REIGN
By FAH3
As Sheila opened the door to the apartment she had given to the young Superwoman, she could tell something was wrong. On the table, her naco sat cold and untouched while the floor was covered in cans of root beer. Like Kim, the young clone concentrated on staying healthy and thin up to a point. So the young woman had made it a habit of drinking and eating as much healthy food as she could. So if her apartment was this cluttered with nothing but junk food, then that meant something was wrong. And she had a pretty good idea what. It wasn't long before she found the young clone in her bedroom. It looked like she had just gotten out of the shower and was wearing an emerald green robe as she held her uniform top, just looking at the red and yellow shield that was on its chest.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Sheila asked her.
"I didn't hear you come in." the young clone mumbled.
"Now I know something's up." Sheila said.
"How do you figure that?"
"Because Superwoman's hearing was so finely tuned, she could hear a fly fart on Everest. And you being her clone," Sheila said and trailed off. The young woman didn't bother looking up, but kept her eyes glued to the shield on her uniform. "Do you want to talk about it?" Sheila asked. Her mom was always good at these kinds of talks, but not her. She was just hoping she didn't get a sudden case of foot-in-mouth disease.
"Do I think things through?" she asked.
"Huh?" Sheila didn't really understand what the young girl was asking her.
"Earlier, I thought I was doing something good. I was trying to get those guys to stop shooting at the armored guy in the cape. You know, the one everyone calls the Man of Steel. And – someone,"
The young girl couldn't finish her sentence as tears began to pool in her eyes and fall down her pale face. A few sobs were starting to escape as her grip on her uniform top began to tighten. Sheila didn't know where her next move came from, but was surprised as soon as she did it. She wrapped her arm around the girl's shoulder and pulled her in close. As the young woman began to weep into Sheila's shirt, Shego gently stroked the hair on her head like she had seen Ron do with Kim so many years ago. The closest thing Shego had ever come to love in her whole life was her assistant Mercy, but they weren't the kind of emotions one would expect in a relationship like theirs. Mercy might see their relationship as lovers, but Sheila only saw her as a close friend with benefits. But something in her actually went out to this young girl she was holding right now. And it wasn't the kind of emotion she had for Mercy or the other Kim clone. What was it?
"I saw the news, kiddo. I know what happened." Sheila said to her in a gentle tone of voice.
"Why didn't I know they were there? Why?" the young girl cried as more tears began to fall.
"You were concentrated on something else. I know you didn't mean for that chopper to be destroyed."
"I bet Superwoman wouldn't have screwed up like that. I got someone killed today." The young girl cried.
"Do you – remember how I said I knew Superwoman?"
"Yeah." She said.
"Well, I've known her for a long time. And I know for a fact that she wasn't perfect either. She had to learn as she went along to." Sheila said.
"But she never got anyone killed."
"Crap, this is harder than I thought." Sheila thought to herself. How was she going to cheer this kid up and back to doing her job?
"Do you mind if I tell you a story?" Sheila asked her.
"No." the young clone answered.
"A couple of years ago, there was a young girl who found out she had amazing powers. She could do things that nobody else could do, and that made a lot of people scared of her. So, she was always looking for a way to either fit in and be normal, or prove that she wasn't some monster people thought she might be. Then one day, her big brother got a very crazy idea."
"What was that?"
"Well, since the rest of her family had powers too, he decided they should become superheroes. More specifically, a team of heroes."
"Let me guess, she thought it was a brilliant idea." The clone said.
"Actually, she thought her brother should have been thrown into the nearest nut house. But the rest of them thought it was a great idea and went along with it. But after a few of their adventures, she couldn't stand to just watch them get hurt. So, she joined their team to make sure they didn't do anything stupid."
"And they all live happily ever after, the end." The clone said sarcastically.
"No, they didn't." Shego said and noticed she now had the girl's attention. "It turns out that the girl had developed a very short fuse from all the years of being teased and treated like she was a monster. And during one fight, she let her temper get away from her. So she used her powers to try and hurt a criminal as best as she could. But when the criminal was caught and she calmed down, she saw she had done more damage than good. And what was worse, several innocent people got hurt in the process." Sheila said.
"What happened afterward?"
"Well, a lot of people didn't trust her for a while. Not even her brothers. She even tried to hide for a while. But she realized that her brothers needed her, and there was more that mattered than her feeling guilty. It took her a while, and a lot of practice in controlling her temper, but she earned people's trust back; eventually." Sheila said.
"So, she just kept being a good guy and everyone forgave her?" the young woman asked.
"More or less. I guess what I'm trying to tell you is that the only way for you to prove your sorry is to learn from your mistakes. You now know to keep a better eye and ear open, and to mind your surroundings. But don't give up. You see, that girl saw that continuing to be a hero also seemed like a way to redeem herself for what she had done. As her way to say I'm sorry. Get it?" Sheila asked her.
"It's really corny, but I get it." The clone said.
"Good." Sheila said. "So what are you going to do now?" Sheila asked her.
"For starters, I think I owe the Man of Steel an apology." The clone said.
"Say what?"
"I was a little – rude to him earlier." The clone said as she began to slightly blush and look guilty. "I think I should go find him and apologize." The young girl said.
"Sounds like a plan. Just don't stay out too late." Sheila said as she got up to leave.
"What happened to the girl? Is she still a hero?" the young woman asked her.
"I – wish I knew. I haven't seen her in a long time." Sheila said and left.
