For too long a growing population of freakish invaders have been allowed to walk amongst us. They have come to us from other planets, bringing with them their problems and their unnecessary influence. They contribute to our crime. And they hide behind the veil of heroism in order to impose their will, and imprison or kill those who would defend us from the threat they truly are. But now, nature has given us the means to fight back. Individuals with gifts just as formidable. Now, humanity can stand up and tell these alien interlopers that Earth is for humans – and humans alone.

They have already proven their might against one of these supposed alien protectors, and they are prepared to finish their mission. So we invite Supergirl, in whatever physical shape she may be in, to meet us once more, and see who shall be left standing as we show ourselves to National City at noon tomorrow.

We are Cadmus, and we are coming.

"So that's that," Manchester uttered as he leaned against the far wall, watching as Llllian broadcast her message onto anything with a screen. "Tomorrow."

"Mama Luthor's seen one too many movies," Eliza snickered from her seat on top of one the tables set up as extra work space, next to Manchester. "I mean seriously – high noon?"

"It's cliché, but means the world can watch," Banshee pointed out. "Can we pull off sending Siobahn into Winn's head by tonight?"

Manchester let out a restrained chuckle. "It hurts that you doubt me, Sally."

The next day…

The DEO arrived mere seconds after the local NCPD officers in the area. While DEO agents began flooding the area, taking defensive and flanking positions, the NCPD officers began trying to clear the area. People were scattering, trying to get out of the area or run inside the nearest building. Supergirl, Alex, and J'onn stood near one of the SUV's that Alex and J'onn had come in. They were looking around, surveying the area, looking for any signs of Lillian's metahuman army.

"Supergirl…anything?" J'onn asked.

"They're here," she said as she scanned the surrounding buildings with her x-ray vision. "They're in a holding pattern, though."

"I say we take them now," Alex suggested.

"Just give the order," Supergirl said to J'onn in agreement with her sister.

"Negative," J'onn said sternly. "Taking the metas now doesn't give us Lillian Luthor. The only way that happens is if we pinpoint her location during this battle, or our insiders follow through and give us the information once we've lived up to our end."

"Which means we have to stand here…exposed until Lillian or someone else gives their order to attack," Alex pointed out, not liking that option one bit.

Back in her warehouse, Lillian was watching on the main monitor. Her own satellite was giving her a bird's eye view of the setting. Several of her staff were at their own stations, monitoring the life signs of the metas, as well as radio channels of the local law enforcement to make sure there were no undo surprises.

"Chatter says that NCPD has set up a perimeter around the downtown area, but are not mixed in with Supergirl and the DEO, ma'am," one of the techs said from his station.

Lillian smiled faintly.

"Attack," she said calmly.

Bolts of lightning rained down from the sky, striking a few feet away from where Supergirl, Alex, and J'onn were standing. Alex and J'onn ducked for cover while Supergirl covered up with her cape. As she lowered her arm to begin looking for the source of the lightning, a blue beam came down and blasted her in the shoulder, sending her flying to the ground. All eyes focused on the figure that was then coming down from the sky. He landed with a resounding thud, his impact cracking the ground and showing the height from which he jumped down from.

"Henshaw?" Alex gasped as she stared at the former director of the DEO.

"Cyborg Superman," he said menacingly. His robotic eye began to pulse and glow and Alex felt herself preparing to run. Before a similar blast like the one that hit Supergirl could be fired, Supergirl swooped in and landed a punch that send the half-man half-machine flying as well. As the two foes began to brawl with one another, other metas began to appear. Suddenly the sound of gunfire, screams of both pain and shouted orders, explosions, and the cacophony of general destruction began to fill the downtown of National City.

As the battle raged Manchester and Silver Banshee were watching from the lobby of one of the high rises. They were crouched down behind one of the couches, witnessing the melee. "Well, Lillian must be happy," Manchester muttered as he watched a meta that could turn his skin into scaled armor fought off three of the DEO's agents.

"Can we get on with this suicide plan of ours?" Banshee told Manchester.

