Superwoman: For Tomorrow #2: The Final Stand of Old Krypton

Sat on the roof of one of Metropolis’ fire houses, Jon Kent flaunted several of the rules and regulations of his chosen profession and puffed on a cigar. He marvelled at the crystal clear night sky of the city, the sight one of the many things that reminded him of his home on the edge of the Jewel Mountains of Krypton. He reclined against the wall and stretched, working out the kinks in his back, making sure to scratch the itch out of his beard that had nagged at him since climbing up to the rooftop.

Jon Kent heard the news along with everyone else. Kal-El, aka Superman, was gone. For how long, no one knew. The news held a significance to Jon, due to the fact he was Kru-El, half-brother of Kal, and had vowed revenge on his sibling for reasons… that seemed to elude him at this time.

The blurry spells were falling over him more often than not, these days. He would feel the anger build up in him, a hatred of Kal-El he couldn’t rationalise, but then it would drift away, and he would realise he didn’t actually care about hurting his brother.

What did it matter?

“…Kru?”

Jon looked back and saw Supergirl floating in the sky. A pang of regret stabbed at his heart, and again, he didn’t know why. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, my name’s Jon. Jon Ke--”

Kara had floated down as he spoke, and before he finished speaking she embraced him tightly.

Kru had taken the name ‘Jon Kent’ as a stab at Kal-El’s human identity. He’d lost his powers in events that again, he could not recall, and he was drawn to the role of protector, again to mock his half-brother’s efforts. His DNA was, for all intents and purposes, human. He performed no evil deed, he simply existed to spite Kal-El. He claimed ignorance of being Kru-El.

“Hey now, what’s wrong?” said Jon, despite himself. He patted her on the back of her head awkwardly in an attempt to comfort her.

“Kal’s gone,” said Kara. “It’s only us now.” She looked up at him, her eyes red and puffy from the tears. “I don’t know what happened to you after you went along with General Zod. I just know that I miss you. And I don’t care anymore.”

Jon blinked. “I-- I--” He felt something inside him give up. He returned her embrace, even though he didn’t understand why he felt inclined to do so to this girl, and gently said, “Okay, let’s figure this out.”


Deep into Sector 2813, a small space craft floated, scanning the population of a relatively new world within its range. The scans were subtle, undetectable by even the most advanced means. The craft itself was ancient, an old recon shuttle from the days of armada and war a certain alien race thrived within. Finding the ship was relatively easy for the captain, bending it to her will was even easier.

“Well, look what we have here,” said Faora Zod, looking down at the peaceful residents of New Krypton. “A peoples simply waiting to be subjugated.” She turned back and looked at the sparse crew she’d bought with her on the reconnaissance mission. They numbered just under a dozen, their grotesque shapes indicative of their dark hearts, and a more worthy crew of her name she could hardly imagine. “Contact the hive. Prepare to take back what is deservedly mine.”


“…You think you’re having the worst day,” said Karen Starr, as she spoke into her phone while rushing down the corridor flanked by a legion of Starr Industries’ best lawyers. The US Capitol Building was not where she wanted to be right now, but there was work to be done, even if it wasn’t going the way she wanted. She was dressed for a corporate fight, black jacket and pencil skirt, white blouse and red scarf. “They’ve pushed back the hearing again. After all that prep, and they’re still working on a full congressional review on the project. I’m pissed.”

A voice behind Karen piped up. “Ms Starr--”

“Ralph, I don’t care where we are, I’ll swear if I want to,” snapped Karen. “So, you were saying how terrible your day was going?”

“My day is going pretty well, actually,” responded Linda Danvers, aka Kara Zor-El, currently sat in a Midway City café sipping her coffee. She wore an Ivy Town University t-shirt, skirt and a varsity jacket she’d bought on a bet. Her short blonde hair was hidden by a brunette wig, and her unearthly blue eyes were obscured by the thick glasses she wore to hide her identity. “Just catching up on some papers, expanding my horizons. Lena has some proposals for utilising the Phantom Zone as… well, as a lot of things. I probably shouldn’t have shared the projector schematics with her, but the work she’s done so far with Kryptonian tech is amazing. I just hope we can sneak more stuff out under the radar to make the world a better place. And Karen-- I never said my day was the worst. I’m meeting Kru-- Jon-- in a bit. And then it’s the anniversary…”

“Sue me, I’m projecting,” said Karen. “We grew a world from rocks and dust, sis. We remade Krypton. Now we have the opportunity to terraform the moon, to reseed the Sahara, and the government are terrified we’re going to use that technology for evil. I mean, good grief.”

“Can you blame them? I mean, they established the laws prohibiting research into that area as soon as we came out with our first-- no, I’m okay thank you,” said Linda, waving away the barrista, “sorry. They want oversight. They want control. We just have to keep working on convincing the world that the project is worthwhile and not some… what did Congressman Zeus call it?”

“Something misogynistic. It doesn’t bear repeating. And anyways, you’ve changed your tune, haven’t you? I remember when I told you that research into the field of designer terraforming was banned before we had a chance to actually develop it further. They did the same thing with cloning, after all.”

“Karen, if anyone can get this pushed through and let us do the work that’ll make the world a better place, it’s going to be you. You didn’t call yourself Pushover Woman, did you?”

“Ah, c’mon, flattery will get you everywhere,” said Karen. “Right, I’m about to go speak to the senator who promised that we wouldn’t be messed around this time around. I think his ass his due a meeting with my foot.”

“Ms Starr--!”

“Ralph, I swear to God!” snapped Karen. “These people… I’ll speak to you later, kiddo. I hope today goes well. The anniversary… well, I’ll speak to you later. Stay safe.”

“You too,” said Linda. She locked her phone and placed it back on the table, then began to drum her fingers on the table, listening out into the distance, toward…


Currently, every wall of Lena Luthor’s office was plastered with post-its and pages torn from notebooks. She’d found that the best way to think was analogue, and her genius-level intellect was currently in overdrive. She took a remote from her desk and pressed a button that rendered the ink on her work invisible, then stood as she anticipated her secretary’s voice--

“Your eleven o’clock is here.” Lena ran a hand through the left side of her red hair, the right side shaved bald. “They want to sweep the room for recording equipment, as agreed, they say.”

“Of course they do. Send them in.”

Stood behind her cluttered desk, Lena Luthor cleared her throat and readied herself for the worst meeting of the year. She’d been putting it off for months, but there comes a time when the cogs of the military–industrial complex have to keep turning, and Lena’s hand was forced.

Firstly, a squad of masked soldiers entered the room and began to sweep it for recording equipment. They spent five minutes moving across the office, their state-of-the-art technology buzzing quietly as it scanned for anything that might record the conversations they were about to have. One soldier patted Lena down, who shook her head at the act, and when they were happy, they let. A moment after, three men entered.

“Hello, Ms Luthor,” said Major William Eiling, the son of the once great, but now disgraced, Wade Eiling. “Thank you for taking the time to see us today.”

“Thank you for ensuring that this room is bug-free,” said Lena. “It’s always an obvious concern.”

The Major was flanked by two five-star Generals. Lena recognised them as Bradford Burke and Michael Scholes. Both war heroes. Both men who had done business with her father. Her resentment was palpable.

“I’d offer you a drink, but I don’t anticipate this meeting taking too long,” said Lena.

Eiling looked around the office and cocked an eyebrow. “My pops always said this office was always the weirdest place to walk into. Always empty-- OCD tidy, I mean. Seems like you take a different approach to running LexCorp.”

“L-Corp. We rebranded.”

“Oh, sorry,” said William, a glint in his eye. “Not for misnaming your company. I did that on purpose. Just generally.”

“Is this how you intend to do business with me?” said Lena, looking at Burke and Scholes.

“I think the Major is confused as to why his presence was requested,” said Burke. “You did convene this meeting, Ms Luthor. Lex never saw anyone under five stars.”

“I’m not my father,” said Lena. “I guess I’m slumming.”

Eiling chuckled and strolled around the room, looking over all the now empty post-its and papers. “Yeah, your PR campaign pushed that hard for a good long time, but then Lex went and got himself pardoned. So if he’s a good guy, what does that make you?”

