Alex stood off to the side as Kelly did her thing. "Jenny, when your sister asks you to babysit, suck it up and fucking do it because family is important. Your childless ass ain't doing anything important and think of the children, for once."
Kelly then went back to Alex as Kara and James arrived on the scene. "God damn, Kelly, do you even know that person?" Alex asked wincing.
"I just met her. Why?" Kelly asked confused by her demeanor.
"Did you actually talk to her or did you use Obsidian Eyes to find out everything about her?" Kara mocked.
"It's kind of my job to listen, guys," Kelly said defensively.
"Kelly, you were attacked by a shape-shifter and he's still out there. Listen to me when I say you're in grave danger," Alex said super-serious.
"And you have every DEO agent out there looking to find him," Kelly assured her.
"Every...single...DEO...agent?" Kara asked skeptically. "I mean, it couldn't hurt for both of you to be in a bunker until they catch him. Oh, wait, he could just phase through it. He could be impersonating you right now telling DEO men to assassinate us here. I guess you are fucked."
"Thanks, Kara, you really brighten my day," Alex said annoyed.
"I mean, as Alex's sister, I can tell you that she is always paranoid-as-fuck and that you both need to just chill and enjoy the moment," Kara said.
"And as Kelly's brother, I can affirm that when shit hits the fan she'll fall like a house of cards," James added.
"I'd love to hear you both roast us, but I have a meeting to get to," Kelly said to them all. "Try not to worry too much," she said giving Alex a kiss.
"Bye," they all said as Kelly left.
"Any sign of Malefic?" Kara asked as she shoved a doughnut into her mouth.
"No, and he doesn't seem to have a psychic signature either. We'll find him. We have to," Alex said resolved.
"Well...he was...like...right there," Kara said as she munched on her doughnut. "Impersonating Kelly."
"You better be fucking with me," Alex said paranoid.
Kara laughed nearly choking. "This is fucking serious, Kara," Alex scolded her.
"I'm sorry. I'm just a little apprehensive about hanging out with Lena. She's onto me about my secret identity. I can feel it," Kara said.
"You still haven't told her, yet? What the fuck?" Alex asked dismayed.
"I will...eventually get around to it," Kara lied.
"Lena will probably forgive you if you tell her the truth, right now," Alex advised her. "You got to let go of the past. Your days of toying with her are over."
"I just want things to be fun between us and I want this lunch to be really awkward and forced," Kara grinned.
"And it will. I guarantee it," Alex rolled her eyes. "Look, I have to get back to the DEO. You be perfect somewhere else."
"I will," Kara assured her. She then looked around. "Where the fuck did James go?"
Nia went to her bathroom to get ready when Brainiac 5 startled her. "Graceful arcs across her brow and left forever to wonder how a being as perfect my Nia Nall could ever love so small...," he recited to her.
"Holy shit, Barney!" Nia said freaked out by him.
"What was that?" Brainiac 5 asked confused by her reaction.
"Thank you for poem one hundred and...," she said and forgot what number they were on.
"One hundred twenty-seven," Brainiac 5 reminded her. "I have almost mastered the sonnet."
"I think you got it but you don't want to overdo it," Nia advised.
"You're right. Brevity is the soul of wit Polonius said to Hamlet," Brainiac 5 agreed. "Now, I shall engage in a villanelle. A much deeper emotional resonance as exemplified by...," Brainiac 5 began.
Nia ignored him as she used her hair dryer blocking him out.
Andrea sat down with her staff at Catco. "What's on the docket? Celebrity divorces, disgraced influencers, show me the clits...I mean clicks," Andrea demanded.
"I have a medical exam report and I was thinking we could run a story on recent deaths," Franklin said like the total weirdo that he was.
"People love to read about death," Andrea agreed.
"And see it, too," Kara added.
"Death is what gives life meaning," Andrea said darkly.
"Twenty-one-year-old Uber driver hit by a car," Franklin brought up.
"That's pretty ironic. Usually, it's the other way around," Kara smirked.
"Boring," Andrea yawned unimpressed. "Show me some sparkling death."
"Yeah, like one hundred ways to die on Spike TV. That show was awesome," Kara brought up.
"Dr. Niles Jared, a health-tech billionaire, recently discovered deceased in a nightclub bathroom," Franklin said.
"Oh, no, not that guy. I did this interview with him last year about gene manipulation," Kara brought up.
"Knowing who they are doesn't make their death interesting," Andrea told her.
