2141
It has now been several months since Darkseid and his army arrived on Earth, and began abducting people, and attacking the planet. Since then, Kara and the other heroes, along with as many humans, and aliens who call Earth their home, who are willing to fight, have been engaging in a sort of guerrilla warfare. After the groups first defeat by Darkseid and his army on the streets of National City, it was very clear to them that they couldn't beat Darkseid and the Parademons in a straight head-to-head fight, even with Kara by their side. So, the group decided that they needed to plan out their attacks, and rescue missions, making them quick and brief, taking out as many Parademons as possible, while saving as many innocent lives too. Of course this task was hard for both Kara and Barry, because there were several occasions where they had to leave, due to their time being up, which meant leaving innocent civilians to their fates. Neither of the two heroes were comfortable with that, they wanted to save everyone, even at the cost of their own lives. But Kara and Barry had very early been sat down by Oliver Luthor-Danvers, Keiran & Spectre Oliver, and told implicitly, that they wouldn't be able to save everyone, so they needed to be okay with leaving people behind, as if either one of them were captured, then all was lost. The group then stuck to their guerrilla warfare tactics, with quick strikes, getting in and out, before the Parademons could send for more support, saving as many innocent people as possible.
After the battle in the streets of National City, it was obvious that Keiran's attention was better spent using her brain, rather than her powers. This isn't because Keiran failed or anything, or that anyone blames her for Lori's injury, but just simply because everyone knew that Keiran is the smartest person among them, almost as smart as her mother Lena, and if they couldn't win this war by their combined forces, they needed to win it with their minds and resources. So instead of fighting, Keiran worked on designing weapons to be used by the non-powered people, to fight and kill the Parademons, while also trying to research as much as possible, to attempt to find out the reason for Darkseid invading the planet. Keiran was also the head of coordinating all of the attacks and rescue efforts. Keiran had successfully set up a network of evacuation centres, where the fighters and civilians could hide in relative safety. These facilities all just happened to be L-Corp facilities which were either already off of L-Corp's books, or Keiran took off the books, just to make sure there wasn't a paper trail for the Parademons and Darksied to follow. The only way that the hostile aliens would find them is if they came across one of the bunkers, by either following someone there, or by a traitor from within. But Keiran made sure that the bunkers were as defendable and unnoticeable as possible, using specialised technology to hide their heat signatures and power consumption, while also outfitting each of the bases with their own limited defences. Obviously if any of the bases were attacked, they most likely wouldn't be able to hold out for long, but the defences may buy the fighters enough time to evacuate as many of the non-combatant civilians as possible.
Despite Keiran focusing a lot of her time on defences, and developing technologies for the battles to come, she also spent a lot of time in their main bunker's (the former DEO desert facility) medical facility. This is because, despite the first fight with the Parademons and Darkseid taking place over 6 months prior, Lori hadn't full recovered. At first Lori slipped into a coma which she remained in for almost 3 months, much to everyone's worry. Keiran of course worked tirelessly to try and find ways to pull her sister out of her coma, to bring her back to the world of the living. Keiran would have of coursed worked this way for just about anyone, as she just wanted to do good, just like both of her mother's, wanting to live up to the examples that they set for her. But the bigger reason that Keiran worked so tirelessly, through many sleepless nights, to try and wake her sister, was because she blamed herself for Lori's injury. Keiran replayed the moment that Lori got injured in her mind many times over, and despite Kara insisting it wasn't her fault, Keiran blamed herself. Keiran thought that if she had been able to fight better, and not get overwhelmed by the Parademons, then Lori would have never turned her back to the Parademons who she was fighting, to call out and try and help her sister, which would have meant that she would have seen the Parademon's attack coming, and wouldn't have been stabbed. So ultimately, Keiran just blamed herself, an aspect to her character that she very much got from her human mother.