“The last honest Luthor,” said Lena. “Because my father is no hero. He just knows how to manipulate that PR machine like nobody else. I’d have hired him onto my staff if he didn’t rocket off into space. That was a lie, of course. You seem to deal well with those.”

Before Eiling could retort, Scholes put up his hand. “So-- why are we here, Ms Luthor?”

“You’ve wanted a meeting with me for years. I’ve put it off. But you said something that interested me last time around-- and god bless your commitment, those weekly requests for a meeting were absolutely darling-- so here we are.”

“Your terraforming project with Starr Industries,” said Burke.

“The one that you’re blocking,” said Lena.

“Not us,” said Scholes, holding his hands up in surrender. “But you have to understand that there are concerns if we begin unleashing such terrifying change across the face of the world. There has to be regulation, there has to be oversight.”

“Or you could nip the project in the bud,” said Lena. “Which you-- sorry, they-- have done. But we’re beating around the bush, so let’s quit that. Say your piece.”

“We’d like to help grease the wheels, help you get this project where it needs to be, out there in the world,” said Burke.

Scholes nodded enthusiastically. “Imagine, terraforming deserts like the Great Basin, Mojave, Nevada--”

“The Nevada desert is part of the Great Basin, General,” said Lena.

Scholes rolled his eyes but pressed on, “Imagine making those places hospitable. There are so many wastelands that would benefit, especially with the country’s booming population. It would be game changing.”

“I know that,” said Lena. “But don’t think I haven’t noticed your very insular viewpoint. This isn’t just about North America. This is about the world.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll get to that,” said Eiling.

“So, why would you grease the wheels?”

“Your father had a unique relationship with the US military, Ms Luthor,” said Burke. “I worked with him for nearly two decades. He provided us with a class of weapon that ensured that the United States were untouchable. I would like to renew that relationship with you.”

Lena smiled. “Oh.”

“My pops hated yours,” said Eiling, “but he always said he was the smartest sonofabitch he’d ever met. We think you’ve got the same smarts.”

“Sounds about right,” said Lena. “And that’s partly requested your presence, Will. Your dad was a traitor and you had to work damn hard to work your way up the ranks after he was outed as being a bastard. And you two, you were there, taking advantage of my father’s evil. See, here’s what I don’t get. Why would you--“ She pointed at Will. “-- After every evil act your father commit, double down on that way of life? You’re a dick too, aren’t you, Will?”

Eiling bristled but said nothing.

“It’s simple, Ms Lu-- Lena--“ said Scholes, “you start providing us with the level of weaponry we had from your father, and we know you’re more than capable of doing that, and we get congress to repeal some of the laws that make your dreams currently illegal. How does that sound? One good thing for one good thing.”

“You need to leave,” said Lena.

“So you’re committing to the good guy act?” said Eiling.

“Unlike my father, I don’t feel to make a second fortune on the side building weapons,” said Lena.

Burke shook his head. “You know, this isn’t some secret vendetta against you, or Starr. The implications of introducing the terraforming technology to Earth is terrifying…”

“I’m disappointed in you,” said Lena. She gestured toward Eiling. “You especially. We were in the same boat but you took the path of least resistance. You could have at least tried not ending up a bastard like your dad.”

“You’ve made a mistake,” said Scholes, a hand against Eiling’s uniform preventing the younger man from making a move.

“I will never-- ever-- be an arms dealer like my father,” said Lena. “We do good work and it will not be influenced by you and your back room deals. I’m glad we had this meeting. Now we never have to have another.”

“You’ll regret this,” said Eiling. “This was a sure thing. Money in your pocket and the safety of this country guaranteed.”

“It was as sure a thing as it was gonna be that I’d turn you down,” said Lena. “Thank you for your time.” As the three men left her office, Lena considered the undetectable recording devices that filled the room. She considered what she could do with the recording, along with her father’s secret cache of recordings of every meeting he ever held with representatives from governments across the world. “Like a house of cards, isn’t it…?”


Kara closed her eyes as she could hear the heartbeats of three men, two in their late fifties, the other in his thirties-- all things she could tell by the sound of their blood pressure- descend from the top of L-Corp Tower. Lena’s heart was pounding. She’d always recognise the sound of her heartbeat. She didn’t know if she could forget it. Always the small things…

“Hey there, kid.”

So caught up in things happening in other cities, across the country, Kara didn’t sense Jon Kent, aka Kru-El, walk up to her table and stand over her. One of the benefits of the training she’d received over the years. The ability to centre herself, and not be driven to distraction by all the world’s noise.

“Hey,” said Kara. “How are you?”

“Enjoying my day off,” said Jon. He was dressed smartly, a buttoned up black shirt and jeans, along with a battered grey coat he’d purchased at some thrift store one rainy afternoon.

This was a man who had been driven to heinous acts by the megalomaniacal villain General Dru-Zod, the former leader of Krypton’s Military Guild. It was through Zod’s bizarre and damaging brainwashing techniques that led to an outgoing artist becoming a rampaging zealot known for his flair for wanton destruction.

Throughout the years the brainwashing had worn off, leaving Jon on an even keel, even if he was neither the innocent he was once, nor the Hound of Zod he had become. Kru’s DNA was scrambled, exposure to Gold Kryptonite rendering him powerless, but he didn’t let that stop him doing what he could as a member of Midway City’s Fire Department.

“Me too,” said Kara. “Well, my hour off, at least.”

Jon laughed once. “You’re a busy woman. You said you had something for me?”

“Yeah, yeah I did,” said Kara as she picked up her coat. “C’mon.” The two exited the café and headed toward one of Starr Industries’ subsidiaries down the street. Kara smiled at the security guard who buzzed them in, and she led Jon down into the basement, where a white door awaited them.

“What’s that?” said Jon.

“I can’t rightly fly you to the Fortress of Solitude, can I?” said Kara. She pushed her hand into the door and her genetic structure was scanned. There was a barely audible hiss and the door opened, leading into the main chamber of the secret sanctuary Kara maintained in the Andes. “Here we are. Home sweet home.”

There was a twinge of recognition across Jon’s face as he entered the Kryptonian antechamber of the Fortress. A statue of Jor-El, his father, held up a globe representing Krypton, along with Lara, the woman Jor had married. He couldn’t remember much of either of them, but when his thoughts wandered to his father, hate bubbled up in his chest. And he hated not knowing why.

“I keep meaning to… well…” Kara paused. “Kal built that for his mother and father. In their honour. But what about my parents? Maybe I should build my own statues, but this…” She wandered, and shook her head. “It’s really nothing, ha. Follow me.”

Kara led Jon to the room that housed the tunnel connecting Earth and New Krypton. Kryptonian droids hovered about maintaining the technology keeping it functioning, and when the two of them entered the robots beeped in recognition before continuing their work.

Kara picked up a thin white band from a pedestal next to the tunnel and handed it to Jon. “Do you know what this is?”

“Looks familiar,” said Kru, as he held it up and located a Kryptonian symbol etched onto the front. The technology was old Kryptonian but this version appeared brand new-- a creation of New Krypton, perhaps.

“A Theta Wave Band,” said Superwoman. “Have you ever heard of them before?”

Jon nodded slowly. “I think so. My memories of Krypton are so hazy, even after the conversations we’ve had. I remember fragments, but still, not enough… but the Kryptonian royal guard wore these to protect their thoughts from the blue Martians during the third age of..." Jon trailed off, losing his thread as his memories became jagged and spiked. "Hnn." He gripped his head and the shook off the pain. "If this therapy works, hopefully these damn headaches will go with them."

"That's the plan," said Kara, warmly. “Do you know how they work?”

“Ha,” Jon shook his head. “Maybe I could show you? If I remember rightly?” He placed the white band around his head and it immediately shrank to fit his skull. His thick hair tufted up and Kara laughed, but she stopped when Kru’s voice entered her mind.

{It’s an ancient Kryptonian mental art,} thought Jon, his psychic presence washing over Kara. {Mastering it grants you the ability to transcend flesh and form and communicate psychically. I think I just created a psychic link between us, my dear. There are also medicinal properties, of course-- oh.} He cleared his throat. “I think I know where this is going.”

