I flew at speeds I didn't even know I could reach.
The moment I landed on earth I took off. As if a horse finally allowed to start racing.
There was no boom tube IN or anywhere around or near Bialya, but Kahndaq was the closest available location so I took what I got and considered it a blessing. All things considered.
With only a vague image of the location I'm supposed to go to in my mind, I start scanning the perimeters of the country before going in to the edges of each one, one by one.
As soon as I was about to start giving up hope in my futile task, I started to see landscape that matches the video feed Booster had shown.
Hope bubbled up my throat.
It quickly died at what I saw next.
A rackety wood shake stood on what appeared to be the edge of a small town. The old wooden structure sat atop a small hill overgrown with moss and vines that seemed to want to swallow the house on top of it back into the earth from once it came.
Using my supervision, I see a mother of a willowly figure crouched down low with a faded blue gown clinging to a frail figure, a lighter blue shawl covering her hair.
She clutches tightly onto a little girl who, while not wailing or crying, was shaking uncontrollably as she was staring down the barrel of a semi-automatic warfare tank.
The mother feebly tried to cover the child's body with her own, facing away from the atrocities that were about to happen. Sending some kind of wishful hope that she'd manifest superpowers of her own and stop the tanks shot from completely tearing her and her daughter to shreds.
I was still to far away. At least several city blocks when.
Click!
The tank took aim.
BOOM!
It fired.
"NOOOOOO!!!"
I screech with all my might. Sending out a giant shockwave that crashes through the earth, and unseats and unnerves the men surrounding the tank (and even those within it).
I broke the speed barrier several times as I stretched my arm out to the point of breaking and tearing my skin off to reach them in time.
TINK!
I blink. Surprised.
The delightful giggle of the girl swims through her mother's ears, promoting the woman to look up at what could possibly elicit joy from her daughter at such a time.
Did she really manifest superpowers?
She looks up, pales, and then allows tears to stream down her face.
I was standing over them, arms outstretched as the only thing that held back the tanks massive bullet was one of my fingers catching it in time.
The very tip of it.
I give the woman and her awestruck daughter a warm smile.
"You're safe now." I promise them.
"WE KNEW IT!! WE KNEW YOUR FAMILY WERE DOUBLE DOUBLE CROSSERS!!!" A scrawny man peaked his head up from behind a tank and proceeded to scream his head off. "YOU AND YOUR WRETCHED FAILURE OF A HUSBAND ARE IN CAHOOTS WITH THE AMERICANS!! THIS MEANS WAR!!!"
Through the edge of my vision, I see the woman's jaw tighten and her heart rate elevate. Well, elevate even more than it already was.
Something was off here.....
Not having enough time, or backup, to piece together what it was, I focus on the present and my current task at hand. Keeping this woman and her daughter safe, and more importantly, alive.
I swing back around, graceful like a pro hockey player on the ice, precision skilled like a baseball player, and chucked the tank bomb back to sender.
It land very, very, close to its intended target. But just far enough not to kill anyone. But send a clear message.
A man who looked like the commanding officer screamed bloody murder when the tank shell came sailing back at him.
He ducks his head, then opens one eye and sighs in relief while clutching his chest when he saw the tank bullet land a few feet away.
Allowing him to live just long enough to continue being an asshole.
"Do not get involved in Bialyan matters super bitch!!" He screeches at me like a dying vulture from the, relative, safety of the hole in the head of the tank he stood in.
My jaw clenches at the insult, but I swallow it instride because I was in their country interfering with personal affairs.
Too bad I didn't give a shit.
"Leave. Them. Alone." I bellow. Using my super strength, I compact the air in my lungs and launch it out, amplifying my voice to a thundering boom that made the men and women armed before me shiver.
Huh, they didn't expect such a loud sound to come from such a tiny woman, did they?
I suppress the urge to get overwhelmed with cockiness. I must be vigilant, as I saw the commanding officer who called me a 'Super bitch' fan out his arms and yell at his men to assume a formation that involved surrounding us on all sides that the hilly terrain would allow.
The house being on top of a hill, they could surround us from behind without breaking formation but would break line of sight from the commanding officer. Which will hinder them from getting visual instruction.
They also had wireless radio communication speakers in their helmets (I could hear the static coming from them), they couldn't risk a misfire and hit their other comrades, or the commanding officer himself, on the other side.
At least that was all the information I was hearing them scream back and forth over their speakers and walkie talkies.
