Updated chapter 11! Hope you enjoy!
Watching Rogers and Stark interact reminds Kara of the relationship between aunt Astra and uncle Non; Astra had been a very...free spirit, to say the least, a poet and lyricist before embarking on her ultimate fate as a self-proclaimed freedom fighter – or rather, according to Krypton's High Council, a terrorist. Non was practically her polar opposite, a no-nonsense career soldier proudly serving under General Dru-Zod until Astra practically seduced him into the cause. As much as they seemed to truly love each other, Kara can't quite remember a time they didn't get on each other's nerves.
If the two knuckleheads she's on mission with keep it up, Kara's pretty sure they'll end up either killing each other, or passionately making out.
Stark, she figures out very quickly, prefers to just do things. Rogers wants to plan everything out beforehand. Now, Kara doesn't mind not going in bland – the Battle of New York was terrifying, not the least of the reasons being that no one really knew when the aliens would stop pouring in – but even she has to admit that Captain Rogers' thirty minutes of briefing were kinda pointless, if not downright boring – especially when, rather uncharacteristically for S.H.I.E.L.D.-provided intelligence, they really don't have much to go on.
What they do know is that a small gang of unknown, un-Indexed Enhanced managed to pilfer a few blasters from a shipment of salvaged Chitauri weapons, and plan to do so again. The agency doesn't seem to know how, or why, but they do know when and where.
Namely, I-95, thirty miles from Washington D.C., five minutes from now.
"There's the Damage Control truck." –the Captain announces at the Quinjet's co-pilot seat, JARVIS being the one actually flying the borrowed craft.
"I don't get it." –Kara mutters, crossing her arms. "First they steal a couple of plasma rifles, now an entire shipment? That's a heck of a jump, and so soon, too?"
"Their first stint was probably a test of some kind. Maybe they're trying out their powers, maybe their willingness to rob an international security agency blind." –Stark notes over the comms. Kara glances out the window and spots Iron Man easily keeping up, just a few hundred feet to their left.
The Kryptonian frowns; something about the whole thing seems fishy to her. She tries to focus on something else, and settles on Rogers' new uniform.
She can't quite fathom where Stark finds the time, but the new suit – replacing his damaged, S.H.I.E.L.D.-issued one – is awesome. Gone are the eye-popping red, white, and blue of the American flag, replaced by a more muted and serious navy, maroon, and bone white, the silver star in the middle of his chest still very much the ensemble's centerpiece. The suit has a much narrower, form-fitting profile, owing to the same proprietary fabric Stark used for her own costume, and the helmet is now a separate piece, sitting on a rack beside the aircraft's exit ramp. The iconic, indestructible shield remains unchanged
.Rogers speaks up, bringing her back to focus. "You're up, Supergirl. Remember: your first priority should always be getting civilians out of danger."
"Still, if you get the chance to wallop, don't hesitate." –Stark adds.
The Captain frowns. "If we don't have things handled...then yes, you'll get to be the cavalry. You're our big gun, after all." –he says, then smirks. "You'll do great, Kara."
"Thanks, Captain." –she says, more than a little nervous. She then walks towards the ramp, and opens it.
Kara lets herself get sucked out by the pressure differential, momentarily enjoying the vertigo of freefall, then takes off towards the massive, armored truck. Stark takes the lead, diving like a particularly sturdy peregrine falcon. As they get close, what appears to be a small comet makes a beeline towards their target, from the opposite direction.
"There's the first guy." –Stark says, as the flaming man tosses a couple of fireballs at the truck, which tanks the hits like they're nothing. "It'll take a bit more than a few globs of superheated plasma to stop that truck. I designed them to take a beating."
The burning figure takes the hint pretty quickly, stopping the attacks, instead following along only a few feet behind. With the first strike having proved ineffective, a second Enhanced joins the fray; this one is...unique, to say the least, a pile of orange rocks given life and a vaguely humanoid shape. The man – well, the figure looks vaguely masculine, at any rate – plants himself in the middle of the road, and braces for impact.
"...alright, that might be enough." –Stark mutters, engaging the armor's afterburners and leaving Kara in the dust. Iron Man blazes past the human bonfire and the truck, and slams into the rock person, sending them both careening away from the truck's path. The armored vehicle continues, undeterred.
The flaming man looks backwards and spots her, immediately tossing a few fireballs in her general direction. Kara easily dodges them, making sure the projectiles don't endanger the rest of the people on the highway, most of whom have wisely chosen to lag behind the action.
"I'm gonna need you to stop fireballing that truck, sir." –she shouts, hovering to a stop.
The man seems to smile, though his white-hot, coal-like skin makes it admittedly hard to tell. "And I need to grab what's inside. Sorry blondie." –he says, his voice distorted by the flaming aura around his form.
