The trans-matter portal was a complex piece of technology utilised all across the universe for all manner of purposes. Slavers brought one here to transport humans to a place called Slaver's Moon until the DEO seized the technology. This gateway had be used many times to help save the planet from various threats, enabling the agents and heroes to transport themselves to many inaccessible locations. Lena Luthor even proved capable for building her own, some big enough to lead a whole invasion fleet of ships into the solar system. She was currently working to miniaturize the technology into trans-matter watches for personal use. Presently that left the only functioning gateway on earth locked in a DEO facility which L-Corp has special access to in a private part of the city. Nobody was supposed to know its location, the black-site kept off the grid.
Unfortunately, Hank Henshaw's net of Metallo Drones was able to pinpoint the specific energy signature of the portal's power source and thus found the facility within minutes. The moment the ping came across his radar he was moving, disappearing from his spot above the city and flying directly for the warehouse. With Supergirl and Martian Manhunter occupied with the drones chasing them across National City there was nobody to intercept him as he barged into the reinforced doors.
The security inside were some of the best trained men and women in the DEO, people who understand what it is they were guarding and the kind of threats they were guarding it from. So when the doors rattled from a heavy impact they didn't become rattled or worried, instead they leapt into its path and stood ready with their weapons raised. The inactive gateway stood in the middle of a large space on a raised platform, cameras trained on it at all times, motion sensors at every entrance and exit. Two men in the security booth observed the monitors and brought up the security feed from outside the double doors. They watched as Cyborg Superman dug his fingers into the dent in the groove of the sliding doors and ripped those outwards. The thick metal doors fell down onto the concrete driveway with a loud thud as Hank stood in the entrance with the sunset glowing behind him, his silhouette casting a long shadow into the facility.
The soldiers pointed their weapons at him and ordered him to surrender and lie on the ground. He scowled, his cybernetic eye glowing bright red as it fired an optic beam towards them. Two soldiers melted before the rest dived away from the sweeping beam, dodging the laser and returning fire. Bullets bounced off the cyborgs chest as his laser cut another solider in half before shutting off so the man could dart forward into the building. In the blink of an eye three more gunmen were dead, their necks snapped and holes punched into their chest. He rushed another man and caught his head in the palm of his hand. It took little effort to squeeze, his skull making a loud pop before he discarded the corpse by throwing it behind him into the brink wall. He turned and glared at the remaining two solider, one calling for backup through the radio while the other fired their rifle furiously. Hank walked through the barrage of bullets directly to the woman, taking hold of her rifle and breaking it with his robotic fist. Then he swept her off her feet, caught her ankle, and used her screaming body to beat the last soldier to death. When it was over all that remained was a bloody mess on the floor.
With the guards all taken care off, the large man looked up at the gateway waiting for him. He savoured the walk up the stairs as he approached the control panel installed to the right. He analysed the controls, figuring it out easily as he inputted the relevant commands, accessing the coordinates saved in its data bank that would take him to the last remaining city of krypton, the last refuge of its civilisation. Argo was a shielded chunk of its former planet sealed in a dome, which protected its citizens from the dangers of space as if floated amongst the remains of Krypton. The system housed a red sun, which meant no one there would have the powers they'd acquire here. No strength, so super speed, no flight or heat vision or frost breath. And no invulnerability. Not even Superman, who was presently in the city at this moment, would have any defence against him or his army.
It'll be like shooting fish in a barrel he mused, standing before the activated portal of swirling purple energy illuminating the warehouse. He smiled, considering when to bring his army to join him.
But then he paused. His implant allowed him to monitor all his drones. He'd been multitasking while tracking this portal down and opening it, keeping Supergirl and the Martian busy while he activated the gateway. But now the kryptonian had evaded his machines. Through their eyes he couldn't track any of them. deducing there was only one answer to where she might be he turned his attention back to the warehouse just in time to be hit by a blur of red and blue motion, greeted by a powerful fist across his jaw sending him spinning down the steps.
