This fic came about as part of experimentation with writing fight scenes.

This chapter contains the death of a major character. It may or may not be temporary. I make no guarantees. It also contains depictions of heavy (but canon typical) violence and graphic descriptions of blood. Let me know what you think and enjoy the fic.

The showdown that raged through National City was inevitable. The tension had been building for far too long and it finally broke when Reign issued an ultimatum to the city and its occupants. She wanted Supergirl and would stop at nothing to get her. It was a regular Monday morning when Reign broke into the WKNC studios and demanded that they spread her message. "You may fear me as the Devil, but I am no such thing. There are no gods, no kings, no devils or heroes. I am from a time before your understanding, born to cleanse the scourge that pollutes the Earth. I am here to deliver your awakening, to open your eyes to how your apathy has become your greatest sin. You have allowed false gods, like Supergirl, to rise up and you worship them. Not anymore. She is no god. I am here to bring you truth and judgment and death. I was made to reign and that is exactly what I will do. You have 24 hours to bring her to me or I will rip this city apart until I locate the false god."

The CatCo bullpen was uncharacteristically silent in the aftermath of Reign's announcement. Kara gaped at the assortment of screens arranged on the wall in James' office. The stoic photographer turned CEO turned to Kara with a grave expression on his face and nodded. The blonde gave him a faint smile before disappearing into the bustling flurry of activity that began to consume the floor. Kara squeezed her way into the elevator and silently leaned against the back wall as she rode down to the lobby. When the doors finally opened, Kara rushed out and began to run toward the DEO. She would have preferred to fly, but she didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention, not yet anyway. Kara stalked into the DEO's lobby, passed the stunned security guard, and got in the elevator. By some stroke of luck, this time the elevator was empty and Kara finally had a quiet moment to collect her racing thoughts as she let her head fall back against the elevator wall. She was startled out of her musings when the elevator dinged to signal its arrival at her destination. Kara went directly to the command center where she was greeted by concerned looks from both J'onn and Alex. "Did you see it?" Alex asked anxiously. Kara nodded and gestured for them to follow as she walked into the conference room just off the command center.

"Yes, I did."

"I know what you're thinking, Kara. You can't go up against Reign. Without Sam, she's even more powerful now and much more brutal."

"I know that Alex, but I can't just let her terrorize the city."

"You can't seriously be considering this?" Alex asked incredulously.

"Alex," Kara warned.

"J'onn, what do you think about this?" Alex questioned.

"Agent Danvers, this is between you and your sister. Do I want her risking her life to fight Reign? Of course not. But is there another way? No."

"Kara, listen to me, you can't do this. You'll die."

"I know," Kara whispered solemnly. With those words, any argument Alex may have had died on her lips.

"You what?"

Kara soon found herself hovering in the sky above the center of National City. The streetlights twinkled in the distance below as Kara took a steadying breath. She would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous. Prophecies aside, Kara knew she had to defeat Reign or else the consequences would be disastrous. Somewhere in the back of her head, she wondered whether this would finally be the end she sought—or was the prophecy wrong? Although her life was filled with people and purpose, some part of her desperately wanted for a fight to go just a little wrong, for the wrong person to have kryptonite, for a solar flare to come at just the wrong time. As Maggie had once pointed out angrily, Kara always leapt before she looked, just like she was doing now—all for the chance to protect her family, all to see her parents again, all for the chance to go home again. Unwilling to dwell on past mistakes and future consequences, Kara took another steadying breath before calling out for her opponent. In an instant, a black figure appeared from the night and wrapped her hand around Kara's throat. "So full of hubris. Do you honestly think that you stand a chance against me?" Reign asked as she squeezed Kara's throat a little tighter. "Was nearly killing you once not enough for you? No matter. This time, I'll succeed."

"I guess not. You need to stop this crusade, Reign. You can't keep murdering the people of this city. I'm going to put an end to your campaign of terror," Kara said, struggling for breath with each word.

"You see this as a crusade, but I see it as my duty. The people of Earth are just like the Kryptonians. You all sat in your high towers, ignoring the earthquakes that shook your planet as your arrogance kept you from seeing that it was your choices that caused your planet to suffocate and burn. Humans are no less arrogant. They sit back and watch as their planet is ravaged by crime and corruption. Sinners must be punished as must those who harbor them. Apathy has consumed this planet and it is time them for them to face justice for their sins."

"Are you quite done?" Kara asked as she tapped her fingers on her thigh impatiently.

