The chaotic battle within the DEO facility became much more desperate now that one of the Metalloid drones had slipped through the portal to Argo. Jon in particular was outraged, vowing he wouldn't see the last of another civilisation be reduced to rubble and ash. He roared as he changed into a hulking monster, his powers flexing his mass throwing off all the robots attempting to pin him down, before lunging towards the portal. "Stay here and keep the rest away" he ordered his allies, jumping up to the platform charging for the portal.
Before he could pass through the gateway however, he was greeted by a booming sound of thunder as the chrome figure he was chasing stumbled backwards back through the portal. He stopped and stared as the robot wobbled on its metal legs, his chest leaking oil and fluid from a large scorched patch of metal. It looked up again as something else followed it from the purple midst, it's armed raised holding a large energy cannon like a shotgun. It charged up a blast of electrifying energy and fired again, the thunderclap ringing in everyone's ears before the robot was thrown backwards in a smoking heap, its kryptonite heart cracked and shattered.
Everyone looked back at the gateway to see two new figures stepping out into the facility. One was a tall woman with brown hair and a determined stoic face as she hefted the alien shotgun in her arms. Beside her stood a taller and broader man dressed in a red and blue costume with a red cape falling behind his frame, his piercing eyes scanning the battle from his angular jaw. The man was instantly recognisable even if you didn't see the large "S" emblazoned upon his chest.
"See, I told you bringing this from the Fortress was a smart idea" the woman said looking at Superman with a smirk.
Clark Kent rolled his eyes as he smiled at Lois Lane, looking at her with affection and pride. His attention was diverted when the robot she shot at rose back to its feet, heavily damages and roaring in fury. He reacted instantly, already feeling his powers return now he was away from Argo's red sun, firing a powerful burst of heat vision at the machine cutting through its broken chest obliterating what was left of the kryptonite heart.
There was a moment of calm as everyone paused to look at the kryptonian and his wife as they stood on the platform. Jon was the first to greet them as he shrank back into his normal green form and clasped his arm. "Kal El" he said with relief. He was glad to see him.
Superman didn't waste time asking questions, he could already guess what was happening as he scanned the army of Metalloid drones surrounding them. The kryptonite radiating from them was overwhelming but they were far enough away right now for him to remain standing. He and Lois were conversing with his aunt, Kara's mother, when the portal opened a few yards away. He told the kryptonians to keep their distance while Lois pulled out the weapon she brought from the Fortress of Solitude. It was an energy cannon Clark confiscated from some space pirates some months ago, charges electricity into lightning bolt projectiles. She brought it because she was paranoid, if they were attacked, Superman would be powerless to fight back. He told her she was worrying over nothing. He ate his words when Metalloid walked through the portal.
"Where's Kara" he asked when he'd analysed the situation. He saw everyone here except his cousin, which worried him.
"Fighting Hank above the city" Brainy replied instantly, returning to his post trying to deactivate the gateway.
"Hank Henshaw?" Lois asked, receiving a nod. Clark sighed, the situation making more sense now. He looked at the forces of kryptonite powered machines, wondering if he would be able to combat so many, when Lois charged her gun. "Go" she said, nodding outside to where Kara would need him. "We've got this."
"Are you sure?" he asked worried.
Alex stepped up and shot another drone trying to flank them, falling in beside the reporter. "Yeah, let us handle Metalloid. Kara needs you" she said.
With everyone nodding in agreement, Superman took a deep breath and floated up into the air. With a sharp exhale he was gone, a gust of wind whipping up everyone's hair as they watched him fly out of the facility and into the city.
Alex stood beside Lois in front of the portal, pistol in hand eying her large weapon. "Nice gun" she commented.
Lois smirked, levelling her weapon at the robots. "So is this what's been happening while we were away?" she asked curiously.
"Oh, you have no idea" she replied, shoulder to shoulder with the woman as they held the line against the coming forces.
