Chapter 12
Earth-38
(Kara's apartment)
As they were playing Charades, Barry, Kara, Alex, Winn, James, J'onn, Conner, and Tess watched as M'rynn shapeshifted into an astronaut.
"That doesn't count," J'onn said to his father.
"Why?" M'yrnn asked, confused.
"Because you shapeshifted, Dad," J'onn answered.
"Oh," M'yrnn said, looking down at his astronaut suit in shame as everyone chuckled. Shapeshifting back into his regular clothes, he added, "Human games have so many rules."
"He didn't break any of the rules," Kara said.
"Yeah, it's not like he knew you weren't supposed to shapeshift during the game," Barry pointed out.
"You know what, it's fine, just let him have it," Alex said. "We're slaughtering 'em anyway."
"Hey, the Martian Man-Father strikes again," Winn quipped.
"Martian Man-Father?" Kara chuckled.
"Fine, the Martian Dad-Hunter," Winn corrected himself.
"Or what about Grand Martian Manhunter?" Conner suggested, before shaking his head. "Nope, too lame."
"Clearly, neither of you are Cisco," Barry said.
They continued playing Charades until Kara and Alex each received an alert on their phones about a disturbance in downtown.
(Alien bar)
Agent Demos and several other D.E.O. agents were having trouble restraining a female alien who threw one of agents across the bar, threw another agent on the floor, and slammed another agent's head against the countertop. The alien grabbed a bottle of liquor and threw it at Demos, but Supergirl, who arrived with The Flash and Superboy, caught the bottle before it could hit him.
"Can't hold your liquor?" Supergirl quipped to the alien.
"What's going on here?" The Flash demanded.
"She just went crazy, started wrecking the place," Demos explained.
"Stay back, we got this," Superboy said.
"Get everyone out of here," Supergirl said to Demos.
Supergirl, Superboy, and The Flash sped towards the alien. While Supergirl and Superboy smashed their fists into either side of the alien's face, The Flash punched the alien's chest as the three heroes knocked her out.
(D.E.O.)
"Well, she's a Kalanorian, no criminal record," Alex said, as she was examining the unconscious alien on the bed while Barry, Conner, Kara, and J'onn stood nearby. They were in the med-bay.
"Then why did she go all Road House on us? Demos said she wasn't provoked," Kara said.
"Kalanorians are psychics, empaths," J'onn explained.
"Maybe she got whammied by another psychic?" Barry suggested.
J'onn's eyes glowed red as he telepathically examined the Kalaronian's mind. "I'm not seeing any psionic anomalies."
"Well, she tore that bar up," Alex said.
"Her species are prone to outbursts during astronomical events," J'onn explained.
"Such as?" Alex asked.
"Mercury's in retrograde," J'onn answered.
"What?" Alex and Barry asked.
"Like astrology?" Kara asked.
"More like complex luminal and gravitic shifts that determine Kalanorian brain function, but sure, astrology," J'onn said. "Put her in containment. We have these Worldkillers to focus on."
J'onn, Kara, Barry, and Conner left the med-bay and entered the main room where Winn, Tess, and Mon-El were at the computers.
"Anything?" J'onn asked.
"We've been using every device on our ship to try and track Purity and Reign since the subway attack, but there's no sign of them," Mon-El answered.
"As they say on the farm, 'not a peep'," Winn added.
"Imra thinks they're looking for Pestilence," Mon-El said.
"Who we still know nothing about," Kara pointed out.
"Right, and based on our experiences with the Blight in the future, Pestilence should be the easiest to see coming," Mon-El said. "The Blight presents as diseases, plagues, real Old Testament stuff. Winn?"
"Yeah," Winn nodded, typing some commands on his tablet before bringing up an image of an Arctic area surrounded by red water on the main screen.
"Whoa," Kara and Conner gaped simultaneously.
"Brainy and I went to check it out," Mon-El said.
"Whew, better them and not us, I hate the cold," Winn remarked. "Very thin skin. Plus, the rivers of blood, yeah."
"What if Reign and Purity find Pestilence before we do?" J'onn wondered.
"They won't," Mon-El said, firmly.
"And if they do, we'll be ready," Kara said, before turning to Mon-El. "Which means it's time for us to start training. Teach me how you fight in the future."
"Think it's time we make you a Legionnaire," Mon-El said, and Kara nodded.
Barry looked a little uncomfortable but understood that it was necessary.
(Later)
Winn came down the stairs and approached Demos, who was working at his computer. Barry, Tess, and Conner were at another computer across the way.
"Hey, any sign of the Worldkillers?" Winn asked.
"Still nothing," Demos answered.
"Well, you can catch a break, I'm gonna take over scanning for a while," Winn announced, as he got on the computer next to Demos.
Neither of them noticed the surveillance monitor nearby showing M'yrnn holding his temple as his eyes glowed red.
Demos groaned as he held his head for a moment before turning to Winn with a glare. "I know what I'm doing. You don't need to take over anything, Schott."
Winn glowered at Demos. "I didn't say that you didn't know what you were doing. You need to get out of here right now."
Barry turned to Winn in confusion. "Winn? Are you okay over there?"
"I'm fine, Barry, thank you," Winn replied, sharply.
Kara and Mon-El were in the training room as Kara tried to wrap her cape around the arm of the Wing Chun dummy with no success. Mon-El was now clad in a red suit with a blue cape.
"Damn," Kara cursed under her breath.