Kara nodded. “The doctors on New Krypton have been rediscovering old sciences that may benefit the universe. Instead of being the isolationist nation of old, they want to put themselves out there, help where they can. Thara Ak-Var is a dreamer, but I think… the dreams are achievable.”

“What’s this got to do with me?” said Jon.

“The doctors on New Krypton have been working on treatments to remove the brainwashing Zod performed on a number of his followers. Not all of them underwent it, of course, some were… true believers, like Faora.”

“I vaguely remember,” said Jon. “You think that… these treatments will… I don’t know… bring me back? The man I once was?”

“Maybe,” said Kara. “But it’s up to you. Who you are now… it won’t go away. The man you’ve become won’t be removed from existence. But according to the doctors, the conditioning will be removed, your memories will be restored fully, along with the neural connections. They’ll add to your foundation, but you won’t be rendered into a blank slate, or, back to who you were before everything.”

“Then I’ll still remember every crime I committed in Zod’s name,” said Jon. He sighed. “Is it worth it? To bridge the gap between who I was-- what I became-- to who I am now?”

“That’s up to you,” said Kara. “But… you were and are a good man. You’re my cousin. I guess I’m biased in that regard.” She laughed gently. “It’s entirely up to you.”

“Then I guess I’m going home,” said Jon. “For the first time.”

Kara couldn’t keep her smile down. “Amazing. I’ve had the tunnel on standby. You can go now-- get started straight away--”

“You aren’t coming--?” asked Jon. He clenched his fist. A moment of weakness he didn’t expect to come without his permission.

“I can’t, not right now,” said Kara. She put a hand on her cousin’s shoulder. “It’s been six years since Superman left Earth and Metropolis is holding an event in Centennial Park. As soon as I’m done there, I’ll come flying. But in the meantime, one of my friends said she’d go with you.”

“It’s not Power Girl, is it?” said Jon, a cheeky smile lining his lips.

“Ha, what?” replied Kara, startled. “No, but, but why?”

Jon shrugged. “Oh, no, nothing, it’s just… weird. She’s you, but, what, ten years older? Doesn’t that terrify you? Seeing who you could be, who you might be destined to become? Doesn’t that take a level of control away from you?”

“I love her,” said Kara. “Karen is… spectacular. If I could live to be one tenth of the woman she is, then--”

“Kara,” said Jon, his eyes lowering as he cut her off. “You’ve surpassed everyone. I’ve witnessed the acts you’ve performed. You’re… you’re everything Kal could have wanted. You’re more than this world deserves. So don’t you dare put yourself down.”

Kara blushed. “Well, ah, okay. Thank you. I don’t… I just do what I can. But, anyway. Lena?”

Lena Luthor popped her head into the room after her name was called. “…Hello!” She was dressed casually, a t-shirt and jeans, a long black coat and a satchel over her shoulder.

“You’ve met Lena before, she’s, well, she’s my best friend. Helped get New Krypton established. She’s got something she wants to share with the Science Guild, though she won’t tell me what…” Kara flashed Lena a dirty look, and the two laughed at the situation. “I don’t like surprises, but Lena’s never let me down.”

“Oh, Jesus, don’t build me up too much,” said Lena. “Hey, Kru.”

“Lena,” said Jon, nodding. “Please, call me Jon. ,” he extended his hand and she shook it. “Always a pleasure.”

“Oh, the amount of people who say that to me to my face and mean it can be counted on one hand,” said Lena. “Glad to see you’re getting on board with this.”

“Yeah? You’ve talked about it?” said Jon.

“We’ve got this, Kara,” said Lena. “You’ve got the celebration today, don’t let us hold you up.”

“I think I’m looking for a reason not to go,” said Kara, laughing. “It’s… oh, well. I’ll see you both later. Tonight, I mean.” Kara kissed Lena on the cheek and then hugged her cousin, departing back through the Fortress of Solitude and into the door that would take her back to Midway City.

“I wanted to have a chat before we went through,” said Lena, glancing around sheepishly.

“Everything okay?”

Lena glanced around. “I’ve noticed when Kara’s nervous her attention wanders and she ends up listening in on people she cares about.” She held up her wrist and the purple and green command bracelet she wore powered up, and an opaque force field fell over them. Suddenly the world was silent, and Jon realised that the Fortress of Solitude was actually quite noisy-- but when Lena powered up her shield there was nothing but Lena and his breathing, and he was surprised by the fact.

“What’s up?” asked Jon. He glanced around the sphere they were within. There was a purple haze in the air, but he could see the Earth / Krypton Bridge past the haze, back in the real world. “Why the cloak and dagger? You’re not about to have a heel turn, are you?”

“Nothing like that,” chuckled Lena. “You were exposed to Gold Kryptonite, yeah?” She was rummaging about her satchel. “Lost your powers?”

“My ability to absorb sunlight was stripped of me by it, yeah,” said Jon. “Rendered me human. I barely remember what it felt like to fly, so it’s no big loss, but--”

“Aha!” said Lena, pulling out a vial of translucent liquid from her bag. “Okay, look. I’ve been working on this for the Kryptonians since she first mentioned what happened to you. It’s a… well, it’s a cure for Gold Kryptonite exposure. Long story short, there was this guy, Xa-Du, who started working on it, and I was able to finish the formula--”

“Untested, though?” said Jon.

“Well… yeah,” said Lena. “No one else I know has been exposed to it. But…”

Jon gently took the vial from Lena and considered it for a moment, before handing it back to her. “Let’s see how the day goes, all right?”

“What do you mean?” said Lena. “You could… fly again. You could be, well, you could be Superman.”

Jon laughed unexpectedly. “The world doesn’t need a Superman, it has a Superwoman. Leagues better. But… please. We’ll see how it goes.

Lena wanted to disagree, but it wasn’t her decision to make. She returned the serum to her bag. She exhaled slowly, disappointed. “I’m presenting it to the Science Guild tonight. It’s tested well to Kryptonian cells. I exposed genetic material from Kara to Gold Kryptonite, and removed the cells ability to process solar energy. A dose of this, and the ability to comes back. Actual, ‘human’ testing is next phase, but…”

“Thanks, kid,” said Jon. He leaned forward and hugged her, slipping the serum back out of her bag without her noticing.

When Jon ended the brief hug she was confused, but shrugged and the two considered the bridge connecting two worlds that crackled before them. They walked up to the threshold, their bodies travelling billions of miles in an instant as they moved through the thin liquid membrane that covered the face of the gate.


Lena and Jon emerged on the other side of the galaxy, into the reception hall of New Krypton. Yellow sunbeams lanced down, brighter than on Earth due to the proximity of this planet’s sun.

“Welcome to Argo City, the capitol of New Krypton, Kru-El,” said Thara Ak-Var. “Your rehabilitation starts today.”

“Well that’s… great,” said Jon, his voice deadpan. “I’m very excited.”

“Hey, Thara,” said Lena. “Looking sharp.”

Thara smiled and looked down at the ceremonial Kryptonian robes she wore, a mixture of the old age and new. “We’re trying not to hold onto the past. To become something new, beyond the original ages of dead Krypton.”

“Makes sense,” said Jon. “Hate to think we’d be stuck in the past if the past wasn’t particularly great…”

“You talking yourself out of something, cowboy?” said Lena.

“No, just… ha, I guess I’m scared,” said Jon.

“Just like your cousin,” said Lena.

“The procedure has already begun as the Theta Wave Band seeks to align your mental signature. There is more to it, of course, but once we begin, we will be able to remove the mental debris left by Zod’s procedures.” Thara’s face showed, just for a moment, a look of disdain at the thought of Krypton’s once greatest hero turned villain. “We will make everything right.”

“I am legitimately terrified,” said Jon. “I don’t know… what I was before the brainwashing. I know who I became, I remember what happened, the… the fucking atrocities I performed. God… Godammit.” He clenched his fists together tightly, his knuckles burning white. “I don’t know if I deserve a second chance.”

“We all do,” said Thara. “Your people were miniaturised and placed in a bottle by an alien intelligence. Kara lost her family, and then two worlds after that. Karen lost a universe. Hopefully, we will solve all our problems. Give us all our second chances.”


