Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I'm still trying to find my drive to continue writing. But, after a long wait; here's the latest chapter to Reign!
"Tower, this is flight 345 en route from Seattle. Request permission to land." The pilot said as he checked his gauges and shut off the auto pilot.
"Copy flight 345. You'll have to circle for a little bit. All our runways are currently in use."
"Roger, Tower." The pilot said as his co-pilot groaned to himself. "Penny for your thoughts?"
"My ass is numb and my legs are asleep. The sooner we land, the better." He said as he stretched and his collar bones made an audible pop.
"You and me both." He said with a small smile. "Tower, what's the ETA on a runway opening up?" he asked, and heard mostly static. "Tower, this is flight 345, can you hear me?" he asked again, but only heard more static. "Can you check the radio and make sure everything's working?"
"What's wrong?" the co-pilot asked.
"I lost the tower. If I can't hear them, we might fly into another plane or go past the airport." The pilot said as he checked his instruments.
"SWEET JESUS!" the co-pilot screamed, causing the pilot to jerk his head forward. Coming straight at them was a 747, and it was coming fast. Letting his training and experience take over, he grasped the controls firmly and veered the plane upward as hard as he could. He could feel the plane shudder and the engines strained as he tried to get out of the opposite aircraft's path. He could hear passengers in the back screaming, but he had to tune it out. He had to focus. Upward and upward the plane flew as the gages went crazy. After several heart sopping moments where it seemed all of time around them had come to a stop, he began to level the plane as they were no clear. As he felt his heart pound in his chest like a jackhammer, he began to breath slightly easier.
"I think I messed myself." The co-pilot said as he did his best not to break down and cry.
"What the hell just happened?" the pilot asked. "The instruments were supposed to warn us if we were getting too close to any object. WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO THEM?!" the pilot screamed as he tried to force his heart down out of his throat.
"I don't know. It's like, everything just cut out." The co-pilot said.
"Things just don't cut out. We've lost most of our electronics, but the engines are still working. What is going,"
The airplane jerked around suddenly, almost throwing the pilot's out of their seats if they hadn't been wearing their restraints. Alarms were sounding as most of the controls in front of them were either flashing or going dead. They were spinning wildly as they fell into a nose dive while the pilot did his best to try and level out.
"I can't get her to level out!" the pilot shouted.
"We've been hit! We're going down!" the co-pilot screamed as he began to hyperventilate.
"What do you mean hit? Hit with what?" the pilot demanded and was reward with the co-pilot's arm being thrown into his face. He tried to bat the arm away when he realized that the man was pointing out the window. He was becoming dizzy and sick from the plain spinning, but he glanced up for only a brief moment. What he saw terrified him to his core. He had only seen part of it as the cockpit spun, but he knew what he had seen. It was the rest of the plane. Their plane had been town in half! The other half was spinning toward the ground in a massive fireball. He couldn't level out because he had no engines, no flaps, no nothing. As he saw the spinning ground coming fast towards them, he began to say a prayer he hadn't said since he was a child. Before closing his eyes, one more thought passed through his mind before both sections of the plane hit the ground and erupted in a massive explosion of burning hot steel and intense heat. "We're going to die."
En route to Coast City
Even though both didn't care for each other's company, Supergirl and Batgirl were forced to share a cockpit together which was only designed to have one occupant and not two. Despite wearing the cowl, the grimace was obvious as was the scowl that was on the pale red head's. Despite how fast the engines on both ships were, they knew they would have to spend more time then they liked together. And who knew how long it would take them to shut down Engine City once they were inside the complex. The thought of being back inside that huge complex, let alone fighting against all those aliens, started to make Supergirl feel sick to her stomach. And having to go up against Mongul and the Cyborg made her feel even worse. It would probably be a good idea to not think about the situation and concentrate on something else for the time being.
"So," Supergirl started, trying to think of something to talk about.
"Don't tell me you're trying to talk to me." Batgirl said.
"If I don't, I'm not going to stop shaking. And the last thing I want to be is be a quivering mess when we get there." The redheaded teen said. "So that's the real Superwoman, huh?"
"Yes." Batgirl said simply.
"I guess I'm going to have to give up the copyrights to the name now." Supergirl said, but was only rewarded with silence from Batgirl. "It's weird finally seeing her. From everything I kept hearing about her, it almost sounded like she's something from a Greek myth."
"She's something else." Batgirl said.
"I hope she's not disappointed in me." The teen of steel said to herself.
"What are you talking about?" Batgirl asked, getting sick and tired of having to listen to the poser.
"In a weird way, she's my mother. Look at everything she's done, and all the stupid crap I've pulled. I haven't exactly lived up to the symbol on my chest. Or the name."
"No kidding." Batgirl muttered.
"Oh, thank you for being so supportive." Supergirl said in a very sarcastic tone.
"Look, I told you that the first time we met. I admit that I went a little overboard."
"A little?" Supergirl asked with a raised eyebrow. Batgirl had to fight the chill she felt when she saw the look on the teen's face. It was weird how much she looked like Ron and Miss Gough at the same time right then and there.
