Chapter 59: Irreplaceable (Sand – Part 4)
Disclaimer: All things Supergirl/Superman belong to DC. No infringement is intended.
"What the Hell was that?" Lex Luthor yelled, yanking the control helmet he had been wearing off his head.
"The functions of your drone were terminated apruptly," Brainiac replied. "The sudden signal loss can have a disorienting effect on organic life forms."
"Never mind that, I meant that... thing! It moved as fast as Superwoman used to, and she seemed to have her heat vision, too."
"Indeed," Brainiac agreed. "Sadly with the drone destroyed and the enhancements to Metallo's body mostly disabled, I do not have any observation capability left in place. I am activating one of the other drones, but it will take several minutes until they are in range."
Luthor scoffed. "I doubt any of my dear team mates will still be conscious by that time. I hate to say it, but the League is rather effective even with Superwoman at dimished capacity."
"The three criminals are irrelevant," Brainiac stated. "However, we must quickly ascertain the state of Kara-El and determine the nature of this other creature that seems to have similar powers."
Luthor nodded, his thoughts running a mile a minute. Brainiac seemed almost... worried. Worried about Superwoman. Luthor was fully aware that Brainiac did not want her killed. He said he wanted her to follow him off-world to create a new Kryptonian empire somewhere else. Personally Luthor didn't believe that. If today's attack showed anything, it was that Brainiac was planning for Luthor to play some kind of role and he doubted it was about driving Superwoman away from Earth. He wasn't certain about the machine's endgame yet, but he was fairly certain that it did not include the long life and prosperity of one Lex Luthor.
It was about time for him to put some plans of his own into motion.
For the longest time, it had been nothing. Even the notion of time had been unknown to it, there had just been an eternal now. There had been no sense of self or existence, a simple statement such as "I am" would have had no meaning at all, even if there had been a voice to utter it or an ear to hear it.
Then everything had changed. Suddenly existence was divided between before and after, suddenly it had been wrenched out of its everlasting nothing into a world of something. Something solid, something with edges and weight, had appeared from nowhere and it had latched on to this newness, if for no other reason than it was there. And when this something had been wrenched back, it had tagged along.
This new existence was different, oh so very different. There was time, there was space, there were things, so many things. It lacked even the most basic understanding of what was happening, but out of what a creature of this new world might have called instinct, it latched onto something else. Something new, something warm and powerful.
Someone.
Understanding took the longest. Creating a form for itself, patterned after the first warm thing it had touched, happened almost instantly. Understanding, though, that took time. So for endless weeks it had simply walked, getting used to sensations, understanding things like gravity, heat, cold, and wind. Then it had come upon its own reflection and for the first time it gained a sense of self.
It had a name. Three names, actually. It... she had a place in this world. Following memories that were not hers, but had become hers, she had flown to the place that she associated with the strange new concept of 'home'. And it was there that she had met the other. The one that was like her, the first one she had touched in this world. When they had touched again, she had become still more, more real.
She wanted to be something. She wanted to be real.
She felt emotions now. Sensations. Feelings. There was so much of it, much more than she could ever have imagined. The shapeless nothingness she had once been felt utterly empty and meaningless in comparison. This was her world now. She had a place in this world, a role.
All she needed to do was to remove the one who currently occupied said place and role, then everything would be well.
"You were Superwoman," she told the thing she would replace. "I was nothing. No more. Now I am something. I am Superwoman. You will be nothing!"
Kara took a step back, raising the ray gun. She was not sure it would avail her anything, seeing as the gun would not have hurt her if she were still at full strength. And going by how easily the sand thing had dispatched the Luthor robot, it did indeed seem to have nearly all of her powers.
"What do you mean, nothing?" she asked, hoping to keep the creature talking. "Did you come from the Phantom Zone?"
"Phantom Zone?" the sand thing replied. "A shift in the dimensional phase of matter and energy, first theorized by my uncle Jor-El as an entirely separate state of existence."
"He is not YOUR uncle," Kara replied. "You are not me!"
"The creature seems to be copying you, right down to your memories!" Batman said, standing beside her. "Maybe that is what it means by having been nothing. It had no personality or memories until it imprinted on you. And now it wants to finish he process."
"Well, we will certainly not stand idly by while...," Diana began.
