(Rated I for Immature)

In Mariupol, Russian soldiers supervised as Ukrainian workers dug mass graves. Thousands of plots were dug all around the outskirts of the city. Bodies would be placed in the plots, covered in dirt, and then another body would be placed above that one. In one instance, a desperate Ukrainian digger noticed one of the bodies had an expensive ring on his hand. The other Ukrainian workers noticed despite the digger trying to hide the ring. The Ukrainian workers were about to tackle the digger and take his ring when a child spoke up.

"Why are we fighting amongst each other when we know who the real enemy is?" the child spoke up.

Russian soldiers casually approached the commotion. "What is this?" he asked as the ring was discovered. The Russian soldier eyed the ring for its purity and then proceeded to pocket it.

"Hey, you're supposed to reward him," the child said of the digger that had found the ring.

"Is that right?" the Russian soldier asked sarcastically.

"I did find it," the digger said pathetically.

The Russian soldier brought the digger over to another pit filled with mass graves. "Thank you for your service," he said and then shot the digger in the head. The digger tumbled into the pit. The Russian soldier then turned to the stunned boy. "What are you looking at?"

"Please, forgive my son," his father intervened.

The Russian soldier dismissed them both away. "I can't always be here to protect you," the father scolded his son.

"I don't need protection. I want to be free. If we work together, we can overthrow the Russians," the boy said naively.

"Let someone else be the hero. The graveyards are full of them," the father pointed out. "Stop dreaming and get back to work."

"If we had more heroes, then maybe our freedom wouldn't be a dream!" the boy shouted and then ran off shouting "freedom" to all the diggers as he did.

The Russian soldiers chased after the boy as he ran about. Finally, the boy came to a hill and put his hands up placing the sun between his hands. Russian soldiers tackled the boy and brought him to a place where they could shoot him. "Wait," Karina said as she walked up. She was wearing an all-black Red Daughter uniform. Karina went up to the defiant boy. As she did, the pressure around him suddenly skyrocketed. He fell to his knees gasping for breath.

"No matter how many heroes come to your side, it will never be enough," Karina told him. She then turned to her Russian officers. "This is not a place for a boy. Move him elsewhere," she ordered.

"It would certainly save us all a lot of trouble if you incinerated all the bodies. You do it for our men but not them. Why?" a Russian officer asked boldly.

"We are guests here...and this is their homeland," Karina replied.

"You are no longer in the chain of command. You abandoned us when we needed you the most. Tens of thousands of our men are now dead. Why should we follow your orders?" a Russian officer asked.

"Because I'll kill you if you don't," Karina said obviously and then walked away.

Black Kara

Louisiana

Dr. Fate rode in the backseat of his British car. He eyed his helmet sitting passively next to him. He cautiously touched the helmet and got a three-second vision of death and destruction. "Holy shit," Dr. Fate said, withdrawing his hand.

"We're here, Sir," his British driver informed him.

"Oh, right," Dr. Fate realized where he was. His British driver opened the door for him after he had parked. "Was I staring again?"

"Only three seconds or so," his British driver said accurately.

"Good, sometimes I'm out for thirty minutes," Dr. Fate mused.

"I'm certain that will never happen during your next adventure, Sir," his British driver said confidently.

Inside a rather large affluent mansion, Dr. Fate met up with Hawkman, Atom Smasher, and Cyclone all wearing civilian clothes. "So... where are the mutants?" Atom Smasher asked as he looked around.

"Just because we have a mansion, a university campus, a large underground hanger, a telepathic professor, personnel with powers beyond imagination, and a blackbird doesn't make us the X-Men," Hankwman said impatiently.

"So, where are we going?" Cyclone asked.

"We're headed to Mariupol to apprehend and contain a Class-S rogue Kryptonian...again," Dr. Fate explained.

"I didn't bring a passport," Atom Smasher admitted.

"Atom...God damn it," Hawkman said pissed off with him.

"We don't need passports. We're the Justice Society of America," Dr. Fate assured him.

"Was that for me or the audience?" Atom Smasher wondered.

"You shut your damn mouth," Hawkman warned him.

Inside the blackbird, they casually made their way toward the cockpit. "This is entirely made of Nth metal?" Cyclone asked.

"Everything down to the screws. Completely indestructible," Hawkman said proudly.