"Keep your back foot planted," Mon-El instructed. "You have it."
Kara tried to wrap her cape around the dummy's arm again, but it was in vain. "Why isn't this working?" she wondered in frustration.
"I don't know," Mon-El answered, before effortlessly wrapping his own cape around the dummy's arm. He then pulled his cape and flung the dummy across the room.
"I mean, the steps are easy, I should be getting this," Kara said, again in frustration.
"Well, go easy on yourself," Mon-El advised. "The first time you trained me, you kicked me around the room like a hacky sack. It was humbling. I was..."
"Hungover," Kara remembered. "You were hungover."
"I had forgotten that part," Mon-El said.
"Can we keep training please?" Kara demanded, before Mon-El threw a punch that she blocked.
Barry, Tess, and Conner watched in confusion as Winn and Demos argued heatedly.
"Oh, if you were in charge, we'd still be wondering if Reign was an alien," Winn scowled.
"You egotistical little son of a serial killer!" Demos spat out, before shoving Winn back.
Winn was about to lunge at Demos when Barry sped between them. "Hey, that's enough! Knock it off!" Barry snapped, glaring at them both.
"He's the one who started it!" Demos shouted, pointing at Winn.
"No, he started it! He pushed me!" Winn shouted back.
"It doesn't matter who started it!" Barry snapped again. "The last thing we need is you two strangling each other to death when we have Worldkillers to find!"
"Aren't you supposed to be the fastest man alive, Flash?" Demos snapped, glaring back at Barry. "You, Supergirl, and Superboy should be able to find the Worldkillers on your own! You three have the power of gods, yet all you do is sit on your asses and rely on us humans to hold your hands! Now get out of my way!"
Demos swung a punch at Barry, who unsurprisingly avoided it and punched Demos in the face, knocking the agent out.
"He definitely deserved that," Winn spat out.
"I didn't wanna do it, but he was being a dick, so I didn't have a choice," Barry said, sharply. "And honestly, part of the reason he's knocked out is on you."
"Excuse me?" Winn demanded, glaring daggers at Barry.
"If you hadn't decided to argue with Demos in the first place, I wouldn't have had to resort to punching him," Barry said, accusingly.
"Is it just me or is goody two-shoes Barry Allen blaming me for something he did? That's very heroic of you," Winn remarked.
"Okay, I don't know what's going with you two, but neither of you are in your right minds right now," Tess said. "Something is going on."
"Nothing is going on with me! I said I was fine!" Winn shouted.
"You're definitely not fine," Tess said firmly, before turning to Barry. "And neither are you."
"What, you think I've been whammied or something just because I knocked out a guy?" Barry scoffed.
"Not only that, but you're also saying things you normally wouldn't say," Tess answered. "Whatever is causing this, it's seemed to have lowered your inhibitions."
"Well, thank God it hasn't affected me," Conner said, with a note of arrogance. "After my red k experience when I almost killed my own brother's wife, I'd hate to lose control of myself again."
"It actually seems to be affecting you too, Conner," Tess noted. "I can hear it in the tone of your voice."
"If you think something is wrong with us, are you gonna do something about it or just stand there?" Barry asked Tess in an uncharacteristically harsh tone.
"Watch how you talk to her or you're gonna regret it!" Conner snapped in the tone of a son defending his mother.
"Is that a threat, Superboy?" Barry scoffed.
"Yell at Tess again and you're gonna find out!" Conner taunted, clutching his fists. "You do know that she's like my mother in a way and, if there's one thing you don't wanna do, it's piss off a son by messing with his mother!"
Barry stalked up to Conner. "If you think you scare me, Superboy, think again! You may be stronger than me and able to fly, but I'm faster, more experienced due to all my time in the Speed Force, and you could never lay a finger on me!"
"Says the guy who let Reign knock him back with a shockwave clap last week!" Conner retorted.
"Superboy and Flash are gonna fight! This gonna be awesome! I hope you guys fight to the death because I wanna see lots of blood!" Winn announced with uncharacteristic sadistic glee.
"If you wanna test me, Superboy, feel free to take your best shot!" Barry taunted, his eyes flashing with electricity.
"Sure thing, Flash," Conner said, before lunging at Barry.
Barry vibrated his body just in time as Conner passed through him, tripping forward in the process as he hit his head on the edge of the desk, damaging it.
"Now I'm pissed," Conner spat out, before getting back up and unleashing his freeze breath at Barry, who sped out of the way.
Before Conner could react, a powerful bolt of lightning struck him in the back, but Conner shrugged it off as he whirled around and slammed his hands together, sending Barry flying several meters back.
Barry got back to his feet as Conner flew at him. Barry spun his arms around, creating a powerful vortex that swept Conner around in mid-air.
Barry was suddenly attacked and swept into the air by a cyclone from Tess, who hovered between him and Conner. "Both of you stop fighting this instant!"
"Get out of my way, Tess!" Conner yelled.
"Sorry, Superboy, but I can't..."
Tess was cut off as Conner smacked her in the chest with the back of his hand, sending her flying off. Conner turned back to Barry as the two glared at each other. Their fight was about to continue when Supergirl suddenly appeared between them, putting her hands up to block Barry and Conner's paths.
"Hey! Hey! Break it up! Break it up, come on!" Kara told them.
Alex and J'onn also entered. J'onn placed his hand to his temple as his eyes glowed red, and Barry, Conner, Winn, and everyone else in the facility immediately came to their senses.
