Character Creation Contest #5 - VOTING PAGE!

...General consensus seems to be that Batman ...just has way cooler villains [than Superman], and I think Supergirl suffers from the same problem. So what've you got, writers? Can you come up with a villain to challenge Superman and/or Supergirl?

1. YOUR CHARACTER MUST BE PRESENTED IN A STORY!
2. Write a character that could legitimately show up in the DC Universe to challenge Superman or Supergirl
3. Your character has to be new.
4. Your character must have a name.
5. No alternate Earths Superman/Supergirl.
6. No evil twins.
7. Nothing and nobody goes to H'el.
8. Word count: 1,100 words maximum. No minimum.
9. Edit your work.

I never actually thought about doing this never really but he was just so wonderful! And handsome! The perfect man! I followed him almost every where! You don't really wanna know all the strange things I thought about.Well I put my self several times in danger just to see him!

But one day I found out his biggest secret! He was just a normal man! A journalist! But that wasn't the worst! He had girl friend! A ugly b*tch Lois Lane! She will pay for taking away my honey! That is what I thought but it turned different.

I am Reichelle Ruts aka The Root! I had some few powers I could create doors to everywhere by using my magic roots. I saw her coming home from her work I was waiting for her in front off her house. It was raining rain drops felt on my hair.

I was angry really angry I simply shot my roots at her they warped around her, she screamed but I put my roots in her mouth . Now she would pay I would kill her breaking every bone in her tiny body!

That's what i thought but my prince came just the second after that. He simply shot his sexy heat-vision at my roots! That was strangely erotic....Any way he free that girl and stud in front of me and he made a angry handsome face, he was just to wonderful! I wanted to hug him but he pushed me away.

He asked me why I did that, I told him the truth cause I love him. He smiled a bit and then I woke up here chained on this ugly bed in this horrible place! I'm not crazy but they treat me like that! But at least he put a card next to my bed! That's all Dr. Arkham!

The End!

I hate him because he decided to go left rather than right! It’s as simple as that! The big blue %$#! chose to save someone else’s life who arbitrarily was on his right and my parents died, who were on his left.

I remember how the country, the world, wept when that bastard died! I didn’t! He and that Doomsday tore up America like two kids in a sandpit which caused my parents to get crushed under an overpass. And the all American Boy Scout %$#! caused it to happen!

He died and I thought that was it. But lo and behold he returned from the dead, like Green Arrow. Like Green Lantern. Like most of them super %$#!’s! Christ a whole slew of them returned from the dead as super zombies a few months ago…notice how not one single ‘normal’ person came back. When I kill Superman, I’ll make my way down my list taking out the rest of them too.

It was then future me stepped into my room and told me I failed in killing Superman. It’s actually kinda weird meeting yourself from the future; especially when you, I mean me, I mean oh %$#! I broke into my OWN house! He/I explained a whole bunch of things which made me think that future me was a %$#! so I killed myself! If it really was me, then I’d of known I kept a knife under my pillow and NOT gotten stabbed!

But seeing myself bleed out on my floor with all this lovely time travel technology just lying there; and technically it was mine. I thought about going back and killing Superman when he was baby…but had no idea where he grew up. I had to be smart about this, not like future %$#! me! And I needed a name, a bad-ass super villain name. I looked up at my wall and the poster for the first album I ever bought by the band Mr. 50 and there was my new name, written in blood and lightning:Rächen!Name’s pretty cool; it’s Kraut for revenge I think.

Then I stepped into time…what a rush! I went back to China and spent twenty years learning Shaolin kung-fu, I shot into the 31 Century joining the Legion briefly, then I ended up in something called Sector 3544 and got myself a Red Lantern ring, then onto the 64 Century stealing weapons that make nuclear weapons look like sticks, back and forth across time and space and when I returned, I’d been gone about thirty seconds! Love time travel!

But then I went back to get what would be my signature weapon. It was 1992 in Metropolis and I watched Superman and Doomsday fight. Superman put all his effort in and kicked off a bone protrusion from Doomsday’s knee, that’s what I needed! It’s what I; Rächen needed; a great big %$#! knife made from the leg of the thing that killed Superman!

So now I hover high above Metropolis, looking down on this…speck waiting for the %$#! of steel to shoot past. Sure I could jump into the future and catch him at home, with time travel it was easy working out Superman and Clark Kent are the same person. I feel like such a douche that he tricked us all with a pair of glasses! Bah I don’t really care for Clark Kent, killing Superman though…that will be sweet! I’m going to make him pay for mistake, for not saving my parents! If he’d of done his job, this wouldn’t be happening to him! It’s ultimately all his fault. He acts like God, now one of his ‘subjects’ is going to have a chat with God and show him and the world that he aint so special!

I’ve got a blaster that fires red sun energy bolts, a Legion flight ring, my Red Lantern ring that runs on rage and hate, a canister full of kryptonite dust, a dozen gravity grenades, a nuclear powered thunder baton and my Doomsday knife…Superman is a deadman!

All I have to do now is press the button on my mini nuclear device which I implanted in the foundation of the Daily Planet back when the foundation was laid in 1775, god I love time travel!

“Welcome to Metropolis, can I help you?”

