All the horrors and dangers she had thrown herself at head first seemed to pale in comparison to a simple building. She watched the people rush back and forth, staff were running and shouting from afar in attempts to save just a few more seconds before the hospital was ready. This entire plan hinged on her ability to do this, possibly for hours. On top of it all there was no guarantee it would work. Superman was no longer at her side, he had been called in to move equipment and anyone who could handle higher speeds. It was just her, the ring and the hospital. The ever-present hum was quieter than she liked. That brief and intense sense of whatever was causing this had slipped away already. She spent so much time resenting the ring, now she missed that numbness it could help bring.
Opting to defend instead of attack had sent her spiralling. Even after having the ring for so long, it was times like this that served as a harsh reminder how much of a danger she could be with it. There was nothing else to do other than wait for a signal, she dwelled on what it all meant. Oddball's insistence that even the least trustworthy of sources can benefit everyone and Lena's determination to remind her to go easy on herself spun amongst the endless hum in an effort to defend herself. The ring threw everything out of whack, even her own simple thought processes. Being lost and confused was the best she could hope for. The desperate shouts and frantic movements around her made her wander if anyone really knew what was going on. Even the determined gusts of Superman zipping past her had an uneasy feel to them as it blew her hair back each time. She focused on her breathing and the pump of her heart as everything slowed down. She could feel the apprehension in the air when Superman finally came to a stop beside her.
"They're as ready as they can be," he said. Kara rolled her shoulders and stretched out her arms. She brought the ring close to her mouth.
"Work for me, not against me, just this once" she muttered under her breath. She was not even sure the ring comprehended speech on that level, she hoped its seemingly bestial will would understand the sentiment behind it at least. Sniffing loudly and outstretching her ring hand, she clenched her fist and pointed it at the hospital. With a short and determined breath a beam shot out from the ring. A low droning sound emanated from the point of impact and the red glow engulfed the space around it. Audible gasps and confusion broke out around her, there had been no time to tell everyone the plan. The red wave advanced onward, bending around every nook and cranny of the hospital's exterior. A mild burning pain in her hand grew with the shielding, every inch of its expansion added to the strain. She looked up to see it stretching to the roof and could sense it going over the top, encircling everything it could. Majority of the hospital had been covered and a crowd had formed around her, taking in the spectacle of it all.
The shield still had some travelling to do, it was slowing down and the toll it was taking on her was increasing rapidly. Superman lightly touched her shoulder, she instinctively shoved him away with her free hand then grabbed her wrist to support her outstretched fist. The final stretch of uncovered space rapidly closed, the hospital was fully shielded. The beam held firm and the warm red glow tinted the air around it. Superman had backed off, starting to understand that support was not what she needed, it was something else entirely. This was only the beginning.
The minutes passed by as the shimmering red forcefield droned on. Before long someone appeared at the front door, attempting to get her attention. Superman had taken up the role of interreference as questions and comments from bystanders had come flying her way. She had fazed them out amongst the hum in her head, focusing everything she had in maintaining the shield. Superman came over to her.
"It's working, the generator's readings have levelled out and powering everything normally again," he said. It was of little comfort, a part of her she tried ignoring hoped that this plan would fail. Chasing down whatever caused this would be so much easier, that brief stint of extreme rage and knowing what it was had passed too quickly to get a true hold of it. Instead she was rooted to the spot. Every minute that went by was agonising, her body shuddered and the burning pain spread. She tensed in her stance and the ground crumbled around her feet, the cracks slowly branched out around her. She could feel herself wavering as the ring fought back. The brilliant red began to flicker ever so slightly. There was no adrenaline or rush of fighting to keep the ring's will satiated.
"Not now, come on," she said to herself as the beam from her ring flickered even more. It made no difference, she knew maintaining the shield like this would be impossible. She was fully aware of how to strengthen her bond with the ring and could not count on the blackout suddenly subsiding. It had been nowhere near long enough. At this point there was no choice, she would have to embrace the rage it thrived on. Let in the feelings she tried so hard to control and suppress. She yelled out as she let her mind go to these dark corners. The beam solidified stronger than before, the droning from the shield loudened.
