Power is no blessing in itself, except when it is used to protect the innocent.
Jonathan Swift
The transport set down on a hill, two miles from the nuclear power plant located in Pozharnov, Russia. The heroes walked down the ramp, finding themselves under blood-red skies, while an unnatural wind whipped their hair and capes, to get their first real view of the enemy's stronghold.
Barry stepped closer to Kara, grasping her wrist as the sight threatened to overwhelm him. "It's okay, Barry," she cooed, "just don't let it overwhelm you." Then she turned and smiled, "we are here with you, little warrior."
Barry stood a bit taller and Kara was rewarded with a smile from the speedster, "we got this, Kara."
Diana and Bruce stood behind the group with Clark. "She is quite amazing, isn't she?" Superman asked the two heroes. He watched her careful camaraderie with the other heroes and wondered once again why he was here.
Bruce nodded, and once again Diana felt a warmth in her chest blossom, "that she is."
Bruce clapped his hands together and got everyone's attention, "we need to run a reconnaissance of the area and get an idea of where the innocents are. Clark and Kara, can you do a flyover and put eyes on as many people as possible." Then he turned and looked at Barry, "I need you to do a quick run around the border of the shield and then find a safe area for the people we are about to evacuate, okay?"
Barry swallowed and nodded, "yeah, yeah I can do that."
Diana stepped up to Clark and Kara, "this is a recon only mission, no contact with the enemy, understood?"
"Yes, your highness," Kara answered, bowing her head.
"I am more than capable of…," Clark spoke but was interrupted.
"No contact, Clark. We need time to get those civilians out of the area and to do that, we need to avoid contact before we use Bruce's device," Diana warned.
Kara was listening to the conversation, shocked by her cousin's inability to understand a simple strategy. She waited until Clark moved away and took Diana by the hand, "I will watch him, princess."
"He is untrained, Kara," Diana swallowed, as goosebumps formed on her arm from the young captain's touch, "he will bring too much attention to us before we are ready."
"I will keep us safe, Diana," Kara reassured the Amazon.
Diana engulfed the blonde in a fierce hug, "I know you will, Kara. For the honor of Themyscira."
Kara allowed herself to be held for a moment longer, smiling softly, even with the threat of imminent danger hanging over all their heads. Her senses were temporarily overwhelmed by her proximity to Diana and she failed to hear the argument between Bruce and Clark.
"Dammit, Clark," Bruce hissed, "listen to them, they are the strongest strategists on the team."
"I am more than capable of handling these aliens," Clark snapped back.
"The rest of this team isn't, except for Kara and Diana," Bruce said, "Arthur, Barry, Victor, and myself, we aren't like you three, we can be hurt by those weapons."
"I've fought those demon's before, they aren't that tough," Clark bragged, "surely you have enough gadgets in that belt of yours to handle them."
"Nevermind, Clark," Bruce huffed. Then he stuck his finger in Superman's chest, "do not jeopardize this team."
Diana's head came up as she heard the last part, and watched Bruce threaten Superman. As Clark stomped off, Diana and Kara approached Bruce. "Kara will watch his back, Bruce."
"It's not his back I'm worried about," Bruce growled, "it's the team. Kara, I need you to watch him, please?"
"Of course, Dem-I mean Bruce," Kara blushed as she caught herself using the nickname.
"It's okay, Kara, I don't mind when you call me that," Bruce responded, then he actually smiled at the woman.
Twenty minutes later Kara and Clark were marking locations on a paper map, identifying houses and vehicles containing people. So far, they had counted over seventy-five people and were about to return to the transport when Kara's ear's pricked. "There's a patrol nearby!"
"Where?" Clark asked, trying to catch the sounds that Kara was hearing.
"Follow me," Kara said as she shot up into some low clouds.
From the cover of the red-tinged clouds, Kara pointed a finger towards the Para-Demon patrol that was making its way along the outside perimeter of the shield. "Twenty-four, they always travel in even numbers," she explained, "see the two with red on their faces?"
Clark focused and nodded.
"Those are the commanders, they carry a more powerful version of…," she stopped talking as Clark screamed and shot towards the patrol. She entered a dive to catch him, cursing as she gained speed, "Stop, damn you!"
