Chapter 9
"What exactly is your goal Astra? You claim you want to save earth like you would have done for krypton. I would guess that you want to somehow control humans. Is it by killing of the world leaders and then taking over? Or is it something else? Puppet Leaders perhaps? Or something far more sinister like mind control?" Leo said while he was in Astra's cell at the DEO, his back towards her. He noticed the slightest reaction from her towards the end.
"So, some form of mind control then? Is that why your husband attacked Lord Technologies? Was it to get the tech you needed or was it for some other resource that Maxwell has?" Leo continued, thinking out loud while observing Astra's reactions. Deciding that he had enough to work on, he moved on to the other reason for his visit. He turned around and faced the woman.
"You have a chance here Astra, to make things right and be a family with Kara here. Whatever happened on krypton has happened and the only thing you can do is live with the consequences. But here on earth, you have a chance, to do what's right. Just tell us what's going to happen and help us stop it. You can build a new life here and help people, help save the earth without crossing any lines." Leo pleaded.
"Why do you try so hard to convince me?" Astra asked.
"Because I know there is good in you. And I know deep down you still love and care deeply about Kara. It would make her happy to repair her relationship with you. I'm imploring you to think hard about this. We can live together in harmony. Kryptonians and humans. Humanity has a capacity for great change. We can nurture it together in order to save tomorrow." Leo said before leaving Astra to mull over the words in her cell.
"Did you get anything from her?" Hank asked when Leo walked back into the main room.
"Not anything concrete yet. Just give me a few more days to try and convince her that her love for her niece and family is stronger than her dedication to whatever cause they're fighting for now. I just hope we managed to stop them back at Lord Tech. Any luck on trying to find out what Lord is hiding?" Leo responded.
"Unfortunately, no. He's labelled the attack as corporate espionage and kept it an internal matter so our hands are tied." Hank said. Leo nodded and proceeded back to the lab.
"So, mind control and Lord Technologies. That's still leaving too many paths open. There should be something about the files on Fort Ross about Astra's crimes. Let's see now…" Leo said to himself as he worked away analyzing the data he had taken from the DEO mainframe from Fort Ross.
'Still nothing concrete to work with here. Although it does suggest that they might reuse whatever they tried to us on krypton. This is getting nowhere. I should probably give Kara a call, see how she's doing. It'll take my mind off this search.' Leo thought to himself before pulling out his phone and giving Kara a call.
"Hey, Kara I hope I'm not interrupting anything. I just needed to talk to you." Leo said over the phone.
"No, you didn't interrupt anything. Is anything the matter?" Kara asked.
"Aside from Lord being his usual self? No there hasn't really been anything. How's your day going? Something's bothering you I can tell." Leo responded.
"Not good. Cat still won't let it go that I'm Supergirl. I've tried everything. She says that she wants to let me go because every moment I spend here is time that could be used out there as Supergirl saving people. I can't lose this job Leo. I don't know what I would do with my life. I've been desperate enough to tender my resignation now on the basis that I can't work with her suspicions." Kara said, her distraught at the situation clear even through the phone.
"I might have an idea. What if she saw Supergirl and you at the same place at the same time? I think then she'd have no choice but to accept that you two are different people." Leo suggested.
"How would you even get that to work? I can't be in two places at once." Kara countered.
"You let me figure that out for you. Hey, do you remember the picture James took of you stopping a robbery without your powers? You think you could get him to send me a copy of it?" Leo asked.
"I'll get him to send you a copy. Ms. Grant is calling me. I need to go. Love you." Kara said.
"Love you too, bye." Leo replied before the line went dead.
"Hank, can I talk to you for a minute?" Leo said, heading over to the main room.
"What's going on Agent Titus? Did you find anything?" Hank asked.
"Not yet. I just got off the phone with Kara and she's having a little trouble at work. So, I was wondering if I could get you to do me a big favor and help her out." Leo said.
"And what would this favor entail me doing?" Hank asked with a raised brow.
"Cat Grant somehow pieced together that Kara is Supergirl. And as a result of that, wants Kara to stop working because she feels her talents are better applied as Supergirl. I need you to help me by being Supergirl and appearing in front of Cat Grant together with Kara to convince her that they are two different people." Leo said, pleading Hank to help out with the issue.
