Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Earth – 38; National City
An excited man held up a sign saying, Prepare to meet thy Doom! The End of the World is Nigh!and yelled at passers-by:
"The end of the world is licking at our heels! Soon, thou shall be not but dust, twisting and writhing in the dead of space! Not even Supergirl will save you from…"
He broke off seeing an incredible show! A dragon that flew across the dark city sky and spat out jets of flame, nearly injuring several people. As he fired a trail of fire in the direction of the protester, a sudden blur of blue and red came like a missile in front of him. After blocking the fire, the blur was revealed to be none other than National City's protector, Girl of Steel, Supergirl.
She looked at the man with a raised eyebrow.
"Guess Supergirl was able to save you. Now, go! Run!"
Immediately the man left his sign and ran away. While Supergirl turned to the creature, knowing that she was just a pet belonging to a young alien, living in her city.
"Hey, Spike! Remember me?"
The dragon then looked at Supergirl as they approached her, while the Kryptonian spoke to her like a dog.
"Ilana's worried about you," she continued to the creature. "She knows you're afraid of something, - but she just wants you to come home. Come here."
The dragon Spike growled slightly before moving closer to the Girl of Steel, allowing her to flip the switch on her collar. Immediately he shrank to the modest form of a large lizard. Bending down, Supergirl picked up the lizard and noticed that it seemed to be shaking with fear. It wasn't the only one who was terrified. Lots of animals in National City kept freaking out all over the place. No one could understand what was going on. Is this a sign of impending disaster? Could it be that the man with the sign was right, and the end of the world was nigh?
"What's got you so spooked, buddy?" Supergirl wondered, holding the animal in her hands.
It was then that a great shaking arose, shaking the ground where the Kryptonian was standing, reinforcing Kara's belief that impending doom was happening.
Quickly, she joined the DEO agency, handed the lizard to an agent, and left to join her sister, Director Alex Danvers.
"Every pet in National City is having a nervous breakdown."Supergirl explained to her sister. "This feels bigger than Leviathan."
"The USGS didn't register an early warning," Alex replied, as distraught as she was. "It took everyone completely by surprise."
Alex was doing everything to stay calm when an earthquake shook the building so hard that the lights exploded in a shower of sparks.
The Coluan Brainy joined them, usually calm even in a major crisis, was as agitated as the two women.
"And by everyone, she speaks literally," he added, looking at his tablet in his hand. "She does mean everyone because this earthquake is quite, literally, worldwide."
He brought up the world's current problem on one of the screens in the DEO checkpoint. The shown image of Earth was covered with red warning signs. The whole world was the victim of earthquakes.
And Alex continued on with more bad news.
"But the seismic activity wasn't coming from within the planet, it's coming from without!"
Supergirl shook her head in confused disbelief.
"That's…"
"Extra-normal?"Brainy suggested.
"I was gonna say impossible, but okay." the Girl of Steel replied, with a shrug, trying to stay as calm as possible.
"Yes, yes, a fair descriptor." Brainy cried in a stupefied but serious state. "As would be, uh "unfeasible, unthinkable, absurd, outlandish." But however you choose to describe this event, one thing is absolutely certain… We have…"
"A major Crisis on our hands," interrupted J'onn J'onzz, right behind them.
Supergirl, Alex and Brainy turned to him. Judging by his face, he had some revelations for his friends.
Soon after, the Green Martian told them about his recent encounter with Monitor Mar Novu, and what he had just learned.
"The Monitor freed Mal?" Kara wondered, in shock. "I didn't even know he was of this universe."
"Yes, I thought he was The Flash, Thor and Green Arrow's problem." Brainy added in confusion.
"He's of every universe. And he's everyone's problem." J'onn replied decisively. "Last year he tested Kara, Thor and Earth – 1's Heroes with Dr. Deegan and the Book of Destiny. This year he's testing me, to make sure I'm ready for this."
"And what exactly is this?"questioned Alex fearfully.
"Another reality wave?" Supergirl asked in the same tone of voice, as it was obvious she faced a threat beyond her.
The last time a cataclysm knocked on her, it was the mighty Mad Titan Thanos who wanted to wipe out half the universe with the Infinity Stones. But she knew the Stones were no longer a threat, so it was something else threatening them.
"Not exactly," Brainy said, doing something with his console before pointing the big screen at the wall.
The screen showed a large orange shape approaching Earth.