Superman's scream caused the demons to stop and look around, the two commanders looked up and saw the red and blue-clad hero speeding down towards them. "Kryptonian," snarled one of the demons, as he flipped the selector on his rifle and lifted it to fire. Kara heard the alien and shot forward, breaking the sound barrier as she overtook her cousin, catching the green burst of energy directly in the chest. A majority of the energy dispersed off of her magical armor, but enough was left to break her concentration and send her plummeting towards the Earth.
Barry had heard the sonic boom created by Kara and was speeding in the direction of the blonde amazon when he saw her falling from the sky. "Supergirl's in trouble!" He screamed into his communicator, "Para-demon attack." Then he shot forward towards his falling friend. Using his speed, he bounced up into the air, using rocks and building, and then started to spin his arms, creating a cushion of air to gently lower both himself and the girl of steel down to the Earth.
Clark landed with a crash as Diana and Victor dropped from the sky between him and Kara.
"What in Hades happened?" Diana directed her question at Clark.
"We were spotted by that patrol," Clark lied, as he pointed to the Para-demons who were surrounding them.
Green veins throbbing in her face and neck, Tarie held tight in her left hand, Kara limped forward-leaning on Barry's shoulder watching the patrol as they closed ranks. Diana's sword was held in her right hand, and Victor's armor was already preparing for the imminent attack.
"Take out the ones with red on their face first, highness," Kara whispered hoarsely through gritted teeth, then she threw her shield, removing the heads of two of the demons.
Victor fired several bursts of sound at the targets Kara designated and screamed, "Boo-yah!" as he watched both leaders fall, their weapons clattering to the ground, useless.
"Good shot, Victor!" Kara yelled as her body recovered slightly from the poisoning, and she bolted forward, taking out six of the hideous created, their heads landing at her feet as she spun around with Tarie in her hand, she turned as the remain creatures drew a bead on Diana and Clark and watched helplessly as the energy weapons fired at her princess.
Diana watched as the energy bolts came towards her, and using the speed that had once allowed her to defeat Hermes, she deflected the bolts, taking out five of the ten remaining demons, as Kal punched two of them through their chest.
Barry took out two more, with two well-placed bolts of lightning, then stopped, unaware of the final demon, pointing its weapon at his back. Two female voices screamed his name, and as he jumped back into the speed force, two swords passed through the area he had recently been standing in and drove the demon back thirty feet, impaling it on the side of an old house.
Kara dropped to her knee as the remaining radiation worked its way from her body, then stood and marched towards her cousin, her jaw set in an angry scowl. Diana stepped between them and strained to hold back the blonde. "Captain Zor-el, stand down!" She ordered.
Kara stopped moving, but her eyes remained on her cousin, staring accusingly at him.
Clark swallowed hard but refused to back down, "we did it, we took them out."
"If you put this team at risk again, Clark," Kara threatened, "I will send you back to whatever hell you were suffering in before you were brought back."
"We beat them?" Clark asked, confused by his cousin's anger.
"We were told not to involve ourselves in any type of conflict. You put fellow warriors in danger, but what is worse, you let pride guide you and you could have gotten innocent people killed because of it." Kara snapped. "Orders and strategy are there for a reason. Princess Diana has hundreds of years of experience and Bruce has proven to be one of the best tacticians I have ever heard. LISTEN TO THEM!" The young woman then stormed past the larger man, bumping him out of the way with her shoulder as she retrieved both her and Diana's sword from the wall.
Superman staggered from the force of the blow, falling back several steps, "but we won?"
Diana looked at the man and shook her head, "you need to keep your mouth shut, until she cools off, Clark." Diana pointed to the approaching warrior. Kara ignored Clark as she handed Diana back her sword and then turned a rocketed into the sky, heading towards the transport.
Kara landed next to the transport and handed the marked map to Bruce, "all the locations are marked, between Barry and the other one, they should be able to clear all the innocents in a short amount of time." Then she stormed off to the far side of the plane and sat down, trying to get her anger under control.
A few minutes later, the rest of the team returned and Diana pulled Bruce to the side to explain what had happened.