The battle above National City was going to be one for the ages as Cyborg Superman and Supergirl tumbled and weaved between buildings trading blows that sent shockwaves through the eardrums of spectators. Police and civilian and National Guard alike all watched as the large mechanical man pummelled the courageous blonde woman through the sky into buildings made of concrete and glass.
Kara did her best to divert their trajectories where she could, narrowly missing windows where clueless men and women were glued to the action like it was on TV. She had no idea how the fight for the Transmatter Portal was going, her only thought being to keep Hank from using his army to hurt her friends. So whenever she got a chance she used her x-ray vision to scan the cyborg and his implants looking for the transmitter he was using to interface with them. She had no idea what she was looking for so she just searched for anything that seemed new or out of place. She grappled with Hank, grabbing him from behind and wrapped her arms and legs around him almost strangling him as they tussled in the air. She found something behind his ear connected to his circuits and took a chance, cutting into his metal skull with her heat vision at point blank range.
The man screamed in pain and fury, throwing his skull back hitting Kara in the nose hard enough to daze her, specks of blood flying from her nostrils as he reached behind and grabbed her skull in both hands throwing her over his head. She tumbled head over heels through the sky like a ragdoll, crashing through a skyscraper before landing hard onto the street below. Hank floated down after her, landing on top of the girl just as she was climbing out of the crater she made. He straddled her waist and punched her back to the ground, his left hand pinning her neck down as he pummelled her face. She coughed up blood, bruising around her left eye and cheek, her hands trying to pry the grip from around her throat.
"I'm going to make sure this city watches as I tear you apart, one piece at a time" Hank snarled, his metal fist clenching ready to strike her again. He raised his fist, his eyes glowing as Kara braced for the next attack.
But it was caught before the swing as Superman caught his arm, standing behind the man looking down at him sternly. "That's enough Hank" he said calmly, his voice quiet and controlled.
Kara stared up at her cousin, her face lighting up in joy and relief. Hanks froze in surprise, muttering his name in shock. Superman's expression remained stoic as he held the man's metal arm tightly, throwing the man off his cousin and into the air. Before Hank could hit the ground Clark hit him with left hook and sent him spiralling fifty feet up the road to land headfirst into the concrete.
He turned back to Supergirl, offering his hand to help her up. She took it and pulled herself into a hug. "I'm glad to see you" she said with a broad smile.
"It's good to see you too" he smiled, holding her steady as she regained her footing. He looked at her with concern, then at the city listening to the commotion. "Sounds like things have gotten crazy back here" he commented.
"Oh, you have no idea" she replied, wiping the blood from her nose.
"Do you want a hand?" he asked.
"I won't say no" she told him.
Their brief reunion was interrupted when Hank leapt back to his feet and glare at the two of them, both kryptonians turning to address the menacing man turned machine. He spoke no words other than a gluttonal growl of hate as he clenched his fists. The last two members of the House of El looked at each other and nodded, a silent agreement passing as they both prepared to battle the man together. As Hank let out a battle cry, leaping forward to attack them, the dashed forward and met him head on.
Brainy was losing patience with the gateway he was rewiring as the latest connection sparked in refusal. He stifled a bellow in frustration as he relayed the failure to Lena over the radio. "Attempting to bypass the secondary breaker now" he said.
"Watch for feedback from the projector nodes" Lena warned, running over the schematics and data readings from the DEO. It infuriated her she couldn't be there in person to lend a hand, so she brought up everything she could find on the technology and assisted remotely.
Meanwhile the heroes all fought valiantly against the machines, energy and bullets firing everywhere as barriers blocked incoming attacks, metal crunching as robots were pummelled or torn apart. Jon was much more methodical in his assaults, drawing much of the attention while Dreamer and Guardian picked off who they could one at a time. Lois and Alex stood on the platform firing their guns at the swarming drones, keeping them away from the gateway.
The latest attempt to disable the portal failed as Brainy was hit with a powerful electroshock that almost fired his wrist computer. "Sprock!" he hissed, momentarily losing control of his emotions. "Hank did a fine job of melting the activation sequence to the gateway" he complained. "It'll take us hours to dismantle this contraption."
