Black Zero Event
"Kneel before Zod!" ~Zod
~The Batcave,
Blue lighting streaked through the waterfall with The Flash sliding to a stop in front of the Batcomputer. The Flash removed his mask with a giddy smile looking over his shoulder with Supergirl flying through the waterfall flying over to the Batcomputer gently landing next to The Flash. Supergirl walks in front of the Flash with a smile on her face. There was a loud sound of steps echoing above them with Batman standing on the highest platform above the Batwing looking down at them in his full gear.
"We're only going to get one shot. You ready?" Batman told them.
"Of course! Were the Justice League!" The Flash said with his hands out and a smile on his face.
The Batwing soars through the skies with Supergirl flying next to it. Batman was silent as he flew the Batwing. He glances at The Flash's reflection to see him holding his cowl in his right hand, and his cell phone in the other. The Flash's head was hung low then he took a deep breath leaning his head back looking over to see Supergirl flying next to them.
The Flash holds up his camera recording Supergirl flying next to them. Supergirl turns her head and smiles at him before looking forward, flying ahead toward a missile coming at the Batwing. The Flash lowered his phone, putting it away.
Supergirl punches the missile flying through the explosion with the Batwing following suit. The Batwing descends toward the ground with The Flash dropping to the ground running through the army to the front lines sliding to a stop twisting around looking at Lois Lane, Col. Hardy, Prof. Hamilton, Gen. Swanwick, and a large army behind them. Supergirl flew above the army twisting in the air hovering above the Flash looking down at everyone with her red cape flapping in the wind.
"Is that-" Prof. Hamilton was about to say before getting cut off by Col. Hardy.
"The Alien? Yes." Col. Hardy said outloud.
"Alright, you've got our attention." Gen. Swanwick said with the soldiers and tanks aiming their weapons at Supergirl.
"What do you want?" Gen. Swanwick demanded.
"To speak to all of you." Supergirl answered, lowering herself to the ground with the Flash to the left.
"Don't play games with me girl." Gen. Swanwick told.
"I'm not here to play games. I'm here to surrender." Supergirl told them looking back at The Flash with a weak smile then looking back at The General.
"Let me talk to her." Lois Lane approached. Supergirl turned her head to her.
"Why are you surrendering to Zod?" Lois asked.
"I'm surrendering to mankind." Supergirl replied looking back at The Flash who just stared at her with a supporting look. held up his hand and gave the signal for everyone to lower their weapons. Then an angry and violent thought hit his mind. Flashes of the Black Site where she was tortured and held flashed in Gen. Swanwick's mind along with the thought of "They better not put me in a cage again!".
J'onn J'onzz, the last son of Mars and The Martian Manhunter is a shapeshifting Green Martian who posed as government agent Gen. Calvin Swanwick and in other timelines and universes became a close ally of Superman and the Justice League.
However, in this timeline he is killed in the initial attack by the Kryptonians when they failed to produce Supergirl during Flashpoint. Thus, he was never able to live up to his potential. However, things have changed due to the meddling of Thawne, Batman, and The Flash; they are early for the battle and thus are able to interact with him, changing things without them realizing at all the importance of this chance encounter.
"What does the S stand for?" Lois inquired looking at Supergirl's shield.
"It's not an S. On my world it means hope." Supergirl answered.
"Well, here it's an S. So calling you Supergirl, given what we see you do is a fairly accurate statement since you haven't told us your actual name." Lois stated and pointed outloud. Supergirl gave Lois an annoyed look.
"Hi, Uh, my name is-"
"Dr. Emil Hamilton. I know." Supergirl turned her head to him.
"How?" Prof. Hamilton gave her a confused look.
"I can see your ID tag in your breast pocket. Along with a half-eaten roll of Wint-O-Green Lifesavers." Supergirl answered him.
"You have x-ray vision? That's so beeves!" The Flash said outloud.
"I also can see the army of soldiers behind you. They can't save you and their weapons can't hurt me." Supergirl explained. The Flash saw the fear in Prof. Hamilton's eyes as he backed up.
"What she means is you wont need them, she is not our enemy. The real enemy is Zod!" The Flash explained.
"Like The Flash said. You wont need them." Supergirl said sternly.
"Ma'am y-y-you can't expect us to not take precautions." Prof. Hamilton
"Yes, but-" The Flash was about to say something when Prof. Hamilton cut him off.
"She could be carrying some kind of alien pathogen." Prof. Hamilton tried to explain to The Flash.
"I have been here for over a decade, doctor. I haven't infected anyone yet. Despite this, you people locked me up in a cage in Russia and tortured me for years when I only came here seeking a safe place to live!" Supergirl snaps at him.
There was utter silence. Her words hit Gen. Swanwick the hardest. He feared being held by the government and experimented on. In some other timelines and universes he has and was. He immediately empathized with Supergirl's pain for she lived what he feared if people found out he was an alien.