Barry, Arthur, and Victor made their way to where Kara was seated and stood, watching her. "You three can stop staring, I'm not angry with you."
"You sure, little sister?" Arthur smiled, "sorry I missed it."
"You did the right thing, Arthur," Kara took a deep, calming breath, "Bruce is, outmatched physically, by the demons, he would have needed your help." Then she stood up, "These two," she pointed at Barry and Victor, "they were amazing."
Victor smiled and nodded. Barry was beaming, "I did well?"
Kara stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the scarlet-clad speedster, "you saved me, that puts me in your debt, little warrior." Then she looked at Victor, "Thank you for standing by the princess."
Victor held out his metallic fist and Kara tapped her smaller hand against it, smiling as she grew more comfortable with this team of misfits.
Bruce and Diana stepped into view as Kara and the three men continued to talk, going over the battle, listening to both Kara's criticism and praise. "Next time, Barry, make sure not to turn your back until all the enemies are off the field.
Diana smiled, her eyes admiring the blonde, "she seems to fit right in."
Bruce caught the look and smiled at the Amazon, "I believe your highness may be a bit taken with a certain Captain."
Diana's smile faltered a bit, as she looked at Bruce, "we don't have time for anything like that right now."
"That's what I said about Selina, Diana," Bruce frowned at the memory, "don't let the past and present keep you from pursuing your future."
"Let's get this started, Bruce, we can't have much longer," Diana pressed forward to the rest of the team.
Kara looked up as she saw Diana and Bruce approaching, "Are we ready to begin, your highness?"
"Yes, Kara, I had a discussion with Clark," Diana's eyes lit up at Kara's smile, "I believe you convinced him to follow orders from now on."
Kara and Clark lifted off, and hovered, waiting for Bruce to get the transport airborne. As the plane lifted off the ground, they moved, in formation, to the highest point of the shield. From inside the transport, Bruce readied the weapons system and notified the two Kryptonians that he was ready.
Kara floated, she started focusing on her mark, then she closed her eyes for a moment. When the blue eyes opened they shifted from blue to orange to red, and she aimed her heat vision on a single spot on the glowing blue bubble.
Kara saw the shield starting to falter, and yelled, "now!" to her cousin. Superman added his weaker heat vision to the same spot, amazed by the concentrated energy the young Kryptonian was currently using.
"Now's your chance to punch something, Clark!" Kara yelled over the sound of the boiling shield, "hit that spot." She pointed to the weakened area of the blue forcefield and watched her cousin shoot towards it. Moments before he hit the spot, she stopped her vision and followed him, punching through the air with no effort at all. Superman hit the spot and punched through, causing the blue light to dim and falter just a bit. Kara hit the same spot just a second later and Bruce smiled wickedly as the field failed in that area, firing all his missiles at once towards the center of the large purple stalk at the middle of the bubble.
Bruce didn't even watch the missiles as he pushed the throttles ahead, pouring on the speed and following the missiles straight through the shield. The three heroes were rewarded as all the rockets struck the giant vine and watched as the bubble collapsed and glow disappeared and the power plant and surrounding village were accessible for the first time in twenty-four hours.
Over their earpieces, they heard Diana's voice, "Superman and Flash, begin the rescue operation, now!" Then she continued, "Bruce, get their attention."
Bruce flew the transport towards the road on the northern side of the plant and rushed to the back, turning control over to Alfred, and jumped into his modified 'Batmobile' and launched it out of the back of the plane, accelerating as the wheels hit the road. As the vehicle moved forward, he started blasting the alien cry over his speakers, calling for their attention.
Kara was hovering high above, watching the field, and making sure her cousin stuck to the plan. "They are coming from the west, just as Batman predicted."
"Supergirl, get behind them and work back towards us, we have to keep them busy until all the civilians are out of the area."
Kara shot to the rear of the Para-demons watching each member of the team attack in his or her own way. She noticed a huge group of the flying creatures heading towards Bruce and his vehicle, "Batman, you are about to be overrun, they are coming up on your rear," Kara tensed, then noticed something. "Bruce, there is a chimney sixty-five meters to your east, head that way and start shooting on my mark."