Lena groaned feeling a similar frustration. She then cleared her mind and considered another approach. "Are the coordinates to Argo locked in place?" she asked.
"They are" he confirmed, examining the interconnected wiring. ""but without the control panel they cannot be disengaged." He then paused, an idea forming. "We've been attempting to bypass the activation protocols and shut down the portal" he thought. "But maybe we can instead reroute access to another function."
Lena raised her head and listened, following Brainy's train of thought. "That might work" she nodded. "Do you have a place in mind?"
"I believe I do" he nodded, starting work immediately.
With the two kryptonians teaming up to battle Hank Henshaw, the fight was much more one sided and in their favour. Kara had five years of training and experience to call upon, along with her training from krypton before she was sent to Earth, but Superman had been living here his whole life. He knew his abilities inside and out, and how to utilise them at peak efficiently. Hank Henshaw, meanwhile, was all raw power and hate, which made outmanoeuvring him and outmatching him flawlessly easy as the two of them whipped around him faster than a bullet, combating his attacks with blows from all angles. Superman would catch a punch and hold him still for Kara to kick him from behind, or she would throw him over her shoulder for Superman to clothesline him from the sky. Hank did his best to keep up but it was the double punch from both Clark and Kara sending him hurtling into space that convinced him he was about to lose this fight.
So he called for backup, signalling one of his drones to peel away from their fight for the portal to join him in the skies. He flew back down to meet the pair of heroes in a clash, suffering the pummelling when Superman locked his arms around him in a headlock so Kara could dash in and hit him with a series of blows to his torso in a the blink of an eye. He roared angrily, lashing out with his optic beams catching Kara in the chest and breaking free of Clark's grasp. But he retaliated with a thunderclap knocking him out of the air onto a rooftop.
Kara and Clark floated above him ready to finish the fight when they spotted his robot rocketing towards them from the corner of their eye. Clark signalled her to follow his lead and turned to the machine, using his frost breath blowing a gust of ice at the drone. Kara did the same, Metalloid freezing mid-flight and locking up a few feet away before plummeting to the ground. Kara laughed at how easy that was, beaming at Clark who smiled back. The distraction was enough for Hank to leap back up and smack Clark across the jaw sending him crashing into a building.
Kara blinked in shock and spun around to attack Hank, catching his optic beam with her palm blocking the attack as she was shoved against a wall. Hank burned into his glare intensifying the heat, the laser nearly blistering Kara's hand until Superman raced back and punched Hank in the face, catching his ankle and spinning him around into a hammer throw across the city. The two of them were about to follow when they heard a scream come from below.
Superman crashing in the building destabilised some of the infrastructure, walls crumbling and supports groaning ready to break and collapse. Chunks of debris were already falling to the streets as people ran for safety. Neither Supergirl nor Superman hesitated as they rushed in to contain and repair the damage. Their heat vision welded metal supports together as their strength held the floors of the building up, their speed getting people to safety when they weren't repairing the damage as fast as they could.
As fast as they both were, they couldn't be everywhere as debris continued to rain below. Concrete, brick and glass smashed against the ground around the trapped men and women caught in the collapsing building. They prayed to their gods and to Superman to save them as they looked up and saw the super cousins racing to stabilise the structure. One of these people was a newlywed couple huddled together under an arch out of the raining debris. They had faith they would be saved.
That faith was tested when a metallic arm covered in flecks of ice punched out of the ground a few feet in front of them. The man screamed as the half frozen body of Metalloid crawled out of the road where it landed earlier, its bottom half crushed from the impact but its head and torso intact. It pulled itself forward on powerful arms, ripping its trapped waist away from its legs looking up at the couple with sinister intent. The man put his arms around his husband and prayed, staring at the machine as it started crawling towards them. It was halted when something large landed upon the robot with a crunch, the machine whining as it turned its head to look up at the huge boot smashing down upon its skull. The machine became motionless in moments.