Then the sand thing moved.
"Okay, now we need to move," Clark said.
"What's going on?" Kona asked from where she hovered beside him, once again cursing the fact that her vision powers were nowhere near as strong as Clark's. The two super teens had been hovering just a few miles outside of Metropolis for quite a while now, close enough for Clark to see everything. While Kona did have far better vision than any human, she couldn't watch events that were miles away at any detail.
"The villains are down," Cark told her, "but now the sand thing is there. And it's attacking the League and mom!"
"Okay then, we need to move!"
"That's what I just said!"
"You're wasting time!"
Kara had been active as a superhero for nearly a decade now, and during that time she had faced many foes. There had been a few who had been as strong or stronger than her, such as Mongul and Steppenwolf. Foes that had the ability to harm her, such as Parasite and Atomic Skull. She could not, however, remember a single instance where she had faced a foe that was faster than her. One that could move so fast that the battle was almost over before she even noticed it had begun.
The sand thing moved every bit as fast as Superwoman ever had. By the time Kara realized that she had started moving, half the Justice League was down and out. Green Arrow and both Hawks were crumbling to the ground, knocked unconscious by fists moving fast enough to break the sound barrier. Kara took half a step back, hoping to put some distance between her foe and herself, even as she saw Batman begin to reach for his utility belt. By the time he was halfway there, though, a super-fast fist impacted on his jaw and knocked him back, thoroughly unconscious.
Adam Strange managed to get a shot off, but the beam went wide as there was nothing but an afterimage where he had aimed. A moment later super-fast hands tore his armor apart, leaving him helpless.
Kara was on her second step back when J'Onn and Diana advanced on their foe. Both of them were capable of moving much, much faster than any human, almost as fast as a fully-powered Kryptonian. Unfortunately Batman seemed to have been correct in that the sand thing had not merely absorbed her powers, but also her memories. Which included the knowledge of her teammates weaknesses.
A burst of heat vision sent J'Onn screaming to the ground, desperately trying to put out the flames threatening to engulf his body. Diana was between him and the thing a moment later and a furious exchange of blows followed. Kara took the opportunity and ran over to J'Onn, snuffing out the flames with her cape, before turning back to the fight.
For a moment Kara started to hope. Diana had a good track record in their regular sparring bouts, she still won more than half of them. Twenty seconds into the fight, though, Kara knew that Diana would not win. She fought every bit as brilliantly as she usually did and got more than her share of hits in, but the sand thing didn't seem to feel any pain, it barely reacted to blows that Kara knew would have sent her to the mat. Its return blows, whoever, did have an effect.
Deciding that enough was enough, she jumped forward and tackled the distracted sand thing away from a weakening Diana. The moment her shoulder touched it, though, she felt another wave of weakness go through her. She managed to get a punch in, but it didn't seem to do anything other than weakening her further. She stumbled and fell to the ground.
Diana got back up, tried to get between them, but a thunderous blow from the creature hit her hard enough that her eyes were rolling back in her head.
"I would never hurt my best friend," the sand thing said, shoving an unconscious Diana away from her. "But I cannot let anyone stop me from becoming complete!"
Kara clenched her fist, feeling as weak as a newborn kitten. Even what little in the way of super strength she had had left seemed to have deserted her.
"She is not YOUR best friend," Kara protested weakly. "You are NOT me! I would never have hurt my friends!"
"They will understand," the sand thing said, standing before her, appearing even more real now. It barely looked like something made out of sand anymore. It was becoming her identical twin. "I am you. Perfectly you. Once you are gone, it will be exactly like before."
"Like hell," someone growled and a moment later a red-and-blue blurr hit the sand thing with the force of a jackhammer, launching it halfway across the stadium. The sand thing crashed into the rubble and for a moment everything was still.
"We got this, mom," Superboy said, helping her back to her feet.
"Yeah, no sand thing is going to replace you while we're here," Kona agreed, standing at her other side. She was dressed in Jeans and once again wore that black T-shirt with the red Superwoman symbol she had worn the first time they had met.
"I told you both to stay away," she protested. "You are so grounded!"
"Well, you need to be alive to ground us, so there!"
