Lena's punch slammed into her jaw. Kara stumbled back across the sand, desperately putting distance between herself and her opponent.
The supervillain followed up with a kick at the hero's midsection, one that Kara just barely avoided. She jumped to the side and lashed out with a punch that caught Lena right between the eyes. The supervillain retaliated with a blow of her own, but this time Kara was ready.
The taste of victory tantalizing her lips, Supergirl deflected the punch with her forearm before slamming both of her fists deep into Lena's stomach. The force of the blow sent the supervillain crashing into the ground, her body rolling with the impact.
"Do I hear a yield?" Kara demanded.
Coughing violently, Lena climbed to her feet. "Only in your wildest dreams," she hissed. Leaping into the air, the villain closed the distance between them and launched herself into a scything kick. Kara met the blow with raised arms. SLAM! The impact sent her skidding back several feet yet she remained standing.
After all this time, I'm finally going to beat you.
Of course, they weren't exactly fighting on their usual playing field. Red sun radiation from Kara's bracelet had removed the vast majority of Supergirl's powers. Vanity's suit was likewise nowhere to be seen. Lena's Harun-el had been temporarily suppressed with an injection, leaving the CEO with a fraction of her original strength.
It was a fair fight. Just the two of them, no powers or technology. Lena had reduced their strength and speed to an equivalent level, one enough to shield them both from serious injury yet too low to make the battle a destructive one.
The supervillain had proposed a spar in the middle of the desert, away from any prying eyes. Lena wouldn't be comfortable going into battle with her new leg without a test run, and Kara had been all too happy to oblige. Part of her had always believed that, on a level playing field, she would have the advantage.
Kara ducked Lena's follow up swipe at her head, retaliating with a vicious elbow that slammed up into the villain's chin. Moving with the momentum, her girlfriend dropped to her knees and rolled across the ground.
And it looks like I was right! With skill the only differential between them, Kara had maintained a tenuous upper hand against the CEO. Neither was truly an expert in martial arts; the hero had never had the opportunity to train against an equal opponent, and Lena simply hadn't had the time to devote herself to the study of combat.
But Kara, at least, had experience in dealing with formidable foes using her fists. Lena hadn't fought hundreds of aliens like she had, and the battles she had waged were more often than not won with technology. The CEO was capable in physical combat…but that was all.
The sun was beating down on them. Lena was sweating profusely, a factor that should have diminished her attractiveness but somehow only made her look more intimidating.
Following her girlfriend, Kara initiated yet another rapid exchange of blows. Lena landed a knee into her groin but failed to capitalize. Moments later, Supergirl had the villain in a choke hold.
"Say it!" Kara demanded. Per their agreed-upon rules, the spar would only end when one party declared 'I yield!'
Using her sweat-slicked skin to her advantage, Lena slithered out of Kara's grasp and retreated several paces along the sand. Her eyes were tinged with desperation, and the ex-reporter's hands began to tremble in anticipation.
Give up! It was inevitable now. Nothing at Lena's disposal had been enough to defeat her. At long last, Kara would win.
And Lena, who so rarely lost at anything, was clearly feeling the frustration. The CEO didn't even deign to respond to Kara's demand. Her lips set in a thin line, Lena paused for less than a second before attacking again.
Supergirl avoided the first two blows. "You. Can't. Win!" she said, punctuating the statement with a counterattack that knocked both of Lena's legs out from under her. "Just accept it."
Lena shook her head, breathing heavily. "I can't."
Before her girlfriend could recover, Kara dived after her and seized both of the supervillain's wrists. Using all of her strength she pinned the villain to the ground, holding each of the CEO's arms in a vicelike grip. "Why not?"
"Because I don't lose," Lena hissed. "I can't lose. If I lose, this world dies." She thrashed wildly underneath the hero, pushing and heaving but barely budging Kara's body.
She really thought she was going to win.
Keeping both of the villain's wrists pinned against the ground, Supergirl pressed her knee on top of Lena's stomach. "That may be true normally, but I think I'm an exception." She smiled. "Is losing to me really so bad? I thought you liked to make me happy."
For a moment there was nothing between them except for Lena's heavy breathing. Then, finally, some of the fire left the villain's eyes.
"I'm sorry," Lena sighed. "I'm just not used to…this. Alright, I give up. If you promise me a rematch after I've done some research."