"All right, I went nuts. But Superwoman has been a very big influence on me. She's a family friend, and more than a hero to me. And when I saw you show boating and grand standing like some pop princess shaking her ass on national TV," Batgirl said and found herself grinding her teeth again.
"I get it. I was pissing more people off than helping. But what do you expect? I'm a teenager."
"No excuse." Batgirl said.
"You're really starting to sound like Mr. Hard Ass right now." Supergirl said.
"Who?" Batgirl asked.
"Batman?"
"I do not sound like . . . ah, crap. "
Batgirl was silent for a moment or two as she processed the information she just heard. It was a bit of a head trip when she learned Ronald was her father. In the days of Kim's passing, and Ron getting shot, both Dick and Barbara had been saying that she was acting more like Ron lately whenever she was in the cowl. The realization began to make her eyes slightly cross when she realized that the clone in front of her was telling the truth. She was acting like her father. But hearing Supergirl call him a hard ass started to put a small smile on her face and caused her to snicker. She never admitted it, but Ron could be a bit of a hard ass on more than one occasion.
"He can be a bit of a block head now and then." Batgirl said.
"And is he always like that? Mr. Gloom and Doom?"
"24 hours a day, seven days a week. He was improving before Superwoman died. Maybe he'll start improving again." Batgirl said.
"Or maybe I should make sure both of you have nothing to do with the mission." Batman's voice said over their comm. system, soon followed by Beast Boy, Speedy, and Cyborg snickering.
"I thought the communications were off." Supergirl said.
"You didn't check?" Batgirl asked her.
"Enough of the chatter. We just crossed the halfway point. I need everyone to be ready at a moment's notice."
"We've got another problem." Wade said as he looked at the tracking instruments in the Thunder Road. "I'm detecting something coming from Coast City. Very big and very fast."
"How fast are we talking?" Kid Flash asked.
"VEER LEFT!" Batman's voice shouted over the radio.
The Thunder Road veered a hard left while Batman veered a hard right. If they had hesitated a moment longer, they would have been destroyed by the monstrous rocket that roared past them. The heat from the rockets alone made the Thunder Road feel like it had been converted into an industrial oven for a moment or two and causing it to begin spiraling out of control as Beast Boy began screaming "We're going to fry!" A moment after it had passed, the computerized gyros and stabilizers kicked in and leveled the ship off before flying next to the batwing again.
"What the hell was that?!" Batgirl asked.
"That's the rocket! The bitch launched it already!" Supergirl said as she tried to keep her eyes on its fleeting form.
"We've got to take out that rocket. Wade, how powerful are the weapons?" Batman asked.
"Not powerful enough to take down that thing." Wade said.
"I'm on it." Supergirl said as she opened the cockpit door, depressurizing it.
"Are you nuts?!" Batgirl asked as she made sure her restraints were secured as the wind howled loudly and almost deafening her.
"If she ever asks, tell her I'm sorry for being a screw up." Supergirl said as she launched herself into the air and began following the rocket.
"You might be related to mom after all." Batgirl said as the cockpit closed and began to re-pressurize.
"Supergirl, just what in the world do you think you're doing?" Kim asked as she saw the teen fly out of the Thunder Road.
"Someone's got to stop that thing before it wipes out Metropolis." The girl responded as more and more static started to fill her link the faster she flew.
"Is there anyone we can contact?" Kim asked Batman, looking for some way to bring the teenaged hero back.
"No." Batman growled.
"We can't let her,"
"She's the only one on the team that has a chance at stopping it. I'm sorry, KP; but we've got to let her do this." Batman said before pressing two fingers against the side of his cowl. "Supergirl, keep your comm link open at all times. I want a constant status report."
"Got it." The teen responded as Batman and Kim tried to keep focus on the task ahead of them.
"Lord Mongul?"
"What is it, worm?" the large tyrant asked the small quivering alien tech that almost resembled a nose less teddy bear with a lion's mane.
"The rocket's sensors have detected something following it." The tech said.
"Most likely one of the Earth weapons trying to shoot it down." Mongul said, acting as if it were nothing. "Ignore it."
"Wait." The Cyborg Superwoman said as she came closer to where Mongul was standing. "It's impossible for the Earth weapons to follow it. The rocket is equipped with the ability to jam Earth's radar and detection systems. What does the data say?" the Cyborg asked as she made her way to the tech's station.
"Object has small mass. It's closing the distance, but the readings say it is organic." The tech said.
"Move aside." The Cyborg said as she pushed the tech away. Her arm began to unfold as wires extended into various places at the station. Within moments, the main viewer displayed the open sky as the clouds streaked by. The camera rotated to show the aft section as the massive engines burned and zoomed in on what seemed to be a spec at first. After magnifying the image of the spec, all watching could now tell that it was a person. As she grew closer to the rocket at impossible speeds, the cyborg's one ruby eyepiece began to glow as the instrument panel began to grow hot.
"It's the girl." The Cyborg woman said as the screen went out and the metal glowed with a bright orange light as it started to turn molten and melt.
