While it doesn't necessarily serve the story to address this, another addition to the list of "Geez Barry, why did you do that?" is the fact that he brought a superpowerful alien to a world where her only known weakness, Kryptonite, does not exist. That theoretically should make any team nervous, so I wanted to bring her invincibility down just a tiny bit.
As always, all characters belong to DC Comics and the CW, and this is written purely for fun. Thanks for reading. I appreciate it.
...
[Deleted scene, S.T.A.R. labs hanger, continuing the team's training session against Supergirl after Oliver says, "Let's go again" (The Flash 3x08, "Invasion!")]
An arrow splintered apart against her chest.
I wonder if Game of Thrones exists on this Earth. Wait, they may have more seasons out; I might spoil myself.
Bullets bounced off her back.
I don't think I've seen Oliver smile once since I got here.
Energy blasts dissipated against her forearms.
Where did Barry run off to? He's the only person I sorta know in this whole group.
Fire whirled around her legs, tickling her.
Hold up. Pizza's still a thing on this Earth, right? That's gotta be in every dimension.
Kara wasn't quite sure how well she was preparing the team to face the Dominators. As extensive as her powers were, the Dominators were likely coming in with some sort of invasion force, and ganging up on just her might not prove to be the most effective tactic. Then again, apparently not a single person here outside of Barry had met an alien before today, so maybe this was how they acclimated. By…trying to pulverize her.
That effort had to pause as Ray and Mick exited the fray, Ray because Kara had accidently mangled part of his suit, and Mick because he was hungry.
"Sorry, Ray!" Kara called out apologetically as the two walked towards their timeship. "That was totally an accident!"
"It's okay. I can fix it," Ray called back. "I think," he muttered to himself, which Kara's superhearing still picked up.
"Hey, send out Nate and Amaya while you're back there," Sara called out. "They should get in some training too."
"Will do. You kids have fun," Mick replied sarcastically. Then the two were out of earshot.
Oliver clapped his hands. "Okay. We don't have to just stand here while we wait for them. Again. Everyone on the line."
Kara glanced at the rest of the team, saw their grimaces and heard their quiet curses. "Sorry," she muttered.
Thea, who was closest to her, muttered back sarcastically, "You know, if you accidentally kill my brother, I'm not sure I'd be mad."
…
By the time Nate and Amaya arrived, everyone else was flat on their backs…again.
Since she had come all the way from another universe to fight as well, Kara had decided to commandeer some practice time for herself, foregoing her flight advantage and taking on the team hand-to-hand. Over a year since revealing herself as Supergirl, Kara still had to endure regular sparring sessions with Alex or J'onn, or sometimes both, in the Kryptonite training room. (Apparently every DEO base had one, a detail Kara was sure Clark didn't know about.) As such, by keeping her powers in check, she thought she could get a pretty good workout against this group while putting her training to use.
She was not disappointed.
Oliver, Thea, Sara, and Diggle all seemed to have extensive combat experience, either from military training or from some crazy cult called the "League of Assassins." (That doesn't sound very heroic, Kara mused.) She was obviously still invulnerable, and they learned very quickly that direct strikes to her face or, for that matter, anywhere else, would likely result in a bruised or broken fist. However, between the four of them and an assortment of chokeholds and submission techniques, they at least did a commendable job in limiting her damage.
Then Oliver grunted, in his typical growly voice, "I said, don't hold back."
Kara rolled her eyes. In a matter of seconds, all four of them were sent flying.
"Well," Amaya said, as she surveyed the disheveled bodies arrayed around Kara. "Looks like this is going well."
"Not to fear, reinforcements are here," Nate chimed in, cheery as always. He jogged up to Kara, triggered his powers, and squared up to face her, his skin now showing a metallic sheen.
"Let's see how you handle a man of steel," he said, clearly meaning to sound cool. He charged.
Kara made sure Nate got close enough to see the smirk on her face before she struck. Nate flew back across the room and slammed into a wall, cratering it.
"No offense, Nate," she called out, "but 'Man of Steel' is taken."
