Chapter 101: The Day After (Great Darkness Sage – Epilogue)

Disclaimer: All things Supergirl/Superman and Legion of Superheroes belong to DC. No infringement is intended.

Time Institute, Metropolis, Earth, 1,000 years in the future.

What to do on the day after Armageddon? For the Coluan Legionnaire called Brainiac 5, it was a visit to the Time Institute in Metropolis to make sure that the universe was still intact.

"Good morning, Chronarch, Rond," Brainiac 5 greeted as he walked into the main laboratory of the Time Institute. The chief scientist of the Institute and the Legion's old friend Rond Vidar were already hard at work.

"A good morning it certainly is, Brainiac-k-k-k 5," Chronarch Senius replied. "That we have lived to see it already mak-k-k-kes certain of that."

Brainiac came to a stop next to the two other men and looked at the equipment in front of them. The Time Viewer, a device created to monitor the integrity of the time stream, looked very much the worse for wear. Part of the casing was scorched, the control surfaces cracked, but it still hummed along to the steady beat of a ticking clock.

"I am somewhat amazed this entire thing was not blown to pieces," he mused, calling up the schematics. "I was rather certain that the sudden emergence of Supertown from the time stream would have been one blow too many for our poor, fragile continuum."

"It was k-k-k-close," the Chronarch replied. "Thank-k-k-fully the time disturbances died down almost immediately afterwards when both Apok-k-k-kolips and Supertown vanished."

"It will take some work to get all our equipment up to par again," Rond mentioned, wiping some sweat from his brow. "But as far as we can tell, the big storm seems to be over. There are a few minor time disturbances left, but those likely result from the few 20th century people still present in our era. Everything else is as it should be, I believe."

Brainiac nodded, seeing the readouts. "And there are no time disturbances around the Sanctuary planet?"

Rond shook his head. "Nothing since Kandor appeared. It seems that the city is now a proper part of our present. Since we have no records of it appearing at any other time, there should not be any paradoxes left to clean up. Kandor can stay right where it is without causing any time-related problems."

Brainiac nodded. On the one hand this was good news, as it meant that the crisis that had threatened all of time and space was well and truly over. On the other hand, though, he was not sure how a certain friend of his would react to this news, given that she still registered as a time disturbance, though a minor one.

Kandor could stay in the 30th century, Brainiac mused. But Superwoman, his old friend Kara-El, could not.

Kandor, Planet Sanctuary, 1,000 years in the future.

What to do on the day after Armageddon? For Clark Kent aka Kal-El, the hero known as Superman, it was simply the first day he was back to his own self.

His sleep had been restless and filled with nightmares. Every time he closed his eyes, memories instantly came to the forefront. Scenes of war and destruction, of time and space burning, of a dark god laughing and torturing him. Finally he gave up on finding any rest and left his bed behind to head outside in the early hours of the morning.

Soon he was sitting on top of one of Kandor's highest spires and watched the sun rise over the horizon. His body still ached, the bruises accumulated in yesterday's battle far from healed, and his mind was still a mess, but a little bit of sunlight always went a long way towards helping with all of that, at least most of the times.

"Couldn't sleep?"

Clark looked up, startled. Kona sat down next to him, his little sister also looking quite worn and tired, but gazing up at him with such pure happiness on her face that it immediately made him feel better.

"Not really," he admitted. "Mom still asleep?"

Kona nodded. "Like the dead, except for the snoring. J'Onn and Diana figure that, with all the punishment she took yesterday, not to mention the big power boosts, she will probably stay asleep for most of the day. I made sure the curtains were open, so the sunlight helps her recover."

Guilt stabbed through Clark upon hearing that. His mother had gone through hell, had literally thrown down with a god, all to try and save him, and how had he thanked her for it? He had beaten on her, had nearly killed her. A moment later he flinched as Kona slapped him on the back of the head.

"Hey," he protested. "Haven't you beaten on me enough yesterday?"

"Exactly, so stop beating on yourself. That's my job and what happened wasn't your fault."