"I told you we should have killed her when we had the chance. Place the rocket's visual data on the main viewer." Mongul commanded as the various aliens he thought beneath him fulfilled his request. "Bring the missile's defensive systems online. I want her destroyed at once!" Mongul commanded.
"Already taken care of." The Cyborg said with a sadistic smile on her face.
The fire from the engines were very bright. She was so close to the weapon that she had to squint her eyes and elevate herself slightly so she could still see the missile clearly. There wasn't that much more distance between them. Of course, there was still the question on how she was going to bring this thing down. She knew nothing of mechanics or rocket science, and this thing was almost as big as one of the towering buildings in Metropolis. She just had to try and blast anything that looked important and hoped for the best. She was getting closer when she noticed something strange happening with the surface of the missile. Various places began to open and started spewing out several orbs that seemed to be the size of bean bag chairs. They seemed to free fall for a few seconds before they began to fly together like a swarm of locusts. They began chattering like insects as they rose above the rocket and began to open and shift into strange robotic drones. Each of them extended electrified tendrils as they spotted the young Supergirl and began to fly towards her with crystal visors glowing a bright red.
"I hate that robot bitch." Supergirl said as she increased her speed and dove downward under the missile and coming close to the burn of the engines.
She gritted her teeth in pain as she felt her back and shoulders burn from the exposure of the engine burn. She glanced backwards and saw the drones were still following with only very few went into the flames of the rocket engines, and those didn't look like they were even singed. Supergirl continued to fly around the rocket, making barrel rolls and various loops to try and keep her distance from the various drones. With all the loops and rolls she was making, a few were able to smash into each other and fall toward the Earth while others weren't able to bank in time and flew into the rocket. Sadly, those that crashed into the giant missile didn't change its coarse or even seem to cause major damage. Just as she was about to make another loop, she was shocked to see several of the drones had backtracked themselves and were now in front of her.
The young teen banked straight upward to avoid the machines as their electrified tendrils shot forward in an effort to catch her. The teenager felt pain in her side and looked down to see her uniform was torn and a large welt forming on the exposed pale skin where the tendril had struck. She needed to figure out how to take these things down and quick. That's when two tendrils wrapped themselves around her right arm and began to shock her as several lashed across her back, tearing the uniform and striking against her bare flesh. Grasping the tendrils that were already holding her arm, she began to spin and used the two drones as flails and strike several other drones that were trying to move in. She took out a small baker's dozen before the electricity in the tendrils around their arm intensified and caused her to stop and shout in pain. This gave the other drones enough time to swoop in and catch the teen of steel by her legs and other arm, and latch themselves around her waist and then her throat. The air crackled as energy surged through the metal tentacles and began to shock the young woman as she howled in pain. Her skin began to blister and turn red where the machines were holding her while other places began to bleed.
Her mind was flooded with pain and she couldn't move. Every time she tried to move a limb or even her head, the tentacles surged with more energy and began to pull harder to prevent her from moving. She began to panic as visions of Metropolis as a smoking crater filled her head. The idea of everyone, including Miss Gough, dying in a massive explosions was all she could think about and becoming too much. As she began to panic more and more, a strange green glow began to surface all around her. The glow became brighter and brighter, confusing the machines and conflicting with their programming. As they sent one more massive jolt through their tentacles and electrified the teenaged hero, she let out a massive scream as a massive wave of green plasma energy exploded from her, penetrating the drones armor skins and frying the intricate circuitry inside. All the drones feel to Earth beneath them while leaving a black trail of smoke behind them. The young heroine could barley stay awake or a float as she saw the machines fall away from her and finally allowed her to breath. She looked at her hands and saw that a barley noticeable green glow still remained around them.
She didn't have time to wonder about these new found powers that she didn't understand. She had to catch the rocket. She was tired and weak from fighting with the drones, but she had to try and force herself to ignore how she felt. With every bit of energy she could muster, she forced herself to fly after the rocket again. Her lips were chapped from the wind blowing by her as bared her gritting teeth. She could feel the rips and tears of her costume become worse as she pushed herself to go faster and faster. She wouldn't be surprised if she barley had any costume left by the time she finally caught up to the missile again. She now had to try and do as much damage to this thing as she could. With her frustration and fear rising to their peak in unison, she saw the glow around her hands become brighter and brighter again. Remembering her fight with Batgirl and what happened with the drones, she flew down toward the rocket with her hands forward and stiff as a board. In a swooping arc, she was able to dig her hands under the skin of the missile and pull a large chunk f it upward and expose the circuitry inside as well as the orbs that would be used to destroy and rebuild Metropolis. She knew nothing about mechanics or how machines worked, so she just guessed. Attacking hoses, wires, and various circuit boards that looked important to her with her hands all a glow. She ripped, severed, broke, and melted whatever she could find in a desperate panic. She couldn't let everyone in Metropolis down, she just couldn't. She wasn't a screw up!
