Chapter 40: For the Woman Who Has Everything

Disclaimer: All things Supergirl/Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman belong to DC. No infringement is intended.


Kara woke with a start, feeling disoriented for a moment. Where was she? Slowly her eyes took in the room around her and a moment later she relaxed, recognizing her own bedroom. Some kind of nightmare? She couldn't remember.

"Everything okay, love?" a sleepy voice asked from beside her.

She looked at the person lying beside her, needing a moment to focus, then her lips spread in a smile. She lent down and pressed a kiss to the top of a sleep-tussled head of hair.

"Just a bad dream, nothing to it. Sleep on, love."

A few mumbled words later she could hear the sound of even breathing, her beloved slipping back into sleep. Being careful not too make too much noise, she got out of bed and floated into the neighboring room. The automated coffeemaker had already started and the smell of delicious coffee filled the room.

"Thank you, Brainiac," she mumbled, carefully sipping from the cup that a small tractor beam floated into her hands.

"Good morning, Kara-El," the computer replied. "You are awake earlier than usual. Do you wish to see today's appointments?"

"Not yet, give me a minute," she waved him of, stepping over to the big viewing window.

"As you wish, Kara-El."

As she stepped closer to the window it slowly depolarized and the light from outside began to creep in. Kara sat down on a kitchen stool and cradled the cup of coffee in her hands as the landscape outside slowly became visible. The red sands stretched out before her, the sun only just rising over the crest of the distant mountains. Golden rays caressed the growing spots of green she could spot here and there and a few transport ships were already visible in the sky.

"I never get tired of this view," she said to herself, smiling. "Anything important happen during the night, Brainiac? Any emergencies?"

"No, Kara-El," the computer replied. "All is peaceful, both here and on Earth. What few emergencies occurred were expertly handled by local response units. All is well."

"All is well," she repeated, smiling.

As the sun rose over New Krypton, Kara was happy.


"What did you get her?" Diana asked Bruce as they walked down the Javelin's landing ramp, taking in the splendor of Kara's polar fortress. Both of them had been here before, but only a few times, mostly because Kara was seldom here herself. Kara wanted to talk with them about Brainiac's actions on Colu, though, and her Kryptonian outpost had the most complete information on both the sentient computer and the planet in question.

What Kara didn't know, of course, was that Diana and Bruce had another item on their agenda for today. Diana had finally managed to find out when Kara's birthday was. Not the fictional birthday of Karen Kent, but the actual day her friend Kara-El had been born. Okay, it was still a bit of a rough estimate, given the distance between Earth and where Krypton used to be and the planets' different orbits around their respective stars. Still, Clark had apparently worked diligently on calculating the exact date and had shared his results with the Kents and Diana, who had then told Bruce.

There would be a surprise birthday party later on at the Kent home, which was why Diana and Bruce were to keep Kara occupied while preparations were underway. Given the superior senses of a fully-powered Kryptonian, keeping her half a world away from the site of the party was just about the only way to ensure that it would actually be a surprise.

"You do realize she has super hearing, right?" Bruce said in response to her question. "We shouldn't talk about this here."

"Right, you're right," she replied, but couldn't help but smile. She was very much looking forward to surprising her sister-in-arms on her birthday.

"I wonder why she isn't here yet." Bruce looked around the empty hangar. "Usually she meets us the moment we touch down."

"Kara?" Diana called out. When there was no response, she shrugged. "Maybe she is already digging through the data for more clues on Brainiac?"

"Maybe," Bruce said, sounding a bit worried. "Let's find her!"

They both knew that she had to be here. Kara had told them years ago that the fortress was programmed not to let in visitors unless either Kara or Clark were present. It was nothing against them, she trusted them with her life, but Kara was very paranoid about Krypton's technology. Unsurprising, really. Not only was it centuries ahead of anything Earth had, it had also birthed Brainiac and – indirectly – destroyed their own planet. Better she keep it firmly under lock and key.

They entered another room, the one which housed the holographic images of Kara's and Clark's original family, and both froze in their step. Kara was there, standing in the middle of room. But she was not alone.

"What is that?" Diana asked, quickly moving closer.

