"Um… Kara?"

"Nnngh…"

"Kara?"

"Mm."

Kara's eyes slowly opened. She looked around the Titans Tower's main room, realizing she was lying on the couch. She must have fallen asleep watching TV. She was still wearing a blue oversized T-shirt and grey sweatpants.

That's right, she remembered, It was my day off.

"Kara!" said Donna a third time, "Are you awake?"

"Yes," said Kara, turning to Donna, "Is something wrong?"

"Maybe," said Donna, "Aren't you normally at work about now?"

"Shoot!" cried Kara, sitting straight up on the sofa, "I totally forgot!"

While she wasn't acting as Supergirl on the Titans, Kara spent her daylight hours as Lois Lane's personal assistant at the Daily Planet. Kara frantically grabbed her phone off the nearby table and saw that she was already a half hour late.

"Thanks Donna!" shouted Kara, "See you tonight!"

The Planet was located in Metropolis, across the country from the Titans Tower in Jump City.

"See you-" began Donna, only to be cut off by the burst of sound and air as Kara used her superhuman speed and flight to change into her work clothes and fly across the country in the blink of an eye, leaving Donna standing alone in confusion.

"-tonight," she finished.

"Kara," said Heather, raising her eyebrows, "I thought you weren't in today."

"Um, no," said Kara anxiously, "Just late."

"Oof," scoffed Heather with a half smile, "Lois said otherwise. You're going to want to let her know you're here ASAP."

"Thanks," said Kara, doing her best to hide her dread.

Kara had just arrived in the Daily Planet's bullpen. She had successfully changed into her glasses, a beige sweater, high waisted blue jeans, and a cute pair of brown boots before flying over. She had settled on a simple ponytail; the cross country flight had limited her options and it wasn't like she had time to style her hair after arriving.

Heather Kelley was one of the newer employees in the office. Kara had been around longer, but Heather had been hired as a reporter while Kara was Lois's personal assistant. As such Heather had a tendency to act dismissive toward Kara compared to her other coworkers, which Kara found endlessly frustrating.

"Good luck!" called out Heather as Kara entered Lois's office.

"-which is why I don't plan to reschedule," said Lois firmly into the phone, "If your boss has a problem with that-"

Lois's eyes met Kara's. Kara reflexively flinched.

"I have to go," said Lois into the phone, "We'll have this conversation later."

"Midvale," said Lois calmly as she hung up the phone, "I'm glad to see you're alright."

"Um…" muttered Kara, "I'm not sure I understand."

"When you didn't show up this morning I assumed something had happened to you," said Lois, "I couldn't think of another reason for being so carelessly late and giving me no prior notice whatsoever. So tell me, what happened?"

"I… Um… Slept in. Sorry."

"...I see," said Lois quietly.

"But I can stay late if you want!" offered Kara.

"Don't bother," said Lois, "If I need you to stay late, I'll ask you regardless of what time you show up in the morning."

"...right." said Kara, "So, um… What can I do for you?"

"We have that team building trip coming up next month," said Lois, "I'd like you to update everyone's emergency contact information. Better safe than sorry. You know how it is."

"Right away," nodded Kara.

So Kara went about it. She gathered a pen and paper to write it all down and began her walk about the office, writing down everyone's info with the intent to enter it into the system from the computer at her desk when she was done.

"So how mad was Lois?" asked Heather instead of answering Kara's request.

"Not too mad," said Kara, "Less mad than I thought she'd be, anyway. Now about your contact info-"

"Then you really did get lucky in there, Danvers," scoffed Heather, "In half the offices in Metropolis, you'd be clearing out your desk right now."

"...sure."

"You'll figure it out one day, Danvers," continued Heather, "Metropolis is a big city, but if you really dedicate yourself, you can make it here."

I'm… Pretty sure I've been living here longer than you… thought Kara.

Heather finally did update her contact information. Kara went on to get the same information from Cat Grant.

"What was that, dear?" asked Cat after Kara's request.

"Your, uh, emergency contact info," said Kara.

"Ah, yes," she nodded, taking the notebook, "My apologies, I'm a bit hazy this morning."

"I'm sorry," frowned Kara.

"Well this is what happens when I miss my morning coffee," said Cat, handing Kara back the notebook with a slight grin.