"You know I wouldn't mind having Kara work at the DEO full-time. Also, I do agree with Cat Grant to a degree. But tell my why you would go so far to help Kara keep her job?" Hank responded.
"That job is important to Kara and that's reason enough for me. But it's more than just a job for Kara. It's her life. A life beyond being a superhero. Beyond being Supergirl. It's what makes Kara, Kara." Leo said.
"I'll help out. Just tell me when." Hank said.
"Thank you so much for the help Hank. I owe you one for this. I'll work it out with Kara so we can pull of the ruse tonight and get the matter out of the way." Leo said, turning to walk back to his lab.
"I love you so much Leo! Thanks for saving my job! Ms. Grant bought it completely!" Kara exclaimed as soon as she entered the loft. Leo was seated on the couch and had gotten up to greet her only to grunt in exertion and take a step back to stabilize himself when Kara leapt at him.
"It's no problem I just owe Hank a favor that's all. It's great that the ruse worked." Leo said, wrapping his arms around Kara.
"Did anything interesting happen at the DEO?" Kara asked as she and Leo sat at the sofa, Kara settling herself on his lap and curling into him.
"Nothing much. I spoke to your aunt again today." Leo said, causing Kara to freeze up.
"And?" Kara inquired.
"She did reveal a little of her plan. Based on her slight reactions to the questions I threw at her. Kara, I need you to do something for me. I need you to speak to your aunt again. To convince her to side with you over whatever it is she is trying to do. I know in her heart she still loves you dearly. It's why she couldn't bring herself to really hurt you during all your previous confrontations. I know deep down, your Aunt isn't evil. She has a strong conviction towards her cause that although may be for a good cause, crosses too many lines. We need to show her that, to prove to her that we can inspire a better tomorrow in humanity that we can prevent what happened on Krypton." Leo pleaded.
"When do you want me to speak to her?" Kara asked.
"If it's alright with you, I want you to see her tomorrow after work. Let me talk to her first before she sees you." Leo replied.
"Take me to bed please." Kara mumbled, the conversation having reopened still fresh wounds. She knew though that Leo wouldn't do this to purposely hurt her. He truly believed that Astra could still be turned and Kara would believe in it too. Leo picked Kara up and went to get them ready for bed.
"It seems I have the pleasure of another visit from you." Astra commented dryly.
"I'm sure I'm much better to look at and speak to than the walls that contain you." Leo said.
"Are you here to prod me for more information once more?" Astra asked.
"No. Today I have something to show you. I want you to take a look at this." Leo responded, handing Astra the picture that James had taken of Kara convincing a robber to turn himself in.
"So, my niece stopped a robbery. Do you and her not do this on a regular basis?" Astra said, trying to hide the fact that she had some feelings of pride for Kara's actions.
"I want you to see something. This took place after the incident with the Red Tornado androids. A point in time when Kara had no powers and had broken her arm just before that." Leo said, playing the recording he had managed to piece together of the incident. Astra seemed to react before quickly steeling her features while the video continued to play.
"You don't need to tell me anything. I just hope this proves to you that humanity can change. And it's not about making them cower in fear or taking away their freedom. It's about being a symbol of hope. Something they can aspire to be to achieve a better tomorrow." Leo said before leaving the cell, allowing Astra to contemplate his words and what she had just seen.
"Aunt Astra." Kara greeted as she entered the cell.
"It is a pleasure to see you little one." Astra returned.
"The first thing I want to say is that I want to apologize. It wasn't right for my mother to trick you like that. And while I may never truly here the whole story from a view that will enable me to judge either of you, I feel that both of you made mistakes, trying to do what you believed was right for Krypton." Kara said, Astra was shocked by her words.
"That is a surprisingly mature view. I expected you to lash out at me for destroying whatever image you had of your mother." Astra said.
"Leo reminded me that we are all mortal and prone to mistakes. All we can do is stand up for what we believe in and live with the consequences that our actions may bring." Kara said, kneeling down so she could take her aunt's hand in hers and stare into her face.
"Please aunt Astra, I know that inside there's good in you. You want to help the humans. Save them from going down the same fate that krypton did. We can do it together. We don't need to cross any lines. We can show them that there is a better tomorrow to aspire towards if they are willing to take the first step." Kara pleaded.
"And what if they choose not to follow? Can you live with the failure of dooming them to destruction?" Astra countered.
