Dreamer fought the impulse to give up as she shook off the last round of electric shocks, her guards watching over her intently. She had hoped to break free while they were distracted by the broadcast but it seemed everyone was on their A-game tonight. The dizziness rendered her powers fluctuating meaning she couldn't just snap her bonds and retreat. She looked up at the camera trained on her. She hoped her friends could see her, at least then they'd know she was in trouble. If only she could reach her signal device.
She scanned the stage with her frantic eyes, the glare of the bright spotlights obscuring much of her view. There was definitely a crowd surrounding her, many holding guns pointed at her ready. On her left as the Sentinel ranted she saw the axe in her hands. The idea of that thing coming down to chop off her head made her knees shake. Judging by the zeal and speed her executioner was talking she didn't have long until it was chopping time. She couldn't rely on them getting to her in time.
"I know it seems easy to be complacent when you're out there with the rest of us" Brainy had told her during one of their training sessions. "But you must be prepared. Any number of variables could occur that prevents us from assisting you in your hour of need."
"Meaning I can't always expect my friends to save me, so I have to learn to take care of myself" Nia had said. "Kara already gave be that warning. I get it."
"Good" he had nodded, instructing her on her next lesson. "The key to survival is observation, adaption and quick thinking."
And improvisation she thought, something Kara also reminded her for when she was in trouble. Nothing ever goes to plan on the first try so be prepared to improvise. If she could use her powers to break out of her restraints without getting shocked, she'd need a distraction. And she needed it before she got killed live on the internet.
Her eyes looked up and peered past the camera and the crowd of people. She saw the counter where a large black man was talking to the man called Samuel, the man she tried to save. The man who killed Dorian. She forced herself to look past him, look for anything that might help. She glimpsed the fuse box on the wall behind them. If she could get to that, she could cut the power, kill the lights, and stop the broadcast…
But I can't get there. Unless…
Nia took a quick glance around at her captors before taking a big risk and closing her eyes. She had one shot at this and it replied on them not realising what she was doing. She took a deep breath, focused and followed the instructions Brainy had given her when she started. Or more specifically when Kelex gave her a glimpse into her future of what she would be able to do. Despite how advanced this trick was, she'd been practicing hard since she learnt it. Channelling her powers she was able to disconnect her consciousness from her physical body, stepping away from it until she saw herself standing (or floating, it was a strange sensation to describe) outside of her body. She opened her eyes in this form and found her physical body still tied up and kneeling, the guards around her oblivious to her intangible form. They weren't attacking her physical body either and the Sentinel was continuing to rant on into the camera.
It worked! She cried, her voice muted in this state. Right, I don't have much time she realised, seeing time continue to move as normal. She envied how Kara could move at super speed in dire situations, yet she moved as fast as she could nonetheless. She rushed forward leaping from the stage and passed through the bodies of the children of liberty who were unaware of her. She paused next to the man called Samuel, giving him a look of disdain whishing she could hurt him in this form. She pushed her anger down and focused, moving towards the fuse box.
While the Sentinel continued to monologue for her audience, the Blacksmith finished his test as Samuel turned his attention back to the stage. Dreamer was still in position and seemed to have stopped struggling, accepting her fate. The black man glanced at the laptop, the firewall holding.
But then he caught a flicker from a nearby lamp out the corner of his eye, drawing his gaze up to see it return to normal. Must be a fault he mused, his profession training him to detect such inconsistencies. Before he could return to his work he saw another light flicker, this one on the counter. Then another further along. As the lights flickered the laptop screen showed a hint of a glitch until it and the lights returned to normal. The Blacksmith found this odd, scanning the room looking for more. A few more lights dimmed and flickered, his eyes following a path leading to the corridor to his right. He tilted his neck as the faint light source built into the ceiling hummed and dimmed just above the fuse box.
Curious he pondered, leaning against the counter staring at it. He looked once more around the room, peering over the Children of Liberty's heads to check Dreamer was still immobile. His intuition tugged at his gut, taking the goggles he was wearing and flicking through the lenses he had attached to it. He installed them over his career when he discovered he could detect trace energy patterns with the right material. He flipped a blue lends down and found a distortion in the air, almost imperceptible. Much of it surrounded Dreamer on the stage, but a trail lead away crossing through each of the devices he saw fluctuate. He followed it to the fuse box where he found a faint bubble forming in the space in front of it.
Curious.
