Kara sped into her apartment and noticed all of her friends were present. "What's going on?" she asked, confused.
"It's game night, remember?" Alex reminded her.
"Yeah, sure," Kara vaguely recalled and then noticed them playing a game of Jenga. "Wow, Alex, that game requires great precision with your fingers. You have to make sure you push through the hole just right."
"I know, right? Alex even cut her nails to make sure she got it right," Hank brought up.
"It's just hand-eye coordination," Alex downplayed.
Nia suddenly jumped on the couch to make her move, startling Hank. "You stress me the hell out," he told her.
"What's stressful?" Nia asked as she pulled a block collapsing the tower. "Shit," she realized.
"I was thinking with Nyxly still out and about that some of you should be placed in an impenetrable vault," Kara said eying Alex in particular.
"Come on, Kara, we all need time to chill and decompress," Kelly advised.
"Barney is scanning for her and the totems. As soon as something pops up, he's supposed to let us know," Alex said.
"Yeah, well, I'm on the verge of freaking out. I need to find her and kill her ass for good," Kara said on the verge of a breakdown. "Nia, what the fuck? Where are my dreams?"
"It's not really predictable like science," Nia excused.
"There's something I have to tell you all. Mon is coming back to the Tower to lend his support," Kara cringed.
"An Insane in the Tower? Do you really think that's a good idea?" Lena doubted.
"We could use his guns especially if the situation spirals out of control with Nyxly," Alex said.
"But still, he'll have to work within our parameters," Hank insisted.
"Good luck with that," Kelly doubted knowing Mon's attitude. "I'm going to be working to give an alien girl a home with some wonderful parents."
Kara started laughing at that. "Kara, the fuck is wrong with you? This is serious," Alex scolded.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't laugh but...," Kara chuckled and then laughed her way out of the apartment.
Kelly frowned feeling disrespected. "Okay, that's it. I'm putting her in her place," Alex said seriously.
In a creepy cemetery, Nyxly resurrected her body back to before. She wore simple loose black robes. Upon her resurrection, she felt her long black hair and face. Looking around, she found her gauntlet nearby. She summoned the gauntlet with the courage stone to her hand and fired a beam into the air that created a red skull. Immediately, witches teleported to her position numbering a dozen.
"Welcome, my friends," Nyxly said to them all. "It's been thirteen long days...and yet, here you stand before me as if it were yesterday. But I confess myself, disappointed. Not one of you tried to find me: Fleur, Nymphadora, Ginny, Molly, Rowena, Luna, Bellatrix, Minerva, not even you, Lilly."
Lilly fell to her knees in submission. "My Lady, if there had been any sign or whisper of your whereabouts...," she excused.
"There were signs and more than whispers," Nyxly sneered.
"My Lady, I have never given up the old ways," Lilly said standing back up.
Nyxly addressed the group. "The girl who lived, the Supergirl. With the help of Mr. Mxyzptlk, an ancient amulet, and some carelessness on my part, my body was destroyed. It was something I should have foreseen but no matter. I'm going to kill that bitch. I'm going to destroy her. Soon, no one will dare to question my powers. When they speak of Supergirl, they will only speak of how she begged for death, and I, as a merciful witch, obliged."
Kelly went to a foster house to interview a little girl. "This house even has a bathroom," she said excitedly.
Kelly mouthed WTF but kept her cool. "And are your foster parents treating you well? It's okay to snitch to me," Kelly assured her.
"Blueberry pancakes for dinner!" the girl said.
Kelly frowned feeling triggered. The two heterosexual parents then walked up to the doorway. "She has such spirit," the mother said as the girl ran back inside.
"I'm so happy the three of you are hitting it off," Kelly said pleased. "I'll check back next week to see that everything is okay."
"Yeah, sure, whatever," the father said not enthused with Kelly's constant visits.
"I got you this. It's a rainbow because you're gay," the girl said giving Kelly a rainbow bracelet.
"I absolutely love it," Kelly said taking a knee next to her. "Thank you," she said as she gave the girl a hug.
"We are so fucked," the father realized upon seeing Kelly's chemistry with the kid.
Mon entered the Tower unimpressed. "Ever thought to move your operations away from your own publicly identified private eye business?" he chided.
"I always find it better to hide in plain sight," Hank replied.
