Supergirl: Enter Darklight
Supergirl was feeling great as she cruised over Metropolis. The heroine was enjoying the warm summer night air and bright lights of the proclaimed City of Tomorrow. She enjoyed the view as her patrol began to wind down for the night. Kara Zor-El, Last Daughter of Krypton landed on a tall skyscraper. Twenty years old she looked fabulous in her uniform. Her blonde locks fell to just past her shoulders and fluttered in the wind. A heart shaped face with baby blue eyes scanned the city. Her uniform was the same blue color as her cousin’s. Proudly displayed on her chest was the red and yellow S. The tight leotard showed her feminine form which didn’t really show that she was one of strongest beings on the planet. Around her waist was a yellow belt which held her short red skirt in place. Sheer fleshtone tights graced her legs and red and yellow boots completed her footwear.
No one would have guessed that this bombshell was in fact the much more subdued Kara Lee Kent. Kara had started operating in Metropolis a year earlier when she began her courses at Met U. Kal had been worried about her beginning a crime fighting career but training with both Diana and the Amazons along with none other than the Batman had helped eased his concern. Kara was determined to do her part to protect Earth; it was after all the only home she had left.
Scanning the noises of the city with her hearing, Kara picked up on the sounds of alarms. Quickly Supergirl figured out they were coming from the Wayne Enterprises research lab on the city’s suburbs. With ease she took to the air and headed for the scene.
“Primitive apes” Alaya cursed as she tried to find the equipment she needed.
Wayne Enterprise’s research campus in Metropolis was a state of the art facility. Pictures of its clean rooms and advanced equipment appeared in a number of magazines and tech blogs. That pristine place was now damaged and wrecked. The main wall had been blasted in, gates torn open, and now its storage area ransacked. Doing all this damage was Alaya Ran’aza.
She was a tall young woman. Looking to be in her mid-twenties, she was actually older. Her hair was dark neon purple while her eyes had a much brighter version of that color. Alaya’s attire was also unique. She wore a tight fitting full body suit. It was black with a plunging V of neon magenta across her breasts with a large more colored section over her abs and behind. Around her waist was a similarly colored belt with a center piece which glowed.
Alaya pushed away a storage shelf which didn’t have what she needed. The shelf in question however was loaded with heavy pieces of completed aerospace technology. She pushed it out of the way with ease. Alaya was no ordinary girl. Finally Alaya saw what she was looking for. It was behind a solid secure steel door that protected classified technology under development here. Standing in front of it Alaya grinned.
“Finally.” She raised a hand and a ball of dark energy formed in her hand. At the edges was glowing purple energy. Alaya pushed her hand forward and the energy formed a laser like beam which cut into the steel. Tracing a circle inside the metal, it didn’t take long for her to cut out a section which fell to earth with a loud bang.
Alaya stepped through the hole and entered the secure vault. Along the tables and shelves inside the room was different technology. All of it had been developed for aircraft or space projects. She scoffed at the idea, spaceflight what these fools think they have achieved. Alaya was an alien and her species had long been traveling the stars. Her people had built a large and powerful empire, and they were looking to expand. That is what she had been doing out near the edges of the Galaxy looking for suitable systems to conquer. Unfortunately she had run across a Green Lantern patrol. The Lanterns had been trying to stop her peoples’ expansion so they ordered her to turn back. Alaya of course disagreed with their request so she fired on them. The battle had been short but her ship had been damaged.
She had been forced to bring it down on this planet, called Earth. A study of the damage revealed that her main systems had suffered heavily. Of course she didn’t have the parts to replace all the equipment. So Alaya was forced to begin scavenging equipment from this primitive world. However not everything could be taken from these humans. She was going to probably need far more advance technology for her FTL drive and at the moment Alaya had no idea where to get it. Searching the vault she finally found what she was looking for. A high speed computer meant to calculate the many navigation needs of a human space ship. Of course it wouldn’t work for her navigation system, but it would be useful in the shield system. Picking it up, Alaya made her way back to the vault door and stopped seeing someone else was with her.
“Not much for finesse, are you?” Supergirl asked the intruder.
Alaya narrowed her eyes. She had done only some brief research on this planet. It was full of powered individuals like her. Here though they seemed to done colorful costumes and fought with one another rather than taking control. This one she saw mentioned in the research.
“Supergirl” Alaya said she stepped into the open, “Get out of my way.”
“I don’t think so.” Supergirl assumed a fighting stance.
Alaya grunted her annoyance and dropped the computer she was stealing. She raised her arms and summoned her energy. Kara went airborne to avoid the blasts but her foe had counted on that. The twin beams of black light with purple glowing energy surrounding them connected with Supergirl. Kara cried out as the beams slammed into her chest and was knocked out of the sky. Supergirl crashed into a nearby shelf crushing it in the process.
Climbing out, Kara thought aloud, “What the hell did she hit me with?”
Alaya was already trying to leave, placing the computer into a bag which she slipped onto her back. She flew up and towards the hole she had made in the side of the building. Supergirl was on her tail. Kara caught up with her outside the building and nailed the black and pink thief with a punch. Alaya crashed into the street and cursed in her native tongue. Kara heard it and realized that she was dealing with someone like her, an alien. As she moved in to subdue the alien intruder, Alaya turned and fired another blast at Supergirl. The beams caught Kara in shoulder and legs. She flew back into the side of the Wayne building. Her body caved in the tough concrete exterior. Shaking her head Kara saw the intruder escaping towards the city.
