Chapter 6
(D.E.O.)
"It's a long story," Mon-El was saying, as he, Imra, Kara, Alex, Barry, Winn, and J'onn were gathered in the main area of the headquarters.
"Well, seven years is a long time," Kara pointed out.
"As strange as it may sound, the 31st century is actually not that different from today," Mon-El said.
"What, better smartphones?" Winn remarked.
"What's a phone?" Imra asked, confused.
"What's a phone," Winn repeated in amazement. "Oh, the future's awesome."
"Well, technology has developed beyond imagining, but at the end of the day, it's still in service of communicating with each other, and entertaining each other, and also killing each other," Mon-El said. "In this day or in a thousand years, conflict is constant, but so is strength."
"And that's where we come in," Imra added.
"So what are you, um, soldiers?" Alex asked.
"The governments were overwhelmed by violence, by chaos," Imra explained. "Mon-El organized us. And we banded together to help Earth's leaders keep the peace, at home and in the stars. We call ourselves The Legion." She turned to Kara. "And we exist because of you and your cousin."
"Because of me and my cousin?" Kara asked.
"You and Kal inspired me," Mon-El said. "So when I founded the Legion, I chose to use you two as an example of what we could be. Of what we aspire to be."
"When I learned about your life and work and your compassionate fight for justice and your devotion to protecting others, everything just crystallized," Imra added. "Your example gave my life purpose. I can't express how much it means for me to meet you in person."
"So, a legion of superheroes," Winn said. "Ha!"
"Legion of Superheroes? I think Cisco would like that name," Barry commented.
"Sounds formidable," J'onn agreed.
"Not nearly enough," Mon-El said. "The future has some bad things happening."
"Yeah, the darkness is spreading," Imra added.
"The darkness? What do you mean?" Barry asked, wondering if it had anything to do with the threat the Speed Force had warned him about.
"Well, my team and I were on a mission and, uh, we got in some trouble," Mon-El explained. "Our ship got knocked into one of those disruptions."
"A wormhole?" J'onn asked.
"Yes," Mon-El nodded.
"We crash-landed back on Earth twelve thousand years ago," Imra said.
"So you traveled back in time by accident?" Alex asked.
"Which is exactly why we couldn't just go home," Mon-El said. "So we went into cryo-sleep and set the ship to wake us up when we returned to the 31st century. But then the torpedo hit the ship, and damaged the ship, and that's when I woke up. But do you think we can fix it? Can you help us get home?"
"Of course," Barry nodded. "We're gonna do everything in our power to help, I promise."
"But for now... Settle in," J'onn said to Mon-El and Imra.
"You might be here for a while," Alex added.
"If anyone can help us, it's you," Imra said to Kara.
"Everyone's coming over to my apartment for a holiday party tonight," Kara said. "You guys are welcome to join if you like."
"Oh, thanks," Mon-El said. "We need to work on the repairs."
"Yeah, that's fine," Kara said in understanding.
(Later, Kara's apartment)
The apartment was filled with Christmas lights and decorations as everyone present was having an enjoyable evening. Barry was setting food on the table, while Kara and Alex were pouring eggnog mixed with liquor into a bowl. James and Lena were sitting across from each other at the other table, Conner and Caitlin were seated on the couch, and J'onn, J'onn's father M'yrnn, Winn, and Cisco were standing near the Christmas tree laughing and having a conversation.
"Okay, come and get your eggnog," Kara announced to everyone.
"Uh, yeah, but be warned, this is not your grandmother's recipe," Alex added. "Oh, this is highly potent intoxicating deliciousness."
"You should try my foster dad's grandmother's eggnog," Barry said. "Trust me, she's not your typical grandmother when it comes to her recipe."
"Well, if your foster dad's grandmother is ever up for a challenge, tell her I said bring it on," Alex said.
"Will do," Barry nodded.
"Danvers' famous eggnog?" James asked Lena.
"Sounds tempting, but, you know, I think I'll stick with the Scotch," Lena decided. With a smile, she then said, "Health."
James smiled back. "Happiness."
They clinked their glasses and each took a sip of their Scotch.