"You dare your enemies to attack you by making your presence obvious. I like it," Mon complimented.
"It's how I ran things when started using the DEO office in Metropolis," Hank agreed.
"Can I call you J'onn?" Mon asked.
"It's Hank to you," Hank corrected him.
"Welcome to the Tower...again," Alex eyed him suspiciously. "There are some ground rules here we need you to follow."
"I don't follow any rules, not even my own," Mon told her off.
Supergirl then entered the Tower. "You're only here to take pictures and video of me doing awesome things, so I can submit it to the Daily Planet."
Mon walked up to her and stared her down. "That sounds dangerously close to you giving me orders."
The computer alert interrupted the tension indicating fifth-dimensional energy at the Metropolis stadium. "It's Nyxly," Kara sensed.
At the stadium's gym, Adonis Creed and Viktor Drago were about to get it on...in the boxing ring. "Hey, kid. I was frightened before my first big match, too," Viktor said sympathetically.
"I'm the champion of the world," Adonis reminded him.
"No shame in fear, bro," Viktor continued condescendingly. "Most important is becoming one with humanity."
"What are you? Some kind of monk?" Adonis wondered.
"No, but I studied with them," Viktor said as held a piece of wood on a necklace. "The Buddha sat under a tree made of this wood."
"I don't know, man. That sounds like bullshit," Adonis doubted.
"The vendor swore, dude. It keeps me focused," Viktor said.
"Look, your father killed my father in the ring. So, I think I hate you," Adonis told him off.
"Man, just let...it...go," Viktor advised.
The door to the gym exploded as Nyxly entered. "You have no idea what you're holding in your hand," Nyxly said to Viktor.
"I'm holding stiff wood in my hand," Viktor said to her.
Nyxly simply stared at him. "That, muscle boy, is one of the seven keys to unlocking all the power of the universe and you've just been carrying it around in your sweaty pocket with loose change and unwrapped candies."
"And condoms," Viktor added.
"Give it to me," Nyxly ordered.
"Well, now that you have told me what it is, I'm not going to," Viktor refused.
"Shit," Nyxly realized her mistake. "Accio," she said as she summoned the artifact to her. "Cgyrzyx," she recited.
"The totem can only belong to one of ready heart. Is that you?" the totem asked.
"Sure," Nyxly replied.
"Use it wisely," the totem said and then turned into a crystal gem.
"That's it? Well, okay then," Nyxly said placing the gem in her gauntlet and walking off.
Kara flew into the stadium and landed inside the gym. Nyxly fired on her with her gauntlet immediately possessing everyone in the gym. Kara watched entranced as buff sweaty men started fighting each other. After watching for way too long, Kara clapped her hands knocking them all out. "Hank, I need you to mind-rape some dudes," she radioed for him.
Kara entered the Tower and met up with Nia and Lena. "So, Nyxly has another totem. She used it to turn men into depraved people that take joy in theft, violence, and destruction."
Lena and Nia simply stared at her lack of self-awareness. "Well, that's humanity for you," Lena said pessimistically.
"How many people were affected?" Nia asked.
"Maybe ten thousand people," Kara shrugged.
"Thanks to Maggie Sawyer, I have an app that tracks crime in the city in real-time," Nia said showing a map on the screen.
"Maggie gave this to you? And here I thought you were a genius or something," Kara burned.
"That was uncalled for," Nia protested.
"What are you up to?" Kara asked curiously of Lena's book.
"Just some magical spells. Nothing you would be interested in," Lena said defensively.
Mon then entered the Tower. "Ahem," he said to get Kara's attention.
The two walked over to the balcony. "What do you want?" Kara asked scornfully.
"Is that any way to thank me for incapacitating ten thousand violent humans?" Mon asked.
Kara eyed the blood on his Insane armor. "Just another Tuesday for you."
"This Nyxly is not like anything we have ever faced before," Mon told her.
"What do you suggest? We learn magic?" Kara rolled her eyes.
"The Lantern Rings, all of them on one hand," Mon suggested. "The ability to control the emotions of rage, greed, fear, love, will, compassion, hope, and death all at once."
"Hold that thought," Kara said as she listened in on Alex and Kelly. "Where the fuck is Alex?" Kara asked alarmed.
"She went with Kelly into the riots," Nia said.
