt to be too prepared in situations like this. And in a situation like this, Tess's nerves reached a heightened level. The loud blares of security alarm started for about ten seconds before they stopped.
Lights flickered in this room. Tess leaned in and saw something very strange. A figure resembling Hank Henshaw entered one of the lower levels. The only difference was the metal covering his face. Henshaw punched through the security like they were nothing.
Tess moved to open up her office door. The door jammed. Someone locked her inside. Tess pounded on the door and it did not budge. She kicked the door. The only thing she achieved from that was a stabbing pain in her foot. Tess closed her eyes and allowed a not so subtle groan.
She returned to the security feed and watched as Henshaw disabled Lex's cell. The man, or whatever he was, unhooked Lex from the machines holding him up. Henshaw pulled the body of Lex and draped him over his shoulder.
Tess pressed the button on her watch. It did not register any signal. Someone did their homework a bit too much. All Tess could do is watch as Henshaw took Lex off of the premises. Whether or not Lex registered anything, Tess could not even begin to tell.
'We have a huge problem,' Tess mused to herself.
Security kicked back on and Tess was able to open her own door. She moved down the stairs towards the hallway. Lionel's widened eyes stared without blinking. Several of her security guards laid on the floor having been rendered unconscious. A couple had broken bones.
Tess pressed the watch again.
A call for immediate help brought Superman to the edge of the gates. The Man of Steel popped up by those gates just in time to see the wall destroyed. He stepped inside of the walls.
"We all fall for our old sins eventually!"
The voice of Lionel Luthor, garbled and detached, popping up most certainly caused Clark to jar himself. The Man of Steel turned towards him. Tess had disappeared down the hallway just a few seconds before he arrived.
"Lionel?" Clark asked. "Lionel?"
Lionel tilted his head back and looked at a spot on the wall. Then his eyes shifted to the cell which Lex once sat in. Only the glass had been smashed in, wires ripped from the wall, and the bed he sat on had been slightly crushed.
"I should have known. I should have seen the signs. I should have known what was happening. I ignored….like a fool I ignored…she….I ignored it."
Lionel degraded to his normal speaking in tongues and something told Clark the interview as it was, had long since been over. Clark turned to study the hinges. He managed to deduce one thing by about ten seconds of studying. Someone came in here and tore the door of the cell off of the hinges. This was pretty much the only explanation as much as it frustrated him.
"You're saying you saw him?"
The voice of J'onn, disguised as Henshaw, came down the hallway. Daisy and Alex joined him in the official capacity of the DEO. A flustered Tess took a moment to sweep down the hallway. Her eyes looked from the cell.
"And for the record, I would have called you sooner. But they found a way to block my signal watch."
Clark wondered how much they knew. It could cause some pretty big problems if they knew a lot. At least, that's what he figured.
"Let's take a look at the security footage," J'onn said.
Tess already had been ahead of them. She escorted the DEO members into the control room. The businesswoman punched up the footage of the computer and waited for everything to pop up. She saw the moment which the wall smashed completely. It had been reduced to power. The figure walked forward and attacked the security guards like he was nothing. Bullets bounced off of him as he raced down the hall, offering a backhand to anyone. Then he made mincemeat of the security.
"I thought you said that cell was designed so not only Superman could break free of it or break someone out of it," Alex said.
"It was," J'onn, Tess, and Clark all said in unison.
J'onn could not deny it after seeing the person's face up close in light. Hank Henshaw appeared before them in all of his pretty twisted glory. Henshaw's eyes blinked and it appeared someone communicated orders to him. Or to be blunter, someone controlled him as a puppet master.
"He's alive," J'onn said. "If you can even call what he's doing living."
One could see J'onn did not consider what Henshaw was doing to be living in the slightest. He kept his eyes pealed to where Henshaw was moving around.
"So, he survived," Alex said. "I can't believe it."
J'onn did not even need to engage his Martian mind reading powers to know where Alex's train of thought was going. As much as he hated to eliminate any hope from one of his top agents, J'onn had to do it.
"I know what you're thinking, Agent Danvers," J'onn said. "We might not have found Henshaw's body, but we did locate a badly beaten body which had matched your father's DNA."
"You never told me you found his body," Alex said.
"Alex, I'm not sure if this is the right time to have this conversation," Daisy said nervously.
Ignoring her best friend and partner, Alex rounded on J'onn. The Martian's gaze, even though he now holds the face of a man who was also a ruthless killing machine, stared down at Alex without blinking.
"Numerous government agencies were involved in this mission," J'onn said. "It took a lot of arm twisting to even reveal to your family that he was dead. The body is….well I'm not sure where it went."
"Maybe it wasn't his body," Alex suggested vainly holding onto her. "Maybe Cadmus tricked us and put a fake body. They can do that, can't they?"
"Alex," J'onn warned her. "Even if we were deceived, your father would not be the same man. He's gone, and it's best to remember him as you do, and not how he could even if Cadmus compromised him."
J'onn did not want to think of Jeremiah Danvers as that. He was a good man, a very good man, and to see him compromised by Cadmus was horrifying. They did verify the body was most likely his, and J'onn went at piece. It was in a bad state. He had labored under the assumption for many years that Henshaw's body was in a pretty much worse state.
"So, they made Henshaw into some kind of Super Terminator," Daisy said. "Great, this just keeps getting better, doesn't it?"
"And Lillian had him abduct Lex," Tess said.
"A mother truly will do anything for her child," J'onn said. "That's the one truth that's evident no matter what the planet."
Alex looked out in the distance. Henshaw, being a former government agent, had been very meticulous in not leaving any tracks. She looked to be lost back at square one.