Something was wrapped around Kara's upper body. It looked like a strange mixture between a flower and an octopus, colored a deep purple and blood-red. It seemed to have attached itself to Kara's chest, its tentacles wrapping around her torso, and it pulsed along with her breathing. Kara was staring straight ahead, looking at nothing, and didn't show any reaction to the presence of her friends. A smile was on her lips.

"Kara?" Diana asked, waving her hand in front of her eyes. "Kara, can you hear me?"

Bruce took a small flashlight out of his utility belt and shone a light into her eyes. "Her pupils don't react at all. She must be in a deep trance of some sort."

"What is this thing?" Diana asked, taking a closer look it. "It looks like... Hera, it seems to have gone right through her suit and into her skin."

"Some kind of parasitic life form, I would assume," Bruce said, carefully regarding the alien creature from all angles. "Maybe it's somehow feeding off the force field on Kara's skin, thereby circumventing her invulnerability. Whatever the case, it seems to have some way of paralyzing its victims."

"I'm going to get this thing off her," Diana said, preparing to do just that.

"No, wait," Bruce stopped her. "We need to properly examine it first. Simply tearing it off could hurt Kara."

Diana tensed for a moment, the thought of simply leaving her sister-in-arms in obvious distress was almost painful, but she finally nodded. "You are right. So what's next?"

Bruce knelt down, examining something at Kara's feet that Diana hadn't even noticed before. It was some kind of cylinder made of metal, about a foot in length and opened along the middle.

"I'd say this thing, whatever it is, came out of this cylinder. Maybe Kara opened it, not knowing what was inside, and it got the drop on her."

"Kara is more careful than that," Diana replied, inspecting the cylinder as well.

"I wonder how it got in here," Bruce said, sitting back on his heels. "This place is a fortress, no one can just stroll in here and leave surprise gifts behind."

"One can if one has access to teleportation technology," a new voice said from behind them.

The two heroes were back on their feet a heartbeat later, ready for a fight and facing the newcomer. A moment later they both had to adjust their angle of view, for the intruder was huge. A veritable giant, yellow skin stretching across impossibly huge muscles, and a grin on its near-human face that had nothing humorous to it.

Both of them recognized the intruder immediately, though they had only ever seen him in person for a few seconds on an alien world. Diana's sword, which she always carried with her, was in her hands a second later and her face contorted in rage.

"Mongul!" she hissed.


"It's been 10 years since the event now commonly referred to as Operation Phoenix. The day when Earth's greatest hero, Superwoman, undertook a joint mission with the Green Lantern Corps, the time-travelling heroes from the future called the Legion, and Earth's own Justice League to save the people of Krypton from annihilation.

"Going back through time to the day her planet was destroyed, Superwoman and her team performed the greatest mass evacuation in the history of the universe, rescuing more than three billion Kryptonian citizens mere moments before the planet exploded, and bringing them forward in time to resettle them on the planet Mars, which has since been renamed New Krypton.

"Today, to celebrate the anniversary of this astounding feat, we are here with none other than Superwoman herself, Kara-El. Kara, thank you for this interview."

Kara smiled at the reporter sitting across from her. "It was my pleasure, Lois."

"Kara, the details of Operation Phoenix have been discussed over and over during the last ten years, but one question remains open, I believe: how did you even conceive of this plan?"

"It was really just a spur of the moment idea, Lois. I had prior experience with time travel, as I have detailed before, and ever since I learned it was possible, I was trying to figure out a way to use it to save my people. Over and over again, though, I was told that the destruction of Krypton could not be changed, simply because it was such a pivotal moment in history with such far-reaching consequences."

Lois nodded. "Well, given that our planet would never have gotten Superwoman and Superman if Krypton had lived, I can certainly understand that."

"I was more or less ready to abandon the idea, but then I remembered the stories of the Lost City of Kandor. When I was still a small child, Kandor – one of our most beautiful cities – simply vanished off the face of Krypton. Rumors abounded as to what had happened. The most popular one being that aliens had somehow kidnapped it, but we never found out what happened to it. And it got me thinking. If one city could simply vanish, why not more of them? Why not all of them, moments before Krypton died. Maybe I could not prevent the destruction of the planet, but what if I could save its people?"