Her efforts finally paid off when she heard the massive engines sputter before finally giving out, making the missile loose its propulsion. This did raise another problem as the rocket began to nose dive to the ground. Beneath the now falling missile was a heavily populated area of suburban neighborhoods. Supergirl leapt herself downward and passed the nose of the missile and allowed herself to fall. She would need as much speed as she could for what she was planning and hoped to God in Heaven that it would work. Allowing herself to gain more and more speed, she quickly veered upward when she was only teen feet from the ground and aimed herself toward the nose of the missile above her. She stretched her arms out in front of her and balled her fists tightly and let them glow as brightly as she could make them. She hadn't been on this Earth long, and she did a lot of things wrong. But there was one thing she wanted to do, and that was to help people. She didn't know if it was because of the programming Cadmus tried to give her, or if it was her own free will. She just knew she wanted to help people more than anything else in this world. As tears began to form, knowing what was about to happen, a small smile appeared on her lips.
"I am Superwoman." She said with a large smile. "AND I CAN DO ANYTHING!" she shouted as loud as she could and closed her eyes as she saw the missile was now on top of her.
The explosion of the missile was louder than anything the people below had ever hears. Glass shattered as the ground shook and alarms of every kind began to blare to anyone that would listen. Everyone below had to cover their ears and look away as the blast briefly looked like a miniature sun and heat washed over them before the light faded. Many of them ran into their homes and tried to find cover as small burning of pieces os shrapnel began to fall from the sky. Phone lines and internet connections came to life as they began to tell others of what had happened and wondered if the world was coming to an end. But the one thing no one noticed fall to the ground in the middle of a backyard was a burnt piece of cloth that was still slightly smoking. As it came to rest on a cool bed grass, the one thing that could easily be made out on the cloth was pentagonal red and yellow shield with a large stylized red S in the middle.
With a feral roar of anger, the Cyborg Superwoman ripped her mechanical arm free from the panel she had been hooked up to before bashing her fist through it. With another scream of rage, she tore the now useless machine free from its setting and flung it across the room, making the alien workers around her duck for cover as it crashed into several other control panels and monitors, causing sparks to fly and a few small fires to erupt.
"THE CLONE WAS HELPLESS! BENEATH USELESS! HOW COULD SHE ESCAPE?! HOW COULD SHE HAVE DESTROYED THE BOMB?! HOW MONGUL?!" the Cyborg Superwoman screamed with rage as her eye piece came to life and melted an entire wall and ignited the clothing of an alien worker on the other side.
"I am at a loss, sire. You're plan appeared to be flawless." The large alien dictator said.
"It was flawless! I planned for everything! But that clone!" she shouted, starting to look and sound more like a rabid beast.
"We underestimated her." Mongul said before the Cyborg Superwoman grabbed him roughly by the chin and slammed him into the back of the wall as hard as she could, almost pushing him through it.
"You have a knack for stating the obvious. What you aren't telling me is how she was able to catch the missile." The Cyborg growled before turning her head away in thought. "How did she catch it? After she escaped, she would have had more than enough time to alert the humans." She said as she let Mongul go and turned toward the working monitors. So far, it looked as if the rest of the world was still clueless about what was here. None of the humans were sending weapons or soldiers to fight her. The rest of the Justice League was still in space. And no matter where she went, she wouldn't have had enough time to return to intercept that missile. Not unless . . .
"Mongul, search the area. I want all the sensors to look for anything that is out of the ordinary. She had help, and I want to know from who." The Cybrog Superwoman said.
"At once." Mongul said as he glared at her and rubbed his chin. Mongul might have been forced into subjugation underneath the heal of this cybernetic temptress, but he wasn't stupid. He was suspecting the same thing that the Cyborg Superwoman was. The young whelp had brought help with her. If they launched an attack on Engine City, it would distract his "leader" long enough for him to assume control. War World would have only one ruler, and it would be him.
Metropolis
"Are you sure about this?" the robust African-American woman asked Miss Gough as she looked at the skyline of Metropolis. Sometimes, it really pissed her off on how the rich loved to flaunt how much wealth they had.
"If Batman is convinced, I'm convinced. I've learned not to second guess him. Despite his apparent fetish for flying rodents." She said as she guzzled over half of a bottle of water. "Tell me Chess has a plan for this."
"In case the meta humans turned against us? Absolutely. Against an alien invasion bent on or destruction or enslavement? Not so much." She said.
"What about all these back-up plans you had? Can't we use them in this scenario?" Sherri asked.
"They're not ready." She said.
"Not ready? The DN-Aliens from Cadmus? What about your little Ultimen project?"
"No where near being complete." The large woman said, causing a brief and very uncomfortable silence to form between them.
"Then what about project OMAC?" Sherri asked. The woman in front of her turned to glance at the businesswoman, slightly shocked at what Sherri had just asked. A list of possible leaks in her organization were already starting to form in her head as Sherri rolled her eyes at her. "I have my sources, Waller. Now what about OMAC?"
"So far, all the test subjects have died. We haven't had a successful prototype yet." She said. "We have no other alternative than to order the evacuation of Metropolis and the surrounding area. Try and eliminate the number of casualties after we alert the military. Then we launch a full scale assault on what's left of Coast City." The woman said.