"You arrogant, insolent little girl!" Reign roared as she lifted Kara up. "You embody that which needs to be cleansed," she continued as tightened her hand further, cutting off Kara's oxygen. Pale hands shot up to try to pry Reign's fingers off of her throat as she choked. "The righteous will rise and you all shall be brought to justice," Reign thundered as she flung Kara back.

"Never!" the blonde yelled as she shot forward and punched Reign in the face, sending the unsuspecting villain plummeting toward the earth. Reign allowed herself to drop for a moment before flipping and righting herself with a flourish. She flew up toward Supergirl and let out an animalistic growl before letting loose a savage blast of heat vision aimed right at the sigil on Kara's chest. The merciless force of the blast threw the astonished hero back as the blonde wondered whether pissing Reign off was a mistake. The rage behind the blast told her that it probably was, Kara concluded. She didn't much time to ponder the error of her ways as her concentration shifted to blocking blow after vicious blow. As they fought in the skies above National City, the two Kryptonians found themselves battling above the CatCo building once more. Kara roundhouse kicked Reign in the side and face in quick succession before delivering a savage blow to her gut. Taking advantage of Reign's shock, Kara tackled the villain, sending both their bodies plunging toward the street. The two grappled as they plummeted to the street, landing in a massive crater with Kara at the bottom of the heap. Reign pushed herself off the dazed hero and brutally stomped on her stomach, knocking the wind out of the blonde. Reign laughed as she viciously stomped on Kara's stomach again, drawing a pained groan from the hero as she tried—and failed—to catch her breath.

"Not so brave and mighty anymore, are you? Is the heel of my boot all it takes to defeat you, Kara Zor-El?" Reign said mocked. With a roar, Kara leapt up, grabbed a chunk of asphalt, and threw it at Reign who quickly brought her arms in front of her face, turning the asphalt into a cloud of dust. As the dust blew away in the wind, Kara lunged forward and punched Reign. With an arrogant chuckle, the Worldkiller wiped away the small trickle of blood in the corner of her mouth with her thumb. She drew her arm back to punch Kara, only for the blonde to catch her fist and wrench Reign's arm to the side. Knowing that she needed to draw the fight away from the city, Kara leapt up to try to lure Reign to the desert, but within seconds, Kara felt a sudden tug on her cape as Reign grabbed it and sharply whipped it, sending Kara falling like a ragdoll. The blonde crashed into the street once more before rolling over with a grunt and jumping up to her feet. Taking advantage of Reign's grip on her cape, Kara spun her body around and drove her elbow into Reign's nose, followed by a brisk uppercut aimed right at the villain's chin. As Reign was thrown upward by force of the punch, the Super took the opportunity and tackled Reign, flying both of them straight to the desert just outside the city.

Kara sighed and fidgeted with her glasses as Alex stared at her expectantly. "In the early days of Krypton, thousands of years before we began shifting toward a unified society, there were cults who practiced black magic who foretold many distant events. The Council destroyed most of the Juru's teachings when Krypton began worshiping Rao exclusively, but a few of them made it into the Book of Rao, which is how we even know about them. After Coville, I went down to the Fortress to do some reading to try to understand him better and when I was reading Kal's copy of the Book, I found the Worldkiller prophecies."

"What does this have to do with you fighting Reign?" Alex asked impatiently.

"I'm getting there, Alex," Kara replied as she glared at her sister. "The Worldkillers were prophesized before the Book was even written. Their existence was foretold millennia ago. There were actually a lot of prophecies about Worldkiller-like creatures—or so we thought. Turns out they were more literal than we even knew. Anyway, two of the prophecies made it into the Book: one about their creation—and one about their defeat. I remember hearing about the first one in passing, but no one ever knew what the second meant and I thought that with Krypton gone, I wouldn't have to worry about them, but—"

"Reign, Pestilence, and Purity happened?" J'onn suggested.

"Exactly, I thought that all the magic and the myths were eradicated when the planet exploded since the Book never said anything about Krypton being erased from existence. By the way, for a dead planet, Krypton has a lot of survivors, which would make me a lot happier if they weren't all villains," Kara said unhappily. Alex and J'onn snorted and nodded in agreement. "But it turns out that dark magic isn't limited by something like the destruction of a planet or galaxies as we've seen."

"What does the Book say?"

"I spent so many hours reading it that I've memorized it by now. It says 'And a door would open to the sky and through it would pass abominations created of cold intelligence and survivors saved by warm emotions. The abominations would walk the world hidden until such time that their true nature can be concealed no more. Of the killers of worlds, one would rise above like a god and would be defeated by another who too has risen from the ashes, another saved twice by emotion and forced to hide as well. The one who bests the Worldkiller will lay down their life to stop her rule and will be rewarded in the light of Rao.' It's all there. It talks about Reign gaining the others' powers and becoming stronger… and it talks about me."