She purses her lips, and launches herself towards the man, intending to grab and subdue him. Before she can reach him, however, she crashes face-first against what appears to be thin air. Rubbing the stars out of her eyes, Kara discovers that she's now enclosed in a shimmering, glass-like box.
The man smirks, smug, and blasts off after the truck again. Below her, a blonde woman, some five years older than her, appears out of nowhere. She wears navy camo pants, a gray scarf, and a royal blue shirt under a dark gray jacket. Her left hand is extended, palm open and facing towards her. "I'm guessing you're the one holding me captive, right?" –Kara asks.
The girl nods, but she seems scared, even nervous. "Y-yeah."
"it's a pretty cool power." –she admits. "What's your name?"
"Sue." –she says. "W-we really don't want to hurt anyone, but...w-we need what's in that truck."
"Why?" –Kara asks.
The girl pauses. "I...can't tell you. They won't let me." –she says, sad. "I'm so sorry."
Kara frowns. "Well, can you at least let me out of this?"
She shakes her head, gulping hard. "If I do, you'll go after my brother. I can't let you stop him, or my friends."
The Avenger rests her palms against the strange, invisible wall. "Sue, there are very dangerous weapons inside that truck. If they get in the wrong hands, a lot of innocent people will be endangered."
Sue winces. "It's not the guns they w-gah!" –she screams, doubling over in pain, clutching at her neck. Kara realizes that she's wearing some kind of shock collar, previously hidden by the scarf.
"Who's making you do this?" –she demands, bile rising as she realizes the situation Sue seems to be in.
The girl tears up, panting from the shock. "I'm sorry. I...they've ordered me to kill you." –she says, wide-eyed. Kara could be wrong, of course, but Sue doesn't look like she could harm a fly. She starts to close her extended hand, and Kara notices that the barely visible walls around her constrict. Taking a deep breath, she draws her fist back, and punches.
The 'wall' flares cyan, ever so briefly resisting before breaking apart into nothingness. At the same time, Sue yelps and collapses, suddenly unconscious. Kara wastes no time in flying to her side, only to find that the collar around her neck has started beeping. Frantic, Kara searches for the source, and finds a thicker section of the device at Sue's nape, along with a blinking red light. Deducing its explosive nature, she clamps her hands around it, just in time for it to detonate against her palms with a rather pathetic poof that fails to reflect its macabre purpose.
Relieved, Kara looks Sue over, removing the broken collar. Aside from a massive nosebleed, and a minor burn from the explosion, she seems fine. She lifts the younger woman, bridal style, and flies up in the truck's general direction. As she does, Sue's body becomes invisible, seemingly involuntarily – probably an odd side effect of her Enhancements.
"JARVIS, I need an ambulance or something." –she says. "I've captured one of the Enhanced, but she's passed out, and her pulse feels a bit fluttery."
The AI immediately responds. "Understood. Please deposit the prisoner in the approaching Quinjet."
Kara looks around and spots the aircraft, a couple of miles away. She races to meet it, patiently waiting as it switches to VTOL mode and opens up. She steps inside, surprised to find it empty.
"Where's the Captain?" –she asks, as she secures Sue against one of the spare seats. She fishes some handcuffs out of an equipment rack, and locks her charge's wrist to the crash bar above.
"Captain Rogers and Mr. Stark are locked in combat with two unidentified individuals, approximately eight miles south of this position."
"Got'cha. Watch over her, will you?" –she says, getting ready to jump out again.
"Will do. Godspeed, Miss Danvers."
Kara takes off, heading towards the action at her top speed – just shy of Mach 1. It takes just over half a minute to reach her teammates, but Kara takes a bit longer to survey the area and make sure nobody's hurt or in need of assistance. Satisfied, she focuses on the fight.
Rogers is clearly having trouble; his fighting style is probably meant for smaller, softer targets, and the huge, orange...thing he's fighting is precisely none of those things. Still, he's doing a fine job of keeping the stone man busy. Stark, on the other hand, has already managed to keep the flaming man grounded and pinned down, hovering above and bombarding his cover – abandoned cars and concrete dividers, for the most part.
Deciding the Captain could use her help, she swoops in.
"Incoming!" –she shouts, and delivers the mother of all sucker punches to the rocky creature, Rogers scrambling to roll out of the way.
The hit connects with his chin, sending the Enhanced flying, bits of rock left behind in his wake. Kara looks at the debris, horrified that she's overestimated the creature's toughness, but she finds relief as she sees the man's strange 'skin' grow back within seconds – by, seemingly, absorbing bits of loose pavement and gravel. He rises right back, and roars at them. Kara idly notes that his face is surprisingly expressive.
