Clark shifted and burst out from underneath the rubble. As he did, his civilian clothes instantly gave way to that of his cape and new sleek battlesuit. He was no longer Clark Kent, but once again the hero known to many as Superman. He heard the sound of a battle already going on and stared in surprise as the mangled form of one of the cybersquids crashed to the ground nearby. Several more of the robotic invaders remained but they were now being fended off by a superheroine in a revealing white supersuit of her own. She wore her blonde hair in a shoulder length bob and her red cape fluttered behind her as she swiftly put her gloved fist through the head of another robot and blasted it apart with a heat ray beam. That must have been Power Girl.

She cracked her knuckles and maintained her proud bravado toward the other enemies goading them on, "Come on... let's dance."

Despite her own superhuman abilities, she was still outnumbered and a few more of the large drones pounced on her to try and restrain her with their steel tentacles. Power Girl gave a defiant growl and began to fly upwards, trying to break free when another blue blur put a fist through one of the drones with a powerful punch. From where she hovered, Karen blinked in surprise as Superman grabbed a tentacle of the mangled drone and spun it around to batter the second one that restrained her. Both octopods clattered away and exploded causing the other invaders to take pause.

Clark turned and gave a cocky grin to the mysterious heroine as they hovered in midair, "Hi there. Mind if I cut in?"

Karen continued to stare in surprised amazement at this world's own version of Superman. Unlike the one she originally knew, this younger Superman had more of a leaner swimmer's build and he donned a suit which looked similar but gave off the appearance of sleek form fitting Kryptonian armor. In that moment of hesitation, a drone fired off another searing beam at the two heroes. Clark reacted first and pulled the distracted Power Girl clear of harm as the beam went wide and punched a hole through the ceiling. He turned back toward the remaining foes and fired back with his own heat ray before swooping in to meet them with the force of a speeding locomotive, "Come on! Let's take it to these guys!"

Karen quickly composed herself and followed suit as the two Kryptonians easily took apart the rest of the mechanical octopod drones. Despite never having met or fighting alongside one another before, they worked in perfect tandem covering each other and following up on one another's attacks. Amid the massacre of the drones, the last remaining one made another attempt to move toward the prototype power generator from Starr Industries. Before it could grab the Caduceus Driver, Karen picked up a fallen steel girder and smashed the drone into the floor like a bug.

The dying drone powered down before one of its tentacles convulsed and limply flopped to the floor just shy of its target. Karen gave a relieved sigh and dropped the steel beam before gently touching down and examining the octopod drone. Although it had been mangled, she gave it a close look hoping to figure out where it came from and who might have constructed it.

Clark floated down after the heat of battle had worn off. He looked over the wreckage of the convention hall, the mangled forms of the alien drones, and to the Caduceus Driver which seemed to have attracted them. At least no innocent civilians had been harmed. There would still be a few minutes before the local authorities showed up and he figured he'd make the most of the temporary quiet. He spotted Power Girl continuing to examine one of the drones before he walked over and approached her.

"Any idea what those things are?" he asked. She didn't seem to be too interested in any introductions or friendly chit chat. "Or maybe where they came from?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," she shrugged giving the drone a small kick with her boot and casting another look to the unharmed power generator.

There was a long pause before Clark spoke again trying to offer a friendly compliment, "Well... I say we worked pretty well together just now, don't you think?"

She regarded him with cool disinterest and remained silent so he offered a friendly hand, "Okay... let's try this again. I'm Super..."

"I already know who you are," Karen said cutting him off with a level glare.

Again, she was doing her best to just put up her shields and get rid of him. It was confusing seeing an echo of someone she had loved and cared about in her old life, a reminder of what had been lost and the things that had tied her to her original home. She had to remind herself again that this was not her Clark and this was not her earth. She had to remain focused on her mission and who she was because this battle had not helped things at all. Seeing this young attractive hero in battle, this doppelganger of Clark, was becoming... distracting. "Thanks again for the help today Superman, but I've got everything under control here. It's best you get back home to Metropolis where you belong."

"Wait!" Clark called out but Power Girl had already taken off through the broken glass ceiling of the skylights above.