The most frustrating thing throughout all of this process for Keiran however was that all of her tests that she ran on her sister in the coma, just showed that there was no way to bring Lori out of the coma by 'force', she, and everyone else, just had to wait for it to happen on its own. Eventually it did happen, one evening while Keiran was sitting in Lori's private medical room, working on some projects while she kept a vigil over her sister, it was such a moment of relief, on Keiran's part, but after a few moments of happiness, things got worse. Keiran quickly found that Lori had no idea who she was, or who anyone else was for that matter, suffering from some form of amnesia. Then at the same time it became increasingly obvious to Keiran that Lori had lost her powers too. This became such an infuriating process for Keiran, because all of the tests she ran on her sister showed that she was in good health, with there being no biological change to her since before she was injured, and therefore she should have her powers, and her memories, but she did not. The only thing that Keiran could theorise was that the coma had resulted in amnesia, with some potential damage to Lori's brain, but as Lori is half-Kryptonian, her powers had repaired the brain damage, but left the wires in all the wrong places. This meant that Lori may still have her memories from before, but it would just take time for the wires to all realign themselves back to their original state, for Lori to remember, if it ever happened. Then because of this, Keiran theorised that Lori's lack of powers was directly linked to her amnesia. Keiran believed that because Lori was suffering from amnesia it had essentially locked away her ability for her body to access and use her Kryptonian powers, rendering her essentially powerless. Lori literally remembered no one, which was obviously hard on Kara, Keiran, Oliver, and the rest of Lori's friends and family. However, Lori did seem to form an almost instant connection with her wife Melissa, despite having no memories of her, which gave Kara, Oliver and Keiran some form of comfort. As the months progressed Lori did begin to regain some of her memories, along with some of her powers, proving Keiran's theory to be correct. But currently Lori still hasn't regained all of her powers and memories, and because of that, all of her friends and family have refused to allow Lori to fight, not wanting to risk any further damage to her, much to Lori's frustration.
As the months had passed by the heroes witnessed so many horrors, they saw more and more of the world they loved slowly be destroyed. They watched news coverage of cities being destroyed in a matter of weeks, with the larger ones taking a few months. The biggest worry however was that it was very clear that given Darkseid and his Parademon's power, and their shear numbers, they could easily just wipe out a city almost instantaneously, but they didn't. As the army went through the cities it was clear they were searching for something, or someone, the reason that Darkseid had come to Earth, and that was the only reason they didn't just destroy the cities within a few moments, that, and the fact that they still abducted humans to turn into slaves.
It wasn't until the beginning of 2141 when the heroes, and the rest of the world, witnessed their first human slaves. Just like spectre Oliver explained, the humans had been completely changed and 'enhanced' with technology. None of them were technically Parademons, just as Oliver said, instead them just being used for labour. The group first came across them and witnessed these enhanced humans, going through the rubble of various buildings, searching for something, looking and acting completely mindless. The humans did not look very human anymore though, as they all had parts of their bodies replaced. Some of them had their eyes replaced with red digital ones, others had their arms or legs replaced, then others had large parts of their bodies, like their entire torsos, or head, replaced with robot looking technology. Looking on at these 'humans' just disgusted all the heroes, and it made them even more fearful of what would happen to the humans which they left behind.
The only positive that the heroes had had over the last several months was that they had not witnessed Darkseid again, ever since Kara toppled the buildings on top of him after their fight at National City. None of the heroes were naïve enough to think that Darkseid was dead or recovering from a serious injury however. The theory that most of the heroes agreed with was that Darkseid rarely ever got his hands involved in any of the fighting, seeing it as being beneath him, with his Parademons being more than capable of dealing with things, as he didn't really see anyone on Earth to actually be a threat. The only person that the heroes actually believed Darkseid considered to be a threat, was Kara, and that is why he had appeared in National City on the first day. Since then, due to Kara and the other heroes just participating in quick assaults and rescue missions, they assumed Darkseid just didn't have enough time to come to them and attack Kara once more. Although the heroes also knew that the possibility was that Darkseid simply just didn't care as long as Kara was distracted trying to save humans or defeating some of his Parademons, who he had plenty to use as fodder, as that just meant Kara wasn't focusing her attention on him.
Presently it is March of 2141. Barry, Kara, Oliver, Keiran and Lori have all gathered at the DEO desert facility, to regroup, for the first time in about a month. Over the last few months, it has been rare for the whole group to all be together, as they have all be coordinating efforts at different places across the world. Kara, Keiran and Lori have been the ones that have spent most of their time at the desert facility, using it as their main base, with Lori still being out of action. Oliver and Barry however have both been coordinating with other teams and civilians in a few different bases throughout the world, just making sure that the civilians that they have evacuated are safe. Oliver's daughter Alex, has also been going around the globe with her father, helping, and she is currently somewhere in Europe, evacuating people, instead of at the meeting presently.