The memories he had of the battle yesterday, as well as all the events leading up to it, were kind of strange. He remembered everything that had happened, including the lengthy fight with his little sister, but it was like he had been one step removed from it all. Like merely watching a movie instead of experiencing the real thing. He was not sure what exactly Darkseid had done to him, nor what exactly this Highfather guy had done to reverse it.

All he knew was that he had very clear memories of trying to kill his own mother and sister. Memories of tearing apart United Planets Navy ships. Memories, however strange and disjointed, of fighting against the forces of New Genesis in the God War. There was blood on his hands. He could see it when he closed his eyes. And sure, in his mind he did know that it was not his fault, that he had been as much a victim as any of those that had died, but that just made him feel guilty for not feeling guilty enough, weird as that sounded.

He sighed. "Sure doesn't feel like it."

Kona snuggled into his side, her arm going around his waist. "Clark, I have no idea what you went through, I'm sure it was horrible, but maybe think of this: if you hadn't jumped between Darkseid and mom back then, it might well have been her standing beside Darkseid yesterday. How do you think that would have worked out for the universe?"

He grimaced at the thought. He had only been told the broad strokes of everything that happened during his... absence, everything his mother had done to find him and confront Darkseid. The thought of the roles being reversed, of he being the one in charge and being forced to fight his mind-controlled mother... he was not sure what would have happened. Whether he could have done all that.

"And whether you were aware of it or not," Kona added, "I'm pretty certain you held back when we fought yesterday."

"Really?" he asked, blinking. "I... I don't..."

"Hey, evil-Clark tears through dozens of powered-up Kandorians, but little me manages to pin him down? I know I'm amazing, but I figure good-Clark was in there somewhere, giving me a helping hand."

That sounded really good, Clark mused. He just hoped it wasn't merely wishful thinking on Kona's part. Given her telekinetic abilities, there was a good chance that she actually was stronger than him despite her smaller stature. He certainly hadn't held back when he had attacked his mother upon Darkseid's command. He could still see himself with his hands around her neck, ready to snap it the moment the order was given. Some part of him had screamed, had tried to put a stop to the madness, but it had been shut away, helpless. He had never felt so helpless before.

"And you know that once you are ready to talk about it," Kona continued, tearing him from his thoughts, "mom and I will listen. Well, if you can actually talk between all the hugs and kisses mom will bestow upon you in the next few weeks, that is. Not to mention Martha, Jonathan, Lana, and who knows who else? Maybe Lois and Lena? Any other L-persons I should know about?"

Clark chuckled. Trust Kona to lift his spirits simply by being herself.

For a few minutes the two siblings simply sat there, arms around each other, as the sun rose higher above Kandor. The city was slowly waking up beneath them, the first people now out on the streets.

"Do you think mom will want to stay here?" Kona suddenly asked.

Clark looked at her, seeing the worried frown on her face.

"I... to be honest, I hadn't even thought about that."

"I mean, it's her home, right? Well, not exactly her home, but it's a piece of Krypton. These are her people. Okay, technically our people, too, but you know what I mean."

Clark nodded. He did know what Kona meant. While both of them were technically Kryptonians as well (or at least mostly in Kona's case), both of them considered Earth their home. Kona had never lived on Krypton to begin with, and Clark had been just half a year old when the planet had died. His mom, though, had spent her first 13 years of life here, had grown up among buildings like these, with people like these. Would she want to go back?

"I have no idea, Kona," he simply said.

"I just want all of us to go home," Kona said, still pressed into his side. "To the farm, to Martha and Jonathan. But... what if she doesn't want to go home, Clark? She finally has a piece of her real home back. What if she wants to stay here? How can we ask her to simply leave all that behind?"

Clark sighed, holding her tighter. "I think we simply need to talk to her when she is awake, Kona. Let's not worry about it for now, okay?"

"Sorry," Kona mumbled. "I'm sure you have about a hundred other things on your mind after what you went through. Shutting up now."

He chuckled. "Far more than a hundred, I think. But nothing is more important than our family, Kona. Nothing will ever be more important!"

Falling back into silence, the two children of Kara-El simply enjoyed watching the sun and the city below.

