After taking a brief visit at the labs of Starr Industries, Karen returned to the Watchtower with her new power generator in tow. She kept it in a small duffle bag and made sure it was secure so that it wouldn't be damaged along the way to Brainiac's carrier. Once Clark and Karen had suited up for battle, they met with the rest of the League's leadership in an open hanger of the tower. The outside vacuum of space was being sealed out by a force field wall and the view of the planet showed Brainiac's carrier looming in the distance of the planet's horizon. By now, night would have fallen back home in Metropolis and New York but in space, it was all relative.
Karen secured her bag and gave a stoic nod before Clark approached with the rest of his comrades, "Karen… I just wanted to thank you again for everything you're doing now. You're taking a big risk and making an even bigger sacrifice."
"I know," she said, "But I can't help but feel that this is still the right thing to do."
Batman regarded Clark quietly, "We have the rest of the plan in place. You're sure you can really trust her?"
Clark looked to the Dark Knight with a level gaze and didn't take offense to the statement. He knew that Batman had mistrusted him in the past for fear that he would lose control and use his Kryptonian powers for evil and destruction. In his own odd way, Bruce was just showing he was concerned. He answered Batman, "I do. Whether she want to admit it or note, she's one of us now."
Karen felt a little off balance and self conscious before Wonder Woman came over and offered her a welcoming hand, "In that case, be careful out there. Come home safe and keep Clark safe too."
"I… thanks. I will," Karen answered while shaking Diana's hand.
Before they turned to leave, Cyborg stepped forward and handed Clark a small device, "Oh Clark, before you go I wanted to give you this. I thought it might come in handy if you have to face off with Kara again."
Clark took the small hand transmitter and studied it while Cyborg continued, "It's a signal jammer that I specially modified. If this Brainiac guy is manipulating Kara with some special brainwave devices, this might be able to stop them or help her shake off the effects."
"Thanks," Clark smiled as he tucked the device away and looked to Karen, "Are you ready to go surrender?"
"Let's do this," she nodded seriously.
The other League members watched as Superman and Power Girl took off and flew from the hangers out into open space. The two flew unhindered in space and soared at great speed until they reached the outer hull of the alien carrier a short time later. They hovered in place for a moment waiting for some kind of reaction while the ship hung in stationary orbit. Karen wrinkled her features, "Well they're not shooting at us… that's good. What now? Should we knock on the front door or something?"
Her question was answered as one of the hanger docks of the ship opened up and allowed them a passageway inside. The two heroes entered cautiously and slowly glided deeper into the corridors of the vessel. To their surprise, they met no resistance at all. Several other types of mechanical drones paid them little mind and passed by to carry out their other functions on the ship. Even some of the sentry drones who stood by some doorways and paths of the hanger did not react at all. Clark narrowed his eyes and looked to Karen, "Stay sharp. We can't afford to let our guards down."
They continued on until they came to a busy concourse of the alien carrier. All around they saw projector screens showing flashes of different worlds and creatures that had been collected and assimilated into Brainiac's databanks. As they stood in awe, a hovering drone came up and greeted them. It beckoned for the two to follow it and they did, slowly gliding down a few more secure corridors. Eventually, the path opened up again into a very large central control room with decks of computers and monitor screens. At the center of the room was a command chair with an antennae structure where Brainiac sat plugged in to the main controls. Standing nearby was Supergirl who regarded the two visitors with a look of cool indifference.
"Kara! Are you okay?" Clark called out but he turned when he saw Brainiac rise from his seat.
"She will talk to you when I tell her to. You've come to surrender to me then?"
"We've come as you asked," Karen answered, "But the jury is still out on if you're going to get a formal surrender from us."
"It matters very little," the cybernetic villain said calmly, "In the end I will get my way."
"What is it you want exactly?" Clark asked, "When we came in here, there were all these images displayed of alien worlds, of cities, and wonders across the universe."
"The answer is simple," Brainiac replied, "I'm here to preserve the knowledge and only the pinnacle aspects of the worlds I come across."
"And what about the rest of the people and the environments of those worlds?" Karen asked in dread.
"They are unworthy so they are destroyed," Brainiac said with almost a hint of a smile in his voice, "Besides, isn't knowledge and peak specimens all the more valuable when they are very rare?"
"You're a monster. Then that's what you'll do with the rest of Earth? After you've plundered its knowledge and technology?" Karen asked.
"That is correct."
"But why us?" Clark asked, "Why are you so interested in me and Karen and Kara?"
Brainiac sighed, "I have already collected some knowledge and specimens from the planet Krypton, among them some bits of DNA as well as the rocks called Kryptonite. I was not expecting to find you few Kryptonians here and I did not expect that you would manifest such different abilities under an alien environment like the Earth. I want to study you and learn so that I might be able to incorporate some of your powers too. Kryptonian DNA is such a complex and unique thing... so much potential for great power."