Above Argo City, behind the yellow sun of Krypton, a cloaked fleet of ships lurked. A cadre of former Phantom Zone prisoners who had escaped thanks to the efforts of General Zod nearly a decade ago were basking in the light that would make them superhuman. Numerous alien species rattled around the ships, readying their arms for war. This was an armada, poised for ultimate destruction.

Faora watched the solar charge enter her cells as her hand moved slowly through the air in front of her. She could see her cells transform under exposure. Her armour was in transparent mode, allowing her nude body to absorb as much charge as possible. When it was opaque it would hold a charge that would keep her empowered even in the light of a red sun. Her back was to her loyalists. She’d cut her hair short in anticipation for this war. The armour was designed like that of Krypton’s ancient Military Guild, long since dissolved after the reformation of New Krypton. That’d change…

Faora never cared about their view of her as a woman, because those who succumbed to their primal instincts were animals. These men were beasts, even as they were conquerors. But above all, they were playthings she could bend to her will. “Our sleeper is in place?”

“Nadira has been in position for some time,” said Lur-Ba. He was a sweaty little worm, licking his lips as he watched the light swim around Faora’s body. He bore the markings of someone who had once tried to touch her. The left side of his face was permanently scarred. Blind in one eye. “Waiting for confirmation…”

Faora turned, and Lur-Ba looked away as her armour materialised opaque. “And you, Jax-Ur, how goes the construction of the Phantom Bomb?” Faora delighted at the words that fell from her lips.

“The physics of the Phantom Zone are delicate,” said Jax-Ur, one of the many mad scientists Krypton somehow created. He tinkered in front of a device taller than even the mysteriously departed Non, with numerous cylinders that swirled with grey light linked to a central mast. “I have located the Soul Furnace, the deepest, darkest aspect of the Phantom Zone, and I do believe I can send everyone we locate to that area… but it is a realm of existence, a reality planar to our own--”

“I know what the Phantom Zone is,” said Faora. “I just want to know about the bomb.”

“The device is complete,” said Jax-Ur. “It will make landfall and then those who wear the collars will be dragged into the void, while the residents of the Phantom Zone will materialise on the surface of the planet in their place. I just wish you’d allowed me to analyse your husband’s armour, so that we might all benefit from its protective properties. When we land--”

“When we land, you will activate the machine and tear down the people of New Krypton. Then you will undo the Solaris Engine’s transformation and revert the sun to yellow,” said Faora. “You will be powerless for minutes. No longer.”

“But what if the residents of New Krypton fight back--?” asked Lur-Ba.

“Don’t call it that,” spat Faora. “’New Krypton’, uuch. It is a monument we will tear down. Nothing more.”

“Then what would you call it?” asked Lur-Ba.

“Home, Lur. Now-- activate the sleeper, and begin reversal of the Solaris engine’s programming,” said Faora. “Let New Krypton burn under a red sun.”


Being a superhero wasn’t easy, and nor was trying to fill the shoes of the man that people used to say was the greatest hero who ever lived… but people had forgotten about the Justice Society of America at one time, so how long would it take for Superman to be a relic of the past? Aquaman, while not being one of the biggest players in the superhero game, had vanished nearly six years ago now, and few people mentioned him on a day-to-day basis. And while the yearly remembrance service was held for the Last Son of Krypton… fewer people attended it… and while it wasn’t noticeable, it had been today for Superwoman, who, every year and without thinking about the why, counted the heartbeats of every one present.

If you asked a young child about the blue shirt they wore with the red and yellow ‘S’ emblazoned on the front, they’d tell you about Superwoman, not her cousin, and people didn’t mind. The world was moving on without Superman because it had a Superwoman, and right now, she was hurtling through downtown Metropolis, fighting for the lives of every man, woman and child within the city limits.

The fight had started in Centennial Park, when the looming figure unmasked among the crowd. Superwoman had dove into action, her Kryptonian body absorbing the radiation before it could affect those nearby, but her cells were damaged by the effort. Hers was a body built for solar consumption, not organically generated plutonium radiation, and she was slower as a result. He’d got a few good hits in, split her lip, bruised her eye, and they were currently wrestling in mid-air, the air crackling as his radioactive aura throbbed outward.

“You-- have-- to stop-- this--!” said Superwoman, as the Hydrogen Skull, his body throbbing with the immense power he had promised to bring down upon the head of the Atomic Skull-- his sworn enemy-- was released against the Kryptonian Mistress of Might.

Hydrogen Skull was, of course, Heath Sutcliffe, a metahuman with severe brain damage who had taken on the identity of the lead antagonist from the rebooted Atom Skull series. There seemed to be a memetic pattern to that property that developed monsters, and Kara made a mental note to investigate its narrative foundation when she had a free moment.

“BRING ME THE HEAD OF THE ATOMIC SKULL!” screamed Sutcliffe.

“No!” said Superwoman, her skin blistering under the intense heat radiated by the crackling blue, visible skull of Sutcliffe. “You need to calm down, Heath! You’re going to hurt people!”

“I DON’T CARE! I WAS BORN TO HATE IN THE NUCLEAR FIRES OF NAGASAKI!”

“Heath, you’re twenty three years old and you were in an accident.” said Superwoman. She held onto his body tightly, drawing the two of them up, away from the streets of Metropolis. Sutcliffe had drawn them down, toward the populated areas, but Superwoman had enough of holding back. Even with her skin bubbling, she began to ease off the mental blocks that kept her from unleashing her full might. “The trauma caused your metahuman abilities to manifest-- besides, do you really think you’re over seventy years old?”

“I AM-- A-- NUCLEAR-- what-- what-- NO I AM FIRE AND HYDROGEN FURY! SPLIT ME AND I BLEED FIRE AND DEATH!”

Superwoman considered his view point and how best to defuse him. She took him out to the archipelago of Novaya Zemlya, north of Russia, and drove him through the ground toward the long abandoned military compound where the Soviet military once tested their nuclear arsenal. When they hit the underground base, she spun round, sealed the hole she’d made so that the space was airtight, and then she landed next to the immense figure of the Hydrogen Skull.

“Please, I’m asking you nicely, I really am, let’s talk about this,” said Superwoman, the dank, dreary atmosphere of the Novaya Zemlya doing nothing to intimidate the Hydrogen Skull into holding off on his fury.

“I WILL KILL THE WORLD!” screamed Sutcliffe.

Superwoman sighed-- she sighed dramatically-- and Heath fell head over heel backwards, skittering toward one of the blast doors. He hit the metres thick concrete hard, but it didn’t stop him from getting back up. Superwoman then breathed in, and she breathed in harder than she breathed out. She sucked all the oxygen in the room up, super-condensed it in her alien lungs, until the room was almost a vacuum, and then she held it in, while the Hydrogen Skull trudged toward her.

“WHAT ARE-- WHAT are-- what are-- youuuuu--“ Oxygen deprived and already confused, the Skull staggered forward, nearly toppled, and then fully committed to passing out from oxygen deprivation. Superwoman steeled herself for a nuclear explosion-- she’d survived worse-- but none came. Unconscious, the Hydrogen Skull’s body shifted and melted, until all that was left was a small man in a hospital gown, breathing shallowly. She breathed out slowly, releasing oxygen back in the room, careful not to allow her body to metabolise and release carbon dioxide.

With this threat defeated, Superwoman scooped him up and headed toward home. On the way she contacted STAR Labs, as Heath would need help when he woke up, and she sure as hell didn’t want to face off with the Hydrogen Skull again if she didn’t need to.

That said, travelling slow across an ocean, the sun glinting off her skin and giving her the energy to heal from the attack she’d just experienced, she felt the world thank her, a gentle gesture from mother sun, and she knew that whatever tomorrow would bring, she could face with a smile on her face. Life was good, and she didn’t need to throw a punch to keep it that way.


The trio walked-- even though Lena had flight capability in her hard light armour and Thara, along with the rest of the Kryptonians, could fly-- along the edge of Argo City. When Jon looked up, he could see figures flitting about the skies, basking in the perfect blue overhead.

“It’s beautiful,” said Jon.

“It truly is,” said Thara. “We can thank the two Karas for that. And Lena, of course.”

“If only people on Earth were that responsive to what we did,” said Lena.