Kara panted as she watched the man tumble from the platform to the floor, brushing her blonde hair out of her eyes standing in front of the activated portal. It hadn't been easy to shake the drones following her, their kryptonite creeping through her system the closer they got. But when they started making mistakes and failing to track her as effectively she figured their controller was distracted, seizing her chance to outmanoeuvre them and make it to the facility Alex warned her about. She was fortunate to get here in time before he could enter Argo. She looked across at the controls, inhaling sharply as she moved towards it to shut the gateway down.
The control panel was hit by an optic beam, locking the coordinates in place and disabling the controls. Hank stood up glowering preventing Supergirl from deactivating the portal. "You're a stubborn one aren't you" he growled.
"I could say the same about you" she replied, turning back to stare the cyborg down. Without the kryptonite in close proximity she was almost at full strength and getting stronger the longer she stayed in the setting sunlight. When night comes she'll still have enough yellow sun energy stored to continue fighting, but they still had half an hour before night fell. "Your fight is with me Hank" she said. "The people of Argo City have done nothing to you."
"More kryptonians waiting to come to earth" he spat. "Did you forget what happened when the Daxamites came? I'm doing a public service."
"You are not humanity's saviour" she argued. "This is all about hate and revenge."
"Maybe" he acknowledged. "Doesn't change the fact you can't stop me from going through that portal."
"I wouldn't be too sure of that" Alex Danvers bellowed, marching though the side entrance with her strike team with her. Dreamer and Guardian ran in and leapt onto the platform to stand beside Supergirl along with Brainy and Alex. "Sorry we took so long" she whispered to her sister, pointing her gun at the cyborg.
Kara glanced at her wanting to show her relief, keeping her face neutral focused on Hank. "You're right on time" she whispered back, the hint of a smile on her lips.
As the rest of the DEO agents got into position surrounding the cyborg blocking his path to the platform, a red figure floated through the ceiling solidifying into the Martian Manhunter. Jon Jones stood beside Alex a few feet taller, his green skin glowing in the purple light as he fixed his red gaze on Hank. "Stand down Hank" he warned. "You're outnumbered."
Hank glared at the Martian. He didn't even notice when the alien used his phasing abilities to escape through a building to join his allies. The large man scoffed. "I demand a recount" he said, throwing up his hands theatrically.
Within seconds every robot under his control swarmed through the broken double doors and landed around him, lining up shoulder to shoulder staring menacingly at the heroes, there kryptonite chests glowing brightly. Kara tried not to look intimidated as the green glow filled the room, the faint prickles under her skin tingling at the edge of her senses. The others stared defiantly as Cyborg Superman's whole army formed up ready to attack.
Hank stood smugly, casting an eye between his metal men, each one strong enough to fight Superman, and the assortment of vigilantes and government agents. He calculated the odds were not in their favour. "Shall we finish this?" he asked, cracking his knuckles.
The first row of Metallo robots didn't wait for an answer, stepping forward and unleashing a barrage of green energy at the opposing heroes.
Everyone flinched from the sudden assault, particularly Kara who was quickly shielded by Guardian. But it was Nia who rushed forward and created a large blue barrier to block the onslaught, her arms crossing in front of her digging her heels into the floor bracing against the lasers. The green energy struck the barrier and fizzled out, but the machines continued to fire upon it. Hank stood patiently. There was no way Dreamer could keep the barrier up indefinitely.
"We need to shut down the portal" Jon bellowed from behind the shield, leaping effortlessly into leadership mode.
Brainy hopped to the controls and examined the melted console. "The control panel is destroyed" he reported, pulling out his wrist computer and yanking some wires from the gateway. "I'll try to manually disable the gateway, but it'll take time."
"I can't hold it" Dreamer warned, already becoming dizzy from the strain.
Kara peered through the field to Cyborg Superman standing in the middle of his army. "If I can get Hank away from the drone, I might be able to keep him too busy to control them" she suggested.