I turned to see the smug cape wearing %$#! with his arms folded, hovering behind me. He’s got that look on his face like I’m insignificant and about to waste his time. God he’s in for a %$#! shock!

“I am Rächen!”

He smiled “That’s lovely, and which planet are you from?”

Patronizing %$#!! Condescending alien %$#! What a jerk-off! I click the device between my fingers.

“You’re going to regret your tone…Clark” His face was priceless! I actually briefly went back in time and did that whole moment again because his dumb struck look needed to be enjoyed again.

“You’re going to regret your tone…Clark” Ha ha awesome. Now here comes the…

KABOOM!

Metropolis shook as the Daily Planet began to pancake upon itself.

“My name is Rächen!” I sneered as I launched at him “Today is your last day on Earth!”

I had awoken with a lust for energy, a hunger for energy. Weak, befuddled, I could barely stand. I gained my footing on a dumpster in the alley between two buildings. A homeless man was standing by a rusty barrel used as a makeshift fireplace warming his hands and then he noticed me as I fell once again. He ran over to see what was wrong with me," Sir you know you ain't got no clothes on." He took off one of his coats and gave it to me. As he helped me up he gave me a blanket that I wrapped around myself. He shuffled his hands over the fire and began to have a conversation with me.

I stood by the fire with the heat warming my face. I started to feel slightly better than before, but as my vision narrowed into blackness. I fell right on the fire knocking it over. Almost immediately the fire dimmed down into the erbs. I recovered from my blackout and as the homeless man grabbed me by the hand to help me out of the ashes,he too became weak as I once was, and fell over into the herbs as I stood back up. Rolling around in the hot erbs, I grabbed him by his arm and he began to stop moving around from the pain of the burning erbs. I tried to pull him out, but when I did pull him out , his eyes were lifeless, I checked for a pulse and there was none. I thought , "what the hell?" I took his clothes and put the body back in the dumpster and went on my way, unknowing that it was me who killed the man, I had just assumed he had some kind of heart attack from falling over unexpectedly.

Couple of weeks later evidence linked me to the murder of this man, with a bad lawyer I was convicted of second degree murder and was given 15-20 years in prison. By then I had learned of my ability, I was able to absorb energy, steal powers and eventually replicate matter from nearly anything and use it in various ways like turning limbs into different shapes, using matter fo an absorbed material to coat around my self as a exoskeleton, also I am able to steal memories but just like the energy I steal it will also eventually fade, but powers, the powers would stay until totally dismissed from my body. In prison I had ample time to practice my power and also to learn, like absorbing too many memories is a bad thing, I had stolen the memories of 3 guards and they all began flooding in my head I had intense migraines and was on the brink of going brain dead as my mind couldn't handle it, but eventually they began to fade. The more I began to use my power the more I "needed" to use it. I had started to realize exactly what nicotine addicts were going through. Eventually I got so desperate that eventually I was relying on rats that got too close for comfort, stealing "ALL" of their energy. Then it came to when I had to occasionally feed off the energy of my cell-mate and he just like the homeless man died. After his death I was put in "the hole" for 5 days. The worst 5 days of my life. When I emerged I was weak, I was normal. It seemed like I was weak but I was normal. The time I spent in the hole broke me of my addiction.

I was planning an escape which would require me to steal some energy building up some strength. I "was" a good person, but there was no way in hell i was staying in that hellhole for 20 more goddamn years. When we were let out in the courtyard, I walked over and placed both hands on the brickwall. The stone would become encased over my body, I would begin to walk out the courtyard when two guards aimed at me, they began shooting as the stone began was chipped away by the bullets, I started sprinting, covering my face from bullet fire, one well place shot chipped away a piece of brick and left my skin exposed in that area but my face was still well shielded. As I got to them both my stone forearms began to shape into large heavy spheres, I would thrust them forward to the guards they would go flying and most assuredly they were both K.O.'d. He was still in the courtyard when apparently Superman had been called to help, the man of steel landed in the courtyard behind me as I was holding a guard by his shirt collar and ready to K.O. him with my stone fist. I dropped him and turned around, as I looked I realized I had to fight superman, but unknowingly I had no idea how strong he was, so I sprinted at him and leaped going for a punch to his face. I had one large stone sphere, and he stood there as I brought it down on his head.

The stone cracked and turned to brittle as his made contact with him, he stood there clearly un-phased. I came back around with the other one, the same thing happened once again, I was shocked, and then in the blink of an eye, before I had time to even know, let alone react to what happened

"SKA-DOOSH!!!"

I was flying through the air with most of the stone shielding on my right face gone and the rest brittled, right then I felt joy and pain at the same time, I had tasted true power, superman's power, and I smiled as I flew through several walls and fell unconscious....... the addiction was back. This time rats won't cut it, normal humans won't cut it. I wanted super power. I was deemed a super villain and relocated to "Belle Reve Penitentiary", there I planned. But the @#$%ing inhibitor collars drained my power, denying my need to feed. Some how I was able to use the inhibitor collar's ability to stunt powers, but I still couldn't use my absorbing powers. My plan is to find a way around these inhibitor collars, take some powers from a bunch of macho super-villains and bust outta here, then , Superman, will be mine. My name is Lakota and I will not rest, I will not stop until I have that power, and I will be THE MOST POWERFUL SUPER VILLAIN EVER!!!!!!!