“You’ve had no luck continuing your terraforming project back there?” said Thara. “What if a contingent of the Science Guild met with your Earth government? Perhaps then--?”

“There’s no… I guess you’d call it… ‘central government’, though sometimes I think that’d be so much easier… no, I think Kara-- Power Girl-- is slowly but very surely working her way through the system.”

Jon wasn’t paying attention to the conversation behind had between Thara and Lena, instead he let his eyes wander around the thick, scarlet jungle that spread out at the city’s limits. Memories flashed of camping trips and ancient songs, but his recollections, hazy at the best of times, were fragmented by jagged pieces of debris. He looked back toward the city and a woman smiled at him before lifting off and vanishing from sight. He recognised her, for a moment, but couldn’t place where from. Thara had noticed the woman too, but said nothing, content to continue her conversation with Lena.

The three of them entered one of the Medical Guild buildings, staffed mostly by droids but there was a smattering of Kryptonian doctors wandering around, some floating absentmindedly while perusing data pads, others chatting amongst themselves.

“Please, through here,” said Thara, leading the two visitors to a private room. Folded neatly in one corner of the room was a black, full body suit. “Before we begin our tour of the facility, and the second phase of the psychic reconstruction, you’ll need to put that on.”

“What is it?” asked Lena.

“A survival suit,” said Thara. “A relic of Old Krypton that we’ve reintroduced to our society. In medical instances it assesses the wearer’s physiological and psychological well being, and can be used to--”

“All right, all right,” said Jon. “I’ll put it on. Gimme some privacy?”

Lena chuckled. “You’re really not my type, Jon. Thara, lead the way.”

Thara smiled and the two women exited, leaving Jon to strip off and pull on the survival suit. It felt warm against his skin, and instead of clinging uncomfortably to his flesh, it seemed to contour perfectly to every nook and cranny across his body. When he finished putting it on, a silver symbol formed across his chest, and he recognised it immediately as the crest of the House of El. Silver boots and wristbands formed, and two arches moved from the small of his back and around his hips, until the survival suit resembled something more along the liens of a superhero costume in monochrome.

“Hey!” called out Jon.

Thara popped her head inside. “Ah, it’s synced to your genetic pattern. That’s a good sign.”

Jon shook his head and tapped the chest symbol. “Yeah? Why’s this on here? I don’t want to cause any confusion--”

“We store every Kryptonian’s genetic signature in our central database so that when a survival suit is activated, it links with the user’s medical history, going back generations. It’s not indicative of anything, other than confirming your identity.” She smiled, and Jon didn’t know what to make of it.

“Well, that’s wonderful,” said Jon. “Absolutely wonderful…”

“Hey there, emo Superboy,” said Lena, “can we get this show on the road?”

Jon sighed, and followed the two women out of the room and down the corridor. His Earth clothing was collected by a Kryptonian droid and sent for sterilisation. It would be returned to Jon one his treatment was completed.

“This facility is hella impressive,” said Lena. She walked through the well-lit corridors with Jon and Thara, marvelling at the wonders of medical science that the Kryptonians had reintroduced to the universe..

“I’m proud of what we’ve achieved,” said Thara. They walked around a corner and Jon took a moment to steady himself. “Are you okay?”

“Headache,” said Jon. “Something to do with this?” He tapped the Theta Wave Band around his head.

“Yes,” said Thara. “It’s restoring your brainwaves to their proper alignment.”

“You sure that’s a good thing?” said Lena, without thinking. “You seem quite blasé about all this.”

“This process has been tested thoroughly,” said Thara. “In fact, just through here--” She gestured toward one of the rooms ahead of them, and the trio looked on as a man stood on the threshold of a swirling, grey portal, half his body fully formed while the other half was fragmented and twisted, part of him being drawn back into the hole in space. The man was answering questions in Kryptonese, and didn’t appear to be in pain

“What in--” started Lena, but Jon understood perfectly.

“You’re evaluating one of the Phantom Zone prisoners,” said Jon. “He looks familiar.”

“Our records identify him as Quex-Ul, a damaged soul like yourself who was coerced in performing a forbidden act in Krypton’s past,” said Thara. “We’re about to begin the--”

“That’s not Quex-Ul,” said Jon. “Wait… how do I…” He looked around frantically. “That’s not Quex-Ul--!”


Superwoman floated over the Daily Planet, and was pulled from her quiet contemplation by the quite snap of a photographer taking her photo from the roof terrace below. She glanced down and saw Jimmy Olsen, lead photojournalist for the Daily Planet, and smiled. “Well, I’m glad I stopped wearing a skirt.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t have--” started Jimmy, before trailing off. “How are you, Superwoman?”

Kara touched her cheek, where an hour or so before she’d felt skin bubble and boil, and could feel no damage left behind. “I’m fantastic.” She felt good. Kru was getting the help he deserved. Karen was doing good work in Washington, even if it kept her from flying around with her ‘little sister’ as much. Lena had made so much of herself in the time since they’d first met. “Everything’s fantastic.”

“I’m happy to hear that,” said Jimmy. “I saw the footage from earlier. You looked like you took a beating.”

“But kept on kicking,” said Superwoman. “Or not, as the case may be.”

“You didn’t throw a punch,” said Jimmy. “But you rarely do.”

“Are we on the record, James?” asked Superwoman. “Are you interviewing me?”

“Me? No, we’re never on the record unless you say, same as it was with Big Blue,” said Jimmy. “I’m just talking it out. You know.”

“Oh, I’m just teasing you,” said Superwoman, floating down to the roof terrace. She looked around at the numerous flowers they’d planted her in the years since Clark Kent last worked a newsbeat, and smiled, sensing the photosynthesis taking place across the numerous plants. A feeling to which she could relate. Lena teased her about it one time, called her a plant-person. She had laughed then, though harder than she laughed now.

“Are you okay?” said Jimmy. “I keep asking, ha, sorry.”

“Your heart is racing,” said Superwoman. “Are you okay?”

Jimmy blushed. “I keep forgetting you’re a super-person. I’ve known you for years is all, and--”

Superwoman’s eyes snapped open as visions filled her head. Flames licking at the faces of her friends, the powerlessness that came with yellow sun deprivation. They weren’t her memories, but they sensed so familiar. The thoughts were taller than hers. Heavier set. A hint of the alien, of the disconnect, but-- she whispered a name--“Kru?”

“What’s wrong?” asked Jimmy. He swore under his breath. Always asking the same question. Never getting the answer he wanted to hear.

Superwoman was already gone, fists out in front of her, hurtling like a runaway train toward the tunnel that connected Earth and New Krypton. Something awful was happening, and she had to get to her friends-- her family--


The lithe, bald man floating in the threshold of the Phantom Zone looked over at the trio gathered to watch his interrogation, and a smile spread across his face. The woman who Jon had recognised outside the building was now in the staging area, behind the Kryptonians who questioned the man stuck in the Phantom Zone. They had fallen silent upon her entry, and now they were staring forward, blinking in unison.

“Hello, Kru-El,” said the woman, as she slowly brushed the faces of the two Kryptonian interrogators who remained statue still. Her eyes flashed red and the machinery around Phantom Zone threshold shattered in one place, allowing the man stuck between worlds to step through, toward her. “My love, I have missed you.”

“I-- I can’t-- I can’t move--“ said Thara, straining her immense, superhuman body but failing to move forward to stop the events unfolding.

“I know that woman,” said Jon, also stuck in place. “Nadira. A Kryptonian anarchist. A mutant. She’s a psychic! And her lover-- that man--”

“Az-Rel,” said the man, his bald head gleaming as he fully integrated with this level of reality. “It’s good to have a physical body again.”

“Why is nobody coming?” said Lena, frantically. “This is a-- planet of-- " She was unable to move, unable to activate her armour. She was a fragile glass sculpture in a world of ultra-strong brutes. The thought terrified her.

“Nobody can hear you,” said Az-Rel smashed through the glass wall that separated the two groups.

Nadira whispered into the ears of the interrogators, who rose up and began to punch each other, again and again, super strong punches knocking against super resilient heads. The first blows concussed them, the second and third and fourth contributed to the growing brain damage Nadira pushed into their skulls

“My lover has psychic control over everyone in this compound, while outside--” started Az-Rel.