"I don't know, man. That sounds like bullshit," Atom Smasher said looking around.

"I'll be in the head if you need me," Hawkman said as he entered the cockpit.

"He meant...never mind," Dr. Fate said and then thought better of it.

"Pretty cool, you got any snacks?" Atom Smasher asked. "It takes a lot of energy to smash atoms."

"It wasn't funny when Flash said it, it's not funny when you say it," Dr. Fate scolded and walked away to rub his helmet in the privacy of his own quarters.

With Dr. Fate gone, Atom Smasher decided it was time to romance his attractive colleague. "I'm Atom, by the way," he said to Cyclone.

"Max," Cyclone replied.

"So are you...," Atom Smasher wondered.

"Non-binary, yes," Cyclone confirmed.

"Does that mean you have more than two personalities or powers?" Atom Smasher asked ignorantly.

"No, it means I present as a woman and I have a penis," Cyclone replied. "You can refer to us as they from now on."

"So, what do...you do?" Atom Smasher asked cautiously.

"Wind," Cyclone replied.

"Ah, so you're like Storm but without the lightning, hail, snow, fog, rain...," Atom listed off.

"Exactly but when I break wind it looks green," Cyclone added. "You?"

"I grow ten times my normal length in seconds," Atom Smasher said, impressed with himself. "For over four hours if need be."

"So, you're like Ant-Man except you can't shrink to the subatomic level," Cyclone nodded.

"I also got this cool red and blue suit," Atom Smasher brought up, showing it to her. He then put his costume on to show her.

"You look like Deadpool except you don't have instant regeneration, guns, or swords," Cyclone noted.

"Yea, yea, yea!" Atom Smasher said enthusiastically. "It's a hand-me-down from my uncle who used to be the first Atom Smasher."

"That's interesting. I never heard of him or you until today," Cyclone said interested.

The hanger then opened with the roof reassembling the courtyard above like a transformer. The blackbird then rose up and took off for Ukraine.

Mariupol

Karina suddenly awoke and fired heat vision beams into a Superman poster taking out his face. Karina calmed herself down and saw a Ukrainian boy stare at her with a freaked-out face. "Don't worry about that. I can get another," Adam said.

"Please don't," Karina said irritably. She went up to a mirror, took a pair of tweezers, and sliced into her chest. Using her X-ray vision on the mirror, she located the very small Kryptonite fragment and attempted to pull it out.

"Maybe you should leave that to a doctor," Adam suggested.

Karina pulled the tiny green spec out of her chest. Her flesh slowly healed around it. "I was thinking we could help each other. Everyone in Mariupol should know your story. You can fly and stop bullets. You're really fast, like as fast as the Flash."

"My story is ruined," Karina said depressed, and then looked out the window at the ruined city. "I shouldn't be here."

"This is your home now," Adam assured her. He then brought over a history book. "Our history is full of great conquerors liberating us one after another. My point is, Ukraine is liberated because you're here. We need you here."

"I'm no liberator," Karina denied.

"What? You're more stacked than Superman, Aquaman, and Batman combined. And they're not coming to Ukraine. You own this country," Adam told her. "You could defeat the Justice League all by yourself. You're the only one that can give us order."

"I have vanquished my enemies to the eternal sleep of the damned," Karina said reflectively.

"That's what I'm talking about, but you got a lot more enemies to vanquish," Adam pointed out. "Prove your strength and destroy everything your enemy cares about. Make him beg for mercy but deny it in his final breath."

"Interesting," Karina nodded.

"Can you teach me violence?" Adam asked.

"That's something your father should teach you," Karina evaded.

"Yeah, but he's dead," Adam reminded her.

"I'm sorry," Karina said sympathetically.

"Don't be, he was fighting against the Russian liberators. He was fighting against you," Adam said dismissively.

"I'll teach you violence in good time," Karina said vaguely. "I have to go for an enthusiastic walk."

Adam caught up with Karina as she slowly floated down to the bottom floor. "Wait, where are you going?"

"I shouldn't be here," Karina said distressed.

"Of course, you should. We owe our loyalty to you," Adam said as he quickly went down the stairs.

"You really shouldn't," Karina said dryly.

"You should be famous, movies, tv shows, video games, magazines," Adam listed off.

"What are you, my agent?" Karina shook her head.