Kara felt her face grow warm. She hadn't even thought about it, but she was the one who got everyone their coffee in the morning. She had assumed slipping in late wouldn't be a big deal, but with that smirk Cat had just reminded Kara that the ENTIRE office knew about her tardiness on account of their missing coffee.

"You could always have the coffee from the coffee maker in the kitchen," suggested Kara with a sheepish shrug.

Cat's slight grin turned into an unamused scowl.

"Right. Sorry."

Kara sighed inwardly as she made her way to Lana Lang's desk. Lana was an old family friend of Kara's, having been close with Clark before Kara even met him. Though she and Clark went back so far that she knew his identity as Superman, Kara's identity as Supergirl was still a secret to her. They still shared a relationship as cousins though.

"Kara," chuckled Lana, "You look like you've had quite the morning."

"I guess I have," said Kara, handing Lana the notebook, "Could you write down your contact info?"

"Sure," said Lana, taking the notebook, "You want to talk about what's wrong?"

"Not really," said Kara.

At this point she just wanted the work day to be over. She didn't want to think about it any more than she had to.

"Well remember," offered Lana, "If you keep working hard and taking chances, you'll make it. Eventually everyone in this office will know exactly who you are!"

"Thanks," said Kara, taking the notebook back.

The truth was Kara felt like she had already worked hard and took chances as Supergirl. Everyone in the office did know exactly who Supergirl was and respected her. The problem was no one seemed to have that same respect for Kara.

"Midvale!" called Lois through the open door to her office.

"Coming!" called back Kara, rushing into Lois's office as fast as she could without activating her powers, "I've got the contact info all right here! I was just about to enter it all into-"

"Look," said Lois, nodding her head at the large television monitor on her wall.

Kara looked over. The audio was muted, but the channel was running a live story on an armored car robbery taking place in downtown Metropolis.

"Smallville's out of town, right?" said Lois.

"Thanks," smiled Kara confidently.

Lois smiled back as Kara jogged out of the office to change into her costume and fly after the culprits. Within seconds Supergirl was soaring over the skyline of Metropolis, using her enhanced hearing and sight to scan the downtown area for the stolen armored car, which was now in possession of the robbers.

"Bingo!" smiled Supergirl.

The woman of steel swooped down into the streets below, eliciting gasps and cheers as she flew directly at the armored truck barreling down the street and slammed into it, digging her feet into the asphalt of the street and halting it in its place.

Both robbers immediately leapt out of their seats and into the road, where they both pointed their guns at Supergirl and unloaded them. The bullets all fell harmlessly to the ground at Supergirl's feet. Both robbers gasped in horror. The surrounding crowd cheered. Supergirl effortlessly knocked both robbers out and left them and the armored truck for the authorities to handle.

Everyone thinks they can just push Kara Danvers around, she thought as she flew away, but no one messes with Supergirl!

"So that's why it's not so bad," explained Kara.

"That's wonderful," smiled Donna, "That you find so much happiness in being Supergirl, I mean."

"Thanks Donna," sighed Kara, turning her attention to her phone, "I appreciate it. What's this?"

"Hm?"

"A trending hashtag on Twitter," explained Kara, "I guess some Supergirl was discussed on some trending podcast. Something called The Livewire?"

Donna shrugged.

Kara tapped about on her phone and pulled up a compilation of audio clips from The Livewire. The podcast was hosted by Leslie Willis, a volatile internet personality known for antagonizing other public figures. Kara played the first clip.

"I mean seriously, boots and a skirt?" sneered Leslie, "Is she trying to be a superhero or a girl scout?"

"Rude," scowled Kara.

"I think your costume's cute!" insisted Donna emphatically.

The clips continued.

"She's about the least intimidating cape I can think of," Leslie continued, "Like, I'm pretty sure if she tried to frighten me, she'd end up giving me her lunch money!"

"Oh," muttered Kara angrily, widening her eyes.

"You can look at the numbers yourselves folks," said Leslie, "She's basically a wimpier version of her cousin. Any supervillain worth their salt could dump this loser into a trash can without breaking a sweat."

"Oh my gosh!" cried Kara, "People actually listen to this woman!?"

"God, I swear every time I look at her stupid face I wish I could give her a swirly," said Leslie.

"That's so mean!" gasped Donna.