Kara grinned. "Deal." She lifted herself off of the CEO, helping her girlfriend rise to her feet in the same movement.
"I understand how that pressure feels," Supergirl said. "But it's easier to deal with when you realize you're not alone."
Lena nodded, stepping forward and taking Kara's face into her hands. "I know," she said. The hero felt like she was melting under her touch. "And you have no idea what that means to me." She leaned forward, capturing Kara's lips in a kiss that the superheroine gladly returned.
WHAM! All of the breath left Kara's body as Lena's knee slammed into her stomach. Too stunned to react, Supergirl's desperate intake of air was cut short as an arm wrapped around her throat. Then her face was slamming into the sand as the villain shoved her down. A hard knee pressed into her back.
"I never yielded. Now it's your turn."
Grains of sand were filtering into her mouth. Her yearning for air overpowering the injustice of the moment, Kara managed to mumble. "I yield."
At once the pressure was lifted off of her body. Taking in several wonderful gulps of air, it was several seconds before the hero managed to climb to her feet.
"Really?" she demanded. "You gave up! Just because you didn't say 'I yield'…"
Lena was smirking. "You agreed to the same rules that I did, Kara. It's not my fault you got distracted in your moment of victory."
Yes it is. Kara refused to voice the thought out loud. She was in no mood to boost her girlfriend's ego even further at the moment.
"You're cute when you're angry," Lena said. "Of course, you're always cute, but still…it's a good look."
Kara crossed her arms. "Do you think a little bit of flattery is going to make me less upset?"
"I don't know," Lena sighed dramatically. "But we still have a few hours before the raid. Would several boxes of potstickers while we watch a movie of your choice do the trick?"
Forget kryptonite. She knows my real weaknesses.
"…It's a start."
\
"Excuse me a second; I've got to take this." Sam smiled apologetically as she walked into the hallway, a hand opening her cell phone.
Once they were alone, Alex turned to James. "What do you think so far?" she asked.
They were sitting in a repurposed break room in what had once been Cadmus Headquarters. Lois was a few doors down interviewing an alien prisoner who hadn't wanted any pictures taken, leaving the others in their group to go get lunch. A few workers were sitting at a table at the other end of the room, and CNN was playing quietly on a flatscreen mounted on the wall. Other than that, however, there was silence.
Alex wasn't quite sure why she was there; she didn't need to be physically present to give a recounting of the role she'd played in taking Cadmus down. James had been invited along to take a few photos. And Sam, of course, was acting as their 'handler' for the day.
"It's ugly." James winced. "I don't blame you for wanting to kill Lillian after seeing all this. Never thought I'd say it, but this is one hostile takeover by L-Corp that I can get behind."
It had indeed been a takeover. The Cadmus guards had been replaced by doctors on L-Corp's payroll who were doing their best to treat the ubiquitous injuries of the alien prisoners. Cadmus scientists trying to create anti-alien weaponry were now substituted with L-Corp scientists trying to use their findings to create technology that improved the quality of life for all. And Cadmus maintenance workers who had cleaned the facility and kept the lights on had been replaced with…L-Corp maintenance workers who did the exact same thing.
"No arguments there," Alex agreed reluctantly. "But still…Lena's going to use this to increase her power base. I didn't care about that compared to keeping Kara safe. I'd make the same choice again. That doesn't change the fact that I've been used as a tool to help a Luthor take over the world."
James eyed her curiously. "If it wasn't you it would have been someone else. And besides…are you sure that's all you're upset about?"
"Of course not. You know that." Alex hadn't confronted Kara yet on her new relationship, mostly because she didn't have any idea what to say. Convincing her to stay away from Lena had already proven to be a dead end. What was the point in pissing Kara off yet again when it would just push her further into a supervillain's arms?
The photographer frowned. "So they're together now. Is it really that big a change from what was already happening?" he shrugged. "I understand that you don't trust Lena-"
"I do trust Lena. To an extent," Alex corrected him. "I believe that she sincerely cares about Kara. I wouldn't have agreed to work with her if I didn't. But that doesn't mean I like her. It's hard to like someone a few moves away from openly trying to take over the world and potentially plunging the planet into chaos."
James raised an eyebrow. "It is?"
"Of course it is!" Alex hissed.
"Funny. You seem to be applying that rule selectively."