Conner was staring at Lena and James. While meeting counterparts with different faces wasn't a first-time experience for him, it still amazed him how different the two of them were. On this Earth, Tess' counterpart was still a human and Jimmy Olsen was a tall, suave, black man who was nothing like the young photographer of the Daily Planet on his Earth. If anything, Winn, who was the son of this Earth's Toyman, seemed to have much more in common with Jimmy Olsen than James did. As for J'onn, for one thing, using the human form of a middle-aged black man was consistent, but other than that, Conner didn't know anything else about the Martian to really compare differences.
"Are you all right, Conner? You seem to be deep in thought," Caitlin said.
"I'm fine, Caitlin," Conner said, not taking his eyes off of Lena and James. "It's just... Even though this isn't my first time meeting an alternate version of someone I know with a different face, it never ceases to amaze me."
"So you know those two on your Earth," Caitlin said.
"You could say that," Conner said.
Not long after Caitlin had rejoined Team Flash, she and Conner had a conversation during which Caitlin had told him in detail about the things she did while Killer Frost was in control of her. Conner had been completely understanding of her situation and assured her that she hadn't been herself. He had then told Caitlin about the things he had done not only as 'Alexander', his pre-Kryptonian self, but also while he had been exposed to red kryptonite. Since then, after realizing that they related to each other in a way, he and Caitlin had become good friends to the point that Conner had revealed his complicated origins to her, which she, while initially as surprised as anyone would be, had quickly accepted.
"Dude, I do not understand your obsession," Winn said to J'onn.
"It is the greatest Christmas song of all time," J'onn pointed out.
"That's great," Winn said. "We've played it, like, four times."
"If my father learns nothing else this holiday season, he will learn about Hall and Oates," J'onn said. "Put it on."
"Oh, my God," Winn muttered.
"Here we go again," Cisco also muttered.
Winn pressed his tablet and "Jingle Bell Rock" by Hall and Oats started playing, causing everyone in the apartment, except J'onn and M'yrnn, to sigh boredly.
"Seriously?" Barry asked.
"Again?" James added.
"Come on," Alex said.
"No, no, take it up with papa bear, okay?" Winn said, pointing to J'onn, who walked over to his father.
"J'onn, I do not know why you introduced me to coffee first," M'yrnn said, holding a mug of hot chocolate. "This brown water is vastly superior."
"Yeah, I don't take advantage of hot cocoa enough," J'onn replied.
"I enjoy Christmas," M'yrnn said. "What a wonderful way to close your year. Paying homage to an evergreen creature. It so reminds me of Life Day."
"Excuse me, hi, 'Life Day'?" Winn asked, incredulously.
"Like the Star Wars Holiday Special," Cisco added, eagerly.
"Yes, that's right!" Winn gushed, before he and Cisco fist-bumped each other. "It was on CBS. Princess Leia, like, sang a song..." He turned to M'yrnn as a realization occurred to him. "You have no idea what I'm talking about. Oh, my God, you don't know what Star Wars is." He then turned to J'onn. "You probably don't know what Star Wars is."
"Excuse me?" J'onn said, defensively. "The Empire Strikes Back is the best movie sequel of all time."
"Can't disagree with you on that," Cisco said.
"Man, I just love you more and more each day," Winn said to J'onn, who let out a chuckle.
"What's a 'sequel'?" M'yrnn asked curiously, as Barry and James walked over.
Meanwhile, Kara and Alex were also conversing.
"I mean, as far as parties go, this one doesn't suck, right?" Kara asked.
"No, it's great," Alex answered. "It is. But how about you? How are you doing?"
"I'm good," Kara said. "Yeah, totally. I love parties. And Christmas."
"I mean, like, with... Mon-El and Imra," Alex clarified. "I mean, this can't be easy."
Kara chuckled nervously. "No, that's not easy, but you know what, here we are." She poured herself a glass of eggnog. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, well, Christmas without Maggie, that's not my favorite thing, but we are not wallowing," Alex said.
Kara shook her head. "No, no, sir."
There was a few knocks on the door. Alex went to answer it and, seeing that it was Samantha Arias and her daughter Ruby, let them in.
A few minutes later, J'onn received a call from a D.E.O. agent, and he, Kara, and Barry had to leave the party.
(Outside)
The Flash, Supergirl, J'onn, and Agent Vasquez were walking along a grass field towards where a number of agents were investigating the scene.
"What happened?" Kara asked.
"Looks like someone took a flamethrower to large swaths of the property," Vasquez answered.
"Any chance it was a brush fire?" J'onn asked.