Sheila let out a heavy sigh as she walked away. It was hard having to tell the girl part of her past. And oddly enough, it was even harder lying to her about it as well. The day she had lost her fuse was when she also had quit being a part of Team Go. She had been in hiding for a while, and that was when she decided she wanted to be Drakken's sidekick. She had never felt herself while she had been a hero, and she had joined Team Go to keep an eye on her brothers. But the day she had destroyed so much had opened her eyes and made her realize what she wanted to do more. And that was be herself. Even if she was the villain of the story, at least she knew who she was.
As she made her way back to her office/apartment, she felt her cell phone begin to vibrate. She had told Mercy not to contact her unless it was important. As she looked at the caller I.D., she saw it was Mercy herself that was calling her. What was going on that her assistant needed to talk to her now?
"What is it?" Sheila asked.
"I just got word from the R&D guys. They were going over the data they got from watching the Man of Steel and the kid fighting, and found a unique two-way frequency coming from Steel."
"Two-way frequency? Are you telling me someone was talking to him?" Sheila asked.
"It looks like that. And you were right about your theory, Sheila. The suit's design matches your private records. It's matches the one Dr. Irons created. It's probably a safe bet that he's the Man of Steel. Sheila, are you there?" Mercy asked when she didn't hear her employer say anything.
"I'm fine. In fact, we may have found a way to rid ourselves of a little white pest. Can they isolate the frequency?"
"They say they can."
"Good. I want to send Dr. Irons a little gift. For old time's sake."
"I have to admit Wade, you are very agile for a computer geek." Dr. Irons said as he finished the repairs and modifications on the suit while he monitored the fabrication of the back up armor.
"When you're Kim Possible's go-to-guy, you learn a few things over the years." Wade said as he iced his knees while he had an ice pack tapped to both shoulders. "We have to work on the suit's mobility. It feels like I'm wearing a tank. Not to mention the strength boost doesn't help that much with the hammer."
"What can I say? I made it according to my physique. I also wanted to get a work out." Irons said with a laugh.
"That's got me curious. How does a brilliant scientist like you end up with a body that would make the Terminator envious?" Wade asked him.
"I used to be a skinny little kid that got picked on a lot, and I had to deal with a lot of racists growing up. I was naturally big and wide, so I started working out to intimidate all those A-holes. Plus, I used to work in the junkyard of an old family friend. I learned how things worked by taking apart a bunch of old things and trying to put them back together." Irons said and started a diagnostic of the computer systems in the suit.
As he continued to work, Dr. Irons discovered something strange appear on the diagnostic. As Irons took a closer look at what the diagnostic had found, he realized someone had sent an electronic message through their comm frequency! They'd been hacked! Irons quickly ran a scan of the message to make sure it wasn't a trace program or delivering a devastating computer virus. Amazingly enough, it was clean. But this didn't make sense at all. Why would someone send them an ordinary message through a protected comm link? With curiosity getting the better of him, Irons accessed the message and began to read. What the message itself said was making his mouth hit the floor.
"Are you all right? You went quiet all of a sudden." Wade said.
"I'm – fine. I'm just - trying to make sure nothing is going wrong in the new suit's construction." Irons said.
"Well, don't take too long. I'm going to go ahead and go to bed." Wade said and he pulled himself to his feet and walked away.
"Sure. Sure." Irons said as he continued to read the message.
He didn't know who had sent the message or who it was from, but what he and Wade had been sent was unbelievable. According to the data that was in front of him, the person creating and selling his weapons out onto the streets of Metropolis was none other than his former lab partner, Dr. Lapin. He also noticed that along with the data was a map that lead to the possible location for her base of operations. Most likely, this was nothing more than bait for an elaborate trap. But there was the very slim chance that whoever had sent the message may be telling the truth. If Angora indeed was the one that had been supplying the gangs with his weapons, this might be the break he was looking for. To finally stop innocents from getting killed, and break the back of the weapons supplier once and for all. Could he risk passing this information up? But there were two not so simple problems. One, Wade would never go for this at all. Wade was the type of person to look a gifted horse in the mouth to make sure it was on the up and up. And two, he was just now getting the use of his legs back. If he were to take the suit out himself, he could risk breaking his legs again or cause even greater damage to them. What was he going to do?
Galatea was standing in the darkened bedroom of the fortress, and she was looking at the entrance and into the rest of the lighted areas through her yellow visor. Kal was waiting for her on the other side, and he almost looked as anxious as she was. It was time to see if the solar suit was doing its job and helping her eyes heal. She was tired of having to wear these dopey things, and sick and tired of so much as a dim flashlight blinding her. And Kal was doing his best to put up with her moods. She really, really didn't deserve a guy like him.
"Anytime you're ready." Kal said to her.
"What if this doesn't work? What if my eyes aren't getting better?" she asked him.
"Then we'll find a way to deal with it." Kal said to her.
"Don't you ever get tired of looking at the brighter side of things?" Galatea asked herself as she removed the visor and closed her eyes. "Okay, Kal. Do it." She said.
Within moments, she heard the windows in the bedroom begin to open. She could tell that sunlight was already pouring into the room, but the didn't help the anxiety she felt in the pit of her stomach. She took a deep breath and decided to do this like it was a band-aid, fast and easy. Balling up her unused fist, she quickly opened her eyes and screamed at the intensive pain she felt in her eyes as everything went white! She fell to her knees as she covered her eyes with her hands and tried to block out the burning bright light. She could feel Kal wrap his arms around her and try to move her to the bed as best as he could while she felt something was placed on her face.
"The windows are closed. Can you open your eyes?" he asked her as she felt his arms wrap around her once more.