The couple looked up at their saviour, seeing the large "S" and thanking superman. But when they looked properly they found it wasn't Superman wearing the S, but a large armoured battle suit standing in the archway almost nine feet tall, it's bulky frame twisting with fluid motions as it picked up the robot at yanked it's kryptonite heart from its chest. The blue and red suit dropped the remains as its small helmet split open and retracted back to the torso revealing the mop of white hair and emerald green eyes admiring the glowing mineral. Maxwell Davies looked back at the couple telling them "Don't worry, you'll be safe now." he then raised his eyes to the sky and locked gazes with Superman and Supergirl, giving them both a wave and salute before guiding the couple to safety.
"Friend of yours?" Clark asked Kara as they watched Maxwell assist the civilians and police officials in his battle suit. But Kara hadn't seen this man before in her life. She shrugged, offering no answers to what they just witnessed.
Before they had a chance to fly down and ask questions, they heard the familiar roar of a battle cry as Hank came back for another fight. They flew in to intercept them but this time he was smarter, catching both Kara and Clark and slamming them down to the ground where he pressed his palms on both their chests holding them in place. "I'm sick of these games" he bellowed, pinning them in place with all his might while he focused on his final task. "I will see the people of Krypton die tonight" he hissed, his order sent to his army.
It was like a switch had been flipped as every single Metalloid drone stopped what they were doing and turned in unison, forming up with each other engaging their rocket boosters. The vigilantes all watched as they formed up into one solid group, a single mass of hive thinking as Hanks voice rang through all of them. "I will see the people of Krypton die tonight" they roared, glaring at the portal.
"They're going to rush for the portal" Guardian realised, bracing his shield as Dreamer raised her hands channelling her powers. They both had bruises on their skin and Dreamer had blood coming from her nose, her abilities putting immense strain on her. She looked tired, pale, her last burst draining much from her.
The robots were on the verge of pushing through their lines when Nia stepped up and pushed them back. But when they resisted she put all her astral energy into the energy output. It wasn't enough as they pounded on her force fields, driving her to her knees. As her concentration wavered her fears overtook her, her visions spurring to the surface like a warning. She couldn't take it anymore, her powers igniting from something deep within her as she let out a primal scream of defiance. The facility lit up in blue light as Dreamer brought forth an aspect of the very visions she'd been haunted by for weeks now, an image of Supergirl on her knees bellowing with turmoil as beams of blue light erupted from her eyes and scattered the metal army. It lasted only a few seconds before vanishing, leaving Dreamer collapsing onto her hands and knees on the verge of exhaustion. It bought them a few precious moments.
Now the machines were reforming, twenty or so drones ready to rush the heroes and make a push for the portal. Jon came beside Dreamer, telepathically checking on her fortitude before bracing for the clash. Alex and Lois cocked their guns, primed and ready. It didn't matter if they were outnumbered, outmatched or outclassed, they weren't going to falter now.
But just before the machines engaged, Brainy shouted "Let them through!"
"What?" Alex asked in surprise glancing at her friend, who was standing by the gateway primed with his computer.
"Trust me!" he demanded at the exact instance the robots flew forward.
Whether out of trust, exhaustion or fear, everyone either ducked or dived out of the path of the machines letting them race by towards the portal to invade Argo City. Brainy pressed a button on his wrists and allowed them to shoot through the gateway into the purple vortex.
The drones all sailed through the gateway, primed and ready to destroy all they saw. But upon passing through the barrier they found themselves in the empty void of space, cast adrift lightyears away from any habitable planet. The nearest object was a raging white dwarf star which cast a milky glow against their chrome frames as they were pulled into its gravitational orbit. Through their eyes Hanks watched as they searched for the portal, finding the last glimmer of purple energy before it was cut off, Brainy re-establishing the coordinates he'd temporarily diverted the gateway from.
Hank roared in fury as the connection to his army was severed, the closing of the portal disconnecting the remainder of his drones from him. He was defeated, a leader without an army, humiliated.
