That calling, that bloody calling. What she had felt when she was drawn to Bloodsport was nothing compared to it. She had been looking through Prism Electricals' client list when the violent drumming of her heart grew unbearably loud. The burning heat in her veins. The rage. She knew what this was. She had tried to deny it, to resist the ring's relentless urges and get a hold of herself before heading out to face this threat. A call had come in, she had seen Lena's name on the screen. She did not bother answering, she already knew what was going to be said. Her resistance failed her, the red and black uniform phased in. She had to hold herself back from smashing through her apartment wall. She hovered high. There was a smell of burning. Crashing and screaming echoed across the city, smoke was off in the distance. She closed her eyes, shut herself off to these senses. There was only one that mattered. The booming of her heart had focused her, the warmth of the burning washed over like a salve. A smile had crept onto her face as that instinct took hold. The World Killers had come and it was time to put them down. The red light burst out, the heat of it scolded her skin. There had been no pain, just a pressure building inside her, power she not known since Ysmault. Her eyes opened and the ring had found its target. As soon as she moved, like a crack of thunder she had burst through the sonic barrier. Her aura had set the air itself ablaze as she rocketed toward her prey. Her aim was true, the monster did not even have time to turn her head before Supergirl's fist exploded into her target's chest.
It was a rush like none other when the Lizard-headed monstrosity had shot beyond her sight. She stopped to enjoy the moment. She beamed as the heat in her blood warmed her booming heart. She tried to grasp on to it, to let it linger. A small pain in her chest began to poke through the warmth, a twinge of doubt. Her ring glimmered at her when she noticed the carnage left in her wake. The whole street had been ruined and she had not even noticed at first. Thoughts of people caught in it or their livelihoods taking a serious hit amongst the damage crept into her mind. The ecstasy of revenge was dying down far too quickly and the blaze around her began to fade.
"Such power, I can feel it," a voice echoed out, it was amplified and distorted. She had been too distracted to notice the new arrival. Her attention was drawn to a crackling energy hovering some distance away. Amongst the wayward bolts she could see an outline of someone inside. A familiar instinct called to her from the ring, one she had experienced back when shielding the hospital. This was the same threat, the one who had been draining energy around Metropolis. The ring screamed at her to take revenge, it would be so easy. She tried to drown out the calling, looking at the devastation in front of her and thinking of those she might hurt in the process. She held her head in her hands and screamed out as the warmth turned to boiling. Her body was on fire and the blistering pain took hold as she held off her attack. The energy creature hovered ever closer, a clearer picture of her prey made it so much harder to cast out the ring's will. A glowing outline of the World Killer's body shone through. The torso was the size and shape of a regular human, but the limbs were long and thin. Her legs alone stretched down three times the length of the rest of her body. Her arms dangled to below her knee, they were jointed strangely as if there were two elbows on each side. Though they were difficult to make out through the unstable field of lightning around her, she saw grey shards like natural armour wrapped around her head, torso, thighs and forearms. It gave some form to the being of energy and the armour around her head was insectoid in appearance, stalks poking up like antennae. The World Killer raised her hands, focusing the energy around her into a set of wings. She threw her hands forward, sending arcs of lightning straight toward her. The beams grinded against her red aura, Supergirl had barely noticed.
Any hint of mercy was crushed by the relentless rage consuming her, the sheer effort to simply stay in place and not launch into an attack took every ounce of will she had. More arcs of lightning ripped into her. Thought there was no physical effect on her, each blast released a new wave of rage to assault her self-control.
"Stop. This." Supergirl shouted, the words were loud and laboured. They echoed through the streets. A chuckle came from the World Killer.
"I will absorb every drop of energy that ring has to offer and then I will put this world in its place," she said. Frustration crept its way amongst the rage, the fool had no idea what she was dealing with. After another assault of ineffective blasts, the World Killer flew at her. Time slowed down for Supergirl, she could end her so quickly. The strange insectoid figure closed the distance, her white eyes filled with hunger. Supergirl resisted meeting her assault, she did everything she could to restrain herself. Her fist unclenched as the World Killer got into range, Supergirl shifted to the side an instant before impact. She watched the World Killer rush by, only to slow herself and come back around. She dodged again, each time crying out as she fought the urge to strike back.
"Don't make me hurt you," she said. The World Killer laughed again, not understanding the danger she was in. The World Killer came in for another pass, grasping at her with those long, spindly hands. With each dodge she found herself less able to resist. It became too much to bear, she needed to strike out. She managed to hold back for the most part, opting to smack her away with the back of her hand. Even with the light hit, the World Killer uncontrollably spun away. She was knocked back hundreds of feet and bounced along the tall buildings in her path. The unstable lashing energy around the World Killer reeled in as she pulled herself out of the side of a building.
"Finally," the World Killer said, not deterred by how easily she has been disposed of. There was a building pressure in Supergirl's hands, she had to fight off clenching them into fists. The strain pulled at her muscles when she smacked away the hapless World killer again. Her eyes started to sting, tears streamed down her face. They hissed against her skin. She wiped them away and looked at her hand, the red smears faded quickly, absorbed by the ring. With a boom of her heart her eyes darted back to the World Killer. She had come at her again, not knowing to give up and save herself. Supergirl brought her hands together hard with a thunderous clap. A shockwave of air burst out of it, what was left of any surrounding window frames creaked and bent in on themselves. The World Killer's flight was stopped in its path, she was forced to brace and steady herself.
"You don't want this," Supergirl said, pushing the words out from her conflicted mind. Her opponent ignored the warning and went for her again. Something snapped, her resistance finally broke. She reached out and grabbed the World killer by the neck. It stopped her dead, the sudden lack of momentum lurched the World Killer's whole body. Her grip slowly tightened. Supergirl's eyes glowed red, it was reflected in the arcs of lightning still whipping out at her. Her red aura crackled loudly as it came into contact with the field around this World killer, her hand engulfing it with ease.