"Let me try." She said as she slowly began to open her eyelids a little at a time. A few fresh tears fell as she tried to let them focus, and saw everything was slightly tinted with a faint yellow hue. Kal had placed the visor back on her face. "The solar suit isn't working, is it?" she asked him.
"With the rest of your powers, it's working perfectly. But your eyes," Kal said as he trailed off.
"I'm going to be blind for the rest of my life." Galatea said to herself as she popped her jaw.
"I didn't say that. For some reason, your eyes are taking longer to heal than they should. I don't if it's because of how much I had to alter your DNA or what. It's just, going to take longer than I thought it would be." Kal said.
"I hate this. I really hate this!" Galatea said as she got up and walked to the closed windows. She was so angry at that moment that her breathing was coming out in huffs as her muscles began to tense up all at once. She was so angry that she didn't know what to do. "Do you know how frustrating this is, Kal? I used to see halfway across the damn country! I could see things just by focusing that humans need a microscope with! Hell, I could even tell if someone had a broken bone or not! Now I can't even look into a fridge without going blind! I'M NOTHING MORE THAT SOME DAMN CRIPPLE!" Galatea shouted.
"No you're not!" Kal shouted at her, surprising her slightly. "MY God, look at what you've done! You've saved lives! Can a cripple stand up to a boat loaded with gunman? Can a cripple break through a wall and stop a man from hurting a woman? Can a cripple fly into space if they felt like it? God damn it, Galatea. I've done my best to try and help you, and given the fact I'm a novice with some of the machinery in this place; I think it's a miracle you're even breathing right now! Let alone still retaining your powers!" Kal shouted as he tried to take a deep breath.
"Frustrating. You don't think I understand frustrating? I grew up on a world where we could activate machines with just a thought. I spent the last few remaining years of my childhood on another planet that was once a frozen wasteland. Now everything that I'm used to, everything I know, is gone and I'm stuck here on this world! My God, it feels like I'm in the damn stone age sometimes with everything being so primitive! The only way I didn't go crazy is because of Kara and this place! Now with her gone, I'm doing my best to cope with the face that I'm the last of my kind now! Or that I was – until I met you." He said as he looked at Galatea and saw how confused she was. "I might not know what it's like to be blind, but I know how frustrating it is to try and – cope with something you're not ready for." He said to her.
"Wow. Our first real fight." Galatea said as she bit her lower lip and began too feel something like a horse's ass.
"It'd be nice if it was our last fight." He said as he began to feel guilty for loosing his temper at her. "I'm sorry, Galatea. I'm doing my best to help you, and it feels like something's ripping my heart out every time I see that your in pain or upset. It feels like I'm always failing you." He said to her.
Galatea walked over to where Kal was standing, and wrapper her arms around his neck as she gently placed her forehead against his. She gently captured his lips in a soft kiss before looking at him in the eyes.
"Kal, I'm very grateful for everything you've done for me. You've done more for me than anyone else, and I keep feeling like I don't deserve it." She said to him.
"You're worth the trouble." He said to her.
"Thanks." She said and kissed him again, letting the kiss last longer. "I'm sorry for being so stubborn and pig headed."
"It's one of the things I like about you." He said to her as they kissed again, and began to feel their passions begin to rise. His hands were already slipping under the robe she was wearing when the computers began to beep. Both groaned to themselves and as they broke free from each other and walked back into the main chamber of the fortress. "There's several tenement fires in Detroit." Kal said.
"A hero's work is never done." Galatea said, already in her solar suit and attaching the cape to her uniform. "I'll be home as soon as I can. Then we can go back to what we were doing." She said as she kissed Kal one more time and firmly grabbed his ass as she did so. With one final smirk, Galatea flew up and out of the fortress and made her way back to the United States.
"What a woman." Kal said to himself with a smile.
It took a little effort and a few course corrections, but he was able to find the penthouse the map had mentioned. After a few moments of calculating the figures in his head, the Man of Steel was able to make a gentle landing on the balcony of the penthouse apartment and found the door wide open and waiting for him. Inside the dimly lit bedroom, he could see someone laying on the bed in a silk nightgown. He didn't need any more light to tell him who it was on the bed. He knew the curves of that body almost like the back of his own hand.
"I didn't want to believe it. I kept telling myself over and over that it wasn't true." He said to the woman as he stepped inside. The woman rose to her feet and walked to the man like cat that was stalking its prey. A large smile appeared on her full lips as she took in the sight in front of her.
"As I live and breathe. John Henry Irons, it is you in there." She said to him.
"Angora." He breathed as the memories of their past together came flooding back. All the hours they spent developing projects, the romance that bloomed from spending so much time together. Even the day he proposed seemed to hurt like a flaming hot knife through his heart as he saw that his former fiancée was indeed the one selling his weapons to gangs. Some of them weren't even out of school yet.
"Why, Angora? You're selling my BG-60's out on the streets." He said to her as she began to rub her hands against his armored torso.
"BG-60's? Oh, John. Don't you know half the romance in selling a product is in the name? People pay out the nose for Toastmasters. A bloody fortune, Johnny. Worth more than twice a king's ransom."
"But you're selling them to kids, Angora. Some of them aren't even fourteen yet, and they're killing each other. What's worse, innocent people are getting caught in the crossfire." John said as she reached up and slowly slipped the helmet off of his head.
"Johnny, you designed the thing. What else do you think a gun is used for? And that means you're as much responsible for all those people dying as I am. Of course, for old times sake, I am willing to share my profit." She said to him as her lips began inching closer John's. She was even wearing the same perfume that would make John's head swim. There nights when he wanted to taste those lips one more time. To hold her and feel her in his arms. "What do you say, Johnny? Want to give it another go?" she said as their lips were only a few mere centimeters from touching.
