"So, you came back," Supergirl smirked. "Nice outfit."
"It's to mourn for all the people you have killed," Superman accused.
"I haven't even started yet," Supergirl said menacingly. "Do you really think you can take me on?"
"No," Superman shook his head. "I'm here to stall you while my friends find a way to stop you."
Supergirl gave Superman an intrigued look. "I've always appreciated your honesty, Kal. It would be a shame if I killed a fellow Kryptonian. No, I'm not going to kill you, Kal. I'm just going to hurt you really really badly."
"I'm ready," Superman said with a determined expression.
"Show me what you got?" Supergirl smiled.
Superman sped towards Supergirl, cocked his arm back, and then punched her to the face as hard as he could. The impact shattered the windows of the aircraft carrier's command tower. Supergirl's head was tilted to the side and her body was knocked off-balance. She quickly recovered and punched Superman back with a devastating hit sending him to the deck. Navy aircraft continued to fire on Supergirl distracting her as Superman got back to his feet. As Supergirl was about to destroy the fighters, Superman punched her to the head distracting her, and then elbowed her into the sea. Superman looked into the ocean over the deck ledge to see what she would do next.
Suddenly, a heat vision beam from below blasted the aircraft apart instantly killing any surviving sailors. Superman leaped off the aircraft carrier as the red beam went into space and fell into the water. Supergirl and Superman fought in the water as what remained of the aircraft carrier sank to the bottom. Depth charges were launched into the water from nearby destroyers. The underwater explosions distracted Supergirl allowing Superman to get free. On the surface, mountains of water came up between the destroyers.
A hurt and exhausted Superman brought himself to the other aircraft carrier deck. Sailers were immediately there to assist him back to his feet. "Thank you, Superman," they said sincerely.
Superman looked at several dark plumes of smoke from destroyed navy vessels. "It's far from over," he said grimly.
A fleet of a few dozen US Airforce drones arrived on the scene and went after Supergirl. Among them were five B-2 stealth bombers. The drones fired on Supergirl to distract her from their real intent. Supergirl and the drones traded fire in the air with several drones destroyed. Superman suddenly hit Supergirl and carried her away from the coastline towards the Channel Islands off the coast of California. The drones and bombers followed after them. Supergirl and Superman traded blows in the air. Occasionally, Supergirl would blast another drone in between giving Superman devasting blows.
The B-2 stealth bombers opened their bomber hatches as they primed their missiles. Supergirl playfully broke Superman's ribs as she resisted his hold. Superman covered her face in her own cape and repeatedly beat on her with his hardest punches. He then grabbed her close and flew her directly towards the island chain. "Stay on target," the bomber squadron commander said as the bombers struggled to stay on them.
Once they reached the island chain, the five B-2 stealth bombers fired their nuclear missiles towards the main island. Superman grabbed a close hold of Supergirl and slammed them both into the island being targeted. "Godspeed, Superman," the bomber squadron commander said as the bombers fell back. Upon hitting the island, Superman flew off the island just as the five nuclear missiles hit. Supergirl was hit point-blank by all five missiles.
The explosion roasted the island completely and the flash could be seen from the coastline. Superman was thrown in the sea from the blast and didn't immediately come up. After a few seconds, the fireball cleared and eventually the smoke. The nuclear mushroom cloud could be seen for miles around. The sand on the beach had turned to red glass from the heat. Supergirl emerged from the crater looking pissed-off.
Supergirl flew directly towards the ground and tore through the faultlines. A massive earthquake occurred in the city from the impact. The roads cracked up, houses collapsed, and skyscrapers fell. The earthquake reached levels beyond recorded history deep chasms formed in the middle of the city. Lava escaped to the surface. Within a few minutes, most of Los Angeles sank into the city killing several million. The earthquake traveled up the faultline to San Francisco destroying the city and creating a tsunami that wrecked the Golden Gate bridge.
What remained of the US Navy fleet attempted to move out of the way as the tsunami wave hit them. Superman looked around frantically unable to figure out how to save the fleet. As the waves hit the fleet, Superman flew into the air. All remaining ships were capsized and sank as the massive wave hit them. Tsunami waves pounded the entire California coastline killing a majority of the state's population in minutes. Supergirl then emerged from the ground and flew off towards East Asia.
Fortress of Solitude
Superman looked over the bloody bodies on the floor dismayed. Kelex was still working hard to clean up the mess. On the computer screen, the anti-life equation was still downloading. "What was she downloading?" Superman asked Kelex.