What to do on the day after Armageddon? For the god-conquering hero called Kara-El aka Superwoman, it began rather late when she woke up after a very long sleep to a very sore body.

When consciousness finally returned, the first thing Kara did was look around frantically, searching the room for the people who had been there when she had gone to sleep. Had it all been a dream? Had she just imagined...

The curtains rustled as her two children came floating into the room from outside, no doubt having heard her wake up with their enhanced hearing, and her heartbeat immediately calmed down. They were here, both of them. Clark was here. He was alive and back to himself again.

Without her having to say anything, Kona and Clark climbed into the bed with her and for a few minutes the reunited family simply lay there, cuddled together. The sun shone in from outside, all three of them happily soaking up the light, and the last vestiges of nightmares evaporated. Oh, there would be more of them, she was certain, but they would deal with that. They were back together again. Everything else could be handled.

"How are you feeling, mom?" Clark finally asked, looking at her. She saw the regret flashing in his eyes as he saw the many bruises that still had not quite faded from her body.

"Like I should avoid any further brawls with gods for a few months," she replied, smiling. "And you? We did not really have much of a chance for a thorough check-up yesterday."

Clark sighed. There was a world of hurt in that sound. "I... I think I will be okay. Eventually."

Kara nodded, running her fingers through Clark's hair. It was the best she was going to get for now, she figured. Her son leaned into her touch; his eyes closed.

"Mom," Kona began, sounding uncertain. "We were wondering, Clark and I, ..."

"Wondering what?" Kara asked when her girl's voice trailed off.

"Whether you would want to stay here," Clark continued when Kona apparently could not quite find the words. "In Kandor. New Krypton, if they're going to call it that. Among your people."

Kara blinked. To be honest, she had never so much as shed a single thought on the matter. It was all about closing the time loops, finding the strength necessary to defeat Darkseid, and, of course, saving at least some of her people from certain doom. But looking back, she had never, not for one second, thought about what to do afterwards.

Could she stay here? Well, obviously not, right? There was so much left to do in the past, never mind all the people, her friends, and her adopted family. She tried to imagine it. Living here in Kandor, among her people, with her children. There was a certain charm to the thought, she could not deny that, but... but somehow it felt... wrong.

"Do you two want to stay here?" she asked her kids. "These are your people, too."

"Not really," Clark answered quickly. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy you could save them, but... Earth is my home. 20th century Earth."

"Same here," Kona said after a moment. "But... mom, if you want to stay here, then... I guess I could... I mean..."

Smiling, Kara hugged both her children. The answer was very clear, it seemed.

"I think we have a few things we still need to deal with here," she told them. "Then, though, we are going home. All three of us."

What to do two days after Armageddon? For the citizens of Kandor, it meant honoring their dead and figuring out where to go from here.

Eons after the inhabitants of Krypton had left superstition and mysticism behind, they still practiced certain rites the same way as their ancestors once head. So when it was time to say farewell to the dearly departed, the ceremony always took place at sunset. As they were all children of great Rao, it was custom that those who now journeyed into his eternal embrace would join him as he slipped below the horizon, so that they could be born anew once he rose again the next morning. And even though Kandor now resided in the light of a different sun, the Kandorians saw no reason to abandon that tradition.

Wearing the traditional dark red funeral robes, Kara stood with her children as a priest of Rao spoke the eulogy for the 763 citizens of Kandor who had fallen in battle against Darkseid and his forces. Some had fallen to the Apokoliptian weapons, while others had perished in the vacuum of space as their power bracelets failed and the search and rescue teams had not reached them in time. Kara had made certain to learn and memorize all of their names, for it had been her who had led them into this battle.

"Great Rao, we beseech you," the priest spoke. "Your daughters and sons have carried your light into battle against the greatest darkness, have stood against the vilest of evil to ensure the preservation of all that is good, and now we ask you to take them into your arms. As day passes into night, so do these brave souls pass into darkness, to be born anew when your light returns to the world at dawn."