"Look, this young guy was trying to keep himself young forever with genetics and then ends up dead in a nightclub of all places. It's tragically ironic and therefore hilarious," Kara argued.
"There's hard news, legitimate feature, and brain candy. Sentimental rubbish is a category all on its own," William Dey said arrogantly.
"You sound like someone trying to hide something," Kara said knowingly.
"Dead scientist is not sparkly," Andrea said dismissively.
"And there's no substantive story," William added. "So stop wasting our time.
"Do you even know how he died? It could have been exotic cocaine for all you know. Exotic cocaine I want to know where and how to get," Kara said interested.
"I've looked into it thoroughly," William said.
"Oh really? Because Franklin just brought it up right now and it happened yesterday. So, were you there? Did you see it happen?" Kara asked him.
"Next corpse, Franklin," Andrea ordered.
Kara detected William's heartbeat sensing that he was a lying bastard in dire need of a whoop-ass.
At lunch, Kara ambushed William outside the building. "Why don't you want me looking into Jared's death? What's your deal?"
"You're paranoid," William said dismissively.
"You lied up there. Why?" Kara demanded.
"Stop humiliating yourself, Danvers. It's painful to watch," William insulted and then walked off.
James then met up with Kara. "Everything okay?"
"I thought I had William Dey pegged as an ambitious ass and it turns out I was right," Kara said. "Do you remember that piece I made Nia write for me about Jared on genetic engineering?"
"I don't recall anything of a sort," James admitted.
"Well, he's now dead in a club," Kara said.
"Overdose?" James figured.
"Unclear. William Dey spiked the story. He said he already looked into it and there's nothing more to find," Kara said.
"I hate to break it to you but Catco isn't the entire media. If you're not covering it, someone else will like the Daily Planet, New York Times, Washington Post," James listed off.
"Yeah, sure, but what grinds my gears is that he lied," Kara said dramatically. "He knows something more and he doesn't want me to find out about it."
"Let me ask you something, Kara. Why do you give a shit?" James asked.
"I'm part of the billionaires club now and a loss like this is actually a big fucking deal," Kara said seriously.
"Then why do you work for Catco still?" James asked.
"Well, I need to keep an eye on that ditz, Nia, but it's not always so bad. Like today, all we talked about was death," Kara said wide-eyed.
"I want to get my head off these job offers for a while. Want to solve a murder case together?" James asked.
"Do I? Fuck yes," Kara said enthusiastically.
"I'll keep you informed," James promised and walked off.
Kara hosted a meeting with the super-rich of Metropolis, Gotham, New York City area at Wayne Tower. "Bruce Wayne is still on retreat to who knows where, so, as his wife, I will be taking over operations here at Wayne Enterprises," Kara said to them all. "Now, a prominent member just died, last night, Niles Jared. I suspect it was murder. I want this front-page news with all sorts of irresponsible reporting. Hopefully, that will flush the killer out of hiding," Kara said.
"And what if we say no?" William Daggot said argumentatively.
"Really? What the fuck is your problem?" Kara asked him.
"I never liked him anyway," Daggot shrugged.
"An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us no matter how much of an asshole he may have been," Oliver Queen, of this universe, said super-serious.
"Here, here," Tony Stark agreed.
"I think you may be a little paranoid with your killer theory," Adrien Veidt doubted.
"Better safe than sorry," Kara told him.
"I worked with Jared on our gene-enhancing formula. I'll do what I can in Manhattan," Norman Osbourne volunteered.
"I got people on the street that can look into it," Wilson Fisk said. "If it was drugs, I'll know about it."
"Well, okay then," Kara said pleased. "Are we are still not letting Lena Luthor into our club?"
"Fuck no!" they all said at once.
"Just checking," Kara smiled.
Nia visited Hank's PI office and looked at her recent phone message. "Another poem," she muttered. "Sorry, not appropriate or important right now."
"You know he's just fucking with you, right?" Hank hoped.
"He's just socially awkward," Nia excused.
"The man is a walking encyclopedia, several hundred years old, and a master psychological manipulator. If you want him to change, you have to force him to," Hank advised.
"Right, well, how can I help you?" Nia asked changing the subject.
"I want to restore my missing memories," he said. "I was hoping your dream power could go deeper than Kelly's technology could," Hank said.
"Isn't messing with memories dangerous?" Nia asked him.
"I ain't no bitch," Hank replied.
"Are you sure you want to remember?" Nia asked.
