After several more successful missions, Supergirl made her first world-wide press conference in the park near the Superman Memorial. Lex Luther watched the press conference from his office. Supergirl appeared in her black and white uniform which stood in great contrast to Superman's red and blue. Reporters from all over the world came to the press conference including Lois Lane who was privileged with a front seat.
Supergirl looked over the crowd of reporters and camera men but felt no apprehension. She stood at a podium but didn't need the microphones in front of her. "My name is Kara. I'm from a colony that existed during the time of Krypton's destruction. I was sent here to be a guardian for Kal-El who you call Superman. Since my cousin is dead, I have made this planet my home. Your yellow sun has given me great powers; I will use them to end your wars, your sufferings, your injustices, and your diseases," she told the reporters.
She paused allowing the reporters to ask her questions. "Do you have the same powers as Superman?" one reporter asked.
"The same exact powers," Kara answered.
"Why did you come later if you are older than Superman?"
"There was a slight miscalculation on my ship," Kara said vaguely.
"Do you work for the United States government?"
"I do not. I do not take orders from your government. My actions are my own," Kara said.
"What about the unintended consequences?" Lois Lane asked her.
"What unintended consequences?" Kara asked irritably.
"You've overthrown dictatorships with violence. Won't this inspire more violence?" Lois challenged.
"Where there is war, genocide, and oppression I will be there to sort it out. If it happens after I leave, I will come back," Kara answered.
"So, you will decide for us," Lois concluded.
Kara expected this question; she had been coached by Lex before coming here. "With these great powers I cannot stand by. If you will not govern yourselves peacefully, I will intervene," Kara told her.
"That's not what Superman believed," Lois shot back.
"We are the not same," Kara said simply.
The hostile exchange between Lois Lane and Supergirl stunned the press gallery for a few seconds and then less controversial questions were asked. Kara answered their questions but could not help but consider Lois Lane with curiosity.
After the press conference, Supergirl shot off into the sky and disappeared. Landing on a skyscraper, she put on civilian clothes that had been packed ahead of time. Looking like a normal young woman, she went downstairs and made her way over to Lex Corp.
"Brilliant performance," Lex complimented.
"You were right. Lois Lane was the most forceful of them," Kara said.
"She's dangerous," Lex noted.
"Perhaps, but no harm can come to her. When my cousin is revived, he will want to meet her," Kara said thoughtfully.
"How is the procedure going?" Lex asked.
"The reanimation of his brain has failed so far. A brain transplant will be needed," Kara said.
"A brain transplant?" Lex wondered.
"Not a full transplant, a piece of my brain matter will restart his own nervous system. But your tools are not suitable for surgery," Kara explained.
"You mean to say that none of our scalpels can cut into your head," Lex figured.
Kara nodded. "What if the scalpel had Kryptonite in it?" Lex asked.
Kara simply stared as Lex took out a small piece of radioactive green Kryptonite from his desk. Kara immediately felt weak as the Kryptonite's rays zapped her strength. She held a sick expression as she continued to be exposed to the object. "Yes, that will work," she said finally.
Lex put the green Kryptonite in a lead box and immediately Kara's strength returned. "Can you do this for me?" Kara asked him.
"Will it kill you?" Lex asked her refering to the surgery.
"I have never been exposed to such high levels of Kryptonite radiation. But I have to try; I am Kal-El's guardian. Even at the cost of my own life," Kara said determined.
Kara flew westward to the state of Kansas and dropped down in Smallville, Kansas. Looking around she found herself in a corn field with no one around. In order to avoid publicity, Kara activated a device on her belt that created a hologram of civilian clothes. Now dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt, the normal looking teenager exited the corn field and walked her way to the Kent's residence.
When she got to the Kents' farm, she approached the house and knocked on the door. "Hello, who is it?" an elderly woman answered.
"Hello, are you Martha Kent?" Kara asked sweetly.
"Yes I am. How can I help you Miss?"
"Your farm has an unusual spike in Kryptonian radiation that cannot be explained. Superman must have been here," Kara said.
Martha stared at Kara not certain how to answer. Their adoption of Superman was a closely guarded secret, but apparently not anymore. "You have nothing to fear. I am not the press," Kara said and then dropped her hologram for a second revealing the S crest underneath her t-shirt.
"Why don't you come in, do you like tea?" Martha smiled upon identifying her.
