Chapter 135: Metropolis
"Aunt Astra, that was amazing," Kara gushed as they left the candy shop, each holding a bag of at least two pounds of candy. Kryptonians loved their sugar as much as any other species. "You don't know how long I've wanted to do something like that!"
"Seriously," Kal concurred, taking out a lollipop and unwrapping it. "That guy's an ass."
"Kal!" Kara gasped.
"Kara, I'm almost fifteen years old."
"Still!"
Astra simply shook her head and smiled. She had always been a little reserved in regards to Kal-El, since he was not her blood like Kara was, but getting to know the boy over these past several months had endeared him to her, much like her niece had when she was first born — enough to consider him family too. And just as well, as Astra had lost enough family for one lifetime. It felt good to add to it, for once.
BEEP!
All three aliens froze. They all knew what that beeping meant, and were grateful that their bags and pockets managed to muffle the sound so it didn't draw too many looks. Even so, they quickly rushed over to an empty alley with more than a few turns that allowed them to escape the crowds. After making sure there wasn't any surrounding surveillance cameras, Kara and Astra both gave their things to Kal, putting them into one of the larger shopping bags they had been carrying.
"You'll be fine taking the bus on your own?" Kara asked her young ward, undoing her clothing to reveal her super suit and taking out her head covering.
Kal nodded. "I'll be fine, Kara. You and Aunt Astra take care of Pestilence."
Kara smiled, then leaned over to give Kal a kiss on a forehead before finishing her head covering with a practiced, deft hand. She flew off, Astra following her after giving Kal a fond ruffle of his hair. Kal watched them go for a bit, before quickly following the alley towards another opening, ignoring the gasping and gaping onlookers who were looking off into the sky.
A Supergirl sighting was always worthy of awe, after all.
Kara and Astra landed near one of the secret entrances of the Foundry, normally used for Oliver and Laurel's motorcycles while they were on patrol. It could also be used for them, however, in accordance to their ability to fly and their super speed. "Why did you want us to come here first?" Astra asked her as they flew through the tunnels. "Is it to meet up with Green Arrow and Black Canary?" Unlike the Kryptonians, the two humans would have to head back here in order to change into their suits and gather their weapons before heading over to whatever location Pestilence had been found at via their extrapolators.
"My Kryptonite sword," Kara answered, causing Astra to wince. She didn't exactly have fond memories of that sword, after all. "Also, we need to have extra protection for when we face off against Pestilence. According to observations, she infects people with the virus by scratching them, correct?"
"Indeed. We'll need to cover as much skin as possible."
"Right. That include gloves, plus the metallic retractable masks Barry gave us for our battle with Zoom." Kara's eyes narrowed. "With a villain that wields a plague like that, we need every advantage that we can get. We cannot afford to go in this half-cocked — too many will die, otherwise."
They landed near the garage where the motorcycles were stored, and where Oliver and Laurel parked their cars in case they were already at work. Seeing as those cars were already there, it seemed they had received the beacon's call as well. They sped up the stairs and into the Foundry, where they found Laurel putting the last touches on her suit, her own metallic retractable mask beside her, and Oliver changing behind one of the privacy screens.
"Kara, Astra," the Black Canary nodded to her teammates. Over at the privacy screen, her partner and Kara's brother popped his head out briefly to give them a wave, before returning to changing into his uniform.
Supergirl headed to one of the clothing racks and and picked out two pairs of gloves, handing one to her aunt, and putting on her own. Then she headed over to the special containment unit where she stored her Kryptonite sword, taking it out and doing an experimental swing before strapping it to its usual place on her back. It was a familiar, comforting weight, having a sword on her again — while her powers were useful, her skill in swords had always been what she had been most proud of. It was a reminder that even without her powers, she was not defenseless.