"I don't think so," Vasquez answered.
Barry frowned. "Wait, why call us for arson after the fire's already out?"
"There's something you should see," Vasquez said.
"Where?" Barry asked.
Vasquez turned to Kara. "Bird's eye view."
Kara flew into the air and looked down. Burnt in the field was a large symbol of a skull facing sideways within a pentagon shaped like the House of El emblem.
(D.E.O.)
Barry and Kara were standing before the holographic A.I. of Alura Zor-El. Kara was holding a tablet showing the same skull symbol that had been burned in the field.
"I've seen this before," Kara said. "When I was a kid on a field trip to the ruins of old Krypton."
"I've seen this symbol too," Barry recalled.
"Where?" Kara asked.
"In the Speed Force," Barry answered.
Kara looked at him incredulously. "Wait, you think this symbol might have something to do with whatever threat the Speed Force warned you about?"
"Most likely," Barry said. "We need to find out more about it."
Kara turned to Alura. "What does this symbol mean?"
"The symbols predate recorded history," Alura explained. "The glyphs are known as Low Speech and used in Urrika, the Kryptonian continent where life began."
"And the people who used them?" Kara asked.
"The Juru were matriarchal," Alura said. "Tribal. Polytheistic. Over time, their sun god became known as Rao. The tribes began to worship him alone, and modern Krypton was born."
"So, then the Book of Rao must have something that can help," Kara said.
"There is nothing in the book," Alura said. "The ruling council destroyed much of Krypton's so-called superstitions."
"But if someone's trying to send me a message through this, I have to know what it means," Kara said, urgently. "This feels important."
"I represent the total accumulation of knowledge on the known galaxies," Alura said. "If I cannot translate it, the translation may not exist."
Kara sighed.
"Don't worry, Kara, we're gonna figure this out," Barry said, and Kara nodded.
(Alien bar)
"Yes, but if Alura doesn't know what it is, what makes you think anybody here is gonna know?" Winn was saying, as he, Kara, Barry, and Cisco entered the bar.
"Someone is burning a Kryptonian symbol everywhere, so someone out there must know who it is," Kara answered.
Meanwhile, Mon-El and Imra were sitting at a table laughing and eating a plate of barbeque ribs.
"Thank you very much," Imra said to Mon-El, before noticing Kara, Barry, Winn, and a Latino man with dark shoulder-length hair whom she didn't recognize. Waving at them, she greeted, "Kara, Barry, Winn."
"Oh, hey, guys," Mon-El also greeted.
"So, you want me to provide a distraction?" Winn asked Kara in a low tone.
Kara smiled. "No need, no, don't be silly."
"Hey, guys," Winn said to Mon-El and Imra.
"Mon-El, you remember my friend Cisco, right?" Barry asked. "You met him last year when Music Meister whammied me and Kara. Well, years ago on your end."
"Yeah, I remember him," Mon-El answered. He looked to Cisco. "You're the tech-expert for S.T.A.R, Labs."
"That's right, but I decided to hang around here for a bit," Cisco nodded.
"Oh, you've got a little..." Kara said to Imra, indicating the barbeque sauce smeared on the side of Imra's lip.
"Oh, here?" Imra put her hand to the right side of her lip.
"No, no, it's, um..." Kara stammered.
"It's all right, I got it," Mon-El said to Imra, using a napkin to the wipe the sauce off the left side of her lip.
"Thanks," Imra said.
Noticing the pained expression on Kara's face, Barry placed his hand on her shoulder to provide her comfort.
Kara cleared her throat, smiling at Mon-El and Imra in an effort to hide her discomfort. "So, you settling in?"
"Yeah, you know, Imra wanted to see what the times were like, so..." Mon-El said, as Kara and Winn sat down, while Barry and Cisco remained standing.
"Everyone's been very kind so far," Imra noted. "It's fascinating to see Earth this far back."
"This far back? What time period are you from?" Cisco asked, curious.
"The 31st century," Imra answered.
"Oh, that explains it," Cisco said. "So this must be, like, medieval times for you then."
"Took the words right out of my mouth," Winn agreed.
"You eat things with your hands," Imra said in amazement. "So fun." Kara, Barry, Cisco, and Winn chuckled at that. "Mon-El tells me there's a place in town where you can eat all the ribs you want." Imra turned to her husband. "What did you call it? 'Food until you're full'?"