"And with the help of your allies, you did just that," Lois added.

"Yes. It was an extremely close affair. In order to preserve the time stream, we had to wait until the ship carrying the younger versions of Kal-El and myself cleared the atmosphere, which left us only a few minutes. To this day, I am not really sure how we managed to pull it off, but it worked. We lost the planet Krypton, but we saved its people."

The interview went on for a while longer, going into some details on the status of the Kryptonian terraforming of Mars, the celebrations going on today, and Kara's own plans for the immediate future ("enjoying the peace and quiet while it lasts"). Finally the segment was over, the cameras went off, and Kara relaxed. She never did enjoy the lime light.

"You did great, mom," a deep voice said beside her, making her look up at her son. Clark was there, the symbol of House El proudly displayed on his broad chest. Seeing him like this, fully grown, filled her with immense pride. He had become every bit the hero and champion she had always known he could be and had really stepped up as protector of Earth ever since Kara spent more and more of her time here on New Krypton to help her people resettle on an entirely new planet.

"Thank you, Clark," she said, getting up from her chair. "Where is..." she began.

Enhanced reflexes and super strength were the main reasons why she wasn't simply run over when a blonde blur suddenly tackled her, jumping into her arms with the grace and subtlety of a cannonball.

"You said we'd go for ice cream once you were done here, mom," the girl in her arms reminded her.

"I did, didn't I?" she replied, laughing.

With her adopted son Clark by her side and her four-year-old daughter Kona in her arms, Kara walked out of the TV studio in order to find ice cream somewhere in New Argo City. She was with her family on a new planet Krypton. She was happy.


"What have you done to Superwoman, Mongul?" Batman asked, a hand on Diana's shoulder to hold her back for the moment. The Amazon wanted nothing more than to throw down with the alien brute who had nearly killed her sister-in-arms twice already, but they needed more information first.

"Nothing much," the yellow giant said, casually strolling closer. "Just teleported a very unique specimen into the Kryptonian's base and let nature take care of the rest."

He stopped in front of the unresponsive Superwoman, inspecting the alien parasite that had attached to her chest. "It's called the Black Mercy. It feeds off its victim's life energy until they die. And to make sure said victim doesn't fight it, it creates a trance state in which the victim experiences absolute bliss and happiness. Right now, your little friend here is in a world of her own, the most perfect world she can imagine, being absolutely happy."

He looked at the two heroes, smiling cruelly. "I wonder what she is experiencing right now. Maybe she is back in her childhood home, playing with her toys? Or maybe she is finally showing her true colors and conquering the universe by force? Who knows?"

He shrugged. "Oh well, she will have ample time to experience it. The Black Mercy takes a long, long time to kill its victims. Anyway, the Kryptonian is getting her due reward for interfering with my plans. Meanwhile, I will take this world of hers for my own. Of course I will need some guidance at first, being entirely unfamiliar with the local customs. Such as..."

Mongul stopped, glaring at Batman and Wonder Woman. "Which of you two should I kill first?"

Batman took his hand of his companion's shoulder and nodded. A moment later Diana sprung into action faster than the human eye could follow, dashing forward and slashing her Amazon-forged sword in a wide arc across the yellow alien's torso. Mongul took a step back, looking down to the see the shirt of his purple suit slashed open. The yellow skin underneath was entirely unharmed.

"Well, the female it is then," he said.


Kara stood on the highest tower of New Argo City, looking out across the vast settlement. When the idea of a New Krypton had first occurred to her, she had dreaded asking J'Onn about it. This was his world, after all. He was the last of the Martians, the sole survivor of his race. It was what they had originally bonded over, in fact, both of them being the last to remember their lost worlds. That she wanted to save her people and then resettle them on J'Onn's world... she had feared he would hate her for it. Thankfully he had done no such thing.

J'Onn stood beside her, his natural Martian form seeming at home here, and followed her gaze.

"It still amazes me what we have accomplished," he said in his deep baritone. "Once again the surface of my world hosts life. Once again we hear the laughter of children in the air. Mars lives again."

