Supergirl and the Last Human

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DrDominator9
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What a remarkable story this is. The way you work the reader's emotional take on the events is just fantastic. It's extremely detailed and quite brilliantly constructed. Sure it could use a bit more sex :blush: but I'm enjoying the hell out of it even without it. :yahoo: Keep up the good work.
Follow this link to descriptions of my stories and easy links to them:

viewtopic.php?f=70&t=32025
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tallyho
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Crikey! :blush:
Only way is down after a review like that! :)
Thanks a lot Dr. Dom, and Sgz and Valugi for taking time out to post a comment, I'm glad you are enjoying it.

As for the sex, I kinda like to keep Sg pure , but all the sex goes into my Grace Sisters v Wonder Woman and Batgirl stories, the first is here with a link to the second at the end of it.
It's a 5 way lesbian sex torture orgy essentially! :w00t:


https://www.superheroineforum.com/viewt ... +de+graces

I came up with Chameleon Ore and then I found out about 'Martensite' which ok ain't a mineral but man made but it just shows you what might be possible, who knows what's out there.
Hopefully this link works for anyone who wants to be amazed. If not, Google it there's an article in this month's Nature.
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24400101

Thanks to all for reading it, if you liked or loathed it so far please post a comment. Next update will be tomorrow.
Cheers,
T.

P.S. Berthe Fraser (French spelling, I changed mine to 'Bertha' as I didn't want people researching a genuine hero to end up here) was a real life resistance heroine who was indeed tortured by the Gestapo - and did not break. She was held for 18 months, released then rearrested which is when the incident in Loos prison with her interrogator happened (that is genuine based on a tv interview she gave 40+ years ago) her resistance really did break her captor. An incredible real life heroine and I have the utmost respect for her, her reference in this story is not intended to sully her memory in any way.
Last edited by tallyho 6 years ago, edited 2 times in total.
How strange are the ways of the gods ...........and how cruel.

I am here to help one and all enjoy this site, so if you have any questions or feel you are being trolled please contact me (Hit the 'CONTACT' little speech bubble below my Avatar).
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tallyho
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PART 11


Her powers were drained by the presence of so much Kryptonite-like material but Supergirl was determined she would not be taken easily. The Chameleon Ore was making her feel wretched, weak as a kitten and sick to the pit of her stomach. but though her flight, strength and vision were gone, her will remained as strong as ever.

As the Warriors, Workers and Scientists closed in on all sides, she felt her heels reach the edge of the pool. Time to make a stand, then. No place else to go. Suddenly she felt a familiar presence in her mind.

‘Much closer and they might kill you, yes? But part of you seeks such an end, does it not?’ The Reacher’s mind spoke within her own.’ I will ease your pain, but be careful child. Jaeger will be with you soon. I am keeping him at bay, such that he thinks it is you. But you must be careful, you must guard your thoughts from him. I will be here, and I will help you.’


‘Reacher? Why would you help me?’ she asked mentally.

Because you are the Angel. And now, having met you…I believe in the Angel.’

Their exchange had taken but an instant, literally at the speed of thought. But it left her more confused than ever. Apparently, she now had an ally, but given her recent experiences, and what she had learned of the Order, could she trust him? And why had he chosen to help her only now?


“Stay back! Too close with the Ore and you may kill her!” The Reacher said aloud to the room.


“So what? She killed Bar Hau-Chai!” Galen said with venom.


“A great loss to the Order.” The Reacher said sarcastically. “Why do you think only he returned from the mission to procure the Kryptonite? Because he killed Kai Ang Tuo in a stupid argument, that is why. The man was an animal and a stupid animal at that. We need the Angel. Set aside your Chameleon ore pieces, this close to her she should be weak enough for you to subdue physically.”

Kara didn’t know how to take that. He had said he would ease her pain, and stopping them approaching her certainly did that, but was he truly helping her when in the same instant he was telling them to ‘subdue her physically’?

Sure enough some of those who surrounded her handed their ore to a companion, and most others backed away a step or two. She did feel ever so slightly better. There were some five men who stood before her now, all warriors, all in an arc around her as she stood with her back to the pool. Behind them, a few feet away stood the others that still held the ore. There were also a few others on the far side of the pool behind her.

She looked at each one of the five nearest men briefly, reading them, evaluating their capabilities. All were physically large, but two looked muscle-bound, making them slow, particularly in the light weight body armour they wore. They did have the sense to remove their helmets as it restricted their vision, one throwing his at her, which she dodged easily letting it land in the pool behind her, whilst the other just let his fall to the floor. The third one looked quite lithe and agile; he might be a problem, particularly as he had no armour. Another looked decidedly uncertain of himself. His eyes looked scared, but not of her, more…peer pressure. He seemed afraid of looking bad before the others. She suspected, correctly, that he was a believer in the whole ‘Angel’ ethos, hence his doubts. She dismissed him as a serious threat. It would be Galen , she knew , who would make the first move. He had a lean, hunter’s gaze, with sharp intelligent eyes that looked for trouble. Like a shark. ‘Well’, she thought, ‘lucky him, he’s found it. There’s all the blood-in- the-water he can handle, right here.’


He looked at her now with misplaced overconfidence. He was trained in combat of all kinds, but his view of her as ‘critically weakened’ was a mistake. Her reflexes, though slowed, were still swift, for the time being at least, though nothing like they were when she had her powers. Her powers were gone and her physical ability was grossly impaired but she still knew all the martial arts moves herself, having read books and witnessed displays, and her talent for precise mimicry gave her an innate mastery of Tai-Kwon-Do, Karate, Kung-Fu, Jui-Jitsu, Nippon Kempo, Krav Maga and a whole host of others. She didn’t favour one over any of the others. They all had their uses, and she utilised elements of all of them when the need arose, which, as she could use simply brute force to defeat most criminals, was rarely. But in her weakened state she knew her strength would not defeat them, but she knew too the weak points to go for in the human body. A child could blind an adult with a poke in the eye. It might be considered ‘fighting dirty’ but when you were outnumbered five to one or more you weren’t exactly in a fair fight to begin with.

Galen stepped forward and threw a thrust with the heel of his hand straight for her. He was expecting her to duck or sway, or bob and weave and kept his other hand in a fist, the real blow, ready to counter. He was totally surprised as she suddenly dropped from his gaze.

“Huh?” He said rapidly followed by “OOOOOFFFFF!” as Kara landed a ferocious knuckle punch to Galen’s groin from her legs-spread position, having done ‘the splits’, dropping down in an instant in a move any cheerleader would be proud of, bracing on her left hand as her right hit home. She also sprang back upright quickly with the agility of a gymnast, but it was taking a heavy toll on her. Her blow was weak, but well-timed and well placed. Precision made up for what it lacked in strength. He bent over, clutching himself. Grasping Galen by the neck she hurled his doubled up form into the agile warrior to her left, the second threat. They collided and collapsed in a heap. The larger muscle bound warrior closed, swinging a wild haymaker at her, which she dodged easily, kneeing him in the stomach and propelling him into his uncertain companion. That left only the second muscle bound thug still standing. He swung wildly but as Kara countered he dodged her blow with surprising agility. Grabbing her wrist, he spun her around into his chest squeezing her in a bear hug. His triumph was short-lived however as she instantly brought her heel down sharply where his foot met his ankle, cracking a bone and causing him to release her with a scream as he clutched at his broken foot.

Still behind her, she elbowed him in the stomach then flicked her hand up at the elbow, slamming the back of her clenched fist into his nose and knocking him back into the pool. Again it wasn’t a strong blow but an accurate one, and against a large man, off-balance, standing on one leg it didn’t need to have force. But her exertions left her exhausted. She knew her blows were not very strong in her weakened condition and every move she made sapped her strength even more. That splits move and the spring back upright had nearly finished her before the struggle had even begun. But the first round was undoubtedly hers. The hesitant one was the first to his feet and he looked beaten before he even tried to assault her. She got the impression he was barely trying as she caught his straight palm attack at the wrist, twisting it and then kicking him away. From the commotion in the water behind her it sounded as though her first victim couldn’t swim. But she had no time to think on that as the agile one, possibly her most dangerous foe came at her from her left, swinging his legs in first a low sweep with his right one, then springing up with a chest high kick with his left foot, trying to catch her off balance. But she jumped over his low sweep then skipped back lightly on her toes to her right, catching his heel and swinging his leg into the mid-riff of the second muscle bound warrior, winding him as the agile Empire warrior fell off balance. Galen had just about recovered but he still hung back, catching his breath but watching her moves. Her movement was getting slower, and as she landed blows against the hesitant soldier Galen could see she was getting weaker too. Her breathing was laboured and in between fending off assaults she sagged, visibly exhausted. The agile one launched a flying roundhouse at her as she was dealing with the muscle bound warrior but Kara saw it at the last instant and dropped to the floor, his kick connecting with the burly warrior and sparking him out cold. But Kara struggled to rise and only weakly fended off the follow up attack with her forearms. Her chest was heaving with the exertion and she was gasping for air as the Kryptonite-like effects of the Chameleon Ore sapped her strength. She knew within herself she couldn’t hold out much longer, but with two of them down she was definitely winning both physically and in terms of morale. Galen now stood fully, addressing the four or five others who still stood off, holding the ore.

“Drop those and get in there!” he barked twitching his head in her direction. Two workers, both large men, handed their ores to others and hesitantly stepped forward, a third did the same but then dived into the pool to save the struggling warrior who was thrashing around ineffectually as he was going down for the third time in a sputtering scream. The warrior Elgin came forward too. But as the three or four assailants closed in they impeded each other, the two workers colliding in a shoulder barge that off balanced each other, delaying their attack and giving Supergirl time to deal with the two warriors, once more blocking the agile one with her forearms as he threw a straight palm at her stomach and deflecting the fist of the hesitant one straight onto his colleague’s face. The agile warrior had a strange look of surprise as the blow struck that quickly turned to a shocked gasp as she knuckle punched him on his Adam’s Apple, a significant gap in their warrior armour. It wasn’t very strong but it was a tender spot and had the desired effect of incapacitating him for several moments, allowing her to bundle him into the water. Elgin she disabled with the traditional kick between the legs. Crude, but effective. But as she disposed of him one of the Workers grabbed her in a bear hug and this time had the sense to lift her fully off the floor.

“NNNGGGHHUUHHHH!” she gasped, grimacing as he turned her to face the second worker. With a last effort she lashed out with a boot as he advanced, catching him clean under the chin. Again, though it lacked force it had precision, with the pointy toe of her red-leather clad foot sinking into the soft tissue below his jaw which clamped shut, painfully trapping his tongue between his teeth. He reeled away, getting pushed to the floor by Galen as he came at her. She turned and twisted her body, but held as she was she could do nothing as Galen now approached her, smiling cruelly. She struggled desperately, her eyes locked on his as he advanced menacingly towards her.

“MMMMMPPPPHHHUHHHH! “ she gasped as she tried to prise the locked arms from her upper body, but the worker held her fast, his arms above her elbows, pinning her own arms and limiting her options. Her struggles slowed as her energy was finally spent and she slumped in the Worker’s arms, exhausted as Galen stood before her, easily avoiding a final, weak kick that she threw in his direction. As her struggles eased the Worker lowered her slowly until her toes touched the floor, making it easier for Galen to strike her.

