On Mars, Kelly was placed on a medical bed in one of the tents. "What's the first thing you remember?" Kara questioned as Kelly woke up.
"Pain...and then Alex's voice in my head," Kelly replied.
"Did you try to resist?" Kara asked.
"There was this feeling keeping me down, a hopeless feeling. Like drowning. It was grief," Kelly said as her body was scanned.
"You can sit up now," Brainiac 5 allowed.
"Am I clear?" Kelly asked, still dazed and confused.
"Once I analyze the results," Brainiac 5 replied.
"Where are my clothes?" Kelly asked upon seeing herself in a medical gown.
"In analysis," Brainiac 5 told her.
"Mighty glad to have you back, Kelly. How are you feeling?" Mon asked with false concern.
"Like myself," Kelly said relieved.
"There's a briefing at ten. Pants are optional," Kara said, handing her a pair.
"We'll need to test her again. There's something wrong with the machine," Brainiac 5 interrupted, showing blank results. "I'll need another blood draw."
"No, we're done here," Kelly refused.
Brainiac 5 turned to Kara to see if she wanted to force the issue. "See you at the briefing," Kara said pleasantly and then left with Mon. "Where the fuck is Ultra Boy?" she asked angrily.
Earth-Greenland
Tasmia (Shadow Lass), Jo (Ultra Boy), and Val (Karate Kid) came together in central Greenland to train. The glaciers had returned making it an inhospitable wasteland once again. "Earthlings used to live here?" Tasmia marveled.
"You asked for remote. During Climate Change, all of the ice melted, and Greenland became a vacation archipelago. Then, Barney had to come and 'fix' the planet by freezing the polar ice caps again. Pity, too. You're standing on top of one of the finest resorts," Val explained.
"Enough bullshit history. Let's get down to business," Tasmia said, getting back on point.
"Shadow Lass says your powers are becoming more unreliable. Sup with that?" Val asked.
"It's not really a big deal," Jo downplayed.
"What's left of the spaceport in Metropolis would argue otherwise. What's really going on, Jo?" Tasmia insisted.
"Okay, fine. A couple of years back, I got eaten by a space whale and got irradiated with this power bouncing around inside me. Normally, if I am relaxed, it doesn't do anything. But if I imagine myself with a power, I suddenly have it. But lately, I can't relax. It feels like my power just wants to burst out of me all the time," Jo explained.
"So, it's a focus issue. It's all in your head," Val assumed.
"There's nothing in my head," Jo said defensively.
"Obviously," Tasmia snickered.
"Show me. Spar with me," Val challenged.
"You must be joking. I have super-strength, dude," Jo scoffed.
Val suddenly kicked Jo to the legs knocking him off balance and sending him down into the snow. "Balance, dude."
"That was a cheap shot. If we really went head-to-head, I would cream you," Jo said angrily.
"Take a shot. Show me that super-speed," Val requested.
Jo went for a punch at super-human speed. Anticipating his move, Val moved out of the way and tossed Jo into a glacier. "You're working too hard. Your moves should be automatic," Val sensed.
"No one throws me around like that!" Jo said pissed off and then sped towards Val.
"You take too long to move your energy around," Val said as he punched Jo to the face sending him back into the snow. "Your first step is to make your power shifts instinctive rather than reactive."
Jo focused himself and then took the fight more seriously. "Dragonshit!" he shouted as he glowed green. Val anticipated Jo using his super-speed in the beginning. He avoided Jo's attacks just in time and then figured Jo would shift to super-strength. As Jo seemingly slowed down to human speed to shift to super-strength, Val saw his opening with a kick to Jo's midsection. Jo, however, still remained fast and caught Val's leg.
"Psyche, I never shifted to super-strength," Jo smirked. "Now, I am," he said as he threw Val high into the air out of sight. "Who needs control when I can do that shit."
"Are you listening at all?" Tasmia asked impatiently. She suddenly sent shadow hands across the ice to catch Val and bring him back.
"I just don't see what I have to learn from kid lightweight. I mean, he's an okay fighter for someone with no power but this whole control is overrated. He's welcome to prove me otherwise," Jo said arrogantly.