He continued:
"Whatever is it, it is hurtling through space at an impossible speed." he continued. "I calculate it will reach the edge of the universe in exactly 5. 3 hours, at which point, it will boomerang back. Once it intersects again with our solar system, the results will be, in a word, (he paused before turning to Kara and saying in a voice full of fear)… Cataclysmic!"
All shivered in fear, as the shaking continued. Then J'onn dared to ask the question they dreaded:
"Exactly when will it reach us?"
Brainy replied confidently:
"There are too many variables to calculate precisely, but I will say this. If this wave isn't stopped by tomorrow night there will be no more us. No more future. No more anything."
And the shaking picked up again, causing the lights to go out and showering sparks.
The four of them were amazed for a moment, then Alex tried to regain her composure:
"Are there any inhabited planets in its trajectory?"
"Just one," the Coluan replied, pointing to the monitor.
There on the monitor there was a small asteroid in the path of the wave. It was small, but to Kara it meant everything.
"Argo City!" Alex exclaimed in horror, knowing what this world meant to her sister.
"Oh my God!" J'onn added, equally horrified. "Superman's there with Lois, and…"
"My mom." Supergirl finished in dread.
"Can we warn them?" asked older sister Danvers.
"Argo's Harun-El sure makes communications difficult but I will try," he promised, sitting down at the computer to work.
"How much time do they have?"asked Supergirl her friend, hoping for good news.
"Not enough," Brainy replied in a whisper of dread.
The Girl of Steel was sadly disappointed. Her eyes were fixed on the tiny asteroid that contained what was left of her home world. There was her cousin, Lois Lane and her mother. She couldn't bring herself to lose them. The memory of people disappearing into dust after Thanos' finger snap came back to her. Was she going to relive the same apocalyptic memory?
"We must to warn them, Brainy!"she said sadly.
"I try!" replied the Coluan.
Argo City
It was a beautiful day in the last town of Krypton. It was here that Superman and Lois Lane had settled in with their newborn son, Jonathan Kent-Lane.
"Superman, champion of Earth, who faced off with Doomsday, apprehended General Zod, and went toe-to-toe with dozens of Lex Luthor's death traps, has finally met his match!"Lois mocked with amusement and speaking, as if commenting on a journalistic scoop.
Clark was busy changing his son's diapers, and he was doing pretty well… until his wife couldn't help but tease him.
"A dirty diaper," finished the young woman with a smirk. "What do you think? Front page news?"
"Uh, I mean, I think it's a little lowbrow for Lois Lane ," Clark replied as he finished dressing his son.
"Lowbrow?" replied Lois, almost offended. "If only the citizens of Earth could see Kal-El struggling with spit up."
Superman tried to defend himself, knowing that his wife would add sarcasm.
"Need I remind you, Miss Lane, uh, I have no powers here."
"Oh, don't you be blaming this on the red sun, honey." said his wife again.
Finally, Clark had finally managed to dress his son and wrap him in an adorable red baby blanket.
"Hey, buddy?" he said, making the baby laugh.
Lois applauds with a sarcastic expression of "Yay, Daddy did it!"
"Yeah, kinda," he said, approaching her.
The couple looked at their infant tenderly.
"Jonathan really has your eyes, huh?" remarked Lois, stroking his little hand.
"I'll take it so long he has your everything else." Clark replied. As long as he looks like him for everything else.
Then something happened to her that had been going through her mind for a while.
"You know, when I used to picture us together, we were always living on Earth, and we had two kids."
Lois made a slight face before answering sadly.
"Well, I hate to break it to you, Kansas, but prognostication is not one of your superpowers."
Clark chuckled before being interrupted by the communicator's chime. Lois activated it and a holographic image of Supergirl appeared near their window.
"Kal… Lois… Arg…"
Neither of them noticed the anguish in the hologram's voice.
"Kara?" exclaimed Lois, delighted to see her step-cousin. "In pants?"
Kara tried to say something but the image blurred, as did the communication. Lois tried to adjust the communication to get a clean transmission.
"How did she manage to break through Argo's shield interference?" Clark wondered in confusion.
"Not well apparently." his wife remarked, finally managing to get a better picture of the hologram.
Finally, the connection was stable, and Supergirl delivered the message to them:
"Kal, Lois. Argo is in danger. You need to get out now…"
But the connection died just as the sky turned red over Argo City. Lois and Clark looked up at the red sky, worried about their son.
So they left their homes in current, they saw a crowd of citizens in panic. Clark would give anything to have his powers to come to help them and save his wife and son. They turned to see Kara's mom, Alura leaving her house in an even panic.
"Alura!" he called out.
In the hearing, Alura ran towards the couple.
