Glass and wood splintered out from the point of impact, and the shockwave from Linda's punch was so powerful that it sent the others stumbling to the ground; everyone hit the floor as debris rained down on them.
Superman hit the ground and tumbled violently for fifty feet, crashing through the picket fence before slamming into the cars. He lay, stunned, trying to remember the last time he'd been hit that hard. He shook his head before looking over toward the house; his eyes widened when he saw the large gaping hole in the side of the house. He watched as Linda emerged from the dust cloud, floating a few inches above the porch; her eyes were locked on her cousin as she landed softly on the ground in front of the steps.
"Linda, why are you doing this?" Clark asked, slowly getting to his feet as he rubbed his jaw.
"Because humanity has made you weak," Linda replied coldly as she walked methodically toward Superman. "You've lived among them too long, forgetting who you really are. You've betrayed your true heritage—and the penalty for betrayal is death." She charged Superman at full speed, leaping into the air in front of her cousin, grabbing his shoulders and flipping over him like a vault; she kept a tight grip as she landed, using the momentum to throw Superman over her own shoulders; the hero sailed through the air, smashing into the barn. Wood splintered everywhere, and Linda smirked at the gaping hole.
Inside the house, the dust began to settle as everyone slowly got to their feet, brushing dust and debris off themselves as they checked on each other.
"Is everyone okay?" Jonathan asked, coughing slightly as he examined a cut on Martha's forehead.
"Yeah, I think so," Cisco replied shakily. "What the frak is going on?"
"What's with Linda?" Jimmy asked. "Why is she acting this way?"
"She mentioned her destiny," Martha replied softly, "ruling Earth." She turned to her husband, her eyes full of worry.
"Jor-El," Jonathan growled as the realization hit him.
"Jor-El?" Jacob asked.
"Clark's biological father," Martha explained.
"I thought Linda and Clark were the only Kryptonians still alive," Ronnie said.
"It's a long story," Barry replied.
"One we don't have time for right now," Batman added. "If Jor-El's controlling Linda, we have to stop her before she does any more damage."
A sickening crash caught everyone's attention, and they hurried over to the damaged wall, looking out. In the distance, they saw as Linda standing in the field, holding Superman around his neck, his feet dangling a foot off the ground; with a malicious look on her face, she flung the hero aside like a rag doll. Superman landed hard in the field and skittered violently, causing the livestock to scatter and cutting a furrow into the soft earth.
"I'm sure you have a plan to incapacitate her?" Stein asked softly.
"Of course," Batman replied. "Just need one thing."
"What's that?" Barry asked.
"A distraction," Batman answered. "Suit up—all of you."
"You want us to fight her?" Cisco asked incredulously.
"Unless you have a better idea to stop a rampaging Kryptonian," Batman said curtly, "either suit up or shut up." Without waiting for an answer, Batman bolted from the living room and out of the gaping hole; J'onn launched himself into the air and quickly flew out of the house.
"You really want us fighting Linda?" Cisco asked Barry, his eyes full of fear.
"You don't have to if you don't want to, Cisco," Barry answered softly, his expression somber as he held up his right fist; the gold ring glinted briefly as it caught the sunlight, "but we don't have much of a choice right now." He pressed the side of the ring, and the top sprung open; the shrunken costume inside immediately popped out. After completely expanding, Barry took off at full speed in a blur of yellow energy; in less than a second, he had put on his suit and blurred out of the house.
"So, are we going or not?" Cisco asked as he glanced over at Ronnie and Stein.
Ronnie glanced at the older gentleman, who appeared troubled. "Professor?" he pressed.
"We don't have any other options, Ronald," Stein said, agreeing with Barry. "It's no different than when Miss Kent was under the influence of the red kryptonite," he glanced at Jimmy and saw the guilt briefly wash over the teenager's eyes, "and since the other members of League aren't in the immediate proximity, we may be the only ones able to put an end to this."
Ronnie didn't appear too convinced, but he simply nodded. He reached up and touched the quantum splicer attached to his chest, turning it on before glancing at the older gentleman with his hand raised. Stein took Robbie's hand, their bodies enveloped in flames as they merged into a single form; his head and hands aflame, eyes completely white, he launched himself into the air and flew out of the house. Cisco remained rooted to the floor, his expression full of fear as he contemplated what to do.
Linda narrowed her eyes and crouched slightly, her fists clenched, as Batman, J'onn, Flash, and Superman surrounded her.
"You really think the four of you have what it takes to stop me?" she asked, glancing between the four men with a small smirk.
"We did the last time," Batman answered curtly, clenching a razor-sharp batarang in his right hand, "and we'll do it again." He swiftly threw the weapon at the young girl, who easily caught it.
"Really?" she asked, unimpressed. The weapon suddenly exploded violently, knocking the young girl back and off her feet; she tumbled about twenty feet before stopping.
"Really," Batman answered.
Frowning, Linda slowly got to her feet, but before she could make a move toward the hero, Barry surged forward, running around her in a tight circle. The teenager stopped as watched, trying to make out the speedster, but all she saw was a yellow blur of lightning. After a second or two, she saw Barry slow down long enough to swing his arm around, channeling some of the trailing lightning toward her. She had no time to react as the yellow bolt hit her in the chest; the electricity surged through her body as the force blaster her backward through the air.
Gritting her teeth, the teenager quickly twisted her body, righting herself a split second before she landed in a crouching position, leaning forward with her feet wide apart, her left hand on the ground, supporting her weight bearing most of the weight; her right hand outstretched behind her, balancing her. She stared at the ground silently before snapping her head, staring coldly at Barry as she straightened up; the Speedster was so taken aback by the expression on his friend's face he actually took a step back.