"We cannot force them to choose. To take away choice is to take away what makes them human. If they should choose to continue to a path of self-destruction then the consequences will be theirs to bear. I would rather have tried and failed knowing that they chose that path then to force them to walk the path of salvation by taking away what makes them human. I've built a life here Aunt Astra. You can too. A life beyond what you were in Fort Ross and on Krypton. A chance to start anew and become a beacon that lights the path to tomorrow. I just know that with you helping us we can change humanity for the better. So please Aunt Astra, help us stop all this so we can work on building a brighter tomorrow." Kara pleaded before letting go of her Aunt's hand and leaving the cell.
"Do you know what this is?" Kara demanded to know angrily as she held a shriveled-up alien plant in her hands and walked into her Aunt's cell.
She and Leo had been out flying in the city. They returned to the loft when Leo noticed something odd on the table. He pointed out a plant covered in goo that wasn't there when they left only for him to be attacked by some sort of alien plant creature that was hiding in the ceiling. The creature tried to latch onto to him while he was still in his Build armor and clearly didn't react well to the Nebula Energy that the armor was composed of. However, Leo fell to the floor unconscious and still had yet to wake. He immediately brought Leo to the DEO and they were running tests on him now. She decided to bring the remains of whatever the creature was to the only person alive who might have known what it was.
"That's the black mercy. It latches onto its victims and shows them their ideal world, slowly leeching away their life force till they die. It's seen as a merciful and clean method of assassination. Did it attack you? How did you manage to get free?" Astra asked, concern leaking through her voice.
"It didn't get me. It attacked Leo. And because of this thing my future husband is currently in a coma! Tell me how do I stop the effects of the black mercy? Do you know who sent it?" Kara asked, anger, fear and hurt leaking into her voice.
"It would have been Non. Before I left to confront you, he was adamant that we deal with you and your future mate. However, I was firm in laying down that you were not to be harmed. I guess this was his way of respecting my orders while still carrying out his wish to have you out of the way." Astra replied.
"Please Aunt Astra help me save him. Help me stop all this madness. You've just shown you still care." Kara pleaded.
"I…have realized that there is another way to go about this. That maybe I am doing things wrong. I want to fix this Kara. To be a family with you again. Like it once was on Krypton. You're right. It is time I changed. Maybe the way I had done things in the past was what caused me to fail. That perhaps had I spoken to Alura first we could have worked together to save Krypton. But the past is the past it will never change. Now I have chance to make it better and I want to do so. Let me help you save your future mate." Astra said, relenting after the multiple talks from Leo and Kara, choosing to believe in people like her sister once did. To have faith that humanity can change for the better if they have something to aspire towards.
"After we save him, will you tell us where Non is? What you were trying to do?" Kara asked.
"I will tell you now. Our hideout is Fort Ross. We were working on something called Myriad. A mind control signal transmitted through the air that would allow us to take control of humanity. We should hurry and save your future mate." Astra said. Kara nodded, giving her Aunt a sorry look as she placed Kryptonite handcuffs on her. She then led her aunt to the area where they were keeping Leo, the monitors giving readings on his vitals.
"What is she doing here?" Hank asked.
"She's agreed to help us. She's also told me about her plans and the location of their base. But now we need to focus on saving Leo. Did you manage to find out anything?" Kara asked.
"For the most part his vitals are stable. We've measured every parameter and as far as we can tell, Agent Titus is just asleep." Hank said.
"Is there any way to monitor if he is currently experiencing a dream? Examining his brain activity perhaps? The black mercy traps its victim in a dream of their 'perfect world'. Despite the fact that the parasite is not latched onto him currently, it is possible that he is still experiencing its effects." Astra suggested.
"I'll get to work on that right now." Alex said, getting to work setting the brain activity monitor up. While she moved to attach probes to Leo's head, Hank regarded Astra with a guarded expression.
"Anything else we should know about the effects of the black mercy?" Hank asked.
"As I said before, it latches onto its victims trapping them into their fantasy of a perfect world. This is so that the victim does not resist while the parasite slowly drains away their life force. Given the fact that his body somehow repelled the plant based upon my niece's retelling of the events, he should not even be experiencing such a state however it is possible that whatever gave him the resistance to the black mercy didn't see the illusion ability as a threat and so didn't prevent it from affecting him." Astra said as a possible theory, not being very certain herself.
