Orbit of Mars, at that same time.
Thanks to a body that was already dense thanks to the yellow sun in the middle of the Sol system, Superman was able to withstand the rigours of space un-aided, and with his large lung capacity, he was able to hold his breath for hours on end. He would need to breathe, which was the reason for the experimental STAR Labs mask that covered the entire bottom portion of his face, from his nose, to his chin and the back of his neck. Created by Dr. Hamilton and his team from, it would release bursts of oxygen allowing the Man of Steel to breathe every five hours or so. He was already two days in a five-day job of repairing an important STAR Labs satellite that was damaged thanks to micrometeorite impacts. NASA wasn't able to get a shuttle launched in time, so Superman was asked by STAR Labs to fly all the way to Mars, where he would be walked through the repair process with the use of a communication device, and ear set.
The Man of Steel was then handed a case of various objects that would be required in fixing the satellite which was later attached to his person. And then he was off.
Now, Superman had just finished using his heat vision to solder a circuit board inside the satellite when the communication device in the case tethered to his body beeped. While sound couldn't travel in space, Superman knew there was a call for him from the beep coming from the earpiece he was wearing, that was wirelessly connected to the tiny microphones in the oxygen mask. The microphones themselves were then wirelessly connected to the communication device in the case.
All so that Superman could receive detailed instructions from Earth. He tapped the ear piece in his ear while he was floating in space before speaking into the microphones.
"This is Superman."
"Superman, this Dr. Hamilton, we've just received news from the reporter, Lois Lane."
"What's the message, doctor," asked Superman wondering if there was something going on in Metropolis, 'that's the only reason Lois would call for me.'
"She said that your cousin, Supergirl's, been trying to get a hold of you," said Dr. Hamilton, "Miss Lane said that Supergirl sounded worried and was asking when you'd be back… umm…."
"Did she give any details?" asked Superman with his eyes narrowed in concern. He knew that ever since becoming Supergirl, Kara hadn't called on him; she wanted to be her own hero. The only time he was ever called to help Kara was by James, during the fight with Reactron. Other than that, Superman was proud that Kara was able to handle things on her own, and he said as much to Kara every day when the would chat online. So hearing that Supergirl was calling for him worried Superman a great deal. He shook his head and decided to listen to what Dr. Hamilton was going to say. 'Maybe it's nothing.'
"Apparently Supergirl said that something was about to happen in three days," Dr. Hamilton said, "but Supergirl didn't give out any specifics. All Miss Lane said that Supergirl was asking for you."
"I've partially fixed the satellite," said Superman floating towards the port side of the satellite as he took off the tether around his belt, and then attached it to a hook on the satellite itself. "If Supergirl's reaching out for me, then whatever it is, must be urgent."
"We'll fire up the satellite and check on whatever systems we can, Superman," said Dr. Hamilton.
"I'll come back after I've helped Supergirl," Superman replied while he turned around after floating away from the satellite as Dr. Hamilton answered in the affirmative. Superman then adjusted his own gravity field, turned around towards Earth, before shooting himself towards the blue planet that was his home. With no air in space for him to fly through, and thus no resistance to his flying, Superman zoomed off towards Earth; a journey of thirty minutes.
The Danvers Residence, Midvale, five minutes later.
Kara was at the sink washing her plate while still savouring the taste of Eliza's pecan pie on her tongue and her lips. Smiling as she thought about telling her foster mother that she never wanted to brush her teeth so that she could have the taste with her forever. Kara remembered how much she was teased for saying that by Alex as she chuckled while wiping the plate dry. In the meantime, Eliza was reading some papers online about how a particle reactor explosion could have caused the Flash to get his speed. Kara looked over her shoulder at Eliza, and smiled when she remembered the questions Eliza had about how much energy the Flash should be exerting just to run. Is his power internal or is there an external element that powers him; those were among the tons of questions that Eliza had for Kara, who in turn told the older woman that she could meet the Flash one day before he leaves.
As Kara placed the plate on the counter, she turned around and leaned on the counter while looking at Eliza who was still reading something on the laptop. Kara wanted to tell Eliza about the second reason that Barry was here; to save Supergirl's life from her own adopted father who became a monster… a monster that she'd kill, a monster that would kill her. Even if she didn't tell Eliza about the part of her dying, Kara still believed that her adopted mother should know about Jeremiah being alive.
And that Alex was doing everything she could to find CADMUS, and in turn, Jeremiah.