The rubble exploded outwards and the sand thing was suddenly in front of them once again. Kara didn't even manage to blink, but both her children were in full possession of their super speed. They zipped out of the way of supersonic punches and each of them grabbed one arm of their foe, doing their best to immoblizie it. Smart thinking, she thought proudly, even as she was furious with them. They had no doubt seen that hitting the thing seemed to do nothing at all, so they were trying a different tactic.
The ground blew apart as the sand thing launched all three of them up into the sky. Kara stumbled back, trying to keep them in sight, but they were lost in the blue before she even managed to look up. Wobbling, she tried to focus her thoughts on the flight ring, trying to make it up into the sky. She had no idea what she could possibly do to help them, but she needed to be up there.
She had barely made it a few feet off the ground before something crashed down into the stadium with tremendous force. When the dust settled, Kara couldn't help but gasp. It was Kona, her small body lying at the body of a crater created by her impact. Her daughter was conscious, but clearly hurt. Nevertheless, she fought to get back to her feet.
"No," Kara whispered, the sight of her battered daughter hurting worse than the Kryptonite. "No, no, no!"
Another impact shook the stadium and two interlocked bodies skidded across the battered ground. Clark was clinging to the sand thing like a leech, trying to subdue it, but she could see that he was not having much luck. Clark was almost as strong as she was (or had been), but he was still a decade behind in terms of fighting experience and stored solar energy. If the creature had absorbed all of that from her...
With a grunt of pain Clark went flying again, crashing into one of the few thus far undamaged rafters of the stadium. The sand thing seemed utterly unimpressed and was approaching Kara again. She quickly aimed her ray gun and fired, knowing even then that it was futile. The searing red beam did absolutely nothing, didn't even make the creature flinch.
"I don't understand why Clark and Kona are doing this," the sand thing said, sounding more and more like her with every passing second. "Why are they attacking their mother?"
"Because you are NOT their mother," Kara said, retreating and firing again.
"But I will be," the thing said, seemingly confused. "I will be you. Everything will be exactly as before. There will be no difference."
Kara shook her head. "You really don't understand it, do you? How can you copy me, all of me, and not understand it?"
Kona was back on her feet and tried to come to her aid, but the sand thing didn't even look in her direction, simply catching her fist in her hand and squeezing it. Kona dropped to her knees, wincing in pain.
"Stop it!" Kara yelled, rushing forward without thinking. Nothing mattered except protecting her daughter.
The sand thing threw Kona away like a broken toy and rushed forward as well. A moment later a hand like a steel vise closed around Kara's throat and lifted her into the air. She gasped, her air cut off, and her entire body seized. She lost the feeling in her fingers and toes.
"Almost done now," the sand thing said in her voice. "Then everything will be well!"
"You... don't... get it!" Kara forced out, even as she felt herself growing cold.
"I get everything," the sand thing replied. "I will be you!"
"YOU WILL NEVER BE HER!"
Clark was there suddenly, bruised and dirty, but looking more determined than she had ever seen him. For a moment she thought he would try another futile attack, but then she saw what he was holding and couldn't help but smile. Her wonderful, clever boy!
Diana's Lasso of Truth was in Clark's hand and in a burst of superspeed he had it wrapped around all three of them. The golden lariat flared brightly, constricting around them, and even the sand thing with her full power wasn't able to break it.
"Understand this," Clark growled at the thing, the rope burning around his hand. "You will never be her! You will never be our mother! Because no matter how closely you copy her, we will always know that you are the one who took her from us! Something she would never do!"
For the first time ever the sand thing looked shaken. "But...," it began.
Kona's small fingers curled around the rope as well, pulling herself back to her feet. Kara could feel the familiar tingle of Kona's telekinetic ability, as her touch caused the coils to wrap even tighter around them. "You can't ever be Superwoman," she hissed. "Because Superwoman would never hurt others just to get what she wants!"
Even as she felt herself fading, Kara couldn't help but smile, she was so proud. "You will never be me," she whispered at the shaken-looking mirror image of her own face. "Because I would rather die than hurt my children!"
The magic of Diana's lasso swirled around them, the golden flames enveloping them all. Kara hadn't understood it the first time, but by now she knew how this wonderfully frustrating, unbreakable magical rope worked. It didn't force someone to tell the truth. No, it dispelled falsehood. It burned away all lies and illusions and left those in contact with it nothing but the truth. Nothing but truth to speak, to see, and to understand. No one could lie while being bound by the lasso. Not even to themselves.