“So much for the Angel” Galen said as he drew back his fist and launched it at her face in a hammer blow that would surely render her unconscious in her weakened state. But at the last moment she dipped her head forward, standing on her own feet and doubling up, ducking her head below the blow, drawing the surprised worker’s head forward onto Galen’s fist. There was the crack of his nose breaking and he released Supergirl as he was flung back unconscious into the pool. Galen looked surprised, embarrassed and angry, in that order and was about to try again when the All-Father cried his name.

“GALEN! YOU IDIOT!” But the shout was just enough to distract him and Supergirl swayed back with her upper body, his arm sweeping across her angled chest and over her shoulder. She retaliated with the only means she could - a short sharp poke in the eye that sent him staggering back screaming.
Yet even that small token of resistance had sapped her strength. She felt completely exhausted now, barely able to stand.

She knew she was spent, but her one advantage was that they didn’t know that, yet. She was determined to make them pay a price for her capture. Though she had a brief respite, she wasn’t able to exploit it in any way, as she was still exposed to the draining effects of the Chameleon Ore. She started to sway and knew she was on the verge of collapse. Yet she refused to let her legs give out – she wouldn’t give these murderous bastards the satisfaction of seeing her fall. They wanted her? Well they’d have to take her – the hard way. She’d beaten them off so far, but as they slowly stumbled to their feet or climbed from the pool and assembled around her once more, it was pretty clear they were going to try again. She was finding it hard to focus now, unable to see if there were seven or eight of them that ringed her in a semi-circle. She felt giddy, light headed and nauseous.

She slowly straightened up, slowing her heavy breathing, bringing her fists up higher, elbows bent, in a fighting stance.

“So…huh…huh…you…guys …are the Imperial troops, huh? Soldiers of the Empire…heroes of…the …the Terran …Order. No wonder you lost to a bunch of bugs….huh…HA…!” she panted, laughing breathlessly at the end as she spoke. “Sure you brought enough guys?” she added sarcastically.

Galen took a half a step toward her in anger but she never got to face his attack. She suddenly felt a a hammer blow strike her back and a dreadful pain between her shoulder blades as she screamed, her head flung back as she reeled, knocked forward.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!” she cried as the piece of Chameleon Ore struck her in her back, thrown at her from the far side of the pool by one of the scientists. It hit her full on the ’S’ symbol of her cape, bouncing off her and dropping into the pool with a loud splash. As it hit her and fell away its effect was like that of a sudden stab wound. As she pitched forward in agony they surged around her, hands grabbing her arms as she sank to her knees. She was barely conscious but was vaguely aware of someone gripping her hair at the front and pulling her head back exposing her upturned face to Galen, who was still clutching his eye. He stood before her in triumph, as he straightened up, cruelly holding her chin as he turned her head to strike her better. She could barely focus on her assailant from half closed eyes.

“ENOUGH!” the Reacher commanded. Galen froze, turning to the All-Father, a pained look on his face as he was denied his triumph.

“ALL-FATHER! WE HAVE HER!” He cried delightedly - even if he was forbidden to strike he could still gloat.

“Yes, and it only took nine of you and a massive amount of poisonous ore…”The Reacher said with a sarcastic sigh. ‘Warriors.’ He thought disparagingly, with a mental shake of his head.“ Get her on her feet. Chhengri! Take your samples.”

Gripping her by the forearms, underarms and elbows they hauled her partially upright, first to her knees, then holding her up off the ground, the toes of her red boots scraping pathetically on the tiled floor as her head slumped forward, her golden hair hanging down in a cascade of yellow sunlight that hid her face. She groaned pitifully, now a helpless prisoner, her body limp in their arms.

The scientist Chhengri stepped forward, placing a small plastic device on her upper arm. It was a squarish electronic device with a thought activation pad that could take a variety of skin and tissue samples. Ordinarily, that is. It gave a small whine and a pop, accompanied by a shower of sparks. Chhengri looked at Tjulias in surprise. Then removed the device, looking at its end.

“All the needles are bent!” he said in surprise.

“Well…get some more!” the All-Father cried.

“It would not do any good, Sire. The needles cannot penetrate her flesh.”

“Well, can’t you take samples another way?” The patriarch asked exasperatedly.

“Er…there is swabbing, I suppose, cells from inside her mouth will obtain DNA…”

“Well what are you waiting for? DO THAT!”

“I don’t have any swabs….” Chhengri said sheepishly.

“AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!! BY THE FIRST FATHER YOU TEST ME!!!” Screamed the All-Father.

“It’s a backward, archaic practice, Sire, we have not taken swab samples in centuries” He said defensively, then he thought for a moment. The Med-Mechs take such samples… and we don’t have any mech units here.” He paused for a moment as the furious All-Father looked to the heavens in a rage.
“Er, th-there-there is blood of course!” Chhengri stammered. “Galen could …procure some…” he gestured at the warrior.

“My pleasure…” Galen smiled as he again held Kara’s jaw before landing a massive blow with his right fist that sent her head snapping around to her right, knocking her senseless. She was oblivious to the next few minutes as Galen landed blow after blow on the defenceless heroine, whipping her head violently to left and right as he alternated punches in an effort to draw blood, but none broke the skin.

“HA!” he cried in triumph as a red smear spread on the corner of her lips, but only after four or five minutes and some forty or fifty blows. But it wasn’t hers. He finally stopped, breathing heavily, the only blood on her face was from his own bleeding knuckles. She was unconscious, but he looked more exhausted than she did. In her dazed state she could feel the blows land but could no longer comprehend what they represented. As her body shut down she was engulfed by a warm numbness. Galen was breathless as he looked at his injured fist.

“Enough. Is there anything else?” The All- Father asked of the scientist in frustration.

“Er… her hair follicles?” Chhengri said, but several attempts to pull some of her hair out by the roots failed completely.

She gradually came to, a few minutes later, largely because The Reacher had ordered most of the Chameleon Ore to be removed to the next room in case it killed her. Her jaw ached and her cheek was slightly red, her lips slightly swollen. Her head was buzzing. She blinked back to awareness, shaking her head slightly. There was still a piece of ore nearby, but she tried to catch them off guard by acting quickly, however. As she felt slightly stronger she suddenly pulled free, yanking the two burly Warriors who held her into each other, only to find Tjulias lunge at her with the last piece of ore. He struck her above the left breast and she felt all her new found energy disappear, in a stinging pang of pain that ripped through her chest. The ore was blunt and so never penetrated her skin, but had it been a jagged piece it would have surely pierced her valiant young heart. She staggered back, grimacing, her face a mask of pain, her heel catching in the slats of the recessed drainage grille that ran around the pool, about a foot from the edge to carry off the excess water. It tipped her off balance and she fell backwards into the water, clutching her heart as she screamed at the sudden pain in her chest from where the ore touched her. As she grasped Tjulias’ hands at her chest he released the ore as she fell away from him and she suddenly found it in her hands. Yet instead of dropping it, her fingers seemed to freeze in place clutching the ore to her breast as if welded to it. The room seemed to spin and tilt lazily as she fell back in slow motion, her body striking the water horizontally as she landed on her back with a splash.
She was staring, disbelieving, dazed and in pain at the ceiling as the water filled her ears and an instant later it enfolded her, sweeping in on her body from all sides as she sank below the surface, as cold as the grave. Suddenly, there was nothing but peace and silence all around her. All she could hear now was the near frantic pounding of her own heart beat as the blood raced around her body, hammering in her ears like tribal drums. She gazed up at the blurred and distorted figures at the poolside, like people in the Hall of Mirrors at the funfair, their bodies compressed, then stretched and twisted by the diffracted light as the waters settled in a layer over her and the ripples slowly calmed, their shapes changing as the surging waters settled with every second. She felt…calm…at peace. Nothing mattered anymore. She saw the silver bubbles emerge from her mouth, from her nostrils, and much larger ones appear from the air trapped beneath her cape, all floating swiftly to the surface as if in a race with each other. She watched them go with a strange sense of detachment, as if they didn’t matter yet they were literally the difference between life and death for her. She felt the cold water enter her mouth, her throat, as she sank deeper. It still didn’t matter. She realised vaguely that there was a piece of the ore below her, the same piece that had hit her back and dropped into the pool. She could feel it now, taking effect, sapping the strength from her muscles, drawing her lifeforce from each cell of her body through her back. But it was the piece she grasped at her breast that would kill her as it seemed to burn her very soul like fire. Her fingers felt as if they were burning terribly, despite the water and she finally lost feeling in them as she drifted like a cloud, floating down to the pool bottom as her hands and arms finally relaxed, releasing her deadly burden. Yet if she died, she would win. No First Father. No son, no Second Father, so no Terran Order. None of this would matter. She would have saved the future from a warped vision of a fascist human existence. She felt placid, happy. She could have held her breath, prolonging her existence for many more minutes yet what was the point? For her, there was a victory to be won in her death.


“She is making no effort to save herself…” Tjulias said as the crowd looked down at her body through the water as she sank slowly to the floor of the pool.

“She doesn’t wish to save herself... Maybe she is too exhausted. Or maybe… PULL HER OUT!” Jaeger cried. “Quickly! GET HER! SHE SEEKS TO DIE! TO DENY US! TO PREVENT OUR EXISTENCE! IF SHE DIES WHO WILL SAVE THE FIRST FATHER?”

‘Finally!’ The Reacher thought. He watched as over the next few moments she was rescued in a flurry of activity, her body manhandled to the side of the pool and hauled from the water, though she was barely aware of it. The remaining Ore pieces were removed to the next room as she lay gasping, recovering slowly by the side of the pool, her fingers gripping the slats of the metal drainage grille as she lay half on her side, half face down. She lay barely alive, panting with her eyes closed, the cool, wet tiles of the floor against her cheek as she coughed up the chlorinated water. Through half closed eyes she watched the water that she brought up as she coughed disappear down the drainage channel, falling through the grille to be carried off back to the pool or the drains. She lay there for long moments recovering as she stared after it. Its escape fascinated her. Escape. She blinked into focus on the disappearing trickles as it gave her the germ of an idea. She started to rally as the idea gave her hope. But she didn’t have time to dwell on it as she was unceremoniously yanked to her feet and then thrown into the corner of the room.

She landed on her right thigh, bracing herself on her palms, her wet bedraggled hair hanging limply over her face. With the Chameleon Ore removed to the gym room she was feeling better with each passing second. She shook her head, swishing her damp hair back from her eyes as she looked up at the All –Father.

A young man pushed his way through one of the doorways. He seemed wracked with self-doubt.

“I…I can control it Father.” He said hesitantly. “I think. Though it is thought-linked for Jianko I think I can control it, though it will not be as efficient or as effective as if Jianko were here.” He was unarmed and Supergirl had only just realised that he, too, must be a telepath, when the All- Father removed the small device Timon had given him from his robes. She scanned it instantly, but could find no trace of Kryptonite, nor establish just what it was supposed to do.