"Shit," Kara said and then flew off towards the stadium.
Near the stadium, Alex was kicking ass while Kelly tried to talk people down. "So, how was your house call?" Alex asked conversationally.
"You mean Esme? It went great," Kelly said as she dodged an assailant.
"That's good. I knew you were so worried about her," Alex recalled.
"Looks like she might get her happy ending," Kelly said.
"Happy ending is no longer a phrase we should use when it comes to children these days," Alex frowned.
"She even gave me this bracelet," Kelly said holding it up.
"Kelly, I've been thinking. Maybe we should distance ourselves from the movement. Be our own thing," Alex said.
"You've been listening to Kara too much," Kelly rolled her eyes.
"It's just...I'm gay...but I really really like plain black," Alex said referring to her DEO-agent-styled uniform. "Maybe blue if I have to."
"And that's okay that you feel that way," Kelly allowed.
The two then noticed several men cooperating to overturn a car and then nonsensically fighting with each other afterward. "Danvers, this is Sawyer. If you don't get a handle on this, my men will start using self-defense as an excuse to shoot black people."
"Copy," Alex said seriously and then got into the thick of it.
As Alex tangled with several men, Kara flew at super-sonic speed close to the ground tossing cars and blasting out windows as she did. She landed near to Alex and beat down her assailants within a second. "I had it handled," Alex said peeved.
Kara was about to scold her when she felt something on her forehead like an invisible scar. "There's no rage anymore. I feel...compassion. I've never felt anything like this before. I don't know what this means," Kara said distressed, and went to a knee.
"You're a real piece of work," Alex said crossly.
Meanwhile, Mon was with Lena and Nia. Suddenly, the power went down for a moment and Nia started acting weird. "Why am I in these clothes, why is my hair so long, what are these?" she said distressed as she felt her breasts. "This isn't right," Nia said.
"No shit," Mon agreed. "What's her deal?"
"I think I broke her brain," Lena said intrigued and alarmed at the same time.
"I have to change," Nia said walking off.
Mon ignored Nia and focused on Lena's spellbook. "So...this is your mom's old spell book? We defined magic as being able to control energy from the fifth dimension as opposed to our own ki."
"That's very interesting," Lena said interested.
"It was strictly forbidden as dishonorable. A warrior must only fight with his own strength," Mon said. "But I broke the rules by learning the power of the spirit bomb."
"The technique that saps the positive energy out of every living thing," Lena recalled.
"Right," Mon agreed. "The Lantern batteries is the same concept of being connected to an energy network."
"I just need to tap into that magical network," Lena said as she read the book. "So far, I've only managed to break Nia."
"You act like that's a bad thing," Mon smirked. "When I was a child, I tried to copy my father's techniques but they were always off. I was being too technical. I was so focused on the right-hand gestures and stances that I forgot the key ingredient: me. You can't tap into this power by merely imitating your mother's spells. You must make them your own with your own heart."
"It didn't take long before I surpassed my father. Your mother was kind and sacrificial which is why she saved you from drowning at the cost of her own life. She had compassion and hope for you. That isn't going to work on a rage-filled greedy bitch like you, Lena," Mon said.
"Oh really?" Lena asked offended.
"No," Mon shook his head. "You must turn your wrath, greed, and envy into your weapon."
"To turn to the Darkside?" Lena questioned.
"Fuck yeah," Mon agreed.
Kara collected herself and swat down several more people fighting each other nearby. "Alright, I'm done with this small-fry bullshit. Activate Myriad," Kara ordered Brainiac 5.
"What?" No," Alex protested. "That's not the answer."
"It's the super-easy, barely inconveniencing answer," Kara said obviously.
"You said you were done with Myriad," Alex pointed out.
"It's Barney that will be using it," Kara evaded.
"How do you know it will even work and not scramble their minds?" Kelly asked.
"It's either that or Hank controls them with his psychic powers," Kara suggested.
"That doesn't make it better," Alex rebuked.
"Your work here is finished. Go back to the Tower," Kara ordered.
The people around them stopped fighting as Myriad took control of them. They went about cleaning up the mess they had made like zombies. "This isn't over," Alex said to Kara.
Kara entered the Tower and was confronted by Lena. "You've used Myriad," she accused.
"Yeah," Kara said nonchalantly.
