"I told you, I'm fine" Kara insisted, the MRI machine spinning around her head as one of the latest scans Alex ordered Brainy to run since she got back to the DEO. Even if she didn't have her hearing to listen to her sister's heart beating faster than ever before, her body language screamed her worry and concern.
"I'm sorry, but you can't come in here and tell us you almost died because you temporarily lost your powers and expect me not to worry" Alex told her, pacing nest to Kara's side as the last of the tests concluded. She waited until Brainy consulted his tablet before asking "Well?"
"Everything appears too normal" he reported, nodding to Kara now sitting up on her examination table. "Brain activity is functional and I can't find any evidence of damage to the nervous system or anomalies from the asphyxiation. It is my scientific conclusion that you are in perfect health."
Kara released a sigh of relief despite her calm façade. She didn't want to show Alex how worried she also was as they ran their tests. She got picked up when the DEO finally made it to the power plant after Hank and his militia escaped, finding her still on the ground stunned and confused while they leapt over the rubble to investigate the facility. Kara returned to HQ for a debrief where she told Alex everything that had happened; how she almost had Hank, how the stranger showed up to stop her, how her powers were gone and left her vulnerable while Hank escaped before the stranger disappeared too. Alex predictably freaked, immediately ordering a battery of tests on her younger sister to make sure she was okay and to determine the cause of her power loss. All the tests came back clear. She was unharmed.
Alex, meanwhile, was still beside herself. "So tell me exactly what happened before your powers went away."
Kara sighed, recounting the event once more. "I had Henshaw on the ground and then this guy…whoever they were, showed up out of nowhere and attacked me. He used some restraining cables which I was able to break, as well as an energy pulse of some kind."
Alex nodded, her mind racing as she asked questions in rapid succession. "Okay, so could the weapons he used have disabled your powers temporarily? What if it was kryptonite? Is it possible he used kryptonite on you?"
"This didn't feel like kryptonite" she replied shaking her head.
"Then what did it feel like?"
"I don't know! I didn't feel anything. They were just gone."
"Gone? You're powers disappear and you didn't notice or feel anything?"
"I don't know how to explain it!"
Alex shook her head, pacing around the medical room controlling her breathing and her panic before turning to Brainy. "Maybe we should try something else. Another scan or…"
"I don't need any more tests, I'm fine" Kara yelled getting frustrated.
Alex spun around to face her, frantically screaming "how can you say you're fine when we don't know what happened! What if it happens again?"
The sisters started to bicker while Brainy patiently waited in a corner, calmly tapping through the tablet analysing the combined results of the tests and scans they'd conducted. He never understood the manner in which humans would argue over the smallest of things, but he'd learnt it was sometimes best to remain neutral and out of the conversation. Fortunately the shouting sisters were quelled when a large black man with a face almost exactly like Hank Henshaw walked into the room with Nia Nal. None of the occupants showed concern though, instinctively recognising their loyal friend Jon Jones, aka the Martian Manhunter.
"You all alright?" Jon asked, stepping between the two squabbling siblings speaking calmly. They immediately fell silent, his presence quelling the argument as he looked at them both with concern. "Are you okay?" he asked Kara, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Kara nodded. He then did the same with Alex, asking her "are you okay?"
Alex's professional demeanour partially crumbled as she took a shaky breath, shaking her head slightly. She didn't need to say what was wrong because Jon was virtually a farther to both of them. He knew Alex had scared for her sister. He was too, which was why he came hear the moment he heard what happened.
After giving the Danvers sister his show of support, Jon turned to Brain and calmly asked him "did you find anything that might indicate how Kara's powers couldn't been disabled?"
Brainy consulted his tablet, looking up at the former director of the DEO explaining "I have picked up traces of the energy pulse Kara was struck with before her powers were reportedly neutralised. I'm still analysing the pattern to determine what output it was using. But it is possible it was some kind of dampening field that could temporarily neutralise Supergirl's abilities the way she described.
Jon nodded, turning to Alex asking if she was satisfied with the answer. She nodded, turning back to Kara apologising. "I'm sorry. I just…the thought that Henshaw could take away your abilities…"
"I know" Kara replied, turning on her table to pull Alex into a hug. She had the same thought after the fight. If Hank could depower Supergirl, then he could hurt here and finally kill her. It put her and every one of their friends at risk. "I'm sorry I let him get away" she said guiltily.
"It wasn't your fault" Jon told her comfortingly.
But Kara shook her head. "You don't understand. I wasn't thinking straight. I was too focused on Hank that I didn't stop to consider why he was at the power plant to begin with. Maybe if I hadn't been so distracted this other guy wouldn't have gotten the jump on me."
"Do we know who it was that attacked you?" Nia asked. She wasn't in costume, having rushed here after Jon gave her the phone call about the robbery.
Kara shook her head. "They were clearly working with Hank, but they never spoke. I tried to use my x-ray vision but I couldn't see anything."
"Because your powers were gone" Alex guessed.
"No, before they disappeared" she corrected. "The suit was lined with lead somehow, like it was weaved into the armour. I couldn't see inside. But whoever they were, they were fast and strong for a human. I can't even be sure they are human."
"Did you say you were able to use your x-ray vision before your powers disappeared?" Brainy asked, looking up from his tablet. "Was that before or after he hit you with the energy pulse?"