Power Girl resumed her latest patrol over Metropolis. She did in fact hope that this would die down and there would be no problems with Intergang. The people all looked at one of their protectors. There were still some doubters and some people still flashed some dirty looks at her.
The Godfreys and Granny currently spent the rest of their days rotting away in one of the worst parts of the Phantom Zone. It was no less than they deserved. Without the protection of Darkseid, they would not last very long. The rest of his forces had been scattered across the entire universe. Karen supposed they could be brought back somehow and some way. She did not know how they would be brought back.
'Well, maybe today's going to be a peaceful day.'
Karen thought that and wondered if she just ended up jinxing herself. The woman's neck turned around and then studied the sky above her. A couple of people snapped pictures of her when flying through the sky. Karen decided to give them someone to remember with a little smile and a wave.
'Okay, now onto business….'
Her hearing picked up a shrill siren off in the distance. Karen almost flew off coarse because of how much the siren bombarded the side of her ear. Karen took a couple of deep breaths to try and get herself focused and more importantly back into everything.
'I've got to get to them,' Karen thought. 'There's someone in trouble.'
The screams of someone off in the distance made Karen feel like she needed to rush towards the scene of the crime. Immense heat popped up from the ground.
"Everyone clear it!" Power Girl yelled.
Energy waves swept up over the ground. Power Girl balanced herself on the fence before dropping down. Smoldering marks appeared on the pavement of the park. She swept even closer to the destination and wondered something. Karen wondered who precisely dropped down in the park. She drew in a very evident breath when studying the park. Karen approached everything as carefully as possible.
'Someone is here,' Karen thought.
She could feel the rising tension in the air. Karen stepped over a piece of playground equipment which fell over from the impact. Karen walked ever so slightly to the side.
"Over here!"
A strangled voice caught Karen's attention. Her body stepped over the burned lines on the playground. She heard someone struggle to rise up out of a hole.
Karen swooped down just in time to see the person in question. Her blonde hair was very much in disarray after dropping down to the ground. She dressed in a slightly shredded blue and white uniform. The woman staggered and a ring with an "L" stamped on it. Karen almost hung her mouth open in thinly veiled shock when staring down at the woman who dropped from the skies.
"Imra?"
Imra Ardeen, known as Saturn Girl of the Legion of Super-Heroes, had been someone that Karen knew very well in her time to the future. Imra barely acknowledges Karen.
"I need to warn him!" Imra yelled suddenly. "I need to warn Superman."
"Superman?" Karen asked. "I can take you to Superman. I can take you to him and….."
Imra grabbed Karen by the edge of the hole in the front of her costume. She tugged on the fabric. Karen put her hands on Imra's shoulders in what she hoped was a very calm and reassuring manner.
"Time…time…time…TIME CRISIS!" Imra shrieked out at the top of her lungs.
The scream assaulted Karen's sensitive hearing. She did not want to say anything against Imra right now but her hearing had been compromised completely.
"Okay, calm down, it's going to be okay," Karen said. "I'll get you out of here. I'll get you out of here and I'll get you to Superman. Everything is going to be okay."
She kept saying this like it meant something. Imra shook her head a couple of times as if to disagree. Karen kept ahold of Imra's shoulders and forced her to stare across the way.
'Temporal mental fatigue,' Karen thought to herself. 'It's the worst.'
"Lara," Karen said. "I'm going to need the Fortress ready. We have a visitor from the future."
"Right," Lara said.
"Come with me," Karen said. "I'll take you to see Superman."
It was very easy to get Imra to come with her at the promise of seeing Superman. The Legion of Super-Heroes started as a glorified fan club for the Man of Steel. It was so much more than that these days, but some of the character members never forgot their very humble roots.
Relief spread through Lillian after she got reports from the scientists. Lex had been resting after being rescued from the prison. Lutessa thought that she had won. Lillian disagreed with the girl. It was not the girl's fault, she had not bee prepared for this onslaught.
"The Cyborg Superman is a success," Lillian said. "It's a pity. Maybe I should have told him to grab onto Lionel, but that only increases the chance something could have gone wrong."
Lionel was not a very high priority in Lillian's mind. She turned towards the man sitting across from her at the lab tab.
"Soon, I will be having one of the most brilliant minds working for Cadmus," Lillian said. "My son will achieve the potential he always has had. Do you think you can fix the damage?"
"I do have a special insight of your son's mind," Hugo Strange responded.
"Yes, I'm aware," Lillian said. "And I'm also aware of the creative interpretation of my orders last time. You grew as obsessed with the Traveler as my husband did. And I trust you won't be deviating from the script, Strange."
Lillian pressed a button on the remote control which caused Strange's heart to receive a stabbing pain. It was very hard for him to even attempt to breathe.
"You fix him right this time, or you'll be the one in need for a doctor," Lillian said as she removed the device implanted into Strange. "Is that clear, Hugo?"
"Yes, Director," Hugo said breathing.
"Excellent," Lillian said. "You may go know."
Strange, properly reprimanded, stepped off into the distance. This left Lillian to take a very calming drink and lean back up against the table. She took a few seconds to enjoy how well today went.
"Director, you should see this."
Lillian looked up at one of her guards with a raised eyebrow. She walked across the hallway to join him. Images of a flare of light in Metropolis came out. There was no vessel which was odd. A supernova of a woman dressed in blue and white with a ring on her finger showed up. Lillian thought something about the ring seemed familiar.
Three prophets with these strange rings visited the Kawatchee tribe just a decade before the Namen visited them from the heavens and all of the legends started. Lillian recalled every one of Lionel's obsessions.
Power Girl picked up the time traveler before anyone else could. Lillian knew that having knowledge of the future could be potentially beneficial.
"Cyborg Superman, you have a new mission," Lillian said.