Nadira purred and continued the thread. “--our allies have erected a… what did you call it?” She glanced at Lena. “A ‘cone of silence’ over us. No one can hear what’s unfolding.”

“What is this?” asked Thara. “We were rehabilitating you. We would have given you permission to re-join us!”

Az-Rel picked Thara up by the collar and his eyes flared red, heat vision slowly and visibly flowing outward. The liquid fire swam around Thara’s face-- not touching flesh-- but causing her to sweat as it neared. “Old Krypton rejected Nadira and myself. Called us mutants, like poor, ignorant Kru did moments ago. She can twist men’s minds. I can manipulate flame. Imagine the fun we could all have.”

“Stop this,” spat Kru. “What do you want?”

Az-Rel smiled. “It’s not what we want, but Faora. She wants Krypton under her heel. I gladly allowed himself to re-enter the Phantom Zone to begin the siege from the inside.”

“You-- you can’t--“ said Thara.

Nadira removed two collars from a previously hidden lead-lined stash she’d kept nearby, and snapped them around Kru-El and Nadira’s necks. Az-Rel dragged his heat vision back into his eyes, which stained red under the pressure, but he didn’t mind the pain. Nadira kissed him passionately as they ignored the two Kryptonians. Thara didn’t waste a moment. She dove forward, slammed her fists against Az-Rel’s chest, but cried out as she realised what the collars did--

“The interior of the collars are lined with Gold Kryptonite, my dear Thara,” said Az-Rel.

“We just rendered you mortal,” said Nadira. The disdain in her voice was like poison. “You’ll never touch the blue skies of Krypton again.”

Lena’s eyes flashed. She was also free of Nadira’s grip. She reached into her satchel instinctively, but couldn’t find the serum she’d designed for Kara in case she was exposed to Gold Kryptonite. Her eyes darted over at Jon, who wiped his mouth and glared at the two mad Kryptonians.

“So you’ve rendered us human. Who cares? There’s an entire world of Kryptonians out there,” Jon gestured over his shoulder, “you’d do the same to them?”

Nadira laughed loudly. “We already did.” She clicked her fingers and suddenly the room filled with noise from the outside as chaos unfolded. Energy blasts rattled through the air, explosions shook the ground. There was a war going on outside, and New Krypton was suffering through the absolute worst of it.

“This world burns,” said Az-Rel, his crimson eyes flickering, “and from here, we establish the true Krypton Empire.”

Blood dribbling from their ears, mouths and noses, the two interrogators continued to punch each other, their faces mangled messes, their brains pulped beyond medical science. Soon they’d fall dead, but by then… would there be any Kryptonians left alive?


Kara blitzed through the defences in the Fortress and hurtled through the portal that connected her adopted home and the world she had helped build. She was a Mach 25, re-entry speed, when her eyes focused on an image on the other side of the universe, on New Krypton.

The villainous Faora Zod held Lena Luthor in front of her, her head nestled between the mad Kryptonian woman’s hands. Lena, a large, clamping collar around her neck, looked like she’d been through a war-- but how long had she been at the mercy of Faora? Anything was possible in-between seconds when the war was waged by the super powered.

Faora smiled, licked her lips, and then destroyed the receiver that kept the worlds linked. The tunnel fell before Superwoman could make her way all the way through, and she was suddenly in the void of space, somewhere between Earth and New Krypton.

Kara’s lungs held enough breath, and she powered on, moving through the universe, one eye set squarely on New Krypton, and the war raging across its surface. The star they’d grown to support the world was no longer yellow, instead it was now red, and dots danced across the skin of the planet as cities burned and a people were subjugated.


Faora Zod’s army flowed across the streets of New Krypton. Any ‘traitorous’ Kryptonian they located-- anybody Faora hadn't corralled into her army before the invasion took place-- was collared, rendered powerless by the Gold Kryptonite inside their restraints if they hadn’t already absorbed an unhealthy dose of the red sun radiation beaming down upon the surface of the world.

Faora’s personal force field held a yellow sun charge that flowed across her body. Amongst ants, she was an almighty heel, ready to grind down on the nest and let them spill out and burn. Thara Ak-Var was dragged out by Lur-Ba while Lena Luthor was laying in a heap, her head under Faora’s foot.

“I think you understand what I have done here,” said Faora.

“You-- you-- monster--“ spat Thara.

Faora tutted and the force of the action sent Thara backwards. “If I am a monster, you are a victim. I can live with that very clear distinction.”

“Why would you do this?” asked Lena. “You could have--” Faora put some weight on her foot and Lena shrieked as she could feel her skull shift. If only she could activate her hard light armour, but they’d destroyed the control interface on her gauntlet on a whim.

“I could have what? Reintegrated with a peoples that believed my husband was a monster? That exiled me into a ghost zone where we couldn’t touch each other? The Phantom Zone was a living hell! A limbo existence! Sensory deprivation forever! Forever!” Faora grabbed Thara. “Your parents knew. You’re just a relic, like them. I’m the future. They knew what they were doing to us, and they did it time and time again, to every single loyalist to Zod, to every anarchist, to every nonconformist. I am sick of the staid, sterile Krypton of past. I demand an empire! Like my husband, an Empire of Faora-- an empire spreading across the universe!”

“Yuh you’re mad!” spat Thara.

“What better way to have revenge on these snivelling, weak, pathetic examples of Kryptonian blood, than send them where they sent me. Where they sent [the best of us. Rao damn you, I couldn’t touch my husband!” screamed Faora, slapping Thara with enough force that it would have broken her face in two if not for her sudden disappearance. “Where-- where is she?”


Superwoman carried Thara into Xenon’s inner compartment, away from the eager, groping hordes of Faora’s army. She helped her sit, while Thara shook uncontrollably. “It’s okay. I’m here now.”

“Huh how ih is thuh this--?” stuttered Thara. She blinked, trying to see straight. “I feel blind,” she tugged at the collar around her neck, but Superwoman covered her hand, preventing her from fiddling with it.

“I can’t remove the collar right now or I could expose myself to the Gold Kryptonite,” said Superwoman. “I saw what the invaders were doing before I arrived. I had to move fast.”

“The sun is red, I don’t understand, you should be-- you should be powerless--“

Superwoman smiled reassuringly. “I told you, I had to move fast.”

“Faster than light?” asked Thara.

Kara didn’t say anything. She had grabbed an atmospheric suit from Xenon-- one of the science satellites named in honour of one of Krypton’s old moons-- before whisking Thara out from Faora’s clutches. Placing Thara in the suit, breaking atmosphere and getting them back inside Xenon was the easy part.

The hard part would be going back down, before her friends-- her people-- suffered further.

“Xenon has a solar regulator onboard. You can use that to reactivate the Solaris engine that let us grow a sun in the first place. Turn it back to yellow.”

“I don’t-- no, no, of course I can, yes,” said Thara. “I may be powerless, but I’m far from…” She breathed in deeply. “You came. Of course you came.”

“I would never abandon you,” said Kara. “I have to face Faora. Where’s Kru?”

“The psychic mutant, Nadira, she’s playing with him in the Medical Guild compound,” said Thara.

“The Theta Wave Band is still active, he must have communicated with me through the psychic link he established earlier today. I can still feel him… his thoughts are strong. Bright.” Kara didn’t understand why that was the case, but she knew she had to save him… and Lena… and the world…

<Kara Zor-El, I know that was you,> the transmission burst pierced through the Xenon satellite’s communication system, Faora’s smug voice filling the airways, <smart, masking your heat trail. I don’t know how you managed it, but smart. I’ll tell you what. Thing is, every collar has a tracking chip installed, so we could ensure we knew where the cattle was when we started the slaughter. Now, if you don’t-- nyyyaaargh!>

Faora’s speech was interrupted by a punch to the jaw by Kara, who had arrived before she’d even finished speaking. Thara smiled, though the movement hurt her jaw, and got to work saving New Krypton.


“Rao be damned, we were demons for a scant minute, and now we’re ourselves,” said Az-Rel. “Just as good--”

“--But without the sky, my heart,” said Nadira. “Once we’re done here, we’ll have the sky again. And we’ll rain fire down on anybody who crosses us.”