"I've seen a lot of fucked-up shit in my lifetime. I doubt this would surprise me," Hank said. "I need to know why Malefic betrayed our people. Why he's coming after us. If I can truly understand what happened, I can mock him with it when I kill his ass."
Malefic entered Kelly's apartment where she inexplicably had a photograph of herself with a friend she hadn't seen in two years. Malefic then decided to take the form of Pete Andrews having no idea the nature of his relationship with Kelly. He then arrived at Obsidian North and met up with Kelly.
"Pete Andrews? What are you doing here?" Kelly asked coldly not bothering to give him a hug or handshake.
"One of the guys posted something saying you worked here," Malefic said friendly.
"That's interesting. I just started," Kelly said not phased a bit.
"I was in town and I thought I'd see your new gig. Fancy, Olsen," he said looking around.
"It's so...cool...of you to stop by," Kelly said politely.
"Dr. Olsen, you're 1:30 appointment is here," a staff member told her.
Kelly ignored him. "Why are you here?" she asked Malefic.
"I came to see you. I think I need help," he said.
"You're not wrong. Come back at 6:30 and we'll talk," Kelly offered.
"Thank you. You always had the biggest heart in the world," Malefic said appreciatively.
"I know," Kelly agreed.
Kara stopped by L Tower for lunch. "Did you get this from Paris?" Lena asked referring to their lunch.
"Actually, there's a French bakery down the street," Kara said.
"So, tell me, how's Catco?" Lena asked curiously.
"It's shitty with James gone. Andrea is always on my ass and William Dey is a daily irritation," Kara said honestly. "That said, I do enjoy making pop quizzes where you answer one hundred questions on one hundred pages all with ads. You don't even get the answer at the end."
"Oh, those are so frustrating to get through," Lena remarked.
"Well, enough about me. What's up with you?" Kara asked.
"It hasn't been the easiest time since Lex. I've been having nightmares. I try not to sleep. Nights are filled with apocalyptic visions of torture and anguish by the hands of my brother," Lena said.
"Have you tried alcohol?" Kara asked helpfully.
"I have, like a lot, and it doesn't seem to help," Lena frowned.
"Kelly does work with PTSD patients or do you want an old-fashioned memory wipe from Hank?" Kara suggested.
"Thank you but you know how private I can be," Lena said.
"I dig it," Kara said referring to her own privacy.
"The frustrating thing is that I know how to heal myself. Do you remember those journals we found at Strykers?" Lena asked.
"Sure," Kara vaguely recalled.
"Well, reading them is the only thing that calms me," Lena admitted.
"You mean Lex's maniacal scheming helps you sleep?" Kara asked incredulously.
"Somehow, hearing Lex's voice in them takes the mystery away," Lena said. "I just know that if I read them all, I would be able to cure myself of the trauma."
"Sounds like a plan. Get after it," Kara agreed.
"Unfortunately, that's not an option. The government has taken possession of all of Lex's possessions, his technology, his weapons, even his childhood journals," Lena said.
"Ever tried a Freedom of Information request?" Kara asked.
"They denied it, said it was classified," Lena replied.
"Well, I can get them for you," Kara volunteered.
"Don't be ridiculous. You're just a reporter," Lena said eying Kara carefully.
"Well, when you're right, you're right. But we both know people that can get us what we want. I'm just as curious as you are," Kara said.
"I couldn't ask you to do that," Lena said trying to manipulate her.
"You're not. I'm offering," Kara clarified. She then heard a buzz on her phone. "It's James. He wants me to see a dead body with him and I can't pass this up."
"Sure," Lena allowed.
Kara met up with James at the morgue. "We have five minutes," James told her.
"I think we can be here as long as we want," Kara corrected him.
"You look like you robbed a bank," James joked.
"I only rob my own banks," Kara said defensively.
Kara then withdrew the tarp over the dead Niles Jared. "Cause of death: heart attack," James read off.
Kara scanned the body and found a spider on his heart. "Looks like someone put a spider in him."
"That's creepy as fuck," James said.
"Scalpel," Kara ordered him.
"I don't think...," James protested.
"Don't be a bitch," Kara chided him.
James groaned and handed it to her. Kara cut into the body, snapped a rib off, and found an actual dead spider attached to his heart. "Nice," Kara said taking the spider out of his body.
Hank sat across from Nia in his PI office giving her a drink. "It may taste a little weird. It's a Martian herb that helps in bridging minds."
"It tastes like piss," Nia said cringing.
"Very good. That is one of the key ingredients," Hank said impressed by her detection.
"Let's just get this started," Nia said putting down the drink.