Alex didn't understand what James was talking about until his eyes moved meaningfully to the chair Sam had just been occupying. Trying to keep her face from turning red, Alex fought to maintain a straight voice.
"So I'm on good terms with Sam. What of it?" she asked. "Sam isn't the one about to launch an invasion of Kaznia or finish a buyout of Microsoft. She's a single mother doing what she thinks is best for her daughter."
James scoffed. "Sam is actively helping Lena invade countries and buyout companies. Lena also seems to think what she's doing is best for the world." He held up a hand as Alex moved to protest. "I'm not saying I agree with her. She's incredibly arrogant and there are a million ways her plan can go wrong. But you can't fault Kara for liking Lena when you feel similarly about Sam."
"Lena is the leader. Sam is just a cog in the machine," Alex argued, her heartrate rising. "Anyway, I do not like Sam the same way Kara likes Lena."
The photographer rolled his eyes. "Yes, true. Kara was brave enough to make a move. You haven't quite gotten there yet."
Before Alex could respond, the door opened to admit Sam.
"Sorry about that; I had some Evil Minion things to take care of," she winked at Alex. "I've been busy trying to corner the world software market. Lena wasn't sure it was time for that yet but I managed to convince her to let me take point on it."
Alex resisted the urge to slam her head into the table. "And? How exactly is that going?" she questioned irritably.
"Well, there are a few holdouts, but I've been able to speed up our timetable considerably. You know about the Microsoft buyout," she said. "We've decided to leave WayneTech alone for now, but IBM is going to fold soon."
"I'm both impressed and horrified," the officer said. "Is Lena giving you another raise? You've definitely earned it."
Alex did her best to ignore how wonderfully Sam's face brightened at the compliment. "I don't want one. Truth be told, I've never really been a big spender. I didn't exactly grow up rich. Now that I've got my complimentary apartment and enough money saved up so that Ruby's children will never have to work, there's not much point."
"Maybe you just need to find something to spend it on," James said, kicking Alex under the table.
The officer glared at him, refusing to dignify his comment with a response.
\
Would some originality really be so difficult?
The DEO's headquarters was much the same as Cadmus's. It was a seemingly nondescript warehouse on the outskirts of the city that concealed several floors of prisons, offices, and laboratories underneath the ground.
An underground lair was, perhaps, the reason they had managed to avoid Lena's detection for so long. Still…they were so similar to Cadmus that Lena had to wonder why the two organizations had maintained a degree of separation.
Oh, of course. How I forget. Lillian was far too ambitious to ever place herself underneath someone else's authority.
The DEO, of course, had a distinct advantage over Cadmus. Unless Henshaw was a fool, he knew that Vanity was coming. He had dozens of hostages and zero compunction about hurting any of them. Lena didn't doubt that he would kill one right off the bat, just to demonstrate the lengths that he was willing to go to.
She had drones hovering a kilometer away, waiting on standby, but they weren't fast enough to disable Henshaw's forces before he made his move. In this scenario, they would be good for nothing more than cleanup.
Fortunately, Lena had more than one ace in the hole. Selina had infiltrated the upper levels of the facility the previous day. The lower levels of prisons and offices had proven to be too secure to avoid detection, even with her skills, but the thief had managed to hook one of L-Corp's viruses into a security terminal.
The villain called up the fruits of that labor now. Live footage from the facility's various security cameras played on her visor. It was clear that, unfortunately, the base was on high alert. Security officers packed the prisons, their weapons at the ready.
They were ready to take hostages as soon as she began her assault. It was time to oblige them.
\
"Lillian didn't view herself as evil. She saw herself as the champion of the human race. To her, the alien prisoners she held were animals. Less than animals, simply because they weren't born on Earth's soil."
Lois frowned. "And you could tell this after having met her for…an hour? Not even?"
"Yes," Alex said simply. "I'm a police officer. I deal with criminals on a daily basis. People who simply don't care about the wider world or the rule of law. They're dangerous, but they're not the ones who scare me. It's the ones like Lillian, who are so certain that they're right, that haunt me."
The reporter nodded, putting down her notepad. "Alright, thanks. That concludes my interview with the anonymous human prisoner who tipped off Vanity about this facility's location. Unless you have something to add?"
