My heart sank as I watched half of the team disappear before my eyes. I let out a weak breath, as if I had gotten the wind kicked out of me. I could see it replaying all over in my head again: the screams of my people, the crumbling of cities back on Krypton. I shook my head as tears rushed to my eyes. No, this couldn't be happening. I blinked rapidly, hoping they would show up, that this was all just my imagination playing some cruel joke on me. When I stopped, they still weren't back. My body felt hollow as I fell onto my knees. Despite our united strength, it would be impossible to defeat a world killer.
In the background, I could hear the others.
"How do we get in?" I could hear Kate ask. There was an urgency in her voice that I barely made out.
"I could fly us in," Jessica suggested, "use my ring to cut a hole through the ship."
Before I knew it, their discussion seemed to fade into something I couldn't hear. I could feel my heart pounding against my chest. Tears blurred my vision. I closed my eyes, only for those tears to spill out onto my cheeks. This was it. Maybe Kal was right after all. If I couldn't even handle a low-level enemy like Silver Banshee, how could I ever go up against someone as powerful as Brainiac?
I felt a soft hand rest on my shoulder. I turned my head and opened my eyes into Mon-El's. There was a slight frown on his face as he looked into my eyes.
I shook my head. "I..." My voice choked up. "I can't do this." More tears rolled down my cheeks.
He frowned at this, but didn't respond.
"Brainiac...he..." I could feel a lump in the back of my throat. "He took my home, my family, my friends back on Krypton. He wiped out any customs and culture we had, with me being the only person who can remember. Not like Kal can remember; he was just a baby. And Brainiac took my home and collected it like it was...like it was some twisted hunting trophy. We were nothing but prey to him." I paused for a moment. "Now, he's doing the same thing here. He's tearing Earth apart, city by city. He's hurting the people I care about in my life. He has the other half of the team captive." A shaky sigh escaped my lips. "Who's to say that Brainiac isn't doing the same with Earth?"
Mon-El nodded. "I get that, Kara."
I held my breath for a second. "You...you do?"
"Brainiac killed my home, too. Just because he didn't bottle Daxam doesn't mean he didn't hurt my home, too. His bottling Krypton didn't preserve the whole planet. That's why Krypton's destruction ruined Daxam, too."
"Then you know I'm up against a world killer," I said.
"All the more reason you of all of us should be fighting like hell to save your new home."
A small smile drew on my face. There was a hope in his eyes that slowly revived mine. Suddenly, I could feel his soft hands cupping my face.
"You can do this, Kara. I've seen you fight. You are strong enough."
Without thinking, I lean over and press his soft lips onto mine. His breath is warm, but it's comforting. There is a pit in my stomach, but I try not to focus on it. All I have is now with Mon-El, whether fighting Brainiac kills me or not. I just pray to Rao that this isn't my last kiss with him. I place my hands on his face. His stubble softly scratches the palms of my hands.
After a moment, I pulled away. I looked into his eyes. "We've got a god to kill." I walked over to the rest of the group. I could hear them continue their conversation.
"So you think drilling a hole in the back of the ship is the most efficient way of getting the others?" Kate asked.
Jessica shrugged. "I wouldn't see why not. We're going to be fighting Brainiac, regardless of if he hears us break in or not."
"I can fly a couple of us up at a time," I said.
Kate and Jessica looked over at me, then back at each other, as though they were considering it.
After a moment, Jessica shook her head slightly. "I got this." She rounded up Nia and Kate into a green bubble-like construct from her ring and flew them up.
Before I could reach Mari, she had already taken the form of a bald eagle, and had taken Zatanna in her grasp as they flew up. Suddenly, I felt a hand hold mine. I looked over to see Mon-El.
"I'll fly with you."
I smiled lightly at him before holding his hand tighter. It would only be a moment before I would shoot him and I into the sky.
By the time we landed, Jessica was already halfway through drilling an entrance into the ship. I stepped beside her. "I got this." I moved in front of her and pried the opening, making it easier for us to enter. A blue light emitted from inside. Bottles lined the walls up and down. My eyes widened at this. "Whoa..." I walked in. On a closer look, I could make out what seemed to be the outline of a city within each individual bottle.
"Kara?"
My eyes widened at the sound. I snapped my head to the side. A glimmer of light flashed across Barbara's eyes through her mask. She ran over and threw her arms around me.
I couldn't help but hug her back. "Rao, I was so worried about you, Babs."
"I was worried about you, too."
We let go of the hug. I looked past her to see Cisco, Harley, and Mary behind her. "Where are the others?" I asked.
"They're holding off Brain Guy," Harley said, "and Wondy said that we gotta find a cure, er...something. We gotta buttload o' cities, though."
My eyes widened at Harley's statement. It's been years, but Brainiac most definitely has Kryptonian cities somewhere in this room. Not even thinking, I raced over to the walls, scanning every label above each bottle. Gateway City, Star City, Blüdhaven, Coast City, Shanghai, Athens, Cairo, even Vancouver. My heart sank as a pit formed in my stomach yet again. Not a single Kryptonian city. No Argo City, no Kandor, not even Kryptonopolis. I shook my head. No, this isn't the time to think about Krypton. I looked back at the others. "It's time." With that, we left the collection room.