"Well if you want a demonstration of that power, we'll be happy to give it to you," Karen said as her eyes flared. She fired a powerful heat ray beam at caught Brainiac by surprise and sent him smashing through a wall of the ship into another chamber, "Clark? Cover me!"
Karen got to work planting her power generator and started to arm it to overload as if it were some sort of time bomb. Meanwhile, Kara sprung forward to stop her but she was intercepted by Superman and the two began to grapple in the center of the room. Clark knew he didn't have a lot of time, and while he maintained his defensive fighting stance, he didn't want to hurt his younger cousin either. The younger girl beat away at his guard and tried to force him back causing him to grunt, "Come on! Snap out of it Kara! It's me, Clark!"
"All I see is my enemy and a liar!" she cried before he caught her arm and put her into a headlock and slammed her down into the floor. She continued to kick and thrash against his hold so he pulled out the signal jammer that Cyborg had given him. He activated it and continued to restrain Supergirl while saying a prayer that it would work. After several long moments, Kara let up and gave a disoriented cry as the jammer interfered with the brainwave transmitter that was coming from Brainiac's command chair. As the signal was overcome and the antennae blew out, Kara slumped down and shook out her head as she slowly began to come back to her senses.
Her eyes began to refocus as if she was coming out of some waking dream and she paused when she realized where she was and what she had done. She stared at Superman with a regretful look and spoke in a small voice, "Clark? Is that really you? Was I...?"
Clark smiled in relief and gave her a reassuring hug, "It's okay Kara. It's me... and it's all right. I promise everything will be okay."
The two cousins didn't have long to savor their reunion and final reconciliation before they were both blasted aside by some Kryptonite beams of Brainiac's arm cannon. He had recovered and returned to the fight, just as Karen armed the Caduceus Driver to go off at a set time. While Brainiac didn't spot the generator, he did see Karen and opened fire on her put she took to the air to evade the beams. What she didn't count on was for Brainiac to extend a metallic tentacle cable from his other arm and lash out to attack from range. He swatted Power Girl out of the air and before she could recover her balance, he hooked the cable around her ankle and whipped her about smashing her into some of the computer monitors around the room.
Meanwhile, Clark groaned and slowly got back up to his knees. Whatever had hit him packed a real punch. He had seen a flash of green and could only guess that it must have been a Kryptonite powered weapon. He took a moment to feel some of his strength returning but saw that Kara had been completely stunned. She gave a low moan and lay flat so it was unlikely she's be getting back into this fight. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Karen being whipped around the room and knew he had to get in there and help her. He reached for his comm and called in to the Justice League, "All right gang... we could use a little distraction right around now."
From outside the space carrier, a shuttle ship from the Watchtower that was piloted by Batman and Aquaman opened fire on the bridge. Also flying alongside the shuttle was Green Lantern who used his ring to attack the outer hull and weapon emplacements in various ways. The momentary distraction caused Brainiac to pause in his own battle which gave Karen an opportunity to strike back. She broke the cable around her ankle and tugged it back to abruptly pull Brainiac toward her. She hammered him back with a series of hard punches and tore off his Kryptonite blaster as he brought it around for another shot.
Before she could throw another punch, Brainiac raised his other arm and used another counter-measure. A burst of highly concentrated red sunlight radiated out from a projector in his hand and stopped Power Girl in her tracks. Karen was stunned by a wave of momentary weakness before she felt the alien clamp down on her neck with a crushing vice grip. As she tried to thrash and struggle free, Karen gasped again feeling the wind suddenly knocked out of her lungs as Brainiac drove his heavily armored fist into her stomach. Before Power Girl could recover, the alien hammered her again in the midsection with another fierce body blow, the force of his second punch lifting her off the ground a few inches. As the heroine clutched her ribs and doubled over gasping in pain, Brainiac looked on impassively before he violently backhanded her into a group of computer monitors nearby. "It's pointless to resist Kryptonian. Your body will give out long before mine ever does."
"We'll just see about that," Clark chimed in as he soared in low and fast for a flank attack. He smashed into Brainiac and drove him through another bulkhead before punching him clear across the span of the next room. As Superman continued to pummel Brainiac in a brutal fight across the ship, one of his punches caved in part of the cyborg's head. Brainiac raised a hand imploring Clark to yield a moment, "Wait... are you in such a rush to destroy that you've forgotten I have something to offer you?"
Clark stopped just short and gripped Brainiac by the neck, "Talk quickly."
"Your homeworld... Krypton. I hold some knowledge of it in my databanks. Aren't you the least bit curious? I can give it to you."
That made Clark pause for a moment in indecisiveness. The offer was tempting and played at his heart for just a moment. That moment was just enough for Brainiac to recharge his red solar projector. He unleashed another burst directed at Clark and struck him down with a counterblow. The cyborg gripped Superman by the throat and lifted him up with a crushing grip. "You beings of flesh and bone, so weak on the outside... and just as weak on the inside."