"Kara, why does it have to be you? What about Clark? It sounds like it could be him, too."

"NO!" Kara yells forcefully. "No. it has to be me, Alex. It has to be one saved by emotion and forced to hide. That isn't Clark. He wasn't forced to hide like I was. He wasn't saved by emotion twice like I was and he hasn't fought the Worldkillers before, Alex. It's me. I was sent to protect him and if me dying to save him and the city is what I have to do, then so be it. I was sent to Earth to protect it and that's exactly what I'm going to do, whether you agree with me or not."

"Kara, I—We—."

"Alex, I know. You did it to keep me and safe. For that, I'll be eternally grateful, but now it's my turn to save you. To save you all. You did what you had to do, but now—."

"It's your turn—yeah, yeah I got that part, Kara. God, you're such a Danvers."

"Yeah," Kara said as she laughed mirthlessly. "Guys, listen I need you to do me a favor. I know that Lena's gonna want to be here because she still sees Reign as part of Sam and you're going to want to refuse because she hates me, but just let her, okay? Just don't tell her or anyone else about this—any of this. This needs to be my fight. I don't want anyone else to die for me."

"Kara, you know we can't do that," Alex pressed.

"You have to, Alex. I'm going to die one way or another. Don't risk any more lives for the sake of mine. I've ruined enough lives and it's my time. I don't deserve people dying to come to my rescue."

"Yes, you do. Kara, you're the best of us." Kara smiled at Alex as tears glistened in both their eyes.

"I don't, but we don't have time, Alex." Kara chuckled humorlessly, "It seems like I never have enough time in my life, doesn't it?"

As they crashed into the sand, Reign was barely affected as she staggered to her feet and wiped the blood from her nose with her sleeve as Kara lay on the ground dazed. The villain laughed as she watched Kara get on her hands and knees warily. "Did you really think you could win?" Reign drew her leg back and kicked Kara in the stomach, sending her flying like a blue-clad football. "You are weak! You stand no chance against me," Reign bellowed as she stalked up to Kara's prone form and put her boot on Kara's throat. "Surrender! After all, there is bliss in it," the villain continued as she leaned in slightly and pressed harder on Kara's throat, causing the blonde to gag and sputter.

"Never!" Kara yelled as she grabbed Reign's boot and threw her to the ground. "I will never back down. Beat me all you want," she said as she tried to stand and wiped the blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. Still on her knees, Kara bellowed, "But I will never let you win!" Reign laughed as she sauntered up to the blonde, grabbed her by the hair and pulled so Kara was forced to look her in the eyes.

Reign leaned in so that her lips were almost touching Kara's ear and whispered "Fine. So be it." Reign straightened and grabbed Kara face roughly. "I was going to make your death quick—a small mercy for a so-called god from the devil herself—but I'm going to make an example out of you instead. No matter, I shall so enjoy cleansing you of your sins either way, but maybe, I'll make you suffer for your sins first. Maybe I'll start by ripping your self-important friend's spine instead."

"No," Kara screamed as she wrenched herself out of Reign's grip and threw herself on the villain, wrestling her to the ground. In a fit of fury, the blonde unleashed a fury of punches and for the first time, Reign looked almost frightened. As the blonde wrapped her bloody hand around Reign's throat, she growled, "You don't get to threaten my friends—and YOU DON'T SCARE ME!"

"How 'brave' of you," Reign mocked as she lay under Kara. Reign took a swing at Kara, who grabbed Reign's fist and braced to blast Reign with her heat vision. "You think your arrogance will save you, Kara Zor-El. It won't." Reign countered Kara's heat vision before it even hit her. "I don't care if you're afraid of me. There is no walking away from me, just as there is no stopping me." Reign kicked Kara off of her and stood as Kara slid back on her knees. "We may both be fated to die tonight, but you will never be able to stop my justice. Even in death," Reign roared.

"Maybe. Maybe not, but that doesn't mean that I won't try." Kara flew forward, fist aimed at the seething brunette and punched her. She kicked Reign in the chest, sending her to her knees and tried to punch Reign again. She blocked Kara's fist, wrenched the blonde's arm to the side, and jumped into a flip with a kick aimed right at Kara's chin. Kara threw another punch, this time with her left arm, which Reign again blocked with another twist before kicking Kara in the center of her chest. Kara slid across the ground, the dirt digging up behind her heels. The bloodied Super stood, slightly favoring her left side, and swiped at the blood dripping down from her hairline, down her face, into her eyes. Reign's laugh echoed through the desert until Kara swiftly rushed forward and dropped in front of Reign, sweeping her feet out from underneath her. Reign quickly glided upward and floated with a smirk. Kara threw a half-hearted punch at Reign, which was caught mid-motion as usual, before following with a full-strength right hook. Reign was thrown several feet back before standing and wiping the blood dripping from her nose with a sneer. She looked Kara right in the eyes and winked as she bent her knees and took off toward National City. With no other choice but to follow suit, Kara bent her knees and launched herself into the air after Reign. Just as they had hours ago, the two Kryptonians once again traded blows in the skies above the city.