Supergirl flew out from the impact site and chased after Alaya. With her arms outstretched and a determined look on her face, Kara quickly caught up to the alien. She grabbed the alien by the shoulder and pulled her into a tight embrace.
“Not so fast, you’re not from around here. What are you doing here?” Supergirl asked.
Alaya struggled but found her strength, enhanced by human standards, didn’t match that of Supergirl. She turned her head and answered, “Leaving!”
Black energy beams lanced out from Alaya’s eyes and slammed into Supergirl’s face. Kara cried out in pain, she released the other flying girl only to have Alaya kick her down into the city below. Traffic was moving along normally through the heart of Metropolis when a red and blue blur slammed into the side of a building. Cars slammed on their breaks and those enjoying the nightlife scattered. Alaya could have made her escape but she was enjoying this. Besides, she still needed more materials to repair her ship. Striking some fear into these humans could be useful; by trashing their ‘Supergirl’ she would show her power.
Alaya left her bag on a nearby roof. She descended to the surprise of many of the civilians wondering what had just happened. Supergirl was standing up shaking her head as the alien drifted down to her. Kara’s eyes were closed and her skin tingled, what are in those blasts? They aren’t hurting me like kryptonite or magic, but they are doing something I can feel it.
“So, ready to finish this?” Alaya taunted as she hovered above the street.
Supergirl took to the air and said, “Stop this before someone gets hurt.”
The alien laughed, “Well I’m planning on it being you so I’m not worried.”
She fired off her beams, but Kara dodged them getting close and nailing her with a punch. Alaya flew backwards her body connecting with a building. She was stunned and knew that going head to head physically with Supergirl would be a mistake. She quickly slipped out before Supergirl could get at her, flying away and turning back. Knowing Supergirl would want to protect people; Alaya aimed her energy blasts downward and took out a dozen cars stalled below. Kara gasped and quickly moved to put out the fires. Luckily the people who had been driving them had been smart enough to scatter as the superwomen started fighting. As she dealt with the flames though, Alaya struck. The dark and bright colored girl grabbed a nearby car and threw it at Supergirl. Kara turned only to get a sports car in the face. The heroine caught it but before she could toss it away, Alaya blasted the vehicles gas tank. The explosion covered Supergirl.
She descended and landed among the wreckage. Alaya watched as the torn pieces of car bodies were thrown out of the way. Supergirl stood up and without saying anything blew out a blast of her icy breath. All the flames were extinguished and Alaya went flying back into a truck. Crumpling the body of the vehicle, she fell out and aimed her beams once again. Supergirl kept flying at her and she shot back with her heat vision. Alaya dodged for a bit before getting caught by a blast. She dropped to the ground but turned in time to fire a surprise blast from her eyes. The beams hit the Girl of Steel into the street.
Before Supergirl could get up, Alaya was on her. Having seen her blasts having an effect on Supergirl, Alaya risked getting close and wrapped Supergirl up in a reverse bear hug. Kara was about to break free when the dark energy enveloped her as the alien squeezed. Supergirl grunted as Alaya’s strength and energy took their toll. Kara didn’t know what was happening, it was as if her powers were getting all messed up. Alaya laughed as she wore down the heroine, “Supergirl eh? Quite the title for someone who seems to be pretty weak.”
Kara grunted and answered, “I’ll….show….you….what they mean.”
Supergirl flew up using her flight power to take Alaya with her. Before the alien could stop her, Kara spun at super-speed and used the sheer force of her spinning to rip Alaya off her. The alien was disoriented and slammed into a nearby roof. Her impact dug a small trench into the building’s top before coming to a stop.
“Ugghhh” Alaya moaned as she pulled herself out of the trench.
Supergirl landed near her and was breathing heavily. That energy hold took a lot out of me…feeling a little weak….but she’s worst, “It’s over”, Supergirl said.
Alaya knew she couldn’t win in her current state. She looked for anyway or anything that might allow her to escape. The alien scout spotted her salvation hovering over the site of their battle. A primitive human VTOL craft with a colorful logo, it seemed to be monitoring the events. There were two or three people inside. Alaya stood up and made it look like she intended to continue the battle.
“We are done Supergirl, for now.” She raised her hands and fired.
Kara dodged the blast aimed at her but saw that it was just meant to distract her. Alaya’s second beam lanced up and blasted the tail off the news helicopter that had appeared. Supergirl knew she would have to save them. Kara flew over and caught the helicopter before it could slam into a building. To prevent the fuel from cooking off from either the heat of Alaya’s blast or a broken electrical wire, Supergirl cooled the engine area with her breath. Carefully, Kara laid the helicopter down on the street. She opened the doors on the sides and made sure the people inside were okay.
After making sure things were alright with the chooper, Kara zoomed back up into the sky to check for the alien. The thief was gone.
“Sheoul…” Kara mumbled in Kryptonian. She had lost the powerful alien, plus had gotten her butt kicked a bit. It would probably be up on YouTube shortly. Sighing, the heroine focused and descended to help with the damage below.