"You can't do this," Lena said seriously.
"It's for the greater good," Kara said obviously.
"The greater good? Do you hear yourself right now?" Lena asked incredulously.
"I can't believe someone as smart as you don't see the benefit of this," Kara said annoyed.
"It's only a temporary solution," Lena pointed out.
"It's going to save lives," Kara said.
"But what happens to us if we lose who we are?" Lena asked.
"Fuck that. Using or not using Myriad doesn't change a damn thing about me. I've killed, tortured, and beat the fuck out of a shit-ton of people and it hasn't changed anything about me," Kara said.
"Then, you're no better than she is," Lena said.
"And I don't give a fuck," Kara said bluntly. "The ends justify the means."
"Using dark magic and forbidden spells changes a person...maybe permanently. It's the same with technology," Lena argued. "On Krypton, you were once an innocent child that would never have dreamed to kill or enslave anyone. You just wanted to be an explorer and have fun. Now, see what you have become."
Kara turned away from Lena. "Sometimes...I am terrified by what I have become but Nyxly's magic is unlike anything I have ever faced. I don't know how to beat her and if she gets all seven totems, the multiverse is fucked."
"You've beaten Nyxly before," Lena pointed out.
"To kill her, I need to destroy all of her Horcruxes. To win, we must cross lines into darkness," Kara said passionately.
"Alright," Lena relented.
Kara entered the top floor of the Tower and met up with Alex. "You're out of control, Kara. You operate in secret with no accountability. The time has come for full transparency. People should be able to make up their own opinions about your methods," Alex said.
"The story will come out my way reported by me alone," Kara replied. "Those are my ground rules."
"So, are you going to tell the public what's happening on Daily Planet news?" Alex asked.
"Fuck no," Kara said obviously. "And no one else will be able to report the truth either. Nyxly is classified until we defeat her."
"The people have the right to know what's going on," Alex argued. "They have a right to know before they all could die. How many people do you think there are on this planet that are not prepared for the End Times."
"Like a thief in the night," Kara recited. "That's their fault."
"That's not fair. We all know what's going on," Alex said.
"And the people that don't know but keep the faith will be higher than us...and good for them," Kara said with false sincerity. "Where's Nia?"
"I kind of broke her brain with a spell I was working on. She's reverted back to being a boy," Lena frowned.
"Well, get her/him back here so she/he can dream up shit," Kara ordered. "We need the dream totem."
Hague, Netherlands
At a peace summit between the Russian Federation and Corto-Maltese, Karina, Alina, and a third woman named Vasilisa greeted Major General Mateo Suárez. Alina took the lead in the negotiations speaking fluent Spanish. "In return for using your ports for Russian warships, we will wipe 90% of your debt. The remaining debt is to be paid over the next ten years," Alina said.
"We just got our asses handed to us but a giant starfish. I have serious doubts we can even make payments on that ten percent," Mateo said.
"Maybe not. That's not our problem. In fact, we find it likely you'll default on that ten percent anyway requiring refinancing of your debt to the point that we end up getting the 100% anyway in time and we'll have your port for our ships in the meantime. As of now, you will default immediately if you don't make this deal," Alina said unconcernedly.
"Sounds like I'm fucked either way," Mateo figured.
"Yes, well, you have the choice on the how and when you get fucked," Alina smiled. "So, what shall it be?"
The meeting was interrupted by the doors suddenly blasting open. Nyxly entered the room and caused Mateo to explode immediately. Karina fired heat vision on her. Nyxly fired her own beam creating a beam war between them. Alina outstretched her hand to implode Nyxly on the spot but her powers were useless against her. Nyxly easily overpowered Karina disintegrating her. Turning to Alina, she turned her into a frozen statue.
"Don't make me kill you as well. I'm only here for the totem," Nyxly said to Vasilisa.
With a gesture, she unfroze Alina and restored Karina. "What are you?" Nyxly wondered amazed.
"I've been given so many names. I'm the muse that inspires John Wick," Vasilisa revealed.
"Baba Yaga," Nyxly realized.
Vasilisa, Karina, and Alina advanced on Nyxly. "I would come back later after we're done here," Vasilisa told her.
"I think I will," Nyxly agreed spooked, and then walked out.
The three eyed the mess that was Mateo. "Eww," Karina said immaturely.
