Mon acting as Superman gently landed on a stage and took to the podium. On either side of him were large monitor screens of him. In front of him were several hundred mourners and public officials. In attendance were the Super-Friends and the Super-Insane family. "I've fought the unimaginable in defense of this world. I have battled alien tyrants, defeated nightmares from the deep, gone toe-to-toe with ancient gods. But no matter what threat I faced, I knew I wasn't facing it alone: the people of this world," Mon began.

"We have lost police officers, national guardsman, first responders, heroes all. We are left to wonder who will save us now," Mon said rhetorically. "I will! And so will others like me, heroes answering the call, new champions willing to risk everything to keep this planet safe, all inspired by these great souls that came before us. You will have moments of doubt, uncertainty, fear but, in those moments, have faith and look to the sky," Mon said to the crowd and then flew off.

Smallville

Mon instantly teleported Kon, Mara, and Alex back to the house. "I'm feeling pizza," Mon said enthusiastically as he turned off his Superman suit revealing casual civilian clothes underneath.

"I'd rather not go out," Mara said subdued.

"Yeah, we'll get delivery," Alex agreed.

"Sure," Mon relented and turned on the TV. On all of the cable news channels, it showed Mon acting as Superman on the screen making his speech. Mon kept clicking channels until he got to ESPN that also had coverage of Superman's speech.

"Kon, why don't you hang out with Sara?" Alex suggested wanting to get him out of the house.

"And do what? Hang out, listen to her drama, and get put in another love triangle?" Kon asked dismissively.

"Watch the tone," Mon warned.

"It's okay," Alex said trying to lower tensions.

"It's not. There is a chain of command in place in this house," Mon told him.

Kon ignored his father and went towards the stairs. Mon gave him a solid grip stopping him in his tracks. Alex held her breath wondering if the house was about to explode. "Okay?" Mon asked assertively.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Kon agreed. "Can I go to my room?"

"Sure. We'll do more training tomorrow," Mon allowed.

Kon went up the stairs in a huff. "We were just at a funeral for hundreds of people killed in Metropolis and you want to get pizza?" Alex rebuked.

"This is the Insane life. People die and you move on," Mon said dismissively.

"What if we were burying you today?" Alex asked.

"I'm not that easy to kill," Mon scoffed insensitively.

Alex gave him a pissed-off look. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that," Mon backtracked.

"Oh really? You don't give a shit at all, do you?" Alex accused.

"I'm still doing this Superman gig even without Kara around. Doesn't that say something?" Mon argued.

"The reason you're wearing his suit and his face is that everyone knows Mon-El is a jackass," Alex said scornfully. "You're enjoying everyone's praise but you didn't earn it."

"What do I got to do around here?" Mon asked exasperated.

"Superman didn't become a hero by one or two big battles but being consistently there for the people," Alex said.

"So, I have to save a cat out of a damn tree every day?" Mon rolled his eyes.

"I am certain there is a middle ground between these two extremes," Mara interjected ending the tension between them.

Kon was in a room sulking when he decided to call Sara. "Hello?" Sara answered.

"It's Kon," Kon said.

"Who?" Sara mocked.

"What the fuck?" Kon wondered.

Sara laughed. "I'm just messing with you. Oh, God, you thought I was serious."

"You never know with female brains," Kon said condescendingly.

"That's funny," Sara said not taking him seriously. "I was wondering if you were going to call."

"What do you mean if?" Kon asked offended.

"I can think of a few reasons for if. I came on too strong, you got a girlfriend, and you're terrified of me," Sara said.

"Elisa isn't my girlfriend. She's a Lesbian anyway, and I am terrified of nothing. I am Insane and we don't know fear," Kon told her.

"You want to start over again?" Sara asked as Kon made no sense to her.

"We should have a study date on human anatomy," Kon suggested.

"Real smooth," Sarah said unimpressed.

"Is that a yes or no, bitch?" Kon asked.

"Works for me," Sara said turned on by his aggressiveness.

Metropolis-DEO Fortress

Kon came by the DEO Fortress as Brainiac 5 was training new recruits for the Vindicators. "Wow, look at all these freaks," Kon said insultingly.