"How does one stop the black mercy and its effects? Can we just pull the parasite of them? Shock them enough to wake them?" Kara asked, hoping that they would have some easy solution to get Leo awake.
"The black mercy will only release its victims after they have been completely drained or if the victim rejects the fantasy. Something that becomes increasingly hard to do the longer they spend trapped inside it as everything convinces them to stay inside the fantasy. To separate the black mercy by force from the victim would induce trauma that would kill whoever the parasite is latched onto." Astra answered, this only seemed to cause Kara to be more on edge as she was now biting on her lower lip.
"We've got the brain activity monitor up. Based on the readings, it does seem like he's experiencing some sort of dream. From the looks of things, it's a very good dream." Alex said, turning the monitors to show them the readings.
"So, it seems that even though he rejected the black mercy, his body didn't see the illusion as a threat and so he's being affected by it. It's consistent with what we know of Leo's physiology. Despite its constant changes due to his hazard level rising, we know for a fact that his body either burns out or 'rejects' anything that means to cause it harm." Hank said, placing a hand under his chin.
"Can we somehow send someone into his mind? To get him to reject the fantasy?" Kara asked.
"Let me see if my powers can allow me to tap into his brain." Hank said, moving over to Leo's prone form and placing his right hand on Leo's forehead. He closed his eyes to concentrate but only moments later pulled away and took several deep breaths.
"I managed to catch a glimpse of the fantasy he was in. However, it was only for the briefest moment before I was rejected by his body. His mind sees me as a threat." Hank said, leaning against a wall to help him gather his bearings.
"Tell me little one, how strong is your bond with your mate?" Astra asked.
"What bond? Me and Leo have yet to marry. We were planning to get married soon." Kara said, the happiness of the matter being dampened severely by the current condition of her love.
"Have you sometimes been getting feelings or glimpses, even experiences that aren't yours? Have you somehow known when your mate is in distress or experiencing strong emotions?" Astra asked.
"I have sometimes felt feelings that weren't my own, but they've only been when I speak to Leo or am with him physically. I would think that's just an effect of us spending time together, helping each other work through our problems. What are you trying to get at Aunt Astra? Please tell me there is some way I can save Leo." Kara questioned.
"I am not certain if this is actually the case but on krypton if two people were so right for each other and were so in love, they would form a bond that would allow them to communicate and feel what their partner felt without speaking. This bond would only be fully formed once the two were fully mated and so it stands to reason that right now, your bond is still in its infancy." Astra said, throwing her theory of Leo and Kara's bond out there.
"If those two are really bonded then I may be able to form a mental link between you two that will allow you to dive into his mind and help him reject the fantasy." Hank said.
"It is a great risk. Should you fail to convince him to reject the fantasy, you may become trapped and both of you may never awake again." Astra warned.
"I'll do it." Kara said. Alex wanted to protest but the look of fierce determination in her sister's eyes silenced her protests. Instead she got another bed set-up that would allow Hank to have physical contact with both Leo and Kara at the same time, lessening the strain on his powers so he could help keep the connection open for longer. Kara lay down and Hank placed a hand on both her and Leo's foreheads.
"Focus on your bond little one. Use it to free your mate from the illusion. Remind him of the connection you both share. You both need each other to live." Astra said, placing a kiss on Kara's check before J'onn started using his powers to link both Kara and Leo together. Kara closed her eyes and focused on her strong love for Leo, feeling a faint connection to him before her world was engulfed in white.
When Kara awoke once more, she found that she was in a grass field. It actually reminded her somewhat of the Kent's farmhouse when she had visited Clark's adoptive parents with him. She noticed that in some distance away, there was a man chopping wood in front of a quaint three-story house. The man bore a striking resemblance to Leo except he looked slightly older. He also seemed a lot freer, in the sense that he had less emotional baggage than Leo did. Kara took a deep breath and started walking towards the man. He seemed not to notice her as he continued to chop wood.
"Can I help you miss? You seem like you're lost." The man said.
"Are you Leo Titus?" Kara asked.
"I am. You know you remind me a lot of my wife. Course you're a little younger than her. Also, your choice of clothing is pretty unique. I can't help but think I've seen it somewhere before." Leo commented, still continuing to chop the wood.