As she did so, he lobbed it lazily into the air high above her. There was a hum and a crackle of electricity and the next instant the device hovered above her, near the ceiling, projecting some kind of force field down all around her. It glowed a pale blue colour as it surrounded her, bathing her in its reflected light. She stayed still, pretending to be weaker than she was, as all the while she recovered her strength with each passing moment. If the Chameleon Ore had been that much genuine Kryptonite she would have taken days, if not weeks, to recover without the energy she drew from the Sun. But this faux mineral seemed to only have the effect of Kryptonite on her when she was directly exposed to it, without the lasting residual effects when she was not. Now it was out of sight she was recouping her powers –fast. She looked around at her prison, judging it, evaluating it for a weak point. She drew up her legs beneath herself and then slowly started to stand. She straightened up stiffly, still breathing heavily, brushing her wet hair away from her face with her hand. She finally started to feel herself. But still she waited, resisting the urge to touch the force field until she knew more about it. If she knew one thing about guys who thought they were clever, that thought that they had won, it was that they just loved to tell you how clever they were or how they had done it. A girl just had to be patient. She folded her arms as she waited and sure enough the All- Father couldn’t resist.

“This is your new home, Angel. Until you agree to co-operate fully of course. It looks fairly innocuous , doesn’t it? But it can make you feel as if you are trapped by the gravity of a thousand suns…” he nodded to the young telepath, who closed his eyes and she instantly felt a massive weight press down on her upper body.

“AAAAGGGHHHH-OHHH!” she gasped as she sank to her knees, clutching her upper arms as she grimaced as the crushing weight bore down upon her.

“You see? So. We need you to give us samples – blood, soft tissue, DNA, the- what is it they say in this time? The jobs? Since you will no longer help us directly, we will use your genetics, mixed with our own, to create a new improved human species that will allow us to defeat the Deracon.”

“The works , Sire, they say ‘the works’” one of the scientists said.

“Yes. The ‘works’. Co-operate and we can make the pain cease. Resist us, and you will suffer.”

“Go …to hell…” she spat, looking up at him balefully from beneath her strands of bedraggled blonde hair , then with a gaze that sharpened, harder than a diamond she grimaced. Her x-ray vision still worked beyond the force field but her heat vision did not. Not to reveal her hand she had tried to evaporate a splash of water beyond her prison but her gaze had no effect. “You guys don’t know me very well do you?” she hissed through gritted teeth.

“On the contrary, we know you perfectly well. You think nothing of your own safety to save others. But your compassion is your undoing. Bring him in.” The All-Father called out.


His words filled her with dread. Rob! But she could not give in to them, would not give in to them. She had asked the Ne’th to remain hidden, lest they cause a panic, to let her sort out this mess and bring the All-Father to them. So she knew she could count on no cavalry arriving, but with this device constricting her she had no means of helping her friend. She looked up tearfully as they led their captive into the swimming pool room, hoping Rob would understand her position.


“Hullo, SG! Now don’t this beat all?!”

“LOU?!!!!” she shouted in surprise as the elderly black janitor was bundled forward by two heavily built Workers. She could see his face was swollen and puffy where he had been hit several times.

“These is some right mean folks” he said shaking free his elbow from his captor’s grip. “But don’ y’all fret now, SG. I gots them just where I wants ‘em.”

“LOU! Aww, Lou, I’m so sorry!” she said through her tears. He smiled at her reassuringly. There were red blood stains on his white teeth.

“So you see, Supergirl, whilst you may not care for your own safety, you will do as we wish or the Negran will suffer.” The All- Father said happily.

“NEGRAN? That better not mean what I think it means , boy, or you an’ me is gonna have a fallin’ out. An’ if you think that there gal is gonna ever give in t’ you, well, you don’t know shit from wild honey.” Lou snarled defiantly.

“Sire…I don’t think my translator is working… I could barely understand the Negran…” said Galen.

“Well, then, let me say it in plain English so yous folks can understan’. When she gets a –outta there, an’ she will, trust me, she WILL…. you boys, well, if you’ll pardon my French, you boys is SOOOOOO fucked.” Lou said.

“Did he speak in French then?” Galen asked, confused, fiddling with his translator dial at his throat. “I understood him to say we would be ‘copulated’….? That cannot be right…” His confusion was matched by many others. Some seemed to smile at the notion that the Angel would sleep with them.

Louie sighed. “Ok den. You boys is goin’ be SOOOOO copulated. Either way you gonna be screwed. An’ you folks is too dumb to know it yet. Yessir, just plain too dumb. Now don’t you go easy on ‘em girl, these folks is mean an’ they deserve what’s-a comin’. ”

Kara smiled through her tears.

“Yessir, when she’s loose, you are all SOOOOO copulated. Gonna be sad to see, sho is.” He looked at the All-Father. “Yous pulled a tiger by the tail, son. Now you can run far, an’ you can run fast but you ain’t ever gonna out run this cat. An’ besides… ain’t nowhere to run for you now.” Some of the Warriors exchanged nervous looks. “Yessir, you boys is soooo fucked.”
Last edited by tallyho 10 years ago, edited 1 time in total.
How strange are the ways of the gods ...........and how cruel.

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SGWriter
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Great fight there!

Did an awesome job showing SG as she got weaker during it. Love though that she kept going throughout the whole thing. Nice homage to the pool scene with Kara grabbing the K-ore and sinking into the pool. Nice bit at the end too, SG is going to mess them up when she gets out :)
Yes Supergirl, that's right its a necklace for you....What's the matter you don't like Kryptonite?
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valugi
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This story is getting better and better, the fight scene was pretty interesting, showing a heroine who never gives up, I look forward to see more
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PART 12

“Louie, I’m so sorry to drag you into this…” she said sadly, finally pressing her palm against the electric wall that formed her prison, as the seemingly crushing pressure eased perceptibly. Still it took a huge effort just to raise one arm a few inches. There was a crackle and a mild static shock that made her flinch slightly but she did not withdraw her palm. As she spoke to Louie she was actually applying more and more of her strength subtly against the energy field, but it had no effect. She was still on her knees and hunched over, one arm clutching herself, as she braced against the pressure, forcing her words out from between clenched teeth. Lian Cho, the young telepath controlling her prison seemed to be struggling a little as the thought device was synched for Jianko’s mind, but he seemed determined to endure the pain.

“’T’ain’t your fault child, is their doin’. You hang in there SG, you’ll figure a way out.” Louie said.

“You may both now consider yourselves as prisoners of the Empire, and as such you are at the mercy of its laws and the will of the Terran Order.” Jaeger began.

“Say what now?” said Louie.

Jaeger ignored him. “You will do as you are commanded or we will make you AND the Negran suffer. You cannot harm us from the pressure prison. Your strength cannot break it, your speed cannot out race it. Your heat vision, your breath cannot escape through the forcefield. You are trapped. The Negran is …ours to do with as we see fit. His existence can be comfortable…”

“That sounds good!” said Louie.

“Or one of agony…”

“Can we stick with the first one?” Louie said optimistically.

“It is your choice, Angel. Help us, and you will both live. It is that simple.” Jaeger finished.

“Lou…” Kara looked at him with a pained expression. “I’m –I’m sorry Lou. I- I can’t give in to them, I’m so, so sorry…” she sobbed quietly, partly from the pain she felt from the pressure prison, partly from the knowledge that she couldn’t help him. ”They will destroy everything we hold dear, everything that it means to be human. I can’t let them win, I can’t. I’m sorry Lou, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s ok, girl. Don’t cry…But I’d like to know what in the hell is goin’ on! Did he say they was an Order of Terrorists or somethin’?” Lou asked confused.

“I-its complicated , Lou, they-they are called the Terran Order, kinda like knights but without any of the good morals.”

“Wait, Knights like, King Arthur’s Knights, knights?” Lou asked.

“ENOUGH!” shouted Jaeger. “Yield or he will suffer, first, and then you will suffer.”

“Well, if you is knights shouldn’t you be savin’ fair maidens not imprisoning them? You are all crazy folks.” Louie said shaking his head.

“SHUT UP!” Jaeger screamed. “You are a prisoner of the Terran Order. These Warriors are the Stella Knights. They will kill you unless SHE –“ he swept a hand towards Kara “DOES WHAT WE WISH. IT IS THAT SIMPLE YOU STUPID NEGRAN! Your life is forfeit.” He said callously.

“What, without no trial, nor nothing’? Just like that, we is prisoners an’ you gonna kill us, lessen she does whatever the hell it is you want? SG, anytime you wanna bust outta there an’ whup their asses, feel free.” Lou addressed her.

“I-I can’t Lou… I‘m trapped… “ she said quietly. “ This ain’t a game Lou. But I can’t give in to them, I’m sorry…there’s just too much at stake…”

“I wouldn’t want ya to, chile, whatever it is. Folks like these, you gotta stand up to. Gotta fight. Maybe you lose, but either way, ya gotta fight. Ain’t about winnin’ , its about fightin’ cos its right to.
Can’t give in SG, no sir, can’t give in. Don’ you worry ‘bout me. You jus’ get yoursel’ outta that there pickle jar. They crazy mad folks, but mean with it. They done beat up on ol’ Lou already. Well you crazy sons o’ bitches let’s get it on. Can’t keep people like this against the Law, it’s just plain wrong.”

“They got their own laws Lou…” she said quietly and that she realised, was the point. They had their own LAWS. She remembered something she had seen on the media orb, when the Quelg were being exterminated for supposed crimes. As non-humans they had no rights as prisoners except the most basic right to a trial. By combat.

“WAIT! You said he and I were prisoners of the Empire? Well as prisoners we claim the right to trial by force of arms! You cannot hold us unless we are defeated! I will be our champion! It’s the only right your so called laws allow us!” Supergirl cried out.

“I DENY YOU THAT RIGHT” the All-Father said simply. “Enough! Begin the torture of the Negran.”

“Er…Sire?” The Reacher said hesitantly, waving to the Warriors to delay. He called the All-Father over to him and spoke quietly, though with her hearing Kara could listen to every word.

“Sire, some of the others believe in the Angel, this …this is a bad move Sire. It will cause problems…”

“What do you mean ? WHAT DO I CARE OF THE OTHERS?” the All-Father cried indignantly.

“Sire, we have been here just a few days and already we have lost Kai Ang Tuo, now Bar Hau –Chai and Emaritzina is outcast. Jianko is stupefied and several warriors are injured. We NEED to keep the group together – we will need ALL hands to help with the genetics program and the building of the Chronos Drive. We cannot afford to alienate anyone. The Warriors are loyal to you but the Workers, Scientists and Breeders? Many believe in the Angel. They already find it hard to accept that she is a prisoner – we daren’t risk defying our own laws and turning her into a martyr by denying her a right that even the Quelg get as prisoners– there could well be dissent, insurrection even. We cannot deny her battle justice. “ the Reacher said reasonably.

“Sire, he is right,” said Jaeger,” they can claim a champion. But it cannot be her. Let the Negran fight for them both. She is not strictly human so our laws do not strictly apply. They have their champion. Justice is seen to be done. The Warriors can take him easily enough, alive , and then the torture can begin. We still have to make her save the First Father. “Jaeger added.

“NO! YOU BASTARDS , NO!” Kara cried, hammering both palms on the energy field now despite the pain.

“VERY WELL. THE NEGRAN WILL FIGHT FOR YOUR FREEDOM” the All-Father declared to the room.

“It’s alright, girl. I got this” Lou said shaking his shoulders and loosening up.

“Oh, Lou, this isn’t a game! You might be killed!” Kara said tearfully.

“I’d rather think that I might not…” Lou said philosophically.

“Lou, these combats are rigged, they don’t fight fair. For God’s sake he’s in his seventies, this is a farce. Let me fight for us!” she declared.