"Very close," Mon-El said. "It's 'All you can eat'."
"Yeah, okay," Imra said.
"Have you had beer yet?" Winn asked.
"Does it go with ribs?" Imra asked, intrigued.
"Girl, you can have beer with anything you want," Cisco said.
"Come on, let's go," Winn said to Imra.
They got up and Imra followed Winn over to the bar.
Mon-El turned to Kara and Barry. "Hey, so how was your party?"
"Good," Kara answered, with a smile.
"Oh, yeah, it was great," Barry added.
"How's your ship?" Kara asked Mon-El.
"Broken beyond my understanding," he answered.
"You know, I can help you fix it," Cisco offered. Thinking back to the Dominator invasion, he added, "It wouldn't be my first time repairing a damaged spaceship."
"Thanks, but I'm good," Mon-El said.
"Come on, at least let me take a look at it," Cisco said, almost begging.
"Maybe later," Mon-El said.
Kara glanced over at Imra, who was laughing with Winn, and her expression once more turned gloomy.
"Look, Kara, I'm really sorry," Mon-El apologized. "About us being here, you know, and how this must be really hard for you."
"No, no, no, you know what, Mon-El, your wife is lovely and you two seem to really make each other happy," Kara said. "So..."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Mon-El asked.
"If you guys need to talk, Cisco and I will be out of your way," Barry said.
"No, it's fine, there's not really much to talk about," Kara said, before her phone rang. "I should get this." She put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"
"You have a collect call from the Albatross Bay Correctional Facility," the operator replied.
(Albatross Bay Prison)
A pair of doors opened and Kara entered a room where Thomas Coville, whose hands were bound in handcuffs, was sitting at a table.
"They will receive a blasphemous sigil," Coville announced. "And in its wake, many cowards, killers, and vile men will burn."
"That's not from the Book of Rao," Kara said, as the doors behind her closed.
"And every eye will look upon the heretic, and they will call it 'Worldkiller'," Coville continued. "Kara Danvers, there is so much that you still don't know."
"Worldkiller?" Kara questioned, stepping forward.
"It's here," Coville stated. "The End of Days."
"There are no End of Days in the Book of Rao," Kara said.
"The prophecy I speak of predates the Book of Rao," Coville clarified, as Kara sat down across from him. "But I suspect you already know this if you've tried to find the meaning of the Kryptonian symbol that's all over the news. They are the mark of a dark god. A devil."
"How do you know this?" Kara wondered, though unsure if she believed Coville's words.
"You know that I spent two years on a pilgrimage all over the world collecting artifacts and texts, learning everything I could about Rao and your people," Coville explained. "But I didn't just find objects. I met people. The forgotten from Fort Rozz."
"You know about Fort Rozz?" Kara asked.
"I met a disgraced Kryptonian priestess who told me about the god before Rao," Coville went on. "A Lilith made of darkness and teeth who ends everything." Kara gulped as she took in what she was hearing. "There are three steps leading to the End of Days. First is the Mark of the Beast."
"The glyph in the field," Kara realized.
"They're all over National City now," Coville said. "After that comes the Work of the Beast in the form of many deaths. And finally, comes the Reign of the Beast. And this is when she comes."
Kara frowned. "She? Who is 'she'?"
"Worldkiller," Coville clarified. "The one who will bring about the end of times." He grabbed Kara's hands. "This is your purpose. To fight the Devil."
Kara pulled her hands back. "There's no such thing as the Devil."
"The lost gods must fall for a new god to rise," Coville stated. "And her rise will come at the fall of the righteous. And she will reign unless you stand and smite her."
(D.E.O.)
"So Coville says that this is, like, the sign of the Devil," Winn said, as he, Kara, Alex, Barry, Cisco, and J'onn entered the headquarters. "Uh, Kryptonian 666."
"Do you believe him?" Alex asked her sister.
"No," Kara shook her head. "No, I think Coville calling me is an excuse for him to feel relevant."
"It reaffirms the narrative he chooses to believe and gives his life purpose," J'onn added.
"We don't even know if the person burning these symbols is Kryptonian," Kara said.
"It's probably just a bunch of vandals who don't even know what it mean," Alex added.
"Somehow, I highly doubt it's just a bunch of vandals," Cisco disagreed. "And given that Barry said he saw the exact same symbol while he was trapped in the Speed Force, this is definitely serious business."