"The anti-life equation. With it, she will be able to control the minds of everyone in the universe," Kelex explained.
"Computer: end download," Superman ordered.
"Are you sure, Kal-El?" the computer asked him.
"I'm sure," Superman ordered.
Superman then gathered all the body parts of the Justice League and placed them in individual cases. He took them out of the fortress and then cast them out to sea. Going back inside, he took Diana's sword.
A hologram of Jor-El appeared before him. "It is forbidden to shed Kryptonian blood. That is the law of Krypton," he said to him.
"This isn't Krypton," Superman said sadly and then took off.
Odym
Nia and Wally arrived on Odym, a planet orbiting the star of Polaris, the North Star. The planet glowed a bright blue with clear blue skies. On the surface, the planet was mostly ocean with continents full of vegetation and animal life. They landed near an unprotected blue-lantern battery. "I wonder why it's not guarded?" Nia said of it.
"I guess they had hope that nobody would try to steal it," Wally suggested.
"That sounds naive," Nia scoffed.
"Is it?" a voice asked from behind them.
The two turned around and saw a tall blue-skinned hairless alien with a tail at the back of his head. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to offend," Nia said freaked out by the powerful blue lantern.
"It's quite alright. I am Saint Walker. Only hopeful souls could have breached the planet's barrier," Walker said to them.
"We need the blue lantern ring to stop Supergirl from destroying our world," Wally said.
"Supergirl once took on the red lantern ring. She has always been the enemy of hope," Walker considered.
"Exactly," Nia agreed.
"And yet, I feel rage within you both," Walker peered into their souls.
"Rage? What rage?" Nia wondered.
"Nia Nal, you have been ridiculed and disrespected by your peers for being different. You feel for those of your kind that have been persecuted. You seek to change your world now instead of having hope it will change on its own in good time," Walker sensed.
"I can't just stand by as innocents are being hurt. It's not rage I feel but righteous anger," Nia said passionately.
"Rage takes many different forms," he said dismissively. "Wally, you feel mistreated by your peers including your friend, Barry Allen. It fills you with rage that they do not allow you to participate in battles. You sulk as they make racist comments."
"Well, how am I supposed to feel about that?" Wally asked incredulously.
"Hope always," Walker smiled.
"Hope isn't just sitting on your ass and waiting for things to fix themselves," Nia said frustrated. "Every time I go out to fight, I have hope my friends and I will succeed."
"Same here," Wally chimed in.
"Good," Walker smiled. "I will free you of the rage that still exists in your hearts and then I will give a blue lantern ring. I hope it will be enough to stop Supergirl, but I also have hope she will come to her senses."
"I do, too," Nia said sincerely.
Hong Kong
At night, Supergirl made her move. While civilians fled for their lives, Supergirl fired heat vision into the ground creating an earthquake in the city. Superman then appeared in the air with Diana's sword. "You really going to fight me in the city?" Supergirl asked him.
"I've done it before," Superman said dryly.
"Fair enough," Supergirl smirked.
Superman charged with his sword. Supergirl took hold of him and slammed into a building. She quickly disarmed him and then punched him into the building toppling it on impact. Superman came out of the building and fought her hand-to-hand. Supergirl fired at him but missed as Superman elbowed her to the back of the head. Supergirl fired a few more times blasting the city as Superman tried to headlock her. She eventually cast him off of her. Superman flew at her and punched her hard to the face, slammed her to the ground, and then kicked her into a building destroying it.
Superman retrieved his sword and tried to force it down her throat. Supergirl took hold of Superman's arm and then prepared a heat vision attack to kill him. Superman disengaged from her and blocked her heat vision with his sword. Supergirl then punched him hard through a Ferris wheel and onto the wharf. Superman struck Supergirl with his sword cutting into her side. Pissed-off, Supergirl disarmed Superman and threw him into the sea. Grabbing the sword off the ground, she flung it into a skyscraper. Superman made his way to the wharf and narrowly missed getting his head sliced off with heat vision beams. Superman took evasive action in the city as Supergirl sliced into everything with her heat vision. Several buildings exploded and fell as they were hit with heat vision beams. Superman retreated only to get hit in the back. He tumbled to the ground. Supergirl kept it up blasting buildings apart near Superman to get a hit on him.
Finally, Superman retrieved his sword and flew straight at Supergirl. She fired on him as he came closer to her. The heat vision beams deflected off Diana's sword and sliced into Supergirl's shoulder. The hit knocked them both to the ground stunned. With Supergirl hurt, Superman took advantage, punching, and head locking Supergirl as they slammed into several buildings. Supergirl bit into Superman's hand and then threw him to the ground. She slammed her boot on him for a killer blow but missed. Superman got out of the way and two continued their slugfest. Supergirl took hold of Superman by the arm, whirled him around a few times, and then threw him into a building.