.

Clark Kent awoke, his mind clouded as it struggled to focus. He could feel hard, chilled rock underneath, his strength and abilities failing him. Clark rubbed his eyes with a hand, using the other to raise himself onto his knees. He looked down and saw his suit Lois bought was torn to shreds, along with his Super suit.

“What the…what‘s going on here? Where a…?”

A deep laugh reverberated through the swampy air; the sound made his blood turn to frost. He looked around, his vision fully cleared. It was an expansive courtyard, shrouded in darkness and a thick green rot. The laughter continued, deepening and reverberating, bouncing off of unseen walls.

“Who’s there?! Show yourself! Come out here and face me like a man!”

The laughter quieted down a little to a sinister chuckle. A thick rasp escaped from whatever hole generated the sounds, the rasps thickening as words started to form. A thick hiss permeated the air.

“Ssssimple minded Ssssssuperman”

Superman stumbled around, every inch of his body shaking in reflexive fear. As he moved, the shadow of a huge object began to emerge behind him. The dark fog immediately began to lift somewhat and Superman could see a giant figure; a huge steel statue crouched in a knighting position. Its massive head was hidden in between its stretched hands, the slightly clawed hands holding tightly the handles of a pair of gargantuan swords; each one rusted with age but seemingly dipped in the same rotted blood as what covered the strange floor. The stature was as solid and lifeless as anything made of stone, but the aura it released…it was wrong. There was no way to describe how it felt, just that it wasn’t supposed to be there. A clicking noise sounded behind Superman; a steady click like high heels against thickened tiles. Superman turned his head to view the source of the sound and recoiled in horror. It had the overall structure of a human dinosaur, but its body was rotting and tearing itself apart. The face was just a skull of a crocodile, with huge bulging yellow eyes crisscrossed with equally thick, bulging black veins. A hideous, grotesque smile stretching from the each edge of the opening of the lipless mouth.

“Who-who are you? What the Hell ARE you?! Where am I?!”

The creature continued to hollowly smile; stopped in its tracks, folding its arms. With a whispering voice like a dark wind in October trees, it spoke.

“The last son of Krypton. It is an honor, to finally see the living blur himself.”

Superman suddenly felt weaker, the air torn out of his lungs. A thickened pain erupted through his arms. Shaking, he pulled up one of his sleeves and saw his veins enlarged, bulging out of the skin.

“What…are..you…doing..to me?!”

The beast laughed a booming sound when compared to its whispery vocals.

“I merely equal the playing field. Or, in your case, limit it. You see, I keep my eyes out on the stronger individuals out there. Most I ignore, but occasionally there are a few that we crave to see in a sticky situation. Now, it’s not up for me to battle. My associates crave a David and Goliath setting.”

With those words, Superman saw the foggy mist dissipate fully. The large field suddenly began to stretch vertically into the sky, rimming the entire area. With a skipping heartbeat, he knew what it was.

It was a coliseum.

Lights unseen from overhead suddenly flooded the arena. Lines like molten magma etched into the creases of the floor, engulfing it in a simulated planetary mantle. Chanting erupted from the arena walls, a continuous murdering howl and cheering. But the only thing understandable was also the vilest endless chant.

“Long Live Lord Fin! All Hail Lord Fin! Crucify! Crucify!”

Superman screamed as an eerie green glow emanated from his veins engulfed him further, this time spreading up to the base of his neck.. The creature, dubbed Lord Fin by the voices, stretched out his arms, spinning slightly in a circle.

“You hear my subjects? They want a show. So, I say give it to them!”

A thundering screech of noise reverberated throughout the arena, knocking Superman to the ground. As he tried to right himself, he saw that the arena floor fell away, save for a circle surrounding him, the creature and the giant monument, which began to glow. A purple light blasted through the segments of the armor and the joints began to squeal. The giant statue clenched its swords, pulled them out of the ground and swung them through the air. The arena bellowed in chanting at the sight. The massive android shifted its head, a mutant like thing resembling a dog with the crest of a pterodactyl, peering down at the two below. The rotted lord clapped its hands in delight, walking up to Superman and the robot. Superman swung a fist at the creature, but only blew through the entity, nearly falling inside the magma. The creature reassembled, shaking its head in mock sadness.

“One thing you must learn; in MY reality, I make the rules. I made you weak, and I make myself immortal. Now, let’s see how well your will is to survive!”

With that, he disintegrated into a black mist. The giant android roared, and swung its sword at Superman. The tiny superhero, despite the loss of his strength, managed to duck in between the robot’s legs. The robot tried swinging for him, but lost balance and collapsed, shaking the tiny island in its massive weight. The swords it held bounced and fell into the magma, melting instantaneously. The android erupted in a piercing screech of anger, echoed by the unseen crowds as they roared their hate back. Superman jumped to the side as the robot tried to slam him with a giant foot, falling backwards through the impact. The android raged at its misses, then lifting up to full gargantuan height, it tried lunge at the weakened superhero. Superman at the last minute dodged the attack, and the metal statue plummeted into the magma. Screams shaking the entire arena hit as it vanished beneath the rolling magma waves. The arena roared, their protests shaking the very murky air. Suddenly, a screeching sounded from the magma and a molten red and orange hand burst out and grabbed Superman, enveloping him in scalding heat. Superman tried to break out of the fist, but his strength was gone. With a deep throated metallic laugh, the cyborg cackled.