"Oh, boy," Barry and Conner muttered in unison.
"What happened?" Winn asked.
"It was a psychic anomaly," J'onn explained. "I put a barrier up to protect you all."
Conner suddenly looked horrified. "Oh, my God. Tess!"
"Don't worry, Conner, I'm fine," Tess assured him, as she walked back over.
"Tess, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean..."
"It wasn't your fault, so there's no need to give yourself a mental beating," Tess said to him. "You had no control over your actions."
Barry went over to Demos and helped him to his feet. "I'm so sorry, man. I shouldn't have..."
Demos put a hand up reassuringly before turning to Winn. "Hey, I'm sorry for what I said."
"For the record, I think you're super smart," Winn said. "You're great."
Conner turned to Barry. "I guess we can say that brief fight of ours was a tie."
"Yeah," Barry nodded in agreement.
"It's like what we saw the Kalanorian do in the bar," Kara noted.
"Obviously, the reason I wasn't affected was because I'm not exactly an organic being," Tess said.
"I told you she needed more observation," Alex said to J'onn.
"Well, it's still visiting hours," Kara said.
"Let's go see her," Alex said.
"In the meantime, Agent Schott, you, Mr. Allen, and Ms. Mercer round up the inhibitors we used against Psi. Recalibrate them. Make sure there's enough to go around."
(Later)
In the training room, Kara was angrily yelling at Mon-El when Barry and Alex entered. They each had a psychic inhibitor device on their temple.
"Kara, put this on," Alex said.
Kara followed Alex and Barry out of the training room as Alex handed her one of the inhibitors. Kara placed the inhibitor on her temple, returning to her senses. They went into the main room, where Conner and Winn were also wearing inhibitors.
Not long afterwards, an alarm blared throughout the headquarters as three prison cells were opened, releasing Draaga, Mandrax, and a White Martian.
M'yrnn phased out of the floor as he appeared in the middle of the main room, while many agents were fiercely attacking each other. He then flew and phased up to the next level, where agents on that floor were fighting as well.
Supergirl, Mon-El, The Flash, and Superboy engaged the three escaped aliens, while Alex, Tess, and Winn fended off the uninhibited agents and placed the inhibitor devices on their temples.
Meanwhile, on the above level, J'onn was kneeling beside M'yrnn, who was lying on the floor unable to control his intense psychic abilities.
"Father, look around you," J'onn said, as he telepathically showed M'yrnn images of the agents fighting each other around the facility. "You're hurting people. Your mind is doing this."
"No, you are trying to trick me," M'yrnn replied, unconvinced.
"I would never do that," J'onn assured his father. "I love you. All I want to do is protect you, as you have tried to protect me my entire life. Trust me, Father."
M'yrnn paled as he noticed the escaped White Martian approaching behind J'onn. "No! No!"
J'onn turned around and also saw the White Martian.
Then, Supergirl appeared. "J'onn," she called out.
J'onn turned to her. "Stay with him." He shapeshifted into his Martian form as he went off to fight the White Martian, while Supergirl tended to M'yrnn.
"Hey, I'm here," Supergirl said, gently. "You're okay. I know how hard it is when everything we know to be true changes. But sometimes all we can do is just accept the way things are, and make the best of that."
M'yrnn closed his eyes, causing Supergirl's inhibitor device to short-circuit. She removed the device from her temple and looked at it.
"Oh. God," Supergirl said, worriedly.
Having taken down the White Martian, J'onn came back over and shapeshifted back into his human form as he knelt beside his father.
"J'onn," M'yrnn called out.
"The son becomes the father," J'onn said, placing his hand on M'yrnn's face as his eyes glowed red. This caused all the windows within the vicinity to shatter.
"Do it," M'yrnn ordered, holding out his hand.
J'onn put a power-dampening device on his father's wrist and all the D.E.O. employees immediately stopped fighting as they came to their senses.
"May I speak to you all?" M'yrnn announced, as he and J'onn stood before Kara, Alex, Barry, Conner, Tess, Winn, Mon-El, and all the D.E.O. employees. "I am sorry for the pain I caused. I hurt you, all of you. I was so fearful of losing control of what's left of my life, I refused to accept what was happening." His eyes watered up with tears. "And it nearly cost me everything I hold dear."
"I hoped I would've been able to protect you all better," J'onn added.
"You protect us all the time, J'onn," Alex assured him.
"Tonight was our turn," Kara added, before she walked up to M'yrnn and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, while J'onn did the same on M'yrnn's other shoulder.
(Next day)
"Are you okay?" Barry asked, as he approached Kara in the training room. "That was quite an outburst you had yesterday. I know you weren't really yourself, but it sounded an awful lot like there were some unresolved issues between you and Mon-El. It's not any of my business of course, but I'm here if you want to talk about it with me."
Kara sighed. "I thought I had dealt with my feelings about me and Mon-El. But M'yrnn's episode made me realize that..." She sat down on the bench. "Our relationship was not perfect. You know, maybe I... I knew that deep down. But especially when Mon-El was gone, I was so busy missing him and romanticizing us... I do feel a big weight off my shoulders. So in a way, I'm grateful that it happened."
"Do you still have feelings for him? For Mon-El?" Barry asked, curiously. "Be honest, Kara."