"The superhero industrial complex is worth a lot of money," Adrien pointed out.

"Don't I know it," Karina agreed.

"The person you cared about is dead. What else are you going to do?" Adam asked insensitively.

"For now, I'm just going to take a stroll," Karina sighed.

The Justice Society of America's blackbird approached Mariupol from the west. "Waller's file needs a bit to be desired," Dr. Fate said dryly. "For several years, Red Daughter was only a myth."

"She's a bad girl, Kent. What else do you need to know?" Hawkman asked dismissively.

"When you've seen as many futures as I have, you cease to believe in absolutes," Dr. Fate lectured.

"Are you...absolutely sure about that?" Hawkman mocked.

"You shouldn't be laughing," Dr. Fate scolded.

"I didn't laugh. I smirked," Hawkman said defensively.

"That's how you people laugh," Dr. Fate pressed.

"What do you mean by 'you people'?" Hawkman asked offended.

"I'm British. I acquired an immunity to the race card centuries ago," Dr. Fate reminded him.

"Damn," Hawkman said dismayed.

"You going to ignore all my cryptic vague advice?" Dr. Fate asked.

"Not going to lie, there's a strong possibility," Hawkman admitted.

"This is a shit plan," Dr. Fate concluded.

"Yeah, well, a shit plan is better than no plan at all," Hawkman sighed.

"Is that the justification used to green-light this story?" Dr. Fate questioned.

"It's the theme for all I do," Hawkman said defensively.

"Well, maybe there's a third option," Dr. Fate considered.

"Maybe you should rub your helmet and find out," Hawkman suggested.

"Maybe later, I'm spent," Dr. Fate denied.

Further inside the blackbird, Atom Smasher was just about to touch Dr. Fate's helmet. "I wouldn't touch that shit," Cyclone advised.

"Why the fuck not?" Atom Smasher asked curiously.

"It's from another planet. It's millions of years old," Cyclone said.

"So?" Atom Smasher questioned.

"It chooses who it wants to touch it," Cyclone added.

"Like Kent?" Atom Smasher wondered.

"No shit, Sherlock," Cyclone replied. "When he puts on his helmet, it's like he's possessed."

"What if I touch it anyway?" Atom Smasher asked.

"Don't touch that shit," Cyclone warned.

"I'll just use a towel as I rub it," Atom Smasher said placing a towel over the helmet and playing with it.

"Don't drop that shit," Cyclone said wide-eyed.

"It's actually kind of heavy," Atom Smasher noticed as he juggled it.

"Pray to God you don't drop that shit," Cyclone said backing away.

"We're coming up on Mariupol," Hawkman said as he entered the room.

"So...why is this Kryptonian woman so pissed off?" Atom Smasher asked as he put Dr. Fate's helmet back on the table.

"She's been brainwashed to be the Russian's weapon of mass destruction," Hawkman reminded him.

"Question: If she's so powerful, how the fuck are we supposed to stop her?" Cyclone wondered.

"If we convince her to wear a Kryptonite ankle bracelet, she will lose her power," Dr. Fate interjected. "Then, we can peacefully negotiate the terms of her existence."

"Based on the files you've given us, she's lethal as fuck," Cyclone said anxiously.

"Correct, look alive," Hawkman said to his team. "We're here."

Mariupol

Karina took a stroll around the streets and saw a Ukrainian statue of some hero destroyed in a traffic circle. She looked over the destroyed statue, a symbol of Ukrainian identity. She then looked around at the ruined city and the people around her. "Forgive me," she said softly.

Karina then noticed Adam being detained by two Russian soldiers. "I just want you to know, I'm a great fan of your work," he said to them.

"The fuck is wrong with you?" one of them asked him and was about to strike him.

Karina intervened stopping the Russian soldier from striking the boy. "He's just a boy. He doesn't know what he's saying."

"Fine, whatever," the Russian soldiers released the boy.

Karina then turned to the air as she sensed something coming. She rose out of the city and confronted the Justice Society of America's blackbird. "She's here," Dr. Fate said.

"Did the helmet tell you that?" Cyclone asked amazed.

"No, my eyes did," Dr. Fate said pointing her out through the window.

"Fate and I take the lead. You two hang back 'til we call you. You're the hammer and you're the sickle," Hawkman said to Atom Smasher and Cyclone.