“You sought a champion. You have one…” Jaeger smiled cruelly. She looked at the Reacher beseechingly.

His voice appeared again inside her head. ‘Patience. I am screening my presence from Lian Cho. I CANNOT make a move until Jaeger exposes himself. He is adept at entering the human psyche. I need to meet him on unfamiliar ground. I need to confront him when he confronts you. That can only happen when you escape. You must escape. Until you do the Negran is at their mercy.’

How? How can I get out of this?’ The Reacher didn’t answer her.

The mental exchange took but an instant but left her devastated. Grimacing against the terrible feeling of pressure on her skin, on each of her cells, she fought to raise both arms and lifted her head, pushing with all her might, ignoring the shocking pain from the energy field and fighting to stop collapsing on the floor. She was still kneeling, her thighs on the back of her calves, struggling to stay in even that half upright position.

“Lou! This ain’t a fair fight! They have telepaths, mind readers! You can’t win Lou!” she said desperately.

“These folks can read minds, huh? Well then, they gonna be really annoyed when they gets to mine…” Lou said. “Bring it on boys, I ain’t got all day.”

“Choose who from the Order you will fight…” Jaeger declared as Galen, Elgin and the agile warrior that had faced Kara stepped forward. Supergirl remembered him now – his name was Larengo. Galen and Elgin were bigger and smiling broadly as they sensed the easiest of victories, but Larengo…merely looked calm, staring straight ahead, impassive. Dangerous. He was the real threat of the three. He would be the first one she had to take down once she got out. She prayed they wouldn’t hurt Louie. They had said they needed to take him alive to put pressure on her – though she wouldn’t give in, she couldn’t bear to see him beaten to death before her eyes. She had to get out of here to help him.

As she struggled against the intensified gravity bearing down upon her, Lou looked each of the prospective opponents up and down. Finally he walked along the line slowly, his old frame shuffling forward. Galen and Elgin smirked back at him as he met their gaze, but Larengo stared motionless, and emotionless, straight ahead, still as the grave.

“Ooo, you’re a mean bastard, ain’cha?” Lou said looking at him, then he seemed to nod, reaching a decision. “Okayyyy, it’ll be you’, he pointed at Larengo, ‘den you,’ he indicated Elgin, ‘den you’ before finally picking Galen. His choices caused uproar and consternation amongst those gathered as even Larengo broke his statuesque pose to frown and stare at Jaeger.

“THIS IS UNHEARD OF!” the All-Father declared in surprise. Elgin and Galen just looked at each other confused.

“You…you were to pick a single opponent to face…” Jaeger said, sounding shocked.

“I thought you said I had to pick the order I was to fight these guys?” Louie said confused himself.

“I-I said ‘choose who from the order’ NOT ‘CHOOSE THE ORDER’. No one has ever picked three at once – all trials are against a single foe.” Jaeger said looking amazed.

“Well, den, I’ll just-a pick again…” said Lou and was about to before Jaeger cut him off.

“NO! You do not understand. The challenge has been issued. It cannot be withdrawn. You have chosen to fight all three. You MUST now fight all three.”

“DANG! Tha’s what a guy gets for reading ‘Ivanhoe’.” Lou said shaking his head as he threw a glance at a devastated-looking Supergirl.

She swallowed her tears back, her mouth clamped shut as she could only watch her friend, shaking her head slowly as he looked at her and smiled sadly.

“Don’ worry ‘bout me girl, you gets to thinking a way outta there. I got this.” He straightened up stiffly. “I done me some boxin’, back in the day. ‘ Course, I di’n’t actually win no bouts, but I had them folks worried a few times, seein’ as how the thought they’d killed me…” he smiled at her.

“Oh, Lou…” she said desperately.

“You can end this just by co-operating…” Jaeger said to her.

“Damn you all to hell…” she spat the words bitterly at him.

“Alright then fellas. I gotta fight three o’ you rather than one , huh? Well the order I picked still stands. An’ I’ll still fight you all, but one after another. Fair? You said no one had picked three at once, so we got no rules on this , an’ I never said I was gonna fight ya all at the same time now, did I? I’m a-still takin’ you all on, just one at a time.” He looked at Jaeger, who looked at the Reacher and then nodded. “Ok, den. You first slugger.” He said to Larengo. “ Then the two big monkeys. But you boys is in good shape. Must have 40-45 years on ol’ Lou. So I pick the way we fight an’ say the rules.”

“That is NOT how the combat is conducted in the Empire.” Jaeger said flatly.

“That’s so? Well you AIN’T IN YOUR EMPIRE NOW, BOY! This here is my turf, an’ you already got me outnumbered, fightin’ three o’ you back to back, an’ I’m an old man, whilst you boys is young, an’ fit an’ done all sorts o’ trainin’ for shit like this, I bet. Just how much of an advantage do you folks need over an ol’ man like me, huh? You scared or som’in’?” Lou stared wide eyed at Jaeger, but it was no Jim Crow look – it was a challenge, an act of defiance from the old janitor.

The Reacher stepped forward, whispering in the All-Father’s ear “He is right Sire, we cannot make this too biased in our favour – let him chose whatever weapons he wishes – our warriors will take him easily enough and it will be seen to be a concession to the Angel’s supporters.”

As Jaeger went to dismiss Louie’s words, the All-Father cut him off. “Agreed. The Negran may chose the weapons.”

“An’ I tells you the rules” Lou pressed.

“Very well. Ordinarily this is to the death. Purely to save time in procuring another hostage, that penalty will be waived. Try not to kill him, Larengo. Proceed.” He waved a hand towards Larengo.

“Alright, den.” Lou said, winking at Kara. He shuffled forward ever so slowly, milking the attention as all eyes waited for him to get into position and speak. He kept walking closer and closer to Larengo until he was almost touching his nose. Though shorter than Elgin and Galen he was still taller than Louie, and Louie had to look up to him as Larengo stared over Louie’s head, largely because the janitor was hamming it up, bent far lower than he normally walked. Kara stopped crying and stared at her friend with renewed hope. He was up to something. Larengo and the other warriors were stood in the open wall between the gym and the pool. She was trapped beneath the forcefield in the corner of the pool room nearest the opening. Kara anticipated the combat taking place inside the gym area. So it seemed did Larengo.

“I choose for dis ‘un here, unarmed fightin’. Like wrestlin’, well sorta. There is only three rules. “ Louie held up three fingers and rotated his upper body so the crowd could see his hand, then dropped one finger, then another.

“Rule ONE, fiirst guy on the floor loses, agreed?” Lou asked the room as there was a murmur of acceptance and both Jaeger and the All –Father nodded. “Agreed? “ Lou turned to Larengo, shuffling forward slightly to stand face to face. One foot sliding to a stop between Larengo’s feet. It struck Kara as a slightly awkward stance to face someone down with, as he was far too close and almost off balance.

“TWO! “ Lou raised another finger on his right hand and leaning back, rotated his body again so all could see, slowly round to the left, then slowly round to the right. “We start when I say we start, agreed?” All nodded this time, including Larengo. He seemed to take Louie’s proximity as a physical challenge and as such stood his ground, unyielding rather than pushing Lou away or stepping back himself.

“An’ THREE! “ Lou popped another finger up then again rotated his body for all to see , before moving his three fingers in front of his opponents face but this time, as he turned back to face Larengo from the left he shouted “ANYTHING GOES! AN’ WE’S STARTED!”

As he had turned, he had silently slid his foot an inch or two further between Larengo’s legs, turning his toe slightly inward so it rested behind the younger man’s right heel. As he shouted he jabbed forward with two fingers, straight into the warriors eyes whilst at the same time pushing against his upper chest and shoulder with his other hand. The toe behind Larengo’s heel tipped the warrior off balance as, blinded, he fell back like a sack of potatoes, one arm flailing as the other held his eyes as he screamed. He hit the pool tiles heavily, sitting on his ass and as he shook his vision clear in shock he was just in time to hear Lou shout out.

“DAT’s ONE! YESSIR, SO IT IS!” he cried delighted. “See SG, I GOT THIS!” He beamed a toothy smile back at her as she sobbed in relief and smiled back.

Larengo jumped up and made to lunge at the Janitor before a bemused Galen stopped him, grabbing him by the arms. “You LOST. To the NEGRAN!” He laughed as Larengo went bright red and tight lipped, utterly disgraced.

“F-forgive me All-Father…” he stammered, bowing his head. “I was not ready…he surprised me…”

“GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!” the All-Father barked as the young Warrior pushed through the stunned crowd and left.

“He will not take me the same way All- Father.” Elgin said confidently.

“WELL DUH! You’d have to be dumber than Dan Quayle to fall for that again. You ain’t gonna have the chance anyways , cos you an’ me is cuttin’ cards.” Louie fished in the chest pocket of his denim shirt and pulled out a weather beaten deck of playing cards. Supergirl recognised it as the same one she had used with Louie on occasion when she had stopped by the Metro Tower and they had played Blackjack. Louie was surprisingly good at it.

“They are not weapons! This is a farce! Where is the danger in cards?” Elgin protested. “They are not even thought projected!”

“They is cards, but playin’ cards is plenty dangerous. Wild Bill Hickok got killed playin’ cards.” Lou said.

“Is this true? Who is this person?” The All-Father asked Jaeger.

Jaeger scanned Louie briefly. “He speaks the truth, Sire. This Hickok was a famous weapons master, slain whilst playing cards. He…he seems to have had six arms? It is confused in the Negran’s mind, but he was a very skilled killer with six guns, but each was a hand held weapon? How could he have had six hands? He must have been a bio-engineered warrior, perhaps the forerunner of our own!” Jaeger was both confused but interested.

“Never mind that now! Negran! Explain the rules. Elgin, you WILL NOT FAIL US.” The All-Father commanded. The warrior nodded and bowed, giving the sword slash salute.

“Simple rules. We both shuffles the deck, we both chooses a card, the highest wins.”

Elgin looked aghast. “There is no glory in this!!! There is no skill!!”

“You said I could choose the weapons an’ that’s what I choose we duel with.” Louie said indignantly.

Reluctantly, the All-Father nodded after a quick glance at the Reacher. “Oh, very well.”

Kara perked up. Louie had a fifty - fifty chance, way better than any physical contest would have given him. Louie explained how they would select the card by cutting the deck,demonstrating, then they started.


“Aces high. Ugly guys goes first” Louie shuffled and gave the deck to Elgin, who clumsily tried to mimic the black man’s actions. Louie then shuffled again and offered the pack to Elgin to cut. Elgin hesitated, moved his thumb and forefinger down the length of the pack at top and bottom, then stopped and made his choice, turning up half of the deck. It was the Queen of Diamonds.

“Shit.” Said Louie, throwing a pained look at Supergirl as the cards were replaced in the deck. She could barely look. Elgin beamed in anticipated triumph.

Louie too ran his hand down the pack but in addition to his thumb and middle finger at the top and bottom he also had his index and third finger touching the sides of the deck. He went up and down the deck slowly, once; twice; then stopped. Kara saw where he had stopped with her x-ray sight and her heart sank – it was the Two of Clubs. Losing would mean they could start torturing him, and she was nowhere near figuring a way out. Louie looked Elgin in the eye as he turned the cards face up. He didn’t lower his gaze to check, he just stared at Elgin. The Warrior met his gaze but finally broke, dragging his eyes down to look at the card. He closed them silently as he saw the Ace of Spades. Kara was stunned and bewildered for a moment until she realised that Louie had undoubtedly cheated. That explained his success at Blackjack. And why she owed him $68 dollars. ‘Crafty old fox’, she thought with a hint of both admiration and amusement, despite her predicament.