"I... I am not you," the sand thing finally said, its eyes widening. "I can't be you."
Kara wasn't sure, but she thought she felt the cold fading from her body a bit. The darkness she had seen creeping in from the edges of her vision grew lighter.
"I understand you want to be someone," she said. "But you can't be me!"
The golden fire around the lasso faded, almost as if the magical artifact understood that its job was done, and the coils slackened around them, falling to the ground. Kona and Clark carefully took a step back, eying the sand thing with suspicion. It let go of Kara's throat, who stumbled a bit but remained on her feet.
Her doppelganger just stood there, facing her, looking utterly lost and confused. She looked between Kara, Kona, and Clark as if she was trying to make sense of something.
"You...," it began. "You are three... and yet... you are also... one?"
Kara nodded, even as Clark and Kona stepped closer and each wound an arm around her. "Yes! We are a family!"
The doppelganger still looked confused, but finally, after a seemingly endless moment, started to smile. It was a sad, yet accepting smile. "I think... I understand."
And then the colors faded from the sand thing, the perfect features of its face crumbled, and the entire figure just collapsed into a heap of sand.
For a long moment no one seemed to know what to do or say. Kara just stared at the sand, uncertain what exactly had happened here. Then she noticed that she could see each individual grain of sand if she wanted. She noticed that she could hear the voices of people outside the stadium. Looking up, she could see right through the damaged walls.
"Mom?" Clark asked.
Stepping out of the arms of her children, Kara looked around in wonder. The world around her seemed to be getting bigger with every passing second. She could feel the rays of the sun tingling on her skin, suffusing her body, filling her with strength.
With a whoop of joy, Kara launched herself into the sky under her own power, the ring on her finger completely inactive. She zipped halfway across town in a burst of super speed and let loose with a burst of heat vision that cut a red line into the endless blue sky. She dove back down into the damaged stadium and easily lifted a giant piece of debris out of the way.
Looking down, she saw Clark and Kona, both of them bruised and dirty from the fight, but smiling at her antics. Her children, her wonderfully headstrong children, who had disobeyed her orders and flown to the rescue like the heroes she knew they were. Floating back to the ground, Kara quickly enveloped both her children in a huge hug.
"Thank you," Kara whispered "Thank you both!"
"Hey, we already have a super mom," Clark said, hugging her back. "I wasn't about to exchange her for a new one."
"I love you, mom," Kona simply added, burrowing into her body.
Kara hugged them both that much harder, tears in the corners of her eyes. "I love you, too. Both of you! And you are still grounded!"
"We know," they chorused.
They stayed like this for quite some time before they were interrupted. Diana was back on her feet, though still wobbly, and was touching Kara's shoulder.
"Uh, Kara?" Diana said. "You should probably take a look at this."
Looking up from her embrace, Kara looked where Diana was pointing and saw a TV crew and their camera, which was filming them from the only undamaged entrance of the stadium. The camera was probably getting wonderful pictures of Superwoman, who was huggin her son Superboy, as well as a blonde teenage girl that looked remarkably like her.
"Clark," she said, not taking her eyes off the camera.
"Yes?"
"I hope you will forgive me, son, but I fear your little sister will go public at a younger age than you did."
"Yeah, I figured."
End Chapter 59
Author's Note: The original Sand storyline in the early 1970s Superman comics started out really strong, dragged for months, before ending on a whimper. Superman became powerless, regained most of his powers, became an utter dick, got into a fight with his sand doppelganger that destroyed the world, awoke to find the fight had been but an illusion cast by a conventient Asian hypnotist-type, and finally let his Sand doppelganger go home without getting his full powers back because he felt he couldn't be trusted with them anymore. It was mostly a ploy to depower Superman a bit (not that it lasted), but to me it is one of the most-wasted-potential stories in the Superman franchise. Hope my version of it is better. Oh, and I originally wanted to use a Star Wars title for this chapter, too, but couldn't really think of one that fit (I tried "Return of the Super" and "A Super Hope", but... no!).
Up next: the aftermath of the Sand Saga, featuring Supergirl, Batman, Lois Lane, and Martha Kent.