"Nice...wait, what?" Atom Smasher thought he misheard.

Hawkman exited the blackbird through its glass floor window. Dr. Fate grabbed his helmet. "You can't prepare for fate," he said as he teleported out of the blackbird. Hawkman circled around Karina in the air with his wings outstretched and mace ready. "We're here to restore peace to Ukraine and we will use force, if necessary," he said to her.

"Force is always necessary," Karina corrected. She then heard a voice in her head. "We know what you're capable of, Karina. There's no place for you in this world of man."

Karina eyed Dr. Fate wearing his blue costume, gold cape, and gold helmet. "You have two choices, kneel or die."

"I kneel before no one," Karina replied and then fired heat vision at Hawkman behind her. Hawkman used his shield at the last moment to defend himself but was blasted into a building. Karina then focused on Dr. Fate with a more powerful beam. Dr. Fate brought up a forcefield to defend himself and then altered her perception of reality all around her. Karina found herself in Moscow, her real home. She looked over the buildings, the streets, and a weird-ass bird. That bird suddenly punched her hard to the face. Karina slammed into a building from the blow.

Karina got back to her feet as Hawkman approached her. "Just agree to give up and we can all go home," he told her.

"Nyet," Karina sneered.

Hawkman took to the air and tried to slam her with his mace. Karina caught his mace handle and kept him above her. Hawkman used both arms to try to force down his mace on her. Karina kept her right arm steady and then punched Hawkman into a parked car. Karina then blasted him with heat vision until his armor was smoking. Karina suddenly advanced on Hawkman punching him into the air. The two punched at each other in the air with Hawkman's helmet getting dented up. Karina fired on him with heat vision. Seeing where the beam would go if he didn't block it, Hawkman used his mace to deflect it back at her. Karina closed her eyes slightly stunned by the blast. Hawkman then swatted her down into the city.

Karina got back to her feet seemingly unaffected. "Cyclone, Smasher, this is your time," Dr. Fate ordered.

Cyclone exited the blackbird and then they created a tornado in the middle of the city. Construction debris was tossed about in the tornado. Cyclone then threw all of the debris she had collected right at Karina. It merely broke apart or bounced off her frame. Dr. Fate created a forcefield on Karina to restrain her. With little effort, she forced herself out of the construct.

"Kage no Bunshin," Dr. Fate said as he created multiple copies of himself. Karina punched the Dr. Fate copies off of her, shattering them with each punch. New copies appeared to replace them. "I can't hold her much longer."

Hawkman threw a truck at Karina to see what that would do. Karina fired heat vision at the truck incinerating it. She then realized the truck was only a distraction as Hawkman sped towards her with his mace. Cyclone did her part to throw more wind and debris at Karina from the side. When it appeared that the Justice Society of America was about to win, Karina suddenly released a solar flare. Dr. Fate and Hawkman were thrown across the street in opposite directions from the blast. Atom Smasher became a giant and casually kicked several cars out of his way and then punched Karina deep into the ground with his fist.

"Atom Smash!" Atom Smasher said enthusiastically. He then reached out to give Cyclone a helping hand.

"Your finger looks so long and thick," she said impressed.

"Probably because I'm six stories tall now," Atom Smasher said, oblivious to Cyclone's flirtations.

"The both of you did great work. First time, bravo," Dr. Fate complimented.

"I think she's trying to get back up," Atom Smasher said alarmed.

"You better not let her escape," Hawkman warned.

"What do I do? I'm scared," Atom Smasher asked apprehensively.

Karina flew out of the ground and gave Atom Smasher an uppercut to the chin stunning him. Karina then flew off escaping the Justice Society of America. The Ukrainians cheered naively believing their oppressor was gone. Dr. Fate was not convinced by their victory and casually walked towards where Karina had flown off to.

"Where are you going?" Hawkman questioned.

"We're not strong enough," Dr. Fate judged.

"Maybe next time use your powers of prediction to figure that out before we get our asses kicked," Hawkman mocked.

"Working on it," Dr. Fate said with false sincerity and then grabbed Adam to detain him. "Red Daughter headed towards city hall," Cyclone reported. "I don't think she intends to surrender."

"Why would she surrender? She's Russia's champion. Who are you? The Justice Society? We're living under military occupation because you guys caused the Soviet Union to fall. We could have all remained one happy family if not for the West," Adam said passionately.