"Let's do this," Hank said ready to roll.
Nia and Hank entered the dream world. There, Hank saw his father, M'yrnn, chilling. He then saw several black children come down the stairs. "What the fuck is this?" he wondered. "Why are they in human form?"
"We don't really have the budget for real Martians," Nia said lamely.
"That's bullshit. Fix this, right now," Hank ordered.
"Fine," Nia rolled her eyes and made all the black children and M'yrnn look like Martians.
"Let's go play hide-and-seek," a Martian girl suggested.
"I remember playing this game," Hank recalled.
"Really, you played a common human game on Mars three hundred years ago?" Nia asked skeptically.
"Just go with it," Hank told her.
Using his telepathic abilities, teenage J'onn found the Martian girl behind a rock with ease. "That's cheating," Nia pointed out.
Malefic tried to do the same and failed miserably. "He can't connect to the hive mind," Hank realized.
The Martian kids began to jeer at him for his epic fail. "What's wrong with him? I think he's a queer," the kids said as they pushed him around.
"Damn, Martian kids are savage," Nia commented.
Malefic then activated his own unique ability causing all the kids mental distress. He even kicked J'onn's ass mentally. M'yrnn intervened forcing Malefic to sleep. "I thought the White Martians had used their technology to turn Malefic into a weapon. Now, I realize he was born with it. He could project his thoughts and will on others but cut off from my people in the cruelest way," Hank said.
They then saw M'yrnn taking Malefic away into a cell. "Where are we going, father?" he asked.
"Where no one can hurt you, my son," M'yrnn replied. "My beautiful son, know that you are loved and that we will pray every day as you must pray yourself."
"Getting a lot of 'pray the gay away' vibes going on here," Nia frowned.
"Father, J'onn, don't leave me here," Malefic pleaded. "I'll be good. I promise."
"Our god will never forsake you. Malefic, I love you," M'yrnn said and then left the room with J'onn locking the door.
"Please, don't leave me here. I'll do anything," Malefic begged.
Hank and Nia then saw an older J'onn come by the cell. "Malefic, Father prays every day for your healing. He has faith that one day you will come home to us."
"Fuck that noise. I'm hanging out with the Whites from now on," Malefic said angrily as two White Martians stood by him.
They then saw M'yrnn crying in agony. "Malefic, I failed you. My own son. To be conscripted by the White Martians, the agony in my heart is unbearable!"
The dream then ended returning Hank and Nia to the present in the PI office. "In his anguish, he must have wiped both of our memories. Wiped my brother from existence. What an asshole," Hank realized.
"I'm sorry," Nia said sympathetically.
"A Martian's death is not final but erasing a man's memory is," Hank continued. "To think my father had the balls to pull something like this off, murdering his own son, the hypocrisy. His whole life was dedicated to being a holy man and then he commits our culture's greatest sin. I must tell him how proud I am of him," Hank said smiling.
"Not the reaction I thought you would have," Nia said dismayed.
That night, Alex came over to Kara's apartment. "Where are the dumplings?" she asked looking in the fridge.
"Oops, I got caught up investigating a guy that had a spider in his heart instead," Kara said.
"What?" Alex wondered.
"There's more. William Dey knew about it and actively tried to block me from getting involved as if he could," Kara said pissed-off.
"Maybe he's trying to steal the scoop for himself," Alex suggested as she uncorked a wine bottle.
"Good luck with that. Niles Jared's body is torn open and the spider removed. Plus, I have my own resources that William Dey does not," Kara smiled confidently.
"As horrifying as this is, I'm more interested in your lunch with Lena," Alex said handing her a full wine glass. "How did it go?"
"It was great," Kara lied.
"Did you tell her yet?" Alex asked.
"It didn't seem like the right time with her bringing up her trauma with Lex," Kara said. "I kind of agreed to give Lena a favor."
"That's rare. What is it?" Alex asked curiously.
"It's nothing, it just entails me taking Lex Luthor's journals locked up at Fort Sumter," Kara said nonchalantly.
"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Alex asked outraged standing up.
"I just kind of blurted it out," Kara admitted. "I mean, I want to know what's in those journals just as much as she does."
"How are you going to do that as Kara Danvers?" Alex asked.
"I'm a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist. I don't need to be super to get the job done," Kara said condescendingly.
"You're going to call Lena and tell her this was a bad idea and you're not doing it," Alex ordered.
"I can't," Kara shook her head.
"What you can't do is break the law and steal federal property," Alex told her.