"Kara, how do you plan on surviving this encounter?" J'onn asked.

"Yeah, Kara. The last time you fought Reign, you barely survived."

"I got Winn to make me a special suit outfitted with radiation emitting diodes that'll be like mini-sunbeds. They should supercharge my powers long enough for me to be able to hold her off."

"I'm going to kill him," Alex growled menacingly.

"Agent Danvers," J'onn warned.

"But how do you plan on killing her?"

"Do you remember those kryptonite daggers that the DEO had Lena make? I'm going to use one of those."

"But—."

"Lead sheath."

"But—."

"Alex, please. Can we just stop arguing? We're running out of time and I don't want this to be how we end things. Can we just be us for a little while? I want to be able to say goodbye to at least one of the people who mean a lot to me." Kara turned to J'onn and continued, "Can you join us too? I'd tell the others, but I don't want them to know and worry… and I doubt Lena would care right now. I didn't get to say goodbye to my family last time—and I just want to be able to do it this time. Please." Alex and J'onn both solemnly nodded as they granted Kara's last request.

Kara kicked Reign in the chest, which only seemed to anger Reign more as the villain returned the blow in kind along with a punch and a smirk. The blonde blocked the punch and twisted Reign's arm to the side. Undeterred, Reign lifted her body and kicked out her legs, causing Kara to go flying. As Kara fell, Reign chased after her in an attempt to land a few more blows on the increasingly exhausted Super. Kara stopped Reign in her tracks with a frantic blast of heat vision aimed right at her face. As Kara flew upward to try to get some distance, she was suddenly met with a solid body and an even more solid fist to the face. As she and Reign grappled, Kara could feel herself inching toward a solar flare. Knowing that she had to end this soon, Kara shot away from Reign before turning around and using her speed to quickly grab the villain by the front of her suit. "Had enough already?" Reign chortled as Kara flew them toward the desert.

"Yes!" Kata replied as the ripped the blade out of the hidden sheath in her boot and plunged it into Reign's chest. Reign smiled at Kara with blood stained teeth and reached up to wrap her hand around the handle jutting out of her chest.

"You may be able to defeat me, Kara Zor-El, but at what cost?" the villain said before yanking the blade out of her chest and stabbing it into Kara's stomach. The blonde gasped and loosened her grip on the villain causing Reign to fall, her cackling echoed through the empty desert all the way down to the ground. Kara floated in the air for a moment as processed what had just happened and then too fell to the ground.

As Kara suited up in the locker room, Lena arrived at the DEO per Alex's request. Given the late hour, the command center was mostly empty but for a few unlucky agents manning the night shift, but despite the emptiness, the air was thick and fraught with tension as agents and consultants, close friends and family, gathered in preparation for the impending battle. With a deep breath, Kara stepped out of the locker room and walked toward the center console. She avoided making eye contact with any of the warriors gathered around the round console as she explained that she would be going against Reign alone, without any backup and with one-way comms being the DEO's only way of knowing what is happening as the battle raged. Alex and J'onn noticed that Kara conspicuously left out any details about how the fight was going to go down and her thinly veiled farewells as she thanked everyone around her for their support and hard work. With those words, Kara nodded, turned on her heel, and flew out of the DEO, leaving Alex and J'onn to deal with the barrage of questions that the others were about to throw at them.

She landed in a bleeding heap in the sand, the dislodged dagger laying just feet away, sapping what little strength she had left. Kara blinked the blood out of her eyes as she inhaled the earthy, metallic scent of drying blood. With a shaking hand, Kara pressed her fingers to the gash in her stomach and lifted her head to watch her fingers come away several shades redder than they had been. She weakly dropped her head back to the ground and squeezed her eyes shut as tears slowly started making their way toward her temples. Kara coughed harshly as blood dribbled out of her mouth, down her cheek, down her neck, down onto the sand as she realized that she had finally solar flared. It won't be long now, she thought to herself as she pressed a shaking, weak hand to the wound in her stomach and more tears slid down toward her temples. With every shallow breath, Kara felt the broken, shattered bones in her chest grind against each other. She could feel the life draining out of her as the blood leaked out of her fallen form. Each breath hurt just a little more than the last and took just a little more effort. Every inhale was a struggle and every exhale a war as she found herself facing her greatest challenge yet—breathing. The blonde nodded to herself almost as though confirming that her fate had been sealed: she was going to die here, in this barren desert, completely alone—and it scared her. As she lay there in the sand, Kara found herself staring at the stars. They were so beautiful and if squinted, she swore she could still see Krypton twinkling in the distance. She wished she had taken more time to admire how beautiful Earth's night sky was—there were so many things she wished she had done.