"I like your passion, but you're fucked up, kid," Hawkman said amazed.

"Red Daughter is our hero," Adam said adamantly. "Thank you but no thanks. Go advance Western imperialism somewhere else."

"Let me spell it out to you, little boy. Red Daughter can't be Ukraine's champion because she's a villain," Hawkman told him off.

"Tell that to all the people she's liberated from the corruption of Kyiv," Adam pointed out all the people.

"I know what this looks like...to you, but I can assure you that you're brainwashed as fuck," Hawkman told him.

Atom Smasher suddenly woke up and collapsed a building. "Oh, I'm so sorry," he said embarrassed.

"Atom, how much do you want to find out?" Hawkman asked annoyed.

"I don't want to find out, Sir," Atom said fearfully.

"If you don't fuck around, you'll never find out," Hawkman reminded him. "We need to engage Red Daughter again," he said to Dr. Fate.

"You don't have any authority here. Red Daughter has done nothing wrong," Adam protested.

"Red Daughter is not who you think she is," Hawkman said condescendingly.

"And how would you know?" Adam asked stubbornly.

"We have access to the Internet," Hawkman said obviously.

"Western lies and propaganda!" Adam accused.

"Her rage could destroy this country, this world," Hawkman told him. "We flew all the way over here to stop that from happening."

"I can talk to her. Trust me," Adrain said adorably.

"Fine," Hawkman relented.

Adam entered the ruins of city hall and found Karina staring off into space as she looked over the ruined city. "You brought the invaders with you," Karina noted.

"They just want to talk," Adam said naively.

"They can talk. I won't listen," Karina said resolved.

"My grandmother used to tell me stories of how the champion came to this exact spot to liberate the enslaved people of Ukraine by defeating the capitalist Whites in battle. That champion was Stalin, the man of steel," Adam said smiling.

"Jesus Christ," Karina said softly.

"But the Justice Society tell me that isn't how it happened. That Stalin didn't come here to seek justice," Adam said disillusioned. "If Stalin is deemed unworthy, does that mean you are, too?" he asked anxiously. "Who is Ukraine's champion supposed to be?"

"I never claimed to be a hero. I never claimed to be anything," Karina replied.

"Maybe you made mistakes, but you can be a hero for us now," Adam said hopefully.

"I will hear them out. If they choose to fight, they choose to die," Karina said finally.

The four members of the Justice Society of America cautiously approached Karina. Atom Smasher appropriately came forth with a large bucket of KFC while many in the city were starving to death. Dr. Fate teleported the KFC bucket away realizing how obnoxious it was. "We're here to negotiate the terms of your peaceful surrender," Hawkman said boldly.

"I'm not peaceful and I do not surrender," Karina denied.

"What have your powers ever given you? Nothing but heartache," Dr. Fate pointed out.

"You have no idea," Karina said somberly.

"Then why are you making this hard on us?" Hawkman asked. "We both know you're not supposed to be here."

"I could say the same about you," Karina shot back. "I want you all to leave Ukraine and never return."

"Gladly, as you as our prisoner," Hawkman replied.

"I don't think you appreciate the power dynamic at play here. I will rip your wings off," Karina threatened.

"I'd like to see you try," Hawkman said confidently. "This can only end one way. How long are we going to talk shit?"

"There's no point in fighting. We both know no one can stop me," Karina told him.

"Well, you see, that's where you're wrong," Hawkman said stubbornly. "They say you cried for Alina. Who was she to you?" he taunted.

"Alina was a true champion of Russia. She was my adopted sister. I tried to protect her. I wasn't strong enough. I couldn't protect her. Instead of saving herself, she sacrificed herself for me. Despite all her powers, she couldn't save herself from...you," Karina said tearfully. "Alina dreamt of a better world. That's why she saved me but the world was only a better place with her in it."

"Let's agree to disagree," Hawkman rolled his eyes.

"Russia needed a hero. Instead, it got me. All this power and yet I was a failure, a prisoner, a deserter," Karina admitted.

"So, are you going to give up your power?" Hawkman wondered.