"Have you heard any of her lame-ass speeches?" laughed Leslie, "'Justice will always prevail!' I'll bet that loser doesn't have a single friend."

"Where does she-!?" sputtered Kara incredulously, unable to form the final words.

"I'd like everyone to welcome back my friend Trish," said Leslie as another clip began.

"Thanks for having me, Les."

"So Trish," said Leslie, "What's your take on this Supergirl chick?"

"I don't know," said Trish, "I mean she's pretty hot."

"Maybe if you squint," scoffed Leslie, "but even so, it's not like she's any good at sex. You can tell by looking at her she's a virgin."

"Good point," chuckled Trish.

"That's totally inappropriate!" cried Kara, turning red.

"Why would she spread such lies!?" demanded Donna.

Kara only blushed further, knowing that Leslie's claim was far closer to the mark than she wanted to admit.

"Honestly I think the most ridiculous thing about this chick," said Leslie, "is how insufferably upbeat and perky she is. Like, can she see herself? I don't know what she's doing with her civilian life, but as Supergirl she has nothing to be proud of."

"Hey!" cried Kara, glaring at her phone.

The phone shut off from the pressure being applied by Kara's increasingly tight fist. She dropped the phone just short of damaging it. Donna looked up nervously at her furious friend, whose eyes had started to glow a whitish red for a moment before fading back to normal.

"...are you alright?" asked Donna cautiously.

"I think so," said Kara, "Still, I'd like the chance to stick up for myself."

"What do you mean?"

"Well I can't just let her get away with this!" insisted Kara, "I need to show her she's wrong!"

"You think she'll be willing to listen?" asked Donna.

"If you speak from the heart, anyone is willing to listen!" assured Kara.

Supergirl took a breath of preparation as she readied herself outside the apartment door. She knocked. After a few seconds of waiting she knocked again, only to be met with an angry "Coming! Christ!" from the other side.

Supergirl had reached out to Leslie about a chance to discuss the issues brought up on her previous podcast. Leslie had been minimal in her response, but had agreed to a time and place for a recording session where Supergirl could appear on an episode of The Livewire to defend herself.

The door opened and Leslie stood on the other side. Supergirl would have recognized her immediately. As part of her online personality, Leslie tailored a very sharp and specific aesthetic. Her hair was done in something of an undercut with excess hair hanging down over her face. Her hair was dyed the same jet black as her lipstick, nail polish, and eyeliner. She had studs in her ears, eyebrows, and nose and wore black fingerless biker gloves, a black leather jacket over black jeans and black combat boots.

"Supergirl," nodded Leslie, "Right on time. No surprise there."

"Thank you!" chirped Supergirl politely.

"That wasn't a compliment."

Leslie turned and walked back into her apartment. Supergirl, unsure of whether she had been properly invited in, peered in anxiously. Leslie looked back at her impatiently and Supergirl caught on, rushing in to catch up with her. They walked past countless metal posters, pieces of expensive-looking sound equipment, and at least half a dozen electric guitars.

"So, um, thank you for having me," offered Supergirl as Leslie walked into a side room and began to set up recording equipment.

"Save it for the podcast."

Supergirl sucked in her lip. She was determined to take the high road here. She was sure that Leslie would let up once she saw Supergirl for who she was. It was only a matter of getting through to her, that was all. Still, Leslie seemed determined to oppose that.

Leslie finished setting up both microphones and their pop filters. She clicked a few buttons on her computer, slid one of the microphones in front of a chair next to her, and gestured toward it. Supergirl took a seat and Leslie hit one more button.

"And we are recording," she said, "Hello everyone and welcome to The Livewire with Leslie Willis, where caution is advised! Today I have a very special guest with me, someone who I recently discussed a great deal on this podcast, Supergirl!"

"Thank you for having me," said Supergirl as gently as she could manage.

"So where should I start?" asked Leslie, "The makeup or the trembling knee?"

Supergirl clutched her right knee, only realizing just then that it had indeed been trembling. Then she found herself reaching for her face.

"My makeup?" she asked without thinking.

"Well I assume that's blush," said Leslie, "otherwise you've managed to get some nasty sunburn that makes you look like a denizen of Candyland."

"I- That's uncalled for!" huffed Supergirl.

"Oh, I'm sorry," sneered Leslie, "Did I hurt your feelings?"

"I just want to have a polite conversation," said Supergirl carefully.