The vehicle spun around and Kara counted in her head, waiting, waiting…
"Now!" she screamed.
Bruce started firing the mini-guns on the tank hybrid and watched as the large smokestack started to lean. He smiled as his foot pressed the pedal even harder, screaming under the collapsing brick and mortar as it crushed the pursuing creatures. "Great call, Supergirl!"
"Watch your back, little sister," Arthur cried as his trident speared three of the monsters that were coming up behind Kara.
"Thank you, big brother," Kara grinned wickedly, "nice to know you know which end is which."
Arthur laughed as his fist crushed another demon, "yeah, yeah, the three pointing thingies."
Diana was using her sword and the lasso of Hestia to hold off a huge group of the demons. She looked down the field and noticed that Victor was about to be overrun. "Victor, brace yourself on something."
Instinctually, his feet dug into the earth under them, just as Diana brought her bracers together and a wave of force cleared the field for a hundred meters in front of him.
Kara was using all her abilities, sword, and shield to keep the monsters at bay in the air above her team. Throwing her shield, she shot forward, taking out any creature it missed as she retrieved it from the body of the last alien it struck. Then she shot into the sky, focusing her vision on Barry and Clark.
On the opposite side of the power plant, Flash and Superman were working to overcome the language barrier to collect the residents of the village so they could evacuate them from the area. During his earlier recon of the area, Barry had discovered a safe area four kilometers from the site, which had once been the site of an old hotel. Superman gathered several vehicles but kept looking towards the battle.
"Focus, please?" Barry asked the Kryptonian, "we have to get these people out of here quickly."
"What's the count?" Clark asked as he looked again towards the far side of the power station.
"Seventy-Five, that's everyone," Barry called out.
"Load them up and let's get them out of here, so we can get into the fight," Superman ordered.
Barry started guiding the people to different vehicles. He assisted fifty of them into two buses and loaded the rest into cars and trucks. All except one woman who kept staring towards the plant, screaming for them to let her go.
"Ma'am, we need to go, to get you out of here," Barry tried to pantomime, but the woman kept screaming.
Clark had enough and threw the woman over his shoulder and then lifted a bus and started flying towards the safe area. While Clark moved the first bus, Barry pushed car after car to the evacuation point. As Superman returned to get the second bus, a small group of Para-demons attacked, trying to grab two of the innocents. Barry attacked the first group of two, and ripped their wings from their backs, then used lightning from the speed force to disintegrate both creatures. Clark was having more trouble as the bug-like creatures continued to fire at him using their Kryptonite lasers.
Barry screamed into his communicator, "we need help, Superman is pinned down! I repeat, Superman is pinned down, and there are still people who need to be rescued!"
Kara recognized the panic in Barry's voice and turned, about to rush to the rescue of her friend and cousin when Bruce called out, "Kara, no, we need you here, cover Diana and Victor. Arthur and I have this."
"Go now, Bruce, Barry is doing his best to keep the innocents out of the line of fire, but he can't keep this up," Kara said through gritted teeth, as she turned Tarie on another host of Para-demons.
Flooring the 'Batmobile', Bruce turned the wheel hard and turned off the speakers, listening as Victor took over the sound show and started blasting out the horrible noise that drew the bugs towards himself and the two warriors. "Arthur, you're with me!" He screamed over the sound of his growling engine. A second later, Arthur landed on the car, squatting down and grasping one of the rocket mounts above Batman's head.
Bruce was driving like a demon possessed, and rounded the final curve, seeing Superman unable to approach the winged creatures due to the green rays they kept shooting at him. Meanwhile, Barry was moving people out of the way of errant shots, until he noticed Bruce and Arthur arriving and caught a bolt in the shoulder, driving him to the ground.
"Barry's down, I repeat, Barry's down," Arthur announced over the comms. Then he leaped from the roof of the vehicle and readied his trident, impaling the first demon before his feet crashed into the Earth. The second creature turned and fired, watching in horror as the green bolt deflected off the Atlantean armor and dispersed harmlessly into the air. "So that's what you shot my little sister with," the Aquaman growled, as he drove his trident through the creature's chest.