"Your wife?" Kara asked uncertainly.
"Yeah, her name's Kara Kent. I met her back in high school. We started dating in senior year, went to college together then settled down together. We've even just had our first child recently. A pretty little girl we named Alura." Leo said with a fond smile, letting the axe rest on the ground beside him.
"Leo, you have to believe me. My earth name is Kara Danvers. I was born Kara Zor-El. You and I are due to get married soon. All of this isn't real Leo. You need to reject it. This is all the effect of the black mercy. Please I can't lose you." Kara pleaded.
"I think you should take a seat ma'am. You're clearly hallucinating. I'm a happily married man. Have been for the past five years." Leo countered.
"You have to believe me Leo! This suit, you designed it when I wanted to become a hero. To fight together with you for a better tomorrow for everyone. You gave me this ring made out of a piece of kryptonite that you managed to reengineer so that it wouldn't weaken me. To remind me of where I came from. You have to believe me. I need you to wake up Leo." Kara begged.
"I'm no hero ma'am. I'm just a normal man trying to earn an honest living here and give his family the best he can." Leo retorted.
"You're the hero Build! Everyone looks up to you. I'm Supergirl and together we protect National City, we save the world from the threat of hostile aliens! Please you have to remember!" Kara pleaded, heeding her aunt's advice and pushing all her feelings through her bond. Leo staggered for a moment before clutching his head in pain and stumbling to the ground.
"Kara…? I remember now. All this isn't real. I was attacked by some sort of alien plant thing." Leo said, slowly getting to his feet.
"Honey, is everything alright?" a woman who eerily similar to Kara walked out of the house carrying a small babe in a pink onesie. Leo seemed torn for a moment looking at the woman before he steeled his resolve.
"Everything will be fine. None of this is real. I need to go. I'm sorry. But I will never forget this." Leo said before closing his eyes and the fantasy world started crumbling away. Back in the real world, Hank was sent staggering as he felt his mental powers being pushed away by Kara and Leo before Kara awoke and abruptly sat up from the bed she was on. They all crowded around Kara as she slowly recovered only to hear a loud slam reverberate through the room. They turned to see that Leo had woken up and punched the nearby wall. His knuckles bleeding from the impact while tears leaked down his face.
"Leo. I'm here. Let it all out." Kara said, immediately rushing to his side and engulfing him in a hug. Leo buried his head into the crook of her neck. Kara felt his tears hit her shoulder before he let out a single anguished cry.
"Who did this?" Leo asked, his breathing still ragged and his voice laden with sorrow.
"It was Non. Although you were the unintended target. He probably sent it to get rid of Kara." Astra answered.
"Where is he?" Leo demanded angrily.
"He and the rest of the army should be at Fort Ross. But before you go inside, we need to discuss the true threat. The implementation of myriad." Astra countered calmly.
"Is that the name of whatever mind control device you were working on?" Leo asked.
"It is. Myriad is something originally developed on Krypton. It's a signal transmitted over the air that enables us to control the people within its range. It's intended use was to control the populace and force them into working together for a better tomorrow. However, I know Non doesn't care about all that. He has always argued against me saying that the humans aren't worth coexisting with in any shape or form. Merely sheep for us to lead to slaughter." Astra explained.
"I'm sorry. It must hurt that the person you have to fight against is the one you married." Leo said, having separated himself away from Kara and pushed his rage back. Astra let out a bitter laugh and the sentiment.
"Ours was an arranged marriage. One we never truly got to work. Non is far too ambitious and conceited in his ways. The only reason he ever listens to me was because I was the general of the army." Astra said bitterly.
"How do we stop him and Myriad? What's the progress of the implementation?" Alex asked.
"Before I was captured, we had nearly completed the program and tuned it for humans. All that's left would probably have been to attach it to something that would help to transmit the signals." Astra said.
"I guess that explains the attack on Lord Tech. He has the most prolific and advanced transmission network. Not only that, tagging onto his satellite would allow them to start from National City and quickly work on expanding the influence. We need to hurry up and stop them." Leo said.
"Are you sure you're up for this Agent Titus?" Hank asked.
"I'm fine. In fact, I want to go over there and make sure Non is well acquainted with Black Hazard's fist." Leo ground out bitterly.