Alaya had kept low as she headed back to her hidden spaceship. The alien scout was just thinking about the fight with Supergirl as she headed back. Clearly the superheroine was powerful and would be a problem as Alaya acquired more of what was needed to get home. She could fight Supergirl to a standstill, but that wasn’t a guarantee. Clearly the young woman knew how to use her powers as well as Alaya did. Of course Alaya hadn’t shown Supergirl everything she could do, but if they kept squaring off than the heroine would quickly learn all her tricks.
Once at her ship, Alaya went to her room to rest. Installing the computer equipment could wait, she wanted to do some research. Her ship’s created intelligence easily hacked into the human ‘internet’. Alaya began searching for all that there was on Supergirl. Foolishly, this blonde powerhouse had revealed or allowed people to reveal much about her. Alaya was surprised to find the girl was not human but a Kryptonian. Their race had long since died out but even Alaya’s planet had heard of them. It didn’t take her long to compile a list of the heroine’s origin, motivations, and more importantly weaknesses. Alaya was intrigued by kryptonite, and wondered if some could be acquired but luckily she wouldn’t be helpless without it. Her research had revealed that Supergirl’s powers came from the radiation emitted by this system’s star. That’s why my energy seemed to be the most effective weapon, Alaya thought. Her people could do many amazing things thanks to their own ability to draw power from ultraviolet rays. Unlike Supergirl, Alaya could draw power from any kind of star. The blasts she fired or manipulated were UV at their core. It must interfere with her solar absorption, excellent.
She had also discovered that Supergirl provided a possible solution to her technology problems. Many of the articles on her and Superman spoke of a ‘Fortress’ of theirs. The two survivors of the planet Krypton must have come to Earth with examples or information on their culture’s technology. That knowledge or working examples of tech could repair many of systems Alaya couldn’t hope to fix on Earth. If she could force Supergirl to show her this Fortress and the secrets inside, Alaya could get home.
Alaya leaned back in her seat and smiled. She had a plan beginning to form in her mind, one that would take advantage of Supergirl’s personality and weaknesses.
Part 2
Kara was sitting in Met U’s quad trying to prepare for a class. Despite her best efforts though, she couldn’t stop thinking about Darklight. That was what the media was calling the alien she had tangled with a few days ago. Their little brawl had been on all the major networks and covered in the Daily Planet. It had been a few days since that fight and Kara had been looking for the alien without success. It looked like Darklight had gone to ground for the time being. As far as she could tell, the alien hadn’t appeared anywhere else in the world. Based on what she stole from Wayne Enterprises, the Girl of Steel had been keeping a close eye on various aerospace companies in Metropolis to see if Darklight would conduct another robbery.
Supergirl had taken the time to do a bit of investigating about Darklight and her motivation. Kara had flown up to the Fortress and did some research trying to see if she could identify where the alien came from. Going through her uncle Jor-El’s records Kara thought she had identified Darklight’s homeworld, Aurara. Thanks to this Kara was able to get a better understanding of Darklight’s powers and why they affected Kara. The alien could process ultraviolent radiation much in the same way Kara used Earth’s sun. The UV blasts seemed to mess up Kara’s own ability to use energy in her body.
Kara had less success as she tried to figure out what was motivating Darklight. She wasn’t some alien punk who came to Earth looking for a fight. The robbery seemed to suggest she needed spacecraft technology. Did she have a ship, was it damaged? Supergirl sighed; she needed to find Darklight and figure out what was going on before the powerful alien could do more damage.
“Has Kara Kent finally met her match? Has Dr. Williams finally found an Advance Science subject that’s befallen super-smart Kara Kent?” said someone.
Kara looked up from her book and saw the handsome face of Richard Malverne. The tall and athletic young man had sandy brown hair and was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. He put his backpack down and sat next to Kara. She closed the book and smiled, Kara was happy to see him, “No, thinking about something else. How’s it going?”
“I’m trying to get ready for this American Law test coming up. I’m having trouble keeping all this stuff straight. Don’t know how you do it with that science stuff.” Dick complimented Kara. She smiled, what Dick didn’t know of course was that Kara’s basic education was a bit more advance than one on Earth. After a Kryptonian science class, Chem 100 wasn’t that much of a challenge, plus her mind was even sharper on Earth thanks to her powers.
“I have my struggles, your way better at history than me.” Kara answered. She and Dick were in an interesting situation. They had started the school year as friends but it seemed that they might be moving into another direction. Kara liked the pre-law student but worried about getting into anything serious with her ‘other’ identity hanging over her.
“Well if you’re not doing anything later, care to do some joint studying in the library tonight?” Dick asked.
She smiled, “I’d like that.”
Dick grinned and got up, “Great, I’ve got to get going to Larson’s class but I’ll see you later.”
“Bye.”
Kara was watching as Dick left when the sounds of explosions reached her ears. She quickly used her hearing to dip into the radio frequencies. Metropolis Police were reporting that Darklight had been spotted at the Lex Corp building. Before anybody could notice, there was a blur on the quad. As students took note of the smoke rising across the skyline, they pointed and shouted as a red and blue streak shot up and headed towards the rising black clouds.
Alaya had broken into the tall Lex Corp building by attacking at the sixtieth floor. As expected the security inside was not expecting an attack from nearly halfway up the building. From there she had worked her way down through the structure defeating the guards and security measures. Darklight, she had to admit it was a nice name, was sure a brazen assault in the heart of Metropolis would draw Supergirl out. Two heavily armed guards in primitive body armor and carrying projectile weapons tried to ambush her. Alaya allowed them to open fire but blocked the hail of bullets with a force field of black energy.