"Uh, honestly, I think I still do, Barry," Kara admitted, and Barry gulped. "I mean, I know that he and I are done and he's married now, but I'm just..." She sighed again. "I'm having a hard time reconciling what you and I have right now with Mon-El and I..." She then noticed the man in question enter the room. "Mon-El."
"I'll come back later if this is a bad time," Mon-El said.
"No, it's okay, I was just about to leave anyway," Barry said, before he exited the training room.
"Considering that you and Barry live on different Earths and he's most likely gonna return to his once the Worldkillers are dealt with, do you think what you two have is gonna go somewhere?" Mon-El asked. "The reason I'm asking is because I just want to see happy and make sure you're certain about what you want."
"To be honest, I'm not sure right now," Kara said. "But what I do know is that I want to try what I have going on with Barry and see where things will lead. And from there, maybe I'll be able to answer your question better."
"I get it," Mon-El nodded in understanding. "The only way to find out for sure if something is gonna work is to try it out. Just know that I'll respect that."
(A week later)
Barry, Kara, Alex, Conner, Tess, J'onn, Mon-El, and Imra were in the lab as Alex and Tess were examining a dead bird in a glass box.
"Well, that was a very sick creature," Alex said. "And what's odd is that I can't find a virus or infection of any kind."
"Well, something must've done that," Kara said.
"The Blight," Imra deduced.
"We went through this on Winath," Mon-El said. "The Blight is preceded by mass wildlife death and plant life, crops rotting in the Earth."
"Soon it will manifest in people," Imra said.
"It's a short incubation period," Mon-El said. "It's one hundred percent fatal and extremely contagious."
"Based on the tests Tess and I did, whatever this bird had, it wasn't transmittable," Alex explained. "Not even from bird to bird."
"It must've been infected directly by Pestilence somehow," Tess added.
"It might not be contagious yet, but if Pestilence gets stronger, even half the strength of the Blight, the entire city would fall ill in a matter of days," Imra stated, grimly.
"Not if we can help it," Conner said.
"We won't let that happen," Barry promised.
"Now remember, the cure is written in our DNA," Mon-El said.
"With Brainy's help, we'll be able to extract it, weaponize it, and use it to kill Pestilence before she ever becomes the Blight," Imra said, with determination.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, we're not killing anyone," Kara protested, looking at Imra firmly.
"We don't do that to our enemies," Conner added. "Or did you forget that there is an innocent human side to these Worldkillers who need to be saved?"
"We got too aggressive with Purity and that's when things got worse," Kara recalled. "I'm not making the same mistake twice. Like Conner said, there is a human side to Pestilence. We're gonna find her, and we're gonna save her."
"We came here to end the threat to our time," Imra said, firmly. "And that means ending her life in this time."
Kara shook her head. "It's just not how we operate."
"That's not how I usually operate, but these are extreme circumstances," Imra argued.
Just then, a young man with dark shoulder-length hair entered the lab.
"Hey, stop right there," Alex snarled, as she and J'onn pointed their guns at him.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," Mon-El said, gesturing to Alex and J'onn to lower their weapons. "Guys, it's Brainy."
"Oh, of course, I'm wearing a personal image inducer," Brainy explained, awkwardly. He tapped his forehead and turned into his original form. "I had to purchase some apple cider vinegar, and I nearly caused a riot at the Piggly Wiggly."
"Huh," Supergirl gaped in amazement.
Brainy tapped his forehead again and turned back into his human form. "I thought this would, uh, help me fit in better." He pointed to Tess. "Just like you."
"Having a human form definitely comes with its advantages," Tess said.
"Hey, guys, I just got word from City Hall..." Winn announced, as he entered the lab but stopped upon noticing Brainy's human form. "Hey, Brainy."
"Wait, you recognize him?" Kara asked.
"Yeah, how did you know it was Brainy?" Barry also wondered.
"What is that, an image inducer?" Winn asked Brainy. "Eh? Ah, so our brains just think we're seeing a human, but no." He pointed at Brainy's forehead. "Hey, can I borrow that for Halloween?"
"Agent Schott, you were saying?" J'onn intervened, sternly.
"Oh, yes! Uh, the mayor, the Chief of Police, uh, like, five city councilmen are all sick," Winn explained. "High fevers, bloody noses. So either it was sushi day at City Hall cafeteria or..."
"It's her," Imra realized. "Let's go."
"Hang on, hang on, wait," Kara said. "We have sick people now. So let's go run some tests on them." She looked at Mon-El and Imra. "Meanwhile, you guys extract the cure so we can give it to the victims."
"It won't take long on our end," Mon-El said. "So we'll meet up with you later."
"Thank you," Kara nodded, before turning to Imra, who looked disappointed. "Don't worry, we'll get her."
(City Hall)
Supergirl, Superboy, The Flash, Alex, J'onn, and Tess were in City Hall as the paramedics were tending to the sick people, while the heroes were interviewing one of the patients.
"It's a nightmare, it happened so fast," the patient, who was an older man, explained. "My chief of staff and the councilwoman, we ordered a quarantine immediately."
"You did the right thing," Supergirl nodded. As the patient coughed, they noticed what looked like a scratch mark on his hand. "You rest," Supergirl said to the patient, placing a hand on his shoulder to provide him comfort. "We've got this."
They walked away from the patient.
"There was a mark on his hand," Barry said.
"It must not be airborne," Alex said.
"Alex, check and see if any other patients have similar marks," J'onn instructed. "I'll check the visitor logs."
