Finally, Alex and Kara faced off. The ground underneath Kara's feet began to sway away like sand and Martian rock started to float in the air. Lightning struck all around them. Alex gave Kara a blank undeterred expression with black eyes.
"Are you truly Kara Zor-El?" Alex questioned.
"What do you mean?" Kara asked.
"I no longer sense any power from you. Even if you were suppressing it, it would not have vanished entirely," Alex said confused.
"Let's not fight here," Kara told her.
"Such words are reserved for those who can actually challenge me," Alex refused.
Kara suddenly grabbed Alex by the face, took her far away from the Martian colony, and slammed her into the ground. "Impossible," Alex said stunned.
"I can take you down in a single instant," Kara warned as they both got back to their feet, a distance away from each other.
"In a single instant? What bullshit," Alex scoffed. "I will teach you that even at a fraction of my power, you are nowhere near comparable to me." Alex swung at Kara and was blocked. The impact of which exploded the surface around them. "The terrain is reshaped by a single blow. I must thank you. You permit me to test my true power to my heart's content."
Kara and Alex struck at each other several times reshaping the Martian surface as they did with each blow. "I could shatter your body with a single blow," Alex said confidently and then swung at her.
Kara merely cupped her fist. Alex gave a surprised look not expecting Kara to be this strong. "Why are you surprised? Is it so hard to believe after everything we've been through?"
Alex withdrew her hand and jumped away from Kara. A red rectangle of pure energy formed around Kara. "Someone like you could never understand the power of the Phoenix," Alex said to her.
Kara easily shattered the rectangle freeing herself. "Let's go, Alex," she said and then punched Alex faster than she could react. Alex teleported out of the way just in time. "Why do you retreat?" Kara mocked.
"Do not be so conceited, Kryptonian!" Alex shouted at her, positively enraged. Kara waited as Alex powered up with a glowing image of a Phoenix around her. Alex then flew toward Kara with extended fiery wings. She caught Kara by the throat and wrapped her wings around her. "By destroying you, I will prevent all the death you will cause. Only I decide life and death, Kryptonian."
Kara easily cast Alex off of her and powered up to Prime 2. "You may have the power to rewrite reality itself in your dimension, but you cannot affect that which is above your dimension," she said simply.
"Impossible. No mere Kryptonian could ever surpass me!" Alex shouted.
Kara fired a heat vision beam overwhelming Alex. Her Phoenix wings were burned away and Alex, herself, was flung to the ground. Kara powered down as Alex appeared beaten. "I despise you, Kara. How can you submit to that thing?" Alex asked rhetorically.
"You mean, God?" Kara assumed. "It's the one thing that unites the galaxy in a common purpose and prevents me from going too crazy."
"That's the thinking of a loser! A winner must not settle for the universe as it is but for what it should be. I WILL...," Alex ranted and then went quiet as her eyes went from black to normal again. Alex got back to her feet and gave Kara hateful eyes. "I will destroy you," she said, finishing the Phoenix's last thought.
"Don't make promises you can't keep," Kara mocked.
Enraged, Alex shot toward Kara with a flurry of punches. Kara dodged all of her punches and then blocked her kick with her own knee. Kara then quickly flipped and kicked Alex in the chin. Kara then twirled as she kicked Alex into a mountain implanting her in it.
"Forfeit the game before I take you out of the frame and put your name to shame. Cover up your face, you can't run the race. The pace is too fast. You just won't last," Kara said confidently to her.
Alex incinerated the rock around her freeing her and sending red dust all around them. "Under a sky of dust, you give me a constant wave of tension. On top of broken trust, the lessons that you taught me, I learned were never true. Now I find myself in question. I'm guilty by association," Alex said, pointing her finger at Kara.
"Don't point the finger at me," Kara warned her.
"I want to run away from you and never say goodbye! I want to know the truth instead of wondering why. I want to know the answers, no more lies from you. I want to shut the door on you and open my mind!" Alex screamed and then fired a red beam at Kara. In response, Kara fired her own heat vision with both beams hitting in the middle in a beam war.
"Angry voices have more than filled me up. All my talk of taking action, these words were never true. I'm going to run away from you and never say goodbye!" Alex pledged as she put all of her power into her beam.
Kara easily overpowered her and blasted her deep into a mountain. "I cannot take this anymore. All your words, they make no sense. I find bliss in ignorance. The less I hear, the less you'll say."
Alex exploded the mountain completely in raw red energy. "Everything you say to me takes me one step closer to the edge, and I'm about to break!" Alex said angrily and then launched herself at Kara. The two punched at each other in the air before breaking off. Alex fired red orbs at Kara, missing each time. When Alex finally managed to get a hit, Kara simply held the red orb and let it fizzle in her hand.
"More," Kara challenged.