"Mom," Kara said as she ambled towards the dining table where Eliza was seated. Eliza looked up from her computer screen, and raised her eye brows at Kara while taking off her glasses and placing them on the table next to her laptop, "there's something that…"
Before Kara could finish what she wanted to say, specifically the existence of Jeremiah, the both of them turned towards the door when there was a knock. Kara had on one of her spare lead lined glasses, which she pulled down to use her X-Ray vision while Eliza got up from her seat and walked over to Kara's side. The both of them looked at the door as the knocking started to became loud raps from a soft knock.
"By Rao," said Kara as she stepped back while putting her glasses back on. She grabbed Eliza's hand using her own trembling hand, just as the both of them heard a voice from the other side of the door. A voice that Eliza recognized as she pulled her hand out of Kara's grip and used them both to cover her mouth in shock.
"Eli… za, Al… ex," Jeremiah drawled in a deep voice as the knocking on the door continued. Kara just stood transfixed as everything Barry told her came back down on her, however, there was something very wrong.
Jeremiah was right here, and right now, it wasn't three days later.
Jeremiah was right here at her home.
Kara then heard Eliza blurting out 'Jeremiah' as she excitedly ran towards the front door. But Kara was faster, zipping next to Eliza just as she reached the front door. Kara grabbed Eliza's arm gently, and stood between the older woman and the door as the rapping on the door turning to a pounding, with the door shaking from getting hit by a fist from the other side.
"Kara," asked Eliza shaking her head, "what are you…?"
"Mom," implored Kara while she gently grabbed both of her arms and looked into her eyes, "there… there's something you need to know. Whatever's outside? That's not dad, that.. I don't know what that is. Mom, the Flash came here to save my life. His friend saw…"
"Ka… ra," drawled Jeremiah as Kara stopped talking, opened her eyes wide, before she turned and looked at the door. At the same time, Eliza just looked at Kara in shock at what she just heard about the reason for the Flash being on this Earth, "dest… ruction, disease, Ka… ra."
"Mom… you need to…," said Kara turning around again as she grabbed a hold of both Eliza's arms just as the front door was suddenly pulled off its hinges and then thrown onto the front lawn. Kara turned again while pushing Eliza behind her when she watched the panting Jeremiah in front of them. Jeremiah was glaring at Kara, who was looking back at him with eyes opened wide in surprise.
"Dad," said Kara as she stepped back while pushing Eliza back. Kara knew her house, so she knew that if she wanted to get out of the house, she could fly through the walls. But she also knew that it would harm Eliza if Kara flew through the house with her. However, before Kara could do anything, Eliza made the first move towards Jeremiah.
"Oh my God, Jeremiah," whispered Eliza who took a step forward, but then stepped back again and screamed when the creature that looked like Jeremiah became a blur, and then appeared in front of Kara who was now handing off the ground, his hand around her throat.
"Jeremiah!" screamed Eliza as she ran forward and grabbed his arm, the same one that was holding up Kara who was gasping for air, "Jeremiah! Stop! It's Kara, our daughter! Stop!"
"Not… daughter," growled Jeremiah as he pushed Eliza away until she stumbled back over the couch. At the sight of Eliza struggling to get to her feet while her eyes were tearing at the sight of her husband trying to kill her, Kara used her free hand and swung a backfist to the side of his head. To her shock, all that happened was that Jeremiah snapped his head to one side, before turning to look at Kara again with a smile on his face. Kara knew that she was pulling back, after all, this creature looked just like her adopted father. She couldn't bring herself to using her full power on him, despite the fact that the hand around her neck was squeezing down like a vice.
"Da… dad," gasped Kara while the grip around her neck tightened. Kara didn't have much time say anything else as Jeremiah slammed Kara onto the floor. The young woman screamed in pain as Jeremiah, who was on one knee, lifted Kara by the neck and then slammed her down onto the floor again.
"Ahh!" screamed Kara as Jeremiah repeatedly slammed her into the floor, causing cracks to appear on the wooden floor, and caused the entire house to shake.
"Jeremiah!" screamed Eliza as she ran around the couch while trying to keep her balance in the shaking house. She ran to Jeremiah and grabbed the arm that was used to slam Kara down to the floor repeatedly, "stop this! Stop this!"
"Mom," groaned Kara when she was suddenly lifted into the air by Jeremiah who stood up, and glared at Eliza while his eyes turned black. It was something that made Eliza yelp as she let go of the arm and looked at the face of the man standing in front of her in fear. Once Eliza was back a few steps, she saw Jeremiah pull back his arm before he threw Kara through a wall, and into the next room. Eliza turned away from Jeremiah, whose eyes had turned to their normal shade, and was prepared to run towards Kara who was lying on the floor as dust fell all around her. However, before she could move, Jeremiah grabbed Eliza's arm and turned her around.