"Alright," said Leslie, "What would you like to politely talk about?"

"Well first of all I'd like to address some of your comments from your previous episode."

"Such as?"

"Such as my costume," continued Supergirl, "I think comparing it to a girl scout uniform-"

Leslie snorted as she let out a laugh. Supergirl sighed.

"Keep going," smiled Leslie.

"I think comparing it to a girl scout uniform was immature and unfairly directed at me. Plenty of superheroes where boots and-"

"Yeah other superheroes have capes too," said Leslie, "They're still dorky."

"The cape actually serves a very important aerodynamic purpose."

"Like getting you caught on a Shamu plane?" snorted Leslie.

"That happened ONE time!" protested Kara indignantly.

"And it was hilarious," said Leslie, "I actually have it pulled up right now…"

Leslie tapped a few keys on the keyboard.

"Hey, no wait-!" pled Supergirl.

"I'm just going to silence our mic audio for this part," said Leslie plainly as the video popped up on her monitor.

Supergirl clutched her skirt in discomfort as she listened to the audio of a crowd laughing and saw the video on Leslie's monitor of herself being dragged behind the tail of the Shamu plane, flailing about in vain. After several agonizing seconds the video ended and Leslie closed the video window, audibly laughing to herself.

"Gets me every time," she smiled.

"Indeed I have to admit," said Supergirl through gritted teeth, "I do look a bit silly there."

"A bit silly!?" chortled Leslie, "You look like a complete idiot. No real superhero would get caught looking so stupid!"

"That's-!"

"Of course that's nothing compared to your fight with Silver Banshee," continued Leslie without pausing, "I'm sure I don't have to remind you about that incident!"

"Hey! I-!"

"Luckily there's excellent footage of that too," said Leslie, turning back to her computer, "Let's take a look."

"Don't," begged Supergirl instinctively, "Please!"

"Again, I'm just going to cut your mic here," explained Leslie, not looking at Kara as she pulled up the video.

"WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM!?" demanded Supergirl loudly.

"...what in the world are you talking about?" asked Leslie plainly.

"You keep making fun of me!"

"Yeah," nodded Leslie, "It's kind of my thing."

"Why!?" exclaimed Supergirl, standing up out of her chair, "It's just mean!"

"Hey, 'caution is advised' girlfriend," said Leslie, "Says so right on the podcast description. I don't know what to tell you."

"You're… You're… You're just a big bully picking on me because of your own insecurities!"

"Aw," feigned Leslie condescendingly, "Is that what your parents tell you to make you feel better?"

"SHUT UP!"

"Or what?" scoffed Leslie, "You're going to tell the teacher? Get real, nerd."

Supergirl went to respond but bit her lip to stop herself. She could feel her emotions welling. Leslie had gotten to her. The next thing out of Supergirl's mouth would come with a swell of insecurity that would certainly bring her to tears. She couldn't let Leslie see her like that, let alone have recorded evidence of it. Supergirl did the only thing she could do to save as much dignity as possible. She fled, disappearing in the blink of an eye and not looking back. Though even in her retreat, Supergirl's enhanced hearing allowed her to hear the next few seconds of Leslie continuing the podcast, still ruthlessly mocking her.

"I'd like to invite all of my viewers to participate in a Photoshop competition," added Leslie, "Send us your funniest Photoshops featuring Supergirl and we'll feature the best ones on our social media accounts."

It was rare that Kara felt safer and more shielded in her civilian life than she did as Supergirl. Lately Leslie had ensured that was far more common. In addition to running circles around Supergirl in the interview, she had also edited the whole exchange to make Supergirl sound both rude and pathetic. Although Kara had to admit that Leslie didn't have to do a lot of work to accomplish the latter.

The resulting podcast had gotten even more attention than the initial one, resulting in all of the embarrassing footage of Supergirl online trending. The inundation of demeaning Photoshop images featuring her likeness only added more insult to the ever growing pile of insult.

Another few weeks had gone by since then, and with each one came yet another podcast where Leslie trashed Supergirl nonstop. Supergirl wasn't so foolish as to accept another appearance on the podcast, but that didn't stop Leslie's podcast from rocketing to the top of the charts. What's more, The Livewire was now being openly advertised as an anti-Supergirl podcast.

"Earth to Danvers," came Heather's voice.