"NO!" John shouted and pushed her away from him. "I told you, Angora. What I'd seen in Qurac, and what it had done to me." He said to her as he picked his helmet back up and placed it over his head. I didn't know what I was doing when I designed those weapons. Maybe I didn't want to know. But you knew why I destroyed everything. Why I decided to drop out of sight after what I saw." He said to her.
"And you should have done a better job at guarding those designs, John Henry. Do you know how simple it was to copy all those files from your computer?" she asked him as she sauntered back to her bed.
"You were the one that supplied my weapons to the Quarac rebels, weren't you?" he asked her. He had always suspected, but was never truly sure.
"Not alone, I wasn't. The head Amertek was interested in buying those designs, but he wanted proof. He also needed an excuse to go in and capture all those oil fields for the people financing his company and friends on Capitol Hill. What better excuse to finally invade than to stop of blood thirsty terrorists?" she asked him.
"So you help slaughter innocent woman and children just to satisfy your greed?" John Henry demanded.
"It's a very profitable business, Johnny. I'm making more supplying gangs than I was when I was supplying the government. And I'm not planning on stopping any time soon." Angora said as she sat on a large, plush loveseat and draped her arm across the back of it.
"Wrong, Angora. I might have opened Pandora's Box, but I'm going to make sure I put every single demon I created back in it. Starting by dragging your sick, albino ass to jail." John Henry growled as his grip on the large hammer he was carrying began to tighten.
"Like hell you are."
John had been so anxious about seeing his ex-fiancée again and what she may be implicated in that he had forgotten to use the sensors in the suit to check to see if she had any weapons hidden. If he had, he would have seen the small and very powerful bazooka she had hidden behind the large loveseat. The one that Angora had reached for, and fired directly at John Herny Irons.
"What the hell?" Wade asked himself as he heard several alarms go off. He had gone to bed to try and relax the sore muscles from the fire fight he had gotten in at the bridge earlier. Apparently, he hadn't rested long enough as he felt just about every muscle in his body scream in agony as he got up and went into the lab. At first, he was worried that something had gone wrong in the fabrication of the new suit, but all the systems were reading normal. In fact, the fabrication was almost completely finished. So what was going wrong?
It only took him a few moments for his brain to realize that the alarms were coming from the computers that were monitoring the systems of the original suit. Which was missing! The suit was gone, and Dr. John Henry Irons was no where to be found! Wade quickly ran to the system monitors and saw that all the sensors were off-line! Wade recalled the data it had recorded and saw that the sensors went off-line after a massive heat spike and something had hit the torso.
"What the hell is going on?" Wade asked himself.
He didn't recall much. One minute, he was standing in a high rise apartment with a woman he thought he knew. The next incident, he found himself hurtling through the air, and crashed into an fuel truck that had exploded once he hit it. Despite the force of the explosion, he could tell that he was still inside the fuel tank that was being toed. But his helmet wasn't completely secured to the rest of the suit, he couldn't activate the air filters or oxygen mask. He was feeling the dark smoke filling and burning his lungs. Every cough felt like he was trying to vomit gravel as he tried to find a way out. The massive flames were also heating the suit as well. The suit had lost power, none of the built-in servos or sensors were working. That blast must have hit the soft spot in the armor he hadn't had a chance to repair. He had already cheated death once, but to only die like this? He couldn't, not now! There were too many things he had to do. Too many things he had to repent for.
"SWEET JESUS, THAT'S HOT!" a very young voice screamed as he felt himself yanked out of the inferno and onto the street. He could feel the suit's armor begin to cool in the night air as his body his best to expel the smoke he had inhaled. As he slowly began to regain his normal breathing back, he looked up to see the person who had saved him was the young Supergirl who claimed to be Superwoman's clone. But something was wrong. She had her gloves removed and was blowing on her hands hard enough that thin sheets of ice were actually forming over her palms. "Oh God! That was really, really HOT!" the young girl shouted as she tried to ease the pain in her red hands.
"I – I thought you were - were a clone – o-of Superwoman." Steel said in-between deep breaths.
"I'm also going through puberty, you know. For all you know, my powers might go nuts when I have my period." She said she began flexing her hands again.
"Or maybe that the sun isn't out?" he asked her, remembering how he found out that Superwoman's powers came from the solar radiation of their sun.
"What? Oh! R-right." She said, as if that fact had never occurred to her before.
"What are you doing here, anyway?" Steel asked the young clone.
"I felt bad about what happened earlier today."
"Earlier?" Steel asked.
"Yeah, at the bridge." The girl said as she put her burnt gloves back on and began to look like a whipped puppy. "You were right, and I didn't mean to hurt anyone. So I – I came to apologize. But then I saw you crash in – say, what happened to you, anyway?" she asked him.
"Angora!" Steel said and looked back to the apartment he had just been blown out of. "My rockets are out. Can you give me a lift to that penthouse?" he asked the young girl.
"Sure." Supergirl said as she hooked Steel under his arms and flew him back to the apartment he had just been in not too long ago.
As soon as they had touched down onto the balcony, Steel rushed into the bedroom to find nothing. The drawers had been pulled out their places in the dresser and emptied, as well as many other things. He knew there was no point in trying to find her. She was long gone by now, as was his chance to finally stop his guns from falling into the wrong hands. John Henry's teeth were grinding together as he felt like he just wanted to scream and shout to the heavens and curse out God for everything horrible thing that had ever happened to him in his life.