I could feel my blood go cold at the sight. Wonder Woman was at the feet of a robotic creature with magenta plugs coming out of its head: Brainiac. My eyes darted around the area. In the corner, I could see what looked to be Huntress slumped over, with life drained out of her. The realization fell over me: Brainiac killed her. I looked past her to see Stargirl's body on its side, with a gaping hole through her stomach. On a closer look, Stargirl's lifeless eyes were still open. A shaky breath escaped me. My arms and legs trembled at the sight of it all.
I glanced back at the others. The others seemed to be frozen, except for Mary. Her hands balled into fists. It looked as though a vein in her forehead was about to burst. After a short moment of her trying to hold back, she ran at him.
"Mary!" I shouted.
"SHA--" One of Brainiac's tendrils wrapped around her throat and hoisted her into the air. She started to gag.
"NO!" I flew up at the tendril, but was strongly swatted away by one of his other tendrils, sending me crashing into the farther side of the cortex. The back of my head slammed into the wall. My head throbbed. I looked up as I tried to recover from the blow.
"The arcane forces you and the Marvels possess," Brainiac said, "do nothing to me, foolish child. Suddenly, the sound of a snap echoed throughout the cortex. He dropped Mary's limp body to the ground.
My eyes widened at this. How many of us have we lost now? Four? Five? Tears rushed to my eyes. This can't be happening.
Suddenly, Wonder Woman's body stirred. Her eyes snapped open, only blinking a couple of times. She stood up. "What have you done?" she asked, looking Brainiac in the eyes.
"Some lights needed to be dimmed." A smirk drew across his face.
Wonder Woman glared at him before looking back. She paused for a moment, as if just realizing that the other half of the team had finally come in. "Black Canary, Batwoman, Dreamer, Zatanna; find anything that could be an antidote. As for the rest of us..." She glared back at Brainiac. She drew her sword and pointed it at him. "Attack!"
My heart raced as I flew at his chest. I slammed him to the ground. I looked directly into his beady, soulless eyes.
"If it isn't the Girl of Steel," he said, "considering I successfully destroyed Krypton, I knew there would be a 99.95% chance that I could encounter you plotting your revenge against me, since the demise of yourself, and your cousin they call 'Superman' somehow circumvented my initial plans, though since my latest arrival on Earth, I intended to correct this mistake."
I jammed my fist into his face. "You don't get the luxury of a re-do, Brainiac."
Suddenly, his body seemed to slink up, as if shedding from my hold. "I would be intrigued to watch your pathetic attempt."
I heard footsteps from behind me get closer as I stood back up.
"I got him, Supergirl!" Batgirl shouted. A batarang flew past my hair with a swoosh. It struck his tendril, but it only seemed to bounce off.
"Pathetic." He shot his tendrils at Batgirl and the rest of the team.
"No!" I shot my heat-vision at the tendrils. He didn't react, as he kept attacking the others with them. I turned my head and beamed up his chest.
He let out a low screech, dropping Batgirl from his grasp. Brainiac glared at me. "You menacing, Kryptonian brat!"
Suddenly, time seemed to slow. I could feel my heart thumping in my chest. All these years, being sent to Earth after Krypton was destroyed, taking up the mantle of Supergirl, fighting Silver Banshee and other criminals in National City, all the fights against our rivals on the way here with the team; it was all preparing me for this moment. I looked up at him.
"I will destroy you!" he shouted.
I flew up, raising my body above his head. I looked down at him. "May the strongest will win."
He let out a sort of battlecry before leaping at me.
I swooped down at him, grabbing his neck. I threw him to the other side of the cortex. His body crashed into the wall. I shot over and took in a deep breath. On the exhale, I let out my arctic breath, freezing Brainiac in place. Not even thinking, my fist jabbed his cheek. "This is for threatening my friends!" I struck the other cheek. "And for taking my family!" I sent him an uppercut. "And for hurting my cousin!" My heat vision was building up in my eyes. "And this one's for taking everything from me." I let out a scream as my heat vision beamed his neck. I could hear him letting out a low groan. After a moment, I backed up before flying back in, breaking the ice structure, while also jamming my fist into his chest.
Brainiac stumbled slightly, adjusting to the beating I had given him.
I smirked. Suddenly, tendrils wrapped around my arms tightly. My eyes widened as I tried to squirm out, but failed.
"You think I would break that easily?" He swung me to the side, by cheekbone hammering into the floor. Before I could even register the throbbing, he spun me around and hammered my other cheek into the floor. "That the compassion you have might give you some mercy?" He scoffed. "You and your human peers are truly pitiful." With that, he swung me into the wall.
I landed on my side. My head was starting to throb. I tried to push myself back up, but I felt one of his tendrils push me down. His footsteps approached me. I looked up at him. "I'm...I'm not letting you get away with this."