"Wait. Don't those Kryptonian freaks have super listening or something?? Do you think she can hear us and all our planning???" One lieutenant paused sending commands back and forth to ask.
"Yes, I can! Your plans were really cute though!" I call over tauntingly. "I'm sure they would've worked out....maybe....not."
I hear the blood level of the general spike as he clenches his com device murderously.
"I will only repeat myself ONCE! You overglorified invasive species!!!" He bellows over to me through a megaphone one of his subordinates provided. "Leave Bialya immediately, and do not interfere with our internal affairs! Otherwise we'll nuke your precious adoptive home Metropolis off the maps!! THIS IS A PROVOCATION OF WAR!!!"
I look to the several cameras pointed at me, and drones flying through from various news networks.
People were watching.
The world was watching.
What do I do!? What do I say!?!?
My palms got clammy and my heart rate spiked.
Maybe this was a bad idea? Maybe I should've thought things through!?
Maybe Nightwing and Batman were right-
I feel a tug on my cape, and I look down to see the little girl pulling on my bright red fabric.
She lets go of my cape after getting my attention and grabs hold of one of my hands with both of her tiny ones.
"Pwease miss. Pwease save my mama. I don't cayre what happens to me. Just make sure my mama is safe."
I felt my heart shatter.
The little girl was missing some front teeth, and she was finding it hard to pronounce some words. Her mom desperately tries to say something, but no words come out of her mouth.
I turn back to the aggressors with a new fire.
"YOU CALL PROTECTING A MOTHER AND CHILD FROM BEING INNOCENTLY MASSACRED ON LIVE TELEVISION A PROVOCATION OF WAR!?" I yelled, righteous fury burning through me.
"What happens in Bialya does not concern the likes of you-" The general tried to speak, but I cut him off.
"TAKE YOUR INTERNAL AFFAIRS AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS!!!" I scream.
I hear gasps made under people's breaths overtake all around me. But I was long past caring.
"I WILL NOT STAND BY AND LET YOU HURT THEM! I'D RATHER DIE!!!" I spat out.
"THEN ALL THE RODENTS IN YOUR PRECIOUS CITY OF METROPOLIS WILL DIE HORRIBLE, PAINFULLY DEATHS!!!" The wild madman screamed back.
"If you so much as dare to hurt anyone, I. will. kill. you. personally."
I thunderously whisper, pushing my words to flow over the earth like a deathly whisper, silently entering the ears, hearts, and souls of all who hear.
Which was everyone.
Dead silence falls everywhere.
I let go of the little girl's hands and hover closer to the tanks, rising higher and higher into the air, to force the shivering soldiers with their uselessly held up guns to look up at me. As I stared back to each and every one with steadily growing menacing red eyes.
I reach just above where the once confident but now cowering general stood through the tank hole, with his megaphone in hand and slight snot dripping from his nose in fear as he slowly gets visibly covered in sweat.
"Let me make it clear for all of you who may have previously had any misconceptions about me." I say quietly, still holding the attention of all as a pin could be heard dropping due to the deafening silence.
I glance up at the drone cameras hovering above the general's head, fighting to get better angles of me for their online or TV viewerships.
I angle myself menacingly, intending to send a message to the world filled with all the scumbags and villains who planned to hurt the innocent.
"I am not Superman. I do not have a no-kill rule..."
I here several people hold their breaths. Some soldiers even throw their guns to the ground and back away slowly.
"I will not hesitate to wipe all of you bastards off the very face of the earth, if it means protecting the innocent from people who are hell-bent on hurting them." I say as a wicked smile tugs at my face.
Not gonna lie. I enjoyed watching scumbags squirm in fear for their lives right after threatening others.
I look directly at the camera, and continue to speak.
"After all, Superman grew up here. But we Kryptonians are more fond of permanent solutions. Just look at how our planet ended up because of the whims of one madman allowed to run free unchecked."
I look back down at the General who, as the world watching didn't know but I personally did, had soiled his pants.
"Maybe I should do the world a favour and end this right now...." My eyes started glowing as I contemplated the dark thoughts swirling through my head. "Earth will have one less madman running around freely to worry about-"
"SUPERGIRL!!! STOP!!!!!" The hell from deep within a man's chest called out to me and shattered my temporary concentration.
I flinch as I was completely caught off guard. I look back and my blood runs cold as all my previous confidence goes out the window.
Batman stood at the front of the house with the woman and child, with Nightwing, Miss Martian, and Superman hidden inside the house.
And they all looked pissed.
Batman especially.