The men ran out of ammunition and Darklight grinned. She knocked them down with a pair of quick blasts. Leaving the two behind Alaya was ready to break into the underground facilities. Raising her hands she prepared to begin taking out the security doors. The alien didn’t get far before she was hit from behind and crashed into the door. Denting it, Darklight got out and turned to face her attacker, Supergirl had arrived.
“Your back, good we need to talk.” The Girl of Steel said. Darklight said, “I’m not one for talk, but action.”
She projected a powerful energy blast which slammed into Kara and sent Supergirl crashing into a wall. Her body caved in the wall which quickly collapsed. Darklight took to the air and waited for Supergirl to reveal herself. The heroine did so but not in the way Alaya suspected. Rather than coming out of the rubble, Supergirl kicked a larger section of concrete right at Alaya. Darklight was flattened by the piece and pancaked against the ceiling. Supergirl emerged and landed next to Alaya as the alien fell to the ground. Catching her, Supergirl slammed a fist across the alien’s jaw.
Darklight saw stars and her head felt dizzy, Supergirl had certainly nailed her with amazing strength. Alaya answered back by forming a pair of energy tendrils from her hands. She wrapped these around Supergirl’s upper body. Kara winced as the energy came into contact with her skin and costume which caused her to loosen the grip she held on Darklight. Alaya broke free of Supergirl and increased the power to the energy bonds that held Supergirl. Kara gritted her teeth deciding if she couldn’t break free she would attack the source of the problem. Her eyes glowed red and a pair of heat beams shot out striking Alaya. Darklight lost control of her energy and was forced to drop to a knee. Kara zoomed closed and gave the alien a kick for good measure.
The blow sent Darklight flying and she crashed through the security door finally destroying it. Supergirl followed and saw that the alien seemed pretty dazed. Kara grabbed a nearby piece of rebar from a damaged section of wall and ripped it out. Before Alaya could recover, the Kryptonian had zipped in close and bent the bar around her body. Kara kept a tight grip on Darklight’s wrists.
“Now, I’m going to ask some questions, and I want truthful answers.” Supergirl demanded.
Darklight cursed in her native tongue and looked at Supergirl, “Let me go!”
Carefully Kara applied some of her strength causing Alaya to wince, “Let’s try that again.”
“Uhhh, it doesn’t matter, take me in.” Darklight answered, she hung her head.
Much to Supergirl’s surprise the alien criminal sniffled. Kara loss some of the hostility in her voice and said, “What’s the matter?”
Alaya looked at her with some wet eyes, “I’m never getting home now.”
“Home?” Kara followed up.
Darklight began to explain, “My ship was damaged, attacked by raiders. I landed on this planet but my ship cannot reach home without its FTL and navigation systems. I tried to acquire what I needed from this planet but, you know the rest.”
Supergirl looked at little abashed. She lowered Darklight to the ground, “If I free you here, agree to keep talking?”
Alaya nodded. Kara bent back to rebar and stepped a little away. She crossed her arms and said, “If you needed help, why didn’t you ask for any?”
“I know nothing of this planet; the natives appeared hostile and possibly xenophobic. I was…scared.” Kara could understand Darklight’s fear. She remembered waking up on Earth, shocked to find Kal-El all grown up, a culture that was alien, and her amazing powers that seemed at the time impossible to control. She had no trouble putting herself in Darklight’s shoes.
Supergirl lowered her arms and looked understandingly, “I’m sorry about that. Darklight, listen do you have a real name?”
“Alaya” she answered.
Supergirl nodded, “I’m Kara. Alaya, I’m not from Earth either. My homeworld was destroyed and I came to Earth a few years ago. I know how you feel. You said your ship was damaged?”
Alaya explained the specifics and Kara nodded, “I think I can help, come with me.”
Supergirl and Darklight flew off just as the police arrived, much to the befuddlement of the MPD. True, Supergirl should bring Alaya in for her crimes but she felt for her. Kara talked with Alaya as they flew. She learned that Alaya was on scouting mission for her people, looking for potential trading partners. Carefully Supergirl listened to Alaya’s body trying to see if she could detect any hint of deceit. The only problem was Kara was far too use to human bodies, Alaya’s alien physiology was unknown to her. She decided though that Alaya was being honest. Kara was looking forward to helping the stranded alien.
“Where are we going?” Alaya asked after a few minutes of flight. She saw they had arrived over a cold frozen wasteland.
Supergirl smiled and pointed, “There.”
Darklight focused her eyes and saw a massive crystalline structure rising out of the artic. They landed in front of it and Alaya was impressed, “What is it?”
“Our Fortress, it’s where my cousin and I keep a repository of Krypton’s knowledge and some more interesting items we’ve come across.” Kara answered.
The Girl of Steel placed her hand on the structure and Alaya watched as a section of wall glowed and then seemed to slide back down into the ground. They walked inside and Alaya felt the temperature change to a much warmer one. They walked into a large open area where four tall statues stood. Alaya could see that there were two men and two women, holding up a large planet.
“Impressive artwork” Alaya said, actually being honest.
“My cousin made those. That’s my aunt and uncle and my parents.” Kara explained. She remembered the addition of Zor-El and Allura had been a surprise from Kal for her which Kara appreciated. Alaya was impressed by the mix of technologies, the odd crystal designs, human stuff, and what she knew to be alien examples of technology. They made their way deeper into the Fortress. Kara was taking Alaya to the powerful computer connected to the records from Krypton.