"I'm guessing you're late for a date?" the girl asked, unsure on what was going on at that moment.
"The woman that was in here is the one supplying the guns those gang bangers had." He said to her.
"She what?"
"You heard me. And don't blame yourself too much for what happened today. I – I know too well how you feel. I designed those guns years ago, and she stole the design." Steel said as the girl looked at him in stunned silence. "That pilot's blood is just as much on my hands as it is on yours."
"That's why you're doing this? To stop those guns?" she asked him.
"That's part of the reason. The other is that I'm doing this in honor of the woman who saved my life. I've got a second chance, and I want to make it count." He said to her as he walked back out onto the balcony and just stood there for several moments. Neither of them knew what to say or do, just stood there in stunned silence. After several minutes had passed, the young woman couldn't think of anything to say except,
"You need a lift?"
In the vast distance of space, only a few miles short of Saturn's orbit, something strange began to happen. All seemed quiet at first. After all, no one can hear a scream in space. But if the laws of science could be bent, and sound were possible in the void of space, what would be the sound of thunder times to the power of ten would be heard. Right before the sound of an echoing sonic boom would erupt as a large ship of alien design returned to normal space. In our measurement of time, it had been traveling in narrow passages of subspace for many months. Inside the star vessel, various aliens and robotic organisms were working at a fast pace to make sure everything was still in working order as the overheated engines were rushed to being cooled from their overuse.
In the command center of the entire ship, a large being sat in the captain's chair that was positioned on an elevated platform in the center of the command room. From his position, he almost seemed to be like a giant or a demon God scowling over his followers. His piercing red eyes glared at all the aliens that he considered lower life forms and inferior to him. His knuckles were popping as he placed his large yellow hands together.
"What's our status?" his low baritone voice asked.
"We have successfully exited our hyper jump into the Sol system. We are an estimated four rotations away from our destination." One of the small, fur-covered aliens reported from his console.
"That's not good enough! We are behind schedule!" the massive being growled as he stood to his full height, causing the small alien to cower before him. "Increase speed to the engine's limits. We must be on time!"
"But sire," another alien, looking more like a giant slug, spoke. "If we put that much strain on the engines now, we risk a core rupture." The alien said. The large being grabbed the alien by his throat and began to squeeze, his large fingers actually tearing the soft flesh of its neck and drawing it's dark violet blood.
"Did I ask your opinion, worm? My orders will be obeyed. Those who do not obey me, shall meet with an agonizing death. As you are about to find out." The massive being growled as he closed his fist, and crushed the creature's esophagus as arterial spray hit the large alien in the face. When the blood stopped pumping, the large alien let the corpse fall to the floor. "All engines at full power at once."
"Yes, sire!" the fur covered alien replied and went straight back to his console.
"Lord, our sensors have detected a strange device orbiting one of the planet's moons." A gray, scale covered alien said.
"How strange?"
"It appears to be a primitive data recorder. Sensors report it has a visual recording device within it as well."
"DESTROY IT! THE HUMANS MUST NOT KNOW WE'RE HERE!"
"At once, Lord." The alien said as their port side weapons came on-line and eradicated the satellite, turning it nothing more than scrap garbage to float across space. "The terran monitoring device is destroyed, sire. But what if the humans already know we're here?"
"It doesn't matter. Their world's champion lays rotting, and they're open for the taking. If they try to fight against us, I will drink my wine from each and every skull of every man, woman, and child that opposes us." The large alien said as he sat in his chair, and began to chuckle as he imagined the horror, chaos, and bloodshed that waited for the Earth's people. He would enjoy the carnage he had planned for them. Soon, Earth will be nothing more than a memory of a living hell.
A fresh start on a beautiful day. This was exactly what the doctor ordered. It had been a week since gang war at the bridge, and the young Supergirl had been doing her best on trying to learn from her mistakes. She had been listening more, trying to make sure no innocent bystander was in the way whenever she was trying to stop a crime that was in progress, and making sure she didn't screw up. After scarfing down a breakfast of cold Nacos and several bottles of water, she decided to go on patrol around the city. She was also trying to figure out what was wrong with her appetite. Ever since she broke out of that maturation chamber, or as some would call it her birth, the one kind of food she craved the most was tex-mex. It was so strange, but something in her made her almost desire the spicy concoctions. Even more so if they were smothered with diablo sauce. In everything she had researched about Superwoman, and everything Cadmus had put in her head, there wasn't anything about the Maiden of Steel liking Mexican food. How strange was that?
As Supergirl began making her way over Suicide Slum, a slender figure that had been hiding in the shadows kept a close eye on her. For almost a week, she had been tracking the young so-called super heroine. Following her patrol routes and trying to make a record of her routines, knowing exactly where she'd be and when. In a few minutes, she would be over a deserted part of the slum that a developer had bought weeks ago. The buildings were cleared, most of the blocks were already torn down to make way for whatever would be put in their place. The perfect place where innocents wouldn't be harmed.
"Okay, bitch. Time for me to rip that symbol of your flat chest." The slender figure said as it she withdrew and unfolded a strange boomerang and pressed the button that was in its center. Her eyes narrowed as she began to make the calculations in her head, added the wind speed, and threw it!
The young Supergirl heard something hurtling toward her, and fast! What was it? She quickly stopped and caught the flying object inches before it would have struck her in the head. She looked at the strange thing she had caught and began to wonder what it was. It was metal, and completely smooth and it was black with a high polish. It looked almost like it was a boomerang and a throwing star in one, but it was shaped like a large bat. That's when she heard something coming from inside the device. As she flipped it over in her hands, she saw a little red LED light blinking and beeping. And it was getting faster.