"Kal, Lois. Thank Rao."Superman's aunt exclaimed when she hugged Lois.
"What's happening?" his nephew asked her.
Alura's expression was grave as she answered in an equally grave voice.
"A massive wave of energy is moving through space. It's killing everything in its path."
"How long do we have?" asked Lois as the people around them ran in panic.
"Minutes." She told them before motioning for them to follow her. "Quickly! With me!"
They led them to a small hanger, with a small one-person pod.
"We must set a course for Earth. Hopefully, they'll have enough time to stop this wave before it hits!" Alura said, even though she feared for her daughter.
"Where are the rest?" asked Clark while as a feeling of Deja-vu hit him.
The planet began to tremble dangerously.
Alura shook her head, although she too had the same feeling as her nephew.
"There are no others. Only this one."
Moments later, Jonathan was unconsciously sleeping in the small spaceship as his parents looked at him for the last time and their hearts broke. For the first time in his life, Clark finally knew what his father had felt when he sent his only son back to save him.
"We'll always be with you, Jonathan."
He subconsciously mirrored Jor-El's words as Lois spoke the same way as Lara stroking her tiny hands, tears in her eyes.
"We will never leave you. Even in the face of our deaths." she whispered through her tears.
"We love you," Superman said as the ship closed and was propelled into space, just as the wave destroyed Argo, the last city of Krypton.
As Jonathan's ship continued on its way through space, as if nothing had happened.
Earth – 38; National City
Through the DEO monitor, Supergirl can only watch, in sorrowful horror, what was left of Krypton, her people and her family consumed by the wave. After his passage, there was nothing left of Argo at all. As if the asteroid never existed.
"They're gone!" Kara whispered through her sobs as Alex and J'onn came over to comfort her.
"And we're next," Brainy added with anguish.
Elsewhere in the universe
On a platform surrounded by stars, the Asgardian and God of Thunder Thor had witnessed the destruction of Argo City. Mar Novu, the Monitor, had revealed to him the last world images of his friend Kara being swept away by the wave of energy.
Horrified and distraught, the Asgardian stared open-mouthed at the empty spot that now lay in space.
"Oh My God! Argo City!"
His companions, the raccoon Rocket and the talking tree Groot had also had their eyes on the disaster that had just unfolded.
"Oh no," the raccoon lamented, completely scared.
Groot remained silent in horror, while Novu remained solemn. Thor turned to him.
"What happened?"
"The Crisis has begun! Argo City is just the beginning! This is the fate that awaits the entire Multiverse!" the Monitor explained, still calm.
Rocket then looked at the cosmic being in dread.
"You mean that this creepy wave will also kill us? We're all going to die? How do we stop that?!"
"I am Groot…" whispered the tree, just as anguished as his companion.
"This is the threat hanging over us, over the entire Multiverse! We must act!" Novu continued.
"Wait…" intervened Thor still shocked by what he had just seen. "Kara had family there… are they all dead? Her mother? Her cousin? And Lois?"
A dazzling light burst onto the platform again and the silhouette of a woman clad in blue appeared near the Asgardian.
Thor remained on his guard seeing the woman in front of him.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Harbinger," the woman replied in a powerful voice. "I'm working with the Monitor. I was able to save a few people on Argo."
Immediately Clark, dressed in Superman and Lois appeared on the platform. With a deep sense of relief, Thor came over to hug his friends.
"Kal… Lois… Thank God, you're alive! I saw what happened to Argo! I was afraid of losing you!"
He had been afraid of having to tell Kara the death of all that was left of Krypton, including her cousin and step-cousin.
Superman smiled sadly and hugged him back.
"Nice to see you again, Thor!"
Then the asgardian then hugged Superman's young wife.
"Lois! I am glad you're safe!"
"Thanks Thor," replied the young woman still in shock at what had happened.
Then he noticed that someone was missing.
"What about your baby? Where is he?"
Superman and Lois looked at each other sadly, then the Kryptonian replied:
"We put Jonathan in a ship, and we made him leave Argo before it was destroyed by the wave of energy."
"But we don't know where he is in space," added Lois, with anguish.
Thor put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"He's alive, and that's the most important!"
"Indeed, because the hour is serious! We have to go to Earth – 38!" Mar Novu announced.
"And why?" Thor said, looking suspiciously at the Monitor. He still didn't trust him.
"Because that's where the first battle will begin! It's time to bring everyone else together!"
"Who this, everyone?" Rocket asked, confused.
"I am Groot?" Groot whispered, worried and confused.