"As long as nothing in your notes could lead anyone to make a connection to me, I'm good," Alex replied. If word got out that she'd been working with a supervillain being fired would be the least of her worries. She'd be arrested within the hour. More to the point, anyone looking too closely into Alex Danvers might end up making a connection to her sister.
Lois rolled her eyes. "I was engaged to a superhero, Alex. I know how to be discreet. Do you know how many times I 'interviewed' Clark?"
Alex nearly gave a start of surprise. How does she do it?
Clark and Lois had meant the world to one another. After Superman's final battle with Lex…Lois had been beyond devastated. She'd taken off work for so long that Alex suspected the only reason she hadn't been fired by the Daily Planet was that Perry White suspected the truth.
And yet, somehow, she had moved on. Lois had resumed her role as the country's premier reporter and went about her life…and not by trying to forget about Clark. The hero's face was still the lock screen of her phone. Lois mentioned him frequently, often without a hint of pain crossing her face.
"It doesn't go away."
Alex's eyes shot to the older woman. "What?"
"The pain," Lois clarified. "It doesn't go away. I miss Clark just as much as I did the day I attended his funeral. Don't look so surprised," she added as Alex's jaw dropped. "It was written all over your face. You're not the first person to wonder how I've 'recovered." The reporter punctuated the final word with air quotes.
The officer bit her lip. "I don't know if I'd put it that way."
"You know what I mean," Lois waved a hand dismissively. "For a while, the loss was overwhelming. Sometimes it still gets to me. But whenever I feel sad, I remind myself how lucky I was to have known him. He was my hero. His death felt like someone had cut my heart out…but I would still choose this over having never known him at all. I don't want to forget him. I don't want people to avoid mentioning him in my presence. I'd rather be reminded, every day, just how fortunate he was that he came into my life. Into all of our lives."
Alex looked at her thoughtfully. "I've lost someone too. A…well, a friend. Maybe we could have been more, I don't know. I'll never get the chance to find out. She wasn't a superhero…just someone in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Just because someone didn't save the world doesn't mean they're not worth remembering. There's nothing wrong about missing Maggie, Alex. But unless you'd rather not remember her at all, there's no point in having regrets. Or guilt."
"I don't feel guilty," Alex replied shortly. "I'm angry."
Lois smiled sadly. "If Lex hadn't gone down with Clark, I would have walked into his cell and choked the life out of him myself."
"Kara would say that anger and revenge never get anyone anywhere."
"So would Clark," the reporter agreed. "But I reserve the right to disagree with the love of my life. Righteous anger doesn't make you into a monster, Alex. The danger comes from pointing that anger in the wrong place."
Alex's eyes fell to the floor. It seemed there were some things she would never live down. "I know I was wrong to target, Lena," she admitted. "I've accepted that she had nothing to do with Maggie's death."
"Good. But that's not what I'm talking about. I think you're still directing some of that anger to someone who doesn't warrant any of the blame. And until you fix that, you'll never really recover. Believe me, I know."
The officer frowned. "Who-?" She stopped as Lois lightly placed a finger on her shoulder.
"You're a smart woman, Alex. Use that." With a knowing glint in her eyes, Lois shot her a smile and rose to leave the room.
\
"Ms. Luthor, do you think I am bluffing?"
The voice echoed across the room, emanating from every single one of the PA system's speakers. Lena was surrounded by debris and incapacitated soldiers: the end result of the effort to halt her rampage throughout the facility's two upper floors.
She had disabled the building's security cameras and shut down its elevator, letting Henshaw think her virus had just been uploaded. Lena didn't dare deactivate all of the electrical systems; the DEO might have had prisoners they'd valued on life support. It didn't matter. This would be enough.
Lena frowned. "First things first, I have no idea where you get the notion that I am one of these 'Luthors'. And yes, I do think you're bluffing. Only a fool would be so willing to execute a valuable prisoner."
A groan issued from the other side of the room. "Valuable?" a guard asked. Being bound to the wall by nanite ropes didn't keep him from speaking. "I think you overestimate just how-"
The room was briefly illuminated as a stun blast emanated from her wrist.
"That's your problem, Lena. Never willing to go far enough. How much faster would you have made it here if you were capable of killing?" Henshaw's voice mocked her.
Underneath her suit, the villain smirked. "Only the desperate need to resort to murder to win. I am capable of achieving world domination without sacrificing innocents. Haven't you noticed how close I've come already? Certainly farther than you or Cadmus have ever achieved."