"Eli…za," said Jeremiah, "I miss… you."
"Why are you hurting our daughter, Jeremiah?" asked Eliza with her eyes wide open, she heard a swish from behind her, and figured that it was Kara changing into her Supergirl costume. So she wanted to distract this creature, who was pretending to be her husband, for as long as possible. However, her heart was racing, and her palms were clammy as she looked into Jeremiah's eyes and asked a question, while willing her voice and body to not tremble in fear, "who… who are you?"
"Jeremiah," he replied placing a hand on his chest, "I… Jeremiah."
"My Jeremiah died years ago," Eliza told the creature with tears running down her eyes, "he… he loved Kara, he loved Alex, and he loved me. He'd never do something like this."
"Kryp..ton, dangerous," drawled Jeremiah as he leaned down towards Eliza. He then brushed a hand on her cheek, something that made the woman visibly tremble. He then grabbed her arm before narrowing his eyes at her, "Eliza.. protect.. Kara?"
"You're not my Jeremiah, whoever you are," said Eliza while she struggled to get out of his grip while her heart continued racing, and her body was trembling in fear as Jeremiah grabbed her other arm and held on tight, "I… I'll protect Kara, and Alex… you are not their father. Now you…."
"You.. go," said Jeremiah as he tightened his hold on Eliza's arm while letting go off her right arm, and pulling his arm back. Eliz's eyes opened wide as she looked at the arm being pulled back, and then at the creature's face, "you pro… tect, Kara. You.. infected… must die."
"Oh God," cried Eliza as she saw the fist coming down on her. It was just then that a blue blur went past her, and the next thing she knew, Jeremiah was flying out of the house. He landed on the lawn with a thud before quickly getting up. Eliza could see the rage on Jeremiah's face as he glared at the woman standing next to Eliza. Eliza looked at Kara in her Supergirl costume, who was holding her arms out by her side before she breathed in, and then blew at Jeremiah, pushing him further out to the street.
"I'm taking you out of here, mom!" exclaimed Supergirl as she reached for Eliza when she felt as if she was hit by a train. Supergirl was slammed through the house, landing in the back yard. She could hear Eliza scream, a scream that suddenly stopped as Supergirl stood up and used her X-ray vision to see Eliza lying on the floor unconscious, with Jeremiah about to slam his fist into his wife.
"No!" bellowed Supergirl as she flew through the house, through one wall after another, before slamming herself into Jeremiah. She pushed the creature back and blocked a punch while screaming at Jeremiah to stop and think about what he was doing. However, Supergirl received no answer before she was punched and then kicked up. She hit the ceiling before she was punched in mid-air, she was thrown into the living room. She regained her balance just before landing on the floor, and then then flew towards Jeremiah and pulled her arm back before punching the creature. The impact of the punch knocked the creature out of the house, and onto the street outside. Not wanting to waste any more time, and doing what she should have done in the beginning, she picked up the unconscious Eliza and flew out of the house through the open door.
And up past Jeremiah who roared at her while she was gaining altitude. But Kara knew she couldn't fly too high, she was afraid that the thin atmosphere wouldn't be good for the unconscious Eliza in her arms.
As she was flying, Supergirl used her X-ray vision to check Eliza for any injuries. She sighed in relief when the older woman's heart was beating, and there were no broken bones. Supergirl set course for the DEO when suddenly there was a whistling noise behind her. Just as she looked over her shoulder, Supergirl found herself blindsided by the creature which had ran after her, before jumping high into the air, and then slamming both of its fists into Supergirl's back. While the creature was heading back to the ground, Supergirl was falling down uncontrollably like a rock, the unconscious Eliza falling towards the ground right next to her. Shaking her head to keep the dizziness away, Supergirl flew towards Eliza who was getting closer to the ground. Supergirl reached out with her hand as she got closer to Eliza, she gritted her teeth and moved faster; her blonde hair flapping in the wind as she flew as fast as she could, just catching Eliza in the nick of time, and changing her direction, before flying parallel to the ground with Eliza in her arms. However, from the corner of her eye, Supergirl saw the creature run at super speed towards her.
She saw the creature heading right towards her. Supergirl increased her altitude just as the creature changed direction at the last moment, and ran slightly faster before grabbing her leg in mid-air. Jeremiah then spun Supergirl around, and slammed her and Eliza towards the ground.