"Either way, I don't think we should dismiss Coville's claims just yet," Barry said.
"Do you need fresh eyes?"
Kara, Alex, Barry, Cisco, Winn, and J'onn turned around as Imra approached them.
"I can take a look through the data you've collected, suspects you might have already dismissed," she offered. "I'm the 31st century version of a kip."
"I think you mean 'cop'," Winn corrected.
"Okay," Imra nodded. "Um, Kara, do you have a second? I was wondering if we could talk."
"Sure," Kara answered, smiling as she and Imra headed off to talk, while Barry, Cisco, Winn, J'onn, and Alex got to work.
(National City Port, Night)
A car pulled up outside a warehouse where a dozen gang members were unloading barrels off a machine. One of the gang members, who was wearing a blue jean jacket, walked up to the car as a bald black man and two other men got out of the vehicle.
"And who said Santa isn't real?" the bald black man announced.
"Ho, ho, ho," the gang member in the jean jacket said, as he handed the bald man a blue package.
Meanwhile, up on one of the nearby rooftops completely unnoticed, a masked woman garbed in some kind of black suit containing the skull symbol on her chest was watching what was going on below.
"Nice," the bald man said, pulling out a wad of cash and handing it to the jean jacket gang member. "Where'd you get it?"
"North Pole," the gang member in the jean jacket answered.
Suddenly, the top of a nearby tower was hit with red heat vision, causing all the lights in the vicinity to go out. All the gang members pointed their guns up at the tower.
"North Pole, huh?" the bald man sneered, pulling out his gun too. "Is that what they're calling the One-Seven now?"
He yelled as he was suddenly snatched up and killed by the black-garbed woman, who had broken his neck. All the gang members pointed their guns up at the woman and opened fire, but the bullets bounced off of her. She flew down in a blur and swooped up two more gang members, killing them in the same fashion. Descending to the ground, she effortlessly took out the rest of the gang, either with her heat vision or by simply speed-blitzing into them.
The last man standing, the gang member in the jean jacket made a run for it, entering the warehouse. Unfortunately for him, the woman caught up very quickly and killed him with her heat vision.
(D.E.O.)
"Samples from the remains of the victims confirm they were killed by heat vision," Winn stated, as the screens were showing the dead bodies of the One-Seven gang members at the National City Port.
"So our bad guy is Kryptonian," Alex said.
"Yep, and Morgan Edge had nothing to do with it," Winn said. "Hey, well, at least it's not related to the guy with the laser gun who went after Lena."
"No, that guy was just someone Edge hired to try to kill Lena," Kara said.
"Because he thought he could get away with killing her while blaming it on the Kryptonian," Barry deduced.
"Just like Coville said," J'onn said. "Work of the Beast".
"More like Reign of the Beast," Cisco said, before an eager look appeared on his face. "Reign. Got it!"
"Not bad," Barry said.
"But Coville's a fanatic, not a prophet," Kara pointed out.
"The two don't have to be mutually exclusive," J'onn said. "He said this. The Beast would come. She would mark the city and then she would take it. I think it's worth pushing through the noise here to see the truth."
"Well, the moment you start believing in something is the moment you give your power away," Kara said. "I'm not gonna give away mine. So what we know about this Kryptonian is that she's a pretender. I beat Non, Rhea, and Kal when he was infected by silver kryptonite down to the ground. I'll beat her down too."
"You're not alone in this, Kara," Barry said. "This is my fight as much as it is yours. That's the reason I'm here in the first place, to help you defeat this Reign or whatever we're calling our Kryptonian supervillain."
Kara nodded before walking away.
(Edge Global)
Morgan Edge got off the phone with Lena when the lights in his office suddenly went out. As he heard people screaming in horror outside the office, Edge glanced around and saw two blasts of heat vision hit the wall.
The masked woman in black walked casually through the pair of glass doors, shattering the doors as she entered the office. She looked around for several moments before using her x-ray vision to look through the walls. Unable to find her target, the woman flew out of the office through one of the windows.
A moment later, a section of the wall slid open and Edge emerged from the room behind it.
(D.E.O.)
Kara answered her phone. "James?"
"Someone just tried to heat vision Edge," James said on the other end. "He's calling a press conference."
"Is he hurt?" Kara asked.