Eventually they reached a chamber, filled with different consoles and a large crystal altar. Alaya could see that the dozens of slots built into the angled altar had different crystals in them. Kara walked up to the altar and began moving the crystals. Suddenly a powerful voice said, “What do you require Kara?”
“I need information on starships; I also require the knowledge to repair one.” Kara explained more specific details shared by Alaya to the disembodied voice. The voice answered back that it would begin preparing the data. Alaya watched as holograms formed above them, showing what would be needed to fix her ship.
“These designs, can we produce them.” Alaya asked.
Kara nodded, “We have plenty of technology here including some of the crystal tech needed for your FTL system. I’m fairly experienced with most everything in here.” She smiled remembering her father and Uncle Jor-El teaching her so many different things, “I was studying to be a scientist before Krypton was destroyed. In way I know more about all this stuff than Superman.”
Alaya waited patiently as the computer first described what was required to make her ship FTL capable. Next Supergirl had the computer create the designs to replace the systems she needed. The final part was downloading that information into a tablet PC. Supergirl and she got the various technologies they needed from the Fortress. Swinging a bag with their stuff onto her back, Kara led Alaya out. They left the Fortress behind and it was time for Darklight to lead. Following the girl, Kara found that Alaya’s ship had been hidden deep in the Danver’s Natural Park north of Metropolis. They landed in the woods and Supergirl was surprised to see…nothing. She looked intrigued at Darklight who smiled and touched her belt. Suddenly a distortion appeared and the ship was revealed, a sleek sliver dark like craft.
“Impressive, I couldn’t detect that even with my senses.” Kara admitted.
“It’s a good ship.” Alaya answered.
They walked inside and Supergirl saw the ship was very spartan in design. Alaya and the Girl of Steel started working on the ship almost immediately. Kara found the whole experience pretty fun. Earth lacked the level of technology she was used to dealing with. Working on the ship was challenging and integrating the various pieces of technology with Alaya’s ship was more difficult than Kara thought. It took several hours but Supergirl pulled her hands out of the FTL engine and smiled.
“She’s ready to go, Alaya you have one ship ready to get you home.” Supergirl proudly announced.
Alaya was generally happy. Supergirl was quite smart and had worked hard with her to fix the ship. It was a shame Darklight had to do what was coming next, “Thank you Supergirl, I really appreciate it. Let’s celebrate with a drink.”
Kara nodded in agreement and followed Alaya. Darklight led her to a large room in the center of the vessel. Supergirl walked in first and suddenly was on edge. She noticed that there didn’t seem to be any kind of bar or kitchen in there just open space. As she turned to ask Darklight what was going on, the alien hit her with a full blast of energy. Kara flew across the room and slammed into a wall. Supergirl dropped to the floor and shook her head. She couldn’t believe it; Alaya was attacking her after all she just did for her! Kara got up and readied to send a blast of heat-vision back at the villainess when Alaya touched her belt and the lights in the room changed.
They were quickly bathed in red light and Supergirl sighed. Red sun rays! Kara thought. The Girl of Steel started absorbing the energy from the red sun lamps which canceled out her powers. She needed to get out before her powers completely disappeared. Darklight of course had no intention of letting her. Alaya sealed the door behind her. She raised her hands and blasted Supergirl again. The heroine staggered back and Kara knew the longer they fought the weaker she would get. She flew and rushed to get in close and slam Darklight with a punch. If she could knock Alaya down in a daze, Kara might be able to get out of the room. The alien was ready for this and deployed a shield right in front of Supergirl. Kara punched it but found the shield was tougher than it looked. She kept pounding at it, trying to break it down. Each punch though used up more of her strength. Beginning to feel the effort, Kara tried to slip around Darklight. Alaya dropped the shield and body slammed into Supergirl driving the heroine back into the wall.
They slammed against it denting the metal. Heroine and villainess fell to the ground groaning. Darklight got up first and used her energy to wrap Supergirl up. Kara struggled in the dark black energy tendrils, feeling the pressure as they squeeze her tight.
“I’m sorry about this Supergirl, but I can’t let you get in my way.” Alaya told her.
Supergirl struggled but Kara could tell her powers were fading fast, “Why? I was….helping you…freely.”
“You did, and Supergirl might get a mention when my people arrive to conquer this planet. I’m not the trader you thought I was. My real job is scout in the Aurarian Imperial Fleet. We have been searching this part of the galaxy seeing if it has any planets worthy of being taken for the empire. Earth while primitive does have some interesting items, meta-humans, magic users, and that lovely Fortress of yours with untold Kryptonian knowledge inside.”
Kara closed her eyes partly out of pain, but also out of embarrassment, “You…played me….”
Alaya nodded, “You’re a caring person Supergirl. I knew a story about a lost girl who wanted to go home would be prefect. A trap the Last Daughter of Krypton couldn’t resist.”
Supergirl summoned her remaining power and tried to fire heat-vision at Alaya. Darklight was too quick and blocked the attack with a force field. She struck back by blasting Supergirl with her own energy beams from her eyes. Kara cried out in pain as she her invulnerability started to fade. Satisfied that Supergirl was spent, Alaya let her drop to the ground. Kara was on her elbows and knees, drained and hurting. Darklight stood back and looked down.