He took a leap and followed after her. He pushed himself and flew as fast as he could to try and catch up. As they flew northward high across the skies of New York City, the two heroes left contrails in the air before Karen turned around and looked over her shoulder and saw she was being followed. She gritted her teeth and gave an exasperated sigh before angling over and landing on the rooftop of a nearby skyscraper.

She crossed her arms and did her best to wear a look of annoyance while Superman gently landed a few seconds later. "You know... for having super hearing, you seem to have a hard time understanding what go-home means."

"And I guess it's true what they say about New Yorkers being rude and unfriendly," Clark retorted earning a pointed glare from Power Girl.

"You came after me all this way just to trade barbs?" Karen sniffed before turning to leave again.

"Wait. I'm sorry. I just wanted to talk," Clark said raising his hands slowly, "Please."

Karen stopped and gave a long sigh. She turned to look at him curiously, "About what?"

"To be honest... I don't really know," Clark admitted sheepishly, "I haven't gotten a chance to think that far ahead yet."

Karen raised an eyebrow in silence unsure whether to be annoyed or to laugh.

Clark raised a hand to settle everything, "Sorry... let me try again. I've only heard about you in some news reports and you've even gotten the attention of the Justice League. After everything I've seen today, I just had to ask... you're a Kryptonian? Just like me?"

Karen hesitated weighing things over in her mind. To be honest, she wasn't even sure why she had decided to stop and even give Clark a chance to talk to her again. He didn't even know that she knew who he was and it was for the best it stayed that way. Still, something unconscious seemed to compel her to stay and to open her mouth. "Yes. It's... a long and complicated story of how I came to be here. One that I don't feel like talking about right now."

"I see," Clark said quietly. Inside, he was thrilled with the idea of finding another survivor of his homeworld. It was the same kind of joy he had felt when he first learned about his younger teenage cousin Kara and now it seemed there was a third Kryptonian too... a very strong, feisty, and beautiful one too. He wanted to ask so many questions and his news reporter curiosity had kicked into overdrive but he decided it was best to not push things either. He simply gave a broad smile.

Karen tilted her head in confusion, "What are you smiling about?"

"I'm just happy I got to meet you... and I'm glad to know there's another Kryptonian around too. I already have a cousin here, but it's nice to know I'm not the only other one of my kind. Don't you think so too?"

Karen paused again and tried again to steel her heart before looking toward the skyline of the city, "It doesn't really matter what I think. Right now, I'm concerned about finding out what those robots were and how to stop whoever sent them."

Clark nodded with a hopeful look, "Maybe I can help? Maybe you can speak to the rest of the Justice League and they can help you too?"

Karen shook her head firmly, "No. No offense, but I have no interest in dealing with the League. As long as they leave me alone, I'm happy to stay out of their way too."

"Fair enough. If not the League, then maybe I can..."

"I appreciate what you're trying to do Superman but I've gotten by on my own this far, and that's how I want to keep things," Karen interrupted, "I get that you're excited about the whole Krypton thing too but just because we have that in common doesn't mean we're going to be all close and best friends either. You don't know anything about me."

"Then help me understand," he offered gently but Power Girl turned her back on him.

"New York isn't your turf Superman. Metropolis will need you so just go back home... please."

Before he could say anything else, she quickly took off into the sky and angled toward the sun so that he couldn't see her in the glare. In a few heartbeats, she was completely gone from sight and the skies were clear. Clark looked over the skyline in quiet dismay before giving a deep sigh of resignation. Moments before he had been feeling hopeful and elated and finding someone like him and possibly a new friend. But it looked like that was becoming more and more unlikely. As he stood looking out over the city from his lonely perch, he felt the same twinge of melancholy he had experienced when Kara pushed him away.

His cousin Kara had been through a lot already and while he probably didn't help things, he understood why she needed some space in adjusting to life on Earth. She needed time to learn to trust others, especially her own blood like him and he was willing to wait as long as it took. Until then, he now found his curiosity and thoughts lingering on Power Girl. What had she been through to have her act so coldly and push Clark away in the same manner? She hadn't even seemed all that happy or surprised in learning about him either. Maybe he was just getting his hopes up. Or maybe all Kryptonian women were crazy and acted like this?