Superboy noticed a scared woman sitting on the floor against a chair nearby and approached her. "Ma'am, are you okay? Do you need a doctor?"
"No," the woman shook her head. "I'm not sick, just scared."
"Everything's gonna be okay," Superboy assured her, and the woman nodded.
He, Supergirl, The Flash, and J'onn approached Tess, Alex, and Winn as the latter three had just finished talking to a female doctor.
"Okay, so mean doctor says we have to lift the quarantine," Winn said.
"She's not mean, she's just serious, and she's correct," Alex corrected.
"These people need professional medical attention as quickly as possible," Tess said. "Their organs may fail if they're displaying the same symptoms as the birds."
"There's a possibility that Pestilence is still here," J'onn pointed out.
"Mon-El did say that there's an incubation period, but those scratches did not look new," Alex said. "She's probably not even here anymore."
"Well, let's start getting everybody to the hospital," Barry instructed. "J'onn, Superboy, Supergirl, and I can take the really sick people."
Tess, Alex, and Winn headed off.
"All right, people, let's keep it calm," J'onn said to agents. "The last thing we need is a panic." They heard a strange sound coming from outside as people started to scream and panic. "What is that?"
Supergirl, Superboy, The Flash, J'onn, and agents rushed outside and saw a huge dome-shaped energy barrier which no one could get inside or outside of. A police car crashed into the barrier.
"So much for avoiding a panic," J'onn said, and Supergirl, Superboy, and The Flash let out sighs.
J'onn walked off, while Supergirl, Superboy, and The Flash spotted Imra, who was responsible for the barrier, and approached her.
"Take down the force field," Supergirl ordered.
"Did you find her?" Imra demanded.
"People are dying! They need to get to the hospital!" The Flash snapped.
"Is Pestilence here?" Imra asked.
"There's no sign of her now, just scared people who need real medical attention," Supergirl said, firmly. "Take it down!"
After a few moments of reluctance, Imra touched her temple and the force field disappeared.
"Why aren't you working on the cure?" Superboy asked.
"Brainy and Mon-El are getting the transfer set up now," Imra explained.
"Well, we can handle this," Supergirl said.
"You say that, but you do not know what you're up against," Imra retorted, before walking away from them.
(Later, D.E.O.)
"So Winn and Tess are running through security footage to see who came in contact with everyone who got sick," Kara explained, as she and Alex walked down the stairs.
"Well, I just got word that Brainy, Imra, and Mon-El have extracted the cure, and they're manufacturing doses as we speak, so hopefully it's just a matter of time," Alex said, optimistically.
"Hopefully," Kara sighed.
"Hey," Alex said. "I know that you're frustrated, okay? But there's still a really good chance that Imra could come around, you know, and that we can work with her on this. She might have some really important insight into Pestilence."
"Yeah, to kill her," Kara scoffed. "I don't kill. I mean, you know it's possible to reach them. You of all people understand how important it is to help whoever's in Pestilence."
"Yeah, of course I do," Alex nodded. "But I didn't see that at first. You and Barry were the ones who convinced me that the Worldkillers could even be saved. So maybe Imra just needs a little more convincing."
"I've been trying, she's... she's being irrational," Kara sighed again. "She's just not listening to me."
"I think we found her," Winn announced, as he and Tess approached Kara and Alex. "Okay, so there was one person who came in contact with everybody who got sick at the mayor's office."
"Meet Adelaide Swanson," Tess added, as Winn showed the tablet to Kara and Alex.
"An administrator known for her famous lemon poppy seed cookies," Winn finished.
"A Worldkiller that bakes cookies, that's unexpected," Alex said in surprise.
"Not really," Tess said. "You should've met an enemy on my Earth named Granny Goodness, who seemed like your typical loving and kind grandmother on the surface but was really as cruel, manipulative, and domineering as they come."
Kara was looking at Adelainde's profile picture on Winn's tablet. "Wait, I saw her at City Hall. She's the one Conner talked to. She looked... Well, she looked terrified. Just like Julia."
(Elsewhere)
The Flash sped into the apartment, while Supergirl and Superboy flew in through the window. They saw Imra standing over the dead body of Adelaide lying on the floor.
"What did you do to her?" The Flash demanded, as he, Supergirl, and Superboy glared at Imra.
"Get away from her," Supergirl snarled.
"You killed her," Superboy added.
"I didn't do anything," Imra said. "She was dead when I got here." The Flash knelt beside Adelainde's body as he, Supergirl, and Superboy noticed the scratch mark on her hand. "It's not Pestilence, she's human," Imra told them. "A victim."
"How did you know she was here?" Supergirl demanded.
"Brainiac 5 has all the same data you do," Imra explained.
"So you came here without telling us," Supergirl said, accusingly.
"You came here to kill Pestilence, didn't you?" The Flash added.
Suddenly, J'onn and several agents rushed in with guns at the ready.
"Stand down, stand down," Supergirl told them. "We got the wrong person. She's a human. A victim."
J'onn tapped his earpiece. "Winn, Alex, Ms. Mercer, keep looking."
(D.E.O.)
"Man, I was so sure it was gonna be her," Winn responded to J'onn. He was sitting at the computer with Alex and Tess standing on either side of him. "I mean, according to the security footage, she's the only person that came in contact with all the victims."
"Winn, your nose is bleeding," Tess noted in alarm, as she and Alex looked at him worriedly.