Alex flung several more red orbs at Kara with little effect. Kara fired heat vision back at Alex nearly overwhelming her. Kara then backhanded Alex into a rock formation implanting her inside it. She then fired a white beam from her index finger keeping Alex in place. "You, good?" Kara asked condescendingly.
"It makes me think of how you act for me. You do favors and then rapidly just turn around and start asking me about things that you want back from me. I'm sick of the tension, sick of the hunger, sick of you acting like I owe you this. Find another place to feed your greed while I find a place to rest," Alex spat.
Kara walked up to Alex and gave her a ruthless falcon punch to the gut. Kara then casually slapped Alex around a few times. "You have no idea the pressures of my job."
"Maybe someday I'll be just like you and step on people like you do," Alex said resentfully and then exploded the rock formation around her. Alex went for a punch and missed. Kara kicked her into a cave blasting through its walls. Kara then instantly appeared in the cave and looked around with her red-glowing eyes.
"I remember when I knew who you were. You used to be calm, used to be strong, used to be generous, but you should've known your antics would have worn out your welcome here. And now you see how quiet it is, all alone," Kara said as she walked towards Alex's location.
"Stay away!" Alex hissed at her.
Kara stopped her approach. "You love the way I look at you while taking pleasure in the awful things you put me through. You take away if I give in. My life...my pride...is broken. I won't believe a word you say. I'm cut to pieces by the sound of every breath you take. Swimming...through a sea of hurt...my life," Alex said mournfully.
"Come back to me, Alex. It is the only way," Kara reached out to her.
"Sometimes I feel like I trusted you too well. Sometimes I just feel like screaming at myself. Sometimes I'm in disbelief I didn't know. Somehow, I need to be alone," Alex said bewildered and then turned to anger. "Forget our memories. Forget our possibilities. Take all your faithlessness with you. Just give me myself back and don't stay!" she screamed blasting the cave away with her fury. Kara and Alex ended up back on the Martian surface staring at each other.
"I don't need you anymore, I don't want to be ignored. I don't need one more day of you wasting me away. I don't need you anymore, I don't want to be ignored. I don't need one more day of you wasting me away!" Alex said angrily.
Kara increased the pressure around them, forcing Alex to her knees. "A scar somewhere down inside of me, something I cannot repair. Even though it will always be, I pretend it isn't there. I'm trapped in yesterday where the pain is all I know," Alex sobbed.
Kara kept her distance wondering if Alex would strike again. "And I'll never break away 'cause when I'm alone, I'm lost in these memories, living behind my own illusions," Alex continued as visions of her family and friends appeared around them in a red dome.
Kara marveled at the images while slightly apprehensive of the energy dome around her. "Lost all my dignity, living behind my own illusion," Alex said of them.
"Alex…please," Kara offered her hand to her.
"I try to keep this pain inside, but I will never be alright," Alex chanted repeatedly with her eyes in a possessed demonic red.
Kara went into a fighting stance as Alex's chanting became louder and more unhinged. "I'M LOST!" Alex shouted as the red dome exploded in a flash of light.
"Don't try it," Kara warned her.
Alex then charged Kara with eyes full of rage. With heat vision beams, Kara quickly sliced off her legs and left arm, dropping her. Alex fell to the ground in pain and shock. Kara cautiously took steps towards Alex as she moaned in pain. "I tried so hard with you and got so far but, in the end, it doesn't even matter. One thing, it doesn't even matter how hard I tried. Keep that in mind. I remind myself how I tried so hard with you in spite of the way you hated me, remember all the times you fought with me. I'm surprised it got so far. Things aren't the way they were before," Kara said to her.
Kara took a knee next to Alex. "You don't even recognize me anymore, not that you knew me back then. But it all comes back to me in the end. You kept everything inside and even though I tried, it all fell apart. What you meant to me will eventually be a memory."
"I put my trust in you," Alex said tearfully. "Pushed as far as it could go."
"Look, I'll get you all fixed up and bind up the Phoenix within you. It's no big deal," Kara said to her.
"I've lied to you the same way that I always do. This is the last smile that I'll fake for the sake of being with you," Alex smiled demonically.
"Why I never walked away, why I played myself this way? Now I see your testing me pushes me away," Kara shook her head dismayed. "Remembering I'm pretending to be where I'm not anymore. A little taste of hypocrisy and I'm left in the wake of the mistake, slow to react. Even though you're so close to me, you're still so distant and I can't bring you back."
"I hate you!" Alex screamed at Kara as she turned to leave.
"I've assessed the situation, and I'm going to leave," Kara said walking away.
"No...no...don't leave me here, alone," Alex pleaded as she broke down.