Az-Rel and Nadira had strapped Kru-El down on the medical bed and were in the process of torturing him. Az-Rel stood ready to burn him alive from the brain out if he was able to escape, while Nadira picked at the scabs in his already damaged mind.

“I want to see the hound,” said Az-Rel. “The ones we heard stories about on the Isle of Thieves. Can you do that, my darling love?”

“Of, well, of course. I too want to see him bark,” said Nadira, licking Kru’s temple. “Like an animal. I just need to perform some psychic surgery. Cut away his new life. Burn down the old. Leave the middle standing tall. The dog. The dog.”

“No-- no-- I-- want--“ started Jon. His eyes began to defocus as something in his head fractured. Something behind the walls of his brain thrashed and he grit his teeth. “Nnnaa”

“Oh, what was that?” asked Nadira. “Did you feel that?” she looked over at Az-Rel and grinned. “There’s a beast inside him that wants out.”

“No, please, no,” whispered Jon. “I can’t-- I can’t--“

“You will,” said Nadira. She drove her fingers into his brain and began to yank at grey matter using her psychic abilities. “Bark bark bark.”

Jon screamed. Kru-El was coming. The Hound of Zod was coming back.


Kara could feel the red sun radiation draining the solar charge from her cells but she couldn’t let up. There was nothing she could do for the surviving Kryptonians now, they’d already had their powers removed.

The Gold Kryptonite collars were kept in force field that the enemy forces kept shuttling backwards and forwards from, so she grabbed two-- she latched one around Lur-Ba’s neck and rendered him powerless. The scarred Kryptonian cried out as he felt what little power he had inside him vanish.

Superwoman was operating on a burst of energy she couldn’t account for. What had done it? Basking in solar radiation from the cosmos on her way here? Pure Kryptonian adrenaline? Whatever it was, she would rout the war in seconds, if only she could-- she scanned Faora’s force field and could see it was impervious, so she kicked the rest of the Gold Kryptonite collars into the sun with such force that it broke orbit and plopped into liquid fire within five seconds.

After that, she disabled every member of Faora’s army-- a ragtag collection of inhuman, alien creatures-- who held the collars, and discuss threw them into the Jagged Valley, a sentient piece of geography that contained stones lined with teeth.

Without their weapons-- Kara having poked a hole in every single energy cell as she went-- they were at the mercy of the merciless land mass, leaving Faora Zod and Kara in the middle of Argo City’s square, Lena under the despot’s foot.

“Consider this siege ended,” said Superwoman.

Faora’s eyes opened wide. “You-- have-- no-- idea--!”

Faora’s punch connected harder than it had any right to. She was still imbued with yellow sun strength, while Kara had slowed down thanks to exposure to red sun radiation. She could feel a molar come loose, and Faora didn’t stop. They traded blows, Earth-based martial arts facing off against Kryptonian, the two styles clashing as they moved back and forth, both gaining and conceding ground as the fight wore on.

Faora grabbed Kara by the hair and dragged her down so that the young El’s nose smashed against the villain’s knee, sending blood across her face. “I want this world to know my pain. To know my suffering. I will send every single one of those weak, ineffectual relics into the Phantom Zone. I will leave the bodiless, while I release every prisoner left in the void. I don’t care if they’ve been there for thirty years, fifty, a hundred, or are part of the twisted landscape and have been for millennia. I will unleash a phantom hell upon this universe that you will not live to see. I can grant you that mercy.”

Kara looked up, tears filling her eyes involuntarily thanks to the damage to her nose. “Wh-what ab-about yu-you’re son?”

Faora hesitated, before spitting blood to the floor. “I snapped that weakling’s neck on a whim..”

Kara howled, launched herself into Faora’s stomach, and sent the two of them flying backwards


During the battle between Kara Zor-El and Faora Zod, Lena Luthor had scrambled away from the scene, her skull throbbing. She managed to reroute the control bracelet so that the hard light armour she always had on her finally activated, and she began to design ways to ensure it was always operating, so that she’d never get blindsided again. She was about to turn a corner when she spotted a man working at a strange looking device, mumbling to himself.

“Yes, yes, activation, beautiful, wonderful,” said Jax-Ur.

“That’s a bomb,” sad Lena. “I recognise bomb. I used to design them in my dorm. You’re her bomb boy.”

Jax-Ur spun around and grabbed a wrench. “Damn this red sun, damn that woman, but we will kill you all!”

Lena blasted Jax-Ur to unconsciousness and then began to evaluate her position. Whatever the bomb was made to do, it was counting down in Kryptonese, a language she’d made sure to learn when Kara entered her life. There wasn’t long until zero.

A shadow loomed behind her, and she turned, a name on her lips as she saw the bearded man flanked by Az-Rel and Nadira. “J-Jon?”

“No,” said the man. “Kru-El.” The words were said in such a way as a chill was sent down Lena’s spine. The demeanour of the man she’d hugged early, who her best friend loved, was completely different. Who was this man? Who was Kru-El?

“Our dog has bark,” said Nadira. “Woof.”

“Let’s get the sun on his back, rub his tummy, see what he does next,” said Az-Rel. “But that’s a human. Sticks and twigs and skin. I could burn you to ash.”

Lena raised her arm cannon, but she was shaking, shock and a concussion not doing best by her.

Az-Rel kissed Nadira on the cheek and took a step forward toward Lena, only to be blasted full pelt in the chest with her light cannon. He landed awkwardly, crying out as bones broke in his side.

“You hurt my love!” said Nadira. The woman’s psychic powers flared and she reached toward Lena’s brain, but Kru-El grabbed the Kryptonian by the hair and swung her around, slamming her into the ground and knocking her unconscious.

“Are yuh you-- you?” asked Lena.

Kru-El smiled. “As me as I’ll ever be. They tried to brainwash me again, but when they through the scar tissue in my head, the Theta Wave Band finally restored my brain to its proper configuration. It also masked my thoughts so they thought I was the Hound of Zod again, but I’ll never be that monster again. Never.” He glanced back at Az-Rel, who blinked wildly. “You shouldn’t have reached into my head, you stupid punk.”

Az-Rel tried to generate fire from nothing, but the pain in his hip was too much. He couldn’t do anything but pass out when Kru punched him. When that was done, Lena was about to speak when the skies began to change colour.

“Oh, wow,” said Lena, the red sun above swirling back to yellow. “That’s good, right?”

“Listen to me, I know what that thing is,” said Kru, gesturing toward the device behind Lena. “That thing is about to unleash a living hell on this world-- on the universe-- if we don’t shut it--”

Jax-Ur gasped loudly and scoured the control panel of the device with a blast of heat vision. “There will be no-- averting-- the end times--“ spat Ur. “Now, the entire universe will die--!”

Without hesitation, Lena blasted him again-- this time with red sun radiation-- and continued the barrage until he was out of the fight. Kru patted her on the back but looked the device over. “God. Nadira there, she’s been in this guy’s head. Seen this thing’s insides. He just took out the on / off switch.” He slapped his forehead. “Damn damn damn, this is… this is bad.”

“Can’t we… fly it out into orbit? Maybe throw it in the sun?” asked Lena.

“This thing is past critical mass-- it’s programmed to latch onto all the people on the planet wearing the collars and drag them into the deepest, most inaccessible parts of the Phantom Zone,” said Kru. He motioned toward to Jax-Ur. “This guy is a piece of work. Rao…”

“Then what? What can we do?” asked Lena. She gripped the collar around her neck, trying to think it out. “It needs to eat, the bomb needs to eat. So what if we… gave it… something else?”

“What are you thinking?” said Kru.

“A few months back, Kara gave me access to the designs of the Phantom Zone projector. I have schematics available right here. I can’t link my armour’s CPU to the bomb’s CPU and turn it off, it’s too far gone … but maybe I could reprogram it? Use what Kara gave me to turn this around on the invaders. Faora said something about a tracking chip in the collars. I could invert the programming--”

“Do it,” said Kru. “I need to help Kara… I know who I am now, Lena, I… the brainwashing Zod used was…” He swallowed, took a sharp breath, coming to terms with his life after the machinations of the dread general of Krypton. “…Insidious. Every thought was his. I see that now. He made my thoughts black and dirty and every bit of good in me was locked up.” He turned back to Lena, who was unsure of what to say. “Kara saw the good. Even when I came back a bitter man, she saw what I was, and refused to believe it was gone. I’m glad… I’m glad I got to know her again. Even if she won’t see the ‘me’ I have become today. Become again. So I have to do whatever I can to help her.”