"My nose..." Winn wiped his nose as he noticed the blood and paled.
"J'onn, Supergirl, Superboy, Flash, you need to get back here now," Alex announced urgently in the comms. "It's Winn."
"He's been infected," Tess added.
Winn was lying on the bed in the med-bay as Alex, Brainy, and Tess were tending to him, while Barry, Conner, Kara, and J'onn stood nearby.
"James!" Winn called out excitedly, as the man in question entered. "Hey, tell him I'm not dying."
"Hey, James, he's not dying," J'onn said. "We're giving him the Legion's cure."
"Which by my calculations should have him rebounding in approximately 2.4534 hours," Brainy explained.
"Okay," James said, before turning back to Winn. "How you doing, buddy?"
"You should be at CatCo," Winn replied.
"It's called delegation," James said. "I've got every reporter in the building working on this." He turned to J'onn. "Which actually reminds me, the city is pretty panicked about this. So if you have any information I can disseminate, that would be helpful."
"Doses of the cure are on their way to all the hospitals," J'onn explained.
"And the Worldkiller is still MIA," Kara added.
"Yeah, but now that Winn is infected, doesn't that give us another lead?" James asked.
"Yes, the scratch on your hand seems to be the point of infection," Brainy said to Winn.
He grabbed Winn's hand to examine the scratch, but Alex smacked Brainy's hand.
"Don't touch that," she told him.
"Winn, you're a slightly smarter-than-average human," Brainy said. "Please tell us you remember who scratched you.
"Oh," Winn said in a raspy tone. "Well, there was the guy with the gloves, and the knives, and then the burnt face."
"Go on," Brainy said, before glancing at the others. "This sounds like a very promising lead."
Barry, Kara, Conner, and even Tess looked amused by Brainy's obliviousness to the reference.
"What else do you remember?" Brainy asked Winn.
"Oh, so scary, man. I couldn't even look at him..."
"It's Freddy Krueger," Alex said.
"You know him too," Brainy said to her. "Eureka."
"It's a character in a movie," Kara clarified, as Winn laughed.
"Facetiousness," Brainy said. "It's my greatest weakness."
"The scratches don't seem to manifest until the symptoms do," Alex said. "And the only trace evidence we could find is a mild anesthetic."
"Keep running those tests," J'onn ordered. "See if you can come up with something more promising. In the meantime, get a team out. See if you can talk to these patients and find a common link."
Kara placed a comforting hand on Winn's shoulder. "Um, I'll come check in, but there's something I have to take care of."
"Okie dokie," Winn said.
"Hang in there, Winn, you're gonna be fine," Barry said, before he and Kara noticed Imra outside the med-bay and went out to approach her.
"Imra, why did you go behind our backs?" Kara demanded.
"I didn't have a choice," Imra sighed.
"You always have a choice," Kara retorted.
"No, I don't," Imra snapped. "Look, I don't wanna kill her or anyone. I have the same ideals you do."
"If that were true, you wouldn't be so adamant on killing Pestilence," Barry said, firmly.
"Barry's right," Kara said. "You should know you don't get to pick and choose when your ideals matter. You either live by them or you don't."
"You think this is bad?" Imra argued. "The Blight is so much worse. Every hospital bed in every city on every planet is overrun. Mass graves. So if it's between her and the millions of people who die by the Blight in the future, I'm going to kill her."
"So, what, you think just because it has already happened in the future, you're justified to put her down for good?" Barry snapped. "We were able to reach Julia. We can reach Pestilence's human side too. There is still another option that doesn't involve taking her life."
"You're wrong!" Imra exclaimed. "I'm from the future. I've seen what happens if you're left to deal with the situation the way you want to. The Blight happens. Pestilence survives. Whatever you do in this time to try to stop her fails. You fail. So if I get the chance, I will end this."
With that, she walked away, leaving Barry and Kara alone.
"I can't believe I'm gonna ask this, but you think she could be right, Barry?" Kara said. "As much as I really don't like the idea of having to take someone's life, what if she's not wrong about seeing what happens if we deal with Pestilence the way we want to?"
"I don't know if she's right or wrong, Kara," Barry sighed. "I mean, we've seen that we could reach Julia. We can at least try. If not..."
"If not, I don't know if I could do it," Kara said. "I'm not so sure if I could actually..."
"Take a life?" Barry asked. "Let's stick with the current plan for now. If it turns out that Pestilence is indeed too far gone, we'll cross that bridge if or when we reach it."
"Okay," Kara nodded.
(Later)
In the med-bay, Winn was groaning, gasping, and coughing as his illness had become worse. James was standing next to him, while Alex injected a liquid into the drip and Tess held Winn down to make him as comfortable as she could.
"Um... just a... just a thought," Winn choked. "I don't... don't think the cure is, uh, um, working."
"Oh, my God," Kara gasped, as she, Barry, Conner, J'onn, Mon-El, and Brainy entered.
"This should keep him stable for now," Alex said.
"Come on, Winn," J'onn said with concern, before turning to Brainy as Winn started to breath normally. "What happened?"
"So the cure didn't work?" Conner asked.
Brainy mumbled to himself for a moment. "Oh, yes, there it is, I see it now. The cure is designed to cure victims of the Blight. But because Pestilence is not technically the Blight but the forebearer of it..."
"The cure needs to be remodified to eliminate Pestilence's strand of the virus," Tess finished.