"Why is it that I get a very sick feeling when I hear you say those words?" Sherry said.
"It means a full nuclear bombardment." The women said without even flinching or even sounding sorry in the least. Sherri had met some very cold people in her time as both a hero, a villain, and even being married to her bastard ex-husband Lex Luthor. But the lack of emotion in her voice, the total void of any human characteristic when she said those words. She bet that not even Victor Fries could be that heartless.
"Do you know what that will do? You're going to kill more people than these aliens have, and poison everything else around it. The west coast,"
"The West Coast would become a toxic wasteland, and effects of the radiation would slowly kill everything around it. Skyrocketing cases of cancer, deformations in births, I know all of that Miss Gough. But what are thousands when you compare it to the billions that live in the world? It's a small number when you face the facts." Waller said.
"The hell it is! Chess is in charge of Cadmus labs now. There's got to be something in that freak show you can use!" Sherri said.
"If you're done with the pity party, Miss Gough; I have to start evacuating Metropolis."
"You might not have to." Mercy said as she came into the large office/apartment. "Our contacts at the local news stations say there's a story we need to watch."
"Monitor up. Local news." Sherri said as a large flat screen descended form the ceiling and began showing a Metropolis news channel.
They were reporting about the massive missile that exploded almost three-hundred miles away from Metropolis. The explosion itself could be heard and seen for only half the distance. Sherri was ready to let out a sigh of relief until they showed the burnt piece of cloth with the familiar S symbol on it. When they showed a picture of Supergirl, Sherri could have sworn that she felt her heart stop. When they said that it was suspected that the young heroine may not have survived, Sherri collapsed to the floor.
"What in the?" Mercy began to ask as the African-American woman rushed to her side.
"Help me get her to the sofa." The woman said as Sherri began to hyper ventilate.
"He was – he was supposed – supposed," Sherri began to mutter with every other breath.
"What's she talking about?"
"I don't know, Miss Waller." Merci said as she ran to get Sherri a glass of water.
"supposed – to keep – keep her safe." Sherri said before tears began to form in her eyes and began to fall. "She was supposed to be safe."
The Arctic
"I can't believe you did this." Galatea said as she nudged a lifeless fortress robot with her foot. With all the systems shut down and the fortress essentially dead, the once warm structure was slowly starting to grow cold. She pulled the robe that covered her body tighter around her frame as she brushed her hair out of her face. The entire structure, save for the few windows that were still open, was dark. The inner light that had once gave this place a strange alien sensation was gone. The last living aspect of Krypton's technological creations was nothing more than a mausoleum to a long dead world. "Why? Why me?" she asked as she turned to face Kal, who was now wearing a jacket that he had left there long ago.
"I love you." He said as he stepped closer to her.
"Kal, do you know what you've sacrificed?" she asked him.
"I know what I've sacrificed. Everything that Krypton had done was here. Its history, its records, everything was here." He told her.
"Kal, I'm not worth this."
"To me you are." He said as he cupped her chin in his hand. "To me, you are. And I would do it again if I had to." He said to her.
What was she to do? What was she to say? Besides himself and Kim, his planet and people really were gone now. Saying thanks didn't seem enough for everything he had done in order to save her life. She had never met anyone in her short life that was willing to do so much for her. Ever. Doing her best to fight away the tears that were daring to form, she leaned in and kissed Kal on his lips and held him tightly. She knew the kiss alone wasn't enough either, but it was a start.
As they held each other close, a memory she didn't want to see was making itself known again. Seeing Kim's face plastered on that cybernetic monstrosity flashed in her mind's eye again. She kept seeing it in her sleep, and she was seeing it again now. A chill traveled through her as she remembered that creature smiling as the people in Coast City were about to die. How it was enjoying the chaos it and the other aliens were creating. It was also horrifying how it seemed to enjoy the aspect of killing her as well. She didn't want to ask. And most of her brain kept demanding and screaming for her not ask. She didn't want to know. But the question wouldn't go away.
"Is Coast City really gone? All of it?" she asked him.
"I'm afraid so." Kal said.
"What happened?" she asked him.
A large part of him didn't want to tell her. He wanted to spare her the pain of all the events that had happened since the attack on Coast City. He knew he couldn't though. He sat her down and began telling her everything that had happened. The Cyborg Superwoman blocking J'onn's abilities and sending a good chunk of the League into space. How she tricked the nation into thinking that Galatea was the traitor as well as Kim's return to the land of the living. And the Supergirl's discovery of what the alien's plans truly were. Everything. When Kal was finished, Galatea wasn't sure whether she should laugh or cry.
"Let me get this straight. Kim is going up against those aliens right now. And the only help she has is Rodent Boy, and a couple of kids?" she asked him.
"Pretty much." Kal said.
"So things aren't as bad as I thought. They're worse!" Galatea said as she stood to her feet and walked away from what was left of the fortress control room. The news of what had been happening was hard enough to take without a huge visual reminder of everything her lover had just sacrificed for her.