Bruce skidded to a stop and bounded out of his tank, landing at Barry's side. "Are you okay?" He asked as the dazed young man pushed himself up out of the mud.
Barry looked up at Bruce, a goofy smile on his face, "I'm fine, are all the people safe…" Then he promptly passed out from shock, as his body's defenses started to heal his wounded shoulder. Bruce then turned to Clark, "Let's get the rest of these people out of here." Using the vehicle's winch, Bruce connected cables to the two remaining vehicles and watched as Superman lifted the last bus. They moved the civilians to Barry's safe spot, and Bruce hopped out to get a headcount one more time. The woman that Clark had carried forcibly approached Batman slowly, yelling in Russian.
Arthur stepped closer, speaking back to the woman, "Calm down, we are here to help."
The woman seemed surprised at the large man's knowledge of her language and started to quickly and loudly explain her agitation, "My children are there," she pointed towards the primary reactor, tears forming in her eyes. "The demons took them when the flowers started to grow."
Arthur explained the situation to Bruce, then glared at Superman as the woman explained that she was just trying to get to her children.
"Tell her we will get them out, Arthur," Bruce promised, not sure how he was going to pull it off.
"Batman, the remaining demon's are retreating to the power plant. I think it's time to go," Diana said quietly through their comms.
"We are on our way back, Wonder Woman. Supergirl, can you check out Flash when we get back?" Bruce asked.
"What's wrong? Is he okay?" Kara cried out, slightly panicked.
"I took a green bolt from one of the demons, Supergirl, but I heal fast," Barry smiled, trying to lighten the situation.
"I'll check on him as soon as you get here. Anything else?" Kara asked.
"There are two children inside Steppenwolf's base, somewhere," Bruce said, anger tinging his voice.
Victor, Diana, and Kara all stood speechless at Bruce's announcement.
Bruce and the rescue team arrived at the meeting point about ten minutes later, finding Kara, Diana, and Vicktor looking at a holographic rendering of the facility they were about to assault.
"Any ideas?" Bruce asked as he walked closer to the small group.
"Victor says these four rooms are highly shielded and I can't see into them, so that is the most likely area," Kara responded. "My hearing cannot pinpoint an exact location because of all the noise from the Para-demons."
Clark turned his head, listening intently, "I can't hear anything either."
"You should send him in to get the children," Kara remarked, pointing her finger at Clark. "He is better suited to one person missions."
Clark stepped forward to defend himself, when Arthur stepped between them, "back off, Clark, she's right. This team needs to know they can count on one another, and you haven't proven to be reliable."
"You all take her side, why am I even here?" Clark asked, clearly distressed.
Kara responded, her cold demeanor thawing just a bit at the hurt expression on her cousin's face, "As I told you on your farm, this is a fight that we may not be able to win, but we have to try and to do that, we need all the help we can get."
"I am not used to working in a group," Clark admitted as his head fell.
"Just try listening, experience gives us an advantage, Diana and Bruce are excellent leaders, and they will do their best to keep us safe," Kara smiled at the two people she mentioned, her eyes holding Diana's for a moment longer.
Diana stepped forward, "Victor, your goal is to separate the boxes, Barry, you will be ground support, Bruce…," she pointed, "You are going to have to be our sniper, Kara, you will be our eyes, keep the demons off of Victor."
"You and Arthur are going to fight Steppenwolf alone?" Kara asked, worry showing in her tone.
"Kara, we will be fine, we only have to keep him busy until Victor can stop the boxes," Diana reassured the blonde, resting a hand on her shoulder.
Kara stood, "He is very strong, your highness." She removed her sword from its sheath on her hip, "take Tarie, she will keep you safe."
Diana's eyes widened and she gasped, "you honor me, Captain." She bowed to Kara, "I shall wield her with fierceness and grace, and with Athena's blessing, I shall return Tarie to your hand."
Kara bit her lip, "Will you pray with me, Princess?"