"I break the law all the time," Kara scoffed.
"Yeah, as Supergirl. As Kara Danvers, you have a squeaky clean image. Journalism students look up to you," Alex said.
"That is so sad," Kara chuckled. "Anyway, she deserves to heal."
"That's bullshit. You don't give a shit about helping her. This is all about yourself," Alex said knowingly.
"Maybe, Supergirl can take the journals and then...give them to Kara Danvers. What about that plan?" Kara asked brightly.
"You're worse than Barney, which is saying a lot," Alex said disappointed.
"Speaking of which, he helped me hack into the surveillance system in the nightclub where Dr. Jared was killed. I don't see you scolding him," Kara pointed out.
"Barney is a manipulative psychotic robot that doesn't give a fuck what I say to him," Alex said bitterly. "I would crackdown on his antics if I could."
"Where do you think I got all my rule-breaking from? Hmmm?" Kara asked.
"Not from me. I was a God damn saint in highschool. You were a teenage serial killer that created half the nutjobs you put away in Midvale," Alex deflected.
"That cuts real deep," Kara said with false outrage. Kara looked over her laptop. "Well, if it isn't William Dey hanging out with Dr. Jared at the time of the murder. And there's a woman with a spider tattoo."
Alex stared intently at the woman with the spider tattoo. "So, do you know that woman? Met her, talked with her, got drinks with her, slept with her?" Kara listed off.
"Wow, that escalated quickly," Alex said pissed-off. "No, but I know those tattoos."
Kelly had a friendly chat with Malefic pretending to be Pete Andrews. "So, tell me what's on your so-called mind," Kelly asked bored.
"Migraines, panic attacks," he said.
"I suppose being shot at by snipers in Kandahar is rough on the psyche," Kelly said.
"I'm not the same person I was before. Afghanistan took something from me. Something in my brain is broken and I want it back. Can you help me?" Malefic asked.
"Perhaps, what you need, is an entirely new brain," Kelly suggested. "A cybernetically enhanced brain."
"How long until you can get me in?" Malefic asked.
"Within the hour?" Kelly suggested. "But, Pete, you have to keep this between us."
"Of course," Malefic readily agreed. "You're a life-saver."
"I know," Kelly smiled.
Nia suddenly awoke from a nightmare. "Something is bothering you," Brainiac 5 sensed.
"No shit," Nia said catching her breath.
"You can tell me anything," Brainiac 5 pressed.
"Barney, if you had something really important to tell someone but if you did tell them it would hurt them really badly would you still do it?" Nia asked.
"In my experience, if you care about someone you tell them the truth," Brainiac 5 advised. "However painful, both of you will be better for it. Do you need a cheerful poem? I have a whole database full of them."
"No," Nia stopped him.
"Is there something you want to tell me?" Brainiac 5 asked curiously.
"No, but there is something I have to tell J'onn," Nia said urgently.
At the same time, another Brainiac 5 drone was at the DEO. As soon as Alex came in, he pushed a button on his watch. Supergirl landed into the DEO wearing pants. "These are not tattoos. They are alien organisms that attach to a human host. This was the original host," Alex said showing Kara and James a photo of a man with spider tattoos all over his face.
"This is one of the prisoners that escaped our desert facility and was one of the few Supergirl didn't hunt down and kill," Alex said. "It can transform back-and-forth into a tattoo and a three-dimensional creature making her uniquely dangerous and very hard to stop."
"This is just my opinion, Alex, but I believe it will be super-easy, barely an inconvenience," Kara said giving James a high-five.
"Take this seriously. She's already killed a talented and well-connected billionaire. This is her new host," Alex said showing a video of a blond woman at the nightclub captured from the surveillance cameras
"Can we get an ID?" James asked.
"Yeah, Caroline O'Connor. She's former special ops command and highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat, explosives, and a sniper," Alex said slightly aroused by her.
"British special ops is a joke," Kara said derisively.
"So, someone hired her to kill Jared," James assumed.
"Who and why?" Alex wondered.
"Give me her location and I will silence her," Kara said seriously.
"I got an address," Alex said bringing it up.
"Can you tell me where that is on your phone?" Kara asked James.
"God damn, I thought you knew where every address was in Metropolis," James said surprised and then showed her on a map.
"Got it," Kara said and then took off.
Kara entered the apartment and looked around with her X-ray vision finding a flash drive behind a dresser. "I don't think I invited you here," Caroline said displeased.
"That is because I invited myself," Kara smirked.