"The likelihood of that is improbable." He hoisted me up. I could feel him pull his tendrils back before he flung me like a javelin.
The top of my head pounded directly into the wall. The pain seared as though my head was being impaled. Everything felt further away, like I wasn't really there.
"Kara!" someone shouted, though it sounded more like an echo.
I turned my head to see Valor and Batgirl run to my aid. I blinked a few times. After a second, I focused back to where I was. I looked over them to see Wonder Woman leading the rest of the team into fighting Brainiac.
"You okay?" Batgirl asked. Her bluish-green eyes were wide.
I looked over at Valor. His eyes were as wide as hers, with a twinge of pain hidden behind it.
"I could be better." I could feel something wet below the corner of my mouth. I brought my hand to it and wiped it off. I looked down to see dark blood. I let out a sigh. As I looked past my hand, I could see a slight, rectangular indent on the opposite side of me. I squinted for a second, switching to my X-Ray vision. I focused on it, but it remained black. I switched back to my regular vision. "He said that nothing magical can hurt him, right?"
"Or anything earthly," Batgirl replied.
I looked at her. "Go over there." I pointed her the way. "I think I know how to stop Brainiac."
She turned around, then back at me. "Why are you pointing at that lead case? What could possibly---" Her jaw slacked lightly as the realization hit her. "Oh...oh no." She shook her head. "Kara, you can't be serious."
Valor furrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"She's...she's talking about Brainiac's stash of kryptonite."
His eyes widened more. "Kara, please, don't. There has to be another way."
"It's not from Earth and it's not magical," I said.
"If you do this, you could die."
I sighed. "Maybe. But this, this has been a fight between Brainiac and I for twenty-four years in the making. I might die, but at the cost of avenging my family and friends, I'll take it in a heartbeat any day."
The two of them were silent for a moment.
"Are...are you sure you want to do this?" Batgirl asked.
"As sure as I'm Supergirl."
Batgirl nodded. She went over to the case.
Valor lent me his hand. I took it and he helped me up. I looked into his eyes. I could see tears begin to well in his eyes. "Kara, I...I don't want to lose you."
"I don't want to lose you either, Mon-El." I leaned forward to give him a peck on his stubbled cheek. "That's one of many reasons why I'm doing this."
Batgirl came over with the case in her hand. "Ready when you are, Supergirl."
I looked down at the case, then at Brainiac in the distance, then back at the case. I opened it. Neon green light emitted from the inside. I could already feel my muscles aching. I gritted my teeth as I took the green kryptonite shard from its casing. I took steps past Batgirl and Valor. It felt as though my feet were being stabbed. With any leftover strength I had, I gripped onto the shard. "Hey Brainiac! Try again!"
Brainiac turned to face me. After a second, he smirked. "And to think, I thought Kryptonians were somewhat intelligible. If you really think you can defeat me with it more than it will hurt you, it will be logical that you are more than doltish."
I flew at him. My arm was stinging. I grimaced. "Famous...last...words." I yelled as I threw the shard of kryptonite. It soared through the air, piercing Brainiac's chest. He fell back before everything went black.
My eyes snapped open to my stomach dropping. From what I could tell, I had blacked out for a minute or two tops. I could feel my body pressed against the floor of the ship. My eyes widened when I realized it: the ship was crashing to Earth. I wobbled as I stood back up.
"Can you make a big enough breach?" Batgirl's voice shouted.
I looked over to see Batgirl standing beside Vibe. Sky blue sparks would shoot out from his palms, but not much more. He gritted his teeth. "The ship...it's too big."
"What's going on?" I shouted.
"Brainiac controlled the ship with his mind," Batgirl said, "but because he's incapcitated...we've lost control!"
I turned my head. In front of me was a throne that had wires with plug ends surrounding it. I looked behind me. Brainiac's body was face up and limp. I looked back at the throne. I took aching steps forward. "If Brainiac powered it," I said, "then it's powered by pure thought."
"Kara!"
I turned to see Batgirl looking at me. "I know what you're thinking. Binding with the ship is too dangerous!"
"I know!" I shouted back, "but I..." I looked back at the throne. "I know I'm strong enough." Every step I took felt as though my feet were burning. I gritted my teeth. That had to be the kryptonite left in my body. I looked down at my arms. My veins were tinted neon green. I braced myself as I kept walking to the throne. Once I got there, I sat down. I held the wires with both of my hands. "This...this is a job for Supergirl!" I jammed the wires onto the temples of my forehead. Electricity rushed through my skull. I groaned through my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut. My body felt as though it was burning. I could feel the ship slowly tipping up, but still descending. Soft landing, I thought, soft landing. I screamed as the shooting pain coursed through my body. The bottom of the ship slid as it started to land, making a sharp, scraping sound. At that moment, my body went limp.
"Kara!" someone shouted, but it sounded too far away for me to make out.
The plugs released from my temples. My eyes rolled back as I fell off of the throne.