"Keiran, please tell me you have come up with something?" Oliver asks his sister.
Keiran looks at Oliver and the rest of the group, glumly.
"No. I.... I still have no idea what they are looking for." Keiran explains.
Oliver sighs.
"Okay, so what about coming up with a weakness for these Parademons, or Darkseid?" Barry asks.
"The weapons that I have developed look to be working well on the Parademons, but it seems that they are getting wise, and adapting, making my weapons less effective against them. I will have to continue to update the weapons in the months to come, to prevent them from becoming ineffective." Keiran replies.
"What about Darkseid?" Kara prompts again.
This time Keiran sighs.
"I don't know.... I can't really come up with anything..... we don't really even have any evidence to go off of. It doesn't help that he hasn't even been active ever since National City, so I don't even have any TV footage to work with." Keiran says.
The group then all look at each other in a glum silence.
"Where is Oliver Queen?" Oliver Luthor-Danvers asks, annoyed.
"I.... I haven't seen him in a few months now." Kara admits.
Over the last few months, since the heroes have been partaking in guerrilla warfare, spectre Oliver has kept his presence limited, still not joining the heroes in any of the fights. Spectre Oliver really hasn't offered up much help, continuously explaining that he needs to keep his energy, and his powers, for a future battle to come. As a result, Oliver has barely been seen by Kara, or any of the other heroes, in the last few months particularly.
"Mom, I thought you said that he would..." Lori begins, but is then interrupted by several of the monitors in the base emitting static.
"What the.." Kara says, confused.
Suddenly on the monitors appears the face of Darkseid, looking as smug as ever.
"People of Earth." Darkseid begins, "I am broadcasting this to everyone around the world. There is no point fighting me. Surrender yourselves to me and my army, and your lives will be spared. You will become my servants. If you do not surrender, you will all continue to witness what my Parademons can do, there is no defeating my army. Fighting is pointless."
Kara grits her teeth in anger and slams her fists down on the table, making a large dent in it.
"Now, to the one called Kara Zor-El, Earth's protector, if you do not meet me on my ship within the next hour, I will destroy a city every hour, until you do so. Everyone who dies as a result of that, will be on you, Superwoman. Can you truly live with that?" Darkseid smirks, "You have one hour. The first target will be your beloved National City."
The broadcast then ends completely. Kara has an extremely worried look on her face.
"You can't go mom!" Lori says, empathically.
Kara looks at Lori and the rest of the heroes.
"I have to go. I.... I can't live with myself if millions of people left living in cities around the world would die because of me." Kara explains.
"It wouldn't be because of you mom! It would be because of Darkseid! He just wants you to think it would be your fault!" Keiran says, firmly.
Oliver then steps closer to his mother.
"Mom, if you go, and Darkseid captures you, or worse, turns you into one of his Parademons, all hope is lost. You are this planet's best chance of survival. This is obviously a trap; we can't risk that." Oliver says.
Kara is just about to speak again, but then suddenly Spectre Oliver appears behind her.
"She needs to go." Spectre Oliver says.
"WHAT?!?!" Oliver Luthor-Danvers, Lori & Keiran all say at the same time.
"I thought you said Kara was our best chance Oliver?" Barry says, confused.
"She is. But with this opportunity, we may be able to gain something about Darkseid's plans, what he is after. We cannot waste this opportunity." Spectre Oliver says.
"If you think I'm willingly going to send my mom into a trap, then you have another thing coming." Oliver says angrily, to the man he is named after.
"I will go with her. I will be in the shadows. Darkseid will not be able to see me." Spectre Oliver says.
"So now you finally use your powers?" Keiran scoffs.
Spectre Oliver looks at Keiran.
"I'm sorry, but it isn't simple. I need to preserve as much of my powers, for whatever our final fight may be." Spectre Oliver explains.
"I'm going too." Barry announces.
"Barry no!" Kara protests, "If something happens to me, you are the Earth's best chance."
Barry looks at Kara sincerely.
"Kara, you are this Earth's best chance. I need to make sure that nothing happens to you. I am coming with you, and nothing you can say will stop me." Barry says, firmly.
Kara looks at Barry, then at Spectre Oliver, and then around at all her children and sighs.
"Okay." Kara nods.