"You're under estimating, Batman. He's more skilled than you think."
"Kal, look at what that – that thing did to me! I barley survived, and now you're telling me that Kim is heading out there with out any of her powers what so ever? She's going to get herself killed! You need the League in on this."
"We can't risk anything. Besides, the core members are off in deep space and the others are still doing their best to cover the slack." Kal said.
"So Earth is screwed." Galatea said. There was something they had to do. How she wished so much she was the old selfish clone she was before she met Kal. He was a naïve, hopeful little pain in the butt that somehow grew on her. Now she here she was, doing her best live up to what Superwoman started. In the past, she would have loved to get front row seats just to see Kim's ass get seriously kicked. Now, she was trying to figure what she could do to help Kim out and save the world. If only she had her powers. Wait.
"Kal, is my DNA fully repaired?" she asked him.
"Um, I'm not sure. I just know I made the machine repair enough of your genetic code to heal you. You're mostly Kryptonian now, I think." Kal said.
"You think, huh?" Galatea asked as she began to think to herself for a moment. "That will have to do." Galatea said as she walked out of the control room and took a ramp that lead to underneath the fortress.
"Where are you going?" Kal asked her.
"To the one place I'm betting you didn't know about." She said as she kept following the ramp until they came to a large door that had the crest for the house of El engraved upon it. "If I remember correctly, this is where Kim keeps the dangerous stuff she finds."
"Dangerous? You mean,"
"She keeps some of the more dangerous weapons in here. She also keeps her ship, and any Kryptonite she can get her hands on." Galatea said.
"How do you know about it?"
"When I first got here, I couldn't sleep. So I did a little exploring and found this place. Until you fixed me, I kept coming down here for a midnight snack. But I can't open it anymore."
"How come?"
"Because only someone with Kim's DNA can open it. After the first round in your genetic blender, it didn't recognize me anymore. But I'm hoping that you can open it. Being her cousin and all." Galatea said.
"Galetea, this is too dangerous." Kal said.
"Kal, I need to know if I can still absorb Kryptonite. If I can, I'm going to be Kim's only hope of beating the Cyborg. If I can't, then I've had a good life."
"I'm not going to do it." Kal said as he turned to walk away, only for Galatea to grab him firmly by the shoulder.
"You know, you're really acting like a selfish jerk right now." Galatea said to him.
"Selfish? Look what I just did to save you!"
"Exactly! You saved me, and I love you for it. But now you're doing your best to not loose me. Even risk this planet, and that's the most selfish thing I've seen!"
"The hell it is!" Kal screamed in response. "I know my cousin! I know Kara can handle it!"
"Like she handled Doomsday?!" Galatea shouted and saw the look of shock and confusion on his face. "Kal, I did a lot of studying on that computer since I've met you. One of the things I've learned is that Kim's symbol, you're symbol, is an ancient symbol for hope. That your family accomplished so much in your planet's history and did so much good for them, that the first council gave them that symbol as their family crest. Are you willing to hide that symbol and stain it just because of me?" She asked him.
"The House of El." Kal whispered to himself. "They were some of the first scientists to establish our first lunar colony. They were among the first volunteers to venture into unexplored space. They were also able to negotiate peace to end war between two alien races. And Jor-El saved Krypton from Civil War." He whispered as he looked up at Galatea. She really no longer looked like a copy of Kim. The red hair was now a dark brown, almost black. The pale skin was more vibrant and bright, and the green eyes were now like his. A crystal, sky blue. This was how he always saw her. This was the person he had seen in her all along. And while he marveled at how much she changed, he still admired her determination. "You're right." He said.
Kal looked at the large door and noticed a slight indentation on the right half of the door. He walked to the door and placed his palm on the indenture. The spot began to glow a pale blue for a brief moment or two before it began to glow gold. As soon as he removed his hand, the door began to smoothly open. It looked like his guess was right. If this place was housing something as dangerous as Kryptonite, then it ran on an independent power supply to keep it safe and guarded. As he and Galatea entered, a few lights came on to show various devices Kim had collected. What was left of Brainiac's body when Zod attacked, a few weapons created by Intergang, the device a criminal known as the Weather Wizard had used to try and control weather patterns and extort money. But the the one thing that drew their attention was the large metal pillar in the center of the room. After a brief look, Kal could tell it was made of lead through and through. Obviously, this was where Kim was keeping the Kryptonite safe. Now the only question was how in the world do you open it?
"You're the expert on Kryptonian technology, Kal. Any idea on how this thing works?" Galatea asked.
"The door had a genetic lock. Maybe this is the same way." Kal said as he placed his hand on the pillar. An inner light within the pillar revealed a unique pattern as a holographic display arose showing a small, barley vibrating, line. "I was afraid of this."
"What is it?"
"It's password activated as well. Only Kim's voice saying a password can open it." Kal said.
"Okay. Then 'Open Says me!'" Galatea said and saw the display briefly turn red. "Damn."
"This may take a while." Kal said to himself.