"We still need him alive," Alina pointed out.
"Of course," Vasilisa said as she brought him back to life. He looked around completely befuddled.
"Now, about that port," Alina continued the meeting.
English Countryside
Mon and Hank instantly appeared near a house in the countryside. "So, this is where Barney said the next one was at," Hank mused at the old house in front of them.
The two entered the house and looked around. "There's something here," Mon sensed.
"I agree," Hank said and then phased his hand through the floorboards. In his hand was a golden ring with a black stone. In Hank's mind, the ring spoke to him. "I am the resurrection stone. With my power, I can bring back your family from the dead."
"That sounds like bullshit," Hank doubted.
"I can give you a chance to apologize to them for your failure," the ring enticed.
Hank went to put the ring on his finger as the temptation was too great for him. "Hank, what the fuck are you doing?" Mon wondered. Hank ignored him and placed the ring on his finger. He then saw a vision of his wife and two daughters in front of him. Meanwhile, his right hand became black and started spreading up his arm.
"Take it off!" Mon shouted at him as Hank appeared to be in a trance. "Fuck it," Mon realized as Hank was completely lost in the sauce. With his hand, he fired a disc that sliced Hank's arm off. The arm and the ring fell to the floor.
Hank then snapped out of it. "Shit," he said painfully.
"I'm not apologizing," Mon said.
Hank glared at Mon and attacked him with a psychic attack. "My precious," he said of the ring as his arm phased away. His right arm quickly regenerated as he went for the ring.
Metropolis
Upon realizing what was happening in Metropolis, Nyxly went into space and eyed the Myriad satellites. She fired on them all destroying the Myriad signal and flew back towards the city. Immediately, the people of Metropolis started attacking each other. Nyxly and Kara confronted each other in the streets. "All of this violence has had an inverse effect on me, Supergirl. I've felt nothing but compassion since I've activated this totem. Fortunately, I have the emotional fortitude to not give a shit," Nyxly revealed.
"Congratulations," Kara mocked.
"I wonder what would happen to you if you were subject to the same thing," Nyxly smiled as she revoked the spell on the people of Metropolis and fired on Kara. Immediately, Kara felt a strong sense of compassion for her enemy. Nyxly walked up to Kara and slapped her to the face knocking her head to the side. "Now, give me the other cheek," Nyxly mocked.
Kara turned back to Nyxly and then fired a heat vision beam that blasted Nyxly into a building creating a fiery explosion. Nyxly emerged from the explosion with flames on her black robes. "I'm impressed. Despite having the compassion of ten thousand souls in you, you're still willing to fight me."
"To kill you," Kara corrected.
"Let's see how much resolve you really have," Nyxly sneered.
The two charged each other and locked their hands together creating a shockwave that rattled the city. The two struggled against each other until Kara was forced to her knees. Nyxly blasted Kara into a building with her eyes. Upon hitting a wall inside the building, Kara felt her own blood at her hairline. "You might want to power up," Nyxly mocked.
Kara went Prime and flew out of the building punching Nyxly into a building across the street. Nyxly took hold of Kara, swing her around several times, and tossing her through several buildings lined up. Kara was then thrown towards the Metropolis bridge scattering cars as she impacted. Nyxly grabbed Kara by the throat and slammed her down on the pavement repeatedly. Bringing her back up, Nxyly punched Kara several times breaking her ribs. Kara fired heat vision back at her which she merely deflected. Kara punched her across the bridge and then dragged her body across the pavement. As they settled, Kara rapidly punched at Nyxly without stop. Nyxly tossed Kara away into a car totaling it and then flung her into a cargo truck. Nyxly then picked up the cargo container off the truck and slammed it on the ground rattling Kara.
Kara fired a hole through the cargo container hitting Nyxly to the chest. She took some broken guardrail from the bridge and swat Nyxly with it. Nyxly took Kara by the throat and rammed her into the bridge tower. While on the pavement hurt and dazed, Nyxly punched her slammed her boot down on her torso rupturing her internal organs. Nyxly then threw Kara down the length of the bridge where she slammed into several cars.
"Got any new ideas?" Nyxly mocked.
