It took another week from the visit with Lex for Brainiac to arrive. The skull ship hovered over Metropolis, a strange shape for something like this.
The airspace around it was alive with action. Fighter jets battled with small craft that accompanied the main vessel. They were hopelessly outmatched, and wreckage from the planes peppered down onto the city. The battle didn't take long. And still, there was no sign of Supergirl.
Aboard the skullship, Lex Luthor looked down at his planet through one of the eyes. He knew he might never step foot on its surface again. But that was unimportant.
He looked around at the empty room he'd been ushered into by the robots.
A few moments later, he heard a voice behind him. It sounded nothing like what he'd expected. A Metropolis accent, flawlessly spoken by a very normal-sounding voice. "Lex Luthor. Welcome."
Lex turned to see what looked like a man, except made mostly of metal, with only the face left untouched. Oh, and he was green.
"Brainiac. Pleased to meet you at last." He held out his hand.
Brainiac ignored it and slowly paced a few meters away. "You have done well. Convincing Supergirl not to side with the humans went as predicted. On their current path, Superman will be too late to help his city. You have proven yourself a valuable asset and will be rewarded accordingly."
Lex smiled. "Thank you. I look forward to our partnership."
Brainiac laughed. "This is not a partnership. You are a useful tool, and that is all you will ever be. Remember that."
Lex bowed his head. "Of course."
When he looked up, Brainiac was walking out. Not one for niceties, Lex thought. It didn't matter. He turned around and got on with his true work. He took a Kryptonian crystal out of his pocket and looked for any kind of port to plug it into. Supergirl had apparently designed it herself. An exceptional woman, Lex thought.
But he was getting distracted. He focused and finally found something. As he moved the crystal closer, it reshaped itself to fit.
As soon as the crystal was inserted, he felt a shudder go through the ship. It felt like a scream, in an odd way. Lex knew there was nothing he could do now but wait.
The Kryptonian girl on the ground below smiled as she saw the machines start to behave erratically. She took off her glasses and stowed her things in her backpack, in an alley.
A moment later, she launched herself off the ground and aimed for the large emitter on the bottom of the ship. She smashed it to pieces, but then was immediately attacked by some kind of aircraft. It fired an energy weapon that stunned her for a moment. But she rebounded off the bottom of the ship and used her heat vision to destroy the vehicle.
From there, she fell to the street below. She saw that people around her were now not just being killed by Brainiac's machines, but they seemed to be corralling them, like sheep. Putting them together into groups. One saw her and walked toward her. It spoke. "You have changed nothing. I will overcome this momentarily, and the people of Metropolis will be scanned. That is most of the task. You cannot stop me. You do not even have full control over your abilities."
The aircraft above had faltered, but seemed to be recovering. Several of them surrounded her. Bolts flew at her from the craft, striking her and forcing her to her knees. The machine on the ground simply said, "Silly girl. To think you believed you could defeat me alone."
Kara gathered her strength, then brought her hands together as hard as she could. An ear-splitting crack sounded from them, and a blast of air struck the aircraft, throwing them off-balance.
"I'm not alone."
"No, she's not."
Floating in the air behind Kara was Kal. He beamed at her, and she could feel his pride. But then they got to work, destroying the craft. Soon they were gone, and Kal landed beside Kara. "We have a lot to talk about. But first, let's finish this."
Before he'd even finished speaking, the skullship started to ascend. Kal frowned. "He's retreating. He'll just head to the next planet. We have to stop him."
He moved to take off, but Kara grabbed his arm. "Lex Luthor is onboard. He helped. We have to save him."
Kal looked at her, nodded, and said, "I can't do both at once. I'll handle Brainiac, you go for Lex. Can you fly?"
Kara looked up at the retreating ship. "I have to."
Kal took off and headed for it, while Kara took a moment to psych herself.
"Okay. Lex's life is depending on you. You have to do this."
She reached down, her first contacting the Earth. She felt, suddenly, a connection to it. This planet that had given her so much. The people that needed her, and she needed in return.
She pushed off, hard, and then, with the wind streaming through her hair, her cape a straight line behind her, she pushed again. And went faster, and faster. She laughed, and then with one push, punctured the hull of the skullship.
She found herself in a corridor, and she looked through the ship for Lex. He was in a room with several of the machines. She could hear him talk. "I never betrayed you! I thought Supergirl was out!"
Brainiac replied, "You used my trust to get inside to use a weapon against me. For this I will not just destroy you. I will be back, and I will exact my vengeance on your entire planet, you miserable creature!"
Just as the machine raised a weapon, Kara punched a hole through its chest. The other two went down quickly as well.
Lex looked incredibly relieved to see her. "Thank you. We must go for the computer core. Destroy Brainiac once and for all."
Kara nodded. "My cousin's there. He'll-"
There was an almighty crash, and then the sound of Brainiac laughing reverberated through the ship. Kara and Lex hurried through the ship to find the core. When they did, they saw Kal struggling amidst a mass of tentacles. A green machine man was there. It looked different from the others. Kara surged forward and went to punch him, but tentacles wrapped around her arm. She found herself unable to move.
A moment passed and she realised that she and Kal were helpless. But in the next moment, they were free. Brainiac strumped backward, the Kryptonian crystal embedded in the base of his neck. Lex stood aside as the metal man fell to the floor.
Kal was released too, and they both walked to where Brainiac sat, his back to the core. "I... I only wanted to save them..."
Kal replied, "You lost your way, Vril. The cost was too high."
Brainiac looked at him. "No cost is too high. Not for what's coming. You will not be enough to stop it."
With that, Brainiac's eyes closed and Kal replied, "I'll try."
There was a shudder through the ship, and suddenly they lost gravity. Kara and Kal stayed on the floor, but Lex suddenly floating upwards. Kal grabbed his shirt to keep him in place while Kara examined the core. "It looks like it's been designed to interface with a human nervous system. Ours wouldn't work."
Lex told them, "It was designed for me. I was going to assist Brainiac. Plug me in."
Kal shook his head. "We don't know what it'll do to you. It's too big of a risk."
Kara took a moment more to examine the console. "I don't think there's any other way, Kal. Lex can use it to restore Argo City and Kandor."
Kal looked concerned. "How do we know this wasn't his plan all along? To take over Brainiac so he can be... whatever Brainiac is?"
Kara guided Lex over to the console. "I trust him."
She plugged him in, and Lex cried out in pain immediately. The gravity didn't right itself, but fluttered on and off.
After a few moments, it came back on fully. Lex opened his eyes. "I have it."
A moment more and he laughed. "I can see so much... I can do so much." He looked at Kara and reached out to hold her hand. "Thank you."
Then he let go and focussed.