Kara and Barry land on the top platform of Darkseid's ship, with Kara having flown Barry with her, Spectre Oliver then appears beside them.
"I will be with you. My presence will be unnoticed." Spectre Oliver says.
Kara nods at Oliver and begins to walk forward with Barry.
The spaceship looks really strange as it doesn't actually look like the top of a spaceship, instead it looks like the surface of a planet, although that surface being metal. The ship is several miles long, and a few miles wide. Scattered throughout the surface of the ship, Kara can see several buildings, with the largest building being in the very centre of the ship. The group decide that the centre building is where they must need to go.
Kara and Barry slowly walk towards the large centre building, being careful to take in their surroundings, while Oliver floats, following behind them. As they walk closer, the group all take note of the fact that they do not see any Parademons nearby, although they can hear the screeches of some of them coming from below, most likely within the ship. The group then get about 10 metres away from the entrance to the large building, with there being a large 20 feet tall metal door, and stop. The door then suddenly opens, and Darkseid walks out from it, alone.
Darkseid approaches the group, a smirk still on his face, with his hands held behind his back. He eventually stops about a metre away from Kara, his height towering over all of the heroes.
"I see you brought a friend." Darkseid says.
"Yes. You didn't think I would come alone, would you? This is obviously a trap." Kara says.
Darksied smirks once more.
"This is not a trap, Kara Zor-El, but I understand why you would presume so." Darkseid replies.
Barry frowns.
"If this is not a trap, then why did you demand Kara come here?" Barry asks.
"Isn't it obvious? He wants me to join him, with the threat of him destroying the cities on Earth if I don't." Kara mutters.
Darkseid chuckles, causing Barry and Kara to both shoot annoyed glares at him.
"No. That is not what I have planned, although admittedly the thought did cross my mind. But no, I need Kara Zor-El to join my army willingly. If you join unwillingly, what I would have to do, how I would remake you, would hamper your powers. I want you to join at your full strength." Darkseid smirks.
It is now Kara's turn to laugh.
"You should know by now that I never will join you willingly." Kara says, firmly.
"Oh, I don't know about that." Darkseid smirks once more.
Suddenly from behind Darkseid, Barry and Kara hear the distinct clicking of high heels across the metal surface of the ship. Kara immediately, even before she sees the person, knows who it is. Kara has stored the noise of how this person walks in her brain, being about to distinguish the sound from anyone else. To Kara's shock, Lena appears from behind Darkseid, standing at his side.
Lena doesn't entirely look how she did previously however, parts of her body have been replaced with metal. One of Lena's legs has been replaced with a metal one, then Lena also has a metal plate on the right side of her face, lacking having a right ear. Then finally, Lena's left eye has been replaced with a digital robotic red one, like some of the Parademons and human slaves. But other than these changes, Kara sees her wife, Lena. Kara sees Lena's beautiful face, and her gorgeous raven hair. Despite the robotics, she looks as beautiful as ever to Kara.
"Hello, darling." Lena says with a smile, sounding the exact same as before.
"Le.... Lena?" Kara says, shocked.
Kara takes a step closer, but then stops herself.
"No... you're.... you're not my wife! My wife is dead!! This is a trick!" Kara says, angrily.
"Kara, baby, it is me." Lena says, with a lovingly look on her face.
Kara gets a confused look on her face, and looks at Barry, who looks just as shocked as her. Kara then turns her attention to Darkseid.
"This is your wife. I have spent the last several months..... remaking her.... If you join me..... I can prevent death itself." Darkseid says.
"Kara, come here, please." Lena says.
Kara takes another step closer to her wife, before then quickly closing the distance, taking Lena into a tight hug, tears falling down her face.
"I've missed you.... I've missed you soo much." Kara sobs.
"I know darling... but I am here now.... Lord Darkseid saved me..." Lena smiles, lovingly.
"Kara." Spectre Oliver calls out from behind her, but Kara ignores him.
"You can be with your wife, as part of my army, as long as you submit to me." Darkseid says.
Kara and Lena pull back from their hug, with Kara wiping away her tears, and Lena still smiling at her.
"I... I... I... Okay I..." Kara begins.
"No! Kara! You can't!" Barry yells.
"Stop, you insulant pest!" Darkseid roars, suddenly trapping Barry in a forcefield.