A weak, metallic thumbs-up indicated Nate would not debate her on that fact.
This just left Amaya, who looked wary, though not intimidated, by Kara's power. "Guess it's just me now" she remarked.
Kara crossed her arms over her chest. "Let's see what you got."
Amaya touched her hand to the amulet around her neck, and a bluish-white apparition formed around her briefly, a shape Kara thought looked vaguely like a rhino. She wasn't sure of Amaya's capacity to take damage, so as she charged the Kryptonian, Kara stood her ground and decided to let her take the first shot. She expected she'd get a good idea of Amaya's power then.
What she did not expect was to get sent flying across the room, pulverizing a stack of empty crates.
The hanger went dead silent. Everyone stood in shock at the Girl of Steel getting tossed so dramatically. Kara, meanwhile, sat up in her pile of splinters, wood chips falling out of her hair. "That was…different."
Amaya gave an easy smile. "You getting up, or are we chalking this up to a win for me?"
Oh, so she wants to play. Okay then, Kara thought. She dusted herself off and began approaching Amaya, now warily respectful of her abilities. As she did so, Amaya touched her amulet again, and Kara saw the form of a snake surround her. Assuming that meant nothing good for her, she quickened her pace and threw a right cross, putting the weight of her superstrength behind it.
Amaya responded with serpent-like reflexes, deflecting the punch and sidestepping to catch Kara's wrist with one hand, popping her in the face with her other fist for good measure.
Kara's eyes widened. "What did you say your powers were again?"
"My amulet lets me channel the spirit of any animal I call upon." Amaya quickly slapped her amulet yet again, and Kara had a brief impression of a gorilla before Amaya twisted her grip on Kara's wrist, shifting into an armbar. "But without it, I'm still a fifth-degree black belt."
"Terrific," Kara muttered. She negated and escaped the armbar by flying up and over Amaya's head, but Amaya still proved to have an answer for most of Kara's abilities. Bigger animals like that rhino and gorilla enabled her to land actual, direct strikes against Kara. When she tried to blow her off her feet with her superbreath, Amaya channeled an elephant and steadied herself with the extra weight. Kara's use of flight was matched with kangeroos and eagles, which awarded Amaya with impressive leaping and flight powers.
Eventually, it was Kara's superspeed that tipped the scales. Amaya tried to counter with a cheetah, but the Kryptonian, fast enough to make Barry Allen break a sweat, was able to get behind her and put her in a sleeper hold (one of Alex's favorites). After a brief struggle, Amaya slapped Kara's forearm, signaling her surrender.
Kara released the hold and stepped back, putting her hands on her hips to catch her breath, while Amaya bent over at the waist to catch hers. When Amaya stood up, Kara was waiting for her with a hand raised.
"You are awesome," Kara gushed, emphasizing every word.
Amaya laughed, then gave Kara her high-five. "Not so bad yourself," she replied, as scattered claps echoed around the hanger. Everyone had heard the commotion and come to watch the spectacle, and Kara and Amaya rewarded them with mock bows.
"I think I need a break," Kara declared, exhaling loudly.
"I think I need a nap," Amaya responded.
…
The crowd around the two powerhouses dispersed as everyone returned to their regularly scheduled alien preparation tasks. Nate and Amaya limped back to the Waverider to recuperate from their encounters with Kara. Kara also intended to rest but was instead beckoned by Oliver to join him, Sara, Ray, Diggle, and Barry in a mini-conference.
"I caught the end of your fight. She really made you work," Barry marveled.
"Yeah," Kara agreed. "I should find out more about that amulet."
"It's an ancient totem originating in Africa," Oliver explained. "A family heirloom, I think."
"How do you know that?" Kara asked. She looked at Sara and Ray. "I thought she was part of your crew."
"We met a descendant of hers," Barry explained, indicating himself and Oliver. "A granddaughter, I think. She has the same amulet."
Kara stared at Barry, then jerked her thumb behind her in the direction of the Waverider. "Amaya looks like she's in her twenties. How can she have a granddaughter?"
"Amaya joined our crew in 1942 when we time traveled there. She's not from this era," Sara explained.
