Lena and Kara stared at the man in red armour of the exact same design of the schematics on the computer screen. Kara's breath caught in her throat as she analysed the horns on the faceless helmet, the trident across his back, the gauntlets a more advanced rendition of the weapon she was examining earlier. The man stood staring back silently, his head turning from side to side as if scanning the rest of the basement. Kara couldn't understand how he'd managed to sneak up on them, until she considered the ringing in her ears preventing her from focusing her senses. Damn that parasite she thought.
Lena was more composed and calm that Kara expected, stepping forward glaring at the man. "We know who you are Maxwell" she said coldly. Kara looked at her in disbelief, wondering why she'd give away that piece of information. Lena glanced over her shoulder indicating to the workshop, her expression pointing out it was pointless to play dumb. They'd been caught in his secret lair, there's no use denying it. Besides, Lena Luthor was formidable when cornered. "We know who you are. We also didn't come here alone. So if we don't walk out of here…"
"Are you referring to the young woman kipping in the backseat of your car?" the man interrupted, his distorted voice echoing across the basement.
Kara stiffened before stepping forward. "If you've hurt her" she snarled, a threatening look crossing her face.
The man turned his attention to her. "She's safe" he replied. "It seemed rude to wake her."
They couldn't take his world he'd left Nia unharmed, so they both had to get out of here. Lena turned to look at Kara, but her eyes darted to the USB drive still downloading files from the computer. They needed a few more minutes to retrieve it. Kara took the lead and fell into her role as bumbling reporter. "Look, I'm sorry for trespassing" she said, stepping forward covering Lena who backed towards the computer to check the progress bar. "But you must know that we didn't come here alone. People know where we are, and if anything happens to us there'll be police, FBI, the DEO, so many people looking for us if they're not already. So if let us go, you might have around ten minutes to get out of here before they surround this place."
The man stood silently listening to her bluff, tilting his head to look over her shoulder at Lena standing conspicuously by the computer. Neither of them could see the face behind the helmet but they felt his gaze upon them. Lena kept body facing forward, her eyes fixed on the figure thinking very quickly. She risked a glance at the screen, the download at 58%. It was taking too long, there were too many files. She turned back to Kara, her eyes conveying the urgency for more time.
"You know who we are" Kara continued, keeping herself talking as she took another step forward, keeping his attention on her. "You know who she is. You know if something happens to her people will know. The CEO of L-Corp goes missing? There'll be a manhunt. And me, I'm a reporter with Cacto. They know me. They know I'm…"
"I know who you are, Kara Zor'El" the man replied, his gaze fixing onto her coldly. Kara saw her reflection in the faceplate as the figure growled her name. She saw the glasses and the ponytail in the reflection, but the figure saw right through the disguise. Kara tensed as she considered her options. But if Maxwell knew her identity, them there really was little she could say to bluff their way out. She looked at Lena, who gave her the nod.
In an instant Kara had darted forward and grabbed the red figure and slammed him into the opposite wall, dust raining over them as the concrete shuddered. Her super speed helped her clear the span of the basement within the second, but she reigned in her strength to avoid turning the man into a pancake on the wall. Even if she was inclined to kill him she needed answers, and they couldn't interrogate a pile of flesh and mush. But before she could ask questions the red suit lit up, a red glow emitting from his belt and armour. Kara saw the head lift up and glare at her through faint red eyes in the visor, the reflections morphing to mimic a skull, before both his hands clamped onto her wrists. She watched in surprise as both her hands were pried from their grip, her arms straining as she felt that strength weaken. She stared at the faceplate until it jerked forward, cracking her nose hard enough to snap the glasses on her face sending her tumbling to the ground. Kara gasped in shock scrambling back, wincing in pain finding her nose broken and pouring with blood. The man exhaled as he stood over her, staring down menacingly.