Supergirl and Superman clashed in a city square with both punching and with enough force to shake the entire city. Supergirl got the better of the exchange and placed her boot on the defeated Superman's chest. Superman tried to dislodge her boot in vain. Supergirl stared down at Superman with a condescending look. "You have ten seconds to get out of my sight," Supergirl ordered as she took her boot off his chest.
Superman looked around at the frightened yet hopeful civilians eying them. Reluctantly, he flew off leaving the city to Supergirl's wrath. As soon as he was gone, Supergirl glowed and then unleashed a solar flare that wiped the city clean from the island. Superman accelerated to escape the dome of energy coming his way.
Ysmault
J'onn and M'gann journeyed across the blood-soaked sands, through blood rivers, and up mountains covered in bloody snow to get to the palace of Atrocitus. As expected, they were escorted by several pissed-off Red Lanterns. Atrocitus looked upon them unimpressed. "Why are you here, Martian?" he asked.
"I seek a red lantern ring so I can kill a bitch," J'onn said.
"Indeed," Atrocitus smiled. "Which bitch?"
"Supergirl," J'onn said seriously.
Atrocitus frowned as he heard that name. "You lack the rage in your heart to defeat her. The hate you feel for the White Martians has dulled over the centuries on Earth. For you, it's not about rage but proving to others you're still an asshole. You have given up your rage in your peaceful meditations. Pathetic."
"Then, give it to me," M'gann volunteered.
"What rage could you possibly have?" Atrocitus doubted.
"Yeah, you don't got it," J'onn agreed.
"Look, mother-fuckers, I've had enough of your condescending shit. I've been accused unfairly of being a concentration camp guard, I've been belittled because of my gender, mocked for the skin I chose on Earth, and treated like a brood-mare by you and your brother. I've had enough!" M'gann shouted as her eyes glowed red.
"Holy shit," Atrocitus said alarmed.
Red Lanterns immediately attacked M'gann to restrain her. She proceeded to beat the shit out of them and took one of their rings for her own. "I'm keeping this," she glared at Atrocitus.
"Fine, go, damn," Atrocitus allowed.
On the way back, M'gann was still fuming. "You know I only said those things to make you stronger and build you up," J'onn said conversationally.
"Shove it, J'onn," M'gann said still pissed-off.
Nekron
Alex and Kelly's ship went on auto-pilot towards Nekron. On the way, there were many lifeless planets bathed in lethal radiation from a nearby black hole. They eventually came upon Nekron, a planet orbiting a massive black hole. Volcanic activity on the planet made Nekron more hospitable than it would otherwise be. "Under different circumstances, this would be kind of awesome," Alex said of Nekron as they saw the beautiful event horizon ring dwarf the planet.
The two landed on a sand dune and made their way to Nekron's palace on a mountain. "Did the auto-pilot really have to park us so far?" Kelly complained as they walked for miles.
"You going to be okay?" the more athletic Alex asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Kelly assured her.
They reached the mountain and climbed up some steps as they were hit with sleet and snow. "I bet none of the others had to deal climbing a mountain," Alex said peeved.
"We should be thankful we haven't met anyone yet," Kelly said as she got her breath back.
"Greetings," a dark and sinister voice said to them.
Alex immediately took out her pistol. "Alex, daughter of Jeremiah. Kelly, daughter of Marcus," a hooded skeleton creature identified.
"Who are you?" Alex asked as she advanced on him.
"I am Nekron. Consider me a guide to you and to all that seek black power," Nekron said.
"Show us where it is and we'll be on our way," Alex promised.
"Oh, if only it was that easy," Nekron said hauntedly.
Nekron guided them to the top of the mountain overlooking a very steep cliff to a lake below. From the mountain summit, they could see lifeless salt lakes. In the sky, the black hole's event horizon was a sight to behold being several times larger than the sun on Earth. "What you seek lies in front of you," Nekron told them.
"In the lake down there? Damn it. We didn't have to climb this mountain after all," Alex said peeved.
"I don't think that's what he meant," Kelly said fearfully.
"In order to take a black ring, you must lose that which you love. An everlasting exchange. A soul for a ring," Nekron said to them.
Alex and Kelly looked at each other in horror as to what was being asked of them. "There has to be another way," Kelly said to him.