He shook his head and decided to focus his energy into sorting out some of this new mess. At the very least, he had gotten something to distract him from dwelling on Lois and most of all, he would have a hell of a story to write in his next news column.


A few days later, Karen Starr was back at work again with a renewed determination to look into her newest pet project. She made her way to one of her company's high security research labs flanked by a couple senior scientists and guards. As she walked down the long hallway and passed security checkpoints, she tucked her digital notepad under her arm and let her mind wander for a few moments. She knew she had work to do, but her idle thoughts kept drifting back to her encounter with Clark... no, this world's Superman just a few days ago.

She had felt a mixture of strange feelings upon seeing him and fighting alongside him in battle; happiness, excitement, admiration, fear, confusion, and dare she say it... maybe even a hint of attraction? She hadn't expected to run into Clark at the expo much less take on a pack of alien invaders and she hoped that her act had been convincing enough to keep him away both as Karen Starr and as Power Girl. Yet, part of her couldn't help but feel a little regret and pity for him too.

He had seemed to eager and intent to talk to her. He seemed genuinely happy and hopeful at finding another alien like him and she had to put up a wall and push him away harshly. He had seemed so hurt and disappointed by her rebuff and while she didn't want to have to do it, she knew it was probably for the best. With the expo over and the mysterious alien attack over for now, they could both go their separate ways again and go back to business as usual and right now her business was to get to the bottom of these drones. She shook her head and cleared her mind before she entered the main high tech laboratory where one of the salvaged drones had been taken to. Several engineers bustled about while another pair of armed guards stood over it as a precaution.

"Miss Starr," one of the chief researchers began, "You know we took a huge risk in taking this thing from the scene of the expo. If the authorities find out about it..."

"I doubt they will," Karen answered coolly while taking off her glasses and walking over toward the ruined drone, "I don't think any of the cops counted the number of attackers and the rest of the government agents have more than enough to pick apart."

"I still think it's a little odd that Power Girl had taken one of the drones and left it in your care," the scientist mused.

"She must have some feeling of trust in us," Karen answered calmly, "Those things were after the Caduceus Driver so she must believe we have a way to figure out what this all means. I don't intend to betray her trust and let her down. I expect all of you won't either."

"No Ma'am," the other people in the lab answered dutifully before going back to their work. Karen nodded in determination and rolled up her sleeves.

"All right people, let's get to it. I expect results and I expect to see them soon."


Meanwhile, somewhere in deep space, a large alien vessel cruised through the cosmos and opened one of its hanger doors allowing space probes to return from their scouting missions. Each of the scout drones glided over to their respective docking ports along the walls and plugged in to upload their newest findings. Vast amounts of data were transmitted to the central core processor of the vessel's computer systems. Much of that information related to telemetry taken of planets that had been surveyed. The most important information that was filtered out were those planets that contained advanced civilizations or unusual life forms.

All the pictures, sounds, and recorded data were transmitted to a wall of several monitors that had been arranged in the ship's central command room where a humanoid figure sat in a chair watching them all at once. The figure sat sifting through the vast amounts of images and readings that flew by the screens at impossible speed until it spotted one screen with some unusual telemetry. The figure raised a hand and the other screens stopped and allowed the one in question to focus and slow down its visual readings.

On the screen images were displayed of a blue watery planet with a yellow sun. It looked to be the third planet of its star system and was called Earth by many of its inhabitants. While the largest cities on the planet had achieved some minor degree of advanced technology, it was still far behind many of the other worlds that this vessel had encountered. The cities and technology were of minor interest and would likely be more of an amusement, but the main draw was the unusual readings that were taken by drones in the city called New York.

Not only had the drones detected energy signatures from an advanced power generator, but also the sighting of two members of the Kryptonian race. It was known to many that the planet had been destroyed some time ago and chances of finding any survivors was next to impossible. The figure continued to watch impassively as the male and female Kryptonians destroyed the landing drones with incredible power. They would make excellent specimens for study.

The mysterious commander leaned back in its seat and let a cybernetic jack from the chair plug in to the base of the figure's neck. From it, new commands were relayed to the helm control to change course. It would likely take some time to reach the planet Earth, but the promise of finding some Kryptonians was an opportunity too tempting to pass up.