"Suicide plan? I'm hurt that you doubt me," Manchester said as he fished a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it.

"Really? You're going to light up now?"

"Helps me focus?" he asked, hoping it sounded somewhat believable. The Banshee looked at him like he was insane. "We all have our addictions. But still, it'll be a few minutes," he said as he placed his free hand to his temple and looked out at the battle, his face stoic and hard.

J'onn was crouched behind a large pick-up that had been left behind during the evacuation. "Sitrep, Agent Schott," he yelled.

"Alex and her men are pinned down by the bank on Lexington by a pair of metas who are apparently controlling the weather. They're pelting them with a downpour and lightning across the front of the building. Kara is handing that fire meta along with Robo-Hank," Winn reported from the mobile command unit.

"And our…allies?" J'onn asked as he gave serious thought to changing into his Manhunter form. Suddenly, he sensed a slight raise in the temperature around him and then he felt himself surrounded by bright yellow lightning and the feeling of movement. When the sensation of motion stopped, he found himself in a parking garage, a young woman dressed in maroon and yellow was standing in front of him. She reached into her right ear and J'onn watched as she pulled her earpiece out and threw it on the floor.

"I'm assuming you're the boss? The way you were barking orders for a report, it just screams 'I'm in charge' am I right?" Intrepid smiled at him. "Plus you kind of look like the Robo-tool out there. Did you know he hates you?"

J'onn looked at Intrepid like he didn't know what to make of her.

"And you are…?"

"Name's Intrepid. I'm the one that likes to go fast. And fast is how I'd like to get this bomb out of my neck. So can you like work your whatever you got and get it out, please?" she asked as she wagged her fingers at him.

"Turn around, please," he instructed her. Intrepid acquiesced, though she gave him a suspicious look as she turned her back to him. J'onn pulled a device out of the upper arm pocket of his tactical jacket and held it over the back of Intrepid's neck.

"Agent Schott, are you receiving?" he said.

"Yes I am, and you are not going to like what I'm seeing. The device is located between the C2 and C3 vertebrae. J'onn, if you're not careful –"

"I could paralyze her," he finished.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, paralyze me?" Intrepid shouted as she turned around. "No one mentioned anything about paralyzing me."

"You won't be paralyzed," J'onn assured her. "With your powers, even if it did happen, you'd heal completely with time."

"I don't care," she seethed. "I'm a speedster, I like using my legs – they're important to me."

"As important as your head probably is to you?" J'onn pointed out to her. Intrepid looked at him with a hard glare before finally breaking and, with what can only be described as a growl, once again turned her back toward him.

"If I end up not being able to feel my legs, I'm gonna kick your ass," she barked over her shoulder.

"Noted," J'onn said as he took a few steps to close the distance. He then placed his left hand on Intrepid's left shoulder to steady her. He raised his right hand to her neck. His eyes began to glow their bright red as he started to concentrate.

"Wait," Intrepid cried just as she could feel his fingertips along the small hairs back there. J'onn paused and looked around her. Intrepid took a few deep breaths, and then nodded her head. "Okay, let's do this."

"Try not to move, please," J'onn told her as he once gain began moving his hand toward her neck.

Intrepid didn't so much feel J'onn's hand enter body, as much as she felt the presence of it. It was like a large lump was working its way inside her in slow motion. She felt the small movements as he turned his hand slightly, doing everything he could not to interfere with her spinal cord while trying to get close to the device. The whole ordeal felt like it was taking an eternity to her. Or maybe it was just her powers slowing everything down as she concentrated on not moving, forcing her to feel every detail of what was happening. Surprisingly, as she felt his hand begin to move backwards, the pulling sensation she thought would be there was absent. A moment later, for her at least, which probably meant seconds in real time, the pressure of his hand faded and then left. Her neck felt normal again.

"It's out," she heard J'onn tell her. She felt the oxygen leave her lungs as she let out a massive breath, and her body felt tingly as she felt herself relax. She twisted her head back and forth to stretch her neck and shook out her arms to let out the last of the tension. She turned around and looked into his held out palm. There was a small capsule, tinier than any she'd ever seen, resting on his hand.