Diana nodded, and as she gripped Kara's hand she felt another hand in hers. The team slowly formed a circle, grasping hands as Kara began to speak…
"I pray to Rao, Krypton's bright light and the source of my gifts, today I ask, that you stand with your devoted follower and this group as we face our foe…
To Athena, I ask that you bless us with your wisdom, especially Bruce and Diana as they lead us into conflict…
To Apollo, may your light shine down and empower us…
To Artemis, my moon and my friend, guide my cousin on his hunt and help him find the children…
In Rao's name." As Kara completed her short prayer she felt her princess and Arthur squeeze her hands.
"In Rao's name," they all repeated.
Diana smiled and looked towards the sky, silently asking her father to watch over this Paragon of Hope.
Arthur looked over, still gripping Kara's hand, "You ready, little sister?"
Kara took a deep breath, closed her eyes slowly, and when she opened them again, they flashed red as her lips turned up into a slight smile, "I am now, brother."
As a group, the team turned and launched themselves towards Steppenwolf.
Kara lifted Victor and Bruce towards the edge of the reactor, softly landing on a narrow ledge that would offer the Bat some cover, and they waited, patiently as Diana and Arthur made their presence known, bursting through the wall directly opposite them.
Kara's breath caught as she watched Diana fight, moving faster than any human eye could follow as she cut through the Para-demons and drew the attention of Steppenwolf himself. Arthur moved with skill and grace that didn't match the picture he created of himself. The two warriors were standing side by side as Steppenwolf dropped down to face them…
As Steppenwolf dropped down to face the Amazon and the Atlantean, Kara landed with Victor on the metal floor directly across from floating Mother Boxes. She stood for a moment and watched as a red blur joined them, "I'm here, Supergirl," Barry looked around, his voice quivering from fear.
Placing her hands on the man's shoulders, "Hermes is with you, Barry," then she pointed, "Bruce has clean fields of fire in those areas," she fired her heat vision into the wall, marking certain spots with a black X, "lead them through there and he will get them."
"Okay, Kara," he responded breathlessly. "You okay, Vic?"
"We got this, Barry!" Victor yelled over the sound of the boxes.
Kara launched herself into the sky and started to focus her heat vision and super-breath on airborne Para-demons, taking them out one after another.
Several floors below the battle, Superman was rushing from door to door when he heard the sound of two children crying. He grabbed the door with both hands and yanked it and the frame from the wall. Entering slowly, he knelt and smiled at the two siblings, waving his arms to get them to come to him. Slowly they approached him, the young girl holding the hand of, Clark assumed, her little brother. An image came to his mind, of being held by a teenage girl, a girl with Kara's eyes, and he closed his eyes. When he opened them, the two children were standing, staring at him.
"I'm going to take you to your momma," he said in a gentle whisper. Then he gathered them in his arms and headed out the doors, into the tunnels that would lead him outside. Once outside, he jumped into the air and flew as quickly as possible towards the evacuated people south of the power plant.
"These two are mine!" Steppenwolf bellowed as his troops stopped attacking Wonder Woman and Aquaman. "Focus on the child in the sky and the tin man with Mother."
The Para-demons swarmed up at their master's command overwhelming the four remaining members of the team. Kara was shooting them as quickly as she could, while throwing punches and her shield, taking out entire groups. Barry was constantly changing direction, removing wings, throwing lightning, and leading them into Bruce's field of fire.
Victor was concentrating on the song the boxes were singing as they merged. Finally, he matched the beat and frequency, causing them to scream and start to come apart. He intensified his own song and smiled wickedly as the boxes yelled back in response.
On the floor below, Steppenwolf dropped to one knee as 'Mother' started to scream. Arthur picked that moment to attack, but the giant caught his trident in mid-swing and threw them across the large room, crashing into an overhead support. The Atlantean fell to his face, too dazed to move as the supports above him started to collapse. Diana screamed his name and rushed to his side, holding her shield above her head, as tons of stone and steel collapsed on top of them.
In the air above them, Kara screamed as she watched the rubble fall on her friends, but she couldn't break away without putting the rest of the team in danger. She watched Steppenwolf leap onto the platform with Victor and shot her heat vision at him, crying in despair as he deflected the beam towards Barry and causing the speedster to crash into another wall, falling in a heap, unmoving.