“You’re my trophy now Superman!”

Location: Some dive bar, somewhere in outer-space

Lobo: "HAHAHAHA!!! You thought you could do something that the Main Man haven't done yet? For someone with a 12th level intellect you aren't too bright are you, chico?"

Zero: "It's Zero. I had him, I tell ya."

Lobo: "Alright. Quit ya crying. Tell me all about it, chico?

It started out the way I planned. I attacked him at night, just as he was going to sleep. According to my notes, Superman should be 5-10% weaker at night. Stay invisible and stay out of his field of vision. Teleport into his blindside or directly behind and attack. What I didn't calculate or didn't calculate enough was his speed and strength. He's faster than me. And if I had bones like these humans, I'd be dead by those punches.

Lobo: "HAHAHAHAHA!! You brain-tweezers don't know the first thing about fighitng do you?"

Zero: "Well, Neutrino's aren't really known for our physical prowess."

Lobo: "HAHAHAAHAH!!! You tried to fight Superman with math and you thought you could win. HAHAHAHA!!! So let me get this straight...you get punched once. Then you ran away?"

Zero: "Well..............."

Lobo: "HAHAHAHAHAH!!! You may have a big brain...but you got glass jaw, Chico!!"

Zero: "Next time will be different."

When nothing, not even light nor sound, could escape the force of the Black Hole, the guardians of the Universe dreaded to wonder what it was they saw that tore free of the yawning mouth of destruction spilling out into Sector 2814. But when stars young and old quickly faded out and when their fellow corpsmen began to disappear without a trace, there seemed no question that this suddenly blackened reality had been met with the intentions of a most terrifying threat...

Silent and unseen and yet travelling amidst the screaming explosions of dying suns, ATROCITAS tore its way to Earth with all the dreadful purpose of extinction in its abominable excuse of a heart. Still, the Lanterns followed the path of destruction as it led to Earth and yet more disappeared with out a trace, the lives and the very souls ripped out of them without warning; until the stars failed no longer and the Universe seemed silent and still once more. What had happened? This was unlike anything the guardians had ever witnessed even in their darkest night.

But now an impossible lifeform made real, Atrocitas, aimed to Earth like a bullet through oblivion and gaining velocity!!!

Yes, it is said that nothing can escape the destructive, unrelenting pull of the Black Hole and what humans do not understand, they may never be able to explain. But do you suspect that all the souls of the dead, past and present are amongst the countless energies that disperse out of the night and into the void? All that life and all that energy, ripped from reality by the greatest of terrors; where do you suspect they go and what is the purpose of the darkest of nature's forces?

Atrocitas did not know of any origin or past life as it incubated within the chaotic womb of that other pitch black dimension, yet it experienced memories that weren't its own and it remembered, it recalled times that no longer existed and universes and realities that had collapsed in upon themselves. It hungered and it fed on all that the wormhole brought its way and it yearned to be free its mother of all cataclysms. And finally it was drawn to this universe by the things it had heard and seen in its dreams and its visions; the rage and the death, the war and the desolation, the terror and the darkness...

And then of course there were these guardians, these so-called immortal heroes and the greatest, most powerful of all. Another son amongst the stars, yet a lesser symptom of the universe than Atrocitas itself, though they both fed from the same fire. The only differences? Many! This Superman was a man of flesh, Atrocitas was forged of mega-compressed earth and rock, the by-product of dead planets and suns, ice and gas, bound and made living by unknown forces - universal matter made anti-matter!

Superman's senses were phenomenal but Atrocitas' were to be worshipped by the very races it would wipe from existence; he didn't have to hear their screams of terror, he had already felt their meaning from that chaotic nightmare that bore him. Superman drew his energy from the sun - the same sun that would be extinguished in a flash the moment Atrocitas had finished with the pathetic souls of Earth. And its powers were equal to that of the Black Hole that spewed it out in that dead Sector. As the nightmare thing hurlted towards Earth, the black pits of its eyes smouldered. Feeding from the rages of men and the nightmares of helpless children - victims soon to be all - its mouth yawned open to reveal the terrifyingly long and jagged frozen teeth.

The 29th day before its arrival on Earth, the nightmares began... for everybody. Atrocitas' name began to be spoken worldwide and without explanation...

By the 25th day, chaos ruled the streets...

By the 20th a deadly silence had replaced it and the suicide rates soared...

By the 10th, earthquakes rocked the world. Japan fell into the ground. The Middle East and much of Russia was literally swallowed up by the ground and already the superhero community was in pieces, broken by the tragedy...

Come the 7th day, Superman realised that the only way he might save the people of Earth was to make sure that the threat didn't get any closer, took to the skies and disappeared...

ATROCITAS: EARTH'S FINAL NIGHT

...or something like that :p

The great steel slabs stood before Superman, more indomitable than most this world had to offer. Simple steel, Kal’ El could easily obliterate the pages of his diary with a thought, a glance, a flick of his finger. Yet, victory would still be outside his reach for these pages demanded something that Superman could provide only as well as any mortal man. While he pondered his latest entry, something disturbed his thoughts. Footsteps, coming from inside the Fortress of Solitude. Superman was there in an instant. Before him stood a short young man, blonde headed and blue eyed. He wore simple blue jeans and a T-shirt and as Superman approached him the boy tugged a single glove off his hand.