Kara brought her focus back to the office of the Daily Planet, where she was standing in front of Heather with a small cardboard tray of iced coffees. Heather was looking up at her in confusion. Kara reminded herself what they had been talking about.

"Right," said Kara, picking one of the coffees out and handing it to Heather, "It's this one. This one's yours."

"Careful, Danvers," said Heather as she took the coffee, "You'll never make it big if you always have your head in the clouds."

"...right," said Kara quietly, "Thanks, Heather."

Demeaning though that exchange was, it was still more respect than Supergirl was being treated with lately. With Leslie's podcast trending, copycats were popping up all over the internet of other small time internet personalities trying to ride on the coattails of the anti-Supergirl search engine optimization dominating the internet.

"Midvale!" called out Lois.

Kara stood up and turned in attention to Lois. She was leaning outside her office door. When Kara didn't immediately respond Lois jerked her head into the office and went back inside. Confused, Kara placed the undistributed coffees on a desk and rushed over to Lois's office.

"Morning Ms. Lane," said Kara as she entered the office, noticing that the blinds on the windows looking into the bullpen were closed, preventing anyone from seeing the two of them inside, "Is everything okay?"

"I think it's fair to say it's not," said Lois with a sigh, closing the door behind Kara, "You know your friend on The Livewire?"

Kara flinched at the mere reference to Leslie.

"Listen to this," said Lois, tapping her phone.

"This is the one and only Electron Pulser! And they're saying this baby's the real deal!" came Leslie's voice, "The real deal when it comes to what, you might ask? Well apparently one shot from the weapon can completely immobilize Superman. As in, the Superman. And I know what you're thinking, cause I was thinking it too. 'That's some Lex Luthor shit! There's no way they can sell that to private citizens! But that's just it, apparently the Electron Pulser is completely harmless to normal humans-"

Lois clicked off the phone.

"Great," groaned Kara, "That's going to be fun once it hits the streets."

"Metropolis already has a plan to call in support from Flash while S.T.A.R. Labs works on a safety precaution for you and Clark," explained Lois plainly, "but we have other concerns. This thing was developed by Core Werner."

"Who?"

"One of Luthor's dummy corporations," explained Lois, "Hasn't been proven in court yet, but it's only a matter of time."

"So it's probably not the safest."

"There's no telling what will happen if she pulls the trigger."

"Oh no."

"My thoughts exactly."

Kara turned and walked speedily out of the office. Once she was alone in the hall to the elevator, her light jog rocketed into a burst as she sped off in the blink of an eye, changing into her Supergirl costume and racing off toward the apartment where she had experienced that horrible interview. No matter how mean Leslie had been, there was no way she deserved whatever one of Lex's crazy inventions might do to her.

"Leslie!" gasped Supergirl as she arrived at the already open door to the podcast host's apartment.

Leslie was already holding the Electron Pulser at the ready. The long metal firearm had a soft cyan glow to it and emitted a quiet droning. Supergirl couldn't believe she was already holding it at the ready. Supergirl wasn't sure she could move fast enough to get to her before she pulled the trigger now.

"Supergirl," smiled Leslie dryly, "I figured you would be by within the half hour of me posting that episode."

"Leslie," said Supergirl calmly, "I don't want any trouble."

"Oh wow," smiled Leslie even more widely, "I've got you scared now, don't I?"

"It's not that," explained Supergirl slowly, "Core Werner is a Luthor company. That tech can't be trusted!"

Keeping the weapon pointed at Supergirl, Leslie leaned over to her laptop and tapped a few more keys.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she said, "We're streaming live from Livewire Studios! I have Supergirl here practically daring me to test the Electron Pulser!"

"Leslie," said Supergirl, "I just want to make sure no one gets hurt."

"'Caution is advised' girlfriend. Says so right on the podcast description."

Leslie pulled the trigger.

"AAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!"

The smoking husk of the Electron Pulser fell to Leslie's feet. Leslie herself stood in a daze, leather jacket melted and smoldering and holes seared all over her jeans. Her skin had turned a pale blue and her hair completely white. Static hung in the air for a moment before Leslie completely collapsed.

"Oh my God," gasped Supergirl.

She rushed Leslie to the nearest hospital.

"Rrrnngh…"

Leslie weakly rolled her head to the side and started to open her eyes. Something was off. This pillow was way softer than hers and the lighting felt… fluorescent.