Lena Luthor watched in fascination and horror as Kara became powerless before the armoured figure, which the schematics dubbed the RECON-KNG. "The Reckoning" certainly had the right ring to it she thought, turning around to try and hurry the download along. The progress bar was at 64%. Nothing but prayer and willpower was going to hurry it along now. "I think not" the distorted voice whispered, and Lena instinctively ducked to the side as a condensed energy projectile ripped through the computer screen obliterating it. She yelped and dived to the ground, turning her head finding the man's left wrist smoking from an attachment above his palm. He adjusted his aim, the second shot charging with a hum.
Kara leapt to her feet and tackled the figure before he could fire, sending the projectile off course punching a hole in the ceiling. She wrapped her arms around his torso throwing her weight forward trying to send him to the ground. The man twisted to plant his footing, flipping her over his hip sending them both spinning to the ground. They rolled and tumbled until he elbowed her back breaking free of her grasp and kicking her aside. She shambled across the floor to climb to her feet, panting and gasping before being struck across the jaw by a gloved punch. She grunted biting her tongue, pain shooting across her cheek.
Lena opted to get involved by grabbing the folding chair and swinging it at the man, cracking it over his back causing him to grunt. His armour deflected the blow, leaving him available to backhand the woman across the temple launching her over the table sprawling. Kara saw this and roared, swinging her fist at him only to catch her wrist, grab her arm, and flip her over his shoulder onto the same table landing on her back. She inhaled sharply, looking up to see him inverted as he leaned over her, his hands grabbing her throat. She struggled with him, pinned to the table, her hands searching the table for a weapon. She found the bracelet pressed the button, the blade springing out so she could use it to swing back and stab at his thigh. The sharp metal found a kink in the plating and pierced the thick fabric and she heard him wince in pain. But the weapon was swatted out of her grasp when he swung one of his hands free, clenching his fist in fury. Kara looked up as saw a bigger, sharper knife spring from the gauntlet and stab down towards her face, but she was able to dodge her head to the side narrowing missing the blade as it sliced her ear and trimmed her blonde hair. Swinging her legs up she landed one of her heels into his faceplate, kicking him off her enabling her to roll off the table onto the floor stumbling forwards.
He growled in annoyance, pulling the knife from the table and retracting it back to his wrist. He stormed forward, grabbing the edge of the table flipping it aside chasing after the retreating reporter. He heard frantic footfalls behind him and spun around, blocking Lean's swing as she tried to hit him with a fire extinguisher. The force of the blow knocked him aside into another table, giving Lena a chance to swing again. He dodged it, rolling away and throwing out his arm. Lena brought up the weapon as something metallic pierced the canister causing it to hiss. She looked down at it and saw it blinking, recognising a small explosive charge. She threw it away moments before the man could detonate it in her face, the extinguisher exploding in a thick cloud filling the basement.
The room was filled with a thick fog that obscured everything. Kara tried to use her enhanced vision to see but her powers continued to elude her. Lena was virtually blinded by the cloud, knocked to the ground by the concussion blast. The Reckoning was the only one confident as he stood in the middle of the basement, his helmet panning the area seeing nothing but fog. He reached up and flipped a switch behind his ear, the visor glowing as his view switched to thermal. She saw the heat signatures the computers still running, the machines left on, the lightbulbs shining above, and the warm bodies of the two women he was hunting. Sadly there was no way to differentiate between the two of them, so he stalked towards the nearest figure.
Lena crawled along the floor, using her hands to reach through the fog looking for a sign of where she was. She daren't call out Kara's name in case Maxwell heard her. It didn't make a different as she looked up into the fog and found the glowing red image of his power suit standing over her. "Kara!" she shouted, leaping backwards in an attempt to escape the man until he caught her and pulled her into the air. She continued to scream and curse as she pummelled the man with her fists and feet, causing as much noise as possible so her friend could find her. Her eyes analysed the suit he was wearing, her scientific mind cataloguing the design and technology. If she wasn't fearful for her life she'd be admiring the ingenuity of the work in front of her. Instead she was just outraged at the man within.