Caroline fired webs at her pinning both of her arms to the brick wall behind her. She then fired a web on her mouth. Kara easily pulled away from the web and took her time casting the sticky spiderwebs off her hands and mouth. "Super gross," she said.
Guardian rushed in and began fighting with her. Caroline tried to activate her spiderwebs when they suddenly failed. "Yeah, I came prepared," James said holding an electronic device that blocked her. Kara watched passively as Caroline and James fought evenly. Caroline then got rid of Jame's device and fired spiderwebs through his eyeholes.
Kara fired heat vision at Caroline forcing her to retreat. She fell out the window as the entire wall of the apartment exploded outwards. Kara then went over to the fallen James. "You are amazingly fast to suit up. You got here at almost the same time as I did."
At the DEO, Alex gave a class on a medical device in the infirmary. "This device uses a magnetic resonance to attract the heavy metals in the ink."
"Yes, but how do you keep your device from not tearing his skin off?" Kara asked.
"Hurry the fuck up, already," James said painfully on the medical bed.
Alex then zapped James forcing the spiders out of his head. "I am deciphering the information on the drive Supergirl brought us. The encryption is actually quite impressive. I haven't seen anything like it for a thousand years," Brainiac 5 said.
"Alright, let's get these down to holding," Alex said taking the spiders in a glass jar.
"Eww," Kara said immaturely. "You good?" she asked James.
"Yeah, I've been hit harder than that," James downplayed.
"I considered killing her quickly but you looked like you were having fun," Kara admitted.
"Thanks, Kara. It feels good to be relevant," James nodded.
"You should get some rest. I think you've had your fill of fun for a while," Kara said to him and then walked off.
Nia came into Hank's PI office deeply troubled. "It's late. Are you alright?" Hank asked slightly concerned.
"I have to show you something. It's the rest of the dream about what happened on Mars," Nia said. "It's the part you didn't see. Do you want to see it because it's going to be painful?"
"Absolutely," Hank said a little pissed Nia had withheld important information from him.
They then saw M'yrnn in agony. "I've failed you as I have failed my own son. The agony in my heart is unbearable!"
"Yeah, you really fucked up," J'onn agreed. "It's all your fault.
"He was my boy, my child. He could not control his illness. The test was mine and I failed! I do not deserve to live," M'yrnn said dramatically.
"No you don't but you need to. I need you around so I can treat you like shit when I succeed you," J'onn told him.
"How can I counsel my people when I myself am nothing?" M'yrnn asked rhetorically.
"Father, there are plenty of holy men with children that are fuck-ups. It happens all the time," J'onn told him. "Our people need you to talk shit and pass judgment on others."
"Then I have failed them all," M'yrnn said miserably.
"You know what? I'm done with your bullshit," J'onn said and then memory wiped the existence of Malefic from his mind. He then did the same to himself and the entire hive mind laughing maniacally as he did. The dream then ended.
"It was me," Hank realized.
"I'm sorry," Nia said sympathetically.
"All this time I thought my father was an asshole when it was really me. I murdered my own brother," Hank said.
"To save your father," Nia said.
"To save us both I crossed the line in our culture. I thought this whole time that fleeing Mars was my worst sin only to now know that it is the least of my sins. I am so happy," Hank said appreciatively.
"Wait...what?" Nia wondered surprised by his reaction.
"Swear to me, you will never speak of what you saw to anyone. I wish to cherish this memory for myself," Hank requested.
"I swear," Nia said weirded out by him.
Kelly placed scanners on Malefic, disguised as Pete Andrews, head. "These will scan your brain and your memories will appear on this screen."
"You can see my memories?" Malefic asked slightly alarmed.
"To help you process them," Kelly said.
"So, they'll appear there in real-time?" Malefic questioned.
"There is, unfortunately, a bit of a lag," Kelly said. "It takes a few minutes to map your mind and for the image generators to do their thing. Don't worry. You're in good hands."
"Let's do it," Malefic replied.
Supergirl landed at Fort Sumter in her usual skirt and greeted the guards at the base. A general came out to see her. "How can we help the Girl of Steel?" he asked her.
"I need Lex Luthor's journals," Kara said to him.
"Well, miss, that's classified information, need-to-know, not to be distributed if you know what I mean," the general replied.
"I'm asking nicely," Kara said advancing on him.
"Well, of course, you can have them. Just gathering dust in the storage room anyway," the general said, fearful of her.
"I don't have all day," Kara told him.