"No one is going to put you in a cage and no one is going to harm you." Gen. Swanwick told her. Sensing her vengeful rage calming down.
"But we do have legitimate security concerns. Now it's clear you have revealed your identity to this Flash character over here. Why don't you do the same with us?" Gen. Swanwick inquired.
He could peer into her mind but he hated reading people, he found when he came to Earth and decided to hide among them to stay out of their thoughts some people who seemed good he learned the hard way harbored the darkest of minds. So he tries not to delve into people's minds unless he has to. Supergirl gives Gen. Swanwick a curious look before approaching him.
"Let's put our cards on the table here, general." Supergirl said in a defiant tone approaching Gen. Swanwick who stood his ground without fear while everyone else took a step back and pointed their weapons at her. The Flash got ready to act when Supergirl looked over her shoulder and held up here fist and gave him a look to back off. Supergirl turns her head back to Gen. Swanwick stares at him as he does her.
"You're scared of me because you can't control me. You don't, and you never will!" Supergirl told them all, looking at each one of them.
"But that doesn't mean I'm your enemy!" Supergirl emphasized.
"Then who is? Zod?" Gen. Swanwick said in a condescending tone.
"Yes! He is going to turn Earth into New Krypton. Terraforming is going to slaughter billions!" The Flash yelled out.
Gen. Swanwick looked over at The Flash and wondered how he knew that so he peered into his mind and given how fast The Flash can think Gen. Swanwick was hit with a montage of The Flash's failed attempts running back in time trying to save Batman and Supergirl. More then that Gen. Swanwick saw his soldiers, Col. Hardy, Prof. Hamilton, Lois Lane, Carol Farris, and himself all die in the initial attack by the Kryptonatins before the arrival of the Justice League.
Gen. Swanwick saw he could do nothing to help because he was killed in the initial blast from the gunship before the Justice League arrived and The Flash only traveled back moments before the death of Batman and Supergirl. Not before his death, but now because of them arriving sooner and having this conversion this changes the future and the battle because now Gen. Swanwick knew.
He saw Bruce, Barry, and Supergirl go over their plan. He knew about the Thawne. By peering into The Flash's mind for just a moment he knew what they knew and what they were going to try and do. Gen. Swanwick turned his head for a moment, closing his eyes, rubbing his forehead before regaining his composure. Supergirl gave him another curious look, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Like The Flash said, Zod terraforming the planet and killing billions is why I'm here. It's what I'm worried about." Supergirl tried to express to them.
"Everyone, stand down. Supergirl is not our enemy." Gen. Swanwick ordered before looking back at her.
"Be that as it may…" Gen. Swanwick paused for a moment trying to process what he saw in The Flash's mind.
"I've been given orders to hand you over to him, but that is what you want isn't it?" Gen. Swanwick said.
"Do what you have to do, General." Supergirl told him with a coldness in her voice and gave him a look of recognition that yurked Gen. Swanwick.
Did she know who he really was? What he was? Did she want him to follow orders or did she want him to help them using his full martian abilities in this last ditch effort to save their world and create a new future for their timeline? For the first time in his life Gen. Swanwick didn't know what to do and he had so little time to figure it out. Supergirl turned and walked away from the crowd to The Flash staring at him face to face.
"Thank you." Supergirl said to The Flash with affection in her voice.
"For what?" The Flash tilted his head giving her a curious look.
"For saving me, for believing in me." Supergirl told him.
"Didn't make much difference in the end." The Flash said in a sad voice.
"It did to me." Supergirl told him with a smile on her face. The Flash smiled back.
The Flash reached out and held Supergirl's hand as they stared into each other's eyes with love, affection, longing, and a strong desire to escape their fate and create a new future for themselves together. Supergirl looks away, turning her head to the sky hearing a loud boom. Supergirl saw The Gunship and the four smaller ships heading their way with the World Forger and the World Engine heading to their respective staging points to begin the terraforming process.
"They're coming." was all Supergirl said.
"You should leave now Flash. This is your last chance to escape to another universe, or timeline, or whatever." Supergirl ordered letting go of his hand.
"What?" The Flash said in a shocked tone.
"Run, Barry, run, and live for this Earth, for your parents, for Bruce, for me." Supergirl told him.
"No! I'm not leaving you guys!" The Flash said in a low dark whisper.
"Go, Barry…Live! Don't die with the rest of us!" Supergirl gave The Flash a pleading look.
The Flash was at a loss for words. He turned and started to walk away getting behind the barricade with the soldier's before turning to see Zod's gunship descending from the sky toward Supergirl who approached it without fear and having accepted her fate.
The Flash looked forward and saw Gen. Swanwick order to Carol Farris to take, Prof. Hamilton, and Lois Lane out of this area and far to the rear as possible away from where the battle will be held. Gen. Swanwick looks at The Flash and nods his head in understanding then looks back at the Kryptonian gunship on approach. The Batwing hoovered high above the military desert base.