Supergirl knew she was heading for the ground, so she turned and made sure that she hit the ground with her back, instead of Eliza hitting the ground first. Just as she bounced off the ground with Eliza in her arms, Supergirl saw a green blur that sideswiped Jeremiah, knocking him to the side while Supergirl came to rest onto the ground, in a depression made by the groaning young woman. It was then she heard footsteps coming towards her, along with a familiar voice screaming her name.
"Kara!" cried Alex as she ran to her sister who was holding their mother in her arms.
"Alex?" groaned Supergirl as the green blur flew right overhead, and then landed on his side with a thud just behind them, "J'onn?"
"Kara," said J'onn as he slowly got to his feet, and dashed to her side. Alex lay the unconscious Eliza next to Supergirl who was slowly sitting up. J'onn helped the young blonde Kryptonian up before they looked at Jeremiah was walking towards them.
"Dad?" asked a stunned Alex at the man who looked just like her father, "that was you? The jumping man? How are you? We heard you were in CADMUS, and…. I mean, it's me… it's Alex."
"Alex?" said the creature, the tone of its voice getting closer to what Jeremiah's used to be.
"Yes," Alex said with tears in her eyes, "we were going to search for you and… and I'm glad you're here. Dad, please, tell us why you were attacking Kara and mom? Don't you remember them? Don't you remember me?"
"Jeremiah," said J'onn as he took on the form of former DEO director, Hank Henshaw, "do you remember asking me to protect your daughters? That's what I've been doing. I am asking you to stop, and think. Maybe losing parts of your memories has to do with how you've been resurrected, but this is your family that you are hurting."
"Dad," said Alex as she held her hand out towards Jeremiah, "we're your family. I saw you hit Kara when J'onn and I were flying by, but I know that's because you're confused. I mean, I'd assume you were confused but… but we're your daughters."
"Yea, dad," said Supergirl as she stood next to Eliza, the Krytonian's entire body was tense in preparation for any sudden moves that Jeremiah may make, "you've got to be inside there somewhere."
"Protect? Kara?" asked Jeremiah who stopped moving, and then tilted his head and stared at Alex.
"Yes," nodded Alex, "you…"
"Infected," growled Jeremiah as J'onn took on his true form, "all… infected. Krypton… disease. Destroy.."
"Dad?" asked Alex just as Jeremiah dashed at Superspeed towards her. This time Supergirl was ready as she punched Jeremiah before he could lay his hands on Alex. Then, while Jeremiah was falling towards the ground, Supergirl super-sped towards him and gave him a hard punch that knocked him some ways back. Then in a fluid motion, she flew back to pick up Eliza, while J'onn picked up Alex; and they took to the sky. J'onn and Kara heard a whistling sound behind them, and this time Kara was ready.
"J'onn," she screamed over the rush of air, "break!"
Supergirl flew to the left while J'onn flew to the right side as Jeremiah fell back to Earth after he jumped down through the void between them. Supergirl then told J'onn that they needed to split up; J'onn needed to go with Alex to Central City, while she dropped her mother off for medical attention at the DEO.
"What's in Central City?" shouted J'onn.
"Read my mind," Supergirl replied as J'onn nodded his head. He widened his eyes in surprise a few seconds later once Supergirl shared with him the details of when she met Barry, and what he told her about her fate. "Whatever this is, it's not dad. I need to take it away from the city. It's going to be chasing me, so I'll drop mom at the DEO, and then leave."
"But…" said J'onn as Supergirl changed direction while mentally telling J'onn that he just had to call the DEO to get her location. She said that Director Lane would be tracking her via satellite, and if this is a CADMUS experiment gone awry, then they needed all the help they could get to stop it.
"What did you see?" shouted Alex into J'onn's ear after she shouted goodbye to Kara before she changed direction and headed towards the DEO, with Jeremiah following the blonde Kryptonian.
"Kara made a new friend," he smiled, "his name is Barry Allen, and he's here to save Supergirl."
Department of Extraterritorial Operations, DEO, Main Area, at that same time.
Director Lucy Lane of the DEO was not happy. In fact, she was furious while she stood with her arms crossed over one another glaring at the screen in front of her. She was watching a living weapon killing soldiers, while she was on the phone calling Kara.
But there was no answer.
She had already called James, but all he told Lucy was that Kara had the day off. Frowning, Lucy ended the call with James as she thought about the conversation she just finished.