Barry begins to try and bash his fists against the forcefield, and use his powers to break free, but he cannot. Kara just ignores what is going on, completely lost in her wife.
"What.... what do you need me to do?" Kara asks, not looking at Darkseid.
Darkseid smirks.
"I have come to this Earth, in search of the ultimate weapon of death, called the anti-life equation. Throughout the years I have gathered several elements of it, but it has been foretold that the last remaining anti-life equation element, is here on Earth. I want you to help me search for it. With your powers and knowledge of this planet, our task will be complete quickly. Then I will be the master of life and death itself." Darkseid says.
Kara looks at Darkseid and then back to Lena, who is still smiling at her.
"Please Kara, do this for Lord Darkseid, do this for us. Nothing else matters now, only that we can be together again." Lena smiles.
These words from Lena cause the first red flags to go off in Kara's mind. Kara knows that Lena would never allow such death to happen, just so they could be together.
Spectre Oliver appears by Kara's side.
"Listen to her heart Kara." Oliver says.
Kara frowns and then uses her super hearing to listen to her wife's heart, but she doesn't find it. All that Kara does find is a metal clunking noise, a mechanical heart. In this moment Kara realises, that this really isn't her wife. This person may look and sound like Lena, but a large amount of the elements that make up her wife, that make her the woman Kara loves, no longer exist. This Lena no longer has a soul, morals, or a heart, and if she did not have a heart, does she truly love Kara?
Kara suddenly takes a few steps back.
"No." Kara says, sadly, "You're.... you're not my Lena."
"Kara?" Lena says, sadly.
"You... you don't have her heart.... Lena would never... I.... you're not Lena..." Kara says, in a state of heartbreak.
"Kara please..." Lena begins.
"YOU FOOL!! I OFFERED YOU WHAT YOU HAVE SEARCHED FOR, FOR YEARS NOW!! AND YOU REJECT MY OFFER!?!?!" Darkseid roars, angrily.
Kara turns to look at Darkseid.
"I have looked to join my wife for years, but this isn't my wife. You have taken away the elements that make her into the woman I love." Kara says.
"You always were a loser. You were always too dumb to see the true picture." Lena now scowls, looking menacingly at Kara.
"Lena..." Kara says, upset, even though she knows this isn't really Lena.
"You are an idiot to not obey my beloved Lord Darkseid, and you will pay for it." Lena scowls.
"What..." Kara begins, but then Darkseid suddenly grabs Lena in one of his mighty hands, lifting her off of the ground.
Darkseid then takes Lena into the air with both of his hands, and begins to pull Lena apart, with Lena screaming.
"NO!!" Kara yells.
Kara tries to move closer to Darkseid, to stop him, but another forcefield blocks her path.
"STOP!!" Kara yells, tears running down her face.
"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT KARA!!" Lena screams, as she is torn limb from limb, "I HATE YOU!!! I HATE YOU!! I HA...."
Lena suddenly stops speaking when Darkseid finally tears her dead from her body and drops it on the ground with a thump. Kara falls to her knees, screaming in agony.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" Kara screams, crying.
"You should have listened." Darkseid smirks.
The forcefields then drops and Darkseid takes a step closer to Kara, grabbing her in one of his hands. Kara is far too devastated to resist.
"We will do this the hard way now." Darkseid smirks.
"You will not." Spectre Oliver says.
Darkseid suddenly looks in Spectre Oliver's direction, finally seeing him for the first time.
"What are..." Darkseid begins, but before he can continue, Oliver shoots him with a blast of some sort of energy, causing him to drop Kara.
"Barry, get Kara out of here!" Oliver yells.
"What... what about you?" Barry asks.
"I'll hold him off for you to escape. You'll see me again." Oliver explains.
Barry then gives Oliver a nod and then picks up the devastated Kara in his arms, and begins to run off of the ship. Barry runs down to the surface of the Earth, using the Parademons below and then the buildings, as platforms to control his dissent. Meanwhile Oliver begins a battle with Darkseid, still shooting his energy at the alien. Darkseid is eventually able to stand up to his feet, with the energy seeming to affect him less and less, and that is when Oliver causes a large explosion. Once the blast from the explosion has dissipated, Spectre Oliver is gone, and Darkseid is laying on the ground of his ship. After a few moments, Darkseid climbs to his feet again.
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