Jon nodded. "You deal with Henshaw, we'll take care of Metallo" he said.
"Are you sure?" she asked, looking at everyone with concern.
Everyone nodded in unison. "We got this" Olsen told her.
She smiled, taking a deep breath bending her knees ready to rush the Cyborg. She'll have to move incredibly fast to get through the wall of kryptonite soldiers before they weaken her too much to force him out of the facility. Once they were in the open she could fight him unhindered. She locked eyes with Dreamer and gave her the nod, bracing for the sprint.
Dreamer counted to three before pushing her astral energy through the barrier. In a moment the wall of energy pulsed outwards briefly causing all the metal men to stumble. Hank shielded his eyes from the bright light that followed, momentarily dazing him. That was enough time for Kara to spring forwards and slam into the large man and shove them both through the entrance past the drones. The pair flew out into the ducky air and above National City, away from the dangers of Metallo and his kryptonite hearts.
Once they were clear, Dreamer dropped the barrier and Alex ordered her agents to open fire. Rifles and pistols unloaded onto the army, bullets punching into chrome steel creating sparks and loud clanging noises. Alex's more advanced handgun fired energy projectiles that penetrated the metal and melted the circuits within, the first drone falling to the floor when she struck it's motherboard in the thick skull. But despite the damage their weapons were doing, there was a lot of them and they proved stubborn, marching forward advancing on the portal where they were met by Jon, Dreamer and Guardian. Guardian's shield bashed their heads and he dodged under their swings and punched, his speed compensating for his lack of stretch over the machines. Dreamer summoned various constructs of weapons, alternating between a shield, lance and lasso to weave and batter the drones away from the platform. Jon served the greater defended, his shapeshifting allowing him to morph larger and pummel the machines with massive claws and fists, ripping some in half when not phasing through their bodies to rip out their hearts.
Brainy, meanwhile, stayed by the gateway working to try and deactivate it. The technology was more complex than he anticipated so he called Lena to help interface with his computer utilising her knowledge of the technology to shut off the power. She was just about to talk Brainy through rewiring the controls to bypass the panel when a pair of Metallo drone leapt in to interrupt him. The green skinned member of the Legion of Superheroes anticipated their attacks and swerved his body to elude them. He didn't have the strength to match theirs but his analytical thinking and sharp reflexes enabled him to predict their movements and "disarm them with physics" as he'd say. Within moments he'd outmanoeuvred them into colliding with each other and sent them tumbling off the platform. "Disabling this gateway is proving more challenging than I anticipated" he confessed, returning to the task as if nothing had interrupted him.
"We should just destroy the gateway" Lena suggested from her monitor at the DEO.
Brainy shook his head. "A damage to the machinery while the portal is active could be catastrophic both to us and the location on the other side" he explained. "We have to shut down the bridge first if we want to dismantle the gateway safely." He cast a glance to his allies battling the relentless robots attacking them. "I fear we may be overwhelmed before we complete our mission" he added, a silent confession only to himself.
Outside the facility, Supergirl and Cyborg Superman clashed in the air with thunderous booms punctuating their strikes. Kara floated and spun around Hank Henshaw, darting in and out jabbing at him with her fists keeping him on the defensive, anything to distract him from coordinating with his army of robots. He grew angrier the more she hit him, lashing out with backhands and punches growling with hate. He stopped trying to get past her to return to the portal and focused on destroying her, shifting his attacks to more aggression slamming her down into the streets. She kicked back, launching him into a car before sprinting away to get some room. He sprinted after her, chasing her through the streets catching her cape and whipping her around into a shop window. She crashed into the back wall with a gasp, blinking once before feeling his fists plow into her chest driving her through the wall and out the other side of the building.