"Ah, cra"
The explosion that followed engulfed her in a tremendous blast of heat as it echoed across the emptied neighborhood. The figure in the shadows smiled as she saw the petite form of the Supergirl tumbling from the mid-air fireball and down to the street several stories below. What puzzled her though was that it seemed that the young girl was shouting something as she fell to the ground. As the young, cloaked figure stepped out of the shadows and deployed her grappler, she couldn't help but wonder what the girl was shouting.
"THAT'S TOO FREAKING HOT!" the young heroine screamed as she felt the flames burn through her jacket and possibly through her uniform as well. Supergirl crashed into the street with a loud thud, creating a small crater in the abandoned street while a small cloud of smoke rose from where she had fallen.
She was a bit dazed as she stood to her feet. She wasn't expecting that thing to explode on her. As she looked herself over, she saw that her black leather jacket had several holes burned into it as well as several blackened charred spots on her uniform. She was really starting to get angry as she noticed all the damage she had sustained and popped her neck. It was time to find the idiot who did this to her and shove one of those exploding boomerangs up their ass. She was about to take to the air when she saw several more embed themselves into the ground all around her. And all of them were beginning to beep wildly.
"You've got to be kidding me." The young heroine said to herself as each of the boomerangs exploded violently around her. Extreme heat and chucks of debris were sent flying into the air and all around the block. As thick, dark smoke now rose from the enlarged and burnt crater, the figure that had been hiding in the shadows stepped out onto the street and smirked at her handiwork. The joy of victory was short lived as she heard footsteps approaching her from the smoke, and saw a silhouette coming out from the smoke. "Okay. Now I'm really PISSED OFF!" the young girl shouted as she emerged from the crater. Her leather jacket was now in ruins as various places in her uniform were burned away and exposing skin.
"Blowing me up was one thing. BUT THAT WAS MY ONLY JACKET, YOU ASSHOLE!" the young girl screamed. As she finally saw her attacker, one eyebrow rose in confusion at what she saw. It was obviously a woman, since the suit that doubled as armor did nothing to hide her figure or athletic build. A long black clock hung from her shoulders, but what caught her eye was the large bat that was on her chest and the cowl with pointed ear pieces. "Batgirl? What the hell? I thought you were a good guy." Supergirl said.
"I am one of the good guys. And I'm here to stop you from shaming that symbol anymore than you already have, bitch." Batgirl said as her body tensed as she tossed several small spheres at the redhead in front of her.
The spheres exploded against Supergirl's skin, surrounding the redheaded wonder in a cloud of chloroform gas. From within the gas cloud, Supergirl began spinning faster and faster until the cloud dissipated harmlessly. Supergirl glared at Batgirl with an ugly sneer crossing her face as she balled her fists. Batgirl tensed even more so as they both glared at each other.
"In case you haven't heard, I'm Superwoman. And you don't mess with the S!" Supergirl said as she flew at Batgirl with breakneck speed, grasping her waist in a tight bear hug.
Batgirl couldn't catch a steady breath as they were flying down the street faster then they human eye could follow. She didn't know what this little media slut was planning, but she had to get out of the bear hug she was in. Reaching for her belt once more, she was able to grab a small slab of a strange looking lump of clay and slapped it against Supergirl's lower back. Before Supergirl could find out what Batgirl was up to, she felt the masked vigilante grasp her belt buckle firmly as the lump of clay exploded. The blast made Supergirl let g of the masked young woman as she crashed into the street beneath her, shattering various parts of the street before she skidded to a stop while Batgirl tumbled and rolled back onto her feet.
"Your S is mine." Batgirl said as she saw the young red head stand to her feet.
"At first, I thought you were just stupid to try and take me on." Supergirl said as she popped her back and winced when she felt the burn mark the explosive had left. "Now I can see that you're just suicidal. And I'm going to enjoy breaking every bone in your body." She said as she zoomed in with a right cross aimed at Batgirl's head. Supergirl was dumbfounded when she saw the masked girl dodge her swing and jump completely over her head! For a moment, Supergirl could have almost sworn that the girl had been glowing blue for a minute.
"I doubt you could even land a finger on me, slut." Batgirl said a she landed and placed a swift and hard kick into the burned area of Supergirl's back. The redheaded teen let out a small scream before fell to the ground and did her best to not let the pain get to her as she stayed on her hands and knees.
"Last time I checked, Superwoman wasn't vulnerable to fire. But it seems that you are. So the only thing I need to kick your ass with is a five cent book of matches." Batgirl said as she launched herself into the air with her foot aimed for the middle of Supergirl's back.
Supergirl heard Batgirl falling towards her and quickly rolled out of the way. As soon as Batgirl's feet touched ground, Supergirl smashed her in the face with a left haymaker, sending the caped teen flying across the street, and through the door of an old apartment building before hitting the wall hard enough to go halfway through it. It had been a good thing her suit had armor and padding it. But armored battle suit or not, she felt like she had just been hit with a bulldozer going as fast as a bullet train. As she fell to the ground and looked up, she saw Supergirl glaring at her from the doorway. And even from her present angle, you could tell that the young woman was royally pissed off.
"Who the hell died and made you an authority on what Superwoman can or can't do?" Supergirl demanded.
"I know a hell of a lot more about her than you do. I knew Superwoman my whole life. And you are nothing like her. You're nothing - just a cheap knock off. A fraud!" Batgirl growled as she stood to her feet.