“Who are you and how did you get in?” Nothing seemed unusual about the young man and his x-ray vision revealed no abnormality in his physiology or any hidden technology. Except for that glove…

“My name? Inconsequential. Does your name matter? Does the world need to know what Superman’s ‘real name’ is? If they knew, would they need to call you something else? I am here to talk to you, though, so you can call me Godhand for our conversation.”

“Interesting name, why would I call you that?” Superman realized something was wrong about this situation but saw no reason to not humor the human. His senses revealed nothing but something felt wrong about that glove that now rest in the youth’s pocket.

“No reason for now, at least as I am, but it will save you needing to ask later, and while I am like this, you are truly a super man. You see, I am here to talk about perspective. I never liked you, Superman. You are too impenetrable, unearthly, and… well, unrelatable. You come to earth and espouse yourself as our protector, justifying your actions by claiming humanity is worth saving as if you have some understanding of what it is to be human. You could not know what humanity is. You are like a god to us, and to you we could only be what we are, insignificant specks. Perspective. That is why I disarm myself to school a god. Now, for the rest of your lesson.” Superman was paralyzed by indecision, he had no reason to attack the boy but he was unsettled when the glove was slipped back onto the hand.

“Perspective.”

The glove began to flow like opaque white water around the boy’s body, changing his form into that of an imposing alabaster man with streaks of red light penetrating the seams of his suit, like it barely contained a sun. Superman rose into the air, preparing for the worst.

The worst came in a barrage of earth-shattering blows. Godhand struck with a force Superman usually only felt when sparring with fellow Kryptonians.I shouldn’t have to hold back then. Superman struck back with the same force, sending Godhand flying back.

“Damn, you really are strong. I couldn’t really comprehend that power.” Godhand grinned. “Until now. You see, the reason I call myself ‘Godhand’ is because I happened across a tool of the gods, and I don’t mean those Greek posers. No, I mean something far older, like those that actually created worlds. This tool, my white glove, allows me to alter the fabric of reality. The only problem is that it doesn’t come with a god’s knowledge or cognitive ability, so creating worlds is beyond me. A basic understanding of physics allows me to change my physiology to take whatever you can dish, but I can only strike with as much power as I can comprehend, so our fight will be enlightening.”

With this knowledge Superman changed his tactics and directed his heat vision at Godhand with enough power to obliterate the moon, while extreme, he knew he could not afford to increase his attacks in increments. He only hoped he did not kill Godhand outright.

The heat radiating from his gaze melted all the ice around them for miles and filled the air around them with steam. To Superman’s dismay the end of the beam fizzled out in front of Godhand. “I had figured you might try that. It took some contemplation but I realized that your heat vision was just causing molecules to move rapidly. To protect myself, I need only to keep the molecules around me in stasis, which only requires a thought. You see, Superman, I don’t play by the same rules as you. How many tons can you lift? What if I changed gravity to that amount? Godhand snapped his fingers and Superman began to understand how Atlas felt with the world on his shoulders. Superman strained to stay in the air. Godhand leapt forward, his fists raised. “Let me help you down!” Superman looked up as Godhand’s form blocked out the sun. A thundering KRAAAAKKK! rent the air as Godhand’s hammerfists sent Superman hurtling into the ocean.

“You see, Superman? Perspective is everything! Here I am, looking down on you from above. I think I like you more like this. Relatable.”

Superman shook his head under the water, trying to think of a way out. This “Godhand” seemed to have access to almost unlimited power but acknowledged that the limit was his own perception. Godhand had done his homework, and even now grew stronger as he anticipated Superman’s attacks. I have to throw him a curve ball, show him something he can’t anticipate or comprehend. I need the sun. Superman burst from the ocean with all of the speed he could muster. The vacuum left in his wake created a trail of water reaching up into the atmosphere. Godhand could hardly track his motion with his enhanced senses. “Going for the big guns, I see.”

The round trip to the sun and back was only a moment and when he returned, Superman appeared in front of Godhand with his hand gripping his suit.

“Superman, you’re positively glowing. One in the oven?”

“This ends now, Godhand. I don’t know what you are after, but it isn’t worth it.”

Power radiated from Superman in waves. His presence made the elements themselves recoil in fear and there departure caused a storm to brew.

“You still don’t know? Perspective, Superman! I wanted you to know how it felt to be on the other side of godhood. Like how I originally came to you. I had hoped this fight would do it but now I will make it easier on you. What makes you strong is that sun, or more specifically, its particular radiation. What if I changed the rules?”

Snap.

Wiping blood from her mouth, Supergirl scowled at her attacker and asked, “Lady, before I get up from here and knock you over the moon, do you want to explain that?”

The woman barely smirked. “You wear the crest of the House of El. Are you trying to draw the attention of an eradicator?”

“The Eradicator is gone,” Kara answered, “but how would you know about him at all?”

The woman was taken aback. “‘Him?’It.” She raised an eyebrow. “You talk like there’s only one.”

“There was only one.” It was more hope than surety.