"I still wish we could have done the same for your people, J'Onn," she said, her hand on his shoulder.

"You know it wasn't possible, Karen," he replied. He still called her by her human name, even after all these years. "My people were slaughtered by the Imperium, one by one. I was there, I saw it. There was no way to rescue them without catastrophically changing the time stream. I am not happy about it, but I have long made my peace with it."

Kara nodded, knowing all the arguments. Still, in the best of all possible worlds, she should still have found a way to save the Martians as well. She should have found a way to save everybody.

"We rescued three billion souls in a matter of minutes," she mused. "Surely all things are possible if we could accomplish that."

"Three billion?" J'Onn asked, looking at her. "Are you feeling well, Karen?"

She blinked, looking at him. "Sorry, I don't know where that came from. Wishful thinking, maybe. But the 500 million we did save are a miracle all by itself."

"Too right," J'Onn replied.

Kara nodded, but frowned. Something seemed off. She was happy but... something was weird.


Batman had successfully pried one of the alien plant's tentacles off Kara's neck. It left red marks on her nearly invulnerable skin. He had needed both hands to get it off and could feel it straining to reattach itself to its victim. Times like these he really envied J'Onn's shape-shifting abilities. A few more hands would be very handy right now.

The entire fortress shook; a crack went through the ceiling above them. He almost smirked as he heard a grunt of pain from the alien, Mongul, but quickly focused back on his task. Diana was a big girl. She could handle her part. Batman knew he did not have a prayer against an alien as physically powerful as Mongul, so the best thing he could do was to try and wake up Kara. Hopefully Diana wouldn't even need her help, but Mongul had beaten Kara twice and killed a Green Lantern to boot. He was not about to take any chances.

Carefully shifting the tentacle over so he could hold it with one hand, he began working on the next one.


"Mom, are you okay?"

Kara looked down, seeing her beautiful young daughter standing beside her, looking up at her with a worried expression on her cute little face.

"Why do you ask, Kona?" she asked, kneeling down to be at eye level with her.

"You look so sad, mommy," she replied, one tiny hand reaching out to brush a tear from Kara's face. A tear she hadn't even realized was there.

Confused, Kara looked up. The sky above New Krypton was... weird. It seemed so much darker than just a moment ago. But it was noon. She had just collected Kona from her day school. It shouldn't be getting dark yet. Something was wrong.

"Everything is fine, Kona," she said, though she didn't quite believe it. "It's time to go home to..."

Her voice trailed off. Time to go home to... to whom? She had woken up next to someone this morning. She remembered it. Someone… someone she loved. She was sure of it, but... why couldn't she remember their name? Or their face?

"Mommy," Kona asked, looking up at her. "You're scaring me."


Diana winced in pain as she went flying right through one of the crystal walls of Kara's fortress, the impact of Mongul's fist having broken at least two of her ribs. She quickly rolled with the motion, getting back on her feet. Mongul was following her through the hole she had made. His uniform was in tatters, several bruises littered his yellow skin. But that was his entire concession to the fight they had been in for the last ten minutes. Diana was well aware that she had taken more damage than he had.

"I salute you, warrior," he said, grinning. "You pose far more of a challenge than your Kryptonian friend ever has. She lacks the killer instinct, I fear. You, on the other hand, I believe you would kill me where I stand if only you could."

"I'm not done trying just yet," she remarked, then launched herself forward again, ignoring the pain.


Batman had noticed the tears on Kara's face as he continued to slowly pry the alien parasite off of her. It was the first reaction she had shown so far and he considered it a sign that he was on the right path. Mongul had said that Kara was imprisoned inside a trance state of absolute bliss. Those didn't look like happy tears, though.

The parasite, which so far had shown no reaction to external stimuli at all except trying to remain attached to its host, now seemed somewhat agitated. Apparently it was sensing that someone was trying to pry it loose. Batman was very much aware of the danger he was putting himself in. If he succeeded in removing the Black Mercy from Kara, there was a good chance it would immediately search for a new victim. It had gotten the drop on Superwoman somehow, so it had to be fast.

