"Are you ready to surrender?" Mongul asked as he watched Supergirl get to her feet again. "Even you must know you can not win. We outnumber you and I am so much stronger now than I was when I fought your cousin. Surrender and end this now. The more you fight the more crushing the blow your defeat will cause this planet."
"I will not surrender. But I do have three demands." Supergirl said, confusing Mongul.
"You are in no position to make demands." Mongul said. But unperturbed Supergirl went on.
"One: That you stop harassing the people of Earth. Two: That the assets of your empire be redistributed equally among the citizens and a proportional system of government be established. Consisting of three separate but equal, branches, the legislative, the executive and the judicial. And three the girl Carmen be returned to me unharmed."
"What is Carmen to you?" Mongul asked completely confused.
"There's actually a Carmen?" Kara asked just as confused just before Mongul landed another punch sending her flying backwards.
-00-
"Is Kara suffering a concussion? Who is Carmen? How does she know the names of Mongul's prisoners?" Lena asked as she watched the fight unfold from the DEO.
"She doesn't. It's a coincidence. She's quoting Three Amigos, I think." Alex said.
"What?" Lena asked.
"It's an old Steve Martin film. But that wasn't what I meant when I told her to buy time."
"Well if she can quote movies she is doing better than I thought she was. Plus it is a good tactic, every second gives her body more time to repair." Lena said.
"Not to mention the fleet gets closer to our defensive net." Alex said. "But making Mongul even angrier isn't going to help the situation." She added before wincing as she saw Kara take another heavy blow.
-00-
"When you fall, this planet will fall." Mongul said as he landed a kick to Supergirl's rib cage.
"There's a flaw to your plan." Supergirl wheezed as she got to her feet again.
"What's that?"
"You need to beat me first." She said punching him hard, causing him to stumble backwards. "Sorry, did that damage your reputation again?" She asked before seeing the opening and lunging at his undefended right leg. As she made contact Mongul stumbled slightly before straightening and punching Supergirl to the floor.
"Whats wrong?" He smiled. "Did you think there was something wrong with my leg? That it offered you a key to victory? Do you think you are the first to try that?" Mongul asked before kicking Supergirl in the ribs, sending her flying backwards. "It is always best to let your enemy think you have a weakness so when they discover there isn't one they lose hope." He explained as he marched towards her and kicked her again, once again sending her backwards. "People think your weakness is Kryptonite. It isn't. You can recover from Kryptonite, your suit probably protects you from it. Your weakness is hope. Once your hope is gone there is no coming back." He said bending down besides her.
"I will find everyone who you care about and unleash unimaginable suffering on them." He said squeezing her throat. As he did so the ring on his finger started to glow yellow. "So you do fear me." He smiled as he released Supergirl who dropped to the floor. "Now you will break and as you do the people of this planet will lose all hope." He said pointing the ring at her head. As he did so Kara started to see images in her head of her family dying, paralysing herself with fear. All the while the ring glowed brighter.
"Don't let him get to you." Alex said over the radio. However, Kara didn't hear her words instead she started to lose herself in her fears.
"This is bad." Lena said looking at the readouts. "It looks like that ring is feeding off her."
"No it is feeding off her fear." Alex said grabbing the radio. "Supergirl, this is like Psi. The ring he is wearing is feeding off your fear and making him stronger. But you can beat this, just like you did with Psi. You don't have anything to be afraid of, you can overcome anything."
But instead of getting a reply all Alex heard was mumblings of 'No.' As Kara kept getting lost in the nightmare.
Tossing the radio to Wildcat Alex ordered. "See if you can get her to snap out of it."
Nodding, Wildcat tried the tough love approach as Alex looked at Lena.
"She needs to focus on what she is fighting for. We need to get Alex on the radio. Can you get a radio link with your safe room?"
"You want to put Alex through that?" Lena asked.
"No, of course not. But I think it is the only way we are going to snap her out of it. We need Alex." She argued.
-00-
As Lena disappeared to arrange a radio connection Alex took the radio off Wildcat and desperately tried to get through to her sister.
"Supergirl, listen to me. You are hope. So fight." Alex instructed her sister. "You can fight anything, you can beat anything. Remember why you are fighting. You have overcome so much so I know you can come through this. We need you to fight. I know it isn't fair that we depend on you and it isn't fair you have to go through this, but you are the only one who can beat this You are the only one who can beat Mongul so remember why you are fighting."
"Alex." Supergirl mumbled.
"Yes." Alex said. "Remember why you are fighting, who you are fighting for." She added as another radio link was patched through.
"Ieiu! Fight. Please. I need you." The teenager sobbed over the radio. "You said you wouldn't leave me again. You promised you would come back."