Oliver finished suiting up not long after, emerging as Green Arrow with his own metallic mask and a quiver half-full with Kryptonite arrows. Laurel had exchanged her tonfas for ones also lined with Kryptonite and made of a particularly strong metal developed by S.T.A.R. Labs called Dilustel. As for Astra, she had been offered her own selection of Kryptonite weapons — mostly knives, for whenever Barry visited — from the Foundry's small, but robust armory.
The former general frowned as she observed as the selection. It was mostly geared towards melee weapons, which was unsurprising considering where the Foundry's usual occupants had gotten their training from. She was about to reach for one of the knives, before she spotted something — a pistol, but with no visible ammunition. Astra removed it from the rack, frown deepening.
"It's a laser pistol," Kara explained upon noticing Astra had picked the weapon. Her aunt turned around to look at her. "It's specially-designed by Barry to fire plasma bolts that simulate the radiation signature of Kryptonite."
"Why would your brother make this?" Astra asked, feeling the weight of the weapon and performing a number of motions with it.
Oliver shrugged. "It's mostly for Slade, actually," he explained. "He uses a pistol in addition to his swords. Barry made that to supplement him against Kryptonian enemies in addition to a pair of swords he forged for him, and Slade left it here after the stuff with Fort Rozz was over."
"Do you think he'll mind if I take it?"
Kara and Oliver, the two people present who knew Slade best, exchanged looks. "Not really," Kara finally said after a moment. "He still has his swords, after all. You can even keep it if you want — Barry should still have the schematics to make him a new one."
"Very well." Astra strapped the pistol to her side, and then took out her extrapolator. "Everyone ready?"
The three heroes nodded, lining up next to each other. Black Canary gripped her tonfas tightly in her hands, while Green Arrow simply crossed his arms. Supergirl put her hands on her hips, and gave her aunt a pointed look.
Archangel observed them all, and nodded. She held out the extrapolator, and pushed. The breached appeared, and together, they entered.
Barry Allen, the Flash, sped over all over the city of Metropolis until he found what he was looking for: an entire building surrounded by a perimeter of police, and who know what else. Already gathered were several members of the Justice League, each dressed in the suits he had made for them and armed with specially-forged Kryptonite weapons, courtesy of both himself and A.R.G.U.S. They were all ripe and ready to deal with this Kryptonian threat.
"Is everyone here?" Barry asked the nearest JL member, one Hal Jordan.
"Almost," Hal told him, lifting his battery to charge his ring to its full capacity. "Just waiting for your siblings, Black Canary, and Archangel."
As if on cue, a breach opened up right next to them and out walked Green Arrow, Supergirl, Black Canary, and Archangel. "We're here," Green Arrow announced to the group.
As one, Flash and Green Lantern blinked. "Well, that was oddly convenient," Hal commented.
Barry shrugged. Now that the entire JL was present, the superheroes began to congregate into a group, along with the leader of the S.W.A.T. Unit and the Police Commissioner of Metropolis. "Commissioner," Green Arrow nodded. "And you are…?"
"Commander Shepard, sir."
"Nice to meet you, Commander Shepard. What's the situation?"
Shepard nodded. "The suspect entered City Hall approximately two to three hours ago and started affecting several key officials with her abilities, causing them to come down with the virus. The building was immediately put into quarantine to prevent further spread, upon which the Deputy Commissioner, who was schedule for a meeting with the Mayor, spotted her and discreetly raised the alarm."
"So as far as everyone in the building is aware, City Hall is simply under quarantine?" The Flash clarified.
"Yes, sir. Though I imagine the ruse won't last long considering that there is still active Wi-Fi within the building," Shepard noted, glancing around the crowd of people surrounding the perimeter who were watching the area out of curiosity, many of whom holding out their phones and taking pictures. "So whatever the play is, we need to do it soon."
Green Arrow tilted his head, narrowing his eyes. "Correct. Unfortunately, for this enemy, your men will only be in the way. I'd like to ask you to handle crowd control and keep people back while we handle the hostile and evacuate the building."