"The DEO is a loyal branch of the U.S. government," Henshaw's lazy voice droned out of the speakers. "And that is enough. You are stalling. Remove your suit and surrender or we will execute every piece of filth in our cells. Here…I'll prove it to you. I'm sure your hearing is good enough to listen to this. Rollins!"
It was good enough. Even through the PA system, Lena could hear a man's voice reply through Henshaw's commlink after a brief pause. "Yes, sir?"
"Terminate Subject 3-A."
The villain, glancing at the image on her visor, merely chuckled. "I hold no guilt for the crimes my enemies commit. Do whatever you feel is necessary, Mr. Henshaw."
A gunshot echoed through the PA speakers.
\
"So Ruby actually punched another girl in her class?" Alex asked incredulously. The officer had only seen Sam's daughter a handful of times, but the thought of her attacking another student was simply absurd.
She and Sam were walking several paces behind Lois and James. Lois was diligently interviewing one of L-Corp's scientists about how Cadmus's findings could be used for the better, with James photographing some of the less classified experiments.
The CFO smiled lightly. "That was my first reaction too. Apparently, this girl had been bullying one of Ruby's closest friends. His father had recently received a lengthy prison sentence for tax evasion and somehow the middle school grapevine caught wind of it. After he started to cry, well…Ruby lashed out. Three-day suspension."
"Yikes." Alex winced. "I was there more than once myself. Kara was, well, an easy target for bullies." The memory of her sister crying on the playground was still enough to set her veins on fire.
Sam nodded. "She was lucky to have you. Ruby's friend was lucky to have her. But I've tried to teach her that she should never be the one to instigate violence. After I picked her up from school, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to ground her or take her out for ice cream."
"What did you pick?"
"I did both," Sam answered with a grin. "Confined her to her room for two days and brought her ice cream whenever she asked."
Alex laughed. "Reminds me of Stannis Baratheon," she said, wiggling her fingers meaningfully.
Groaning, Sam pressed a hand to her temple. "Please stop. I do not need to be reminded of the colossal disappointment that was the final season."
"My bad," the officer agreed.
"If Lena takes over the world, I'm using my position of power to force them to redo the last two seasons. I don't care how busy the actors are."
If. Alex turned to Sam. "You don't think that Lena's going to win?"
A pause. "I think she will," Sam said. "Everything has been going smooth so far. But world domination is never a sure thing. Lena's definitely the smartest person who has tried, but you can never be certain. I just…" the CFO sighed. "For Ruby's sake, I hope she does."
The genuine worry on Sam's face was almost enough, just for a second, for part of Alex to hope that the CFO would get her wish.
"At least you're realistic about it." Alex shut her eyes as one of James's camera flashes flooded the room. "Lena acts as if it's a sure thing. I think that's why she annoys me and you…don't."
Sam looked as if she was unsure whether to smile or frown. "Well, thanks for the…compliment. But Lena shouldn't annoy you. She's certain that she's the only person who can save this world from itself. Of course she acts as if her victory is a sure thing. Do you understand the pressure she's under? Lena can't admit, even to herself, that she might fail. Not for the sake of her sanity."
Alex grimaced. "But still…she's just so arrogant about it. She talks like everyone on Earth is a chess piece and she's the one in complete control of the board. How many times have we heard her say 'When I win.'?"
"I-" Sam looked down as her phone buzzed. "One second." She unlocked the device and appeared to look at a text message. Alex watched, puzzled, as a strange look crossed the CFO's face.
"You alright?"
Sam glanced at her. "Yes. I am fine. An urgent matter has come up that I need to deal with. Please wait within the facility until I return. I will be back shortly." Without another word, she turned to leave.
Isn't she supposed to be 'handling' us? "Sam, wait! Where are you going?"
The CFO ignored her call, opening the door to the laboratory and speedwalking out of sight.
\
"They're focused on me and their sensors are down. Move in." Lena's voice droned in her earpiece.
Nodding, Kara engaged her superspeed. Her body spun like a drill, funneling through the concrete of the road like it was cardboard. Within seconds she had burrowed her way dozens of meters underground. She came to a stop right before the lead-lined reinforced wall that, based upon Lena's information, formed the exterior of the DEO's detention block.