Bruce was being overwhelmed as well, and as Kara changed directions to help him she heard Victor's sonic cannon go off as he blasted it into the hideous face of their enemy. Bruce waved her off, yelling for her to get to Victor. Then he shot a grappling hook and swung to a different perch, taking some of the demons with him.
Kara landed across from Steppenwolf, facing off with her back to Victor, blocking him with her own body.
"So, the little Kryptonian is back. How is your mother?" Steppenwolf hissed.
Kara's blue eyes turned red, and the mark on her shoulder started to glow as she took a step forward, "you will pay for the lives you have taken, Steppenwolf."
"The old gods couldn't kill me, child, what makes you think I am frightened of you?" He laughed at the blonde.
The mark on Kara's shoulder flared again and she glanced down and watched her princess and her Atlantean 'brother' pull themselves from the rubble, and turned a faced Steppenwolf again, a smile on her face matching his own, "they didn't kill you out of mercy. You have killed my sisters, harmed my mother, and attempted to kill my princess. By Rao's will, there will be no mercy this time."
At that moment Victor screamed for Kara's help and she stood beside him as together they yanked the boxes apart, causing an explosion that threw the three of them to the floor, thirty meters below.
"Nooooo!" Steppenwolf screamed as he landed on his feet. Kara threw herself between Victor and the stone floor, her body bouncing across the floor as they crashed into the wall. She sat dazed as Superman flew in.
"This guy still bothering you?" he asked smugly, as Steppenwolf's fist landed on the side of his head, knocking him back, throwing him across the room and knocking him into Arthur and Diana. Tarie was thrown from Diana's grasp and landed a few meters from Kara's hand.
The blonde watched in horror as Steppenwolf raised his axe and walked towards her team.
"Now you can join your sisters, your highness," the demon spat as he raised his axe over Diana's prone form.
The axe descended only to be met by god forged Kryptonian metal. "Not today, Steppenwolf." Kara stood under the axe, Tarie glowing the same red as her eyes as she held back the huge weapon in the demonic creature's hand.
Steppenwolf recoiled as Kara spun and Tarie's blade bit into his leg, just above his knee. Then she brought the blade up slicing through the armor on his stomach and chest, purple blood, almost the color of the night sky, staining the now red blade.
He backed away again, as fear dawned in his black eyes.
"Is that fear I smell," Kara asked, her eyes focusing on the dark black orbs in front of her.
Steppenwolf raised his axe again and was impaled by a golden trident that drove him back again. Then a lightning bolt caught him in the back of the leg, causing him to stagger and almost fall. Bruce dropped beside her as a bat shape dart caught Steppenwolf in the right eye.
Diana was leaning against Arthur, watching proudly as her team faced off against their enemy.
Clark approached, watching the display, "We don't have to kill him, show him mercy."
At his words, a blinding torrent of white light and wind ripped down, engulfing Steppenwolf and threatening to allow him to escape.
"Justice or mercy, your highness?" Kara asked, without looking back.
"Justice, captain," Diana said softly.
Kara jumped into the light, Tarie swinging in a wide arc.
The group watched helplessly as the blinding light faded, and Captain Kara Zor-El stood there holding the helmeted head of Steppenwolf in her hand.
"By your command, justice is served, your highness," she said as she bowed, dropping the helmeted head to the floor, watching it roll as its sightless eyes stared at the remains of the mother boxes.
An hour later, the group gathered on the hillside overlooking the remains of the battlefield.
"I owe you my life, Captain," Diana whispered into Kara's ear.
Kara blushed as Diana's scent overwhelmed her senses and she turned her head, brown eyes capturing her breath. Her mouth opened, then closed again as no sound escaped.
Diana's eyes twinkled as her smile grew at Kara's obvious discomfort. "Don't worry, Kara, I'm sure we can work something out to call us even." Then, with complete surprise, her lips brushed Kara's cheek, causing Kara to shudder and close her eyes.
"By Rao's light, princess," Kara stammered as she reached down to grasp Diana's fingers. Kara was surprised to see Diana shudder as their fingers wrapped together as if it had always been meant to be.
"Time to go home, Supergirl?" Diana asked, tightening her grip on Kara's fingers.
A smile slowly spread on Kara's beautiful face, "Home."