"You know I ordinarily I wouldn't allow you to go out with that kind of mentality. Especially not using something that will turn you into a berserker. But if we're going to be storming the enemy base then we need all the firepower we have. What are we up against?" Hank asked, turning to Astra.
"I'm not certain of how many Non has managed to gather in my absence but our group consisted of those of us originally from krypton, 12 of us in total including myself. Following that we were able to strongarm around 20 escapees from Fort Ross. This number includes some of those you have either detained or killed before." Astra answered.
"So, we're looking at an opposition force of around 8 kryptonians and possibly another 10 escaped convicts from Fort Ross. Those aren't easy odds. Even with you on our side and the use of agent Titus' black hazard form, I still don't like out odds." Hank grumbled.
"Defeating them is one thing. The priority isn't to win the battle. It's to make sure we take down myriad for good. Non won't be stupid. He's still a military commander. He will know to pull out to fight another day. Then we'll end up back to square one." Leo pointed out.
"I can take down myriad from the inside. Make it seem like I've escaped and get to where the main equipment for myriad is being stored and destroy it. But I'll need something to keep their attention off me while I do so." Astra suggested. Hank seemed torn to trust her with such a key task.
"Let's do it. Me and Kara should be able to make enough noise for you to force Non's attention on us. That will give you time to destroy the equipment for Myriad." Leo said, finalizing their plan. Hank could only agree as despite his unwillingness to trust Astra, this was the best chance they had at stopping Myriad.
"Non." Astra greeted as she entered their base at Fort Ross.
"Astra, you returned. How did you manage to escape your captivity? We were attempting to capture a high a value hostage that we could trade for you before this however the plan failed due to some unforeseen circumstances. However now that you are here and all obstacles are out of our way, I am certain we can proceed on schedule." Non returned.
"Yes, I heard of how you used the black mercy on my niece." Astra said through gritted teeth.
"Your instructions were that she was not to be harmed. I complied. She is at peace." Non said before the whole prison shook violently.
"We have an intruder. It seems the other hero of National City has found us." Astra commented, brining up a screen showing Leo in his RabbitTank hazard form violently attacking some of the escaped convicts that were stationed to keep a lookout for their operations.
"Yes. It is unfortunate that we haven't managed to deal with him yet." Non added.
"Go and take everyone you need to stop him. Take all the kryptonians if need be. He must not be allowed to discover what we are working on. I will work on the final preparations to transport myriad away. You need not win. Simply stall for time." Astra ordered.
"I doubt he will be able to stand up to the might of eight kryptonians combined. He will fall and after that, we will stand unopposed." Non said before flying away to confront Leo.
Astra got to work destroying all the equipment they required for the implementation of Myriad. First was the information stored in the servers for the control and activation of myriad. She quickly cleared the information before proceeding to use her super strength. She then used her heat vision to fry the various repeater boxes that would have served to send the signals through the satellite network of Lord Tech. In all, barely 5 minutes had passed before all the info and equipment for myriad was beyond salvation. Astra quickly turned her attention to the battle and saw that there were only five kryptonians left including Non and Kara had joined the battle as well after dealing with the rest of the escapees. Astra felt a chill of dread when Leo relaxed his stance and his hand dropped to his side.
"Oh no. This is bad." Kara said through the comms.
"What happened to him?" Astra asked, not having seen this before. Leo's hand moved to press the button on top of the hazard trigger while Kara and the accompanying DEO agents took cover.
"Max Hazard on! Ready Go, Overflow! Oh no!" the build driver announced before Leo became a blur, appearing next to one of the kryptonians and delivering a devastating hit to the man's midsection that sent him barreling into a wall, the kryptonian dropping to the ground unconscious. Leo then delivered a swift downward kick to another kryptonian that was nearby, sending that one into the floor with a loud crunch as the ground gave way from the force of the impact.
"What's going on?" Astra asked, appearing next to Kara in a burst of Super speed.
"Leo's gone into the overflow state. His power level is rising so quickly that he cannot control the stimulus to his body. All he knows now is to fight. We need to lay low and wait for the opportunity to pull the hazard trigger off him." Kara explained, her worry growing as Leo delivered a hard punch to one of the three kryptonians left standing, the kryptonian crumbling to the ground in a boneless heap.
