Chapter 1: Pain
==== This is set after the episode 'Triggers', but there is no real change aside from Alex and Maggie still being together. ====
The chase had gone on long enough.
Kara was almost asleep when Winn frantically knocked on her door.
"KARA! Kara you need to come to the DEO, we've found her!" That was all she needed to hear. Before Winn could knock on her door again, she was out of the apartment ready for action. Her signature cape blocking his vision for less than a second as she sped out of the door, a whirlwind of determination. She needed to catch PSI, the city had been her playground for far too long. Tonight Kara would finish it, she would bring her in and watch her be locked up in a meta-cell from which she couldn't escape no matter how much she blasted the damn walls. Kara wanted it to be over, for the exhausting, exponentially difficult fight to just be over with. Just to be done.
Upon Supergirl's arrival Alex sighed in relief "Thank God Kara you're here. We've tracked her to a warehouse downtown, near the docks. Warehouse four. You need to get there as soon as possible, it seems that she's on the move. And Kara, be caref..."
"Got it. Warehouse four. On the move. Let's do this." Kara, otherwise known as Supergirl, was gone in an instance. Kara heard Alex yell after her, something about being careful? But Kara wasn't worried, Winn had invented a new block to stop PSI's powers, they'd tested it with J'onn and it had worked. This time as a headset, both discrete and powerful.
Kara closed in on warehouse four, and quickly managed to make out a figure leaving the building, laundering and swaying with every step she took, as if she weren't being chased and tracked by multiple agencies, with a high price above her head. Definitely PSI. Kara swooped down and landed a few meters in front of her, holding her head high, attempting to seem confident disregarding the little bit of doubt nibbling at her thoughts.
"I was wondering when you'd show up. And I really am I glad that you did. This time I won't be going easy on the Girl of Steel, or whatever stupid cliche name you've given yourself, Supergirl." She spat out the last words with such hate that you could feel it radiating off of her. Pure anger, pure… mistake. This was a mistake, Kara realised that PSI wasn't surprised because she knew Kara would come. She was counting on it. But Kara didn't have a chance to retreat. A wave of anxiety that she knew all too well washed over her, propelling her backwards and throwing her into an intense panic attack. But instead of letting the panic attack take its toll, PSI threw more and more at her, waves upon waves upon more waves of fear, anxiety, dismay. PSI wasn't joking when she said that she wouldn't go easy. The waves didn't stop, a single wave was enough to rattle Kara, a never ending battalion of them, it would end her.
Kara was repeatedly blasted and pinned against the side of Warehouse three, blast after blast after blast after blast, it felt infinite. The best Kara could do was close her eyes as her mind underwent a mental onslaught, images and memories of her parents, her whole family on Krypton that were so horribly killed when her home planet was destroyed. Her mother's eyes piercing through her, desperate and in so much pain. The agony in her family's faces was unbearable even to view. She saw their skin and flesh being ripped from their bones, their hair disintegrating and rubble tearing through what remained of their broken bodies. Their minds and souls long gone. She saw Mon'el, she saw his ship being pulled apart by the pressure of space, the shuttle setting ablaze as rocks hit its shell. Mon'el screaming and frantically trying to find some way to survive. The shuttle continued to rip apart until it finally gave away. A piece of the lower dashboard was propelled backwards, impaling Mon'el, through the throat. His cries were cut short as his eyes rolled back into his head and he floated, slowly being crushed by space itself, until he was nothing but blood and organs on an endless course through the universe, the necklace she gave him floating away in the opposite direction.