As Kara knelt on the ground, supported only by Mongul's hand that kept his ring against her head she saw everyone she had ever cared about being killed, but amongst that she started to hear her daughter's voice.
"You're dead." Kara mumbled confused by how her daughter could both be dead and talking. Focusing on the voice rather than the images she was seeing she started to hear her daughter's words and started to feel hope that Alex was still alive.
"Alex." Supergirl said before briefly looking up at Mongul only to shut them again and find herself back in her dellusiion.
"Fight!" Both Alex's said over the radio.
"Listen to me." The older Alex said. "None of what you are seeing is real. We are all safe. Mongul is making you see things, just like Psi."
"Like Psi?" Kara asked trying to fight the fog of confusion and despondency.
"Yes like Psi. The bad isn't real. We are safe, but you have to fight. Alex needs you to fight."
"Alex?" Supergirl asked.
"Is alive and well." Her sister confirmed.
"I'm here." The teenager said. "I love you. Please fight."
"Not real." Supergirl said shaking off the nightmare as her daughter kept speaking in her ear. As she heard Alex speak, she felt hope swell.
"Focus on Alex." Her sister said. "Remember how much you love her and how she needs you."
"Alex." Kara said mentally forcing herself to see good images of her family as the two Alex's kept speaking words of support.
"What you are seeing isn't real." The adult Alex repeated. "Open your eyes and fight."
As Supergirl's eyes flew open she pushed Mongul away who fell to the ground shocked that she had overcome the mental hold.
"How?" He asked confused as they both got to their feet.
"Mind over matter." She said punching him. "There is one thing you will never understand. One thing you can never destroy. Hope." She said. As she punched him again he suddenly felt his power diminish.
"It's too soon." He said looking at the ring, which was still glowing, but less brightly and was getting dimmer by the second. "It should last another hour at least. How have you done this?" He asked looking at Supergirl.
"You can bury hope. You can deny hope. But you can never destroy hope." Supergirl said faking a punch to his face only to kick out his right knee. "Your weakness is not believing in hope. That will be your downfall." She said landing another punch.
"If she starts singing anything from the Sound of Music I will kill her myself." Ted Grant commented as he watched her hold Mongul in a wrestling style grip before ripping the ring off Mongul's hand before elbowing him in the jaw and getting to her feet.
"Put the ring on." Alex ordered as she saw Mongul stumble to his feet. "I think it should help replenish your powers."
"No." Kara said, having seen what it was capable of she wanted nothing to do with it. So instead she used her own strength, fuelled by anger, and unleashed blow after blow on Mongul, who without the ring was much less powerful, but still was not surrendering.
"The only way to beat me is to kill me." He said. "But you lack the stomach."
"Maybe, but I have the courage to let you live." Supergirl said flying at him, grabbing hold of him and flying him into a nearside hillside, the blow winding Mongul who, when he was released, slid down the hillside.
As he once again got to his feet Supergirl landed in front of him and punched him, sending him back into the hillside. This time she gave him no time to recover and entered his personal space with superspeed before unleashing a barrage of punches.
As she punched she recalled the images Mongul had made her see and her anger levels rose, until she was barely in control of her actions.
"Kara!" Alex practically screamed in her ear.
Suddenly hearing her sister's voice she started to concentrate on the moment again and realised that she was punching an unmoving opponent. Stepping back she watched Mongul fall lifelessly to the ground before she used her super hearing and sighed in relief when she realised Mongul was still breathing. Knowing the fight was over Supergirl sagged to her knees through tiredness and tried to catch her breath.
"Director, you need to see this." Cole called from the other side of the control room. Reluctantly Alex went over Cole and swore when she saw what he had called her over for. Before she could say anything Supergirl wheezed over the radio
"It's over."
"No it isn't." Alex said.
"I'm not killing him." Supergirl said, scared by how close she had come to doing just that.
"That's not what I meant." Alex said. "There is still the fleet and more pressing for you, three of the Lieutenants are heading your way. I'm sending backup, but you need to hold on." She then pressed a button to change channels before saying.
"Flash, it's Alex. How are things going?"
"Keeping pretty busy. Why?" He asked as he ran round one of Mongul's Lieutenants.
"Supergirl is in trouble and could really use some help."
"I thought she had just won?"
"She did. It looks like Mongul's Lieutenants are seeing this as the best time to seize power. And they are turning their attention to Supergirl. If they can beat her it sends a big statement, and in her current state, she won't last long."
"Squad two are nearby The Flash's location." Hawkins pointed out.
"Order them over there." Alex said to Hawkins before radioing Barry again
"We are sending squad two to take over from you. As soon as you can please head to Supergirl."
"Got it." The Flash said as Alex went back to the other workstation to check on Kara. But as she reached it a hush suddenly fell over the control room moments before a male voice asked.
"Where do you need me?"