As the army men looked for the journals, Kara got a radio communication from Alex. "Barney cracked the thumb drive. Her next target is Dr. Andrew Stern. We're on route."
"I'm on my way," Kara said and then pushed a button on her watch.
Alex and some DEO men arrived at Metropolis General and found Dr. Stern. "Dr. Stern, we have reason to believe you are targeted for assassination," Alex told him.
"Oh God," Dr. Stern said as he was suddenly hit by a spider to the face. Heat vision then sliced into Dr. Stern's cheek taking out the spider.
"Nice shot," Alex said impressed.
Supergirl wearing pants looked up and saw Caroline two floors above them. Kara flew up and landed next to her. Caroline attacked Kara with some fancy moves. Kara simply blocked every attack and then bitch-slapped Caroline to the floor below stunning her.
Kelly activated the machine and watched passively as Malefic, disguised as Pete Andrews, began to shake. "I have it now. My inception," Malefic grinned and then tried to take over Kelly's mind. He quickly gave a look of confusion as it failed to work on her.
"Thank you for providing me valuable research on your unique Martian nature. I no longer need your participation," Kelly said to him.
Her arm became chrome and then reassembled into a flame thrower. She then fired flames at Malefic burning all the equipment in the room. Malefic cried out in pain and fear as the flames roared around him.
Kara advanced on Caroline as she got back to her feet. She fired spider webs at her but they were incinerated by Kara's eyes before they could reach her. Caroline then fired web string at her tying her up. Kara easily tore the web ties apart. Caroline then leaped off the ledge to the ground floor.
Kara then descended and watched as Alex fired her device on Caroline forcing the spiders out of her. Alex then took hold of an exhausted Caroline and brought her to her feet. "Who do you work for?" Alex demanded.
Kara sensed an odd presence getting closer to them. She quickly took hold of Alex and pulled her back from Caroline as a black shadowy creature rose from the floor, stabbed Caroline to the chest, and then escaped. Caroline then fell to the ground dead.
"She's dead," Alex said stunned.
"Yes, yes she is," Kara agreed.
"What just killed her?" Alex wondered.
Malefic charged through the flames and phased through Kelly's body taking her fusion power cell out of her body. Kelly dropped to the floor and dropped her hologram revealing a Brainiac 5 drone. Hank then appeared having been warned by Nia's dream. Hank and Malefic clashed hurting them both.
"If you come after me, you kill yourself, too," Malefic told Hank.
"I know all that you have endured, and I am to blame. I erased you and banished you for 300 years. I took everything from you. But don't be a bitch and go after my friends. Fight me instead," Hank antagonized.
"Freeze!" guards said coming up.
"They're trying to kill me," Malefic escaped out the door.
"It's a black man. Tase him," one of the guards said.
"Whoa, not cool," Hank said annoyed at them.
Brainiac 5's system rerouted power systems and became online again. He grabbed his fusion power cell and placed it back into his chest. Taking out a pistol, he stunned the two guards and went after Malefic. Looking around, Brainiac 5 saw Malefic as an Asian man with his visual scanners. He fired plasma shots at Malefic nearly hitting him. Malefic morphed into a janitor and tried to escape.
"You can see me?" Malefic wondered.
Brainiac 5 fired continuous shots at him hitting him multiple times. Malefic then zapped a security guard with his awakened inception powers. The security guard fired on Brainiac 5 penetrating his black suit but bouncing off his metal frame. Brainiac 5 quickly changed his pistol to stun and fired on every person on the floor to prevent Malefic from using them. Brainiac 5 then turned back to Malefic, changed his pistol to plasma once more, and fired at him. Malefic cried out in pain and then phased out the window into the darkness. Brainiac 5 stepped towards the window and looked out without emotion.
Kara, in civilian clothes, James, Hank, and Alex met up at Obsidian North. Brainiac 5 was beside himself standing off to the side. "My brother has restored his power to incept. He can now control people's minds," Hank said grimly.
"How did this happen?" Alex asked.
"I don't know," Hank admitted.
"This is the second time Malefic has gone after Kelly. Your idea to have her moved to a secure location was right," Alex said to Hank.
"Why is he doing this?" Kara asked.
"I...bullied him as a kid for being queer, my father and I put him in a cell most of his life, allowed him to be taken by the White Martians, and then I erased his existence from the entire hive mind including myself," Hank admitted. "I guess he wants revenge."
"Wow...just damn," Kara said impressed.
"Just when I thought you couldn't be a bigger ass," Alex said disapprovingly.