The woman leaned in, looking stern, small crow’s-feet betraying her age. “Don’t act naïve, girl. Are you trying to tell me you know so little about our history, that you don’t know the full extent of your own ancestor’s technology?”

“‘Our…’?” Kara began, but the woman continued.

“Do you think only one of those devices could affect an entire planet? Of course there’s more than one. There were many – probably one for every one hundred thousand Kryptonians. Don’t bother with the math. It will make you cry.”

Supergirl searched her attacker’s face for some hint that she was lying. Her mind was like a supercomputer – she couldn’t help doing the math. If there was one eradicator for every hundred thousand Kryptonians, then that would mean… As Kara’s eyes went wide with horror, the woman’s flashed satisfaction. She smirked as she stood back up. Kara’s lip curled, and she lunged up and forward, only to fall again, everything in her wracked with pain.

“They call this ‘Kryptonite’ here, don’t they?” asked the woman, admiring the green, glowing rock she held in her hand. “Do you know why you’re vulnerable to this?” Kara picked herself up to her hands and knees, trembling. The woman looked at her and said, “Pay attention, girl. I asked you a question. Do you know why you’re vulnerable to this?” As she asked, she moved closer, and Kara writhed in pain.

Struggling to breathe, she managed, “B-be…cause…i-it’s…p-part…of…Kryp…ton.” Rapid, painful breaths followed every syllable.

“‘Because it’s part of Krypton.’ So the planet of your birth, that sustained you until its early demise, now threatens to kill you, just because you get near a piece of it? Does that make sense to you, dear?” Even pained, the perplexity showed on Supergirl’s face. The woman crouched back down next to her, on one knee. “I don’t want to kill you with this. Can we talk civilly without it?”

Her eyes spoke death, but Kara managed a quick nod of assent. The woman held the fragment a little closer to Supergirl’s face, causing her body to spasm violently. “The pain you are feeling now is not because of this rock. It is the fault of the eradicators.” With that, the Kryptonite leapt from the woman’s hand and disappeared. Kara looked up questioningly. “I keep it in a subspace pocket,” said the woman. “It’s a pretty reminder of home.”

She stood up and offered her hand. Kara ignored it, shakily regaining her feet on her own. She straightened, then immediately doubled over to throw up.

The woman continued, “To preserve the ‘purity’ of our race, Kem-L had the eradicators change everyone on the planet on a genetic level. This bound them to Krypton, so if they left, they would die, rather than bringing back ‘contaminating influences’ from other worlds and races. By the time Krypton felt this, it was too late, and all she could do was affect a slight change…”

Supergirl, still bent over, palms on her knees, held up a hand to stop the woman. She took a few deep breaths, regaining herself, and asked, “Krypton changed things?”

The woman answered, “Krypton was a living thing. She did what she could to save her inhabitants, reversing the polarity of the eradicator technovirus, making it so Kryptonians wouldn’t die if they left the planet, but only if they returned. So the closer you get to a piece of her, the more intense the pain, up to and including death. The strain of keeping it that way is what led to her demise.”

Supergirl still seemed dubious. “Krypton. Was alive.”

The older woman spoke with the patience a grandparent has for a child. “Oh, yes, dear. She had a heart and a spirit, and there was only one other like her in the entire universe. And when she died, he tracked her spirit’s progress until it settled at the center of the universe. Then he joined with her the only way he could, until he himself was gone.”

Supergirl didn’t react, except to say, “Uhh-huh,” then followed with, “So, if you’re Kryptonian, and the eradicators changed everyone on the planet, how come the Kryptonite didn’t hurt you?”

“Because I wasn’t on the planet, dear. I was in the Phantom Zone.”

“Why?”

“Because when the Science Council took over the planetary government, the Celestial Council was very quickly tried and convicted of ‘crimes against science.’ My own son carried out the sentence.”

“Your son? That’s not possible! It was…” Kara doubled over again as the Kryptonite reappeared in the woman’s hand.

The woman seethed, “Do not say his name to me.”

“Why are you doing this?” Kara asked, weakly.

“Revenge!” she shouted. “The Science Council dared to judge us! They imprisoned me!Shahara-Zod! The Storybearer! I kept the oral history and knowledge of Krypton alive! They decided they didn’t need me? They used my stories as the basis for Brainiac’s database!”

She cupped Kara’s chin in her hand. “I will teach my son the error of turning against me. I will destroy that mechanical mockery called Brainiac. And I thought it proper that the descendents of Kem-L, who designed the eradicators that brought about the destruction of Krypton, should learn what it is to deal with them firsthand.”

Kara responded lethargically, “What do you mean?”

A wild look flashed across the woman’s face, and she answered, “I mean I lured them to follow me, in order to bring them to you.”

“What? How many?” Supergirl asked as anxiously as her weakened state would allow.

The woman smiled cruelly. “Why, all of them, dear.” The shock on Kara’s face was palpable, but the woman cooed, “Oh, don’t worry yourself, dear. I intend to bring you help.” The fear didn’t leave Kara’s face. “I’m going to free our fellow Kryptonians from that infernal Phantom Zone.” She picked up the Kryptonite from beside her, adding, “Some of them won’t be vulnerable to this, which should help. Don’t you think?” She then rocketed away at super speed, leaving Supergirl to recover.