He grabbed the last one that wasn't Non by the head, holding him up with his feet dangling a few inches from the ground. The man tried to struggle out of Leo's grip, but Leo held firm. His other hand moved to turn the lever before his body was engulfed in purple energy. The energy flowed over to the kryptonian he held, the man screaming in pain as to an observer he was shocked by purple lightning before he was dropped to the ground foaming in the mouth. Non was the last one left standing, the kryptonian glaring angrily at Leo who seemed to regard him with a curiosity.
"This is it. He takes time before changing targets. As soon as he deals with Non, we both go out there and take off the hazard trigger." Kara said to Astra who nodded, both women taking ready stances, waiting to strike.
"Ready go. Hazard Finish!" The driver announced before Leo became a blur, rushing towards Non who tried to fry him using heat vision. Leo either simply ducked or rolled out of the way or deflected the shots away with ease. It didn't take long before he was right in front of Non, delivering a flying kick right into the kryptonian's chest, his leg coated in purple energy. Non was sent backwards by the force of the attack. His body crashed against the ground a few times as it tumbled backwards before he finally came to a stop, lying on the ground unmoving.
"Now!" Kara shouted, diving straight at Leo, aiming to rip the hazard trigger off the driver. Leo saw her coming though and moved backwards to avoid the hit. Kara came to a stop in front of him and didn't waste her chance, grabbing his arms and pinning them to his side, restricting him enough so that Astra could pull of the hazard trigger.
"I've got you Leo. It's over now. We won." Kara said, moving one of Leo's arms over her shoulder so he could lean his weight on her as soon as she felt him staggering from exhaustion once the black hazard transformation was reversed.
"Thanks Kara. Any casualties on our end? Is Myriad done for?" Leo asked.
"We have a few injured DEO agents but no major injuries. A few bandages and some time to recover and they'll be back at 100%." Kara answered.
"As for Myriad, all equipment and related information has been disposed of." Astra replied.
"Astra. How dare you! How could you betray our cause?! I should have never listened to you. We could have ruled the humans with our power!" Non proclaimed, slowly getting to his feet, blood dripping out of his mouth.
"It would have achieved our goal but at a cost I realized wouldn't be ours to pay or a choice that wasn't ours to make. I have chosen a different path. One that I believe will lead to the outcome I desire." Astra answered calmly.
"You bitch. I should gotten rid of your when I had the chance." Non said before he spit out a large glob of blood and fell to the ground, his body completely motionless.
"Well the total count stand at 5 injured agents, 15 captured alien criminals and 3 dead kryptonians. Considering how much both you and agent Titus weren't holding back, I'd say that's a decent haul. On to the matter of your Aunt. Unfortunately, she will have to remain inside her cell for now. Despite all the help she has rendered to us, she is still considered a criminal. However, given her actions today, I am working towards securing a conditional pardon for her but that may take time. I'm sorry Supergirl. This is one thing I can't ben rules on." Hank said after they were finished with the cleanup and back at the DEO.
"That's understandable. I'm certain you can help us out Hank. If not I'm sure I can speak to the president too. She still owes me a few favors. Me and Kara will escort Astra back to her cell." Leo said, taking Kara's hand and leading her to where Astra was waiting, her hands cuffed with kryptonite.
"I'm sorry Aunt Astra. I promise as soon as they get your pardon done, we can spend time together." Kara said.
"It's fine little one. I've done much wrong on this planet. Some time in a cell where you and your mate can visit me and my eventual freedom is far more than I deserve." Astra responded, walking into her cell. Kara gave her one last hug before both she and Leo left her alone in the cell, both trying to keep strong fronts even as the exhaustion of the day's events set in.
The story moves along. I've been fleshing out ideas in my head and below are some responses as well as things I want readers opinion on.
1) Evol Driver
After much thought, I've found a way to skip the evol driver and go straight to genius. However, if enough new reviews come in wanting to see Leo with the evol driver then I might decide to bring it back in. He will still be getting evolt like powers though.
2) Crisis on Earth X
This is something I really want the readers opinion on. This will have great impact as to the last boss of season 3 will be. If enough readers think that it would be cool to move the crossover event to the end of the season then I'll introduce an Evoltish enemy coming from Earth X. If not then I'll just use it as a springboard to introduce Cross Z Magma.
Till Next Update. Hoping for more reviews. Reviews really do help keep authors motivated so please do leave a review if you can. :)