763 names were spoken in reverence and 763 times the mass accelerator sent a coffin shooting into space on a rendezvous course with the sun. Before the advent of space travel, the old Kryptonians had burned their dead, believing that the flames were yet another aspect of great Rao, but in modern times, the dead were sent directly into the embrace of the sun, reunited with the light that had birthed them.

As the sun finally vanished below the horizon of this new world, the priest concluded the ceremony. "Day changes into night," he spoke. "And as those once alive traverse into the night of death, we remember them and rejoice, knowing that they will change anew. For nothing is ever truly gone; we all merely change. May Rao watch over us all, children of Krypton, as we, too, face the changes ahead of us. We have been given a new day, a new world, a new chance. Give us the strength, great Rao, to make the most of it."

As the ceremony ended, the Kandorians slowly dispersed. Quite a few passed by Kara and her family, offering words of gratitude and appreciation. Others avoided them, be it out of grief or because they blamed her in some way or other. Kara certainly blamed herself for many things, far more than 763 things, but she would deal with those feelings in her own time.

Maj-Ar stopped beside her when almost everyone else had left. "The Science Council would like a word, Kara-El, if you are sufficiently recovered."

Kara nodded. She was far from fully recovered, to be honest, but she wanted to get things settled sooner rather than later. So without any further words spoken, Maj-Ar and the El family made their way over to the meeting chambers of the Science Council.

The Council of Kandor consisted of nine members, all of them chosen for their intellectual merits. This was far from Kara's first meeting with them, as they had conversed quite frequently in the days after Kandor had been brought to the future. Not once during these many talks, though, had they discussed what would happen after Darkseid was defeated. Until that had actually happened, no one had dared think beyond it.

"Have you decided Kandor's future course?" Kara asked.

"The United Planets have opened official diplomatic channels," the Council leader, a woman named Vela-Zee, began. "Given the … well, extraordinary circumstances, they offer us immediate and full membership in the United Planets. They have also informed us that the planet Sanctuary has officially been recognized as now belonging to us, whether we wish to join the UP or remain independent."

Kara raised an eyebrow. That was mighty generous of the UP. Sure, the planet was uninhabited and somewhat out of the way, but it had still officially belonged to the UP and had probably been earmarked for future colonization, given its Earth-like state. Then again, without the Kandorians' help, the Earth would have been conquered or destroyed by Darkseid, so there was that.

"And what will you do?" Kara asked. She knew what she would recommend, but she wanted the Kandorians to chart their own future. She had already played goddess with their lives once, ripping them away from their home planet without their consent. Sure, it had saved them from death, but still. Their future should be up to them from here on out.

"We are not sure yet," Vela-Zee admitted. "For a very long time Krypton has remained in isolation, apart from the rest of the galaxy. The notion of joining into a political alliance with alien species will take some getting used to. We are aware, though, that isolation is what killed Krypton in the end. We do not want to make the same mistakes again."

Kara nodded, having hoped for such a decision.

"There is no need to rush," she said. "Yet I would agree that isolation is not a path anyone can walk safely forever. We are greater when we join together, united in our diversity and celebrating our differences instead of fearing them."

Vela-Zee nodded as well, looking at Kara for a good few moments.

"You do not intend to stay here with us, do you, Kara-El?"

Kara shook her head. "No. As much as my heart rejoices that a part of Krypton lives again, my home, my family's home, is elsewhere now. Should you ever need our help, the Legion of Superheroes knows how to call us, but until then..."

"Then that only leaves the matter of the superpowers," Vela-Zee said.

Kara knew that this topic would come up again. "I have left samples of my and Clark's DNA in the genetics lab," she said. "I am not sure our mutation can be replicated in any kind of permanent way, to be honest, but you can give it a try."

All the power bracelets had run out of charge after the battle was done, so all the Kandorians who had had superpowers were now back to normal. The bracelets were still functional DNA stabilizers, of course, but without a certain girl made from sand there to transmute the DNA in the first place, they were useless. And the Flash had already taken said girl safely back into the past. She did not think that her people would actually try anything with Sandy, but there was no sense dangling temptation in front of them unnecessarily.

She still had no idea how or why Sandy or some other member of her species (if there was such a thing) had changed her and Clark during their journey through the Phantom Zone, but while her scientific mind was itching to get those answers, the largest part of her was fully content to just let that mystery rest, at least for a while.