Justice has been corrupted for far too long in our world. The very word justice has been manipulated and contorted into something foul and unworthy. I've seen many fools acting as ambassadors to this failed notion of justice, but none a bigger fool than Superman. He has indeed won the battle of hearts and minds on earth; and as such has planted the notion that evil scumbags deserve to live like the rest of us. It was those evil scumbags who left 200 children orphans in metropolis within the last 3 years. It appears Superman seems to care more about the life of criminals than that of innocents, yet the people of the world are too blind to see that.

No more. I will tolerate this sickness no more. I will usher in a change, a dawning of an age of harmony where only innocence is preserved in the world. For years I dreamed of a scenario in which I would remove from this world the scum which have brought nothing but death and dismay; a “what if” scenario if you will. But now…now I have the power to do something, to make change and bring absolute peace.

Like most of the gifted individuals on Earth, I did not ask for this power; it found its way to me. These gauntlets which I wear grant me power beyond my scope of comprehension. Upon first wearing them I was presented with vivid visions of an alien being by the name of Helspont. From what I can recall, he had created these gauntlets as means of being recognized as a force of dominance. He had gathered unusual beings from distant planets and forced them to create his will in the form of these very gauntlets I wear today; however one of the beings had deliberately attempted to sabotage the final stages of the gauntlets creation. The result was a super nova from which only Helspont and the gauntlets had survived. As a result of the explosion the gauntlets had been propelled towards earth at immense speeds and found their way in my garden of all places.

I am regularly meeting with Dr Silas Stone in private; he is a good natured man with a brilliant mind. I simply showed him my gauntlets and he agreed to meet in private and study them. He has been studying what exactly I am capable of and to what extent. Dr Stone tells me my gauntlets are connected to and derive energy from the primordial star (the first ever star created) via a temporal field going back to when it was actually made. The rest of theory I do not care to remember as it is beyond me.

What I do know is that I have control over molecular density and gravitational fields to a vast and as of yet immeasurable degree. This allows me to alter the density of my molecules to gain invincibility but to also increase my physical strength. Dr Stone has said that based on energy readings, I am able to alter my molecular weight to that of at least 10 neutron stars, though he has warned me not to do so as the immense gravitational field would result in the implosion of Earth. I have been undertaking various combat courses designed by Dr Stone all of which have felt limited to say the least, though the training has revealed to me that I can generate powerful quasar blasts and can also fly. I wanted to test my flight ability further, a venture which leads me to discover I can survive unaided in space and that I can fly fast, incredibly fast. I can fly from the Earth to the Moon and back in the blink of an eye.

I feel incredible, I am incredible. I have transcended beyond there mere existence of a man and become the true Superman. Finally I have the power to do something, to make a change. My biggest obstacle is Superman, if I can somehow convince him to…no, the time for words has since long gone. Too many have died because of his leniency. He must be removed and so the poison from the minds of the people will also be removed. I’ve thought of numerous ways I can stop him but I must admit my favourite option is where I make him feel helpless; I remove his ability to fly and alter his molecular density to make his punches no harder than that of a feather. I've seen his heat vision in action and it should be a little more than a nuisance to me. Then and only then he will know the true meaning of suffering once I continue to slowly beat him out of existence.

NO! What is the matter with me? I feel as though I am constantly battling my thoughts so as not to do something I will regret. But…I…I feel his thoughts lingering in my mind, Helspont; it must be there’s no other explanation he’s trying to control me, my body, my thoughts…my powers. I can feel his emotions, his hatred for Superman.

…Superman that false hope for mankind, he remains the only obstacle before I can conquer this feeble planet and make it mine to rule. All will be left to perish by my hand; Earth will be a gleaming example of my accomplishments that will continue across the universe. Such is the will of Hels…I…I am not Helspont. I…am…NEUTRON! I refuse to be influenced by that lowly monster Helspont…however we do share a similar obstacle…

His voice was chanting bloodthirsty threats, catching up to the man of steel.

“I cannot fly any faster...arg..my blood is heavy, I can feel it weighing me down, the Kryptonite Nanobots slowly turning me human... I am slowing down, I have to get to Bruce before the transformation is over, No time, no help, Bruce is over 200miles away... This is too dangerous, flying at Mach 1 through my city...“

"Superman! Come out and play... Superman! “The Inquisitor said joyfully. He took out a device and pressed it.

"ARRGG" The pain...I cannot...I cannot FLY! My powers...I must carry on!

" I can HEAR you superman, This little device, fun isn't it, It lets me turn whatever powers I want to turn off through the use of my Nanobots pulsing through your kyrptonian veins, very fun indeed" He said with an triumphant tone.

Superman was to the Inquisitor what a deer is to a human, he is prey...

“I have no laser vision, no flight, No speed. I only have my strength... And my voice.

“BBBRRUUUCCEEE! “

The words shattered all windows in a mile radius; all car alarms went off and chimed. Every dog barked. The world was aware – Superman was dying.

- Close scene.

A man called Dayum was walking out of his Five guys, he was unaware his car was just about to be demolished by superman being flung through his car, the last recording of his life was this

“YOU MADE ME KILL SOMEONE!” Superman screamed, he went to punch his enemy but soon become crippled with pain as the Inquisitor turned his strength off. Superman was weak; he picked himself of the ground and starred into the man’s eyes. The Inquisitor lifted a gun and planted it onto Superman’s forehead, the onlookers cried. The shot ended in silence. The man of steel was a mortal, dead human.

