Supergirl:

Hellspawn

Part 6

Kara couldn't speak.

This being, the spawn of Satan Girl, had murdered Duplicate Boy? A hero much more powerful than any single Legionnaire, including her? How were they supposed to fight that?

How were they supposed to get justice or vengeance for Violet?

Given that she was friends with Violet, how could she refuse?

Her head was whirling and the only sounds she could hear, outside of breathing or coughs, was Violet sobbing as she held onto Johnny Flash. Even Destruction did not speak.

The Stranger was the first to break silence. "Are you able to tell us how your husband was killed?"

This brought on a new burst of sobs from Violet. The Stranger's expression didn't change. Perhaps it couldn't. Destruction looked somewhat grieved. Given his name and nature, that was a great feat, indeed.

Saturn Queen walked over to Violet and Johnny and placed her hands on Violet's shoulders. "Shhh, Salu," she said. "We are here to help. We are your friends. Let me into your mind."

Salu Digby took hold of Saturn Queen by the waist and cried on her shoulder. Imra Ardeen, the Saturnian telepath, closed her eyes and gave no other outward sign of what she was doing. But all who saw her face saw the expression of horror and grief on it.

After less than half a minute, Imra's eyes opened. "Horrible. I saw it through her eyes. The Lallor heroes…all slaughtered."

"Holy Ar," said Powerman.

"The very holy Ar," Mon-El responded.

Night Woman sauntered up to Destruction, and her mien was anything but reverent. "They call you Destruction?"

The Endless gave her a look back, but said nothing.

"Then why don't you help us destroy this guy?"

He paused before answering, "I cannot."

"What?" The voice was Night Woman's, but all the Legionnaires present echoed her feeling. All eyes were upon the two.

"Our ability—that of the Endless—to intervene in material affairs directly is very restricted," Destruction said. "We can impel, we can advise, we can try to arrange matters. But sentient beings have free will. I embody destruction. I cannot directly destroy."

Salu looked up, paused, and then yelled. "You mean you can't destroy him? All that power, and you can't destroy Ord's killer? I'll destroy you!"

She leaped at Destruction, battered him on the chest with her fists, shrank to subatomic size and tried to expand within his brain or what passed for it. But Violet found herself plucked from within his interior, shunted outside of his body, and restored against her will to full human size. And then…

…Destruction's arms were about her, and they were, somehow, comforting.

"I have seen many men, many beings, fall in battle," he said, gently. "I have seen all who fall in battle. Every one of them was beloved by someone else. Every one of them left someone to carry on their memory. Your husband was among the first to fall in the greatest battle of the Truth. I will help you mourn, Salu Digby. I will honor the memory of Ord Quelu and those who fought beside him. I will."

Salu's sobs softened, though they did not cease. She hugged Destruction as well as she could. Kara felt some equilibrium coming back to her.

Titan Girl approached Destruction and Violet. "I can give you rest, Violet. Please."

"Don't want to rest," sniffed Salu. "I want to kill that monster."

"We share your grief and anger," said the League telepath. "But you will do neither us nor yourself any good with exhaustion. Come. Let me help."

Violet looked at Titan Girl curiously. The latter, with Saturn Queen looking on, touched her head briefly. Salu's eyes closed and she went limp. Destruction bore her up. Gently, Ultra Man took her from him.

Saturn Queen spoke to Titan Girl. "Nicely done," she said.

"Thank you," Titan Girl responded.

"Hate to be the one who has to say this," said Dev. "But: now what?"

The Stranger spoke. "A thousand years past, I aided the heroes of your systems in the Great Crisis against Darkseid. Eighteen years ago, I helped many of you defeat Mordru. Now I hope to aid your efforts against our current enemy. I will help you plan. I will give you information. And I will marshal our forces against Darkseid and Nemesis."

Supergirl said, "But you can't fight him directly either. Right?"

After a pause, the Stranger said, "Correct."

-S-

The fleet of Darkseid, in space-vessels of their own and some borrowed from Apokolips, were drawing near the second circle of three that protected territory of the United Planets. Since this sector included Earth, things were dire indeed. It was the U.P.'s headquarters world.

Of course the defense ships of the Planets were assembled and ready to engage. Both sides were waiting for the other to make a move.

But the sensors of the ships on either side suddenly picked up new arrivals. And the arrivals were somehow moving faster than the ships.

Even more unbelievably, they were no bigger than human beings.

There were at least four of them at first, but more seemed to be oncoming. They separated from their formation and started smashing into the enemy vessels.

And said vessels were getting wrecked!

Three of said invaders were slamming into and out of the ships of Darkseid at warp speed, almost faster than the Planets ships could register. The fourth seemed to latch onto the hull of a single ship, tear said hull apart with his bare hands, and enter it. A batch of space-suited enemy warriors was sensed on viewscreens, being thrown out of the hull's hole like so many dolls.

It was unbelievable. But in the century of the Legion, the Planet forces had learned how to believe much more than the human mind could normally credit.

General Thane, aboard the command ship, sent an instantly-translated message to all his ships. "Attack everybody but those four! Give 'em hell and a HALF!"

The forces of the Planets did just that.

Good men and bad men died that day, but the mighty three stood between Apokoliptic ships and Planetary ships more than once and took enemy blasts on their own bodies, shielding their forces. The fourth warrior went somehow from ship to ship, breaking in and immobilizing them. And the men of the U.P. Took down the ones that were left.

Not much more than an hour later, the bad guys gave up. The Planets forces neutralized their weapons and fixed tractor beams on their craft. Losses on the allied side had been, thankfully, minimal.

The four newcomers were tracked as they neared Thane's ship, and an airlock opened to accommodate them. All the same, guards both living and cybernetic aimed weaponry at them, though none were sure what effect it would have.

The foursome stood and saluted the crewmen facing them. "Hi there," said the quartet's leader. The other three stood at ease.

"State your names and planet of origin, please," said the head guard.

The man in the flashy red, white, and blue outfit grinned. "Ya might call me Uncle Sam, soldier."

Before the guard could ask whose uncle he was and what he was specifically, the big man in red and yellow boomed out, "I am Captain Marvel."

The teenaged boy in blue beside him said, "I have his name, but call me Junior."

A red clad girl said, "Marcia Marvel is my name. We call ourselves the Marvel Family."

"Oh," the guard replied. "What are you? Daxamites? Rokynians?"

"Heck no," said Uncle Sam. "We're Americans. Can we speak to your commanding officer?"

The guard was formulating a response when a voice came from the ship's announcement system. "Bring them up," said Thane.

So without much hesitation, that's just what the guards did.

To be continued...