The man grabs a large, nearby rock from the side of the road, and tosses it at them, but Kara simply floats up and catches it, returning the favor. He crosses his arms in front of him, and takes the hit, no problem.
"We don't have to fight." –Kara cautions. "I know you guys don't want to hurt anybody."
He ignores her; instead, he bellows in anger, and leaps at her with surprising speed, bringing down his clasped hands on her head and sending her hurtling to the ground. The fall is pretty small, maybe twenty feet, but the impact still sends up a shower of asphalt into the air.
Kara shakes her head, dazed; she felt that one.
A massive hand easily encircles her torso, digging her out of her small crater, but before the man can do much more than lightly squeeze her midsection, Cap's shield slams against his wrist, shattering it. He grunts in pain and opens his damaged hand, which Kara takes advantage of, landing a quick uppercut, which staggers him, and then a powerful knee to his abdomen, causing him to double over.
Kara scowls, realizing he doesn't have a shock collar like Sue's – or any clothing aside from some ill-fitting blue shorts, for that matter. "What are they holding against you?" –she demands, but the rock man doesn't answer. He tries to rise, but Kara punches him right back down, stronger this time.
"What did you mean?" –Cap asks, walking up to her, warily eyeing the seemingly unconscious man. "You said they don't mean to hurt anybody."
"I was trapped a couple miles back by this girl who could...well, it sounds crazy, but she could turn invisible and create these barriers out of thin air." –she explains, pointing back north. "She said her name was Sue, and implied they were all being forced into this. Must be true, because as soon as I defeated her, the shock collar around her neck blew up."
"Shock collar!?" –he asks, outraged. "Is she...?"
"Alive. A little weak from overusing her powers, I think, but otherwise fine."
"Seeing as you've both forgotten how to use your comms," –Stark says, walking up to them, "I took the liberty of listening in on your little convo with Sue." he says, the golden faceplate suddenly lifting to reveal the man beneath. "Kara's right; Sue and the, uh, human torch back there were receiving a signal of some kind. You got to her before JARVIS and I could figure out a way to block it, but we managed to keep whoever's behind this from blowing up the kid."
Kara looks back to the other Enhanced – also unconscious, entangled in a set of thin metal cables. "Uh...won't those melt when he wakes up?" –she asks. The man's skin now looks like barely glowing cinders, the fiery aura completely absent.
Stark shakes his head. "That's a top of the line tungsten alloy. Unless he can get...oh, I don't know, about three times hotter than he's been so far, they'll hold him."
"What about this guy?" –she asks, crossing her arms and looking at the rocky pile of man at her feet. "This guy's really strong."
"Not stronger than you, clearly." –Rogers says, placing his shield on the harness at his back. "I have to say, I felt kind of...obsolete there, for a second." –he jokes.
Kara shakes her head. "If you hadn't kept him busy, I wouldn't have been able to surprise him like that. Plus, I'd have been in a world of trouble if you hadn't forced him to drop me."
Stark rolls his eyes, clearly not buying her angle. "If you two are quite done with the pep talk, we should get these guys back to the Tower."
"We're not gonna wait for S.H.I.E.L.D.?" –Kara wonders.
"No need. We can hold them there, no problem. Plus, I don't exactly trust Fury with young, impressionable super-people."
Kara snorts. "Subtle, there." –she retorts. "But I don't disagree. I think I was getting through to Sue, anyway."
"At this rate, you're gonna end up recruiting someone before Capsicle here does."
Rogers sighs, long-suffering. "This is not a competition, Tony."
Stark tilts his head. "Do you ever not suck the fun out of every situation you're in?"
"I swear to God, Stark, if you're gonna start an argument on our first mission..."
Kara groans. "Alright, you two: I have no clue why you just love getting on each other's nerves, but this is neither the time nor the place. Save it for later; people are starting to gawk."
Indeed, a crowd's begun to gather around their impromptu battlefield, taking pictures and chattering amongst themselves. Stark gives them a little practiced wave, smirking, and even Rogers spares a little smile for those assembled. The crowd points to the sky in surprise, as their Quinjet begins to hover down for a landing. Satisfied, Kara bends down and grabs the rock man's shoulder in order to lift him.
All in all, she thinks, I think we did alright.
She doesn't notice, however, the young man with salt and pepper hair in the crowd of onlookers, walking away with a grim expression.
As always, thank you for your attention! Make sure to comment or message me if you have any questions about this story. Look me up on Twitter as Darthkvzn or Tumblr as darthkvznblogs if you'd like - and on Ko-fi, as Darthkvzn, if you like what I do and have a buck to spare.
Until next time!