Louie smiled. “If you wants to gamble, I tells ya, I’m yo’ man. Win some, lose some it’s all the same to me…” he cast Kara a quick look and a wink. She smiled as she realised he was reciting Motorhead lyrics from the Ace of Spades. Lou did love his heavy metal. Elgin looked distraught as he pushed through the crowd as the All-Father’s rage grew.

“ENOUGH OF THIS! Finish him, Galen.” He finally commanded as the warrior advanced menacingly.

“Now be a good time to think of a ways outta there girl” Lou said as he backed away.”YOU FOLKS SAID I COULD CHOOSE HOW WE FOUGHT!”

“This is not fighting…” the All – Father hissed.

The Reacher again stepped forward. “All-Father, we must be seen to be honourable in this- we cannot negate our word. Galen is our finest soldier, he is able to end this mockery AND we will save face in the eyes of those who would follow the Angel…” he whispered quietly.

As they debated, Kara desperately needed to find a way out of her prison. She struggled to turn against the crushing pressure that beat down upon her. As she did so she looked at Lian Cho, he was again struggling to control the device, veins standing out upon his neck. As she relaxed slightly she saw his own body also become less tense. Then it hit her. The small device couldn’t possibly mimic the pressure of a thousand suns or even one sun bearing down upon her. She scanned it with her x-ray vision. There was a gyroscopic portion to it with a hover motor, the projector array for the force field and the usual thought computer technology. That was it. What had they said? ‘It can make you feel as if you are trapped by the gravity of a thousand suns’ That was the key – ‘as if’ . It wasn’t real. It was this young telepath projecting inside this force field, creating the impression of the weight of the universe bearing down upon her. She cleared her thoughts of pain, staring at Lian Cho. She was calm. Relaxed. At ease. No pain. No pressure. She was as light as a feather. She could fly if she wished , albeit only a few feet until she hit the force field. Hover then rather than fly. Yes, she could hover. Because there was nothing in here with her but air. No invisible pressure. No crushing force. No intense gravity. Nothing. She stood slowly, shaking with the effort. It took a herculean force of will to deny the existence of what she could feel hitting her, pushing her down , an enormous weight pressing in on all sides. As she first got a foot to the floor and her knee upright, Lian Cho started to shake with effort, frowning in concentration. As her leg straightened and she rose, he frowned this time in pain, his cheeks shaking as his mouth opened as she finally rose and stood erect, in time with his drawn out scream.

“A-aaa—aa—AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!” he grabbed the side of his own head with his palms as blood poured from his nose and he collapsed, shaking. She took no pleasure in his distress. But as he collapsed , so too all feelings of the crushing weight upon her ended. But she was not free yet. The force field projector was real enough even if the pressure prison was not.

She breathed a deep sigh of relief, folding her arms as she paced back and forth, like a caged panther, inspecting the force field.

“Anyone harms him and they answer to me.” She said forcefully, breathing through flared nostrils as she paced the tiled floor inspecting her prison. Reluctantly she had to admit she couldn’t see an obvious way out.

“An idle threat. Not even you can get through that force field…” Jaeger said as he nodded to Galen who landed a vicious back hand that swept across Lou’s face and knocked him off his feet and into the pool, landing with a splash on his back.

“NOOO!” cried Kara in frustration beating against the impervious walls of the energy field. “You son of a bitch! I’m gonna pull your arms from their sockets for that!” she fumed angrily, striking the force field with all her strength. But she slumped as her blows against the shield had no effect. “But you’re right…”she pretended to sob quietly as she sank to her knees, her shoulders hunched and her head down. Galen smiled as he saw her spirit apparently broken before him. She looked up through straggled strands of her hair, her moist eyes shining brightly. “You are right. I will never get through that force field. But luckily, I can go under it…” She smiled malevolently at Galen as the colour drained from his face. Her fists were a flurry of blurred colours as her arms pummelled into the tiles and concrete of the pool side like a jackhammer.

“STOP HER!” cried Jaeger, as the All-Father looked on, aghast.

“HOW?” answered Galen, desperately. He looked to use Louie to threaten, as a means of controlling her, and then remembered he had just beaten away his only source of leverage.
The Reacher just watched it all impassively. ‘Warriors were idiots’ he thought to himself.

Everyone seemed frozen in shock, fascinated by her escape as she disappeared into the hole she was making in seconds, punching through into the pool a moment later and emerging on the far side in an explosion of water, with Louie coughing in her arms.

“Dang, girl, you took your time…” he said a trifle ungratefully. At least it meant he was ok. She smiled as she set him down at the far side of the pool. As Jaeger shouted orders to the stunned future humans, she shook herself dry in a blur.

“Sorry Lou.” She smiled at him before looking up grimly at Galen and the others. She shot across the pool and slammed into his chest, knocking him backwards into the gym room. But she held on to his wrists. The force of his body being propelled backwards wrenched both his arms, dislocating them from their sockets as he screamed in agony and then passed out as she released him a microsecond later, his body flying back into the gym. She had been almost tempted briefly to hold on to them and physically rip them off but she settled for dislocation. She wasn’t that type of girl, and mad as she was she couldn’t be that brutal when ordinary force would suffice.

“Warned you.” She said simply as she watched him land unconscious with a sense of deep satisfaction.

But rescuing Lou had cost her a few seconds, and even now some of the future humans were stepping back into the pool room brandishing the Chameleon Ore.

She felt the weakness hit her and she grimaced, forced to edge away from them again as they approached. She backed up, stepping around the hole she had made and the still active force-field until her back hit the far wall, edging along it as others with ore pieces ran around the far side of the pool, passed Louie, to stop her escape. She found herself cut off, the only sound echoing across the water was her own heavy breathing and the ticking of the antique wall clock that was now just above her, to her right as she pressed up against the wall. She felt the case of the large antique thermometer beside it just behind her head. Well, one way or another it was about to get pretty hot in here.

“Nothing has changed, Angel. You are still weak before the Chameleon Ore. You and the Negran are still our prisoners.” Jaeger said triumphantly as Lian Cho and Galen were taken away.

But Jaeger was wrong. Something had changed. Unlike before, she now had a plan. It may not work, but she was damned well going to give it her best. All she needed now was for Jaeger to try and figure out what it was that she was thinking. She just wished he’d hurry up.
How strange are the ways of the gods ...........and how cruel.

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valugi
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The chapter being good, I liked the reference to motorhead
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Sorry I didn't say it earlier, great update!
Yes Supergirl, that's right its a necklace for you....What's the matter you don't like Kryptonite?
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tallyho
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Part 13

Kara again felt the Reacher in her mind. ’He comes - be ready. Guard your thoughts. When he lowers his guard to attack you, I will deal with him.’ His words reassured her, but she was still wary of his motives. Almost everything the future humans had told her had been lies or deception, half-truths to hide the true nature of their society. That it was built on suppression and fear, with free thought not tolerated. Against such a background it would have been foolish to trust him. And she was no fool. Very, very faintly, with her super sensitive hearing, she could hear a distant hum. She smiled. But she wanted to end this on her own. She steeled herself. Alright. She was ready for Jaeger now.

She felt it then, inside her mind, a darker sinister, heavier presence somehow than the Reacher. She realised that it was down to their skill – the Reacher was there, but hidden, concealing his presence from Jaeger, but the younger telepath was keen to announce his arrival. Keen and over confident. And malicious.

‘Hello, Angel. Remember me? You cannot win. Yield. Spare this Negran pain. Spare yourself the pain of watching him suffer. He will die, in the end. We will just get someone else you consider a friend- the shopkeeper perhaps, or the traitor Emaritzina. The ‘who’ is irrelevant. But how many innocent people will you let die before you agree to help us, to honour your already given word, hmmmn?’ His voice appeared in her mind like a poison, something deadly that she felt herself react to as her whole body involuntarily tensed. It was insipid, like a slow drip- drip-drip of an acid, eating through anything it came into contact with, unstoppable. She had ideas on how to deal with the physical threats these time travellers posed, but she had no notion as to how to combat this mental violation. She had no choice but to trust the Reacher to deal with Jaeger.

About her, the mix of Warriors, Workers and Scientists closed in, all tense and wary of her. As they approached she felt herself weakening, as before, with the Chameleon Ore drawing her lifeforce from her, seemingly ripping it from each cell of her body as they approached.

‘You think because you escaped the Pressure Prison that you are invulnerable, hmmn? That you can win after all? You are misguided. You only survived because it was not calibrated to that user, but to Jianko, and she …well she sacrificed her mind trying to trace your whereabouts on the alien ship. She has now been sent to greet the First Father…’ Jaeger’s mind-voice said.

His words inside her mind shocked her , if she understood him correctly. ‘You have killed her?!’ she asked mentally.

Of course. She was now vegetative, no further use. Unfortunate. Do you feel no remorse at your part in her death? She was trying to find you, to help you. And now you won’t even aide her kind, in our darkest hour. You turn against us in our time of need. What does that say of you, Angel?

‘I’ll NEVER surrender to scum like you.

The whole exchange had taken microseconds in her mind, but now she had to come up with a way to deal with the small army of assailants marching on her, in a rough semi-circle around her as she stood with her back to the wall. She reached up to her right and pulled the large antique clock from the wall, holding it by the base of its case in both hands. It was much heavier than she anticipated as her strength ebbed away. It was a simple wooden box clock, a rounded face with a pendulum mechanism inside the body of the case. She needed to distract Jaeger and she threw it at the warrior in front of him, swinging it weakly and then releasing it. The warrior dodged it easily, as she hoped he might, causing Jaeger to have to avoid it awkwardly, skipping back clumsily on his toes.

‘I’ll be ok,’ she told herself. ‘I can still win this as long as I’m still in the game. As long as these bastards don’t come any closer than the drain around the pool then I’ll live, and as long as they don’t heap the ore together in one spot I won’t black out…I beat them before in a fist fight I can do it again…’

Oh, child, I am sooo disappointed in you. Your mental defences kept me out for so long, I expected more of a challenge. Did you forget I am here, inside your thoughts, that I know what you think?’ Jaeger’s thoughts intruded once more.

“Hold!” He ordered aloud to the advancing men. “Go no further than the drainage channel, or else you will kill her, and we still need to have her save the First Father. Stack the ore there, it will render her senseless…” he smiled at her triumphantly as he pointed to the spot on the floor.

She grabbed the large antique thermometer case from behind her head and stood defiantly, ready to hurl it too, brandishing it in both hands like a baseball bat. It felt heavier and heavier as the last pieces of the ore were stacked before her across the grille of the drainage channel. She hauled the thermometer up but struggled to hold it in its wooden case, resting it over her shoulder as the weight grew too much. She sank slowly to her knees as the last of the ore was placed on the pile, now some eight or nine pieces in all.

Jaeger grinned at the All-Father as she visibly weakened. But, as he looked back at her, his expression changed as her gaze locked with his. And he read her mind.

“You look really stupid when you smile like that” she said as she pitched forward and swung the thermometer off her shoulder in a weak arc. She was nowhere near hitting any of those around her and her attackers started to laugh until Jaeger, having finally read her true intent shouted out.