Nia hovered in front of the fuse box and realised she had no idea what she was going to do. She might've gotten the hang of projecting her consciousness like this but it was still intangible. Her hands passed through the box meaning she couldn't open it, which mean she couldn't pull the lever and switch it off. She took a chance and put her hand through it, thinking she could short circuit the thing. But nothing happened. Crap she thought, looking back at the stage where he body knelt.
The Sentinel raised the axe over her body's head, preparing to bring it down as her speech wrapped up.
Nia turned back to the box, looking around frantically for something she could try. She considered running back into her body to try and escape again, but she didn't believe she'd make it. She looked at the cables plugged into the bottom of the box. She waved her hands through them. If only I could grab them and pull them out. She narrowed her eyes. Why can't I? It was one of those things Kelex showed me a dreamer could do. But it's too advanced even for me.
She looked at the stage, the blade ready to fall. She didn't have time to debate. She reached out and concentrated, focusing on the cables willing her fingers to become tangible. Her grip passed through once, twice. Panic was setting in. don't let the fear distract you. You can do this she told herself, forcing a deep breath as she closed her eyes. she felt her projection tingle as she reached out again, forcing herself not to overthink it as she let it spread across her palms, her fingers wrapping around the cables. She heard the Sentinel's voice bellowing across the room, the finale imminent.
The axe came down and Nia tightened her grip and pulled.
The entire room went dark.
Miranda Oakridge froze mid swing as the lights went out, plunging herself and her followers into darkness. There was startled yelps and curses as everyone turned to each up and started to trip over themselves and the equipment. She peered into the darkness shouting "what happened!"
One by one people pulled out flashlights and phones to illuminate the space. Everyone was just as confused as they looked around. Samuel moved to the fuse box to examine it, calling back "the cable's been pulled out."
Miranda turned to her captive, her prisoner still motionless on the cinder block. She turned to the camera crew, who were shaking their heads indicating the broadcast had been cut. "Shit!" she thought, dropping the axe and marching off the stage. "I want power back up now!" she barked, pushing through the crowd to the counter where a bemused Blacksmith was pulling his goggles off. "Did you have something to do with this?" she accused under her breath.
"Of course not" he smirked, calmly putting his equipment away. "A minor setback I'm sure."
"Then why are you packing up?" she asked him suspiciously. He gave her no answer.
I did it! Nia cried, watching the pandemonium she had caused as everyone panicked and then stared in confusion. As she had hoped, without their broadcast the execution was postponed, the Sentinel storming through the crowd as Nia passed through her to return to the stage. She had a window and she wasn't going to waste it.
Two guards hovered over her body when she returned, both of them stunned and distracted as their heads turned to peer through the darkness. She floated behind herself and scanned the area. The stage was in front of the bowling lanes, a clean path leading to a set of bowling pins at the end directly behind her. With the commotion drawing their attention in the opposite direction she decided that was her best bet as she took a breath and leap back into her body.
The second she did her eyes opened and she inhaled sharply as she threw herself backwards. Her guards jumped in surprise as their captive suddenly sprung from her knees and fell onto her back. Her hands were wedged under her body and her ankles were still tried together, but she had enough to motions in her legs to kick against the cinder block her head was placed upon. She summoned a surge of energy through her heels and used the block as a springboard to propel her body down the waxed bowling lane rocketing away from the Children of Liberty. Her guards finally shook off their shock and lunged for her, missing her feet by inches as she disappeared through the pyramid of pins into the machines at the back. Gunfire erupted as more children saw the escape and reacted on instinct, but Dreamer was able to roll into an opening at the back to take cover from the bullets ripping through the remaining pins, wood and metal bouncing around her as she hurried to use her powers to snap the tape on her wrists.
The Sentinel barked over the gunfire ordering them to stop. "We need her alive. Her death means nothing unless the people can see it!"
Nia ripped the tape off her mouth and sucked in a grateful breath as she listen to the gunfire cease. She didn't focus on it as she reached for her wrist band attached to the gauntlets Brainy made her to focus her dream energy. Except that's when she realised she wasn't wearing either. Her eyes widened. Why wasn't she wearing them? She twisted in her hiding place and peeked out of the lane to look for it. She was greeted by the image of the crowd of hooded figures advancing on her so she went to plan B. "SUPERGIRL!" she screamed.
"What happened?" Alex asked at the DEO stared at the blank screen in front of them.
Brainy was asking himself the same thing as he searched for an answer, only to find the video offline. "Something disconnected the broadcast" he reported, getting the same from James at Cacto and Lena next to him.