The people of National City watched as Supergirl and the cyborg locked arms above their heads, their arms straining wrestling in the air as their eyes glared at each other. No words were exchanged. Kara knew it would be a waste of energy and Hank had nothing to say to her. The lock broke and they both flew around in a spiral, blocking punches and kicking wildly until they both fired their optic beams at the same time. The lasers connected in the centre emitting a shockwave of heat that made the glass windows shudder, the bright light of their beams blinding those caught staring at it. Hank's red eye burned with fury while Kara's burned hotter to compensate, her gaze focused with determination. She would not relent and let this man kill what remained of her people and her home.
Down on the ground, things started getting difficult for the vigilantes. The Metallo robots, whilst operating autonomously with Hank occupied with Supergirl up above, were smart enough to recognise the most dangerous players in the fight. Around forty of them remained intact as they all interfaced with each other wirelessly, a hive mind solving the specific problem. They recognised Jon Jones as the most powerful member of this defensive line, so ten machines all converged to restrain the Martian.
Jon finished pounding on the next robot until its legs were crippled before realising they are swarming him, lashing out wildly as they rushed in and grabbed at his arms. He used his phasing to break free but they attacked in coordinated fashion, punches to the face and back knocking him off balance before hitting him with a combined trio of green energy blasts.
"Jon!" Alex shouted, seeing her mentor fall to the ground. She broke from her position and sprinted through the fight, diving and rolling through the limbs of machines firing controlled bursts from her handgun to either discourage or disable her obstacles. She came up against one stubborn Metallo and flipped over his back, grappling his chrome arm to spin around and place the barrel of her weapon at the back of its skull. Two pulls of the trigger later and it was on the ground motionless and she was sprinting to Jon's side to shoot at the drones surrounding him. "Jon!" she cried again, falling to a knee to check on him while she blasted at the robots.
Dreamer saw her predicament and broke away from the duo she was wrestling with. She lasso whipped out and tripped them over, vanishing just as she aligned her body with the swarm of machines pinning Jon down and threw her fists out in front of her. Two large rings of astral energy shot from her wrists and scattered the robots, launching them off their feet and allowing Alex to pick him up.
This left the Trans girl open for an attack from behind, which a robot seized by firing a beam of green energy from its chest. Guardian saw this and leapt in its path, the energy colliding with his shield bouncing harmlessly up to the ceiling. Nia looked over her shoulder and saw Olsen rolling on the floor, whirling around to see the drone about to follow up until she threw an axe construct at it ending the threat, piercing its chest. "Thanks" she said to Olsen.
"Don't mention it" he replied, catching his breath and scanning the army still advancing on them. He saw a few engaging the agents with guns, disarming them and punching through their chests or tossing them into walls. They were slowly losing this fight. That didn't mean he was ready to give up however.
Still locked in an intense battle of focus with Supergirl's heat vision, Hank monitored the advances of his army in the facility and was disappointed. If he wasn't too focused on fighting the kryptonian he'd be coordinating the assault himself. So he freed up some attention by overwhelming the girl's laser with his, his cybernetic fuel cells overcharging the optic beam and pushing against her until the red beam struck the girl's face. She wisely shut her eyes before it blinded her, taking the blast on her invulnerable skin instead. The impact sent her reeling through the air, her body tumbling through the sky before catching herself on the currents and floating down to the floor.
With the brief moment of levity, Hank turned his mind to the implant and took control of one of the drones, speaking through it declaring "I tire of this nonsense" before sending it storming towards the platform.
The heroes noticed the advancing robot and moved to intercept. But at once the other drones intercepted them, each blocking a hero or agent clearing a path for the advancing machine. Dreamer tried to lasso the drone but another leapt in her path. Guardian was swatted aside when he sprinted towards it. Jon was held back by a trio of robots and Alex's gunshots went wide as she was thrown to the ground. Brainy was the last line of defence, seeing the drone and moving to step in its way. It looked at him and waited until the alien went to grab it, catching his arm and throwing him over his shoulder into the battle behind. That left its path into the portal wide open, which it took full advantage of by walking straight through the purple swirling vortex into Argo City.