The burden was always hers, it was so clear to see as she struggled on with the shield as Superman just watched. Just like Daxam he had left her with the hard work. She took the responsibility of the whole world at every turn, but Superman was the one they all loved. She was cowered from and doubted all because she had the guts to act. The ring flared up, blasting a second beam onto the hospital. It lightened the physical burden on her. The pain burning through her body still refused to subside, instead she could embrace it more and allowed it to fuel her. Grasping onto her resentment had given her a second wind and she stood firm shielding the hospital from whatever was happening. More time passed and there was no hint of the power cut letting up, if anything she could sense it getting stronger. Some unknown force tugging and testing at the edges of the hospital. She had to give more to the ring as this force slowly grew crushingly powerful. Tapping into her rage was all too easy.
She thought of Daxam, how their slaughter of innocents forced her hand into extreme action. She doubted her own morality, had to give up on the man she had loved and pushed Lena away. All of that and they had the nerve to say she was in the wrong, summoned to those clueless and inflexible Guardians on Oa who insisted on questioning her motives at every turn. Consistent punishment for the good deeds and sacrifices she had to make. Her resolve strengthened by tapping into this part of herself, but it was only slowing the shield's inevitable collapse.
"Other areas of the blackout are starting to light up again, it can't be much longer," someone said. She was so wrapped up in her own head she could not even tell who had said it. Whatever this force was refused to relent. Somehow it continued to get worse, every inch of the shield was under extreme pressure and there was no-one else to rely on to maintain it. She took a step forward and thought of Alex. That moment when she lost her arms and those replacements she had to settle for. It was her own fault for not being strong enough to protect her. She took another step and gritted her teeth. Her fist outshone the daylight itself as it blazed a new beam. After everything she had done, facing the court of the Guardians and ending Reign. Her only thanks was to be left with the ring and see almost every relationship she had crumble around her for it. It was not fair, none of it was. She just wanted was for things to go back to normal, but the threat of the World Killers lingered on and all she could do was hang around in this purgatory of perpetual agony. She could taste blood flooding into her mouth as she stepped forward again. Power was radiating off her and she could sense that crushing force on the shield subsiding. She plunged her burning fist into the shielding itself. With a brilliant flash of red the shield burst out, breaking away the force on it. The people watching and even Superman would have no idea of what she went through to get to this point, they all knew so little of her struggle. All they did was take advantage of the outcomes then blame her when there were consequences. She held her hand inside shield, her hand hissed in searing pain as she brought it's form back to surrounding the hospital. She closed her eyes, breathing heavily and dropping her shoulders. The fury she had embraced to get to this point was racing around her mind, her heart was booming louder than ever before as her mind flipped between each forbidden thought. Mon-El, Alex, Kal, Lena had all been hurt because of her in one way or another. She had let the daughter of her victim give her a tour of her room and felt nothing. The guilt was solely due to how she had no genuine inkling for remorse or an apology left in her. If this was her true nature, then isolation would be far safer for them all. It would be what she deserved.
So much was broken and the raw energy the ring provided her was almost paralysing. She dropped the shield, it was over.
Her hand was drenched in blood and partially melted, little of it remained except for her palm, ring-finger and thumb. Superman and a few others came to check on her. All her anger and the ring's encouragement of it brought her to breaking point and she let out a bellowing, incoherent yell. It shattered windows and doors for hundreds of feet around. Everyone left in the block immediately covered their ears in shock as it thundered throughout the city. Her whole body trembled and her eyes widened. She shot up into the air at full force, breaking the ground into a small crater as she took off. She was on the brink of losing control. It was unsafe for anyone to be around her and there was no way of calming herself down quickly enough. Whenever she tried to clear her mind, new fury found its way into her heart.