Kara gave Alex a look of pity and then snapped her fingers. Suddenly, the Vindicators appeared around her. Alex gave a look of confusion only to be shocked by Garth. Imra placed Alex in a telekinetic hold while invading her mind. Martian red metal from the surface swarmed over Alex preventing her from being able to move. Tasmia fired a black beam at Alex's eyes blinding her. Jan converted the oxygen around Alex to nitrogen to give her narcosis.
Wildfire aka Drake then approached Alex and placed his hands around her head not covered in red metal. He proceeded to absorb the energy of the Phoenix out of her. Alex tensed up as Drake drained her of power. Meanwhile, Jo absorbed the Phoenix energy that had hit Kara's suit. Brainiac 5 monitored the situation with his scanner device.
"Stop. Any more and she could die," Brainiac 5 ordered.
Drake backed away upon his request. Imra and Rokk released Alex on the ground as they ended their restraints. Tasmia also withdrew her blindfold from Alex. "Your sister sure gave us a run for our money," Imra said impressed.
"The battle is far from over," Kara sighed. "Projecta?" Projecta suddenly appeared out of nowhere and took Kara's side. "Release her," Kara ordered.
"As you wish," Projecta smirked as she withdrew her complete hypnosis on Alex. Her legs and left arm suddenly appeared again. The destruction of the Vindicators, the fight between Kara and Alex, and Alex's grievous injuries had all been manufactured illusions.
"Kelly?" Alex asked, afraid of the answer.
"She's fine. No Martian fatalities. Can't say the same for drones," Projecta reported.
Alex gave the Vindicators a horrified look realizing what they were capable of. Kara reached out to Alex with her hand. Alex struggled to get back to her feet and took Kara's hand. "Everything I said was really me. Sorry if I came off rude," Kara admitted.
Mon teleported with Kelly. Immediately, Kelly went over to Alex even without knowing if it was safe. "You came back for me?" Alex asked her tearfully.
"Of course," Kelly nodded.
The Vindicators eyed the lesbian couple curiously and fought the urge to make an immature remark. "Go back to HQ for an After-Action Review," Kara ordered all the Vindicators.
Everyone took a hold of Jo as he was about to teleport them away. "Taste the rainbow!" he said as all of them teleported away in glowing lights of various colors.
Kara then turned to Brainiac 5. "Make an appointment for me to address the subject of reparations for the Martian people for this incident."
"You've always opposed reparations," Brainiac 5 reminded her.
"This warrants an exception," Kara replied. Kara then turned to Alex. "So, how was 31st-century orientation?" she asked jokingly.
"I kidnapped all of those Martians. I tortured them with mind control. I intended to kill people," Alex said hauntedly.
"It happens," Kara said dismissively. "I will make it as if it never happened."
"Nothing you can say will change what I've done," Alex said mournfully.
"I am the Supreme Leader. What I say shall be written. What I say you are is what you are. I say you're innocent," Kara assured her.
"What you say doesn't matter," Alex refused. "Oh, God, Kelex is gone," she said tearfully.
"That Kelex was a figment of your imagination. The real Kelex is still inside you," Kara said, pointing to Alex's abdomen. "You want to punish yourself, knock yourself out but don't have Kelex suffer for it. You want exile, I'll give you the real Midvale back to you."
"The real Midvale?" Alex wondered.
Earth-Midvale
Mon teleported Kara, Alex, and Kelly to Midvale, an exact replica from the 21st century. Alex looked around in amazement as everything was perfectly the same. Even the workers wore 21st-century clothing. "Are they...?" Alex wondered.
"Slaves? No, not here anyway. These are all professionals. Being stationed here is quite a privilege. My palace is where the Luthor Mansion used to be on the outskirts of town," Kara explained. "Want to see the old house?"
"Sure," Alex nodded. "But let's walk there."
The four walked around Midvale toward Alex's old house. "Wow, it looks exactly the same," Kelly said amazed.
"Yes, yes, it does," Alex admitted as she came upon the old barn and house. Kara used old-fashioned keys to open the door and handed them to Alex. They then went inside where Alex saw family pictures on the walls and on the tables. Alex went up the stairs and went into her old room which appeared the way it was before Kara's arrival. "Why is there nothing of you in the house?"
"Well, honestly, I wanted you to have this house, this town, for yourself, even if you didn't want to have anything to do with me," Kara said awkwardly.
Alex embraced Kara. "No matter what, you will always be my sister and a part of my family."
"Shucks," Kara said embarrassed.
In the barn, Mon and Kelly toured around. "Back on Mars, we exchanged hurtful words," Kelly acknowledged.
"Did we?" Mon smirked.
Kelly realized her mistake with him and corrected herself. "Thank you, my prince. I'll forever be grateful for helping to save Alex."
"Amazing, even a lesbian can work the shaft," Mon smiled.
"You still want Kara, Alex, and myself to all be your wives," Kelly figured.