"Is that a good thing?" Alex asked optimistically.
"Without the broadcast we have nothing to trace" Lena replied less optimistically. "And just because they're no longer filming doesn't mean…" she couldn't finish the sentence. The last thing they saw was the Sentinel of Liberty bringing her axe down on Dreamer's head. They had no way of knowing if she was dead or not.
Alex turned back to the blanks screens, their eyes and ears gone. She tapped her earpiece asking Kara "Anything?"
Kara hovered over the city, listening to the commotion of everyone confused and frantic about Dreamer's fate after losing the connection. She was fighting her own fears as she strained her ears to try and find her, find anything. But she could hear anything that could help her. She couldn't bring herself to answer her sister's question as dread set in.
"SUPERGIRL!" Dreamer screamed again as loud as she could.
"She won't hear you abomination!" the Sentinel roared back at her, her axe dragging behind her across the lanes. "You didn't think I chose this building at random did you? There's enough lead in the walls to mask hide her from sight and we had help making sure not a sound could reach her ears. The kryptonian freak won't be able to save you here."
Nia wasn't sure how much of that was true, but considering her lungs burned from the shouting and Kara hasn't come barrelling in like the cool-aid man she had to assume they'd prepped their hideout well. She tore the remaining tape from her feet free her completely, crawling out of the machines into the narrow passage against the wall. At one end was a dead end. At the other a fire exit. She hurried down racing towards it, keeping low hoping they couldn't see her and thus wouldn't shoot at her.
The path was blocked as a trio of hooded thugs came around the corner to block the exit, their gun raised. She reacted instinctively, whipping up her hand creating a chain of bleu energy to pull the machinery down blocking their path to her and darting the opposite direction. They called out furiously as gunfire suddenly erupted again, bullets ricocheting around the heroine as she sprinted down the passage. She hissed as a bullet grazed her thigh and another skimmed past her ear, summoning a barrier to shield herself from harm.
"I told you to hold your fire!" the Sentinel bellowed angrily.
Samuel ran up to her tracing the girl's path, ordering their men to cut her off at the final lane. They had her cornered. "If we are forced to kill her, it would be a simple matter to display her corpse at a public place. The aliens will get the message regardless" he whispered.
Miranda looked at him through her mask, stubbornly telling him "unless they get to see us butchering their so called hero in person, they will simply treat her like a martyr. She has to die publicly, not in isolation."
Nia stumbled against the second to last lane panting, her hand pressed against the graze on her leg where blood was leaking. She peeked out of the lane finding a group of thugs marching on her only other exit. She was cornered and running out of options.
But then her eyes found a crate where her phone was, her signal watched placed next to it. It was halfway across the room next to some other electronics. If she could reach them either could get her help theoretically. But getting there wouldn't be easy, not with so many hostiles in her path. She counted the thugs closing in, the group filling the space behind them, the weapons they were packing. Even if they followed their orders and didn't gun her down she was still a sitting duck if she went out there. But once they got here she was a goner.
She didn't have a choice. Gritting her teeth against the pain in her leg she focused her energy into her palms, a large orb forming in her hands. When it was ready she spun, tilted her body and bowled the blue ball of energy up the lane towards her targets. They scattered as the ball knocked them down like living bowling pins the concussive blast knocking them aside giving Dreamer a chance to leap out of her exit and sprint towards the waiting crowd. She went for the shock and awe tactic as she flayed her hands and fired a shower of concussive blasts over their heads, disorientating the crowd so she could jump onto an energy platform and leapfrog over the stunned masked men before firing a pair of blasts into the crowd to clear a landing. She summoned lanced, swing it, knocked down two more thugs and kept moving, never stopping as she jumped, vaulted and battered her way through the stumbling figures. One managed to catch her arm but she hit them with a fist to their temple knocking them down. She saw another rushing her so she blasted him back to make room to lasso another and toss him towards the crowd. She sprung off two platforms to dive over the head of another, finally reaching the crate she was after before a brave thug charged into her. They both collided with the crate, the electronics falling everywhere. Nia fought the grapple he had her in back elbowing his face and kicking him back, scrambling to her feet finding her stuff on the floor. Her mobile phone was smashed so she ignored it, grabbing her signal watch and slotting it back onto her wrist. She had seconds to twist the dial and reveal Supergirl's crest and the button to activate it.