"Thank you Mrs. Kent," Kara said as she stepped into the house.
Kara sat on a couch and waited for Martha to come back with a cup. Kara took the cup and had a sip. "Very good Mrs. Kent," Kara complimented.
"We haven't told anyone about this. We found Clark in a spaceship in a field; he was only a child when we found him. We couldn't have any children of our own so we decided to adopt him. It was only when he moved to Metropolis that he became Superman," Martha detailed.
"He must have had something with him to emit the radiation I found," Kara figured.
"Yes, there was a green crystal that came with the ship. We had it locked in the barn until Clark was old enough to take it. I don't know where it is now."
Kara considered that and then focused back on Martha. "You mentioned 'we.' Where is your husband?"
"He died several years ago," Martha said softly.
"Its one thing to outlive their husband but its another to outlive their son," Martha shook her head sadly.
"I am working to revive Superman. If I am successful you will be the first to know," Kara promised.
"How?" Martha wondered.
"Kryptonian physiology is different than humans. I have his body in my lab, he merely needs a small brain transplant from me," Kara revealed.
"That's great, are you two related?" Martha wondered.
"I am his cousin. If I I fail, I will have his body sent to you so that you can bury your son here," Kara told her.
"Thank you for telling me this. You know, I've seen you on television," Martha said as Kara prepared to leave.
"Oh, what do you think?"
"You would look more fashionable in blue and red," Martha smiled.
"That's what people tell me," Kara smirked.
"Be careful out there and remember not to overreach with your power. Clark limited himself so that he could lead the world, not control it," Martha advised.
Kara considered Martha's advice and then nodded in understanding. "Take care Mrs. Kent," Kara said and then left the farm.
As she thought about her visit to the countryside, she wondered about Kal-El's upbringing. She began to run down the street until she reached super human speed. Her hologram disappeared and immediately she took flight towards Metropolis.
At the Daily Planet, Lois Land and Jimmy were working on a computer that was showing a sideshow on Jimmy's pictures on Supergirl and the mysterious blond woman that often accompanied Lex Luthor. "Definitely a similarity Miss Lane," Jimmy agreed.
"Yes, but is it an exact match," Lois wondered.
Lois typed on her computer activating an imagery program. She took a picture of Supergirl and a picture of the woman with Lex Luthor and overlapped them. The computer scanned the two pictures together and took a few moments as it worked to see if they matched. The computer came back with a perfect facial match.
"Wow, Miss Lane, you found out the identity of Supergirl," Jimmy said ecstatic.
"Not so loud," Lois snapped at him. "We still have no idea who she is or her connection to Lex Luthor." She turned to Jimmy. "I have a special assignment for you. Take more pictures of her and Lex together."
"Anything for you Miss Lane," Jimmy said and then took off.
Alone at her desk, Lois' curiosity got the better of her. She took a picture of Superman and then a scanned a photo of Clark Kent. The computer worked to gain a facial match but came up inconclusive. "Those glasses," Lois muttered upon realizing the computer couldn't see through them.
In Lex Luthor's laboratory, a large computer monitor was set up with a large keyboard. There were several supercomputers connected to it. "Every ten years processing speed is doubled, but what if we tripled or quadrupled the speed in the same amount of time," Lex wondered aloud.
"So slow Lex," Kara smiled as she held up a small computer chip. "Why not multiply processing speed by a thousand," she said as she inserted the Kryptonian chip into the machine.
"With this kind of computer, I would be able to predict market forces, military strategy, all historical records," Lex listed off.
"Certainly if that is what you want to use it for," Kara allowed.
"What do you plan to do with it?" Lex asked.
"To reconstruct Kal-El's brain, I will need a super computer to repair the damage done to him. The computer will be Kal-El's brain until he is independently functional," Kara explained.
Kara then sat in a chair where thin wires attached themselves to her head, a helmet lowered down onto her scalp. "I am recording my knowledge into the computer. This may take a while," she said.
Lex watched as Kara fell into a deep sleep and then saw the computer screen rapidly inputting images and information. "Truly fascinating."
Kara as Supergirl approached the podium of the UN as the world watched intently. All of the news networks had changed their regular programming to cover this speech. Supergirl was dressed in a black dress that went to her knees, a silver S on her chest, and a black cape behind her. Supergirl considered the crowd before her and then spoke.