He had no idea whether he, a normal human, was in any way appetizing for the parasite or – if he was – whether he would survive its tender mercies. It didn't matter, of course. From the sounds of the battle, Diana needed help. He couldn't help her, but Kara could.

His course of action was clear.


Kara was holding Kona's tiny hand in hers and looked around frantically. Their house should be here somewhere, she was sure. This was the street, only it didn't look like a street. They had paved over the red sand, hadn't they? There were on the outskirts of New Argo City, weren't they? She could see the buildings, but they seemed to shimmer. They were so far away.

"It was never going to work, you know that!"

She started at the voice, a voice she had heard before. Without warning, a newcomer had appeared right next to them. A person sitting on a hovering chair, wearing a black bodysuit, and looking at her with an air of supreme disappointment.

"Metron? What are you doing here?" she asked, shifting Kona behind her. In Rao's name, she would not allow this bastard to harm her daughter.

"You tried to cheat destiny, Kara-El," Metron simply said, his hands folded underneath his chin. "I told you that Krypton could not be saved without catastrophic consequences, but you didn't listen to me!"

"I didn't save Krypton the planet," she yelled at him. "I let it die so history could take its course. But I saved the people! I saved them all!"

"Did you?" Metron asked, motioning towards New Argo City.

Kara watched in horror as the buildings began to fade, shimmering like a mirage over a heated stretch of desert. What few people she could see, her people, faded away like phantoms.

"No," she whispered, shaking her head in denial. "No, no, no! I saved them! I saved them!"

"You tried to play goddess, Kara-El," the cold voice of Brainiac said. "Just like I told you to."

"Time is not your play thing," Metron remarked, even as New Argo City faded from view entirely. Only the sands of Mars remained. "As powerful as you are, death cannot be cheated. And death has claimed all of Krypton except you and your son. No one else may survive!"

"Mommy?"

Kara fell to her knees, clutching her daughter to her with all her strength. "No! Please, not Kona! Not Kona!"

"No one else may survive!" Metron repeated.

"I don't want to go," her little girl whispered.

"KONA!" Kara screamed as her daughter, New Krypton, and everything else simply faded away.


Diana collapsed to the ground, desperately trying to breathe through a chest that felt caved in. Blood was seeping from her mouth and her eyes refused to focus.

"You fought well," Mongul said, approaching her. "But the outcome was never in doubt."

He raised his fist for a killing blow and Diana knew that she did not have the strength to evade or block it. This was it. She would die. She could only hope that she had bought Bruce enough time.

"MONGUL!" a scream echoed through the fortress, causing the crystal walls to shiver.

Mongul turned away from Diana, looking at the far wall. But even as he tried to brace himself, he was too slow. A red and blue bur came shooting through the corridor and hit the yellow alien with the force of a cruise missile. A cry of pain accompanied the two interlocked bodies as they burst through yet another wall and vanished from sight. A moment later the entire structure rang like a bell as they had hit something.

"Give him hell, sister," Diana muttered, trying her best to get back to her feet.


The Kryptonian outpost that Kara had built on Earth was a good deal larger than she really needed it to be, especially given that she was barely ever here. It had everything a Kryptonian outpost on an alien world might need. Storage rooms, machine shops, living quarters, training halls, everything. Right now, she was busy wrecking most of it and didn't care in the least.

A searing beam of heat vision cut across Mongul's chest, leaving angry red burn marks. The yellow giant staggered back, but Kara did not let up. She moved so fast that the air around her sizzled from the friction and her fists broke the sound barrier as they impacted against Mongul's nearly impervious form.

All the while Kara screamed.

"Do you realize what you took from me?" Kara yelled, lashing out with her full strength and not caring in the least. Mogul staggered back, but was still grinning.

"Of course I do, Kryptonian," he replied, returning the favor with a punch that Kara blocked with her forearm. Her arm hurt from the impact, but she barely noticed it through the haze of her rage.

"I put you into a prison that you couldn't leave without tearing out your own heart in the process," Mogul continued on, still grinning. "Tell me, did it hurt a lot?"

Kara's only reply was an incoherent scream of fury.


