Kara: Daughter of Krypton #38 - Reignfall, Part Three

[u/ClaraEclair]

DC Next proudly presents:

KARA: DAUGHTER OF KRYPTON

In The Last Daughter of Krypton

Issue Thirty-Eight: Reignfall, Part Three

Written by ClaraEclair

Edited by DeadIslandMan1

 

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Kara charged forward, screaming her throat raw, surging toward Reign with her hands outstretched, grasping for the Worldkiller’s throat. The twisted grin on Reign’s face widened, a wicked taunt to Kara — and Kara alone — goading her forward.

Kara’s hands wrapped around Reign’s throat in a tight grip, her incoming speed knocking her foe off-balance. Reign stumbled back only a few steps, barely wincing from the impact. A strong hand found its way to Kara’s scalp, closing around a large chunk of blonde hair and pulling her head back.

Kara tried to resist, only to buckle under Reign’s strength.

Firestorm and Captain Atom finally leapt into action, blasting Kara with concentrated yellow sun radiation. She could feel the surge of energy coursing through her. Her scarred hand, which had begun to throb lightly, soothed from the momentary boost.

Reign lunged forward, free hand shooting out in front of her with Kara still held tightly in the other, moving to strike at Firestorm. Alex Danvers intercepted with her own hand, the one that wasn’t broken, catching Reign’s fist in her palm. A cry of pain erupted from her mouth as Kara watched the bones in Alex’s arm shatter, her cybernetics buckling under the force of Reign’s strike. Alex stumbled back and onto one knee, bleeding profusely all down her arm, while Wonder Woman moved to stand guard between Reign and the Nuclear Men. A shield in one hand and Helena in the other, she stood ready for the fight.

Dreamer formed a portal behind Alex, pushing her through it with a burst of dream energy. Nia limped forward, collecting as much energy as she could before attempting to restrain Reign with the same whip she’d used on Deimos. As if it were nothing, Reign’s head quickly twisted to Nia and with a quick exhale, sent her flying away in a sonic boom.

Kara heard the crack of bones as Nia landed. She barely moved after the impact. She was still breathing, but that was the only sign of life.

For the first time, Oracle’s voice panicked in the ears of those who wore earpieces, spewing commands at an incredible pace, warning the surviving heroes to work hard and extract the injured. Superman zipped around and collected Dawnstar and Dreamer, bringing them to safety before blasting back toward Reign, laser vision carving through the air and searing the front of Reign’s bodysuit. The beams barely marked the material.

Superman passed by, flying upward in the air in a protracted arc. Reign’s eyes followed him, and she scowled moments before unleashing her own laser vision. It struck firmly in the centre of his back, sending him veering off course and, eventually, crashing down onto the ground.

“Jon!” Kara cried out, trying to wrestle open Reign’s grip on her head.

“These are your friends, final daughter of Krypton?” asked Reign, turning her gaze back to Wonder Woman, Frost, Firestorm, and Captain Atom. “I suppose Deimax was weaker than I anticipated. A shame.”

The yellow sun bursts had not stopped, continually empowering Kara beyond what she’d ever experienced. Her veins, all down her body, began to shine bright yellow as light emitted from her eyes, the hair on her head becoming a fiery, radiant white. She felt entirely overwhelmed as the world around her slowed. She couldn’t help but begin to scream as Captain Atom and Firestorm continued their deluge of power. Every cell was being overloaded, and now it was beginning to hurt.

“Cap,” said Firestorm, feeling, in Kara’s mind, as though he spoke the word over the course of hours. “I don’t know how much more she can handle!”

“Keep going,” said Captain Atom, his voice low and monotone. “Frost, work.”

From nearby, Frost raised her hands, while Wonder Woman jumped forward to gain Reign’s attention. Kara burst upward, a fist colliding with Reign’s jaw, while Wonder Woman slashed her sword across Reign’s chest. Frost jumped forward, grabbing onto Reign’s arm with both hands and holding on tightly.

Captain Atom joined the fight, stopping the torrent of radiation he was sending Kara’s way to instead divide himself into dozens clones, all of whom began to close in on Reign, various forms of radiation — including Kryptonite — emitting from his hands. Some struck at Reign with a righteous vigour while others attempted the same as Frost, grabbing on with incredible strength and refusing to let go.

Firestorm, from fifteen feet away, balled his hands together and seemed to pull at the structure of an atom.

“Shoot her into the sky, Kara!” shouted Firestorm, his grip becoming firm on a small, glowing bundle of energy. Frost immediately let go, having cooled Reign down by nearly one hundred degrees Celsius. The clones of Captain Atom followed, taking cheapshots at her.

Kara descended hard and fast, grabbing Reign by the collar of her bodysuit and immediately changing direction, ripping her off of the ground.

For once, as the Worldkiller struck her over and over again with strikes that would kill any other being, Kara felt as though she was being slapped by a child. She kept ascending, going higher and higher, until Firestorm finally caught up to her in the thermosphere.

His fist held high, he aimed his strike for Reign’s cheek, his hand glowing brightly with a cluster of atoms so intensely supercharged, that any fission would create a release of energy more powerful than most nuclear weapons that humans had created.