"Exactly," Brainy nodded.
"So how do we do that?" James asked.
"We need a sample of Pestilence's DNA before it's too late," Barry realized.
"So if we can't find her, more people could get infected and the people that are already infected..."
"Yes, finding her as soon as humanly or non-humanly possible would be..." Brainy cut off Kara before his own sentence was cut short by Alex collapsing to the floor before she passed out.
"Alex!" J'onn shouted in alarm, as he and everyone instantly turned to her unconscious form.
"No!" Kara cried out in panic, as she immediately rushed to her sister and knelt beside her. "No, no, no, no, Alex! Alex!"
"Imperative," Brainy finished his sentence.
As they noticed that Alex's nose was bleeding, Kara looked over her shoulder at everyone with a look of great concern mixed with horror.
"Winn and Alex are going downhill," Kara said, visibly perturbed. "With all the information we have, we have to be able to find something."
"We're best doing the best we can, Kara," Tess assured her.
"Tess and I followed Agent Schott and Danvers on security footage when they were at City Hall, assuming they ran into Pestilence, but they spent sixty percent of the time in blind spots," Brainy explained. "It's like they were trying to evade cameras."
"What about Adelaide?" Kara inquired.
"We followed her like the others on every camera we could find in the city," Brainy said.
"Didn't reveal any suspects," J'onn added.
"What about social media?" Kara suggested.
"Social... what?" Brainy asked in confusion.
Kara went to the computer and sat down.
"In this time, a generation called Millennials would share their whereabouts with family, friends, and complete strangers on the Internet," Mon-El explained. "It's a short-lived trend."
"Sounds delusional," Brainy commented.
"Yeah," Mon-El nodded.
"Come on, it's not that bad," Barry protested.
"Just don't be too obsessed with social media," Conner added.
"Here," Kara announced, as everyone turned to the computer screen, which was showing a picture of Adelaide. "Twenty-four hours before her death, she brought cookies to a mobile flu unit at City Hall."
"That doesn't tell us anything, she works there," J'onn pointed out.
"But look who's behind her," Kara said, pointing to the female Asian doctor behind Adelaide.
"That's that doctor that Winn, Alex, and I spoke to at City Hall," Tess noted. "Assuming she was there twenty-four hours earlier, she must've been responsible for infecting the mayor and everyone else who was present."
"That had to have been what happened, I'm sure of it," Kara agreed.
"I didn't see her with the mayor in the security footage," Brainy said.
"But you said there were blind spots," Mon-El pointed out.
"She's Pestilence," Kara said, getting up. "She has to be."
Brainy swiped the tablet and brought up the profile of the Asian doctor on the main screen. "Dr. Grace Parker, first in her class at Metropolis University School of Medicine, now practices emergency surgery at National City General."
"She's a doctor," Kara said. "She heals people for a living."
"We can get through to her," Barry said, optimistically.
"We're not gonna make the same mistake we made with Julia," Kara said.
"Is she still at the hospital?" J'onn inquired.
Brainy swiped the tablet again and brought up a map. "Actually, according to a simple scan of security cameras throughout the city, it seems she entered the Silvermine Health Insurance building five minutes ago."
"Let's go," Barry ordered.
"I'll come with you guys," Mon-El said.
"I'll organize a strike team," J'onn added, as he, Barry, Kara, Conner, Tess, and Mon-El headed off.
(Silvermine Health Insurance)
Grace/Pestilence was about to infect one of the board members with her claw when Supergirl fired a blast of heat vision near her.
"Don't take another step, Grace," Supergirl warned, as she arrived with The Flash, Superboy, Tess, and Mon-El.
"It's not Grace anymore," Grace/Pestilence sneered, as the board members ran out of the office. "You would save even these scabs? They who profit on the suffering of others?"
"Everyone deserves to be saved, no matter who they are," Superboy said.
"Not them," Pestilence disagreed. "They're not good."
"But you are," Supergirl said.
"Imra, wait," Mon-El said, as his wife walked up behind him. "Give them a chance."
"As a doctor, you swore an oath to always save lives and never hurt anyone, yet you're doing exactly what you vowed not to do," Tess also tried to get through to Pestilence. "What ever happened to 'do no harm'?"
"Do no harm..." Pestilence trailed off, before her claw retracted and her eyes returned to normal color.
"Grace?" Barry said.
"It's gonna be okay," Supergirl assured her.
"My mother used to always say that good would be rewarded with Grace," Grace chuckled. "But when I became a surgeon, I finally saw the truth. There is no reward for being good."
"That doesn't mean you have the right to decide who lives," The Flash pointed out. "You're only deciding who dies."
"You don't want that," Supergirl added. "We can stop it." She held out her hand.
"Stop it?" Grace repeated, as she accepted Supergirl's hands before looking at the Girl of Steel with a cold expression. "Why would I ever wanna stop it? This is the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. I don't have to worry about saving anyone anymore because I don't want to."
"No..." Supergirl shook her head.
"I get to choose who dies."
"Grace..."
"They say that surgeons have a God complex, but it's simple," Grace continued, before she turned back into Pestilence. "I am a god."
"You sound no different than many of the other supervillains we've faced over the years," The Flash retorted. "And just like them, you're no god either."
Pestilence was about to attack Supergirl when Superboy intervened, pulling Pestilence's arm back and flinging her across the office.