Kara screamed. A bloodcurdling, agonising scream. But no, PSI was only getting started. More waves, more blasts. Kara saw her adopted dad, Jeremiah, being tortured by CADMUS to find out her weaknesses. Jeremiah refused, the torture was worse and worse, he bled more and more. Stab after stab and punch after punch. Until they decided he was useless, and snapped his neck. His body fell limp as they unchained him, he fell to the floor, a senseless heap of blood and broken bones. Kara saw Alex, her one and only sister whom she loved with all of her heart, running towards her. Alex managed to grapple PSI to the ground, PSI looked afraid. It felt so real. But PSI smiled, turning herself over and punching Alex hard in the face. Alex tumbled onto her back, shocked. PSI picked up a rock from the ground and started bludgeoning Alex, deafening cracks as her skull gave in, the horrible, graphic substance that came leaking out of Alex's nose and ears. The cracks suddenly stopped as there was no more left to break, Alex was unrecognisable, her features dominated by blood, brains and disfigurement. Alex was dead, she died a horrible death. She was dead. Her friends, J'onn, Winn, Guardian, Lena all ran towards Alex, but PSI pulled out her hand gun and cut them down. A bullet through the eye for each and everyone. Kara felt tears tumble down her cheeks, the waves and blasts intensifying with each passing moment.
She could no longer hear Alex in her earpiece, who was yelling her name, trying to get some response, any response from Kara. Alex's wishes were met by a second powerful, nauseating scream escaping from Kara's mouth. The whole DEO headquarters fell into silence, stunned and scared for Supergirl. It didn't last long though, J'onn began barking orders to send backup and strike teams immediately. Alex gathered her squadron, geared up and sprinted into one of the transports, slamming her foot down on the pedal the second the last agent scrambled in.
Kara was on her stomach, breathing heavily and irregularly, hands over her head. She was sweating, shaking, crying and screaming into the ground. Meanwhile PSI continued sending wave after wave. She grinned to herself with pure excitement as she realised just how powerful she had become. Her last encounter with Supergirl left her on the run, she had managed to hit her with a few of her strongest waves but Supergirl seemed barely affected. Surprising what a little bit of training and practice could do for a person right? PSI let out a deep, cold laugh as she paused her attack, readying herself for her final, most powerful blast, as a final gift to scar Supergirl one more excruciating time. She bent down, ripping of the remnants of the pathetic excuse for a repelling headset off of Supergirl's head, tossing it over her shoulder and standing back up again. PSI gathered all of the sheer power, sheer hatred and sheer anger that she harboured for Supergirl, she reached out to her fingertips, to her toes, she pulled all of the energy that she had been saving, all of the horrible feelings and thoughts that she'd ever had, and let it out. The power ripped through her limbs and body, out of her head and into Supergirl. Kara convulsed as her already pained and anguished eyes took on a whole other level of horrifying, disturbing, purely terrifying images and thoughts. It was torture, Kara wanted to die.
Alex's transport was the first to arrive, her squadron pouring out of the vehicle closely followed by other vans that were arriving. The DEO agents open fired power dampening ammo at PSI, who was already weakened from her attacking efforts. She tried to fight back, but her mental blasts were barely affecting the agents, and in a matter of second PSI was apprehended and cuffed, reluctantly being dragged back to the vans.
Meanwhile Alex, J'onn and a few more agents rushed to Supergirl's side.
"Kara!? KARA?! CAN YOU HEAR ME?! Kara it's me, your sister. You're safe. Kara?"
"Kara, we're here for you. You're safe, you're going to be okay. It's okay." J'onn placed a hand on Kara's shoulder but immediately removed it after Kara convulsed and writhed from a simple touch. He heard a sharp intake of breath, from Kara's already unsteady and heaving breathing, and a soft, weak whimper. She seemed more broken than both Alex and himself had ever seen her.
He looked over to Alex, who had tears running down her face. She tried to reassure Kara, remembering the past panic attacks that PSI had induced and trying to employ the same methods she had used before, only for Kara to weep even more, her body shaking with every heaving and pain filled cry. Alex was scared, she hadn't ever witnessed Kara in such a fragile and upsetting state. She wanted more than anything to give her a hug and reassure her that she was safe, and nothing could happen, but based on how she reacted to J'onn's touch, it would likely not end well. J'onn saw that Alex was close to breaking down herself, and so made a quick decision. He, as fast as he could, cuffed Kara with power dampening fasteners to avoid injury, and then hoisted her into the air directly back towards the DEO, not looking back as he beelined as fast as he could to the building's balcony. Kara buried her face into his chest, still sobbing uncontrollably. You didn't need to be a Martian to feel the pure terror and pain radiating off of her. To see how scarred her mind was.