"Shut up." Supergirl said as she balled her fists tightly. Her breathing began to become heavier as her temper slowly began to start boiling.
"Can't handle the truth, huh? Just face it, freak! You're not even a decent clone of her. You're nothing but a cheap, lousy, two-bit copy who just turns everything into a steaming pile of crap as soon as you touch it."
"I said shut – up!" Supergirl growled as her right eye began to twitch and her breathing become even heavier. Batgirl just slowly tried to maneuver herself to where she could get another set of chloroform gas pellets in.
"Not even the lab that created you wants a piece of trash like you. Who can blame them? Instead of being a hero, all you've done is make a jack ass out of yourself and got several innocent people hurt. Oh, that's right. You also got that pilot killed just so you could have your little fifteen minutes of fame, you media slut!"
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" the young girl began screaming. "I SAID SHUT UP!" Supergirl scream as pale green energy erupted from her hands and completely destroyed the walls next to her and blew through several of the buildings next to the one they were in on either side. After a few moments of suffering the devastating energy blasts, several of the buildings came tumbling down in a massive cloud of dust and debris that blanketed the abandoned block. When the dust cloud cleared, both Supergirl and Batgirl were looking at each other in wide eyed shock.
Both stood rooted to where they were in stunned silence. The holes she had burned through the walls were still giving off smoke from the intense energy blast she had just created while she slowly looked at the damage she had caused. Batgirl didn't know what to think. In everything she could study about the young girl, nothing ever mentioned or even gave of the slightest hint that she had the ability to emit energy blasts. Supergirl herself didn't know what to think as she slowly lifted her hands and looked at them. Her gloves had been completely burned away, as well as part of the sleeves of her uniform. But even though she was vulnerable to fire, her skin was unharmed. They didn't even have a smudge or a scratch on them. What the hell did Cadmus do to her while she had been there?
"What the hell am I?" Supergirl asked herself as she kept starring at her hands.
Supergirl was still in such of state of shock that only Batgirl noticed the four gas pellets that rolled into the room with them. Batgirl knew what they were, but wasn't fast enough to get them out before they deployed the gas that had been kept inside of them. Batgirl tried to hold her breath as she saw Supergirl actually cough and begin to sub come to the gas. She could feel her lungs burn as they desired for fresh air as she saw Supergirl pass out and fall to the ground, but Batgirl did her best to fight it. She wasn't going to fall for a cheap stunt like this. As she felt her face begin to turn purple, she saw an all too recognizable silhouette emerge in the gas cloud that filling the room. Dread began to fill her as the large bat shaped shadow came closer to her and stopped when it was practically on top of her and could hear the deep breaths of the gas mask it was wearing like the pace of doom.
"The knock out gas has a minimal level of Kryptonite in it. Something I developed in case of an emergency." The rough voice of the silhouette in front of her said as it placed a respirator over her face. Batgirl immediately took in a deep breath of fresh air as she was lead outside by the strong hand that was pushing on her back. Once out in the open, she turned and saw Batman carrying Supergirl over her shoulder and gently lay her on the street as he removed a vial of smelling salts from his belt.
"She's vulnerable to fire. And Kryptonite doesn't work. I had,"
"You had the small piece Superwoman gave me years ago. I know. But I couldn't take the chance." He said as he opened the small vile and began to pass it back and forth under the young girl's nose. "Are you all right?" he asked the girl.
"W-what – am I?" she asked him.
"Unique." Was all he said as he helped her back up. "Right now, both of you should be ashamed of yourselves." He said as he glared at the two girls in front of him.
"She – she started it." Supergirl said as she tried to regain her bearings.
"But you tried to finish it. And you should have known better, Batgirl!" Batman said as he turned his gaze to his young sidekick. "You swore to uphold and enforce the law. Not to take it into your own hands! What if innocent bystanders had been here?"
"This place has been deserted for weeks. I made sure,"
"What about construction workers? Vagrants? Or even just kids playing? You can't predict those factors! If any people had been here, their injuries would have been your fault!" Batman growled at her.
"Way to go, Batman." Supergirl said to herself.
"Don't you even start." Batman said. "If you plan on wearing that symbol, you better shape up."
"But she started this whole thing! All I did was just fly by!"
"But you should have been smart enough to walk away. Instead, you tried to give as good as you got. That symbol you wearing is carrying a legacy that the entire world cares about. It stands for honor, and hope! It's a symbol of trust! If you want to wear it, then you had better prove you deserve it!" Batman growled. "Let's go, Batgirl. We'll finish this when we get back to Gotham." Batman growled as Supergirl started to mentally slap herself again.
"Look, does it help if I say I'm sorry? Batman?" Supergirl asked and saw that she was standing in the street by herself. There was no sign of either Batman or Batgirl anywhere. "How do they do that?" Supergirl asked herself before taking off into the air.
"How's the visor holding up?" Kal asked Galatea over the communications link he had opened. She has seemed really depressed since it looked like her eyes hadn't improved that much. He had been trying to help as much as he could, so he tried to create a new visor for her to wear. But given how frail her eyes were to light, there wasn't that much he could do for her. He just hoped what modifications he did make were enough for right now.
"I'm doing fine, Kal. I don't know what you did to these, but it's a vast improvement. Everything isn't as tented as it was, but the light isn't hurting my eyes. Thanks."
"Any time, Galatea. How late are you staying out, tonight?"
"Metropolis is pretty quiet with four Superwomen patroling the place. I might head out to Coast City for a little bit."