Diana had staggered back into the hall where they had first found Kara, clenching her teeth to keep from crying out with each step. She was sure she had been hurt worse in the past. Her first battle against Ares came to mind. Then again, back then she had passed out from the pain and only awoken much later when she was mostly healed.

Looking ahead, she saw Bruce lying on the ground, motionless. The Black Mercy was wrapped around his torso.

"Oh, Bruce, you noble idiot," she muttered.

Sighing, she slowly lowered herself next to him and began to pry the parasite loose.


A thunderous blow by Mongul sent Kara crashing to the ground and the alien tyrant stood over her, panting in exhaustion.

"You should know better by now," he said, grabbing her by the hair. "You are no match for me, Kryptonian. Not even on your best day. Not even on your LAST day!"

Raising his fist for a blow that would take her head off, he was suddenly confronted with two crimson-red eyes staring directly into his.

"BURN!" Kara yelled and sent two beams of energy directly into Mongul's eyes.

Mongul screamed, louder than he had ever screamed before, and stumbled back, shaking. Kara struggled back to her feet, the energy given to her by her rage beginning to fade.

"You insignificant speck of dirt," Mongul growled, now sounding really pissed off. "YOU! HURT! ME!"

He dashed forward, striking Kara again and sending her flying across the room.

"You should have stayed in whatever happy phantasy the Black Mercy granted you!"

"Happy?" Kara growled back, on her feet once again. "HAPPY?!"

She struck back at Mongul with enough force to split a mountain in two and the alien juggernaut stumbled, falling to one knee. She struck him again, rocking his head back, and blood was flowing from his mouth. A third blow sent him into his back, dazed.

Kara forcefully wrenched him up into a sitting position and was behind him a moment later. Two hands capable of tearing continental plates apart wrapped around his huge head, preparing to force his neck to turn farther than it was meant to turn. She saw how he had almost killed J'Onn and her the first time. She saw how he had killed Abin Sur. She saw all the innocents that would have died had he managed to retain the War World. She had to end him. She would end him. He had killed her little girl.

The little girl that had never been real.

Mongul threw his head backwards and Kara screamed as she felt her nose break. Her hands slipped off his head and a moment later a vicious backhand sent her flying once again. She crumbled to the ground, her head ringing like a bell.

"There now," Mongul said, staggering back to his feet. "For a moment I almost believed that you were going to kill me. How stupid of you to hesitate like that!"

He hauled her up. "I assure you, I won't make the same mistake!"

"No, you make others," a voice behind them said.

Mongul turned around, seeing the warrior woman he had left for dead a few minutes ago standing behind him. The next thing he felt was something attaching itself to his chest.

Then he felt happy.


Some time later, three battered and bruised heroes stood over the comatose body of an alien tyrant, who was smiling as if he was having the time of his life.

"Whatever he is seeing, it's too good for him," Diana growled.

Batman said nothing, still reeling from the phantasy he had experienced during those few short minutes the Black Mercy had been attached to him. He cast a side glance at Kara, who had been imprisoned in happiness far longer than him. Seeing his parents being gunned down all over again after having escaped the mugger the first time had hurt like nothing else he could remember. He could only imagine how much worse it must have been for her.

Kara had barely said a word since the battle had ended. Her emotions were too volatile, too raw to even begin to articulate them.

"Mongul said that the Black Mercy will eventually kill its victim, right?" she finally asked.

"Yes," Batman replied.

Kara nodded. "Good."


End Chapter 40

Author's Note: To absolutely no comic reader's surprise, I am sure, this chapter is based on Alan Moore's brilliant Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything" from 1985, which was also turned into an episode of Justice League Unlimited for TV. I only changed the ending a bit, as well as what kind of phantasy Kara would experience (given everything she learned in the Out of Time arc, I couldn't have her phantasy being "Krypton never died", because it would mean the Legion's future would never come to pass). The Black Mercy was also featured in an episode of Supergirl.

I was a bit unsure about the ending, to be honest, but then I remembered that the original story ended with Superman planning to drop a comatose Mongul into a black hole, so... yeah. Oh, and for those always looking for hints and spoilers: this chapter contains two important teasers for future chapters.