"Well, with my sister gone, I figure I can hang out here a little longer," James said giving Kara a high-five.
Kara then went over to Brainiac 5. "Are you troubled by the fact that your obsessive drive for knowledge caused Malefic to awaken his powers and nearly killed several people?"
"No, I don't feel anything at all. Unlike you, I intended to kill Malefic and he escaped me. He took advantage of my inherent weaknesses. I must begin my work to prevent him from doing so again," Brainiac 5 said.
"You can't prep yourself for every kind of opponent. You're not a Swiss Army knife," Kara excused.
"Did you accomplish your mission?" he asked.
"Yeah, I got the journals. I need you to duplicate them but take out the parts about me and change his plans so they're incomprehensible. Then, I can send them to Lena," Kara said.
"Of course," Brainiac 5 said.
"You fucked up, Barney, but I still love you," Kara said giving him a hug.
Nia came home to find a Brainiac 5 drone waiting for her. "How did it go with J'onn?" he asked.
"Good, turned out to not be that big of a deal," Nia downplayed.
"I can sense that something is waning on you. Well, nothing lifts the spirit like a villanelle!" Brainiac 5 said enthusiastically.
"Stop!" Nia freaked out on him. "You said I have to be honest even if it hurts your feelings. Here's the truth. It's just too much, okay. From now on, no more food, no more poems, no more anything. I know you mean well. I know where you're coming from and it's sweet."
Nia took Brainiac 5 to the couch. "It's all so sweet. It's just too much. It's like cake...being stuffed in my face 24/7," Nia said suffocated. Brainiac 5 stared at her as he computed the situation.
=Counter with subject's past statements=
=Proceed to use identity defense=
=Concede deficiency=
=Guilt trip subject=
=Make subject make the next move=
"You told me to be myself but now you tell me you don't want me to be myself. I can only operate at 100%. It's just how I am built which is entirely my problem and not yours," Brainiac 5 said and walked towards the door.
"Barney," Nia called after him but he had already left.
Kara arrived at L Tower wearing her civilian clothes and visited Lena with Lex's journal. The false journals were handwritten exactly the way Lex wrote by Brainiac 5 removing all references to herself and planting flawed theories, data, and processes so they would be useless to her. Even if Lena double-checked the journals with Hope, Brainiac 5 had control of that program as well.
"I hope the ravings of a madman help you get some needed sleep. I know they did for me," Kara said to Lena handing them to her.
"I hope I haven't crossed any boundaries," Lena said hopefully.
"Of course not," Kara said. "With a friend like you, there are no boundaries."
Hank came by a shitty apartment and phased through not bothering to knock. "You violate my sanctuary once again, my son," M'yrnn said deep in meditation while wearing ceremonial robes.
"I have come to disturb your peace and bring turmoil to your heart," Hank said to him. "I have truly outdone myself only I never knew until now that I had already done it."
"Share it with me, my son," M'yrnn smiled.
Kara, as Supergirl, flew into Russian airspace and landed in the PATRIOT facility. Alina greeted her as she landed. She eyed Kara's skirt. "What do we owe the pleasure?" Alina asked her in English.
"I have come to see him again," Kara said.
"Very well," Alina said and then entered a room. Inside was a luxurious room with a television, pool table, piano, desk, dining table, chairs, several lamps, and a comfortable bed. The room was windowless with a tube that provided ventilation.
At the piano was a slender man, clean-shaven, and bald. He was playing beautifully as if he had practiced for countless hours, which he had. He stopped playing as he saw her enter. He stood up and gave her a hug. "What is the occasion?" he asked her.
"Lex, I have some journals for you," Kara said handing him the original copies.
Lex looked them over briefly. "I wrote this?" he asked.
"Yes, a long time ago," Kara said wiping a tear away.
"Have you read it?" he asked.
"I was hoping we could read it together," Kara said.
"You can read it a lot faster than me," Lex said embarrassed.
"Take as long as you need," Kara allowed.
The two sat down at the table. Lex opened the journal and saw the title page. "Midvale? What is this place?" he asked.
"Read on," Kara encouraged.
Author's Notes: This is one of the worst SG episodes as it does a character assassination on J'onn, makes Kara look like an idiot and weak, and doesn't properly utilize the horror element it crafted so well in its intro. Kudos if you noticed something was off with Kelly in this adventures' version. J'onn murdering his brother for being queer and mind-raping his father is worthy of my version, not CW. Kara's comments about British special ops are part of a plot-twist. I have the most respect for those guys.