"It is the crowning achievement to be selected as a Vindicator," Brainiac 5 told him,

"I'd be here more often but my father wants to train me personally," Kon excused himself.

"Then, why are you here?" Brainiac 5 asked.

"Are you kidding? I want to see all these would-be heroes fight each other to the death," Kon said enthusiastically.

"Despite your Insane heritage, you may be overestimating yourself," Brainiac 5 lectured.

"So, when does this start?" Kon asked impatiently.

Brainiac 5 addressed the entire group. "The Vindicators are icons of the future. Those of you who pass our trials will be one of the elite. The best-of-the-best. Needless to say, not all of you will be up to the challenge. Those of you who are up to the challenge, will not just succeed by the uniqueness of your abilities but by the uniqueness of your tactics, your adaptability, your agility, and most importantly the strength of your character and spirit. That is what truly makes a Vindicator," he said to them all.

Colossal Boy Vs Violet Lantern

Gim Allon approached Elisa in the battle arena as a man two feet taller than her and twice her size. He flexed his pectoral muscles and gave Elisa a wink. Elisa merely rolled her eyes. Gim punched at Elisa missing each time. With each step he took, it shook the floor. Elisa blasted his feet with her ring tripping him. As he went down to the floor, Elisa blasted him to the face with her right hand. Gim fell to the floor knocked out.

Shrinking Violent Vs Chamelon Boy

Salu Digby was from the planet, Imsk, and had the ability to shrink to microscopic size. Her opponent was Reep Dagle of the planet, Durla. Immediately, Reep became a gorilla and charged. Salu shrank and moved around avoiding Reep's strikes. Salu got inside Reep's ear and forced him to go unconscious with him throwing up everywhere. He then reverted back to his original form, an alien with grey skin, twin antennas, and black eyes.

Lightning Lass Vs Ferro Lad

Ayla Ranzz was from the planet, Winath, and had lightning abilities. She fired on Andrew Nolan continuously with her electrical brusts. Finally, she hit him with everything she had against his iron suit. While his body did glow from the electrical shock, his entire body was made of iron making him nearly invulnerable. Andrew ran towards Ayla and punched her to the floor. Having defeated her, Andrew reverted to his human form and helped her get back up.

Shadow Lass Vs Karate Kid

Tasmia Mallor of the planet, Talok VIII, went up against Val Armorr. In the beginning, Val demonstrated his knowledge of several martial arts forms while Tasmia merely looked on. Finally, Val went on the attack. After a few steps forward, a shadow extended from Tasmia and wrapped around his body making him unable to move. Tasmia calmly moved towards the struggling Val and whipped her shadow around his neck until he went unconscious. As soon as she won, she withdrew hew shadow from his body.

Supergirl II Vs Sun Boy

Mara wore a Supergirl uniform that was all-black with her House of El crest in blue. "You look adorable," Dirk Morgna smirked upon seeing her outfit. He powered up a sun orb in his hand only to be slammed against the wall faster than he could even react.

"You still think I'm adorable?" Mara asked.

"You bitch," Dirk said as he threw three sun orbs at her.

The orbs were simply absorbed into Mara's body. Mara merely smirked as his powers fed her energy. "I'm going to blast that smile off your stupid face," Dirk promised as he energized a rod in his hand.

Mara fired heat vision on the rod forcing Dirk to let go of it. She then punched him to the floor. Kon, Elisa, and Brainiac 5 watched together as Dirk was getting his ass kicked. "Is this okay?" Kon asked concernedly.

"He asked for it," Elisa shrugged.

"Assuming neither one of them unleashes a supernova, we're fine," Brainiac 5 assured them.

"Alright, I got this," Kon said interfering.

Just as Mara was about to give Dirk another well-deserved punch, Kon took her wrist. "Okay, enough," Kon told her.

"Get lost," Mara spat as she threw him against the wall.

Kon jumped off the wall and flew back towards Mara giving her a solid punch. Mara slammed against the wall on the other side of the arena. Annoyed, she got up and effortlessly phased to Super Insane. Her black hair suddenly went gold, her eyes turned blue, and she appeared very similar to her mother's look.