"At least we know Kim's not corny enough to use 'There's No Place Like Home.'" Galatea said.
The display turned into a bright green before it disappeared and the pillar emitted a small hissing noise. Slowly, the center of it split and began to lower down to eye level. As soon as it had stopped, the pillar opened and revealed a small collection of green rocks of various sizes that seemed to emit an inner light. Kryptonite.
"I stand corrected." Galatea groaned to herself. Thank God her vocal cords hadn't changed with the rest of her appearance. She saw how Kal began to look like he didn't feel well and started to grow a little concerned. "Kal, you better back away a few feet. I don't want you getting sick over this." She said.
"Just be careful." Kal said and walked back toward the room's entrance.
Convinced that he was now at a far enough distance from the Kryptonite's deadly radiation, she could now test her theory. Giving her fingers a slight pop, Galatea reached in and grasped a small shard of Kryptonite. She didn't feel sick, but she didn't feel any better either. She took it as a good sign that she wasn't a full Kryptonian on a genetic level. She hoped that it was a good sign. She let the meteor fragment fall into the palm of her hand and balled her fist around it tightly. Then . . . nothing. She couldn't feel anything. She still felt the same. Nothing was happening to her. Too much of her had changed. She gripped the rock tighter as she felt her anger rise and gritted her teeth so hard that she could swear she was fixing to give herself an impacted tooth.
She was ready to drop the radioactive rock when she felt something. It was small at first, but only at first. A surge of energy began coursing through her like a second wind. She opened her hand and saw that the inner light within the Kryptonite was now gone and now looked like a lump of rock. It worked. She could still absorb Kryptonite radiation to make herself strong. A small smile appeared on her face as she began to chuckle.
"All right, you bitch. The gloves are coming off." She said as she grasped the largest pieces of Kryptonite in both of her hands and felt the power flow through her like a raging torrent.
"Any contact?" Batman asked Robin.
"Negative. No contact what so ever." was the Boy Wonder's reply.
"Keep trying, Robin. Let me know if you reach her."
"Will do, Boss." Robin said before the line was shut off.
"Do you think she's okay?" Kim asked from the backseat as she felt a small twinge of fear in her gut that was spreading into her chest.
"She's green, but she's a fighter." Batman said, not bothering to slip out of his voice or even pull back his cowl.
"That doesn't answer my question, Ron." Kim said.
"Because I don't have an answer." He said and for the first time in a while, he felt uncomfortable in the silence that followed. "She has your DNA, Kim. I've seen her do some pretty amazing things since she arrived. She may not be you, but it's like your father used to say. Anything is Possible for a Possible."
"Thanks." Kim said. The fear she felt for the young woman's safety or what was waiting for them didn't go away or let up. But she appreciated the effort Ron had put into trying. "So what are we going to do to get in there? Without the girl, we're flying blind."
"I'm sure Wade or I will have something planned by the time we get there." Batman said. As he checked the instrument panel, he heard an alarm go off as he saw a light start blinking. He looked at the screen as what little spark of his natural Ron-shine began to disappear.
"What is that?" Kim asked.
"Engine City, dead ahead." Ron said as the cleared the thick smoke from the burning fires and saw the scorched wasteland and the massive engine jutting out of the ground like a knife from a body.
As they began to fly closer to the city, Batman's eyes squinted behind his cowl as he looked at the area surrounding the city. Something wasn't right. As they grew closer and closer, his eyes began to shimmer with an inner blue light and every nerve within his body began to heighten to a level only few had ever experienced. He could see various things in front of him now. With the aid of the Mystical Power he had been endowed with so many years ago, he was now able to see radio waves, colors that no human could ever see normally, and also energy patterns. He could see energy flowing through the entire complex like blood through a circulatory system. And what's more, he could see energy levels rising in a perimeter around the massive engine that made Ron deduce one thing. They were charging their weapons.
"Wade, are you sure we're cloaked?" he asked his long time friend.
"Positive. We should be invisible to any form of sensor." Wade said.
"Does that include alien tech?"
"…"
"Wade?!"
"I'm activating the weapons and defensive systems."
"I was afraid of that. Everyone, brace yourselves. Things are about to get hot." Kim said as she and Batman brought up the weapons in their ship.
Both ships dropped their cloaking devices and immediately began firing their weapons where Ron was telling them as energy blasts and heavy shots began to fire into the air, almost forming a wall of potential destruction. Ron used his enhanced senses to pilot and dodge the blasts as best as he could while Cyborg plugged into the Thunder Road's navigation systems and tries to help steer and dodge.
"I think they were expecting us." Batgirl said as she tightened her harness.
"WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CLUE?!" Beast Boy screamed as the Thunder Road did a barrel roll.
"Wade, you're too big a target. Get out of there!" Kim shouted as Ron pulled up and took out a few ground turrets as he did so.
"I've got a better idea. Titans, brace yourself. I'm activating the separation sequence." Wade said.
"YOU'RE DOING WHAT?!" Beast Boy screamed before the Thunder Road separated into five smaller ships and their separate systems came on-line.