"But, but," Kara struggled, "if she's here now, how can she also have a granddaughter now?"
"Um, it's easier if you don't think about it too much," Ray advised.
Kara blinked. And I'm the weird one for being an alien?
"The important point is that her powers are derived from magic," Oliver finished.
"Magic, huh?" Kara asked, thoughtfully. Almost subconsciously, her hand started rubbing her ear. Barry picked up on it immediately.
"What're you thinking?" he asked.
"Silver Banshee," she replied.
"Who?" Sara asked.
"When Barry came to my Earth," Kara began, "he helped me fight someone who called herself Silver Banshee. She had this, like, supernatural scream as her power."
"Oh yeah," Barry remembered. "It was so strong, it even made Kara's ears bleed."
"Yeah, and she didn't break her fist punching me in the face," Kara added ruefully.
"Sorry, I'm not following," Ray ventured, his eyes bouncing between Barry and Kara.
"We ended up capturing Silver Banshee," Kara said, "and in prison she's mentioned that her powers are derived from some ancient magical curse."
Oliver was quickest to see the point. "So you're saying aliens are weak against magic?"
"Maybe not weak, per se," Barry corrected. "I think it's just a matter of magic being so distinct that aliens have no special protection against it."
"So we need more magic users on our side. That's what you're saying," Sara finished. She looked around the group. "Any ideas?"
There was silence. "Ragman?" Diggle finally asked.
Oliver shook his head. "He's too inexperienced. Besides, I'd like to keep at least a few people guarding Star City."
"Could we bring in the present day Vixen?" Barry asked.
Ray shook his head. "I've done some research into Gideon's archives. Magical items seem to have a higher sensitivity to abnormal chronometric distortions."
"In English?" Diggle asked.
"If we bring past and future versions of the same magical amulet together, it'll be bad," Ray clarified.
More silence. Reluctantly, Oliver pulled out his phone. "Well, there's one other person we could try," he said, looking at Sara, who returned his gaze with some trepidation.
"Are we really that desperate? He still gives me the willies," Diggle complained.
"If it's a magic user we need, he's the obvious choice," Oliver said, pressing an entry on his phone.
"Wait, what's going on?" Kara asked. "Who're we calling?"
She found out after a few seconds of ringing, after which an English accent came up over Oliver's speaker: "Oi, this is John Constantine. If you feel you've reached this message in error then, sod off you lucky bastard. The rest of you, don't leave a number. And lock the door. Cheers!"
This was followed by an automated message: "We're sorry. This mailbox is full. Please try again later."
Kara could tell that Sara and Diggle were not sorry to pass on this mysterious individual, whoever he was, as Oliver hung up. "Looks like Amaya is our main magic user, then," Barry said.
"Looks that way," Oliver agreed. "For now, we'll keep Supergirl and Vixen on separate teams. If they're our best hope against the Dominators, we don't want them on the same mission just to leave us exposed elsewhere."
"And the Dominators don't seem all that into magic anyway, so Supergirl's still our invincible ace in the hole," Barry said, nudging Kara with his elbow. She rolled her eyes and lightly shoved back, only knocking him off balance for a few steps.
"Yes, but she's only one ace in the hole, while the Dominators have an army," Oliver declared as the group spotted Ray and Mick coming back into the hanger. "Break time's over. Back to training!"
Kara sighed and rolled her eyes at Barry as everyone, reluctantly, began gearing up again. "What did he shoot you with when he trained you?"
"That time, two arrows in the back."
"Owww," Kara winced. Then she paused. "Wait, that time? There were other times?!"
...
Author's note: Since this was touted as the big DCCW crossover, I wanted to give shoutouts to Vixen and Constantine, since they exist in that universe as well. Also, I always thought it was a wasted opportunity in Season 4 of Arrow, after having introduced Constantine, to not have an episode where Oliver is trying to call him and the audience just hears Constantine's voicemail message from that tv show's old marketing. Thus, I decided to use the message in this chapter. (I guess it belongs to the CW? Or maybe NBC still?)