"Oh, shit," Kon realized.

Mara raised her hand at Kon with the intent of blasting him a couple of miles through the Earth when she calmed down reverting back to her base form. "No, you're right. I took it too far," she admitted. "Sorry. Unfortunately, your abilities only make me stronger," she said to Dirk.

"Hey, no problem. We're good. You can punch hard," Dirk said painfully. "Didn't need your help, asshole," he said giving Kon the middle finger.

After the last round of fighting, Brainiac 5 turned to the assembled group. "Many of you were put at a disadvantage. That was intentional. I am pleased none of you decided to quit or surrender. A Vindicator never gives up, never surrenders. Therefore, you all make the cut," he said to them all.

Smallville

Kon and Mara entered the house after their training session with Brainiac 5. "I just think you should let loose every so often or you'll explode," Kon advised.

"I'm not interested in murder and mayhem like you are," Mara rejected.

Alex gave them an odd look as they entered the living room. "How did it go?" she asked curiously.

"I didn't even try out. Barney thinks I would actually kill someone if I did," Kon smirked.

"Barney's collection could be useful," Mara said vaguely.

"What none of those freaks realize is that they're all going to the future when this is all over," Kon said.

"Should they consent to it," Mara clarified.

"Barney will give them an offer they can't refuse just like with Alex," Kon said absent-mindedly.

"I'm sorry, back that up," Alex said offended.

"Shit," Kon realized.

"I'm not going anywhere, not off this planet, not off this timeline," Alex refused.

"Why are you being such a hater? Mother's going to hook you up with a planet, nations, cities, a cabinet position in the Galactic Federation, whatever you want. You could explore the cosmos or restart the Violet Lantern Corp where everyone is a Lesbian," Kon said.

Alex bristled at the offer. "And what about everyone I leave behind?"

"They can come to," Kon shrugged.

"I don't like other people planning my future," Alex said scornfully.

"Well, I guess we're stuck here in this shit-hole," Kon said annoyed.

"This is my home, my life, asshole," Alex said pissed off.

"You must understand that to us, this is like being in the 1000s. It was interesting at first, but it's getting old quickly," Mara said gently.

"Damn, Sara is coming over," Kon said alarmed as he looked at his watch.

"Use my room. Yours is a disaster," Mara offered.

"Thanks," Kon said pleased.

"Wait, your room is a girl's room. Won't she notice?" Alex wondered.

"In the future, there are no gender distinctions in tastes. What you consider feminine today is the result of your culture, a culture that no longer exists in the future," Mara said.

"So, no dresses, skirts, high-heels, jewelry, earrings, purses, or make-up?" Alex questioned.

"No," Mara replied. "Feminity is inefficient and was not allowed to be introduced again into human society."

"Your mother obsesses over being feminine all the time," Alex pointed out.

"It's merely a mask, a costume, to accomplishing her goal in this time," Mara explained.

Kon then opened the door and invited Sara in. "Hi, guys," she said awkwardly.

"If you need anything, just ask," Alex said pleasantly.

"Thank you, Ms...Miss...Danvers," Sara said unsure of how to call Alex.

As the two went up, Mara scanned the room with her X-ray vision. Every so often, she would stop reading her pad and look up to make sure Kon wasn't getting into trouble.

Sara eyed Mara's room impressed by how perfectly neat it was, the library of books, and family photos on the wall. "Nice library you got here," Sara said impressed.

"You can come by and check any of them out," Kon offered.

"So, you into horror novels?" Sara wondered as she several horror books in Mara's collection. "Oh, yeah. Like this one is about an underwater welder that sees ghosts," Kon summarized.

"Mind if I borrow it?" Sara asked intrigued. "Just to show you I'm interested."

"Go right ahead," Kon said unconcernedly.

Gen. Lane then came to the house in uniform. Mara opened the door for him and let him in. "Where's Clark?" he asked annoyed.

"He went on a SCUBA diving trip," Mara replied.