The man stared at her coldly until another shape ran into them, colliding with all her strength throwing him against the table and the computers. Lena fell from the man's hold tumbling onto the floor, the table flipping over as computer towers toppled like dominoes. The Reckoning growled leaping back into the fog, following Kara's retreating footsteps before being struck over the skull by a metal pole, something she'd pried from one of the fallen broken tables. He stumbled to his knees as Kara continued to batter him, the metal clanging against his armour. He held up his arms bracing against the desperate assault, waiting for a window where he twisted a dial on his gauntlet and slammed it. A loud ring of white noise erupted from the speakers in his costume making Kara drop to her knees and scream, her hands dropping the pole to clutch her deafened ears. He retaliated by grabbing her and throwing her across the room with all his might, watching her crash through the chalkboard and land in a heap groaning. He could've pummelled her to death at that moment, but he chose not to.
With the fog clearing the two women groaned in pain and discomfort as they scrambled to return to their feet. The reckoning panted a few feet away, growling with hate as he glare at them through his visor. "Enough of this" he said, reaching into his belt to pull out three small orbs arming each one. He stood up and swung his arm out throwing the three balls into the workshop area, stepping back as the girls instinctively dived away from them as they emitted a high pitched whine before exploding. Fire engulfed the basement as the man in protective armour watched the workshop burn.
The fire spread quickly, igniting the dust and paper and wood around them as smoke filled the room. Kara and Lena coughed as they rolled away from the flames, patting down the embers that found their way to their clothes. Within moments the basement was engulfed and they were crawling along the floor trying to hold their breath before they inhaled the smoke. "Lena" Kara shouted, choking on the thick smoke trying to use her powers, hoping her frost breath could put it out. But her powers refused to function, leaving her helpless in the growing inferno. "Lena!"
"Over here" Lena called back, currently crawling along the floor towards the unturned tables. Paperwork turned to ash and machines burst apart from the heat. She scrambled faster hearing Kara scramble to her feet somewhere behind her. She kept her eyes on the computer tower on the floor in front of her, the USB drive still in it. The fire crept towards it and she knew she had seconds until the head destroyed the motherboard and hard drive. She needed to be fast. She got her fingers around the USB the same instant Kara stumbled through the smoke and found her, her hands gabbing the woman yanking her off the ground a second after she yanked the portable drive free. They climbed to their feet and shuffled towards the exit, the computer exploding into sparks behind them. "Maxwell! Where is he?" Lena asked.
Kara did a quick scan of the basement, the smoke stinging her eyes and filling her lungs. But through the obscurity and flames she couldn't see anyone else in the basement with them. "We have to get out of here" she said, dragging Lena with her back the way they came.
The path back was treacherous, the heat radiating everywhere as they climbed the stairs to the ground floor and found the fire spread to the whole factory. They had to divert twice to avoid the flames and collapsing beams, the rusted metal disintegrating around them. After each turn Kara tried her powers to see if they'd returned. Each time she failed she spurred them onwards determined to get them to safety. Lena kept her pace even as her breathing got harder, the smoke inhalation making their eyes water and harder to see. But they found the fire exit and Kara was able to shoulder her way out, falling to her knees coughing and choking. Lena dragged her onwards, keeping them moving until they reached the gate where they slumped against the fence and looked back at the factory engulfed in flames.
It took them another five minutes to find the car, their sluggish movements hindering their pace as they sucked in fresh air and coughed out soot. Their clothes were blackened with ash and their hair was turning grey, Kara's blonde strands plastered with white. Lena slumped into her driver's seat with a coughing fit, her lungs burning making it hard to breathe. Kara wasn't much better as she fell into the passenger side, the doors closing around them. They sat back and sighed, thankful to be alive.
In the backseat, Nia stirred awake rising with a muffled groan. "What happened" she asked rubbing her eyes, sitting back up still looking exhausted. She saw the two of them covered in soot as they glanced back at her, then looked out the window and found the factory on fire. Her eyes narrowed in confusion. "How long was I out?" she asked.
"I don't know. Half an hour" Kara replied, too drained to think. She felt like she needed a cold shower and a long ten hours of sleep. She cast a look to the factory and sighed. "We were so close" she muttered with disappointment. "We had the proof Nia, but then we lost it."
"I wouldn't be too sure" Lena smiled, holding up the USB stick in her hand. Both reporters looked at it and broke into grins.