"Sadly, no," James answered. "Of course this guy has a lead-lined panic room in his office. But whatever's out there wants him dead. He just got lucky."
"I'm on it," Kara said, before hanging the phone up. As Barry, Cisco, Winn, Alex, and J'onn approached her, she said, "The Kryptonian attacked Edge in his office."
"Oh... No?" Winn said, unsure whether or not he should feel bad for a man like Morgan Edge. "No, No, that's bad. That's objectively bad."
"It doesn't matter who the target was, they're just killing whoever they want," Kara said.
"We're doing everything we can to track them," J'onn said.
"I'll head to Edge's office to see if the Kryptonian left behind anything that Cisco could vibe," Barry suggested.
Winn looked confused. "Wait, vibe?"
"It's a meta-human ability that I have," Cisco explained. "It's where I touch something that belongs to a person and I can see exactly where that person is. And I can see the past and future."
"You're a meta-human? That's awesome," Winn said.
"Guys, we need to focus," Kara snapped, before turning to Barry. "And no, I don't need you to go to Edge's office. I'm tired of playing hide-and-seek. The longer we wait, the more people are gonna die."
"Well, what do you suggest?" Barry asked.
"We do it their way," Kara stated, before flying off.
"Well, that's comforting," Winn remarked.
Kara approached the top of the CatCo building and used her heat vision to burn the House of El symbol on the rooftop.
"Your turn," she declared, before turning around and flying away.
(D.E.O.)
Kara was standing outside the glass of the training room watching Mon-El spar with Imra inside when Barry, Cisco, Winn, and Alex approached her.
"Kara, the Kryptonian responded," Barry said.
Kara turned around. "How?"
"Just showed up right where you left your mark," Winn answered.
"And waiting for you," Alex added.
"Waiting for us," Barry corrected. "You ready to go?"
"Couldn't be more ready," Kara answered, as she and Barry started heading off.
"Kara," Alex called.
"We have to go," Kara said.
"Hey, not like this," Alex said, as she stepped in front of her sister. "Listen to me. I know that you've been struggling for the past few months and I have been trying to get you to embrace your humanity. But forget that. Be cold. Be Kryptonian. I don't know why, but this thing really scares me. So, please, be alien." She then turned to Barry. "That goes for you too. No holding back."
"We have no intention to," Barry nodded, before he and Kara raced off.
(CatCo rooftop)
Barry stopped on the rooftop as Kara descended next to him, the two of them standing opposite of the masked Kryptonian woman in black. Up in the air were three helicopters shining their lights down on the Barry, Kara, and the Kryptonian.
"So you're supposed to be the Devil?" Kara asked.
"The Devil isn't real," the Kryptonian replied in a deep, distorted voice.
"Then who are you?" Kara asked.
"I'm from the time before fathoming," the Kryptonian answered. "Born to cleanse the scourge and deliver the awakening. I am Reign."
"Guess Cisco was right on point with that name," Barry commented, but Kara wasn't in the mood for his antics.
"How did you get here?" the Girl of Steel demanded.
"I survived Krypton's death," the Kryptonian known as Reign answered. "Sent here upon its destruction."
"If that's true, then where have you been?" Kara wondered.
"Dispensing justice," Reign replied.
"By terrorizing and killing people?" Barry asked. "What you're doing is not justice. It's murder."
"This world has sunken into chaos and sin," Reign stated. "Too many have eluded judgment."
"We're not gonna let you hurt anybody else," Barry said, as he and Kara stepped closer towards Reign.
"Surrender now before we make you surrender," Kara ordered.
"So full of hubris," Reign sneered, walking towards Kara and Barry. "Just like the righteous Kryptonians who feared my makers. Worshiping false gods as they watched our planet suffocate by shame and burn from memory. Stand down, or I will make you join them in their purgatory."
"I'm not going anywhere," Kara said, defiantly.
"Neither am I," Barry added in a similar tone.
"Then I will dispense my justice on you," Reign threatened.
"Take your best shot," Kara challenged.
With that, Reign flew at Kara at full speed, tackling her wildly through the air before they crashed into one of the windows of a building, inside an office where dozens of people were gathered for a Christmas party. Hovering over the tables, Reign slammed Kara against the ceiling twice, damaging it, as everyone watched the fight in shock and horror. Kara grabbed Reign and the two Kryptonians crashed on top of one of the tables, breaking it in half and knocking down the nearby Christmas tree. Reign grabbed Kara by the neck as they got back to their feet and some of the people ran out of the office while others took cover under desks and behind chairs as the fight went on.