Shepard furrowed his brow. "How dangerous is she?"
"As dangerous as myself or Archangel," Supergirl answered, her voice a touch dry — not enough to be disrespectful, but enough to make her opinion on the police potentially joining the assault known.
Both the Commissioner and Shepard blinked. "Ah," Shepard said, now less skeptical and more sheepish and nervous. "I see. Very well then — we'll stay back and handle the crowd and allow you to handle the hostile. What's the plan?"
The next ten minutes were spent ironing out a serviceable plan. Shepard directed his men to expand the perimeter and ensure that there would be little to no civilians within the immediate radius when the fighting began. It was quickly determined that getting the unknowing hostages out of the building and to safety was the priority, a duty that was quickly designated to the Flash due to his unparalleled speed. While he was evacuating everyone out, the JL's most powerful members — Supergirl, Archangel, Martian Manhunter, and Green Lantern — would enter the building and engage Pestilence while the rest of the JL (who were far less durable than the aforementioned four) remained on standby and supported from a distance.
The goal, as always, was capture if possible, which is why they had red solar-energy power cuffs (enhanced with meta-dampening and Kryptonite-lining as extra precautions). However, unlike Purity, the danger that Pestilence posed both personally and to the world was far greater due to the nature of her powers. One scratch could lead to a lethal, viral infection that the victim had no guarantee of surviving. If any member of the JL felt they or others were at the risk of being infected with the plague, they had full permission to use lethal force to protect either themselves or others that were under imminent threat.
With a tentative plan established, the heroes waited for another half-hour while the immediate area was cleared out. Once it was and the go-ahead was given, the doors were snapped open, allowing the Flash to immediately speed in. About two seconds after flashes of scarlet and gold began dropping off the evacuees/hostages in a sectioned-off medical tent far away from City Hall, the roof of the building burst into pieces, debris falling to the ground as an unknown figure floated above.
"Supergirl! Archangel!" Green Arrow called over the din of his brother's running. "Is it her?"
Both Kryptonians used their Supervision to zoom in on the figure. "It's her!" Archangel confirmed, being the only one of the two to have fought Pestilence already. "We're going in!"
With that announcement, the first team flew towards the other woman, while the rest of the Justice League took up positions around the building and prepared themselves to fire whatever projectiles or other ranged weapons they had on hand in case Pestilence tried to get close. Pestilence herself attempted to flee, of course, but found herself cut-off by a temporary dome shield made by Green Lantern that covered both City Hall and most of the sky surrounding it.
"You're not going anywhere this time, Pestilence," Astra growled as the quartet of heroes surrounded the woman.
Pestilence's eerie gaze landed on Archangel, and she sneered. "So, we meet again, failure of Krypton." Her eyes shifted towards of Hal, J'onn, and most of all, Kara. "And you've brought friends like last time. A dog of the Guardians, one of the Mindwalkers — and oh, the Daughter of El as well. Tell me girl, what use will a peace-loving fool like you have against me?"
Beneath her veil, Kara raised an eyebrow. "'Peace-loving fool?" She snorted, and then in a swift motion drew out her Kryptonite sword. "I don't know — why don't you tell me?"
Their opponent narrowed her eyes. "I see. Not as stupidly pacifistic as your ancestors. A consequence of this world, I presume." Pestilence shook her head. "A shame, truthfully. Your house's idealistic nonsense could get so sanctimonious at times, but it was pure and good. Only the sinfulness of this world could corrupt you into being like this."
Supergirl tightened her grip on her sword, but didn't say anything.
Pestilence observed them all, seeing their determined expressions, and simply sighed. "Very well then." She took a stance, and extended her claws, grinning savagely. "Come."
J'onn and Astra were the first to oblige her, the former with the power-cuffs in hand. Astra deflected several of Pestilence's blow, grateful that the strong material of her suit was able to withstand the sharpness of her claws, before trying to grab her from behind so J'onn could restrain her. She managed for but a moment before Pestilence managed to throw her over her back and onto J'onn, knocking them together and causing them to spin away from the force.