“STOP HER!!! STOP HER!!!” his words startling those nearest him. But it was already too late.

The glass case crashed down on the pile of ore with a shattering clash, forcing the two nearest assailants to step back as they were hit on the legs with glass and wooden splinters. Almost in the same instant, but impossible for anyone without Kryptonian hearing to detect, was a second smaller shattering sound. It was the sound of the thermometer’s reservoir breaking over the ore. The reservoir that held the mercury.

She had no idea if this was going to work, as she only knew what the All-Father had told her of the Chameleon Ore – that it mimicked materials on repeated contact and that it always worked on ALL metals. Of course he had said it only worked on solids but she was hoping like mad that Mercury, a liquid at room temperature affected the Ore as a metal would. But now having seen Jaeger’s reaction, she knew it would work. As the bulb shattered and the mercury first flowed over the upper pieces of Ore the friction of its passing caused the strange alien rock to metamorphosize, changing into more mercury, which in turn flowed over more of the rock that became even more mercury and so on. In seconds the pile was dissolving before their eyes, becoming silver liquid metal. As more of the fake Kryptonite became Mercury so its power lessened over her and she helped quicken the process. Realising it was the heat from the friction of the act of rubbing the ore against a material that triggered the reaction, she used her heat vision to warm up the pile, weakly at first but every little bit helped, her heat power becoming stronger as the mass of the ore lessened. As the Ore effectively melted into liquid it flowed through the drainage grille that ringed the pool, taking it forever beyond the clutches of her attackers, just as she intended. Her attackers watched as the silvery stream flowed from sight.

Jaeger looked at her disbelievingly, as the All-Father glared at him angrily.

“Y-you…you wanted this… but you thought you would pass out if it were heaped together…?”Jaeger stammered.

“Yep. And I would have, in a few minutes. Now fellas. Where were we? Oh, yeah I was gonna kick your ass…” she addressed the shocked group of attackers, two of whom were scrabbling to retrieve the Chameleon Ore before it disappeared completely. But the two or three small pieces they managed to grab continued to dissolve in their hands, the mercury dripping through their fingers. One of them spun around on his knees with a triumphant “Aha!”, holding a small nugget of Ore up to keep her at bay which dissolved before his eyes leaving him looking at his empty hands. The droplets of Mercury fell, pinging on the floor with a tiny ringing sound before they burst into even smaller droplets, rounded balls of silver metal that shot off in all directions as if they had their own agenda, and were late for an appointment. He looked up from his fingers just in time to see the red boot that hit his jaw as he flew back into two of his compatriots, knocking them all into the pool.

“Set aside your powers! Fight us fairly, I challenge you!” one of the workers shouted.

She looked at him with derision. “Sooo…let me get this right, you want me to give up all my abilities and the skills and training in using them, that I’ve developed over the years …and fight you outnumbered nine to one whilst you guys still get to use all of your skills and training….? That’s your idea of a fair fight?”

“Er….yes?” said the Worker, finally spotting the flaw in his argument.

SOOOO not gonna happen” Kara said as she blew him powerfully into the pool with her breath.

She made a bee line for Elgin who threw a standard straight left that she caught easily taking particular delight in crushing his fingers and hearing the bones fracture. As she did so, two other attackers closed in from each side. She grabbed one by the throat but happily let the one to her right pummel her ribs ineffectually with a flurry of body blows that she barely felt. She heard one of his hands fracture after five or six hits and he reeled away clutching it. She hurled the one she held by the neck away and then relished the kick to the stomach that she delivered to Elgin. He slid away into the next room on his back with a loud groan, still clutching his broken hand.

Suddenly she felt a stabbing pain in her head like a blinding headache.

‘Remember me?’ said Jaeger as he again appeared in her head…and then disappeared.

Jaeger was confused. One instant he had been about to attack the Angel and then …everything had disappeared. The pool room; the All-Father; the others…everything. He was now in a dark… nothingness, with a dazzling bright spotlight shining down above him. There was no floor, or if there was it was black too, yet he could walk around. As he moved the light followed him. He tried to touch the floor but there was nothing there to hold. He had never encountered anything like this. He was afraid.

‘H-hello?’ he said hesitantly. ‘Is there anybody there? Where am I? What is going on here?’


‘Hello, Jaeger. Dark isn’t it?’ Said the voice of the Reacher.

Reacher? I cannot see you! Thank the First Father! Where are we? What is this place? Has she trapped us with some new power?’


This is…well, I suppose you might call it…your conscience. It’s very empty Jaeger. Dark, and empty…

‘What? What’s going on? What do you mean, why are we here?’ he asked the Reacher, the fear growing in his voice as he spun around desperately, searching the darkness enveloping him for the source of the voice.

Did you think that I never knew you were seeking to usurp me with the All-Father? Did you really think that you could keep such a thing from me?’ the Reacher asked.

Reacher! Reacher It’s not what you think…’ with panic in his voice Jaeger looked around in the darkness.

‘No, I know. It is what YOU think.’ The Reacher answered. ‘The Reacher always chooses a successor, Jaeger, always choses the next Reacher. We select them, we train them in the final secrets of the mind and then we go to greet the First Father. Final Secrets like this one, now, Jaeger. That is the way it is. I did not choose you, Jaeger….’

‘Reacher! This is a mistake, let me explain….’ Jaeger began desperately.

Spare me your lies, Jaeger. I know your thoughts. Do you know why the head of the Telepathic order is called ‘The Reacher’, Jaeger?’

B-because you reach out to recruit the best of the next generation….’

There was a quiet laugh from the darkness. ‘Oh no, Jaeger. That’s not why. It is an amusing side line of the job, I’ll grant you. But that’s not why. We don’t reach OUT, Jaeger. We are called ‘The Reacher’ because we know how to reach IN…’

In?’

Yes, in. To the darkest reaches of a man’s soul. There, we can find what he has hidden, buried from himself, his deepest secrets, his darkest fears. We find them Jaeger. And we make them manifest.'

‘Well, so can I!’ Jaeger said desperately.'I too was taught!'

Not really. A little. A few of the basic drawing skills are taught to those at your level. We let you think that you can do what the Reacher does, in drawing out secrets. You merely think that you can. It’s time to show you the true difference between us.

‘No!’ Jaeger said fearfully.

‘’Would you like to see your fears Jaeger….?’

NO!’

'Let us play with your sanity, Jaeger.’ The Reacher’s laughter echoed in the darkness ‘Let the madness begin…..’

‘NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!


The stabbing pain in Kara’s head lasted but an instant. She looked up quickly at Jaeger to see he had gone ashen-faced, his eyes wide and fearful. But he wasn’t looking at her or indeed anywhere in this room. He seemed to have zoned out completely. The All-Father stood, gripping him by the arms, shaking him for a response.

Tjulias appeared. “Sire there are…hundreds of …things….outside! The perimeter sensors are showing a ring of contacts around the house!”

“The Deracon! That witch has betrayed us to them!” the All-Father glared at her.

“It’s nice to be appreciated…” she said drily. Their arrival explained the low hum she had heard a few minutes earlier. She wondered for a moment how they had found her, but then she recalled something one of the creatures had said. The future humans were not the only race with telepaths.

“Reacher! What will we do?” the All-Father asked, panic stricken.

The Reacher laid a reassuring hand on his patriarch’s shoulder, squeezing it gently. “Stop.” He said quietly.

Galen staggered back into the room, still groggy and with only one of his dislocated shoulders back in place. “Leave her! Arm yourselves! The Deracon are here.”

“Give it up guys. It’s over.”

“AND FACE ANNIHILATION AT THE HANDS OF THOSE VERMIN? TO MEEKLY SUBMIT, AFTER ALL WE HAVE BEEN THROUGH? NEVER!” the All-Father cried.

“LEAVE THE TRAITOR. FORM UP! WE WILL SHOW THIS WORLD JUST WHAT IT MEANS TO BE IMPERIAL TROOPS! “ Galen ordered. Those that she hadn’t incapacitated formed a rank with a smattering of bladed weapons issued to them, some slowly emerging from the pool to form up.

They were brave, Kara conceded. If nothing else was admirable about them, they were not cowards. She sighed. They stood no chance but she couldn’t stand by and allow a blood bath. At least forming a row made it easier for her to deal with them. ‘Men!’ she thought disparagingly ‘way too much testosterone flying around’. A tiny dark part of her thought ‘let it happen, let them pay for the horror they had inflicted on others’. But she could not. But her fear was not for their safety but that more of the Deracon/Ne’th might be killed. After the slaughter she had perpetrated on them earlier she could not standby if there was a chance to end this without bloodshed. She sighed, heavily. Then she shot along the line with the speed of a bullet, her fist slamming into one after the other, causing them to spin back, reeling as she knocked them senseless.

They recoiled back, collapsing in various stages of semi consciousness. But not all the warriors had formed up. Only Larengo remained. He was on the far side of the pool. As he looked at her desperately he hauled up Louie by his shirt, threatening his throat with a small ceremonial blade.

Suddenly she felt a stinging pain again as she sensed the small piece of Kryptonite appear behind her.

“Finish her, Elgin!” the All-Father barked.

She spun around to see the battered form of the warrior sway forward unsteadily into the room, his broken hand cradled across his stomach as he leaned heavily on the door frame.

‘Persistent little beggar’ she thought to herself. She backed off lifting her cape high on her forearm, providing the flimsiest of shields as she cowered behind it, peeking timidly over the top. Or so it appeared. She had thought of this solution whilst in the pressure prison, and as such had spent the last twenty minutes performing constant calculations, allowing for the resonance off the partially tiled floor of the pool, and indeed the reverberations that would be rebounded off the surface of the water itself, preparing for the time it might come in handy. Each change in her position within the room meant she was subconsciously recalculating. She refined those calculations now at the moment she needed them. She just needed a scenario where the All- Father was behind her victim, and as Elgin advanced shakily with the small piece of Kryptonite that precise alignment arose.
She had lifted her cape to hide her mouth from the Warrior.

“QUICKLY, THROW IT INTO THE WATER YOU IDIOT! DO IT NOW, YOU FOOL !!! THROW IT ! THROW IT IN THE POOL!!!” the All –Father bellowed from behind Elgin.

Conditioned to obey his ruler unquestioningly, Elgin, perplexed, dutifully turned and threw the Kryptonite into the water hurriedly, wondering what was happening.

Kara smiled triumphantly as the echo of her impersonation faded to leave a stunned and bewildered silence. She had perfectly matched her voice to the patriarch and with her special abilities had worked out the precise angles to project her voice echo off the walls and the water as if it came from the All-Father himself, from behind Elgin. She had to admit it, it was even better than her Clint Eastwood impression.

“WHAT…? WHY…? Y-You IDIOT! I-I DID NOT SAY TO DO THAT! IT WAS HER! IT WAS HER YOU FOOL!!!” This time the real All-Father shouted.

Elgin looked confused and apologetic, before going bright red. He marched on her angrily. With the tiny piece of Kryptonite sinking to the bottom of the pool and its draining effect on her powers diffused through the body of water, whilst she could still feel the sapping presence of the dreaded ore it was a minor annoyance, nothing more.