"She's awake," said a nurse calmly, but with surprise.

"I'll get the doctor," said another.

Leslie began to take in her surroundings. She was in a hospital room on an uncomfortable bed, covered in cheap blankets and wearing a thin hospital gown. A cursory glance over herself tipped Leslie into the fact that her skin looked different.

"I'm sure you have lots of questions," said one of the nurses, leaning toward Leslie.

"Back off!" barked Leslie.

As she shouted, Leslie felt a surge of energy go through her. Her every hair stood on end as she heard a loud crackling in the air. Both nurses backed away to the far ends of the room, eyes wide in terror. Sparks of blue-white lightning were dancing all around the room. The lights, television, and other electronic equipment all began to flicker. Finally, everything settled as Leslie settled herself. The two nurses sighed with relief.

"What happened?" demanded Leslie.

"The weapon you were holding," explained one of the nurses, "it malfunctioned and… did something to you. Supergirl rushed you here as fast as she-"

"Supergirl!" hissed Leslie, clenching her fists.

Both nurses flinched as the electricity sparked back to life and danced around the room. Leslie unclenched her fists and looked at her open hands. Her skin had turned a light blue. Squinting, Leslie saw that it even seemed to be glowing slightly. Flexing her bicep, Leslie felt a jolt of electricity pump through her arm.

"...the doctor will be by in a minute," said one of the nurses.

"My interview," recalled Leslie, staring at her charged fist, "What did people see?"

"Um…" muttered one of the nurses.

"What HAPPENED!?" demanded Leslie.

She felt another surge of electricity pump through her, releasing a pulse of magnetic energy that shut off all the tech in the room. A sudden dark quietness fell over the room as the machines and lights shut down. Both nurses seemed frozen in fear.

Leslie gritted her teeth in frustration and looked around the room. On the table beside her bed she found a bin with her phone in it. She grabbed it and quickly began to search the web for information on her live stream. Her followers saw her pointing the weapon at Supergirl. What had they seen next?

"Livewire" Host Roasts Self Alive on Livestream

Caution is Advised! Leslie Willis Hospitalized by One of Her Own Pranks

Shock Jock Shocked Into the Emergency Room

Attention-Seeking Podcast Host's Plan for Internet Fame Backfires

Poorly Planned Publicity Stunt Lands Leslie Willis in Emergency Condition

Those headlines weren't the end of it. #CautionIsAdvised was trending, with countless people mocking Leslie's situation by identifying the irony of the whole thing. The hashtag was bigger than any one she had ever created and the video of her shocking herself had more views than even her most watched episode. In a matter of hours, the internet had completely turned on Leslie.

Leslie tensed every muscle in her body in frustration, curling inward as she clenched her jaw. The electricity built more and more, sparkling in her eyes and gathering in her newly whitened hair. She let out a roar of frustration and threw a punch at the wall beside her bed. Her arm released an enormous burst of electric energy and blew away the wall, opening a way out of the hospital for Leslie.

"I'm checking out," she whispered spitefully.

"Kara," said Lois as she quietly approached her desk.

"Ms Lane!" exclaimed Kara, sitting up straight as her heart rate spiked.

Lois never came over to Kara to speak. She always called her over. Kara couldn't help but feel as though she had done something wrong. Before she could figure out what it was, Lois lowered her phone down in front of Kara's face. Kara looked at it. A video was already playing on the screen. It was Leslie. She was standing on top of some building spouting lightning from her fingertips. She was already dressed in biker style again, having evidently changed out of her hospital gown.

"You've got to be kidding me…" sighed Kara quietly.

"I'll cover for you," offered Lois.

"Thanks," said Kara.

Kara made her way to the bathroom and once no one was looking sped away as she changed into her Supergirl costume, scanning the skies of Metropolis and following her enhanced senses to the commotion.

"Leslie!" called Supergirl, descending on the buildingtop where the shock jock was releasing lightning, "This ends now!"

"Supergirl," smiled Leslie, rubbing her hands together, "Right on time! No surprise there!"