"Suzumushi Tsuishiki Enma KÅrogi," Tasmia said as she activated her ability. A large black tent covered both of them over the ice. The space became so dark that even the snow reflected nothing.
"What the fuck is this? I can't see a thing," Jo realized. Jo attempted to use his super-speed to get out of the tent only to find all his powers had been neutralized. Upon realizing this, he flailed around inside the tent trying to get at Tasmia.
Tasmia then summoned a shadow hand around Jo's neck. The shadow hand easily broke Jo's neck, disabling him. With that, Tasmia evaporated the black tent around them. "You, bitch, I can't move," Jo said distressed.
"You have the power of regeneration. Focus on that energy or you'll eventually freeze out here," Tasmia said ruthlessly.
"Thanks for the shadow hands but was it really necessary to have them clutch my butt and go down my pants?" Val asked.
"Yes, yes it was," Tasmia replied.
"We're really out in the middle of nowhere. I hope no one needs us right now," Val said concernedly.
"Ultra Boy has the potential to be our most diverse fighter. This takes priority," Tasmia said dismissively.
Mars
At the briefing, Kara took point. "Thanks to Kelly Olsen, we now have first-person intel into the anomaly. Our initial theory is that Alex Danvers was one of many victims. We have now confirmed that theory," Kara lied to the attending Martians.
"That sounds like bullshit," a few Martians grumbled.
"Barney," Kara addressed.
"Alex Danvers, born in Midvale, Maine in 1989 to Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, both died in 2021. In 2013, Alex joined the DEO and was subsequently radicalized into the liberal pro-alien, LGBT agenda," Brainiac 5 summarized.
"An oversimplification of events, but, yes," Kara confirmed. "In 2016, she discovered she was a homosexual, and the rest is history."
"Now that we know the lay of the land, let's talk strategy on how to rescue these poor bastards," Mon said getting to business. "According to Kelly, the anomaly is causing everyone inside to feel excruciating pain and terror including Alex. Our probes have all failed and our Vindicator infiltrator has become trapped in the anomaly's mind control. What we do know is that it's possible to escape," Mon said, gesturing to Kelly.
Kara, Mon, Brainiac 5, and Kelly worked on the problem away from the Martians. "What I need is a ten-thousand-kilogram fallout shelter comprised of lead for photons, cadmium for neutrons, tantalum for seismic blasts, on wheels," Brainiac 5 calculated.
"Sure, Barney, make it happen," Kara rolled her eyes.
"And then, I would be able to reenter Midvale. Right?" Kelly asked.
"Theoretically," Brainiac 5 allowed.
"I can work with that," Kelly said optimistically.
"Kelly, as much as I am eager to have you risk your freedom and sanity to save Alex...lost my train of thought," Kara said sheepishly.
"What did I miss?" Mon asked as he came in with a cup of coffee for himself alone.
"Our niece is now ten," Kara reported.
"Holy shit. At this rate, she'll be at sexual maturity by dinner time," Mon said surprised.
"Mon, what the fuck?" Kara glared.
"Surely, you're up for this challenge," Kelly assumed of Brainiac 5.
"Certainly, but I can't guarantee the so-called anomaly won't mind-wipe you as soon as you go in," Brainiac 5 said.
"You should go back in there despite everything she's put you through," Kara encouraged.
"Yeah, I'm her wife, after all," Kelly nodded. "Wait, I get it now. Compared to Alex, I'm completely expendable to all of you," Kelly said resentfully. There was an awkward silence in the room. "Look, everything in that zone is coming from Alex. It's all real in there," Kelly insisted.
"Your perception of reality could have been altered," Mon theorized.
"If everything in there is actually solid matter, that would mean she's wielding an insane amount of power," Kara said knowingly.
"Far exceeding anything she's displayed in the past," Brainiac 5 agreed.
"Exceeding? What are you not telling me?" Kelly asked accusingly.
"Occasionally, Alex lets her emotions get the better of her and she has caught me off-guard," Kara admitted.
"What? How?" Kelly asked confused.