"He needs to answer his damn phone," Gen. Lane said irritably.

"General Lane, I could smell your foul stench the moment you came in," Alex glared.

"Charming to the last, Alexandra," he said to antagonize her. "That smell is from being in the field all week with my men."

"Clark doesn't work for you," Alex pointed out.

"And he never will with his lackadaisical attitude. He needs to show the DOD some respect if he wants to be a real superhero," Gen. Lane said forcefully.

"Well, he's not here right now," Mara said flatly. "What's the problem?"

"A rogue supervillain in the Mt. Rushmore area. We've detected seismic activity all around the area," Gen. Lane said showing a laptop screen of mini-earthquakes all over South Dakota.

"I'll give Clark another call. That's the best I can do for you," Mara told him.

"Sure, I've got to get back," Gen. Lane said and walked out of the house.

"He was such an asshole," Alex said under her breath.

Mara scanned Kon's room and went upstairs to get him. Kon opened the door for her. "I'm not doing anything wrong, alright. What the fuck?" Kon asked exasperated.

"There's a problem at Mount Rushmore," Mara said.

"Really? Now?" Kon whispered as Sara was still in the room.

"I'll deal with it if you swear to be good," Mara offered.

Kon nodded and lifted his right hand. "I swear."

"Well, okay then," Mara said leaving the hallway and going downstairs.

"You're not actually going, are you?" Alex asked slightly alarmed.

"Kon swore he would be good for the evening. I can take care of this," Mara said as she activated a Supergirl suit with nano-technology.

"Wow, that looks sleek," Alex said impressed.

"I won't be long," Mara said as she exited the house and flew off.

Along the way, Elisa intercepted Mara in the air. "I didn't think you would be on this mission," Elisa remarked.

"Kon is busy at the moment," Mara said vaguely.

"Target is Docseismic. He has a Ph.D. in seismology. He made himself a pair of earthquake gloves. The working theory is that he has brain damage from using those gloves too many times. He gets a concussion every time he uses them," Brainiac 5 radioed them.

"Basic mad-scientist deal," Elisa figured.

The Mt. Rushmore visitor center was in ruins as Docseismic blasted the ground with his gloves. "You've come to see this obscene monument. These people were oppressive, racist, slave-owners. I give you a new god worthy of worship. Bow before Docseismic!" Docseismic ranted.

He targeted the monument itself with his gloves. Mara dropped in and absorbed the blow before it could hit the moment. Elisa flew over Mara to get a good shot on him. Docseismic retreated away using his gloves to propel himself into the air. Elisa fired on him with pink streaks nearly hitting him. Docseismic skid on the ground giving Elisa the impression he was going to make his last stand.

"What kind of outfit is that? Pandering to gender norms, is it?" Docseismic pointed out.

"I didn't design the ring," Elisa said defensively. "And what do you know about that? I thought you were a doctor of seismology."

"I studied sociology and women's studies as an undergrad," Docseismic explained.

Elisa formed a pink boulder construct and threw it at him. Docseismic blasted the construct to pieces with his gloves. He then pointed at the ground causing the earth to shake violently. The rocks swayed like sand all around him. Mara went around finding tourists in trouble as the earth cracked open. She saved a family just before they fell into a deep chasm. Elisa fired on Docseismic getting a hit on one of his gloves. Immediately, it was revealed the gloves no longer functioned properly as Docseismic skipped along the ground uncontrollably. He fell into one of his chasms and disappeared.

"Wow, you look like Supergirl," the child Mara had saved said.

"Don't mention it," Mara said seriously and then flew off to find Elisa.

Scanning the ground with her X-ray vision, Mara found them inside one of the chasms. Elisa had used her ring to create a rope around a rock while holding onto Docseismic. "He's slipping," Elisa told Mara.

"Damn it. I should have paid more attention to the jetpack," Docseismic chuckled.

Elisa lost her grip on him and Docseismic fell to his doom. Elisa was about to go after him when Mara grabbed her keeping her still. Docseismic fell deep into the chasm where he went splat on the rocks below. "I could have saved him," Elisa said outraged.