The carrier rumbled again from the outside as the Justice League continued its harrying assault. Clark summoned just enough strength for a desperate final strike and reared back, "How's this for weak?"
He struck a blow with all the force he could muster and his fist punched clean through Brainiac's chest and out through his back in a cloud of circuits and shrapnel. Brainiac staggered back and let go, pitching over to the side of a console as electricity surged from the gaping wound in his chest. "This is far from over Kryptonian. You have only destroyed one of my many bodies. I will return..."
"And when you do, I'll be waiting..." Clark answered as he tried to catch his own breath while steadying himself on his knees. The severely damaged shell of Brainiac powered down and collapsed to the floor in a lifeless heap before Clark heard his name being called. He turned and looked toward one of the gaping holes in the bulkhead walls to see Karen enter. Like Clark she was looking a little worn and ragged from the battle but she was also carrying the limp form of Kara over one shoulder.
"Clark... we don't have a lot of time. We have to take Kara and get out of here before the generator goes off," she said.
Clark nodded and hurried over helping to share some of the burden of carrying Kara. Both Clark and Karen had felt some of their strength had been sapped from the Kryptonite and red sunlight but they probably had enough energy to make their escape. They had to take that gamble. While they both hurried down the corridors as fast they could in their exhausted states, they pushed past some of the drones back toward the hangers. Deeper within the carrier ship, Brainiac's recorded consciousness was recovered and downloaded into another one of his many replacement bodies. Once he was fully powered up and rearmed, he would destroy the planet Earth and make those Kryptonians pay for resisting him. Unknown to him, he would never get that chance as the Caduceus Driver reached critical mass and detonated in the heart of the command room where it had been planted.
A large explosion rocked the center of the ship as a massive burst of energy began to radiate outward, tearing the massive carrier ship to pieces and obliterating everything in its path. As they reached the open hangers, Clark and Karen felt the ship shudder and shake. They exchanged a quick look and Karen gulped, "Uh oh... the generator must have gone off. We don't have much time at all."
Clark radioed their allies, "Bruce, you'd better get everyone else clear. This place is going to blow any second."
Batman gave an affirmative before Clark turned to Karen, "Let's go. We have to try and make a run for it."
By now, some of the other drones nearby got Brainiac's new instructions and began to turn menacingly to try and stop the invaders on the ship. The Kryptonians took off and flew as fast as they could before the hanger doors could close again and they cleared the barrier just in time. As they continued to race away with Kara in tow, the explosion from the Caduceus Driver continued to expand until it engulfed the entire carrier ship. Mere moments later, the super carrier ship was completely obliterated and reduced to a massive cloud of fiery wreckage that blossomed out in every direction. Clark and Karen were caught in the tail end of the blast and stunned by the overwhelming rush of light, heat, and force. Despite being thrown end over end and momentarily blacking out, both of them kept hold of Kara with protective grips until the blast subsided and they were left drifting in space over Earth.
He wasn't sure how long he had been stunned, but when Clark finally started coming back around to his senses and cracked an eye open, he was relieved to find Kara was still safely in his arms while Karen clung to them on the opposite end. She was just recovering her wits too and as they floated through space with a gentle spin, they caught each others eyes and exchanged a small quiet smile. Moments later, the Justice League's shuttle appeared and Green Lantern's voice came in over the comm to Clark, "Hey, are you guys okay? How about we give you a lift home?"
"Right now, there's no other place I'd rather be," Clark grinned as the three Kryptonians continued to drift peacefully and wait for help to arrive.
Some time later that night, clouds of debris from Brainiac's destroyed carrier rained down over Earth in the form of falling stars. As the streaks of fiery light showered down, the businessman Lex Luthor stood looking out of the windows from the top floor of his office building at Lexcorp. He watched quietly before he heard the phone ring and he answered it. The call came from one of the chief scientists at a Lexcorp research facility. "Dr. Palencia?"
"Mr. Luthor, we're tracking the largest pieces of debris that are falling through the atmosphere just as you had asked us. What exactly do you want us to do now?"
The businessman narrowed his eyes to the falling stars and gave a twisted smile, "I want you to mark where that debris lands and send out recovery teams to pick up whatever you can salvage there."
The researcher hesitated, "Mr. Luthor... isn't that... shouldn't we leave that up to the federal authorities? Or the Air Force?"
Lex Luthor shook his head, "The government agents won't miss what isn't there Dr. Palencia. I want whatever can be found in the wreckage of that alien craft. If it can give my company an even bigger advantage against our competitors, than any risk will be worth it. Now get to work."
He hung up the phone and continued to stand with his hands folded behind his back watching the meteor shower and considering the possibilities of his own dark ambitions.
A/N:
Sorry everyone, I won't be doing a Lex Luthor subplot. That was just thrown in for a little bit of fun at the end here, but I do plan to wrap up this whole story in one more chapter. Stay tuned. I should be getting it out very soon.