Reign punched Kara in the face three times before Kara tried to punch Reign, only for Reign to dodge and punch Kara three more times in the face. Kara threw another punch, but Reign dodged again before delivering another punch to Kara's face. Kara managed to punch Reign in the chest, and Reign retaliated with seven consecutive punches, five to Kara's face and two to her abdomen. Reign threw an eighth punch, but this time Kara brought her arm up blocking the punch. Kara punched Reign in the abdomen and then delivered six punches to Reign's face as Reign stumbled towards a nearby table. Kara then leapt several feet in the air and came back down with her fist heading directly for Reign. As Reign ducked out of the way, Kara's fist collided with a stack of Christmas glass cubes instead, shattering them.
As Reign seized Kara by the neck, there was a red blur as Barry sped into the office emitting a powerful and concentrated blast of lightning at Reign. The lightning struck Reign in the back, stunning her as Kara fell out of Reign's grasp. Barry unleashed another concentrated blast of lightning from his hand, this time hitting Reign in the chest. Reign glared at Barry as her eyes lit up brightly before unleashing a blast of heat vision. Barry suddenly vibrated his body as the heat vision went right through him and hit the wall instead.
Kara grabbed Reign firmly from behind and flew straight up through the ceiling, taking the fight back outside as the two flew wildly across the night sky exchanging multiple punches. Too engrossed in their battle to see where they were going, Kara and Reign fell inside a tanker, landing on the floor of the ship between dozens of stacked shipping containers. Recovering first, Reign flew out of the tanker in a blur and grabbed the edge of it. She tilted the tanker, causing the shipping containers to topple over, two of them landing on top of Kara. Kara pushed the shipping containers off of herself and flew out of the tanker at full speed towards Reign.
Grabbing Reign, Kara flew away from the water heading back towards the city. The two Kryptonians continued exchanging powerful blows as they descended rapidly into Downtown National City. They soon crash-landed like a meteorite in the middle of a busy road, causing heavy damage to it. The impact caused a nearby SUV truck to flip over, resulting in the vehicle exploding.
Some of the civilians who were in the vicinity started running away in panic, while others stayed behind to see what was going on. Several people pulled out their phones and started recording the scene. Among the civilians were James and Lena as the former was instructing people to stay away from the danger.
A streak of yellow-orange lightning appeared and Barry started speeding any civilians who were too close to Kara and Reign's heated battle out of harm's way. As Reign dealt more blows than Kara, it was evident that the strenuous fight was already taking its toll on the latter's strength and stamina, as Kara was quite exhausted while Reign didn't appear to be fazed at all. Reign leaped several feet in the air and came back down, her fist colliding with the side of Kara's head, knocking the Girl of Steel to the ground. All the civilians in the crowd looked very concerned and horrified for their heroine.
"Get back," Kara waved her hand to the civilians who started inching towards her. "Stay back. Stay back."
The civilians complied, backing away.
Picking up a pair of rebar sticks stuck together by a chunk of concrete, Reign bashed Kara over the head with it, causing blood to start spilling down the side of her face. Kara touched the edge of her head where she had been hit and looked at her fingertips, shocked to find that she was bleeding. Stumbling back to her feet with determination, Kara approached Reign, who tried to punch Kara, but Kara blocked the punch with one hand and used her other hand to punch Reign in the abdomen. She then punched Reign in the face and tried to deliver another punch, only for Reign to block it and punch Kara instead. Reign then grabbed Kara's arm and kneed Kara in the abdomen, before following that up with a headbutt to Kara's nose, causing it to bleed. Dropping Kara on the ground, Reign stomped Kara's torso and went to pick up the concrete-covered rebar. However, before Reign could hit Kara with it again, a very powerful vortex of wind mixed with lightning hit Reign dead on, sending the black-garbed Kryptonian flying many feet back into the overturned SUV.
As Kara collapsed to her knees due to depleted strength and heavy exhaustion, Barry rushed to her side.
"Kara," he said with concern, looking at the blood running down her face and the multiple bruises, including a black eye, all over her face.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Kara insisted, stumbling back to her feet.
"I'll keep her distracted while you keep punching," Barry said, and Kara nodded.