"And here we go." Batman said in a dark voice gripping his joysticks.
The four other kryptonian attack ships followed suit, forming up two on each side of the Gunship. Then one of the ships broke off at the end landing before Supergirl turned around and opened up revealing Zod as he walked out into the open for all to see. Faroa-Ul was with him. She leaped to the ground and approached Supergirl.
"Kara Zor-El, I'm sub-commander Faora-Ul." Faora told her.
"I know who you are." Supergirl told her not to take her eyes off of her.
"On the Behalf of General Zod, I extend to you his greetings." Faora-Ul told her.
Faora-Ul walked past Supergirl standing between her and the army. The Flash approached, giving Faora-Ul a dark look. Farora-Ul just glares at him then turns her attention to Gen. Swanwick.
"Are you the ranking officer in charge?" Faora demanded.
"I am." Gen. Swanwick answered.
"Zod…" Supergirl said in a low voice looking back up at him.
Before Farora-Ul could say anything else Supergirl flew up to the platform hoovering before Zod. Everyone stared up at the exchange about to happen before Supergirl and Zod while Faora-Ul kept her eyes on everyone not even looking back.
"Kara Zor-El, we have been searching for you." Zod told her. Supergirl gave Zod a dark look with her bangs in front of her face.
"Terraforming has begun." Zod told her.
Zod hits a few keys on his wrist gauntlet gesturing to the kinetic metal like display behind him showing the World Forger above Metropolis and the World Engine over the Indian Ocean. Supergirl's visions of death and destruction flash in her mind.
"No! We can co-exist with Zod" Supergirl yells out. Zod turns his head to her.
"And spend years painfully adapting to Earth's ecology? No." Zod answered her. Supergirl just gave him a horrified look.
"This is genocide Zod!" Supergirl said in a dark voice.
"And I'm arguing its merits with you out of respect for your uncle." Zod told her. Supergirl gave Zod a disgusted look.
"This world must die so ours may live again." Zod explained. Gen. Swanwick turned his head to The Flash remembering what he saw in the Flash's mind then back up at Zod and Supergirl.
"Krypton is gone, Zod! If you do this, take their world and terraform it you will kill billions!" Supergirl said in a dark voice clenching her fist knowing with every passing minute countless people are going to die unless she can stop Zod here.
"We have a duty to our people and I will not allow anyone to prevent us from carrying it out." Zod told Supergirl. Supergirl just glared at Zod like he was a mad dog who needed to be put down. Supergirl saw Zod was beyond reasoning, this was ever only going to end one way. Either she dies or he does. It was inevitable, and Supergirl knew it now.
"Your uncle Jor-El hid the key to Krypton's rebirth inside a Kryptonian child. All the genetic material needed to start again. Coded inside the DNA, then sent to Earth in an escape pod." Zod told her. The Flash and Gen. Swanwick stepped forward, listening intently.
"That's why they followed you here…" The Flash said in a low whisper. Gen. Swanwick looked at him then back up at Supergirl and Zod. Batman was listening intently as well via the ear piece in Supergirl's ear.
"He's not here. You have failed! Turn off the World Engine and leave these people in peace Zod!" Supergirl demanded.
"We found him." Zod told her. Supergirl's heart nearly stopped at those words. The Flash's eyes widened; he didn't like where this was going. Supergirl was supposed to try and convince him to let her on the Gunship so they can disable its shield but their plan was already going off the rails in the worst way.
"We intercepted his pod, but your cousin was not the one we needed. You are the one Kara Zor-El. It is your blood we must harvest-"
"What did you do to Kal-El?" Supergirl cut off Zod and asked in a dark voice.
"Your sacrifice that will allow Krypton to live again." Zod said menacingly.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Supergirl shouts so loud everyone in the far rear ranks of the army could hear her as her voice echoes across the sky. There was a deathly silence as everyone hung off the words of Supergirl and awaited the reply from Zod.
"The Infant did not survive." Zod answered in a cold emotionless voice.
"No…" The Flash said in a low whisper. Gen. Swanwick just stared intently at Zod. Batman was silent, gripping his controls tightly, closing his eyes then opening them staring down at Zod from the Batwing.
Zod's words broke Supergirl's heart. Tears ran down her cheeks. Images and memories of baby Kal-El flashed in Supergirl's mind. She remembers caring for him, feeding him, holding him in her arms and seeing him looking up at her with his adorable smile. Zod had killed her Uncle, now her cousin on top of losing her world, her family, and her friends. Then coming to this world being placed in a cage and tortured.
Supergirl had hit her breaking point with everything as all her anger, hatred, and rage exploded to the surface in a maelstrom of emotion. The Flash saw it in slow motion Supergirl's eyes turn red as she became the embodiment of wrath itself…