In his grasp, Kara and Clark both looked at him wonder what has happened. That is until Kara's earpiece rang with Brainy's voice. "The army of Metalloid has been taken care of" he reported. "Cast into space. They're gone."
She broke into a smile. "Guess it's just you all alone now Hank" she mocked.
Hank fixed his cold stare on her. In an instant he grabbed Clark by the costume and flung him into the nearest shop window. Then he grabbed Kara around the neck and flung them through the neighbouring building. Kara realised taunting the Cyborg Superman might've been a mistake as he crashed through the walls into the next street, pummelling her into the ground with much more ferocity. She fought back, kicking and punching smashing him into cars. But his fury was unmatched, his fists striking with such force Kara felt every impact. She heard Superman calling her name, racing to help her. But Hank backhanded him so hard he sailed ten blocks through the air, almost knocked out by the blow.
"Your kind will meet their fate" he said, throttling Kara with both hands slamming her head into the road. She choked and gasped, breaking free by kicking him in the junk. He howled and punched her across the temple, her vision going blurry as a cut opened up across her cheek. "And when they do" he continued, pounding on her relentlessly striking her face and skull with immense force. The ground shook with each blow and Kara felt the fight leaving her body, her blocks barely stopping him now. "When they do, they will meet you in whatever hell you fall into."
The man rears back to pound Supergirl into oblivion. But then he's hit by an object that makes him scream in pain. Kara falls to the ground groaning and dizzy, crawling away sluggishly looking up at the large man stumbling away from her. He pulls something from his shoulder, a piercing dart coursing with electricity. He looks up and narrows his eyes, hissing in recognition. "You?"
Kara looked and saw the figure dressed in red and black armour who attacked her, their three pronged trident spinning in his hands as he marched towards them. Instinctively she gulped, trying to scramble to her feet and defend herself. But almost instantly she felt her strength waver as an intense sound pierced her eardrums driving her back to the floor. She stared at the masked figure, their helmet reflecting the image of a skull as two glowing red eyes looked straight ahead. This person tried to her kill once. Now they were here to finish the job.
Or were they?
Instead of attacking Kara, they stepped past her and advanced on Hank, who glared at them angrily rushing forward. The figure raised their tridents and fired a pulse of energy from the points, striking Hank in the chest making him stumble. They rushed forward, effortlessly crossing the distance striking with their fists as the spiked knuckles cut into the fleshy side of his face. Hank grunted, swinging wildly but the enforcer sidestepped him and cracked him over the back of the skull with their trident. In a blur the figure whipped out a blade glowing with energy and stabbed it into his side, making the man scream as he fell to his knees. "Traitor!" he bellowed, glaring at the stranger who circled him slowly.
"My associate should've warned you" the figure spoke, their voice distorted and demonic. "You can kill all the kryptonians you want, except her." a blade sprung from their right gauntlet above the fist, which was driven into Hank's gut piercing the cybernetic components like a butter knife. The mask drifted closer so the man saw his face reflected in the metal. "Supergirl is not yours to kill, do you understand?" they said, digging the blade deeper staring at the cyborg intently.
Hank glared back, trying to use his optic beams. But the implant he was given suddenly overrides his circuits, every nerve in his body igniting in pain as he screamed. The blade retracted and the figure stood over the powerful Cyborg Superman, regarding him coldly before delivering a swift kick to the jaw. The man collapsed onto his back, his cybernetics smoking as he passed out on the floor in utter defeat.
Kara watched this confrontation with bewilderment and confusion, pushing herself up into a sitting pose holding herself on wobbling arms. She stared at Hank Henshaw, crippled and unconscious. It was over. But then she looked up at the figure standing over him, who was staring down blankly. They turned their gaze to her and she felt their cold glare from behind the mask. The same cruel intent she felt when they had her in a headlock squeezing the life out of her. But this time they turned away and left her alive, leaving her with the body of Hank Henshaw vanishing into the chaos of the city.