Barry sped towards Reign, who flung a flaming SUV door at him. Barry swerved, easily avoiding the door, and sped around Reign in circles. Reign threw several punches at the circle of lightning in an effort to hit Barry, but missed each time due to him being too fast for her. A moment later, Barry flung a massive web of lightning at Reign, knocking her to the ground. Kara appeared with a leap and hurled a forced punch Reign, but Reign rolled out of the way as Kara's fist hit the ground instead and got back to her feet. Reign performed a thunderclap, creating a massive shockwave that sent both Barry and Kara flying back and shattered most of the windows of nearby buildings and vehicles. Reign then lifted a taxicab over her head, flew over to Barry, who was on the ground dazed, and slammed the car on top of him, rendering the Scarlet Speedster unconscious.
"Get away from him," Kara hissed, as she grabbed Reign and punched her in the chest.
However, Reign grabbed Kara by the throat and started choking her. The Girl of Steel struggled to breathe as she used both of her hands to try and free her neck from Reign's grip, but Kara's strength was wearing down. Reign slammed Kara against the ground twice, damaging the concrete further, and flew high into the air. Reign threw Kara down on a rooftop and descended a few meters from where the Girl of Steel had landed. A helicopter in the air shined its light down on the two Kryptonians.
"I'm gonna kill you," Reign declared, as she walked towards Kara, who was bruised, battered, and weakened to the point she couldn't get back to her feet right away.
Kara groaned as she looked up at her opponent defiantly. Despite the beating she had endured, the Girl of Steel had no intention of giving up anytime soon. "You don't... You don't scare me."
"You're no god," Reign sneered. "Just as I'm no devil. All I am is truth." She grabbed Kara by the front of her suit. "And judgment." She then dangled Kara over the edge of the rooftop. "And death. And I will reign."
With that, Reign released Kara, leaving her to plummet hundreds of feet towards the ground. Kara soon landed on the ground with a loud thud, damaging the concrete heavily as she lay in the center of the crater unconscious.
Meanwhile, Barry opened his eyes as he came to. The first thing he felt was something very heavy on top of him. It only took him a few moments to realize it was a car. He also noticed some pain in his torso. If he had to guess, a bone had been fractured, not that it was a big deal since, luckily, he would be as good as new in a couple of hours. It helped that being in the Speed Force for five months had made him much more powerful than he'd ever been. Not only was his speed much faster, but his healing was too, and he could shoot lightning out of his hands without needing to build up electricity by running first.
As his mind suddenly focused on Kara and the danger she was in at the hands of the villainous Kryptonian called Reign, Barry phased himself underneath the ground and phased back up to the surface on another part of the ground. Noticing a helicopter shining its light down near where a gathered crowd of people were looking at something, Barry sped over to the scene and stopped dead in his tracks upon seeing Kara lying in the middle of the crater unconscious.
"Supergirl," Barry muttered with great concern, not saying her real name due to all the people around him.
He rushed over to Kara and knelt down beside her, patting her face in an attempt to wake her up, but she didn't respond. Pushing through the pain he was in from the fracture in his torso, Barry groaned as he picked Kara up and held her in his arms, while a horrified Alex and several other agents appeared.
Barry turned to Alex, an apologetic look on his face.
"Is she dead?" a preteen girl in the crowd, who was with her mother, asked with great concern.
Barry turned to the girl and shook his head. "No, she's just unconscious. She'll be fine."
(D.E.O.)
Kara was lying on a stretcher as several paramedics rolled her into the med-bay. Alex and Barry, the latter still in his Flash suit but with the cowl down, rushed into the med-bay and started helping the medics work on Kara. Barry was holding his side, still in pain but wanted to help Alex and the medics anyway.
"Her pulse is weak," Barry announced, as the EKG machine was beeping rapidly.
"She's crashing," a female medic said.
"We need to intubate," Alex said.
Mon-El, Imra, Cisco, Winn, J'onn, and M'yrnn entered the med-bay with looks of concern on their faces. Cisco was relieved to see that at least Barry was okay. He and the others watched as Alex inserted a tube into Kara's mouth.
"She'll be okay," Imra said to Mon-El, optimistically.
"Stay with me, Kara, stay with me," Alex pleaded, as she, Barry, and the medics tried to resuscitate Kara, who remained out cold with no signs of waking up anytime soon.