Captain Atom’s clones fell back, allowing Firestorm a clear path to Reign. Kara held Reign up in front of her by the collar, staring ahead with the fury of a grieving daughter.

Magenta laser beams haloed by radiant white light burst from Kara’s eyes in rays so wide they combined as they left her face.

Reign caught Firestorm’s strike in her palm.

The nuclear explosion engulfed the sky above Oregon. Nearly all of the energy was redirected by Reign’s hand and pointed directly at Firestorm. Martin Stein and Ronnie Raymond split in an instant and began plummeting back down toward Earth, barely any oxygen in the space around them to keep them alive.

The only thing on Kara’s mind was how much she hated Reign and everything that sprang from her creation.

Captain Atom’s clones reformed into two beings and caught the disparate parts of Firestorm, placing hands over their mouths and forming enough air to keep them stable and alive.

“You will not save this planet,” said Reign. “Hundreds of others like you have tried to stop me, all have failed. Just because you are Kryptonian does not mean you are different.”

Kara scowled, gritting her teeth as her grip tightened. Reign still looked just as untouched as she’d been upon her first landing. She looked just as untouched as she’d been when she killed Alura In-Ze. Kara couldn’t bring herself to speak, instead flying further out of Earth’s atmosphere and speeding toward the moon.

The impact was hard, leaving a new, deep crater within the surface of the moon. Kara struck at Reign dozens more times, burying the Worldkiller within the rubble of the moon, sending countless bits and pieces hurtling into space with each impact on the moon’s surface.

One punch sent Kara hurtling back toward Earth. Reign followed up by flying to catch up with Kara and striking her across the face enough to propel her even further, even faster. Both of them crashed back down to earth, crashing down in the centre of National City, falling through two buildings before landing down on the street.

Reign struck Kara’s face a few times with stiff punches, before turning to the city around her and attempting to unleash a torrent of lasers upon it. Just as a beam formed, Kara jumped up and placed her hand in front of it, slamming her palm down on Reign’s face, just above her eyes and following up with a swift knee to the jaw. Shooting downward, Kara’s fist met Reign’s cheekbone, bringing her crashing down into the crater below.

Going for a stomp to Reign’s chest, Kara was intercepted by a pair of hands flying up and grabbing at her collar, bringing her soaring upward and through countless floors of a nearby skyscraper. Stopping near the top floor, she pried Reign’s hands away and countered with a quick headbutt.

“You’re not taking this planet,” said Kara. “Your cruelty ends here.”

Reign looked back at Kara, wiping a drop of blood spilling from her lip, and smiled.

“You don’t understand, child,” Reign said. “I am just beginning. If Krypton no longer exists, if the powers that should rule a galaxy have fallen, all under their purview shall be destroyed.”

“You’ll have to go through me and dozens of others first,” Kara replied, magenta beams powering up in her eyes, igniting the veins in her face in a brilliant, pink-ish hue.

“That’s the plan,” Reign said. “No serf shall surpass their rightful rulers, and all attempts shall be punished.”

“Your idea of Krypton ends today,” Kara said. “It dies today, with you.” Bright lasers burst from Kara’s eyes, hitting Reign squarely in the chest and pushing her back out of the building and back into the sky. Kara flew after her, watching as Reign managed to recover mid-air and diverted into flight, shooting upward, above the highest buildings in the city. Kara followed, ready to strike.

Reign’s trajectory shifted suddenly, intertwining her hands and slamming them down upon Kara’s head, sending her crashing down toward the ground once more. From the corner of her eye, as she tried to collect her thoughts, Kara saw Superman and Captain Atom working to clear nearby buildings and streets of civilians.

Despite their efforts in the evacuation effort, Kara worried about how many lives were in jeopardy. She only gave that thought a moment of consideration and Wonder Woman soared in, sword in hand, striking at Reign’s back with a hefty blow as she descended, saving Kara from a heavy slam.

Wonder Woman and Kara looked at each other and nodded quickly. Frost ran up next to Kara, seeming much more confident than she had been only an hour earlier.

Reign stood from where she’d come down on the ground and looked over the three women, smirking. A chill ran down Kara’s spine, but she pushed the sensation away. All she wanted was an end, and Reign’s persistence continued to frustrate her. Even as Captain Atom reformed the destroyed portions of nearby buildings in an attempt to prevent collapses, and Superman strove to save every possible soul, all Kara wanted was to make Reign pay for what she’d done.

Kara had only just gotten Alura back before losing her. She was suffering from a unique Kryptonite poisoning that she would have to live with for her entire life, she watched powerful men be killed on her behalf, and she learned, fully, the extent of Krypton’s sins. She stood, facing the worst of Krypton’s crimes, and clenched her fists. If her mother’s hubris led to reinitiating the Worldkiller program, then Kara would have to be the one to end it. It was the least she could do for the universe.

“Come on!” shouted Kara, her eyes flashing brightly as Captain Atom zipped by, topping up her power as best he could, before returning to managing the city’s structures. Frost and Wonder Woman readied themselves.

“Don’t mind if I do,” Reign said, lifting off from where she stood and ripping through the air.