“’l will be leaving soon, I think it’s best if you remain here till we reach deep space. A living Kryptonian could be very useful to the empire.” Alaya said. She didn’t gloat or try to enjoy the moment; it was just a matter of fact.
Supergirl looked up, “You know…besides….threatening Earth…you’ve…done one more….stupid thing….”
Alaya asked, “What’s that?”
Kara looked at her with all the determination she could muster, “You made me angry.”
She shocked Alaya as Supergirl shot up and slammed a fist into her gut. Kara followed that up with a quick left hook across Darklight’s chin. Supergirl was burning through what was left of her powers but she would knock Darklight down. A final knee to the dazed alien’s face seemed to finally do it. As Darklight groaned, Supergirl stumbled forwards trying to reach the door. However before she could reach it a blast knocked her down.
“AHHHH” Supergirl cried out as another beam hit her and this time enveloped her whole body.
“I learned that my powers screw up your own Supergirl. I think I’ll just keep this up till I’m sure you’re finished this time.” Alaya said as she hovered not far away from a nearly defeated Supergirl.
Kara winced and gasped in pain as Alaya’s UV energy screwed up the last bit of power she had. Supergirl managed to get up on her hands and knees but collapsed as the last bit of her strength faded. Alaya kept the beam going for another moment after Supergirl’s collapse; she wanted to be sure the Girl of Steel was powerless. When the beam finally ended part of Supergirl’s costume steamed. Landing next to her, Alaya rolled Supergirl onto her back. Supergirl was out cold. Darklight removed a scanner from her belt and checked there was no solar power left in the heroine.
“Enjoy the nap Supergirl.” Alaya stood and put her scanner away, “When you wake up you’ll be a long way from home.”
Part 3
Kara woke up feeling sore all over. She sat up and put a hand to her forehead sighing as she did so. Supergirl looked up and saw that the red sun lights were still going strong. Not surprised the powerless Girl of Steel checked to see if she had suffered any injuries. Although she looked fine it took Kara a while to feel like she could stand up without falling over. On her feet again Supergirl proceeded to check out her prison cell. She had been left in the large room where Darklight ambushed her. Kara could feel a slight vibration coming from the ship. The vibration was a clear sign the ship was moving. She was pretty sure though that they hadn’t gone faster than light yet, since the ship’s vibration would be different.
Supergirl made her way over to the door. As expected it was solid and without her strength, Kara had no way to open them through brawn, “So I’ve got to use my brain.”
She carefully looked over the compartment. In one of her training sessions with Batman, Kara had been in a very similar situation. The Dark Knight had locked her in a room used red sun lamps to take away her powers and told Kara to get out. Of course he added in the special incentive that if Supergirl couldn’t get out fast enough, nerve gas would fill the room. Batgirl had insisted it wasn’t real gas afterwards, Kara to this day wasn’t so sure. After much searching Supergirl finally thought she found something that could help. It was a wall panel which with a little elbow grease she was able to pry off the wall. Panting from the effort she looked over the wires and circuitry running through the section.
Kara recognized some of it and said, “Thanks for letting me see your systems Alaya.”
Supergirl began to mess with the equipment. She was hoping to cut the power to the sun lamps or maybe trick the door into opening. It wasn’t easy. Most of the wires and equipment seemed to have nothing to do with the doors or lights. Supergirl received a few electrical shocks and burnt her hands. The Girl of Steel kept at it though ignoring pain she wasn’t use too. Darklight couldn’t be allowed to signal or reach her people’s forces. Supergirl wouldn’t see her adopted home come under attack. Finally after half-hour Kara found something she thought might be part of the lights. It was a thick cable traveling up towards the lights in the section she had pried opened. She pulled at it and tried to rip it out but the cable wouldn’t budge.
“Think girl, otherwise you’re going to earn a lot of frequent interstellar miles.” Supergirl spoke to herself.
She had wrapped part of her one burnt had with her cape. While playing with it a light bulb of an idea popped into her head. Supergirl took her cape off and began to roll up the red fabric into a thick rope. Kara worked it behind the cable and then pulled it taught. Yanking back with all her strength Supergirl hoped the cable would give under the near indestructible fabric of her cape. Her muscles ached and sweat was forming as she pulled but Kara couldn’t give up. With a final Amazon learned war cry she pulled with her all and heard a snap. She tumbled backwards right after hearing the noise.
Looking up she saw the cable had been pulled out and was sparking away. Kara grinned as she saw the room plunge into darkness. Although there were no lights at all in the room Supergirl could feel the radiation from the sun recharging her through the ship. We haven’t left the solar system yet, Kara thought, prefect. She moved to the door reattaching her cape to her shoulders. Now at the door Supergirl pulled a fist back and punched. Still recuperating her punch didn’t break the doors open immediately. Kara smiled though seeing the big dent she made into it.
“I think I need a workout.” Supergirl said.
She proceeded to beat on the door with her fists, kicks, and slamming into it with her speed while flying. The door groaned and strained under the impacts. Finally feeling the strongest she had since being locked in the room, Supergirl lifted off the ground flew forwards with her fists outstretched and smashed through the heavy doors with a roaring explosion. They crashed into the sides of the corridor with Supergirl flying out between them. Kara remembered the layout of the vessel so she turned around and headed right for the bridge.