Kara took hold of a suspension cable and wrapped Nyxly in it as super-speed to pin her limbs together. Kara then slammed her boots onto Nyxly's body and punched her as fast as she could to her face. Kara then noticed the bridge was about to collapse. "What are you going to do, Supergirl? Keep fighting me or save the civilians?" she asked.
Kara struggled to stay on her target but her compassion overwhelmed her. She left Nyxly and saved a random boy from being crushed by bridge tower debris. "Go back to your mom. Everything is going to be okay, maybe, probably not," Kara said exhaustedly.
Kara went back to Nyxly only to have a boat thrown at her. Kara punched through the boat destroy it and kept going. She grabbed Nyxly by her hair and slammed her through the bridge into the bay. There were several depth charge explosions from their impacts until Kara was finally punched back into the city where she impacted in the city square. Nyxly came after her at fast speed. Kara quickly grabbed a flagpole and hit Nyxly as hard as she could with it. With the battle high in the atmosphere, Kara went through her Prime levels. She fired heat vision at Nyxly and then punched her as hard as she could into space. Kara went for a finishing blow when Nyxly dodged her and gave her a Falcon Punch. Nyxly then headbutted Kara several times as they both went down. The two hit the ground outside the city creating a large crater.
Seeing the DEO nearby, Kara punched Nyxly into the fortress. Inside the fortress, the two battled it out destroying the interior completely. With her uniform torn in various places, bleeding, and wounded Kara continued to fight with Nyxly. Throughout the battle, Nyxly appeared completely unharmed suffering zero damage. "My strength, my speed, my power, my defense is all beyond imagination," Nyxly said to her.
An exhausted Kara swung at her and totally missed. Nyxly slammed her face into the ground, wrapped her cape around her neck, and stomped the back of her head a few times. "I broke your spirit, Supergirl. Now, I'm going to break your body," Nyxly said to her.
Kara gave a scream as she powered up to Prime 5 making her as bright as a star within a very small space. She released herself from Nyxly and punched her to the face without result. The shockwave of the hit traveled across the continent. Nyxly merely smiled dismissively at Kara but then felt something wrong. She clutched her gut as if someone had stabbed her. She suddenly teleported herself away from the battle.
Kara powered down and collapsed on the ground. Mon suddenly appeared next to her. "What happened?" Kara asked weakly.
"The Martian and I destroyed one of the Horcruxes," he revealed showing her the damaged ring.
"She was just toying with me. Even at full power, I couldn't do anything against her," Kara said tearfully as Mon brought her back up. "And during the entire fight, all I could think about was how much suffering our fight was causing."
"When times get tough, use a drug," Mon said handing her a White Lantern ring.
Kara put the ring on and immediately her damaged Supergirl suit was replaced by a White Lantern version. "Oh, fuck yes," Kara said as she felt joy flow through her.
"You good now?" Mon asked.
"She has two totems, and we've destroyed two Horcruxes. I guess that makes us even," Kara said fiercely.
The next day, Kelly came by Esem's foster care house. "I'm here for you, Esme, unlike your piece-of-shit foster parents that sent you outside to defend them and their house from violent people. I mean, what the fuck? You know what this is? It's an indictment against white heterosexual upper-middle-class folks. These sorts of people shouldn't be allowed to raise kids," Kelly said.
"Okay," Esme said stunned.
"Did Mrs. Ford get you to pack everything?" Kelly asked.
"No," Esme shook her head.
"Well...shit," Kelly frowned hoping everything in her backpack was enough. Alex inexplicably came around the corner.
"Parking was a...chore," she muttered upon seeing the child.
"Esme, this is Alex Danvers, my girlfriend," Kelly introduced her.
"Like the girlfriends I have at school?" Esme asked innocently.
"No, like a girlfriend you...like mommy and daddy only there are two mommys," Kelly explained. "You understand?"
"No," Esme shook her head.
"Hi, Esme. I've learned a lot about you. Like, how you lit a lot of bad guys on fire. That is so cool," Alex complimented and then stopped herself as Kelly gave her the signal to stop.
"So, what's going on? Why are we here?" Alex wondered.
"Esme, will you excuse me for a minute," Kelly said to the child and walked over to Alex. "We are waiting for the van from social services. The Fords changed their minds and requested Esme be placed with someone else."
"After Esme saved them and their house from violent hooligans? What ungrateful bitches," Alex said dismayed.