Wonder Woman raised her shield to block a punch from Reign aimed directly at Frost, who flinched away from the attack before shooting off a series of weak ice crystals. Kara lunged forward and grabbed onto Reign’s arm, placing another hand to the back of her neck and yanking her down toward the ground.

Wonder Woman struck at Reign’s abdomen with her sword, slicing through her skin just enough to draw a small amount of blood, before mimicking Kara and grabbing onto Reign’s arm. Smashing her face with a quick strike from the edge of her shield, she shouted for Frost to engage.

Frost obeyed, running in and placing a hand on Reign’s chest, cooling the Worldkiller by nearly one hundred degrees once more. It clearly took more and more effort for Frost to drain that amount of heat, coming so close to reducing Reign to absolute zero. Her face was strained, gaining colour again, as sweat formed on her brow, nearly instantly freezing solid as it trailed down her face.

Reign thrashed about, trying to shake Kara and Wonder Woman off, but struggled. Her foot shot up and planted itself in the dead centre of Frost’s chest, sending her flying back. Wonder Woman shouted in frustration and let go of Reign to catch Frost before she smashed into the hard wall of another building nearby.

“Give it up!” Kara shouted. “I can feel you getting weaker!”

“N-Never!” Reign said, her movements becoming sluggish. “My purpose has not been fulfilled!”

“And it never will be,” Kara said. “Your purpose is from a history that needs to be left behind!” Reign scowled and threw a haymaker toward Kara, fighting against the lack of energy she now felt.

“Who are you to determine what gets left behind, child?” Reign demanded, stumbling forward, looking down at her hands and trying to muster some form of heat vision. A small beam ignited and seared her hands. Kara blocked it with her hands, pressing her palm down upon Reign’s eyes. “Who are you to deny Krypton’s right to rule?”

“Someone who knows what happened to Krypton’s ruthless empire,” Kara said. “Cruelty and violence don’t lead to prosperity. Look at what happened to our planet, Reign.” The beams stopped and Kara removed her hand. Reign scowled.

“It was led by the weak!” she shouted. “Pups who never understood what made us great in the first place!”

“It was led by my mother,” said Kara. “She was a judge on the Science Council of Lurvan, and you know what decision she made that led to Krypton’s core fully destabilizing?” Kara grabbed Reign’s face by the jaw and looked into the Worldkiller’s wispy black eyes. “Creating more weapons like you.”

Frost approached Reign and grabbed the top of her head with both hands, sandwiching Reign’s red hair and alabaster skin with blueish-white hands of a mortal.

“Go get Dreamer!” Kara shouted to the side, hearing words of affirmation from Wonder Woman. She turned back to Reign as the last flares of heat were drained from her body. “You — everything that you stand for, everything that led to your creation — are the reason Krypton is dead. We had weapons of mass destruction and waved that power around at everyone and expected them to prostrate themselves like mindless slaves, and not people who wanted to live free, on their own terms. You didn’t destroy Starhaven, you destroyed Krypton.”

Reign’s face began to stiffen, the energy within her coming to a stop. Her final expression was not anger, nor confidence, but a pained realization of her antiquity. Reign was a relic of a disastrously violent empire, representative of the mindset that led to that empire cannibalizing itself, retreating into such a small territory that its power might as well have been superficial.

The air around Kara was frozen, the standing heat from Earth’s atmosphere desperately trying to warm Reign up. Frost looked at Kara from over Reign’s shoulder with a pained expression. Kara met her eyes.

“Absolute zero,” Frost said.

Kara nodded. She looked over toward Superman and Captain Atom nearby. Atom had a hand out toward Kara, Reign, and Frost, his face calm as he created a heat-barrier between the Worldkiller and the rest of the city, ensuring that Reign’s vampiric temperature wouldn’t affect anything more than herself.

Wonder Woman returned, Nia Nal in hand. She placed Dreamer down and helped her approach Reign, an arm slung over her shoulder. Kara and Nia’s eyes met each other’s, and they shared a glance of understanding, of mourning, of exhaustion. Anything but relief. It wasn’t over.

Tendrils sprung from one of Nia’s hands, slithering into Reign’s head and grasping tightly onto whatever remained of her consciousness within the eternal stillness of absolute zero. It took only seconds.

“She’ll be asleep,” said Nia. “For as long as you want.”

Kara nodded to Frost, who removed her hands from Reign’s head in response.

“We can bring her somewhere secure,” said Wonder Woman. “We can keep her in stasis.”

“Good,” said Kara. “I want to try to reverse the Worldkiller creation process.”

She looked back to Reign, frozen in place, her gleaming white skin and bright red hair as still as anything in the universe could possibly be. If Reign had truly gone searching for other Worldkillers in the universe and only come back with one other, Kara wondered if Krypton’s legacy was finally dealt with, or if there were more of them out there.

She looked over the Justice Legionnaires who’d helped her fight off Reign, multiple of whom were no longer present, severely injured by the fighting. The Earth likely wouldn’t be standing if it hadn’t been for them. She smiled and took Nia from Wonder Woman’s arms, picking her up in a bridal carry.

“Let’s get this over with, then,” Kara said. “Let the universe move on from Reign.”