Darklight had spent the past hour getting ready to leave the solar system. She had double checked the repairs made by Supergirl. If the heroine had been more devious she could have installed faulty parts to prevent Alaya from leaving. However the good hearted Kryptonian hadn’t preformed any sabotage. Darklight returned to the bridge following these checks and started powering up the FTL system. Thanks to the repairs they had made it would take longer than usual. She had been sitting for just a few minutes when the whole ship rocked. Quickly Alaya looked at the warning screens. The internal sensors showed Supergirl was free.
“How did she manage that?” Alaya managed to say before the bridge door blew inward.
Swinging her chair around Alaya saw Supergirl standing in the doorway. The Girl of Steel radiated her power and stepped forward, “It’s over Darklight.”
“How did you escape?” Alaya asked. Carefully she extended a small tendril of energy from her back. Keeping it out of sight she moved the energy limb to a control. She talked to Supergirl to further distract the heroine.
Supergirl answered, “You shouldn’t have allowed me such a close look at your ship. I’m sorry but I cannot allow you to escape with Earth’s location.”
The energy tendril finally reached the right control. Darklight smiled, “Well than this is where you get off.”
She pushed the down on the button and suddenly the airlock on the bridge popped open. Supergirl caught unprepared was blown out into space with the escaping atmosphere. Alaya protected herself with a force field watching as Supergirl tumbled into the vast darkness. Kara quickly corrected her tumbling with and hovered about a kilometer from Darklight’s ship. It turned in her direction with its engines glowing hot and weapons popping up from the hull.
Darklight armed her weapons and locked them on Supergirl, “Goodbye Kara.”
Powerful plasma beams lanced out from Darklight’s ship and Supergirl moved to dodge them. Kara avoided most of the beams but one caught her in the chest knocking her away. She grimaced and readjusted her flight. The alien scout ship chased her firing its beams which Supergirl dodged with a series of loops, weaves, and sudden drops and rises. Darklight followed Supergirl wanting to put the interfering heroine down once and for all. After becoming frustrated with the cannons, Alaya decided to up the ante. Locking a pair of anti-matter missiles on Supergirl, Darklight pressed the firing button and sent the anti-star ship weapons at Supergirl. Kara saw the weapons as they traced in on her with their glowing ion trails. Using her heat-vision Supergirl intercepted one warhead which exploded in a brilliant white sphere of energy.
Anti-matter! Supergirl thought to herself recognizing the detonation. She briefly was blinded by the explosion which allowed the second missile to get close and it slammed into her. Darklight watched her view screen as the glowing ball of energy expanded. She knew the second weapon had made contact with the Girl of Steel. With a smile she said, “Not even she could have survived that.”
As the energy of the matter/anti-matter annihilation faded it revealed a floating nearly unconscious Supergirl. Kara weakly opened her eyes, Rao, that hurt…. Supergirl looked at her uniform. It was glowing from the heat and energy. Her skin tingled and parts looked like they had gotten bad sunburn. Shaking her head the Girl of Steel thought, can’t let myself get hit by another of those. Alaya who had used her sensors to check and make sure Kara was gone was shocked to see that Supergirl had survived.
“Well I guess it will just take all my missiles.” Darklight fired off her remaining payload. Six missiles shot out and headed for Supergirl.
Kara saw the incoming warheads and decided to try and outrun them. Maybe I can get Alaya closer to Earth, Supergirl wondered as she flew away. She shot off back towards Earth with the missiles close behind. The weapons chased after her but Kara put all she had into speed. The missiles struggled to use their ion engines to keep pace. As Earth grew closer Supergirl turned her head and smiled. All the missiles that were chasing her were starting to run out of power. With a series of big explosions the warheads went off as their containment systems failed. Darklight following her warheads was forced to turn away. She avoided the explosion but her sensors were blinded by the warheads. Using this Supergirl dived in on the alien scout ship.
Alaya was thrown forward in her chair as Supergirl punched through her shield and then into the hull. The ship rocked again as the heroine targeted another section. Darklight cursed as she watched the different systems of the ship go offline one by one. On her final pass Kara crashed into the engineering section. Finding the power core she used her heat-vision to cut the control systems to the reactor. The screens around her began to flash their warnings as the core started to overload. Supergirl flew out of the ship, her work was done. Alaya was on the bridge and scrambled to stop the reactor before it blew. Seeing that there was nothing to be done she screamed and slammed her fists against the controls.
Kara watched as Darklight flew out of the ship, her body protected by an energy field. The alien got close to Supergirl before her ship finally blew up. As the glow of the destroyed vessel faded, Darklight flew at Kara full intended to fight her, but stopped and realized the problem. Supergirl floated close and smiled her face said everything. She can’t attack me without breaking her force field, and once she does that she would be exposed to space, Kara knew.
The alien looked at Supergirl one more time and after letting out a silent scream flew back towards Earth. Supergirl was hot on her trail and watched as Alaya entered the atmosphere. It was here in the fire of re-entry Kara made her move to put an end to Darklight once and for all. Supergirl slammed into Alaya as she cleared the hot part of the return to Earth. Slamming her fists into the alien’s back, the blow caused Darklight to tumble and lose altitude. After regaining control she turned and fired at Supergirl. Kara dodged the beam answering back with two of her own. Bright orange beams lanced from her eyes and struck Alaya in the chest. Supergirl kept them up as Darklight raised a force field, pushing Alaya down with the heat-vision.