Vela-Zee nodded. "Well, it might be for the best. We shall see if this particular riddle can be solved without... well, divine intervention, so to speak."

"I wish you the best," Kara said, looking around. "All of you. And should you ever need us, we will be here."

With that, the El Family left the chambers of the Science Council of Kandor behind, ready to head back home.

Time Institute, Metropolis, Earth, 1,000 years in the future.

What to do three days after Armageddon? For the family that had been split apart for far too long, it simply meant going home.

"You know I could take you all home using the treadmill, right?" Flash said, looking at the gleaming time spheres standing in front of them. "No need for fancy glass bowls."

"I know, Wally," Kara told him. "But you have done so much running through time for us lately, I figure you deserve a restful ride for once. Just relax and let someone else do the time travelling for once."

Shrugging, the Flash walked over to where several of the Legionnaires were saying their goodbyes to Kona and Clark. Kara chuckled as Kona once again admired the golden Legion ring she was now wearing. Naturally the Legion had made her a member as well, given what they had all gone through together.

Brainiac 5 walked up to Kara. "The time spheres are ready. Imra and Garth will pilot and bring them back once you're safely back home."

"Thank you, Brainy. It was great seeing you all again, but to be honest, I am glad when this whole predestination and time loop stuff is finally over with."

"Isn't there something left for you to do, though?" Brainiac said. Upon seeing Kara's confused face, he nodded towards the figure of the Flash, who was now chatting with Kona and Clark.

Kara nodded, finally understanding. Yes, there was one thing left to do to tie up all the loops and circles they had woven through time. Looking at Wally, though, she finally shook her head.

"It is not time yet, I think," she said. "The Flash I encountered back then travelled through time without the aid of a treadmill and looked a bit older yet. I think we shall give Wally another year or two before I send him on that particular journey."

She looked at Brainy. "That is not going to cause any further disturbances in the time stream, is it?"

"I will ask Rond and the Chronarch to keep an eye on it," he said, "but as long as you actually end up doing it, it won't really matter when."

Kara chuckled. "Still makes my head hurt, time travel!"

Brainy nodded, looking at her. "And you are really okay with this? Leaving your people here, separated from you by a gulf of 1,000 years?"

She nodded. "Clark, Kona, and I actually had a discussion about that, and yes. Do not get me wrong, Brainy. Knowing that we have managed to save so many of my people, that my race is not extinct after all, makes me happier than I can put into words. But this," she gestured, taking in the entire city, "is not my home. Not anymore."

She sighed deeply. "Besides, I hear that there is stuff I have yet to do in order to get that big statue in front of the museum built. Cannot really do that from here, can I?"

Brainy put his hands on her shoulders, meeting her eyes. "Just be yourself, Kara! That is all you ever needed to do in order to achieve great things."

She smiled at him. "Still quite the charmer," she told him. Rising a few inches off the ground, she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Call me sometimes, handsome!"

"I will invent a cross-time-capable phone just to take you up on that," he joked, though there was a bit of a blush to his cheeks.

Goodbyes were said, promises were exchanged to meet up again, and finally all the people who were not native to the 30th century boarded the time spheres.

"Next stop, 20th century," Imra informed them, smiling.

"Home," Kara said, hugging her children.

"Home," Clark agreed as the time spheres powered up.

"Home," Kona chirped, the time spheres launching and sending them spinning off into the past.

Towards home.

End Chapter 101

Author's Note: In case you are confused, reread chapter 28 to figure out where and when Kara still has to send the Flash. I briefly considered wrapping that detail up in this chapter, but looking back, the Flash I described back in chapter 28 did several things that my current Flash hasn't yet figured out how to do. So we'll leave that open for now and get back to it at a later date.

This was a difficult chapter to write, mostly because there was quite a bit of soul searching in it. I hope I conveyed the feelings of the Super Family properly, especially those involved in their decision to go home to 20th century Earth while Kandor remains in the future.

Up next: how to tell an entire world that Superman is back from the dead.