"But, of course," Mon confirmed. "If you want me as your husband, you have to fight me. Should you manage to amuse me, I will generously accept your proposal."
"Too bad Alex didn't propose to you before she kicked your ass," Kelly teased.
Mon walked up to her and stared her down. "Too bad," he said finally. "If you decide to stay, I'll be sure to station all the crazies here. Got a favorite disorder?"
"How about narcissistic personality disorder enhanced by sociopathic sadism?" Kelly suggested.
Kara and Alex then entered the barn. "Does the tractor work?" Alex asked.
"Certainly," Kara said. "You intend to be a farmer?"
"I don't know what I want to do," Alex said honestly. "This is great and all, but I feel trapped in time. I should embrace your new world."
"Metropolis can be reached by car, train, boat, or jet," Kara listed off.
"Is it safe?" Alex asked concernedly.
"Barney thinks you were drained sufficiently. You should be fine," Kara assured her.
"Was I born with that thing in me? It can't be a coincidence we got paired together," Alex wondered.
"I think between the two of us, you're the special one," Kara said knowingly. "Care to share what was in your father's diary?"
"No," Alex said flatly.
"For years you gave me bullshit about coming to this time and then suddenly you change your tune after your father's death, after reading your father's diary," Kara pried.
"That's right," Alex confirmed, giving nothing away.
"Well, okay then," Kara smirked. "How about you chill here with Kelly while I fix this PR disaster on Mars."
"Thank you, Kara," Alex said sincerely. "When I get my head straight, I'll give your world a fair shot."
Mars
Kara, Mon, and the S-Class Vindicators: Imra, Brainiac 5, Rokk, Garth, Salu, Jo, Projecta, Nura, and Drake were present for the meeting with the disgruntled Martians. Brin was still MIA with his undercover mission against the Terror Firma. Kara went up to Nura, the only Vindicator that was not present at the battle. "How many scenarios did you go through before you got one where none of us died?" Kara asked.
"A shit-ton," Nura said with bloodshot eyes.
Kara then faced a full auditorium of Alex's Martian victims. Kara resisted the urge to victim-blame by pointing out that their constant invasion of Alex's and Kelly's privacy caused the incident to happen in the first place. Martian Leader, Do'on greeted Kara with a handshake. "In... reparations...," Kara said painfully. "...for the incident involving my sister and the Martian people, I am prepared to invest in a shipyard, spaceport, and a ski slope."
"You honor us, Supreme Leader," Do'on said pleased.
Kara rolled her eyes and then addressed the crowd of disgruntled Martians. All of them had been placed under Alex's mind control and tortured relentlessly into her silly sitcom. "This is to certify the Supreme Leader of the Galactic Federation has awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in action to all of you," Kara said and then waited patiently as each Martian was granted the purple ribbon. "Not all wounds are visible, not all wounds are physical," she said knowingly.
After a considerable time, several thousand Martians were all finally given the award. Do'on then came to Kara. "Alex Danvers must be tried for kidnapping, false imprisonment, and torture."
"You're fucking high if you think I'll let that happen," Kara said dismissively.
"What of the rule of law?" Do'on insisted.
"The law states I can pardon anyone and everyone for any reason even before a trial," Kara said simply.
"A pardon is an omission of guilt," Do'on insisted.
"The executive may pardon to put a check on the judicial branch. It's not an omission of anything," Kara insisted. "Now, unless you want this entire planet mind-wiped of this incident and my generous reparations canceled, I would let this go."
"I'm merely playing my part as an advocate for my people," Do'on backed down.
"Your loyalty to your people serves you well. You will be rewarded for it," Kara said with false sincerity. "Saturn Girl will assist with counseling."
"Fuck me," Imra sighed dismayed.
"Get everyone out of here," Kara ordered Do'on.
Kara waited patiently as the Martians left the auditorium leaving the Vindicators alone. Kara then gestured to Mon. "This is to certify the Supreme Leader of the Galactic Federation has awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in military operations against an armed enemy of the Galactic Federation," Mon said and then handed each of them the medal.
"I'd give you the Medal of Honor, but you all have been awarded that already," Kara smiled, pleased with all of them.
"Award your subordinates however you feel appropriate," Mon told them all.
"I ain't giving them shit," Jo said immaturely as he was about to teleport them all away.
"You're dismissed," Kara ordered them away.
Once they were all gone, Kara turned to Mon. "Thank you for not dying. Thank you for not killing Alex," she said appreciatively.
"Where's my award?" Mon asked mockingly.
"The only award you accept is when you kill an enemy with your own hands," Kara replied.
"You know me so well," Mon smiled. "You now have your prize, completely whole again."
"Yes, but I will need you, most of all, to keep it that way," Kara replied.