Leslie thrust both arms toward Supergirl. The burst of energy that she released moved as quickly as lightning. Supergirl was able to see it coming right for her, but she wasn't fast enough to get out of the way. She felt the intense impact of the attack before pain circulated throughout her body and she found herself unconsciously convulsing. There was another painful impact when she hit the ground, leaving a crater in the street as she lay there smoking from the attacking. The lightning had left her with holes in her tights and her hair in complete static disarray. She slowly groaned as she pulled herself to her feet.

"And it's Livewire now," Supergirl's assailant informed her.

Supergirl let out a roar as she kicked herself off from the ground, nearly doubling the size of the crater as she launched into the sky at Livewire. Livewire tensed herself and formed an electromagnetic barrier around her. Supergirl wound back and slammed her fist into the barrier, which prevented her from reaching Livewire, but still flung the newly christened supervillain off the building and down the street, where she slowed her fall with electromagnetism and resumed her fighting stance. Supergirl flew up to her.

"So you can throw a punch," chuckled Livewire, "Thumbs on the outside, I'm impressed!"

Supergirl audibly growled as she launched herself forward to tackle Livewire. Livewire blinked away in a flash of light as Supergirl rocketed past where she had been. Supergirl barely had time to figure out she had missed. She felt more static hanging about the air along with her, even as she flew at high speeds.

"Oh no," she realized.

"Oh yes!" grinned Livewire, materializing around Supergirl in a full nelson.

Supergirl screamed as Livewire pumped electricity into her mid flight. The two crashed hard into the ground. Supergirl tumbled through the dust and asphalt until finally ending up on her side, breathing heavily as she recovered from the intense pain.

"That was brilliant!" declared Livewire as she sparked into sight beside Supergirl, "You sound like a drowning goose when you scream! Think you could do it again!?"

"SHUT UP!" shouted Supergirl, releasing a blast of heat vision.

Livewire zipped to the side at lightning speed, causing the blast of heat vision to miss her and blast away the base of the lightpost behind her. Supergirl huffed in frustration, but failed to notice that the post was now tipping and she didn't have time to react before the street light collided with the top of her head, slamming her back into the ground as it shattered.

Supergirl pushed the post off of her, slowly getting to her feet in a daze. She was still stumbling and off balance when she was fully standing, so she didn't even notice that Livewire was already standing behind her. The supervillain gripped the lower back of Supergirl's leotard.

"Not again…" groaned Supergirl.

"Electro-wedgie!" declared Livewire.

Supergirl squealed as she felt the seat of her leotard get yanked up into her butt, bringing her underwear in with it. This was punctuated by a surge of pain starting up inside her butt and spreading out through her body. The electric flow finally stopped as she seized up and fell to the ground, twitching and with the back of her suit all bunched up. Supergirl moaned in pain. Livewire let out a cackle of triumph. Supergirl tried to get back up, but only found herself collapsing again. Livewire placed the sole of her boot directly on Supergirl's face and pressed it further into the street.

"This is great!" beamed Livewire down at Supergirl, "I missed putting dorks like you in your place!"

Livewire followed the sentence up by bringing her leg back and swinging the toe of her boot directly into Supergirl's gut. She released a burst of electromagnetic energy as she did, charging the kick and creating a burst of energy that blew Supergirl away and into the wall of a building across the street, leaving her embedded in it. After a moment Supergirl peeled off the wall and fell face first onto the ground.

"How'd that feel, Ms. Goody Two Shoes?" teased Livewire.

Supergirl pressed her hand into the ground and forced herself up to her knees, trembling.

"Oh for the love of," said Livewire, rolling her eyes, "Stay DOWN!"

Livewire fired a powerful stream of electricity at Supergirl, eliciting another scream from her as the charge electrified her for several seconds before she fell back to the ground. Then Livewire did it again. Then she did it again and again. Soon the onlookers were starting to murmur in concern. Even Supergirl couldn't take this.

"...guess that finally shut her up," concluded Livewire after a moment of unmoving silence from her opponent.

"...guess...again…"

Livewire's cheek twitched in frustration as she glared over at Supergirl, who had just shifted ever so suddenly. Livewire couldn't believe it. She was hitting this girl with everything she had. Supergirl was supposed to be vulnerable to electricity. Why was she still fighting?

"Oh, just give it up already!" shouted Livewire, "Did I give you brain damage with that last shock or something? You lost! Just STAY DOWN!"

"Never!" insisted Supergirl, looking up at Livewire with resolute conviction.