Just moments ago she was called by her father, General Lane, warning her about an experiment that escaped from Project CADMUS. Lucy was not happy at all with that revelation and slammed the phone down on her father who had already told her that the DEO needed to call in Supergirl to help stop this creature.
"Lucy," the General said when they were on the phone together before she slammed the phone down, "tell Supergirl to be careful, this thing was created to destroy Kryptonians."
"What!?" Lucy stood up outraged from her seat when she was in her office a few minutes ago, "what do you mean this thing was created to… I don't believe this, and…"
"Only to be released if Superman or Supergirl were to go rogue," clarified the General as Lucy closed her eyes and shook her head, "it was never supposed to be released, Lucy. Not without Presidential authorization anyway, and neither the President nor the Joint Chiefs authorized any of this. Superman's off-world, and Supergirl's the only one we have to stop it."
"Fine," hissed Lucy in disbelief, "I'll call her, and she'll have back-up from the DEO."
Back in the present, one of the agents turned back to look at the director; she said that they intercepted a picture of Supergirl that was sent to a CatCo affiliate in Midvale. Lucy asked the agent to put the picture on the central monitor where there was a video playing of Jeremiah killing soldier at Project Cadmus like they were nothing. The picture now took up half of the screen and showed a picture that was taken from a distance of Supergirl fighting the same creature that was on the video they were watching. Lucy saw that Supergirl in the air with a woman in her arms, leaving a broken down house behind her, and the creature on the ground.
It was just then that Lucy's cell phone rang. She took out her phone, and looked at the caller-ID, and sighed when she saw James' name on the screen. Lucy flipped her phone open and placed it on her ear; James told Lucy that Cat had already seen the picture of Supergirl, and that the house in the background was her foster mother's house.
"I…" said Lucy just as there was a gust of wind from behind her, and Lucy turned and told James that she'll call him back later on.
"This woman needs medical attention!" screamed Supergirl as a doctor hailed the Kryptonian. Supergirl nodded at Lucy, worry in her eyes, before dashing to the doctor who asked her to lay Eliza on the bed. Supergirl told the doctor and nurses who were running into the room Eliza's full name, her blood type, and any allergies. The doctor thanked Supergirl, who pleaded with the doctor to care for Eliza. The doctor nodded her head before telling Supergirl that she had to wait outside in the primary room, and in the meantime, they would take care of Eliza.
Supergirl nodded her head before she ran towards Lucy, and then told the DEO director that she needed to leave; that the creature coming after her was powerful, and she wanted to battle it away from populated areas.
"Supergirl," said Lucy as she looked into her eyes and grabbed her arm, hesitating just for a moment before speaking again, "whatever this thing is? It's a weapon meant to kill Kryptonians."
"What?" asked a stunned Supergirl as she jerked her arm away from Lucy.
"Listen to me," said Lucy, "I didn't know about any of this until just now. My dad called and told me that this thing escaped from Project CADMUS. It was created to stop you and Superman if either of you went rogue."
"But…" a stunned Kara whispered as she looked straight at Lucy who grabbed her arm again.
"No one knows why it escaped," said Lucy when alarms started ringing at the DEO, with several agents standing up before turning around to tell her that something had broken through their defences.
"I want all assets we have locked and loaded," cried out Lucy at the agents before turning to Supergirl. She then stepped forward and whispered, "Kara, I know it seems like a betrayal. I swear to you if I knew about this, I would have told you earlier."
"I believe you," whispered Kara as the entire DEO shook. Kara stepped back before telling Lucy that she wanted to have a word with General Lane and whoever was in charge of Project CADMUS, "they used Jeremiah Denvers' body, Director."
"You mean…?" asked a stunned Lucy.
"Alex's dad," whispered Supergirl stepping towards Lucy and then leaning in, "my adopted dad."
"Oh God," whispered Lucy as she stepped forward before Supergirl closed her eyes and looked at the screen. She then turned her head at Lucy, and said, "I'll take him away from here. Track me via satellite, a few friends will want to know where I am."
"I'll let them know," said Lucy as Supergirl nodded before she sped out of there.
"Supergirl's out," said one of the agents after the shaking stopped a few seconds later, "whatever that was? Is following her away from the DEO and away from National City."
"I want weapons out to her location," yelled Lucy as agents ran all around her, "find me a location for Superman. I want to know where he is.. contact NASA, STAR Labs… anything you need to do. Find him! Understood?"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Be careful, Supergirl," Lucy whispered to herself as the agents were running around, and she stared at the screen helplessly.
TBC.