The alien crashed into a forest bouncing off a pair of trees. Supergirl cut the beams before they could cause a fire. Landing hard on the ground before Alaya could even get up Kara landed on her back. Alaya cried out and tried to force Supergirl away with a pair of energy blasts. The heroine rolled with the blows, taking them with some grunts and lifted Darklight up. A massive punch sent Darklight flying across the forest. Alaya shattered a few trees and came to a stop in a clearing. Sore, she got up slowly. Alaya knew she couldn’t match Supergirl for brute strength but clearly the Girl of Steel wasn’t going to give her a chance to get far enough away to use her powers.
Kara landed next to her and wrapped her up in a powerful bear hug. Darklight struggled but quickly felt she was weakening. Alaya opted to try something that would burn through her energy but should get Supergirl off her. Her entire body glowed with the dark energy and in a massive burst of it exploded outwards. Supergirl cried out and was knocked back. She smashed into a tree before falling forwards and collapsing to the ground. Alaya dropped to her knees, drained by her massive power blast but still awake. Supergirl however looked down. Good such a concentrated burst of UV has taken the fight out Supergirl, Alaya confidently thought. Supergirl weakly tried to get up but collapsed face down with a groan. Darklight stood and smiled.
“I…might have used up….most of my energy, but I think it was worth it.” Alaya said as she got closer to the fallen Supergirl.
Supergirl quietly moaned seemingly unable to get up. Darklight raised her hands and prepared a final powerful burst. If she focused it right, it could punch through Supergirl’s skin, “Farewell Supergirl.”
Darklight fired but Supergirl blurred out of the way. Darklight’s blast hit the ground exploding in front of Alaya. Knocked back by her own attack the last thing she saw before being knocked out was Supergirl’s fist.
Kara Kent was walking into one of the large cafeterias at Met U. Backpack slung over her shoulder Kara pushed her fake glasses up and looked around. She was trying to spot a certain person who was probably none too happy with her. It had been a day since she had seen Dick and wanted to talk with him. Dealing with Darklight had caused Kara to miss her library rendezvous with him. Although Kara had saved the day managing to trick Darklight and knock out Alaya, dropping her off at a meta-human detention facility. With the alien scout now securely behind bars, Kara hoped she could be two for two and apologize to Dick.
She eventually spotted him holding a tray of food and heading for a table. Running over she said, “Dick, hey wait up!”
He turned his head at the sound of his name but upon seeing Kara kept walking. Not a good sign, Kara thought as she caught up to him and started talking, “Dick I’m sorry I missed you last night but….”
“But what Kara? What excuse is it this time?” He sat down at a table and tried to ignore her. Kara was a little put back, she hadn’t seen Dick this upset before.
“Dick, I’m sorry…I” She began to say while taking a seat.
“Sorry for what? Another sudden disappearance, I hate to say it but last night I wasn’t even that surprised which just made things worse.” Dick interrupted and looked down at his lunch.
Kara looked embarrassed. This was hardly the first time she had disappeared on her friends since becoming Supergirl. It seemed that it was not finally catching up with her, “Richard, I don’t mean to hurt you. It’s just…”
He looked at her. Dick leaned in and said, “I don’t get it Kara, ever since we’ve been friends you just take off at times. No explanation or some wired excuse. What’s going on?”
She wanted to explain everything. Maybe he’d understand, the responsibility, the burden, the trouble that came with the red and yellow S under her clothes. However she couldn’t answer the way she wanted too, “It’s complicated Dick, I…”
“Save it” He interrupted. Dick let out an angry huff and picked up his tray. Before going he turned to Kara and said, “You know if you can’t talk to your friend, it’s even harder to talk to someone you…” He couldn’t finish and walked away.
Kara sighed and got up. She wanted to follow him, explain everything, but she couldn’t. The Girl of Steel walked out of the cafeteria head hung low. Today she would feel every bit of the title, Lonely Daughter of Krypton.
Alaya looked at her new ‘home’ as she sat on the bed. It was a now a bleak and plain prison cell, quite fitting for her exile on this planet. Of course it was designed for someone like her. A heavy reinforced door was the only way out. Roaming guards outside had powerful stun and capture weapons to ensure an escape didn’t occur. Even if she could get past the door to the outside, Darklight couldn’t make use of her powers. She wore a tight orange and black suit that covered everything from her neck to her feet. It had been designed to prevent her body from absorbing the ultraviolet radiation needed for her powers.
She had cried the first night in this cell, not from the confines, but because she realized she couldn’t go home. No one would be coming to find her, the military wrote scouts off quite quickly. Supergirl had destroyed her ship leaving Alaya with nothing. Once she had shed her tears though, the woman began thinking about something other than loss.
She had been quiet the past several days. Efforts by her lawyer to explain the legal system of this primitive useless democracy had been ignored. Her meals were taken in silence as she had no interested in the other meta-humans locked up in this place. Her one and only request had been to be regularly given an information publication. She read a story by a reporter named Kent that outlined her defeat at the hands of Supergirl. In a fit of rage she crumbled the rest of the paper but kept one thing from it. She had secured under her mirror so it would avoid being seen by guards.
Alaya got off the bed and walked to the sink. She appeared to be washing her face but in reality she was thinking of the image hidden behind the glass. A picture of Supergirl and the words Darklight had scrawled over it,
I WILL KILL YOU