"Coast City? Why would you want to go all the way out to California?" Kal asked her.
"From what I've been overhearing,"
"You mean eavesdropping?" Kal teased.
"Knock it off." Galatea said, acting like she was offended. "As I was saying, it sounds like Green Lantern is out on some deep space mission for now. I figure I might lend a helping hand out there until he gets back."
"Why not let the other two Lanterns on Earth handle it?"
"I think the one called Stewart is busy with the Justice League. And that Guy Gardner is a real dick."
"You always do speak your mind about things, don't you?"
"And that's what you love about me." Galatea responded.
"Just be careful out there. And let me know if you need any help."
"Will do. Talk to you later, Kal." Galatea said and cut the transmission.
Kal just smiled as he went back to work on monitoring other events in the world. If something major happened, he might need to call Galatea back and let her know in a heartbeat. He just wished he had some contact with the Justice League. Right now, Kal figured they didn't know what to think about Galatea trying to fill Superwoman's shoes. And the only one on their side was Wonder Woman, but Kal thought that was because Galatea had fought her to a stand still.
Kal's train of thought was quickly shattered as a strange alarm began to go off. Something inside the Fortress was wrong, and Kal didn't have any idea what it was. Kal quickly began accessing various systems in the fortress to try and figure out what was happening, hoping it wasn't something he couldn't happen. As Kal began looking into various sub routines, he soon found what was happening. As he saw what was happening before him, his eyes began to grow wide.
"Oh, great Rao." He said to himself in shock. "FORTRESS DROIDS!" Kal screamed as he ran to the center of the fortress and began accessing a hidden control panel.
"How may we be of service?" one droid asked as it descended from the ceiling, followed by two more floating humanoid droids.
"There's a systems failure in the matrix. I need your help stabilizing it." Kal said.
"We are aware of the situation. All other droids are working on the problem." One of the other droids said while a large tank began to rise from the floor in the center of the fortress. Four other droids were examining and trying to repair various sections of the tank as it continued to rise while Kal quickly returned to the main computer. As soon as the tank was finished rising, Kal saw that the figure within the strange blue-green that filled the tank was beginning to slightly struggle.
"If we can't stabilize the matrix, we're going to loose the occupant." Kal said to the droids as they joined the others that were working on the large tank. "Is there a block in the power flow? Or has one of the devices shorted out?" Kal asked them.
"Negative, sir."
"Then what's wrong?" Kal asked himself as he tried to figure out why the matrix was failing.
"Sir, the matrix is failing because its programming is ordering it to." One droid said.
"Do what?" Kal asked them.
"The matrix has served its purpose. The occupant is beginning to awaken." The droid said.
"You mean – she's waking up?" Kal asked as he looked at the tank again, and saw the figure inside beginning to move and struggle more on their own accord. "She's trying to breath. With the matrix shut down - there's no more oxygen in the liquid. SHE'S SUFFOCATING! EMERGENCY RELEASE!" Kal said as he ran toward the tank.
"But quarantine protocols,"
"Screw the protocols! LET HER OUT!" Kal screamed as he ran toward the tank as he saw the figure struggling more.
Not knowing what to do, Kal balled his fist as he ran toward the tank as fast as he could. With one loud scream of frustration, Kal landed his fist as hard as he could against the glass of the tank and saw the spider-web cracks emerge and begin to spread across the entire tank. Within seconds, the glass gave way as the massive amount of liquid spilled across the floor and with the force of it almost pushing Kal down. Kal maintained his balance against the gushing liquid as he reached in and grasped the nude figure inside the tank firmly and rushed her to the medical bay of the fortress. He quickly placed her on a bed and wrapped a blanket around the figure as they began to cough and wheeze.
"It's going to be okay. It's all right." Kal said as he wrapped the blanket around them tightly as the figure began to vomit the strange liquid out of their lungs and began to inhale gasps of air. Kal let out a sigh of relief as their color began to become more of a normal flesh tone as their breathing began to return to normal.
"W-where?" the figure wheezed before going into another coughing fit.
"Your safe." Kal said and used the blanket to wipe the liquid out of her eyes and off of her face. The weak figure in his arms blinked several time against the bright light of the medical bay before they were able to open them fully. The first thing the figure's emerald eyes saw was that of a very relieved Kal.
"K-Kal-El?" she asked him weakly.
"As they say on Earth, welcome back to the land of the living." He said with a chuckle.
Inside the orbiting Watchtower that hovered in space, J'onn was monitoring various activities around the world. J'onn still hadn't fully recovered from his injuries from Doomsday yet, and chose monitor duty with Mr. Terrific. With the League as expanded as it had become, and the death of Kim, J'onn had lost most of his interest in being among Earth's population. At least he had some measure of piece and quiet while he was in the Watchtower. He began checking on various heroes that were on League business when something psychically like a ton of bricks. He hadn't been expecting it and at first was in complete shock as he felt. His eyes widened to the size of saucers as his whole body seemed to freeze at once. Mr. Terrific was scared that J'onn was having some kind of Martian caesurae.
"J'onn? J'onn!" he said, but received no response from the Martian. "Mr. Terrific to medical personal. I have an emergency on the bridge!" Mr. Terrific said as he activated the comm system.
"No! No, I'm fine." J'onn said as still gasped for air.
"Fine, my ass! It looked like you couldn't breath!"
"No. I felt a presence on Earth. One that shouldn't even be there. I can't explain it any other way." J'onn said.
"You mean a threat?" Mr. Terrific asked him.
"No, a miracle." J'onn said as he looked at his fellow super hero. "She's alive."