“But… but you know what you need to do, right?” said Lena glancing up from her furious typing. “You might--”

“I’ll do whatever it takes,” said Kru. He looked down at the silver emblem on his chest. “That’s what this stands for, isn’t it?”

Lena grimaced. “But you’ll--”

Kru smiled and nodded ruefully. “I’m afraid so.” He yanked his collar off with one super powered pull, then repaired the damage with a blast of heat vision. “Your formula works, Lena.”

“So, what? What are you going to do? I need… I need to know. I need to help her.”

Kru smiled. “I’m going to save New Krypton. And more importantly, I’m going to save my little cousin.”

“You… you drank it?”

“Of course I did,” said Kru, as he lifted up, up and away, “I had to save the world.”


Kara was on her knees, Faora was looming over her. The villainess cocked her fist and was about to knock Superwoman’s head off, when Kara instead grabbed her fist and swung her to the ground. “Sun’s yellow again.” She cracked her knuckles. “Fight’s over.”

Faora didn’t care. She was foaming at the mouth, raging against the daughter of the House of El. “I’m the General now,” said Faora. “I will purge New Krypton of your taint. Your influence. I will send every single Kryptonian who doesn’t believe in the true way of our people-- the way of war and dominance-- into the Phantom Zone, I will retrieve my beloved, and after that… I’ll let him decide your punishment.”

“That doesn’t exactly sit right with me,” said Kara. She punched Faora so hard her armour cracked down the middle. She continued her barrage, but Faora elbowed her in the stomach, then punched her under the chin. Kara cried out, and Faora unsheathed a glowing green blade from her belt and drove it into Superwoman’s stomach, dragging it upwards as the hero cried out in painful surprise.

“What-- what-- ?“ whispered Kara, agonising pain rushing through her. “What did you--?” She toppled over, clutching at her stomach.

“NO!” Kru-El finally made it back to the battle after his melee with Az-Rel and Nadira, and swatted the blade out of Faora’s hand. “You monster!”

“Oh, hello,” said Faora, wiping blood from her mouth. “I’m glad you could make it.” She blasted Kru with heat vision as he motioned toward his cousin. “Fragmenting Green Kryptonite. It’s currently rushing through body, killing her from the inside.”

“You… you…” Kru’s eyes blazed red and he grabbed Faora by the arms. “Enough is enough! You’re done!”

“I’ll never be done,” said Faora. “Not until this world burns.”

There was a massive explosion behind the two of them, and the twisting grey tendrils of the Phantom Zone manifesting in this reality lashed out toward the surface of New Krypton.

“This is it,” said Faora, any stability behind her eyes replaced by utter madness. “My husband is coming home.”

Kru kicked Faora back so hard she flew through a building, but the mad General didn’t care. She pulled herself up and opened her arms. “Come back to me, Zod! Come back to me!”

Kru-El knelt beside Kara and began to place the Gold Kryptonite collar around her neck. She jerked up and grabbed his hands in confusion. “What… what… are you… doing?”

“Trust me,” said Kru. “It’ll be okay.”

Kara didn’t understand, but she released his hands and he locked the collar in place, removing Superwoman’s powers. She gasped as she felt her cells lock down, and then watched as the tendrils dimmed the sky and spread out across the city, then the world. “Why…?”

“You’re the greatest of all time,” said Kru. Something horrific, reflecting back Superwoman’s face all wrong, wrapped itself around his torso. “And I love you for never giving up on me.” He was wrenched back, pulled toward the event horizon of the Phantom Zone tear. “Never stop! Never stop fighting!”

“What’s happening?” screamed Faora. “What have you-- what have you done?” A tendril of the Phantom Zone lashed out and grabbed her, and she could see her army be dragged toward the hole in reality caused by Jax-Ur’s bomb. “Why is this…” She pulled back, but try as she might she couldn’t escape the unrelenting pull of the Phantom Zone. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this!”

Faora dug her hands into the Argo City pavements, her fingers dragging trenches of dirt as she was pulled toward the void. As she passed Superwoman’s injured body she grabbed instructively toward her foot, and Kara began to be drag toward the Phantom Zone. Lightning cracked overheard, weather systems went crazy, and Kara coughed as the wound in her stomach refused to heal like she’d expect it to.

“I’ll… have… my… revenge!” screamed Faora.

Kara looked down as Faora’s madness infested eyes glared up at her, but could do nothing to break the grip of the last General of Krypton.

“Get… offa… my… cousin!” Kru had dragged himself forward through some immense act of willpower, and wrenched Faora’s hand off of Kara’s leg. The two toppled back and shot toward the Phantom Zone, and with them finally returned to the void, the bomb finished its work, sealing reality behind the initial explosion..

Lena rushed toward Kara’s side. “Oh, God, oh, oh, you’re hurt, Kara. You’re hurt.”

“Wh-where’s Kru?” asked Kara.

“I, he,” Lena shook off her indecision, “let me look at this wound, let me, I need to get the Kryptonite shards out.”

Kara’s eyes fluttered. She could feel herself passing out from the trauma. “Where… where… what did you do?”

Kara’s world faded to black, and Lena was left silent, not knowing what to do next.


“…The treatment has been distributed to every citizen of New Krypton. You’ve cured them of their exposure to Gold Kryptonite. And now they’re immune?”

Kara’s eyes fluttered open as she could hear Thara Ak-Var and Lena Luthor talking next to her bed.

“Looks like,” said Lena. “Kru was exposed to the Gold Kryptonite, took the cure, and he kept on… well… he saved everyone. I need, or you maybe… tests need to be run. To be sure.”

“Where… am I?” asked Kara.

“You’re awake!” said Lena, excitedly. “Thank God, you got a nasty cut and we thought--”

Thara smiled, warmly. “Surgeons removed every trace of Green Kryptonite inside your body. Quite a difficult operation considering the mineral is deadly to everyone on this planet. Thankfully, we had plenty of lead at hand.”

“Yeah, you’ll have a scar, but the doctors can--”

“I need to speak to Lena,” said Kara, pulling herself up and wincing at the movement. “Alone, please.”

“I’ll get the medical staff. They need to check on you. I shan’t be long,” said Thara.

The two friends were left alone in the room, and Kara felt her head swim. “What did you do?”

“What?” asked Lena. “What do you mean?”

“You… the bomb, Faora’s bomb, what did you do?”

“I changed its program, so it wouldn’t snatch the good guys off the planet, I had to--”

“I could hear you and Kru. Talking. You… you used the information I gave you about the Phantom Zone to send my cousin away,” said Kara. “I don’t understand what… why… you would do that?”

“I had to save everybody,” said Lena.

“You didn’t save Kru,” said Kara.

Lena shook her head. “There was no other way!”

“There’s always another way!” said Kara. “Always. That’s what… that’s what Kal always said to me. Never give up. Never stop fighting. Always find another way, if the alternatives are unacceptable. You… you can’t…” She closed her eyes, a lump rising in her chest. “You sent my cousin away. My family.”

“Kara, please…” started Lena.

“I need you to go, Lena, I can’t… you… you need to go,” said Kara. “Just… go.”

“I did what I had to do…” said Lena.

“At what cost?” asked Kara. “Now I’m alone again, after everything, and… and…”

“You’re not alone. Not… not when I’m…”

Kara shook her head. “Leave. Go back to Earth. To Metropolis. And don’t… don’t contact me, okay? I need… time. I’ll…” She winced as the pain in her stomach intensified, an after-effect of her surgery. “Oh, Rao, just go.”

“I… okay. I’ll… I’ll go,” said Lena. “I’m, I’m sorry.” She walked slowly out of the ward, and floated silently toward the bridge between Earth and New Krypton that the Science Guild had rebuilt. The city was already being rebuilt by the numerous Kryptonians who owed their returned powers to her.

The door between worlds flashed open, she stepped through and didn’t speak to Kara Zor-El again for years.

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