"The one who sent you on this mission knew my price. The question is whether he knew which of you would be coming back," Nekron said amused.
Kelly attempted to use her shrink abilities on Nekron while Alex brooded in self-reflection. Nekron humored her arguments, amused by her attempts. Alex suddenly stood up. "If we don't get that ring, billions of people will die."
"Then, I guess we know which one of us it has to be," Kelly said tearfully.
"I guess we do," Alex agreed taking Kelly's hand.
"The shrink in me is making me start to think we mean different people here," Kelly sensed.
"For the last five years, all I have tried to do is keep the world safe. I took an oath to give my life to that cause. When Kara left with her family, I made Karina my responsibility," Alex said.
"You think Supergirl is Karina?" Nekron interrupted. "No, Kara Zor-El lives in this time."
Alex's face fell as she heard that. "Don't listen to him. It's bullshit," Kelly said quickly.
"Kara couldn't live knowing she couldn't have you in her life. She switched places with her twin. The one you fear, the one you hate, is your sister, Alex," Nekron revealed.
"No," Alex said devastated at the news.
"Alex, I know you're trying to save my life but the world needs you. The world needs warriors, and I'm not," Kelly told her.
"Kelly, you know what I've done. You know what I have become. I'm a trained killer," Alex told her.
"I don't judge you," Kelly said shaking her head.
"Maybe you should," Alex said softly.
"Alex, you can be a pain in my ass but you're a good person. We'll find another way," Kelly assured her.
"Alright, you win," Alex said with false sincerity.
Kelly and Alex stared each other down and then suddenly Kelly stabbed Alex to the gut with her own knife. Alex fell to the ground hurt as Kelly ran for the cliff. Alex quickly took out her pistol and shot Kelly in the leg dropping her. Alex went full sprint towards the ledge and dropped off. "No!" Kelly shrieked as Alex fell all the way down and hit the solid rock platform below. Her body was crushed on impact and her head cracked open.
Kelly stared at Alex's body in shock. "Here's the black ring. You've earned it," Nekron said as he handed it to her.
DEO Fortress
Several pairs of heroes came back using their lantern rings. The portals opened inside the DEO Fortress with most of the heroes returning. "Did you get them all?" John asked urgently.
"You're telling me this actually worked," James said with the yellow ring in his hand.
Kelly simply held a blank look on her face. "Kelly, where's Alex?" Eliza asked alarmed.
Kelly said nothing with tears in her eyes. Eliza fell to her knees and began to sob with Jeremiah next to her. The rest of the group looked away in grief. "Nah, we got the black lantern ring. We can bring her back," Winn said ignorantly.
"We can't bring her back. Even if we tried, it wouldn't be her," Kelly said.
"What does that even mean?" Winn asked confused.
"It means if we bring her back, she'll be a zombie. Is that what you want?" James asked wiping away tears.
"It can't be undone. That's what Nekron said when he gave me the fucking ring," Kelly exploded. "You don't believe me, you go to Nekron and speak with the living skeleton!"
Kelly looked at them all grief-stricken. "It was supposed to be me. She sacrificed her life for that damn ring. She bet her life on it."
"You cannot blame yourself," Eliza said tearfully to Kelly. "She was always a soldier for good. It was in her blood," she said looking at a silent stone-faced Jeremiah.
Kelly nodded and then eyed Brainiac 5 waiting patiently. "You bastard! You knew one of us wouldn't be coming back," she assaulted him.
"Wait...what?" Nia asked stunned.
"If you two had been logical, Alex would have come back. You were the weakest link, Kelly. I didn't expect you to return," Brainiac 5 said coldly.
"I don't know who's worse, you or Kara," Kelly spat.
"You mean Karina," Lex interrupted.
"We've been fighting Kara this entire time. She switched with her clone when she went back in time. We're not just facing a clone we barely knew who lacks experience. We're facing...Kara, our Kara," Kelly revealed. "And you fucking knew," Kelly accused Brainiac 5.
"She's not coming back. We have to make it worth it," Jeremiah said softly.
Tokyo
Kara targeted Tokyo for her next target. Her heat beams blasted apart several skyscrapers as civilians fled. She then noticed J'onn enter the battlefield. "You're difficult to kill, Martian," Kara sneered.
"I wish the same could be said for your sister," J'onn said sincerely.
Kara simply stared at him. "What the fuck are you talking about?"
"She sacrificed her life to stop you. You have ruined this world, killed millions of people, and lost everyone close to you. Was it worth it?" J'onn asked her.
"You're just trying to break my spirit. She's not dead," Kara doubted.