"In an alternate timeline, Alex made contact with the Phoenix Force, a living energy entity called a god by some primitive civilizations. It has the power to manipulate reality to create and destroy life," Brainiac 5 revealed.
"So, this Phoenix Force is in her now?" Kelly asked.
"No, we believe only a fraction of the Phoenix Force is in Alex, a beacon for the real thing. It's important Alex never comes into contact with the actual Phoenix Force core. Should she do so, all life in the galaxy is at risk. Not even Kara would be able to stop her," Brainiac 5 said gravely.
"Alright, let's not jerk this Phoenix off too hard. I have unlimited potential power," Kara said, impressed with herself.
"That power will mean nothing if the Phoenix can warp reality, itself. The Phoenix can turn the ground and air to Kryptonite and then you're fucked," Mon told her.
"And what are you going to do, Mon? Use your instant transmission to run away like a bitch?" Kara antagonized.
"I won't commit suicide as you did," Mon shot back.
"This time, Alex isn't going to die," Kara said forcefully.
"She died in that alternate timeline?" Kelly asked shocked.
"After she killed your ass," Kara added.
"My clothes. They were changed inside the anomaly. They could hold clues," Kelly suddenly realized.
"They have already been tested. Alex manipulated reality to change the molecular structure of your clothes consistent with the 1950s era," Brainiac 5 informed her.
"Thanks, Barney. You could have told us that earlier when we were debating what the fuck this thing was," Kara said displeased.
"If everything that goes inside the anomaly changes to fit Alex's reality, what happens if we send in something that requires no change?" Kelly asked.
Rimworld
Garth told a number of tall tales about the Vindicators to the civilian aliens he was supposedly protecting. "So, Bizarro Colossal Boy went on the rampage, Bizarro Shadow Lass kept absorbing all the darkness our shady could throw at her, and then Bizarro Sunboy nearly fucked us up when he turned down the temperature to absolute zero."
"What happened then?" one alien asked.
"Well, the only way to win was to turn the Bizarro ray on ourselves," Garth said.
"That's crazy," another alien said.
"I'll say," Brin agreed.
"Shut the fuck up, Brin, God damn," Imra scolded.
"Okay," Brin rolled his eyes.
"Garth, stay with these weird-ass aliens. I'm going to try another SOS with Brin outside," Imra said.
"Wait...what?" Brin wondered.
The two walked outside for a bit. "Your plan is going to fail. There's no signal to send. Whoever attacked this world has cloaked all transmissions," Brin said condescendingly.
"No shit," Imra agreed.
"Then, why the fuck are we out here?" Brin wondered.
"I'm just sick and tired of hearing Garth's stories," Imra admitted. "What do these invaders want with this shit-hole planet? What strategic importance or key resource could there be?"
"Not a clue, but you do," Brin sensed.
"Well, it would appear you're both inquisitive and an asshole. I knew there was a reason Barney kept you around," Imra said insultingly.
"Tell me all about your fuck up," Brin requested.
"Vindicators teach civilizations to take a stand, to have faith that lost causes are the best causes. It was a joke that went way too far here," Imra admitted.
"And?" Brin asked knowingly.
"So, these kids united under the Vindicator franchise to battle a genocidal army and they got their asses kicked. Probably should have given them air support," Imra frowned.
"You going to tell them the truth that they're fucked?" Brin asked.
"It's not that simple. Their devotion to us is the only thing keeping them alive," Imra said simply.
"This is so fucked up," Brin said shocked and appalled.
The ground suddenly began to violently shake. "Garth, get them outside now!" Imra told him telepathically. A large hill of rock erupted from the ground where the compound had been. On top of the hill were five members of the Terror Firma, a terrorist super-villain group specifically opposed to the Vindicators. They had once been members until Kara kicked them out for being assholes which is an incredibly high threshold for her. They were composed of an earth-bending human named Elysion, a red-skinned woman with wild short black hair, a squid-looking creature, an armored muscular tan-skinned rock-looking creature, a fish-looking creature, and a blond woman in a red suit.
"They're running. I think the telepath sensed our approach," the red-skinned woman assumed.