"I came to you with the intention of being my cousin Kal-El's mentor and guardian. Since he has died serving to protect this planet, I will now be the mentor and guardian of this planet. My uncle Jor-El told me one time that humans can be a great people if they want to; they only need the light to show them the way. I shall be that light," Supergirl began.
The UN gave her a standing ovation for a few moments and then allowed her to continue. "From this time forth, I will rid this planet of injustice according to the laws of Krypton. Those that murder and steal from their own people, leaders that oppress their people, and those who commit crimes on an international scale will be answerable to me. This body has failed to cure the injustices of this world whether it be war, genocide, economic disparity, poverty, or crime. I will do what you could not. You can either join me or fight against me, but I will civilize this planet according to my people's laws."
The UN was silent as Kara finished her speech. She walked away from the podium and walked towards the exit while UN ambassadors simply stared speechless. There were a few claps from obscure nations, but no one dared to boo the Kryptonian. As she came outside, reporters immediately shouted questions at her, Lois Lane was among them.
"What is your connection to Lex Corp.?" Lois asked once they got close enough.
"Lex Corp.?" Supergirl asked pretending to be confused.
Supergirl then X-rayed her briefcase and saw pictures of her with Lex and then some other pictures with her as Supergirl. She then looked up and saw Lois' smug look on her face. "Let us have a chat sometime," Supergirl smiled giving her a piece of paper with a time and address.
Supergirl then looked up into the sky and flew off high into the air. Lois watched her until she was out of sight and then considered the card. It was a coffee shop in Metropolis and the time was a few hours from now. Lois shrugged and put the card in her jacket.
When Lois arrived at the coffee shop, Kara was waiting for her in civilian clothes. There were a number of suited businessmen but it seemed private enough. Lois took a seat and immediately took out her notepad and tape recorder. Kara merely smirked as Lois readied herself.
"So, what's the connection?" Lois demanded.
"You must be mistaken Miss Lane. I have no connection whatsoever to Lex Corp.," she lied.
Lois gave Kara an annoyed expression. "You asked me to come all the way here to deny my accusation?"
"No, I asked you come here for this," Kara smiled. She snapped her fingers and immediately the businessmen, the employees, and everyone else exited the coffee shop. Lois realized something was wrong as everyone left.
Kara took Lois' tape recorder and crushed it in her hand. "Now, hand over the brief case," she ordered.
"Or you will do what?" Lois challenged.
Kara grabbed Lois by her jacket forcing her off the ground with her right arm. With the left, she forcefully took the briefcase away from her. "I have files on my computer. You won't get away with this," Lois told her.
"The password on your computer is superman and I have already deleted the pictures by a remote computer," Kara revealed.
"You hacked my computer?" Lois asked outraged.
"You forget who I am. I am not like Kal-El who never knew Krypton. I know things he never did," Kara reminded her.
"I'll find a way to expose you," Lois spat.
"I have serious doubts about that Miss Lane."
"You going to kill me?"
"No, you meant to much for my cousin. But you are too dangerous to have around," Kara said. She then lowered Lois to the ground and then deactivated the hologram around her. Kara brought Lois outside and then quickly flew into the air to the north.
Within a few minutes, Kara dropped down and entered the Fortress of Solitude. Lois looked around and felt a sense of familiarity to the place. "You've been here before?" Supergirl guessed.
"No, I don't think so. Why have you brought me here," she asked Supergirl.
"Come with me," Supergirl ordered and then pushed Lois inside the structure.
When they had reached the interior of the fortress, Supergirl placed Lois in a small room made of crystals. Supergirl quickly organized some of the crystals. "What are you doing?" Lois asked fearfully.
"I will keep you here until my cousin revives," Supergirl said.
"Revives?" Lois wondered and was then instantly frozen in place.
Supergirl watched the completely frozen and cryogenetically preserved Lois Lane. "I will work to make your stay a temporary one."
Author's Note: The relationship between Lex Luthor and Supergirl is based loosely on the comics where Lex's clone and a shape shifter who looks like Supergirl dated for a time. I decided to give Supergirl a more competant attitude from that of a ditzy teenage girl who is protectively guarded by Superman. I figured it should be the reverse as she experienced Kryptonian life, knows Kryptonian technology, and was prepared to be Superman's guardian. My interpretation of Lex Luthor and Lois Lane is based more on the animated series than Superman Returns, the movie.