"You took her away from me, now, prepare to die," Karina said angrily and then fired on them all. Dr. Fate teleported Adam out of the fight and then blocked Karina's beams with a forcefield. Cyclone created a tornado within the ruins greatly annoying Karina. Hawkman activated his helmet, extended his wing, and got his mace ready. Atom Smasher threw a broken pillar at Karina distracting her. Hawkman slammed her to the floor with his mace. Karina and Hawkman wrestled with each other in the air. Hawkman morphed his mace into an ax as Cyclone threw a car at her. The car slammed into Karina at the same time Atom Smasher punched her down with a giant fist.

Karina got up as Hawkman swung his ax at her. The ax went right through her, an illusion. "Activate infrared," Hawkman ordered his helmet. The real Karina fired on Hawkman before he could identify the right one. Hawkman brought up his shield to block her and then swung his ax down on her chest slicing deep. Karina cried out in pain as the ax sliced deep into her lung, broke several ribs, and her clavicle. Karina gave Hawkman an uppercut releasing herself. Before Hawkman could recover, Karina grabbed his helmet and threw him through a building.

Dr. Fate appeared next to Hawkman without his helmet on. "This is it. We can't win," he said.

"If we fail, the world burns," Hawkman said getting back up. "A shit plan is better than no plan at all."

Hawkman led Cyclone and Atom Smasher back towards the ruins of city hall. Dr. Fate then made the fateful decision to form a forcefield around the entire city hall to prevent them from entering. "This is some bullshit," Hawkman said frustrated as he couldn't get through the barrier.

"I'm giving us a third option," Dr. Fate told him from the other side of the barrier.

"It's supposed to be me. I'm supposed to get the arrest," Hawkman said dismayed.

"I didn't tell you the whole vision, my old friend. I did see your death...," he said.

There was a long awkward pause between them all. "And?" Hawkman wondered.

"It has been an extraordinary life but always one foot in the future. After all of these visions, I have PTSD like no other. I just want to see nothing because nothing...is beautiful," Dr. Fate said.

"That's fucked-up, man," Hawkman said tearfully.

"Goodbye," Dr. Fate said sincerely.

"Kent Clark, you can't do this to me!" Hawkman protested.

Dr. Fate ignored him and went to confront Karina alone. She casually waited for Dr. Fate to arrive. He fired a forcefield on her to keep her from moving. "I am the defender against darkness and chaos but even I can't defeat you."

"Well, we finally have common ground on something," Karina said dryly as she shattered the crystal constructs around her. Dr. Fate formed a dozen copies of himself and fired on her from all angles. Some of these copies then tried to hold her down. "No one can defeat me," Karina said as she shattered Dr. Fate's copies like glass. Dr. Fate formed chain constructs around Karina's hands only for her to easily break them. Dr. Fate struggled to put up a forcefield to block Karina's heat vison. Multiple copies of himself attempted to bind her hands. Karina struggled a bit but then clapped her hands destroying the last of the Dr. Fate copies.

As Dr. Fate weakened, the forcefield went down over city hall. Hawkman, Cyclone, and Atom Smasher saw their opportunity to rush in before it was too late. Karina cocked her fist back and punched through Dr. Fate's torso mortally wounding him. With her hand still in his gut, she lifted him off the floor.

"No!" Hawkman shouted mournfully.

Karina glared at Dr. Fate with hate. He simply smiled at her resigned to his fate. His suffering was finally over. He then faded into nothingness and his helmet dropped to the floor. Hawkman, Cyclone, and Atom Smasher rushed her as her body began to glow. A pillar of energy suddenly went up into the sky as Karina went prime. As the three of them attacked her with everything she had, Karina unleashed a solar flare blasting them all back and gutting the city hall ruins. When the smoke had faded, a glowing Karina picked up Dr. Fate's helmet and allowed it to melt to liquid gold metal on the floor. She then went up to a burned and injured Hawkman and took him by the throat. She took a construction pipe that had been lying about and impaled him with it. Karina then broke his neck before incinerating his body with heat vision.

Atom Smasher attempted to get back to his feet and grow. Karina sliced down on his head with her knife hand splitting him in half keenly. Cyclone attempted to get away only to be frozen in place by Karina's frost breath. She then clapped her hands shattering her into thousands of shards. Karina then walked away; her vengeance satisfied.

Shortly thereafter, Karina and Adam walked the streets of Mariupol. Karina was relaxed, wearing casual clothes, and unnoticeable. "So, are you finally going to be our hero?" Adam asked.