"Then, that will be the last time she glimpses into our minds. Psionic filters engaged," the fish man said.
"Probably should have done that prior to my attack," Elysion said annoyed, and then made an even bigger mountain for himself.
Down on the ground, Brin wasn't impressed. "Imra, what are we up against?"
"Primarily hysteria, you all need to shut the fuck up and let us do our jobs," she scolded the civilians. "Alright, I'll fix you," she said and then telepathically removed their fear and replaced it with obedience.
"I'll take point," Garth said as he confronted Terror Firma all by himself. His suit glowed with electricity as he did.
"Zepha, blow him," Elysion ordered.
Zepha, the red-skinned alien woman pointed her hand at Garth and summoned wind to blow him back.
"What do you think of that, Garth," Elysion crowed.
"That was slightly inconvenient," Garth admitted and then shocked the fuck out of them. The resulting discharge took Zeph out of the fight immediately. The squid creature held onto the mountaintop for dear life as he couldn't fly. The fish man, the rock man, and the fire girl unleashed all of their powers on Garth at once. The water neutralized Garth's power, the rock creature slammed on top of Garth, and then the blond woman fired a stream of fire at him.
"Holy God," one of the civilians said fearfully.
"You're not afraid," Imra told them as she took their fear away. However, the unintended consequence was that the civilians started to attack the Terror Firma and getting placed in significant danger.
Brin punched the rock man to the face briefly stunning him. "These civilians are getting in the way. Can you just get them to leave?"
"I would if you would stop distracting me. What I do is a very precise science," Imra told him off.
Several civilians began beating on the rock man and were getting kicked around. "Keep at it. I'll let you know if you hit anything vital," he mocked them. The fire girl began roasting civilians attempting to take her down. The fish man trapped a number of civilians in water bubbles.
"I'm going to pick a victim at random as a hostage. You'll do," Elysion said as he formed a fist out of the ground with a civilian trapped inside. "May I have everyone's attention please?" he shouted.
Garth, Imra, and Brin came together after freeing the civilians and getting them to scatter away. "I'm not sensing any humanity or sanity in Elysion. I guess he really is a psychotic asshole," Imra determined.
"Well...no shit. I didn't need telepathic powers to tell me that," Garth mocked. "What's your deal, asshole?" he asked Elysion.
"To be on the winning side. You haven't seen anything yet. We're part of the advance wave, we're sent out to clear the path, you can't even imagine what is behind us out there. I'm just being practical," Elysion said. "We didn't come here for strategic purposes or for natural resources. We simply came here because we could."
"Alright, you win. Let me get close enough to you that I can take a knee before you," Garth said as he walked up to him.
"Well, of course," Elysion said pleased.
Garth got really close to Elysion, took a knee, and then started glowing intensely. "Wait, this is a trick!" Elysion realized too late. Garth shocked the entire group as they gathered around him. The electrical shocks disabled their psionic inhibitors. Imra immediately took hold of the two Terror Firma women. Brin attacked the fish man only to get pushed back by his water shield. Upon realizing they were on the verge of defeat, Terror Firma created a portal to leave the planet. The rock man pushed Imra and Garth aside as he grabbed an unconscious Elysion and charged toward the portal. Eventually, all five of them managed to get through the portal to escape. Brin impulsively went after them as the portal closed.
"Did he just do that?" Imra wondered amazed.
"Well...shit," Garth sighed.
Mars
On Mars, a U2 spy plane from the 1950s entered the barrier and went after Alex. Outside the barrier, Kara, Mon, Brainiac 5, and Kelly watched the view screen. "I know this is tech from the 50s but these visuals suck," Kara critiqued as photographs came in rapidly instead of actual video.
"Alex located," Brainiac 5 reported, ignoring Kara's complaint.
"Good work," Kara said pleased. "Kelly, you're up."
"Alex, this is Kelly. Can you hear me? I just want to talk. That's it," Kelly said sweetly.
Alex glared at the drone with red eyes. "I've lost control of the drone," Brainiac 5 reported.
"Take the shot," Mon ordered.