"So that little thing was gonna blow my head?" she asked him.

"No one's head blew up," he clarified. "But the pain they experienced was excruciating in the seconds it lasted."

"Seconds for them…would've felt like minutes to me," Intrepid said morosely. J'onn watched as she took it from him and held it in her own palm. She placed her gloved fingertip to it and begin to vibrate it until the capsule broke and she waved her hand, trying to get the residue of the toxin off her glove. I've got friends I need to get those out of she said as she closed her eyes and sent out the telepathic call that Manchester told her to send.

"If you're going to honor this agreement, than you need this," J'onn said as he pulled a small earpiece from another of his pockets. "We need you to hear our call outs for plans, strategies, or if we need your particular…assistance."

"A badge would've been cooler," Intrepid suggested as she took the earpiece and slipped it into her ear. She took the two others that J'onn handed her for Manchester and Banshee.

"Thanks," she smiled as she sped off.

"How much longer is this going to take?" Banshee complained impatiently as she and Manchester were still entrenched in the lobby of the building they were in.

"I'm not totally sure, invasive surgery done without the use of anesthetics, or even knowledge of how it's being done, or by whom, it's not my forte. Is it yours, Sally?" Manchester answered sarcastically.

Banshee just growled at him. "You get slapped around a lot don't you?"

Manchester just smiled mischievously. He opened his lips as if to start speaking when Intrepid came to a stop in front of them.

"What's up my fellow co-conspirators?" she asked gleefully.

"Did it…?" Banshee asked testily.

Intrepid nodded while tapping her ear with one hand and holding out her other. Manchester and Banshee reached into their ears and pulled their earpieces out of their ears and handed them to her. Without another word, she sped off and came back seconds later. "Feels so good to talk freely," she celebrated as she motioned for them to stand up. "So, who's first?"

Manchester and Banshee looked at each other nervously. "I suppose I can go," Manchester finally spoke up.

Intrepid waved him over to her and turned him around. She placed her hand on his shoulder to steady him and brought her other hand up. Banshee saw it as just a blur as Intrepid set up her stance. "I would recommend not moving, but otherwise, this shouldn't hurt a bit."

Manchester felt the same feelings she did when J'onn was working on her, albeit with less time to process it since there was no slowing of time for him. "All done," she said, bringing his attention back from the sensation he was feeling. He turned around, rubbing the back of his neck. He brought his hand up and half expected to see at least some blood on it. "Sweetums, I am better than any blade because well…same results, less blood," Intrepid gloated. "Sally you're up next."

Banshee moved to stand in front of Intrepid, turning her back to her.

"What? No growl for calling you Sally?" Manchester asked glibly.

Banshee didn't answer, just kept staring forward. "Aww, if I didn't know better, I'd say she likes me calling her that," Intrepid sassed.

"Hurry up," Banshee ordered.

"And the moment is gone," Intrepid deadpanned as she began to work on getting the capsule out of Banshee's neck. When she was done, she gave their capsules the same treatment she gave hers, once again, wiping the residue off her glove. She then reached into a small slit in her costume that she used as a pocket and produced three new earpieces. "From our new…friends? Future incarcerators? Anyway, we need to wear these when we go back out there to help stop Lillian."

Banshee and Manchester reluctantly took the earpieces and put them in their ears. Intrepid put hers in and walked over to the door of the building. "This is going to be a new experience," she smiled just before speeding off and running back into the fight.

"Well…shall we?" Manchester said as he motioned for Banshee to walk ahead of him. "What?" he asked as she looked at him in slight disbelief. "I am capable of manners."

Once they stepped outside, they each assessed the battle and decided on a course of action. Manchester decided to head over to where some DEO agents were trying to contain a meta who was levitating cars. They were using tasers, but he was fighting off the effects. Manchester felt he might be of some help. Banshee looked around and, after a few seconds to let Manchester walk off, and hopefully become distracted, began making her way through the battle.