Linda opened her mouth as she moved toward him, but J'onn slammed into her from behind, wrapping his arms around her in a tight vice as she struggled against him; J'onn's muscles quivered as he strained to keep hold of her as Superman, Barry, and Batman surrounded them, staying about twenty feet away.
"Release the girl," J'onn growled loudly.
"This is not your concern, Martian," Linda growled back. "Kara Zor-El belongs to me."
"Her name is Linda," Superman shouted angrily at her, fists clenched, "and you have no right to do this!"
Linda stopped struggling and looked right at Superman, her eyes full of a calm madness that caused the hero to inwardly shudder; the corners of her mouth curled into a condescending smile. "Actually, I do," she replied. "I had to find another to take your place after you walked away from your destiny."
"Ruling this planet was your desire—not my destiny," Superman said, "and it won't be Linda's either."
"You really think she shares your pathetically sentimental connection to this world?" Linda asked. "I've seen her mind: she still views herself as a Kryptonian, above this world, not part of it; taking control of her required little effort."
Superman blurred over, towering over Linda and staring down at her angrily, his fists clenched. "I won't let you take her from us," he growled.
"You don't have a choice," Linda replied calmly.
Suddenly, Superman, J'onn, Barry, and Batman were telekinetically blasted away from Linda, flung backward like ragdolls as the young girl stood silent, watching with a condescending expression as the four heroes tumbled for over fifty feet before stopping. Her super-hearing picked up an odd sound coming from above her, and she looked up to see a beam of intense fire heading right for her. The teenager quickly launched herself into the air right before the fire hit the ground, leaving a deep scorch mark. Linda stopped in midair and glanced around, quickly spotting Firestorm hovering a short distance away; she narrowed her eyes at him. Firestorm held out his hands and sent another beam toward the teenager, who quickly inhaled and exhaled with all her might.
A tremendous wind blasted from Linda's mouth, directed right at Firestorm. The hurricane force gale slammed into him, causing him to tumble as the icy temperature quickly extinguished his flames. With nothing to keep him suspended in the sky, the young man let out a shout as he fell toward the ground.
Superman rubbed his head, groaning softly as he slowly got to his feet. He glanced upward, saw Firestorm tumbling erratically as he fell toward the ground, and quickly launched himself into the sky. He effortlessly caught the young man before landing, putting him down as the others got to their feet.
"You okay?" Superman asked.
"We're fine," Firestorm replied before looking back up as Linda hovered above, staring coldly down at them.
"I wouldn't count on it," the young girl replied. "All you've done is delay the inevitable."
"And what's that?" Batman growled.
"Your deaths," Linda replied.
"You'd really kill us all?" Barry asked, trying to remember that it wasn't Linda they were actually talking to.
"I can't very well rule when there are those who oppose me," Linda answered. "Once that particular problem has been eliminated, the only thing left will be a—"
"Barren wasteland," J'onn interrupted, "because no one will accept you as their ruler."
"Not everyone has the strength to choose death over security," Linda replied as she glanced at him. "That's the one positive thing about these primitives: there will always be those who will kneel before—"
Linda was suddenly interrupted as a powerful concussive blast slammed into her, knocking her off her feet and causing her to tumble violently for over fifty feet. Everyone looked toward the source and saw Cisco, a few feet behind and to the left of Barry, standing with his right fist outstretched; he appeared sickened.
"Thanks," Barry said.
"Don't make me do that again," Cisco replied softly, lowering his shaking hand.
Superman glanced over at Linda and saw her slowly getting to her feet, her hair frazzled and tumbling over one shoulder, exposing the back of her neck. The hero furrowed his eyebrows as he noticed something dark against her skin, and he focused his vison to get a closer look; his eyes widened when he saw what appeared to be a black symbol in the shape of the letter Z, formed in typical Kryptonian style.
And tattooed right into her skin.
Clark narrowed his eyes as he finally realized what needed to be done. Gritting his teeth, blurred over to his cousin, slamming into before she had a chance to recover. He threw her roughly to the ground, pinning her arms behind her, holding her down as she struggled against him.
"You can't hold me forever, Kal-El," Linda growled.
"I don't intend to," Superman replied before taking a deep breath. His eyes glowed orange for a moment before two beams of heat blasted outward. They struck the back of Linda's neck, singing the skin. The teenager let out a loud and agonizing scream as the searing heat burned through her flesh, the sound so deafening that everyone on the farm had to cover their ears; glass objects and windows buckled before shattering.
Superman's head throbbed, and he desperately wanted to stop, but he knew it would only truly stop once that damn symbol was off his cousin's neck. A few more seconds passed before the heat had removed every single bit of ink, and the hero stopped and stared down at the young girl sprawled underneath him, her arms still pinned behind her. The wound on Linda's neck was bleeding and charred with deep tissue damage, and Superman could already see it healing, but it didn't make him feel any better at what he had done.
"Linda?" he asked softly with caution.
"Clark?" Linda asked, confused, as she tried to crane her neck, but she stopped almost immediately, wincing in pain.
Superman shifted off her and carefully turned her over, cradling her in his arms. She appeared confused, but he was grateful that crazed look in her eyes had disappeared. "Hey," he said softly.
"What happened?" Linda asked, looking around.
Superman took a deep breath, trying to maintain his composure. "It's a long story," he replied somberly.
(End of Chapter 4)