J'onn then sent a mental image to her mind of Kelly's memories. Kara saw Alex leap off the mountain and then perish at the bottom. "You think I care?" Kara asked as she wiped away tears.
"You can break this hold Darkseid has on you. Don't be his slave," J'onn beseeched her.
"Is it slavery if you get what you want?" Kara asked rhetorically. "He doesn't control me. He just stripped me of compassion, love, and hope."
"Do you truly want an existence of rage, fear, and greed?" J'onn asked her.
"Once I have the anti-life equation, I'm going to end war and starvation. In my universe, every civilization's population will remain the same. I will control life and death. No soul will enter or leave this dimension without my say," Kara said ambitiously.
"You will have to live forever to keep it that way," J'onn pointed out.
"I'm fine with that," Kara smirked.
"Forever without Alex. Sounds lonely," J'onn remarked.
Kara shuddered as she appeared to be resisting her programming. "I'll create a new Alex. I can reconstruct her and give her my memories of her," she said.
"It won't be her, Kara. Give this up and I'll let you be with her again," J'onn said referring to her death.
"Only if you beat me," Kara glared and then fired heat vision beams at him. J'onn phased through the beams allowing the buildings behind him to explode. J'onn punched Kara's head to the side. She macked him back blasting him through a building. J'onn took to the air and continued to engage her. Kara took hold of J'onn and ground his face into a building shattering the windows. She repeatedly slammed his face into the building. J'onn phased through her grip.
"You're quite the escape artist," Kara mocked.
J'onn and Kara fired heat vision at each other at the same time. Kara quickly overpowered J'onn and blasted him through a building. On the ground, his chest and neck were severely burned. Kara took hold of J'onn and threw him through a building like a rag doll. Kara slammed the back of J'onn's head into the ground with her boot. Not finished him with him yet, she dragged his ass through several city blocks destroying every building along the way. As J'onn could barely move from his wounds, Kara put her boot on his neck.
"Phase through this," Kara dared as she was about to blast his head off.
Superman suddenly got on her and pulled her hair. Kara sent the heat vision beams into space instead. Kara punched Superman off of her and was about to kick his ass when J'onn grabbed her left arm. Superman grabbed her right. Superman and J'onn worked to restrain Kara and bring her to the ground. Kara fired heat vision beams at the both of them and then punched them both off of her. Kara beat J'onn down as Superman took up Diana's sword. With the sword, Superman got some good hits before being taken down to the ground. Kara got on top of him and pointed her index finger at his forehead.
"Try to block it," Kara antagonized as Superman put all of his strength to keep Kara from penetrating his skull with her index finger.
A fallen J'onn fired heat vision into Diana's sword still in Superman's hand. With the blade red hot, Superman sliced deep into Kara's neck and chest. She backed off stunned by the hit. Superman got back to his feet and sliced deep into Kara's right arm and left leg. Kara fell to the ground seemingly defeated. "Don't let up, Superman! You know what she's capable of," J'onn shouted at him.
Superman hesitated to give her the finishing blow. A heat vision beam went straight through his chest killing him instantly. Kara got back to her feet and glowed in Prime mode. Her injuries healed immediately. "Fuck it," J'onn realized.
Kara unleashed a solar flare that burned J'onn away to nothing. Just as she thought she had the victory, a white beam suddenly sliced through her aura and into her lung. Kara fell to her knees stunned by the attack. John Stewart flew right at Kara keeping the beam in her chest to keep it from closing up. He got her back on her feet and smiled victoriously. Kara eyed the nine rings on his hand and realized the story about Alex must be true.
"What do you think about that, bitch?" John asked her as he pressed his fist into her chest wound.
"You should have gone for the head," Kara replied as her eyes glowed red.
"Shit," John realized.
Kara blasted his head off and watched as the rings on his hand floated into the air and shot off into space returning to their former masters.
Fortress of Solitude
A wounded Kara entered the fortress and noticed the command center was cleaned up. "Kelex, excellent clean-up job. Now, I need you to fix my suit," she said referring to the large hold in her chest.
Kara then noticed the anti-life equation was no longer downloading and that all files had been deleted. "What the fuck?" she wondered. She eyed the floor and realized what had happened. Superman had come in and taken the bodies away while deleting the file. "That son-of-a-bitch," Kara said horrified.
"Computer: Give me access to files on the anti-life equation," Kara ordered.
"No files found," the computer replied.
Kara grabbed her hair as she became manic. "NO!" she shrieked as she blasted the Fortress of Solitude to nothing.