"After" Kara replied, the sequence quite clear in her mind.
Brainy hummed, inputting that data for his calculations while Jon asked "what can you tell us about them?"
She shrugged. "Tall, agile, able to move faster than normal. The way he fought, they had training I think. Certainly kicked the crap out of me. He had a faceplate and two glowing eyes underneath, made it look like I was staring at a skull. It also had these two horn things coming out of its head" she explained, going on to describe the armour the stranger was wearing.
The more she described, more uneasy Nia became as she found the description fitting the stranger who incapacitated her at Axis Environmental. Her heart started beating louder in her ears and the memory of the figure standing over her loomed in her mind, right down to the three pronged trident he wielded.
Kara finished her description by saying "honestly, if I was born on earth under their customs, I might've described the man as a…"
"Devil" Nia muttered, interrupting Kara's account.
Kara looked over at the young woman, caught off guard by her assessment before agreeing. "Yeah, a Red Devil."
The others all sighed, Alex calling over an operative to run the description through the database to see if they can find a trace of this character. But Nia became lost in thought, her memories fusing with her dreams as the image of Kara covered in blood began to haunt her, the looming figure cackling behind her. Her chest tightened as she fell against the glass frame, her breath catching in her throat as she tried to keep herself calm. Nobody else in the room noticed her distress, but one man sensed it.
"Do we know why Hank would attack the power plant?" Kara asked, looking at Alex and Brainy.
Alex's expression became grave as she explained "the facility was housing an experimental new reactor that the government are testing as a new source of energy. It's one of four stationed across the coast. National City, Coast City, Keystone and Metropolis are all locations with one of these reactors."
"An experimental fusion generator said to harness the power of a sun in a contained environment" Brainy explained, bringing up the schematics of the power source stolen from the facility. "The reactor uses a material known as Trillium to trigger a fusion reaction and create a miniature star inside a magnetized field. It's reported to be extremely dangerous if not maintained with a consistent power supply. Fortunately the militia were smart enough to shut down the reaction before they transported the radioactive remnant material in their truck. But any damage to the reactor could've resulted in a chain reaction that might've destroyed the district."
Kara's kin went pale when she thought about all the chaos and destruction her fight with Hank had created, their heat vision cutting through all sorts of machines. At any point she could've accidentally caused an explosion and killed hundreds of people. She started to hyperventilate, her chest tightening. "I didn't know. I almost…"
"Hey, it's okay" Jon told her, sensing her distress and calming her.
Alex told her the same, having seen the photos of the damage from the fight. She then turned and asked Brainy "could that reactor be able to power Hank's Metallo drones? Could that be why he stole the reactor?"
Brainy thought about it, calculations running in his head. "Theoretically, if he was able to install the right harness to channel the difference in output…yes, it is possible" he told her.
"If that's why he attacked the power plant, then he might strike at the others next" she assumed. "I'll have the other facilities located and alerted. This time if the militia show up we'll be ready for them" Brainy said, rushing off to pass the instructions to the analysts with Alex's permission.
"In the meantime, I recommend you get some rest" Jon told them, looking at Kara in particular. "Today was a lot to process. We'll need you at your best if we want to stop Henshaw once and for all."
"Thanks for coming Jon" Kara replied, looking at the man with affection along with a grateful Alex. He smiled back, glad to be of help. Nia quietly left them alone to disappear around the corner. Moments later Jon followed, telling them he'd call tomorrow as they wished him goodnight.
Alex remained by Kara's side, her look of concern still on her face. "What?" Kara asked noticing her staring at her.
"Are you okay?" she asked. But this time she wasn't talking about the power loss or the battle. She saw the reports of the battle damage and got glimpses of the fight from the security feed her agents were reviewing. She hadn't seen Kara fight with such ferocity before. "You said you were distracted tonight. Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" Kara didn't response, averting her eyes crossing her arms defensively. "You had your date with that guy earlier" she remembered, taking a guess it don't go well. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"
Outside in the hallway leading to the lift, Nia walked briskly trying to escape the nightmare following her in her mind. She kept feeling the bodies under her feet when she took a step, the stench of blood filling her nostrils as she raced down the hallway looking for the exit. Her breathing was laboured as she broke into a cold sweat, the memory of the figure standing over her replacing the looming shadow behind Supergirl's blood stained visage.
"Nia?" Jon voice spoke, the sound cutting through the nightmare snapping Dreamer back into reality as she spun around in shock. The large man stood behind her looking very concerned. "What's wrong?" he asked worried.
Nia almost lied to him, just like she lied to her friends when they asked about what happened at Axis. But she knew it would be fruitless. Jon was a telepath, he'd know if she was lying. And after hearing about what happened to Kara earlier, she couldn't keep it to herself any longer. "I saw the person who attacked her before" she told him.
Jon nodded, already guessing most of it. "He was the one who attacked you yesterday" he said. "You said you didn't get a good look at him. But you did. You saw him there."
"No, not just there" she explained, feeling sick just thinking about what she was about to tell him. "I had a dream. I think he was in it."
The man's face hardened, his posture changing recognising the significance. Nia's dreams were her precognitive powers manifesting. If she saw it, then it was important. "What did you see?" he asked.
She shook her head, unsure how to answer. She was never any good at interpreting her dreams. But she was clear about one thing. "I think Kara's in trouble. I think the whole city is."