As Pestilence got back up, Imra telekinetically launched a chair at her, but Pestilence was unaffected as the chair hit her face. The Flash hurled a lightning bolt at Pestilence at the same time Tess attacked her with a cyclone, the combination of both powers knocking Pestilence out of the office through the glass door, which shattered. Pestilence got back up, shooting a glare at the heroes, and leapt down to the ground floor.
A moment later, Supergirl, Superboy, The Flash, and Tess appeared in front of her.
"You honestly thought you could talk me into being redeemed?" Pestilence sneered. "You're all naive. Words will never hurt me."
"What about sticks and stones?" Supergirl countered.
"That's a good comeback," Tess commented.
Just then, several pieces of equipment rained down near Pestilence as Imra, who was standing over the rail on the upper level, attacked her with telekinesis. Imra then telekinetically controlled the light poles that Pestilence was standing between, preparing to drop them on her. A piece of a metal bar from one of the light poles fell down and Pestilence caught it in her hand. She threw the bar up at Imra, but Mon-El caught the bar before it could hit his wife. Mon-El descended and whacked Pestilence with the bar, knocking her upwards.
Superboy and Supergirl flew up at Pestilence at full speed. Superboy reached Pestilence first and punched her in Supergirl's direction. Supergirl punched Pestilence back towards Superboy, who then raised his fists over his head and slammed them down on Pestilence, sending her crashing on the floor hard.
Supergirl and Superboy high-fived each other before flying down to Pestilence.
"Stay down!" Superboy warned, his and Supergirl's fists at the ready.
Suddenly, force field appeared around Pestilence, trapping her within it as Imra appeared with a syringe in her hand.
"Imra, no!" Supergirl exclaimed.
She, Superboy, and The Flash made a move to rush towards Imra, but Imra knocked them back with a telekinetic blast before launching the syringe in Pestilence's chest. Pestilence collapsed to the floor and took the syringe out of her chest as Imra removed the force field. The heroes watched as Pestilence's eyes returned to normal color and her veins glowed yellow.
Looking up with a smirk, Pestilence stated, "She's here."
At that moment, Purity descended from above.
"Julia!" Supergirl called out in an attempt to reach Purity's human side.
Purity unleashed her sonic scream, throwing all the heroes back as they were dazed. She then approached Pestilence, who eagerly held out her hand.
Purity took Pesilence's hand as the latter stood up. "Sister... I found you."
Taking Pestilence with her, Purity flew off, crashing through the glass ceiling on the way out of the building.
"She was dying!" Imra exclaimed.
"Purity must've made her stronger somehow," The Flash deduced.
"Fortunately, not all is lost," Tess said, as she picked up the syringe that Imra had used on Pestilence. "Now that we have Pestilence's DNA, Brainy could use it to alter the cure."
"Is it enough?" Supergirl wondered.
"It's more than enough," Imra answered.
(Later, L-Corp)
Lena was in her lab working at the computer, while Samantha Arias was sitting on a stretcher in a meditating state with electrodes attached to her head. The two women had been in the lab for several weeks as Lena had been hard at work trying to figure out how to permanently neutralize the Reign entity within Samantha.
"Sam... Sam, I think I found something," Lena said. When Sam didn't respond, Lena turned around to face her. "Sam?"
"They're coming," Samantha stated, without turning to Lena.
A moment later, Supergirl, Superboy, The Flash, J'onn, Tess, Mon-El, and Imra descended into the lab from the ceiling via Flash's and J'onn's phasing abilities. Lena turned to them, surprised by the heroes' arrival.
"Lena," Supergirl said, urgently. "Lena, the Worldkillers are coming. We have to get you somewhere safe..." She and the other heroes then noticed Samantha on the stretcher. "Safe."
Supergirl and The Flash tried to approach Sam, but an invisible force field blocked their way.
"What is this?" Supergirl demanded.
"I was gonna tell you," Lena tried to explain.
Supergirl turned to her. "Tell me what?"
"About me," Samantha snarled, as she removed the electrodes from her head and stood up.
"Sam..." Supergirl and The Flash trailed off at the same time.
Lena typed some commands on her tablet and Samantha started gasping as she collapsed against the stretcher.
"Is that..." Superboy trailed off, as he and the other heroes noticed a small circular device with a green glow attached to Samantha's chest.
Suddenly, the door was blasted off its hinges as Purity and Pestilence entered the lab. This caused the force field around Samantha's containment area to short out.
Purity flew up into the air, while Pestilence approached Samanatha. The heroes prepared to engage the Worldkillers, but a sonic scream from Purity knocked Supergirl, Superboy, Tess, Mon-El, Imra, and Lena back, while J'onn turned intangible and The Flash vibrated as both men managed to avoid the blast.
Pestilence removed the glowing green device from Samantha's chest and helped her to her feet.
J'onn and The Flash looked up at Purity and stepped forward, preparing to engage her, but as Samantha fired heat vision at J'onn, Flash sped him out of the way.
As the other heroes and Lena got back to their feet, they watched as Purity, Samantha, and Pestilence stood together holding hands.
"Finally," Samantha breathed out with relief, her voice now much deeper as her eyes glowed red.
Suddenly, a blinding blue light surrounded her, Purity, and Pestilence and they levitated into the air as Samantha was now in her Reign suit. Purity activated her sound power, paralyzing the heroes and Lena to prevent them from fighting back.
"El Mayarah," Reign declared, before she, Purity, and Pestilence flew off.