She was a second too slow as she looked up and found a massive hammer swinging at her. She managed to bring up a shield in time but the shockwaves sent her flying across the floor and slamming into the brick wall. She gasped as her breath was knocked out of her, slumping to the ground shaking the dizzy spell. She looked up as found the Sentinel charging towards her, the hammer souring over her head coming down on her. Nia threw her arms up and blocked it with a translucent force field, the energy shimmering from the impact. She felt it ripple through her body clattering her teeth. It was heavier then she had anticipated. She was forced to keep the shield up as the Sentinel smashed the hammer down again, then again, each hit rocking Dreamer as she was pinned behind her shield, the Children of Liberty surrounding her. The Sentinel twisted her weapon's handle and Nia heard it charge up with energy, looking through the shield at the cold impassive faces staring back as it came down again. The charged energy rippled through her shield and this time the figure held it there, pushing it down sending waves of vibrations into her defence.
Dreamer grit her teeth as she struggled to hold it, the field wobbling and cracking as blood began to pour from her nose. It was taking everything she had to concentrate on the shield, her arm muscles aching as the hammer came closer and lower, the shield shrinking. The Sentinel stood over her putting their weight behind the mallet, forcing it down pushing against her willpower. It could see the strain in her bloodshot eyes as she fought back, her arms sluggishly coming together desperately as she curled into a ball.
"Any final words you want to say Abomination?" the Sentinel asked, feeling the force field about to buckle. "Any last pleas for mercy before you die alone?"
Dreamer glared up through her shield and defiantly muttered "we're never alone" as her finger finally reached the button on her wrist.
The watch transmitted a high intensity beacon that no ordinary human or alien could hear, cutting through the city instantly along with a wireless signal that pinged off each of its sister devices lighting them up on the arms of her friends. The DEO computer detected and triangulated the source in a matter of seconds. Too slow for the incredible hearing of Supergirl who picked up the beacon and immediately tracked it back across the city. "Got her!" Kara cried, her eyes snapping open as she rocketed through the night sky.
The city woke up to the sonic boom as Supergirl surged through their airspace as fast as she could, the sound following behind her as she tunnelled in on the source of the signal to a dark building on the outskirts of the city. Kara didn't hesitate as she barrelled through the ceiling crashing into the dark interior of the bowling alley in a thunderous cloud of dust and plaster. By the time the Children of Liberty heard the roar from her breaking the sound barrier she was already inside their hideout glaring at them through glowing red eyes.
There was a split second of frozen awe as the men and women in their gold masks stared at the imposing alien now standing in a cone of moonlight beneath a massive hole in their ceiling. Kara used that split-second to count how many of them there where, see the petrifying looks on their faces behind the masks, find the Sentinel glaring back at her with her hammer pressed against the blue energy field of her friend, still very alive, trapped against the wall. Then, in the instant it took for them to decide to fight, a single bullet was fired. It never met its target because Kara was gone in an instant.
Supergirl ripped through the crowd of terrorists faster than they could blink, crushing their guns and slamming her palm or elbow or just grabbing them by the hoodies to launch or toss them in all directions. Many stumbled onto the floor in fear as the hero disarmed and threw their friends to the ground in a violent display of aggression. The Sentinel stood her ground as Supergirl hurled a figure at her, swaying to the side watching him collide with her followers before turning back and growling. Kara paused in her attack to growl back, her eyes glowing threateningly as she fired her heat vision. She dived out of the way at the last second, stumbling to the ground as people screamed. Supergirl wasn't playing nice tonight.
Nia barely saw the brutal turn this took as the moment the sentinel relieved the pressure against her shield she was channelling as much reserve as she could. When she was ready she roared out a battle cry projecting her shield outwards to throw everyone nearby to the ground. With the space to breath she pushed herself up to her fight and joined Supergirl in disabling the Children of Liberty. She fired her energy blasts and swung her fists, surprising the panicking figures as they ran to get away from the hurricane that was Supergirl. One went to grab her but he disappeared as Kara shoulder barged him into a wall knocking him out instantly.
The woman spun around furiously until her eyes fell on Nia, the red glow fading as relief crossed her face. "Thank Rao!" she whispered, immediately forgetting the remaining thugs to pull Nia into a hug. Nia hugged her back, equally relieved. But she as first to snap back to business as she saw one of the thugs holding what looked like the kryptonite weapon. She broke out of Kara's embrace and whipped out a glowing robe that caught the weapon and yanked it from their grasp. She immediately followed up with a blast from her hands while Kara shielded her from a barrage of gunfire as the two girls stood back to back fighting against the Children of Liberty.