Elgin never knew what hit him. But it was blonde, and beautiful, with blue eyes and a ferocious temper when roused. Though it was her fist, it could have been a jackhammer. He collapsed in a heap, dropping into the pool, the cold water reviving him as he groggily surfaced. Larengo had made up his mind and clutched Louie to his chest, standing behind him, holding the laser blade at the janitor’s throat.

“STAY BACK, ANGEL!!! Or I shall slice this Negran a new mouth.”

“Then what?” Said Louie.

The question threw Larengo completely. “I do not understand. You will be slain.”

“Yeah, I knows. I got that part. Point is, then what?” Louie persisted.

“Well...then…er…” Larengo was stumped for a response.

That’s it? That’s your plan? You gonna cut me up with that there weird lookin’ knife? And then you aint got shit? So jus’ what you think she gonna do to ya then, huh? You a slick dude, huh? Fast, like?” Larengo finally understood and nodded. “That girl’s got ice in her veins when she chooses, an jus’ you look at her now – you folks got her madder than I ever seen ‘er. You folks been callin’ her an Angel? Well, she sure is, she’s the Angel o’ Justice, but she ain’t blind, an’ you try an’ cut me up an she gonna become the Angel o’ Vengeance, make no mistake. You take a good look. She got a pride in her eyes that put shame on you. She got a fire in her belly, an’ a thunder in her heart, an’ that whole storm’ll be comin’ for you, yessir. You do know she’s faster than a speedin’ bullet, right? So…are you fast-fast or just fast-compared-to-any-ordinary-Joe-fast?” Larengo started to re-evaluate his situation. “Now there ain’t no way this is gonna end well for you, you do see that right?” Louie persisted.

“SHUT UP! OR I WILL SILENCE YOU PERMANENTLY!” Larengo said finally losing his patience.

“Son, I don’ts really care either way, at my age. An’ the thing is, you gonna be deader than Ross Perot’s election chances. But before that happens, she’s gonna snap your arm an’ bust your balls way afore you gets anywhere near close to cuttin’ me up. An anoth-“

“Lou.” Kara said from behind him.

“-er thing, I reckons that you folks don-“ he continued.

“Lou. It’s done.” She tapped him on the shoulder to finally make him turn and see her. She waggled her fingers in a ‘here-I-am’ kind of wave, pulling a modest smile.

“Damn, girl! That was FAST!” he said admiringly, looking down at the prone body of Larengo.

“Like you said Lou, speeding bullet an’ all that…” she smiled.

“Yeah but I thought that was bullshit they puts in the papers.”

“HEY! Thanks!” she said in mock anger. “You ok?”

“Still wet, an’ a bit cold, but yeah, I’m fine.”

She stood back and blew a powerful blast at him, slowly turning him for a few seconds as she dried him off.

“Shit!!!Wait ‘til I tells the guys I had a blow job off of Supergirl!” he said with a grin.

“LOU!” She said scoldingly, narrowing her eyes, then smiled. “Stay here, don’t go outside, ok?” she held him by the shoulder as he nodded, then flew across the pool giving the spot with the Kryptonite a wide berth. She landed before a panic stricken All-Father.

“Tjulias! Do something! Reacher! REACHER, YOU ARE SWORN TO PROTECT ME! ATTACK HER! NOW!”

The Reacher put a hand on Tjulias arm and shook his head, stopping him from any action. “It is done.” He addressed the patriarch. “Our course is run. Our time is ended. The time has come to meet our fate, such as it is…” he gripped the All-Father’s forearm reassuringly, staring deep into his eyes. “Calm yourself, old friend. Let us go to our end with dignity… A dignity we denied so many of our people…”

“YOU CANNOT DO THIS! YOU CANNOT CHANGE THE FUTURE THIS WAY!”

“But its ok for you guys to?” she asked sternly.

“WE ARE ALL THAT IS LEFT OF HUMANITY! WE ARE THE LAST OF THE HUMAN RACE IN OUR TIME! AND YOU CONDEMN US TO EXTINCTION!!!”

“You may be the last of Mankind but you guys threw away any last shred of humanity you possessed centuries ago. And if you have no humanity, how can you claim to be human?”

The Reacher smiled and stepped forward, laying a hand on the shoulder of the patriarch.

The All-Father seemed to calm himself, his eyes wide and unseeing. Kara realised that the Reacher had mesmerised him in some way.

“Gather the others.” The Reacher addressed Tjulias. “Tell them it is over.”

“How could you betray us Angel? Tjulias asked in disbelief. “When you swore to defend us?”

“I did defend you. I just lost is all.” Supergirl said tersely. “And like I told you guys right from the start – I’m no Angel.”



“Why did you help me?” Kara asked the Reacher as Tjulias gathered the other Scientists and Breeders.

“I told you, I believe in the Angel…” He smiled. “How old do you think I am, child?”

“Sixty five, seventy?” she guessed.

“I am one hundred and forty eight sol cycles.” He said, smiling at her shock. “Regeneration therapy. I have served him for four decades, and two other All-Fathers before him. I am tired. And when we came here, to this time…I started to explore peoples’ minds here… and I felt young again! All was new! But more than that, there was no FEAR. No deep routed, ingrained terror of the very state that you serve. Oh, people had worries and troubles yes, but minor, trivial things. They could think and largely do as they wished! You cannot begin to understand how amazing that is to us. We have only had tolerated state doctrine for centuries. Such freedom here! It made me…want to lose…” he said quietly, staring at her with eyes of wonder.

There was a splash as Elgin set both palms on the poolside and hauled himself half up from the pool, awkwardly due to his crippled hand. A red boot appeared before his nose. He froze and followed it up the shapely leg to gaze up at her face, a stern mask of purpose that glared down at him.

“Just when you thought it was safe to get back out of the water, huh?” she said matter-of-factly. ‘Not quite the tag line from 'Jaws 2', but Rob would have liked that’ she thought to herself. She swept her foot into his jaw and he flew back, this time unconscious as he landed on his back in the water.

The Reacher stared after him. “So many are like that. Mindless. Just following orders. This time, this time has shown me what it means to be free. And how wrong we have been, How terribly wrong and cruel…”

“I have spoken with the aliens, The Ne’th, what you call the Deracon. They only know of the patriarch, they want him for war crimes, there is no specific evidence against any of the others, or you, directly. You will be taken back to your time, back to Earth…” she said.

The Reacher thought for a moment. “So Earth was spared after all?” She nodded as he continued. “The others…they can go back. They were just pawns. I stood by him for forty years, I cannot abandon him now when he needs me the most. I will share his fate.”

“But you don’t have to!” she insisted.

“Yes I do. And some might say I deserve to.” He smiled.

“If only the Empire were ruled by men such as you instead of men such as him…” Supergirl said wistfully as she looked at the composed but dazed All- Father, her hands on hips.

The Reacher looked at her aghast. “Dear Angel…don’t you understand, even now? It was.”



EPILOGUE.

The next day Kara breezed into Rob’s place as Linda, to check on her charges around early afternoon. Almost all of the future humans had elected to go back to their own time with the Ne’th, though the Warriors and the Telepaths would face the justice of their enemy. Only the Breeders had decided to stay and join Emaritzina, fearful of what awaited them in a changed society. Elle, Tracy and a third Breeder, Rian had chosen to stay behind. Short of anywhere for them to stay whilst she cleaned up the mansion and swept it for any surviving future technologies she had left them with Rob overnight.
As she walked in, the place was packed. She frowned, looking confused. He smiled and waved pointing to a single table which had ‘Reserved for Brown Eyes’ hand written on a makeshift sign.
She smiled and made her way to it.

“What gives?” she said as she sat down, frowning as she glanced around. He flopped down onto the spare chair opposite, beaming.

“Its them lasses! Word got out I had four foxes waiting tables for me! All the guys turned up to clock ‘em. All the girls have turned up cos this is where all the guys are!” he smiled happily. He looked exhausted.

“Thanks for taking care of them Rob.” She said and meant it. “It was crazy last night and I just needed to sort things out.

“You kidding? Who wouldn’t wanna sleep with four gorgeous gals like that!” he winked at her.

She looked at him sharply, then cast a quick scan through the floor at the apartment upstairs. She saw the two crumpled double beds in each bedroom and then spotted the bedding on the sofa, together with a disarray of male clothing. She smiled.

“How they working out?”

“They are shit.” He said happily.

“Oh,…” she didn’t quite know what to say. “Sorry…”

“Oh, it’s not their fault. But they are useless. They just stand around looking at things waiting for stuff to happen. They just stare at the microwave or the toaster without switching it on. I think its cos of the accident. Musta been awful.”

“Accident!!?” she said with alarm.

“Yeah, they’ve all had emergency tracheotomies…” he tapped his neck to indicate the spot where the girl’s translator dials were, “and they’ve had plates put in their heads…poor kids.” he tapped his temple where their thought computers were housed. “Keep them hidden with hair or headbands or scarves or hats. They didn’t half have funny clothes too…these like body-suit things that changed like camouflage…”

“Oh, er…don’t worry about that.” She said awkwardly. She looked around where the future girls were clearly the centre of attention for the boys, and the boys were clearly the centre of attention for the female undergrads. Well the boys and R.V. Jones. He was on his back groaning contentedly as three of them fussed around him stroking his belly. The dog saw Linda and his upside down smile broadened, as he seemed to flop a paw in her direction, almost in a wave. She smiled.

Emaritzina saw her and waved, then she shouted out across the café “Hello! We all slept in the nude last night upstairs, with him!” she pointed to Rob who blushed as all eyes male and female turned towards him. The male eyes were envious, the female eyes incredulous.

“You didn’t…?” she asked him slightly alarmed.

“Give over. They did offer mind. All of them. But well… I’m old enough to be her Dad. Told ‘em they need to be careful. Need someone to keep an eye on them, that lot.”

"You're a good man, Rob" she said.

"Yeah, good and stupid."

“I’ll have them out of your hair by tonight. Actually they have a mansion to move into. And funny you should say that… They could do with a chaperone. A guy I could trust, live there keep an eye on them for a while, ‘til they’ve settled in…keep away any unwanted attention….”

“You want me to live in a luxury mansion with four stunning young girls who constantly ask me for sex? Gee that’s a tough call….” He said with a serious expression. He nodded acceptance as she raised her eyes to offer him the job. “As long as I can bring Harvey?” she nodded and he grinned at his dog who waddled slowly over to be patted. “An’ it aint too hard a commute into here.”

“I’ve got something for you” she said as she took a bundle out of her shoulder bag and placed it on the table. “Kind of a ‘thank you’, from our mutual friend…” she smiled.

“Aunty Pam?” he asked, clearly bewildered.

“What ? No! A certain special lady…” he still looked blank. “Oh, for godsakes a certain very special lady who can –“she started to whisper “fly!

“Oh! Right! ‘Cos I wondered how you knew my Aunty Pam…” he said as she rolled her eyes. He opened the bundle. “Welsh Cakes! And their still warm. Hang on that’s my Mam’s tea towel!!” he said.

“Well they should be warm, I only picked them up from your moms’ 10 minutes ago, fresh from the oven.” He stared at her open mouthed. “I called her, asked her to bake up a batch for you, as a thank you” she smiled as he delightedly bit into one with a satisfied “HMMMMN.”

“Your Mom is nice, though I think she thinks you and our mutual friend are an item….” She said with amusement.