Maneuvering in the small cavity her body had formed, Supergirl fished a small item out of her pocket. It was an eye camera made of nth metal that, with difficulty, she firmly affixed in front of her right pupil. Now engaged, the device began to transmit a constant stream of live footage to Vanity's visor.
She looked to the wall in front of her. Lead was enough to block Supergirl's x-ray vision. It did nothing against her strength.
Kara took a deep breath. She ran through her memories of the footage Lena had shown her, going over the layout of the hallway in her mind. Then, she leaned against the wall and pushed.
The barrier crumpled like tinfoil as Supergirl forced her way in. There was no time to get a fresh look at the detention block. Soldiers armed with both alien and human weaponry were facing many of the prisoners, and all of them were ready to fire.
A second would have been too long. Well-trained soldiers prepared to shoot without hesitation would have reached their triggers in a second. Lena's response team would have been left with nothing to do but recover the bodies.
But Kara didn't take a second.
There was no intricate display of power or surgical takedowns. Supergirl simply flew across the hall at top speed. The guards didn't even have time to blink as the hero blurred past them faster than the speed of sound.
In the narrow space of the detention block, an object moving at that velocity was enough to create a wind tunnel.
The air in the corridor slammed away from the breach, following Supergirl as fast as it could manage. It wasn't quite the speed of sound, but it was enough. Guards were slammed into the ceiling, sent careening to the floor, and knocked crashing into the walls.
A few retained consciousness. But their disorientation gave the hero more than enough time to turn around, incapacitate those who remained, and destroy their weapons. Per Lena's instructions, she left a single rifle.
"They will order one of the guards to kill a prisoner," the villain had said.
Even as Kara had the thought, a commlink on one of the unconscious guards buzzed. "Rollins!" A deep voice commanded.
A split-second later, Supergirl was holding the commlink. Using a trick Clark had taught her, Kara exercised her perfect control over her vocal cords. "Yes, sir?" she replied in a male voice.
"Terminate Subject 3-A."
Aiming the last remaining assault rifle at the wall, Supergirl nodded to herself and fired a single shot.
\
All too easy.
Lena was the only person who now had video footage streaming from the detention block. Which was a shame, as it was truly a sight to behold. The camera Kara was wearing provided Vanity a perfect view of the action.
Most of the aliens in the facility were in the detention block. With the building's elevators disabled and the guards on that floor incapacitated they were safe for the moment. That left the prisoners being experimented on in the facility's research labs.
"You killed that prisoner, Ms. Luthor. Do you want to kill the rest?"
Lena had to keep Henshaw distracted. The footage from Kara's camera had cut out, which meant that the hero was about to go drilling through the ground yet again.
She kept her tone defiant and aloof. "He was dead anyway. They all were. The ones who survive will know who to thank for their freedom."
"Surrender, or none will."
"I doubt that," Lena replied. "You wouldn't kill all of your valuable prisoners. Certainly not the Martian. Speaking of which…I have to wonder. How did you acquire him in the first place? I thought they were all dead."
Henshaw's voice came back through the speakers, arrogant and self-satisfied. "The great Lena Luthor is asking questions for a change? Well, allow me to oblige. He crashed to Earth and we tracked the crash site. You never even knew he was here."
Lena could tell he was telling the truth. Apparently, her satellites weren't perfect.
"What a prize he was," Henshaw continued. "He was barely conscious when we found him. As our prisoner, he was eager to tell us everything. The alien thought the human race would accept him as an ally. We strung him along long enough to learn what we could. Then we sedated him."
The feed from Kara's camera reappeared on her visor. Supergirl was about to burst into the research labs.
Lena allowed genuine anger to seep into her tone. "He could have been an ally. Look at how useful alien technology can be! Why would aliens themselves be any different? How many lives has Supergirl saved?" she demanded. "A Martian may have done the same."
"Humanity needs no gods to lord over it," Henshaw spat back. "As for Supergirl…she will find her way here soon enough."
The footage on her visor was a blur for several seconds. Then Lena was looking at several DEO research labs, each filled with multiple unconscious soldiers. Supergirl's hand came into view, flashing a thumbs up."
"I daresay she will."
\
She moved away from the computer. In less than ten minutes the messages would go out.
It's time, daughter of Alura, for you to see them as they really are.