"I warned you," she said, more blood seeped from her eyes. The pain in her head was forcing its way to the back of her eyes, she wanted so much to crush its neck or blast the World Killer away with heat vision. The white eyes of her prey narrowed.
"You're mine now," the garbled voice said. The long lurching hand took hold of Supergirl's ring-hand and a ferocious zapping sound filled the air. It was almost loud enough to drown out the ring's shouting. More wayward bolts shot out in random directions, crashing against anything unfortunate enough to be in their way. Supergirl's vision began to clear, her grip weakened and her heart slowed. The booming reducing to pounding. The wings of energy around the World Killer began to expand. Shades of red made their way into the teeming blue energy. Supergirl was being drained as if her life itself was being sucked away from her.
She had been here before, helpless in the hands of a World Killer. Her mind wandered back to the fateful day that started all this. She had been unprepared, exhausted and seen those around her suffer for her own mistakes. Powerless to stop the spiralling events that led her to this moment. The World Killers played every part in her pain. Her heart boomed louder, the pulse filled her with renewed energy. For her, there had been no justice. She had tried to do everything right, made every hard decision and the universe decided to punish her for it. Another boom, this time accompanied by a chorus of shouts. It spurned her on, gave her control. Her prey's expression fell from victory to worry, those white eyes filling with confusion as the red sparks began to turn on her. Now she had the power to make this right, to spit in the face of her hardships and come out on top. The rage re-asserted itself. Her heart exploded to life and smile emerged on her face. A simple thought ripped through the noise and energy.
"It's my turn," she said. With simple shake of the wrist she was free from the World Killer's grip. The energy field shrunk and the wings waned. Supergirl grabbed both sides of her prey's skull, she shook with anticipation and power. The World Killer clawed at her hands with her strange, long fingers to no avail. With another deep breath she closed her eyes and let the ring's will pulse through her. She opened them again, allowing herself a moment to enjoy the World Killer's fruitless attempts. The ring warmed to boiling point. The energy field was sucked into it and red bolts sparked through her victim's entire body. She shook with the bolts, the amplified voice cutting in and out with her cries of pain. Supergirl savoured every moment, giving the creature exactly what she had wanted by overloading her with what the ring had to offer. She laughed to herself as the body went limp, the only movement being the twitches as the red bolts still sparked. She let go, letting the World Killer slip from her hands and to plummet below. Another rush of ecstasy pulsed through her, she began to question why she ever tried to push it away. She could sense that the energy creature was still alive, but as far as the ring was concerned any immediate threats had been dealt with. She hovered, unaware of her surroundings to merely enjoy the moment.
She eventually drifted down to ground level, having been caught up in the thrill of it all she was taken aback by what she saw. Two people were standing over the limp body of the World Killer. The respite and joy drained away in an instant, more people determined to interfer. A woman had stepped up to greet her, while a man was hunched over the body.
"Move," she said.
"Supergirl, I thought you might have been a goner there. Are you alright?" it was Sam Arias. The white skin, the red hair, the black suit. She stared at the face of her sister's attacker. She tried to remind herself that the woman in front of her was innocent, but the ring was hungering again.
"I'm not done with her," she said.
"Take my word for it, you've finished the job," Sam said. Supergirl glanced down at the robotic arm. A pang of guilt made its way through the noise, she cast it aside.
"She has to suffer, as I have suffered," she said, staring down at the body. It still crackled away with blue energy, though was much more stable than it had been during the fight. Sam stood in the way, putting her hand out.
"Look, I understand as much as anyone…" Sam started. A flash of red, Supergirl jolted forward and grabbed Sam.
"You don't understand a damn thing about me, this is your fault," she said, bringing her in close, inches away from her face. Sam tried to reel back but she would not let her, feeling the fear and anguish projected from her face. There was a sudden loud inhalation as the energy creature's body jolted back to some sort of consciousness.
"Where am I? What's going on? I feel strange," she said. Frantically trying to get up. Supergirl ad ignored the man hunched over her up to this point. He had stood back.
"Whoa, welcome back. Try and slow your breathing," he was faced away but she knew the voice. Optic, Oddball, Monarch or whatever stupid name he wanted to conjure. Another flash of anger rushed through her and she flung Sam aside. The creature looked at her hand and her body convulsed violently.
"Spark is that you? Oh God, what have I become?" she said. She raised her arms, her hands shook when she looked at them.
"Remember what we talked about, nothing you can't handle" he said. There was a familiarity to the unfolding scene, it stopped her in her tracks. The anger started to wash away.
"What's going on, Spark? I'm so scared," she said. She was bordering on hysterical, desperately trying to move but unable to do so. Optic took a deep breath and seemed to brace himself. Supergirl watched on, she was frozen to the spot as her heart's booms slowed and calmed. Optic took her large, elongated hand in both of his. He jolted from it and the energy engulfed his body.
"Jo, look at me. I'm here. Focus on the sound of my voice. You are going to be okay," he said. The creature's white eyes met his, he repeated this mantra to her. Though his skin burned he held tight, Jo's body calmed. The crackling energy reeled in and she calmed down. She breathed with him, it managed to ground her and stop the twitching. Supergirl stepped back, her shoulders slumped, her body felt heavy like her strength had been emptied. It reminded her so much of what Lena would do for her when she began to lose herself. She allowed herself to fall back. The exchange she watched between Optic and Jo was almost entrancing. All she could think of was Lena as her heart slowed to a regular pace, the beat was soft and the voice retreated to a hum. She was done, the hunger for vengeance was gone.