Winn was sitting in the mobile command unit, his eyes shifting back and forth over the different monitors, some having feeds from security cameras he'd hacked upon arrival, while others held satellite feeds from when he first arrived. He was typing into his keyboards furiously, switching between feeds, trying to keep up with the battle, and call out anything that Kara, Alex, J'onn, or the other agents might need to know. He was so focused on his task that he didn't pay attention to one monitor in particular – the one that was showing the view from outside the command unit. If he had, he wouldn't have been surprised when the doors to the truck were violently ripped off and thrown aside like they were a nuisance.

"What the –?" Winn shouted as he registered the sound. He looked toward the now open void and saw Silver Banshee standing before him, a small, twisted smile betraying the coldness in her eyes. "S-Siobahn?"

"Try again…Winnie," Banshee said in what, to her at least, could only be described as glee.

Less than a block away, Alex was fighting to get some power-dampening cuffs onto the last of the weather metas. The first had been taken down, fatally unfortunately, but they were able to subdue their current target. He was putting up a struggle, but thankfully he wasn't gifted with super strength. As three other agents held him down she was able to secure the cuffs when suddenly, over her earpiece, and the earpieces of every agent out there, the sound of Winn screaming radiated through their ears.

"Banshee's…here…need…hel–"

"Winn? Winn!" Alex shouted.

"Does anyone have eyes on Agent Schott?" came J'onn's voice as he helped Supergirl try to fight off Cyborg Superman.

"Already on my way," Alex responded as she ran toward the location of the command unit once she realized she was closer than J'onn or Kara.

"So am I," came a female voice that Alex had never heard before.

Intrepid raced into the area, taking maybe a half second longer than she wanted since she had to find the area where the command unit was. But when she got there, she saw Silver Banshee crouched over Winn, her knee driven into his ribs or stomach, she couldn't tell from her current angle. As she held him down, she was punching away on him, small splatters of blood flying off his face from the impact of the blows. Not wasting another second, she raced over, grabed Silver Banshee by one of her arms and used her momentum to spin Silver Banshee around and throw her. Silver Banshee groaned as she crashed into the command unit and crumpled to the ground. She stood up and shook off the impact.

"Well, if it isn't Little Lizzie," Banshee says condescendingly. "Come to offer me another emotional shoulder to lean on?" she taunted.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Intrepid demanded to know.

"What I've been wanting to do since I clawed my way out from inside Siobahn's head – kill the last thing that's keeping her human."

"That wasn't the plan," Intrepid reminded her.

"It was my plan. At least it became my plan again once you so graciously pulled than bomb out of my neck. After all, birds gotta fly, blah, blah, blah," Banshee prattled on. "Besides, who's going to stop me?"

"I'll stop you, because I refuse to die, or get buried in some government hole because of you," Intrepid said as she felt her eyes flash with lightning. She started to try and run but Banshee had already started screaming, forcing her first to freeze in place as she covered her ears. As the screaming continued, Intrepid found herself forced to her knees as Silver Banshee closed the distance, slowing stalking closer.

"S-stop, please," Intrepid begged as Silver Banshee stood over her. As she felt like her eardrums were going to explode, she was certain that this was going to end with her being left to watch in complete silence as Banshee killed this guy. However, suddenly, the screaming stopped. Intrepid tentatively took her hands off her ears. There was a slight ringing, but it was fading already and her hearing was slowly coming back. She shook her head and looked up.

There was a woman standing next to Banshee. She was maybe an inch taller than her and Banshee. She had her gun out and pointed at Silver Banshee's head. At first Intrepid thought that whoever this was had shot Banshee. But as she looked further, she saw the confused look on the strange woman's face. She then looked over Banshee and saw her just standing there, at attention. Her eyes were glassy. Her face was expressionless. It was like someone had hit a pause – and mute – button on her. In fact, the last time Intrepid saw Banshee like this was when Manchester had subdued her inside of Siobahn's head so he could send Siobahn into Winn's head. Oh my god, he did it from wherever he's at, Intrepid thought as she stood up.

"Did you do this?" Alex asked confused.

Intrepid shook her head. "Friend of mine…I think."