“That explains the text I got just now- it just said 'She’s a keeper’ ” he laughed. “Look, about your special little secret. I’m useless at names. Dunno why, just am. Can remember who was on Starsky and Hutch as a guest in an episode in 1975, just can’t remember names of people I’ve met. If…if you can blank my mind or somethin’ …then…then you should. Like hypnotism or something. Make me forget what’s what.” He looked at her seriously.

“Rob…” she didn’t quite know what to say.

“Or…I try and chose not to know.” He said.

“What?” she said confused.

“Albert Speer, Nazi architect fella. Served 20 years for War Crimes after the War. Claimed whilst he’d heard rumours about Dachau and Belsen, and Treblinka and Sorbibor and Auschwitz…he chose not to confirm the rumours- he denied himself the certain knowledge of what was going on. He chose not to know. He claimed there was a difference between knowing and choosing not to know. I’m gonna do that. I saw you go out, and then on the vid a sec later I saw Supergirl. Got it right at last.” he smiled at her. ”But I didn’t see you become her. You could have gone off somewhere the second she arrived and the camera didn’t pick it up an’ of course now the vid is gone so…who knows? I’m fat an’ useless an’ I make mistakes. Like maybe the tea wasn’t that hot, that I spilled on your hand. So maybe I don’t think I know what I think I know. Maybe you are just Jane.”

She smiled. “I’m definitely not Jane, but just stick to Brown Eyes.” She tapped his ‘reserved’ sign on the table. “So what’re you saying Rob?”

“I’m sayin’ we just carry on, an’ I don’t know shit. I’m sayin’, nice as these are… YOU can’t ever get me Mam’s Welsh cakes in ten minutes again…. Cos that’s something Supergirl might do… An’ that kinda would mean you are her. Rather than you might be her.”

“Gotcha.” She smiled.

“An’ I’m also sayin’ you pretend to know a few less film quotes when we do that game. Bloody cheater.” He smiled at her with a mock frown.

“Okey dokey.” She smiled back at him.

"Them creepy crawlies coming back?" She shook her head. "Phew! Scared the hell outta me that swarm did. Thought it was revenge."

"Revenge?"

"Thought they were coming for me cos of all the spiders I killed. Aunty Pam always said ' Nature always has a plan, to undo the hand of man.' "

"Wise lady." Kara conceded as she thought about recent events.

"Not really. Mad as a box of frogs."He said. "All done now, then, thank god. Oh, and I thought you might need a job, as you’re always in here broke…” he slid a folded flyer over to her. “It’s just a waitress job, but it’s something.”

“I thought you had all the waitresses you needed Rob?” she asked as she opened the paper.

He smiled as she read the flyer in disbelief.

“ROB!!! It’s for HOOTERS!” she shouted at him in surprise.

“Well… you got the right…er…CV…” he smiled as he glanced down at her modest but perfect chest.

“I can’t work there!” she cried still amazed he had suggested it.

“Why not? She can’t. But you could. Be perfect cover.” He said with a smile.

“Well yeah, but…” she shook her head. ”Well, nothing against those who do, but I can’t work there, I might have to fly off at a moments’ notice. Literally.”

“Oh, yeah. Oh, well. Worth a try” he said with a wicked grin. “Woulda loved to see you in the top an’ short-shorts…” he laughed as she slapped his arm.

“Ain’t we a pair, Raggedy man…” she said with a smile.

Mad Max! Beyond Thunderdome!” he grinned at her happily.

A little while later, as she left, Emaritzina waved her goodbye and Kara gave a casual glance, smile and wave back. She was without the long sleeved shimmersuit for once and was instead wearing an old Iron Maiden T-shirt of Rob’s that appropriately had 'Stranger in a Strange Land' emblazoned on it. It was the last chance that Kara had to notice the tiny blue circular bruises on Em’s forearm before the disease went back into a dormant state, but she had a lot on her mind and against the dark caramel skin colour she didn’t spot them. They would not flare up again for some four decades.




A few weeks later, on the eve of the 21st of the following month she swung by the Metro Tower to see Louie. She still hadn’t decided what she would do. At some point tomorrow she would save a small boy who would grow up and have a son whose ideas would warp mankind for centuries into a cruel and brutal society of intolerant and indiscriminate murderers and oppressors. Mankind would be ruled by fascists. Yet did she have the right to NOT save him? How could she judge someone for something that not even they but their son would do, a son that was not even born yet?

"Have you been cheating me at Blackjack, Lou?" . She asked with a shake of her head.

"That depends." He said defensively.

"On what?" She said quizzically.

"Did you see me cheatin'?"

"Well, no...but-"

"Then I ain't been cheatin'." He said indignantly.

"But I wasn't looking for it. And I saw you cheat the card cut..."

"Hell girl, you got x-ray eyes, I jus' evened things up is all. You ain't paid up anyhow, so we'll call it even." He said as he couldn't look her in the eye. She smiled.

She sat brooding opposite the old man as he sipped his coffee and watched her stare at hers, her monosyllabic answers to his questions said unthinkingly. Louie was the only one who had any knowledge of what had happened at the mansion. Finally she told him of her dilemma.

“So? You let people die all the time, this ain’t no different.” He said, matter-of-factly.

“What? How can you say that Lou!” she said genuinely offended.

“Cos it’s true, that’s why.” He said. “You sittin’ here wi’ me jus’ chewin’ the cud now, an’ somewhere outs there, somewhere in the worl’ someone is a dyin’ who needs your help. You knows it, but you jus’ sittin’ here feelin’ sorry for yoursel’. Why? Cos you can’t be everywhere an’ you can’t save everyone all the time. You got to make the tough calls, you gotta have some down time. You jus’ do what you can when you can, same as us all. This ain’t no different. You can’t be everywhere. So a li’l boy is gonna die. Well one’s a-dyin’ somewhere right now, as we speak. An’ there goes another. Folks is dyin’ all over, all the time. You can’t save two folks at two places at the same time on the other side of the worl’. So a boy is gonna die tomorrow that you s’posed to save. So, let him die. Save someone else, someone whose kids aint gonna preach a poison of hate an’ intolerance to the world. I won’t weep for him, an’ neither should you.”

She took a deep breath. Lou was right after a fashion. She had a duty to help people. If she was helping someone else, then she couldn’t save the one she was supposedly destined to save. All she knew about the incident was that it was in Metro City tomorrow, with some accounts on the media orb citing a flood, some a fire, the account in the journal referring alternately to both. So tomorrow, she would be anywhere but in this city.

“Thanks, Louie.” She said tersely. Maybe Rob was right too, maybe you could choose not to know what was going on. Or what you hadn’t done. Maybe.




Throughout the following day she was anywhere but in her home town; all over Europe; all over Africa; in Russia; in Iceland; in Japan and finally in China; she flew here and there constantly, not stopping for an instant other than to accept the gratitude of those she rescued briefly. She had helped out at a minor Earthquake in Japan and various car crashes and a small plane crash throughout the day, but her most rewarding rescue came when she had diverted water from a dam to subdue a fire that was raging in a flimsily built school in China. The fire and flood connection to the little she knew about the First Father unsettled her. But she reacted on instinct. She couldn’t let dozens of children die especially as the incident with the All-Father occurred in Metro City, not in China. But even so, when she realised it was a girls’ school it was much to her relief. But as she flew away she didn’t notice the family of American tourists who waved her goodbye with the rest of the large Chinese crowd.

The man of the family addressed his brood. “You see that? You see that girl? That’s what a gal from the US of A can do, right there, yessir! Better’n all these damn shriekin’ gooks running around like they don’t know shit! You see all that, son? When you get home, you make sure you write down what you seen, it’s important you don’t forget stuff like that. Important for a man to know his thoughts an’ writin’ ‘em down gets them ordered, gets them proper. That’s what all great leaders do son, they write stuff down so they remember ‘em. Only don’t you put any of these damn Gooks in there; you change it, don’t want people thinkin’ you’re some kinda Gook lover. Only came on this shitty holiday cos your Ma won it for us in that there magazine. Yessir, be good to get back home to Metro.”

“I will, Pa” said his seven year old son. “I’ll say she saved me, Pa!” he said excitedly.

A vicious backhand landed across the boy’s face as the man rounded on him. “Dammit boy! What I told you?! You wanna get on in this world you need influence, you need to build bridges, make contacts, an’ talk proper. Your Ma an’ me ain’t savin’ every nickel to send you to some fancy college when you’re older for you to just come back soundin’ like you been sittin’ on a porch all your life. You talk like that an’ them college kids ain’t gonna bother with you none, an’ if they don’t bother with you then how you gonna network, huh? How you gonna use them? That’s what they calls it networkin’. You gotta say things the proper way, like I taught you, an’ then you can get on, be somebody. You hear me?”

“Yes, Father.”


THE END.
Last edited by tallyho 6 years ago, edited 12 times in total.
How strange are the ways of the gods ...........and how cruel.

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valugi
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great end of story, congratulations for the work, and the timelines were not changed
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DrDominator9
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Fantastic story from start to finish, Tallyho. Thoughtfully handled peril with give-and-take consequences that I've come to expect from you. And your characterization of SG throughout was both heroic, noble and endearing. Thanks for such a beautifully written epic. :thumbup: Two thumbs up.
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SGWriter
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Excellent job Tallyho. Loved how SG went from on the ropes to where she controlled things at the end. Lots of great personal moments too for her through out the story. Ending was a bit sad though seeing the cycle start again, hate those damn causaility loops LOL.

Looking forward to your next SG project!
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tallyho
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Thanks guys very flattered.
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ksire_99
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Thanks for the amazing Supergirl story! You are getting better by leaps and bounds :D
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tallyho
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Thanks guys, I'm glad you liked it and I'm pleased the way it turned out myself.

As threatened at the beginning here is the list of those who commented on my first two SG stories and whose user names I have hidden in this story. I shall list them here and have now edited the story to show them in bold.

They are in no particular order and depending upon how they were used some appear multiple times.
As I said at the beginning SOME ARE PHONETIC, some are splitover several words and some like SGZ6 gave me little to work with! ;)

Anyway, here they are I hope you had fun spotting them or yourselves, thank you again for your comments and support

sgz6
tmon
Visitor
Caniac89
Dravatar
Dr Dominator9
L.M. Tracy
g-reaper2001
valugi
Sam the Wise 2
Literary Gary
ksire99
Centurion

Just a heads up in a week or so I shall post a link on my Mayan Prophecy story to this one, don't bother reading it if you've read the story its just a thank you and a link so anyone can follow the loose trilogy of past, present and future villains.

Thanks again all, any new readers please comment or pm me with any thoughts.
Merry Christmas
T.
Last edited by tallyho 10 years ago, edited 1 time in total.
How strange are the ways of the gods ...........and how cruel.

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SGWriter
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Hey I worked out well as space-time coordinates! :D

Appreciate the cameo Tallyho and congrats again on the great Supergirl stories for the year. I look forward to future adventures penned by ya in the future.

Happy Holidays :smart:
Yes Supergirl, that's right its a necklace for you....What's the matter you don't like Kryptonite?
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Apologies if this is seen as a bump but I cant help that.

I found this article in the Guardian recently and as its intrinsic to the above story I thought I would post the link here for anyone who read the above and was interested. I was previously edging on the side of it being a forgery

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/ ... ys-scholar
How strange are the ways of the gods ...........and how cruel.

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