Supergirl had started to stand, bracing herself against the wall. Her suit was starting to show the effects of the battle. Though reinforced, the repeated application of high voltage had burned holes in the arms and abdomen of the leotard, revealing burn marks. Supergirl hair was missing burnt tufts and when she pushed it out of her face one could see the electric burns were there too.

"For Christ's sake!" screamed Livewire, growing furious, "Do you want me to KILL you!? This is getting ridiculous! Why don't you just give up!?"

"Because every time I put on this uniform I make a promise to the people of this planet," said Supergirl, taking a weak step toward Livewire, "a promise that I'll protect them no matter what. If I run from you, how can they feel safe under my protection?"

"Maybe they shouldn't feel safe," said Livewire coldly, "Maybe you're not the hero you think you are."

"Maybe not," panted Supergirl, nearly collapsing from pain and exhaustion, "but they deserve to know one way or the other."

"Then I guess it's time they found out!"

Supergirl put all of her strength into flying safely away to the side as Livewire released an explosive burst of electricity that blew away the wall where Supergirl had been standing. Supergirl coughed as she stumbled to the ground, too weak to keep flying. She was at her limit. She needed a strategy to win this now.

But what? she thought, I haven't landed a single hit on her. That electromagnetic field keeps me from touching her. Even my heat vision is useless. There has to be something else I can use…

KRZZT!

Supergirl screamed as she hit the ground hard and tumbled away, body crackling with electricity. The moment she had taken to stop and think had apparently been too tempting of an opportunity for Livewire to resist.

"Shoot," whispered Supergirl weakly, clenching her fist and using it to push herself back up to her knees.

The attack shouldn't have hit her. She was normally faster than that, but this fight was wearing her down fast.

"This is getting old," said Livewire.

Then Supergirl had an idea.

"Then finish it," dared Supergirl, finally standing and turning to Livewire with a smile.

"Good idea."

Livewire fired a stream of electricity at Supergirl. Though the woman of steel didn't have the strength to fly out of the way, she still had some strength in her legs. She leapt up just before Livewire fired. The electricity kept going past where Supergirl had been standing and connected with the bright red fire hydrant behind her.

Livewire barely had time to realize her mistake before she paid for it. The fire hydrant was effortlessly blown away by the attack, erupting into an explosion of high pressure water. The electricity all rushed into the water and spread throughout it uncontrollably. Livewire gasped as she felt more and more electricity flowing out of her into the water. It was too active for her to control.

There was a burst of white blue electric sparks in the spray of the water. Livewire screamed as she convulsed uncontrollably and lightning ran in and out of her from all directions. When it ended, she was standing tensed frozen in place as chunks of burnt clothing fell off her body in pieces. Then she fell back. There she lay, unconscious, smoking, and wearing the rags of the clothes clinging to her body with static. Supergirl came down from her leap and stumbled over to the nearest building, where she caught herself on a wall to keep from falling.

"I… Did it.." whispered Supergirl.

Then she slid down into a sitting position. She closed her eyes. She couldn't move an inch, but there was a smile on her face.

"Jesus," muttered Wally, watching the video on his phone, "How are you not dead?"

"Dumb luck I suppose?" shrugged Kara.

The Titans were all gathered in the Titans Tower main room. Kara, Donna, Wally, Dick, and Roy were all lounging on the large infinity couch in different positions. Wally was laying on his back watching the footage on his phone, Kara was seated toward the middle with Donna at her side, and Roy and Dick were both politely listening from the other end.

"Not only did you survive it," noted Donna, "you powered through it and won! How'd you do that?"

"I… I guess I just knew that I couldn't give up," explained Kara, "At first I thought I could get through to Leslie with truth and kindness. I don't know why I thought it would work with someone like that. She's just a bully. When that didn't work I didn't know what to do. She just kept being mean. I wanted to just run away; I guess I did during the podcast, but I couldn't do that once she was a threat to others. I couldn't reach her with kindness, I couldn't run away, and I certainly couldn't give up. I had to win. Once I realized that, I started to realize I could win. I started to believe in myself. I knew that no matter what, I wasn't going to give into her!"

"Wow!" smiled Donna, "That's incredible!"

"Wow," said Wally, lowering his phone to look directly at Kara, "You really are a huge goddamn nerd."

"I know," smiled Kara, "I know."