Karina gave him a strained look. "Ukraine has always had heroes and it still does...but I'm not one of them."

"But you're Red Daughter," Adam protested.

"Precisely," Karina said. "I don't know. Maybe that name isn't very inclusive."

"Then, what shall we call you," Adam asked confused.

"Let's go with...Supergirl," Karina smiled.

Karina then escorted Adam to his living relatives in the city. They embraced him and brought him inside their ruined apartment. Karina eyed the destruction sadly and then walked away alone.

That night, Karina was dressed as Supergirl. She walked around Mariupol testing it out. As she entered the ruins of city hall, a drone discovered her. The drone emitted a hologram of Amanda Waller looking pissed off. "Okay, Supergirl, congratulations, you have my attention...again. This is going to be your only warning. You don't want to stay in my prison, that's fine. Mariupol is your prison now. You step one foot outside it, you won't live to regret it," she threatened.

"There's no one on this planet that can stop me," Karina told her off.

"I can call in a favor and send people who aren't from this planet," Amanda bluffed.

"Send them all," Karina said unconcernedly.

"As you wish," Amanda smirked.

Karina blasted the drone with heat vision, already tired of her shit. A tall man with a cape suddenly came down from the sky and landed. "I see you share my hatred of drones," he said dryly.

"I'm not apologizing," Karina said quickly.

"It's been a while since someone's made this world this nervous, Supergirl," Superman said as he emerged from the shadows. "We should talk."

Karina embraced him tearfully. "Kal, kill me."

"No," Superman said as he hugged her tight.

"In my farewell, there will be no blood, no alibi. I've drawn regret from the truth of a thousand lies. So, let justice come and wash me away," Karina cried.

"No matter what you've done, you will start again. And whatever pain you feel, today, it ends. Forgive yourself and erase your former self," Superman told her.

"I need an angel. I need you, Kal," Karina admitted.

"I'll be here for as long as you need me," Superman promised.

Midvale

Karina walked up to the Luthor Mansion in Midvale, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door. The butler answered the door quickly and recognized her. "Welcome back, Mrs. Luthor," he said cheerfully.

"Is the master of the house present?" Karina asked.

"He is. Please make yourself at home in the study while I get him for you," the butler said to her.

Karina walked inside and entered the study. She considered the vodka on the liquor table but then thought better of it. Lex Luthor then entered the room wearing an all-black suit and a black glove on his right hand. "Hello, Lex. You've done well with the place," Karina said awkwardly.

"You're alive," he noted.

"I've had a change of heart and I got a second chance at life. You know, I used to think that great people like us were defined by our enemies. Now, I hope family and friends are what make us who we are. Please, Lex, give me a second chance," Karina pleaded.

"Well, that's the thing about memories. You can't forget them," Lex said coldly. "When it came to your loyalty to Russia or what you perceived to be the New World Order, I never stood a chance."

"It wasn't meant to be a competition," Karina shook her head.

"Of course, it was. You were born to bring balance to this world. You're simply better than all of us," Lex said resentfully.

"I wanted to relish and embrace my power. I was wrong. I get that now," Karina admitted.

"You and I... can be both great people because of each other. We have a destiny together...," Lex said as he came closer to her. Karina scanned his black glove and saw Kryptonite inside it. She eyed him wondering if they were to be enemies now.

"On the same side," Lex said finally.

"I'll always love you, Lex," Karina said gratefully.

"Oh, I'm counting on it," Lex said embracing her. "Our story hasn't been written, yet. And you will always be my hero. We're relying on you to save us all from the next apocalypse. You are our chosen savior, the light that will bring this world out of the darkness."

"I can't save the world on my own," Karina admitted.

"You won't be alone," Lex assured her. He turned away from her and placed his glove in a lead case. He then went over to her with a ring in his hand and placed it on her finger. The ring had the letter L stamped on it. "With this ring, I grant you authority over my affairs, to act on my behalf. Come, let us celebrate. You were lost but now you have been found."

Lex went over and poured two glasses of champagne. He handed her a glass. "Karina Elizabeth Zhukov is dead," Karina said to him.

"Oh, really?" Lex asked intrigued.

"I am now Kara Zor-El," she informed him.

"Well, Kara, shall we continue our game?" Lex asked.

Kara clinked glasses with him. "Always."

The End