"I know you could have," Mara agreed.

"So, you won't kill but you'll let them die?" Elisa asked sarcastically.

"There is a moral distinction," Mara said defensively.

The two flew up to the surface. "Target is dead. Extensive geological repair will be necessary," Mara radioed Brainiac 5.

"How could you be so judgemental towards me when it's my queerness that gives me this power?" Elisa asked her.

"You don't need to be...to use the ring," Mara said.

"Oh really? Try it," Elisa offered her the ring and powered down to her civilian clothes.

Mara cautiously handled the ring and put it on. Pink energy fluctuated over her Supergirl suit but then failed to activate. "It must be out of power," she said giving it back.

"No, it's because you don't have love in your heart, just rage. And rage is fatal to being able to power a Violet lantern ring," Elisa lectured.

"What of it?" Mara asked dismissively.

"Just as you are full of rage and destructive desire, I feel same-sex attraction. We're no different," Elisa said.

"The difference between you and me is that I acknowledge my faults while you do not. Perfection is not the objective. Knowing the difference between virtue and vice is," Mara told her off.

Elisa sighed as Mara walked off and prepared to fly off. "It's too late."

Mara turned to face her and walked back towards her. "No, no it's not. Work with me and I will take you home."

"I'm being torn apart. I want to be free of this pain. I know what I have to do but I don't know if I have the strength to do it. Will you help me?" Elisa asked.

"Yes, anything," Mara replied.

Mara rushed into the house and did an X-ray vision sweep of Kon's room. Despite numerous attempts by Sara to seduce Kon, she failed miserably at every attempt. They were still studying innocently. Mon and Alex were already home. "Whoa, slow down," Mon said to Mara still dressed as Superman.

"I just finished a mission at Mount Rushmore and I left Kon with Sara," Mara said.

"You left Kon with a girl while you flew off to deal with a crisis?" Mon questioned.

"Yes, father," Mara admitted.

"Good, that's the tricky part of the job: balancing your want to impose your morality on others vs balancing what you need to do," Mon said. "Remember, Mara. You're not just a superhero. You're an Insane. We have responsibilities that normal humans don't," Mon said with false sincerity.

"Right...," Mara agreed.

"And you might want to change before someone sees you," Mon said.

Mara realized she was still in her Supergirl uniform and quickly deactivated it. "You...too," Mara pointed out.

Mon looked over himself and realized there was a giant squid tentacle piece on his cape. "What the fuck?"

In the room, Sara was losing patience. "We've been studying for an entire hour and you haven't flirted with me once. Why did you even agree to hang out?" Sara asked peeved.

"I really want to but I can't," Kon said vaguely.

"I don't even know why I came," Sara said bored as she went to leave.

"It's just that I have an overly religious sister that wouldn't approve," Kon said.

"So, kick her ass. It's not her business," Sara said sitting back on the bed with him.

"If Mara and I fought, the whole house would explode," Kon said seriously.

"That's funny. You being scared of your twin sister," Sara mocked.

"I'm not scared of her," Kon scoffed.

"We've completed all the review questions. So...what now?" Sara asked suggestively.

Alex was in the kitchen making dinner when Mon cast a squid tentacle on the table. "Calamari for dinner?" Mon asked.

"Get that out of here," Alex said freaked out.

"You sure? It's considered a delicacy in some places and an aphrodisiac," Mon teased.

"Like you need it," Alex mocked.

"It's not for me but for you," Mon said obviously.

Mon then got himself a beer from the fridge. "I just battled a giant squid at the bottom of the ocean. What did you do?"

"Keeping your two kids from killing each other," Alex said resentfully. She then noticed the tentacle moving. "Are you seriously going to grill that?"

"Fuck yeah I am," Mon grinned.

Mara helped with dinner and then noticed Kon was making out with Sara in the room above. She calmly went up the stairs and barged in. "Dinner's ready," she told them.

"I am starving," Kon said innocently having distanced himself from Sara right before the interruption.

"We would be honored if you would join us," Mara said to Sara.

"Sure," Sara agreed positively smitten by Kon's skills.