"Well, I also kind of fired them, too," Kelly added.
"Good for you," Alex said pleased.
"I told them that even though she's an alien with power, it's their job to protect them. Not the other way around," Kelly said.
"Yeah, if only they had a gun," Alex said thoughtfully.
Kelly went back to the child. "I know going back to the group home wasn't what you were hoping for, but it's only a matter of time before you get a new foster family. One that can help you understand your powers."
"It's okay if the next one doesn't work out either. I'm never going to have a real home," Esme said guilt-tripping the two of them.
The van with the social service worker came by. "Get in, brat," she told the kid.
Alex and Kelly looked at each other long and hard. "My mom would take in strays all the time and it rarely worked out well. Are we really ready for this? We just moved in, we're not even married, and we're trying to save the world together. Is this really the right time?" Alex asked Kelly.
"Just look at that face," Kelly said of Esme.
"Damn it," Alex relented. "Maybe as a practice run for the real thing."
"Alex, that's fucked up. We need to give her a home for the next 10 years of our lives, no questions asked. Or you're a bad person," Kelly lectured.
"Because, you know, I was thinking we would look at profiles, interview kids, and pick one that doesn't have weird-ass alien powers," Alex continued.
"It's now or never," Kelly pressed.
"Okay," Alex agreed.
Suddenly several black cars converged on the house. Brainiac 5, wearing a suit, tie, and sunglasses, exited one of the cars. His drones created a perimeter around the house. "What the fuck is this?" Alex demanded of him.
"I couldn't help but notice your interest in the child. I'll be taking the child to an undisclosed location for her safety," Brainiac 5 said.
"We're going to adopt her," Kelly said to him.
"No, you're not. Neither of you is prepared to raise this child and the risk factor is too high. Little Esme might one day decide to get mad and burn you two to death," Brainiac 5 said.
"That would never happen," Kelly said in her defense.
"It's not worth the risk. Besides, this is not the time for you two to be parents," Brainiac 5 said obviously.
"Kara put you up to this, didn't she?" Alex accused.
"I can neither confirm nor deny that," Brainiac 5 replied.
"You can't decide who we can and cannot adopt," Alex told him off.
"I assure you, I most definitely can," Brainiac 5 smirked.
"Is it because we're gay?" Kelly asked.
"Don't embarrass yourself. My analysis of the situation is completely objective. I won't have another repeat," Brainiac 5 said referring to a previous timeline.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Alex demanded.
Brainiac 5 ignored Alex and Kelly and went up to the scared child. "You must be one of the exiles," he said taking a knee in front of her.
"Kelly told me about you," Esme said fearfully.
"Really? What did she say about me?" Brainiac 5 asked curiously.
"That you were a bad man," Esme said adorably.
"Ah, I'm not so bad once you get to know me," Brainiac 5 said as other drones surrounded her, placed a metallic device on her mouth, and took her away. She was then placed in the social services van and taken away.
"You have to put a stop to this," Kelly said to Alex.
"Like what?" Alex wondered.
"Think of something. Do something," Kelly told her.
Later that day, Alex went to Catco to speak with Andrea personally. "What do I owe the pleasure?" Andrea asked slightly spooked by her.
"I'm Supergirl's adopted sister. I know everything about her. I'm not going to give up names or addresses of people we know, but I will tell you about the things she has done over six years, her personality, and her mental illness. It's time the world knew who Supergirl really is," Alex said resolved.
"If we put you in shadow and modified your voice, would you be willing to do a taped interview as well?" Andrea asked.
"Absolutely," Alex agreed.
That night, Kara and Mon entered the Tower. "With the DEO destroyed...again, I'm taking over this place."
"The fuck you will," Hank told her off.
"Watch this," Lena said turning on the TV.
Kara eyed Catco TV and saw Andrea personally interviewing someone in shadow. The person in shadow, presumably Alex, began discussing rapidly and nervously everything fucked up about Supergirl which was a very very long list.
"Barney, shut down the feed," Hank ordered.
"If we do that, it will give credibility to what has already been revealed," Brainiac 5 said.
"This is the ultimate betrayal and I'm a subject matter expert on it," Lena said shocked and appalled.
Kara continued to listen to Alex revealing all her sins to the world. She turned away, went back to the TV for a moment, and then silently walked out of the room.