"Nice move, but we can't keep dodging weapons fire forever." Kid Flash said as he narrowly missed what he assumed was a missile that had been coming straight towards him.
"Great news. I've found a weak spot." Wade said to them.
"In their defences?" Batman asked.
"Not exactly. I'm programming the coordinates into the Thunder Road navigational computers now. Batman, Superwoman, follow us in." Wade said as Batman observed the numbers their old friend had just entered. Upon seeing the new information, even Batman started to doubt the technological genius.
"Have you flipped your lid?" Batman asked, almost slipping back into his Ron voice.
"You want to shut this thing down, then we need to find a way to get inside. And since Supergirl is MIA, we don't have any other choice." Wade said.
"Does this mean what my stomach thinks he's talking about?" Garfield asked.
"Beast Boy, you might want to strap in. Tight!" Cyborg said, causing Beast Boy to transform into a sad puppy and begin to whimper.
"Like they used to say in my favorite cartoon. HANG ON TO YOUR UNDERWEAR!" Wade shouted as the engines in all the ships hit full speed and power while doing their best to dodge energy blasts and various speeding missiles. It was like watching a small swarm of nats going up against a full military arsenal. Three of the pods were nicked by laser fire while a missle clipped another and almost spun it off course.
"Kid Flash! Are you okay?!" Batgirl asked.
"I'm fine. A few of my systems look screwy, but they're still working."
"Hang on, everyone. It isn't over yet." Starfire said as they came closer and closer to the mammoth engine.
"Are you sure about this weak spot, Steal?" Robin asked.
"Relatively sure." Wade said.
"So what happens if you're wrong about this?" Speedy asked.
"WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!" Beast Boy screamed as all the ships sped past the weapons fire and pierced the thick metal hull of the massive engine fortress.
Sparks and smoke bellowed all around them as they tore through walls and corridors, crashing into various robotic beings and alien life forms. Fire erupted from the engines of the Batwing as the wings were torn off of its body as two of the Thunder Road pods began to flip over and over. After several bone crushing minutes that would fray even the strongest of nerves, the ships slowed to a stop a sparks showered down on top of them and small fires burned underneath the steel skin of all the Earth made vessels. Each cockpit cover shattered as the occupants inside the pods forced them open. Starfire and Raven flew out of their ships as the rest stumbled and did their best to try and make sure the room wasn't spinning around them. Cyborg carried Beast Boy out of the pod with him as a look of pure fear remained on the young shape shifter's face.
"Is everyone all right?" Starfire asked.
"I think so. What about the rest of you?" Speedy asked.
"Feels like I just spent the last hour running in a circle." Kid Flash said.
"Given what we just went through, I won't make a joke." Speedy said.
"Cyborg, how's Beast Boy?"
"Not sure." Victor said as he set the young man down. "I don't know how to snap him out of it."
"I might know a way." Robin said and stepped close to him. "Boogers."
"You said boogers!" Beast Boy said and immediately started giggling. "Wait a minute. We're alive? We made it?! YEAH!"
"Quiet!" Wade said as he looked around the strange large room they were in. "This thing is massively complex. I don't know how I'm supposed to find the main power core to this place."
"Maybe Superwoman can help. Oh my God. Batman! Superwoman!" Batgirl said as she notice the Batwing was completely engulfed in flames. "Did they bail out in time?!"
"We're fine." Batman's voiced echoed from above.
The team looked up and breathed a sigh of relief as they saw Superwoman had an arm wrapped around him and ungracefully descended down to the floor. The team soon gathered around the pair and saw that, with a few scrapes and small bruises, they were none the worse for wear.
"What's our status?" Batman asked.
"Everyone is in one piece. But I'm afraid the ships have had it." Wade said and saw that trying to salvage them was a hopeless cause. "How are we on weapons?" Wade asked.
"My power's still at one-hundred percent. Everything's still functioning like it should." Victor said.
"My arrows are stocked." Speedy said.
"Robin and I both have a full belt." Batgirl said.
"Same here. Starfire and Raven?"
"Our powers are functional." The alien princess said.
"That just leaves me sticking out like a soar thumb." Kim said as she looked around them.
"But you just flew." Beast Boy said.
"I hovered. There's a big difference. But I'm still no where near strong enough as I should be." Kim said as she moved a large piece of wreckage aside and was startled to see the mangled body of an alien sentry.
"So what do we do?" Speedy asked.
"Stick to the plan. We have to try and disable this place before they can launch another attack. We find the main power supply and shut it down. Once that's out of the way, we should be able to contact the rest of the League for a full scale assault." Batman said.
"Easier said than done. You know we're going to run into a lot of resistance along the way." Kid Flash said.
"Well, there's always the boy scout's motto." Kim said as she finished stripping the sentry of its weapons and snapped on the last ammo belt across her chest. When she stepped into view, she was wearing an ammo belt across her chest, and one around each leg. A belt sat on her hips that had two hand held energy pistols and several objects that looked like grenades, and she was holding a large plasma rifle in each hand.
"Always be prepared."