Before Pestilence could press on with the attack, Hal was on her next, using constructions of several floating assault rifles. Pestilence snarled as she spun and dodged the volley of shots, trying to move closer and closer to Hal even as he continued with the suppressive fire. She was stopped before she could even get close, diving in order to dodge again, this time a swing of a Kryptonite sword that almost assuredly would've taken off her head.
Her save was quickly spoiled by J'onn ramming into her like a ballistic missile, trying to snap the cuffs onto her wrists. Before he could even get one around her, though, her other hand darted over and grabbed his wrist, so tight that J'onn let out a yelp of pai, dropping the cuffs entirely. Pestilence gave a savage grin, before twisting the wrist even tighter, breaking it entirely. J'onn quickly tried to shapeshift in order to heal the injury, only for Pestilence to grab him by his cape and begin spinning him around, before throwing him at Kara.
Kara twisted to the side just in time to dodge it, preventing her from accidentally stabbing J'onn. That, however, also gave Pestilence another opening, and the villain charged, trying to ram the younger woman like J'onn had rammed her earlier. Before she could connect, she was suddenly blasted back by a massive green baseball bat, sending her sailing far away.
Supergirl watched her go, then nodded towards Green Lantern. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it."
Anything further that could be said was cut off by Astra being sent flying between them with a pained yell. Kara reached out and caught her aunt's cape before she could fly too far, being careful to let go at the right moment so she wouldn't accidentally choke the older woman. Astra tumbled in the air a bit before settling herself, shaking her head to clear it before giving her niece a thankful nod. A second later, Martian Manhunter floated back up to the three of them, rubbing his head to massage the nascent headache.
"We're not making any headway," Astra hissed, biting her teeth as a stand-off ensued with the similarly angry Pestilence.
"We need to be cautious," J'onn warned her, eyes glowing. "She's knocked the cuffs out of my hands. Considering the height they fell from, they're undoubtedly broken. They're durable, but not that durable." Even perfect craftsmanship had limits.
Kara once more tightened the hold on her sword, adding her other hand for good measure to make a two-handed grip. "Then no more non-lethal measures. The longer this drags out, the more likely she is to—"
Pestilence glanced down, and flew.
"—to do that," Kara sighed.
Everyone else didn't bother saying anything — they just flew, with Green Lantern at the head of the pack. He held out his ring, forming another barrier that blocked off Pestilence's path. She snarled once more as she turned around to face them, only to gasp as a sudden barrage of Kryptonite projectiles and other energy blasts suddenly fired at her, forcing her once more to ascend to the skies above to avoid it.
The sky team changed trajectory to follow her, with Supergirl (the only one not to have followed Pestilence downward) flying up to block her path. Pestilence snarled once again, holding out an arm and extending her claws even more, looking to slice off Kara's veil and hopefully scratch the skin beneath. The Justice League would lose morale if she managed to infect their strongest member, after all.
Unfortunately, that was her biggest mistake. Kara was prepared for the blow, using her sword to twist Pestilence's arm around and flip the other woman over. Pestilence screeched at the brief contact with Kryptonite, momentarily stunned. Before she could recover, she could feel Supergirl grabbing the collar of her jacket and yanking her forward.
The painful, debilitating feeling of a sword being pierced through her chest cut her off before she could break away. Pestilence let out a single gasp as blood bubbled up in her throat, before the light in her eyes began to dim. Seconds later, the darkness came, and she knew no more.
Not my best chapter — I'm not sure I made the fight with Pestilence epic enough — but I managed it. Now, we get to the aftermath, and the really fun stuff. Something that you'll see soon enough.
As always, feel free to make comments, flames will be ignored and deleted, and don't forget to update the TV Tropes page!