The Inquisitor turned around and saw the JLA, lead by Batman.

“You will pay for this...” Bruce Wayne said with vengeance.

Who knew sneaking into the house of a female, teenager superhero would be so easy? I thought they would at least get a guardian. I floated up to the window of her bedroom, and unsurprisingly it was open. “Typical teenagers, they always like to sleep in cool bedrooms.” I opened it, there was no sound which it had well oiled hinges. “That’s close.”

I moved into the room, luckily for me, she was sleeping in the room. I prepare myself. “Kara…Kara…”I call while hanging over her face. She shrieked and jumped out of her bed. I resisted the urge to laugh at her reaction. “Who are you and what do you want?” She demanded in the most furious reaction one of the world’s most powerful superhero in bunny pajamas can muster. I gave her a wave, “Oh nothing much, I just want you to be part of an experiment.” She thoroughly scanned my armor and grimaced.

“Experiments, you mean kidnap me and dissect me if you already know I’m an alien. I don’t want to do it.” Her answer was nothing unexpected.

“Well it’s okay; I can arrange it at morning.” I replied.

“No, you don’t understand, I don’t want to do it. Ever.” She began to flare up; I calmly shake her comment off.

“You see, you don’t have a choice. From the moment you talked to me, you were already in it, and to get out of.” Her eyes bulged and she gave me a look of death. “I can’t do that because I don’t want to.” She paused for a second and went at me. I dodged her attack and jumped through the window I came in and threw myself in a somersault.

I landed on the air with shards of the window sticking to parts of my armour, Who cares when you have a furious, Kryptonian girl going after you, a few glass shards don’t seem so mighty in comparison. She was taking a while to get out. I couldn’t wait to see her. But just when I thought she was not going to come out that way, a streak headed towards me. I dodged it again and was rewarded with a sonic boom to my face.

I let her attack me for a few times without and then started what I want to do.

“You’re impatient, hot tempered and a very powerful person but what you have is just sheer insolence and a great amount of ignorance.”

She stopped her next attack to backtalk, “I know that and I don’t care.”

I told her, “You don’t understand, those things are your characteristics but it will make you easier to be killed.”

“So what, I’m still standing.” Kara retorted. I didn’t give her a chance to make that true. I flew towards her shoulders and using a judo throw plummet her down towards the streets below.

Kara didn’t bother with staying down, she flew back towards me in a classical “I will kill you” expression, she gave me a few good kicks and punches at first but I flipped the tables on her when I bound her hand and legs in cuffs that she can’t break.

She twisted and turned to the limits of her physiology.

“Alright, alright, I’ll join your freaking experiment, what do you want to do?” She gritted her teeth in reluctant submission. She looked like if she was in a bear trap.

“What I want to do? I just want you to break your chains.” My request took her by surprise. “Me, break those?” She was trying to digest the command, I have no doubts that she was on the n degree of shock. After a minute she was quiet, a sign she was thinking about how to break her chains, I stayed close to her in a fake probing stance.

Her forehead was filled with deep creases and a quick glimpse revealed to me the severe hate she had for me. I acted neutral but with that look I felt a faint pang of pity and disappointment for her.

Subject has high likelihood of expiring.

I pulled out my wild card, all the secrets that I had known about her. “Kara Zor-El, you can try to think you’re like your cousin but what do you do, you always escape like him, whether it’s the destruction of your world, your home or your parents, you never faced something real because people neverlet you.”

Kara shook involuntarily as she really is losing control. She fired an intense ruby blast of her heat vision, which blasted through the cuffs like a hot knife through butter and it also melted the cuffs and seared her skin with an angry hiss. What she didn’t notice is she had blasted my protective layer and when she noticed me, I was a blue misty blur. She stood in horror with whispers of “It was an accident” repeating. As I say, typical teenage excuses for any trouble.

I gave her a quick word. “Experiment completion.” A multicolored energy spray with the sound “Brssshhh!” followed, I fell down to earth with thick smoke.

I felt deathly silent, my eyes looking at the back of me, which was ironically has a picture of her. “The pulse is gone.” She flew down to me and she kneaded down and in a shaky, almost voice declared, “I-II killed a kid.” She crawled over my red-filmed eyes with the resemblance of blood and my hands on my sides, one open and. Her brine tears fell beside the edges of my mouth. Revolting. She organized my raven hair and then lifted me up with a fireman’s carry. I was relieved and smiled; she was oblivious.

“I have to get her to a hospital.” She tilted her head as best as she can with me, leaving my clutched hand in her chest as if she’s holding someone that she loved. As she took off, I moved my hand slightly. She flinched lightly but gave. I gave a big yank and used my clasped hand to stab her right in the heart. “You’ll have a few seconds to talk before my mixture wipes your memory of me and what happened and you go black.” “You’re dead, you didn’t have any heartbeat.” “That’s true but I haven’t told you everything. Hi, my name is Gallia.” Her eyes rolled back and I held her.

Subject fully capable of pain but with future adjustments, may be successful in Project Damocles.

I deposed her back on her bed. I gave her a farewell slap.

”Sweet dreams.”

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