"What? That drone isn't armed...is it?" Kelly asked horrified.
Brainiac 5 took the shot and then the pictures stopped coming in. "What did you do?" Kelly asked horrified.
"Calm your tits, woman. I merely pissed her off," Mon said nonchalantly.
"There's a breach!" a Martian reported.
"Results," Mon said pleased and then headed out.
The barrier became distorted as something was happening. Mon came out in front with several Brainiac 5 drones around him. Kelly also arrived on the scene as Alex exited the barrier. Alex calmly walked up towards Mon with a piece of the broken U-2 plane. Alex was dressed in red, her eyes glowing red, her hair a bright red. "Is this yours?" she asked Mon, flinging the wreckage towards him.
"I knew going into the anomaly would give you the advantage, so I found a way to get you to come to me," Mon smirked. "You can hardly blame an Insane for trying."
"Oh, I think I can," Alex glared. "This will be your only warning. Stay out of my home. You don't bother me; I won't bother you."
"I don't think you understand my intent. I want to get you all hot and bothered, Alex. Let's do this," Mon said as he went Super Insane.
"Alex, you have an entire Martian colony held hostage. You are in control. You trust me, Alex. You know I'm your ally. I want to help you," Kelly beseeched her.
"How? What could you possibly offer me now when I can just shape-shift one of these Martians to look like you, sound like you, feel like you," Alex replied.
"What is it that you want?" Kelly asked hurt and confused.
"I have what I want, and no one is going to take it from me again," Alex said scornfully.
Mon raised his hand at her and formed a glowing orb. Suddenly, all the Brainiac 5 drones turned their guns on him. "Like they're going to do shit to me," Mon scoffed.
"I don't think you understand the power dynamic between us," Alex mocked. Mon suddenly lost all power, his power level dropping to nearly nothing. The Brainiac 5 drones then blasted him full of holes dropping him. Alex then casually walked back towards the barrier and was gone.
Earth-Metropolis
Imra and Garth finally made contact with the Vindicator Command on Earth via a large monitor screen. "We had a fight with the Terror Firma. We defeated them but Brin went after them when they portalled away. We haven't heard from him since," Imra reported.
"We'll be back ASAP but first we have to help rebuild here," Garth said.
"You should have been there before the attack, and you should have either killed or captured the Terror Firma. Now, two prospective planets have rescinded membership, and three resigned outright," Rokk scolded.
"You'd think these planets would want to stick together with a threat like this," Garth figured.
"And you would be wrong," Brainiac 5 said condescendingly.
"These leaders assume they can maintain neutrality," Rokk explained.
"Consequently, they will be the first to fall unless someone educates them on the value of unity," Brainiac 5 said cryptically.
"How ominous," Garth rolled his eyes.
"You are to report to Mars immediately. Something has come up," Brainiac 5 said vaguely.
"So, I just tell the locals here to go fuck themselves? Forget that Brin was captured?" Garth asked incredulously.
"Yes," Brainiac 5 replied.
"That serious, huh? We'll be right there," Garth promised.
Mars
Inside the barrier, Alex was at home with her new version of Kelly who was more cooperative. After putting her daughter to bed, Alex heard a knock on the door. Opening the door, she saw a man a few years younger than her. Alex simply stared at him in disbelief. "Can a long-lost bro get a hug or what?" Ryan James asked her.
As Mon was getting immediate critical medical care, Kara watched the TV screen. Despite his older appearance, Kara recognized him immediately. Ryan James had been their foster brother for six months. He had the ability to read minds, but it also gave him an inoperable tumor. He died when Kara and Alex were teens. Kara had done everything she could think of including bribing and kidnapping doctors to help him, but he died anyway. It was Kara's greatest failure, her greatest regret growing up in Midvale. Now, he was back as if he had never died. Kara shed a tear as she saw him on screen.
Alex eyed Ryan as if he were a ghost. "Who is this?" Kelly asked confused.
"Ryan?" Alex questioned.
"Yeah," Ryan said obviously.
Alex embraced Ryan and held him tight as she shed tears. "Hey, who's your friend?" he asked ignorantly.