Superman: The Ark of Krypton
By
Jason Richard
Kara thought quickly. Once the core had been cut out it had fallen to the floor, but was still surrounded by kryptonite radiation leaking from everywhere. Kara took a deep breath. As air entered her lungs it picked up enough wind to pull the core forward. It rolled out of the energy, but was still covered in a concerning amount of kryptonite radiation as it rolled to her feet. Kara quickly tore off a section of the wall and wrapped it around the device, keeping Brainiac's brain safe to hold. She then wraped that in her cape, tying a knot, and knelt down next to Superman, picking him up and flying him out of there.
The ship had some failsafes if the AI wasn't functioning, so it would begin some rudimentary self repairs. She could even see some probes flying out to deal with the damage. One thing that she couldn't use without the AI, however, was the medical bay, as ideally you'd want a medic for that. With the Kryptonians who would have manned it gone, however, Kara knew of only one place she could get Cal-El safe.
She flew to STAR Labs.
…
They locked up the core in a vault. How well this vault would hold up against an alien attack was a bit up in the air, but they had more immediate concerns. Superman lay on a gurney as the scientists, including Eliza Danvers, rushed him to one of their labs as fast as they could. Superman lay on the bed, passed out, the skin around his eyes black and burnt..
"He's not healing," said Kara. "The kryptonite energy is still in his system."
"How much energy?" aske Eliza.
"It came directly from the Ark's core," said Kara. "I'm not exactly sure how much, but it's more than he's ever been exposed to before."
"Alright," said Eliza. "We'll do what we can."
"I know you're not really a medical doctor…"
"But doctors won't be familiar with his physiology anyway," said Eliza. "I know sweetie. We'll do what we can. I do have to ask one thing. Do Kryptonians respond badly to Kryptonite radiation to the same degree on your home planet?"
"Without our powers you mean?" asked Kara. "Yeah. Kryptonite exposure had the same effect on our home planet for the most part. But then again, actually using the power does seem to make it worse."
"Alright," said Eliza. "Thank you. Now, please be patient."
…
Kara found it very difficult to stay patient. They had her wait in Eliza's office, and it was there that Kara paced back and forth nervously. She had a lot on her mind. Kal-El was injured, and injured far worse than she'd ever seen him. On top of that Brainiac was in limbo, his system core taken out and his processes frozen. There had to be something they could do about it, but Kal-El was the immdediate concern.
She waited for Hours, just pacing back and forth, eventually flying up in the air to fly back and forth so as not to wear out the carpet. She just couldn't sit still, as wracked with worry as she was. But as she did, something worse happened. With her super hearing she realized that a bunch of vans had started gathering just outside the building. Looking out with x-ray vision, Kara realized that was the press, people from every news station and newspaper was there.
Kara grimaced. That was the last thing they needed.
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Thanks for all your kind words, and have a Happy New Year!
Jason.