Kara sniffled and let the tears flow freely from her eyes before shutting them tightly and trying to conjure images of her friends and family to stave off the loneliness that surrounded her in her last moments. Despite her best efforts, one person dominated her memories, but before Kara could contemplate what that meant, she heard footsteps hastily approaching. Tensing, Kara opened her eyes to find herself looking right into the very green eyes that had been consuming her thoughts. "Lena," Kara breathed out. "You're here," the blonde said as smiled weakly with bloodstained teeth. "I thought you were still mad at me."

"I am, but I didn't want you to be alone, Kara," Lena said as she dropped to her knees. "You're hurt pretty badly. Oh, Kara, you're dying," Lena said as her voice quivered.

"I know, but it's okay, Lena. Don't cry," Kara said as she lifted a bloodied hand to touch Lena's cheek. "I'm going to get to see my parents—I'll finally be able to join them in Rao's light. It's been such a long time, Lena," Kara whispered as she stroked Lena's cheek with her thumb.

"How I am supposed to not cry? My best friend is dying," Lena said as tears cascaded down her face.

"I am, but my death has been foretold for millennia. It was meant to be, Lena, and I don't want you to spend your entire life mourning me, okay?" Kara swallowed thickly before continuing. "I was sent to Earth to protect Clark and do all sorts of amazing things—I was also destined to die to stop the final Worldkiller, but it really is okay. Do you know why, Lena?" The brunette tearfully shook her head. "I got to do all the extraordinary things my parents told me I would be able to do—I found a family, I saved the world a lot, I met you and became your friend, and I even fell in love—with you." Tears welled up in Kara's eyes as she turned her head to look at Lena.

"You love me?" Kara nodded. "I don't know what to say, Kara."

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything. But I do. There's so much I need to say, Lena. I'm sorry for lying to you for hurting you. In fact, I probably should have said this first, but I'm saying it now. I was wrong. We really did need that Kryptonite, but I rallied against you, my best friend. And what did you do? You saved us all. So, I'm sorry, so sorry and thank you for everything." Kara swallowed thickly. "Lena—Lena, I'm scared. Could you—could you hold my hand?"

"It's okay to be afraid, Kara," Lena soothed as she wrapped her hands around Kara's and held the shaking pale hand to her chest.

"No. No, it's not. I promised my parents that I wouldn't be afraid when I left Krypton. I miss them so much and it's been so long, but I'm really scared, Lena. I don't want to go. Please don't make me," Kara said as she began to cry.

"I won't."

"Don't tell them I was afraid. Please… I just—I don't want to leave. Please don't make—I want to stay with you," Kara mumbled deliriously.

"I'll be with you the whole time, Kara. You won't be alone," Lena shushed.

"Do you think you could kiss me? I don't want to die with kissing you at least once, Lena," Kara mumbled. Wordlessly, Lena leaned over and pressed her tear-stained lips to Kara's. It was salty and iron-tinged, but it was by far the best kiss Kara ever had. When Lena sat up, Kara's mouth was moving wordlessly as her eyes darted from side to side and tears streamed out the corners of her eyes down to her temples. Suddenly, the world blurred and Lena disappeared as the world faded to black. The sounds around her faded to nothing and everything was so still and silent and so suffocatingly small.

And then there was nothing at all.

A nondescript black SUV sped up to the sandy crater where Supergirl lay and screeched to a stop. Two panicked brunettes jumped out and rushed to the blonde's side, just in time to hear the death rattle shake its way out of her body and then—Kara Danvers was no more, having died with the ghost of Lena's name on her lips. In a cruel twist of fate, Kara Danvers died alone, so unlike she was in life. Except it was. The last true Kryptonian, alone in the duty of preserving a lost world and remembering a family long since gone, died alone, bleeding in the sand, her last comfort provided by the hallucinations of a dying mind.

Now that we've established that I am a cruel, cruel person, I hope you stay tuned for the continuation of this story as we explore how the Superfriends grieve.
Also, in case it wasn't clear, the "Lena" Kara saw as she was dying was a hallucination.

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