Chapter 8: Brainiac Falls, But At What Cost
Martian Manhunter attempted to use a mental attack at Brainiac, but his mental power overcame J'onn and sent him flying into a wall behind the two Kryptonians. Superman went to check on him while Supergirl tried using her laser vision on Brainiac. J'onn was fine and able to get up and help, but not in time to save Kara from getting shot with Kryptonite in the leg. She collapsed in pain, unable to stand, so she flew up and hovered over the ground.
The fight continued and the heroes were not doing well against their adversary. Any hit they managed to get on Brainiac seemed to do nothing to slow him down. Superman and Supergirl were both injured from the Kryptonite and Brainiac readied his finishing shot on Supergirl. The shot never reached its target because J'onn jumped in front of Kara, saving her. The blast knocked the last of the Green Martians out and rendered him useless for the rest of the fight. Now only a badly injured Superman and equally injured Supergirl stood in between Brainiac and his goal.
Supergirl was breathing heavily, she was exhausted. Come on Alex, she thought, find that weakness fast I don't know how much longer we'll last.
National City
Thara looked around her, there was carnage everywhere. The heroes around her were trying their best to save everyone, but the androids still got to so many. It was like the world was in slow motion, children were crying adults were screaming. The heroes from Earth One were growing tired, she could see it in their slower motions.
The Flash and Kid Flash looked like they were going to pass out soon. Green Arrow and White Canary were covered in their own blood. Black Canary looked like she was losing her voice from screaming son much. The Atom's suit was running low on power. Hawgirl's wings were injured so she was grounded, still swinging her mace, but a bit slower. Firestorm look like they needed to separate and rest.
Despite all this they were continuing to fight, past their limits. It was not enough, the heroes were losing this fight. She looked over at her husband who was trying not only to help the people of National City, but also the other heroes that were protecting it.
Thara watched as a force field lowered around National City, once again trapping her in Brainiac's grasp. Fear washed over her as she realized the fight was almost over.
Come on Kara Zor-El, you can do this. You're stronger than Brainiac. You're the strongest person I know.
DEO Headquarters
"We have to work faster." Winn told the other three in the room, "I don't have a feed from in the ship, but the people in the city are not doing well. There is a force field trapping all of National City in a bubble."
Alex yelled out in frustration, "He has no weakness. Nothing is working!" Lucy, James and Winn joined her in desperation. They have been working so hard, but found absolutely nothing. Tears started to form in their eyes, they have failed in their one mission. That's when an idea comes to Lucy.
"Wait no one has seen Brainiac and lived before Kara, right?" Lucy asked earning a nod from Alex. "Well has he even left his ship ever?"
"You're right!" Alex said, "In theory, Brainiac should have no immune system. They just need to get him out of his ship, hopefully."
"There is a chance this won't work." James reminded them.
"We're going to die if we don't try." Alex reminded James as she got out her Bluetooth device to call Kara.
Brainiac's ship
Supergirl and Superman were pushing themselves past their limits. They were bruised, bleeding and broken. The Kryptonite was taking a toll on them, they were not going to last much longer. Another world was going to fall. Kara, with rage in her heart and tears in her eyes went to give Brainiac a Kryptonian punch, but was stopped by a shot to the shoulder. She fell to the ground and felt as blood flowed out of the wound. "Kara! Kara!" she heard Alex's voice in her ear.
Putting a hand on the Bluetooth device in her ear Kara answered weakly, "What's up Alex?"
"We found his weakness. He has no immune system you just need to get him out of his ship!" Alex's news gave Kara a new burst of strength. She looked at Superman who had overheard what Alex said and the two began to taunt Brainiac.
"Is that all you've got?"
"I've fought worms stronger than you!"
"Why don't you leave taking over worlds to real villains!"
With every insult they saw Brainiac grow angrier. The Kryptonians fled the ship, taking J'onn J'onzz with them, and looked behind them to see a furious Brainiac blindly following them to a marsh near the city. "You dare insult me?" Brainiac demanded once they stopped, "I will crush you like bugs." Then he started to cough, confused he looked at his enemies.
"You spend so much time in your ship learning about all these worlds." Superman said.
"You've never set foot on one. Life comes in all shapes and sizes and some of the smallest are not very friendly." Kara continued.
"We have immunity to many of these bacteria and viruses because we've lived here we've encountered them, and others like them."
"But you, you stay in your protective bubble. Now that you've left, we don't need to stop you. The smallest inhabitants of this planet will do the job for us."
Brainiac coughed and sneezed and he was afraid. He was dying and there was nothing he could do about it. Angrily he looked at the two beaten up Kryptonians, he came so close. Off in the distance his ship, sensing his coming death, shut down. The androids fell and so did the force field. The people of National City cheered their heroes had once again saved the day.
Brainiac could feel all of the knowledge he accumulated leaving him. He was furious, how dare these two weaklings defeat the all-knowing Brainiac. In once last attempt of getting some sort of victory he aimed at Superman and fired his Kryptonite weapon.
Kara saw the danger heading towards her cousin, she would not let him die. She promised her parents and his that she would protect him. She ran as fast as she could and pushed Clark out of the way of the blast. She fell to the ground with an intense pain radiating from her chest. The last thing she saw before she blacked out was her cousin's worried face mouthing her name over and over, trying to keep her awake.
Clark saw as Kara went down. He used his laser vision to quickly finish off Brainiac and ran over to her. He yelled out her name, trying to keep her conscious, but it did not work. Clark held his cousin's broken body in his arms screaming in agony.
Thara and Lor-Zod arrived to check on them when they did not respond to the DEO's calls. Thara quickly ordered the med bay to be readied for all three of them when she came across the scene in front of her. Lor took J'onn back to the DEO while Thara convinced Clark to pull himself together and help fly Kara back.
Back at the DEO Superman was completely better after a few hours on the solar bed. J'onn healed quickly once he was stitched up. Now everyone was bandaged up waiting for news on Kara. She had to be brought into surgery. After what seemed like a lifetime, the surgeon came out to a huge crowd of metahumans, aliens and agents, all waiting for news on Supergirl. The surgeon sighed and began to talk about the surgery looking at all the hopeful faces in front of her, she told them that Supergirl was…
Sorry for that cliffhanger there (not really :P). I'm now halfway through the story! There is more to come.