It was a losing battle the Sentinel realised as Samuel pulled her up and lead her out of the nearest exit. Many of their followers had already retreated, which was proving the most tactful plan. She followed Samuel with her axe sprinting into the corridor towards the back alley where their car was waiting. He climbed into the driver's seat and she got in the back, seething in frustration at having to retreat.
Kara's ears heard the vehicle's engine engage, her eyes whipping around realising the Sentinel was fleeing. "I can't let them get away again" she said, slapping her hands together in a thunderclap that stunned the remaining Children of Liberty to the ground and shook the building. She turned to Nia was already telling her to go stop them, darting through the corridor bursting out of the building to follow them.
The car was gone by the time Kara got outside, but she tracked it easier by the tire marks and the sounds of speeding and honking horns. She leapt into the sky and scanned the area, finding a car swerving around traffic frantically. She felt the rage she had to these people rise again, holding onto it using it to focus herself and rocket towards the car. She landed just in front of the bonnet, stopping it so abruptly its wheels lifted from the ground until she forced it still. She dashed around the side and ripped the doors off, her eyes glowing as she looked inside to find…
…a terrified cab driver staring back at her. Kara looked in the backseat and found the space empty. She looked at the man but she could tell he wasn't who she was looking for, especially how he was desperately pleading in his native tongue for her not to hurt him. She let her eyes return to normal apologized, backing away from the car scanning the street. She lifted herself into the air and looked again, a hundred cars traveling in all directions. This mistake had cost her and now they had escaped.
"Shit!" she cursed under her breath.
While Kara raced off to chase the Sentinel, Nia remained in the bowling alley which was now full on unconscious figures in masks. She breathed a sigh of relief, feeling the adrenaline starting to pass until she heard a noise from behind the counter. She looked over and saw the door swinging closed, realising someone else was attempting to escape. Pushing herself onwards she sprinted after them.
The figure in the hallway leading to the entrance was carrying a pair of large duffel bags over their shoulder and a suitcase on wheels, their thick trench coat falling around their body as they reached in and took out a pair of domed devices. They attached one to each wall opposite each other before continuing on in their getaway. They were interrupted when Dreamer came running out seeing them a few feet from the entrance. "Stop right there" she barked, throwing a small projectile over their head to shatter a light prompting them to stop. They did, letting go of the suitcase as they raise their hands, turning round slowly. Dreamer slowed her pursuit when she saw the large black man surrendering, keeping her guard and arms up in case he tried anything. She remembered him, the man behind the counter. "Keep your hands up" she ordered, walking cautiously towards him, surprised he gave up so quickly.
The man waited until she crossed between the two devices he planted before pushing a switch attached to his gloved hand. The domes sprung open as a pair of electrified nets lashed around Dreamer taking her by surprised. She stumbled to her knees as she was snared, the electricity stunning her and disabling her ability to astral project. It didn't hurt as much as the cattle prods though, leaving her strength to struggle and look up at the man who was now watching her peculiarly.
"Remarkable" he said with a smile. "I've seen you in action from the new reports, the odd security video I get a chance to review, but to see your powers in action for myself…just remarkable. You and Supergirl. If you don't mind my saying, it was truly a privilege to meet you Miss Nal."
Nia froze and the sound of her name, staring up at the fascinated man as he admired. "Who are you?" she asked.
"Not important" he said with a shrug. "But just to set the record straight, I am not affiliated with Miss Oakridge and her little political movement. I merely supply her with…merchandise she might find beneficial."
Nia's eyes widened as she realised "you're the Blacksmith!"
He seemed amused by that. "Yes, that's one of the things they call me. Quite fitting actually. Yes, I supply them with weapons, they pay me handsomely for it. But I'm renowned for crafting them. And I have to say, I've been a fan of you in particular. I haven't come across many superheroes who have inspired me like you have. The ideas I get the more I study you. Maybe one day things will be different and I can offer you my services to. I think you'll be impressed."
He turned around and picked up his suitcase, preparing to leave until Nia managed to call out "wait! How do you know…?"
"Who you are?" he sighed. "A mutual acquaintance in think we both know" he replied, looking back at her seeing look of worry cross her face. "Oh, don't worry" he assured her. "Your secret is safe with me. The Children of Liberty don't know what I know and I have no intention of sharing it with them. Their interest don't interest me, only their business. You can assure Miss Danvers that neither you nor her friends need worry about that. I do hope we meet again Miss Nal" he said, casually strolling out of the exit leaving Nia trapped and confused inside his net.