A few notes before we start.

First off, casting changes:

Hawkgirl: Scarlett Johansson

Hawkman: Jeremy Renner

Jake Gamble: Tom Welling

Captain Marvel: Gabriel Macht

Queen Mera: Sarah Rafferty

Finally, check out my new Discord Profile to take a look at new images I've generated for the characters of this series: https://discord.gg/7v5vshsD

"Okay, what the hell happened to my sister?" Karen demanded the moment Kara and Lena stepped into the Island's main hub.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Alex said, eyes sweeping over Kara's bruises, the stiffness in her movements, the way she leaned into Lena for balance. "What happened out there? Not even Darkseid left you looking like this."

Krypto bounded toward Kara, tail wagging—then slowed, ears drooping. Even he could sense it: the absence of her power.

"That was Astraea Vox," Kara said quietly. "And she's another one of my failures."

Lena guided her to a seat, steady and gentle. The solar chamber had closed the wounds, but it hadn't erased the pain. And with her powers gone for the next few days, she'd feel every bruise. Kara made a mental note to stock up on ibuprofen before going home.

"What do you mean she's one of your failures?" J'onn asked, voice low.

"Her family was close to mine on Krypton. I used to babysit her when I was a kid. She adored me. She was like the little sister I always wanted." Kara managed a small smile toward Karen. "Now I have two."

"So why did she want to kill you?" Donna asked.

"Because she probably blames me for how her life turned out. And honestly? I don't blame her. Like Kal, I was supposed to protect her."

Alex folded her arms. "You're gonna have to elaborate."

"The House of Vox planned to send Astraea to Earth with Kal and me. I was supposed to watch over them both. But my pod got knocked into the Phantom Zone, and I didn't even know hers launched. I thought mine was the last thing off Krypton before it exploded."

"So where's she been all this time?" Felicity asked.

"That's the problem. I have no idea."

"I'll retrieve her pod," Alex said. "Maybe Brainy and I can pull something from the navigation logs."

"I already know a little about her," Brainy said.

Kara frowned. "How?"

"Because your feud with Astraea Vox is as well known in my time as Superman's feud with Lex Luthor."

Kara blinked. "What?"

"Not many details survived to the 31st century, so my knowledge is limited. But what I do know is that she becomes your greatest enemy. The battles you two fought were infamous—they shook the world. Their impact echoed for centuries."

Silence fell over the room.

Lena's jaw tightened. "And you didn't think to mention this sooner?"

"It's dangerous to know too much about the future," Brainy replied. "Ask your friend the Flash. One of the things he's most known for—eventually—is tampering with the timeline. The future isn't fixed. Every choice creates ripples."

Kara exhaled slowly. "Makes sense. And remind me to remind Barry not to time travel unless he absolutely has to. We've got enough chaos in our own era."

"We still need to figure out where she's been and why she looks so young," J'onn said. "Unless she passed through the Phantom Zone, she should look Clark's age, not younger than you."

"So again," Alex said, "I'll go get her pod. Brainy can dig through the logs. You're in no condition to do it yourself, sis."

"Yeah," Kara sighed. "For the next few days, my priorities are CEO work and wedding planning."

"I'm fine with that," Lena said. "Our wedding is coming up, and there's still plenty to do."

Kara rolled her eyes affectionately. "And I can spend time with my new daughter."

Kora, who had been quiet until now, finally spoke. "I want to join you."

Kara blinked. "What?"

"I want to be a hero like you. I remember how awful it felt when my parents were killed and I couldn't do anything. But here, I have powers. I can use them to make sure no other kid loses their parents like I did. I can fight for what you fight for."

Kara looked at Lena—because this decision belonged to both of them.

"I think it would be hypocritical not to train her," Lena said. "You started training Karen when she was even younger."

"Are you forgetting I'm seventeen?" Karen asked.

"Physically. Biologically, you're like two," Lena reminded her.

"Can we not start that debate again?" Donna cut in. "We agreed that topic was off-limits."

Kara looked around. J'onn and Alex both had proteges. Everyone else shrugged. Ultimately, the choice was hers.

"You know this is dangerous," Kara said to Kora. "Even with powers, you can get hurt. You saw what happened to me today."

"I know. I don't care. I want to help."

Kara sighed. She saw the determination of a teenager—but more importantly, the heart of a hero.

"Okay. We'll start training once my powers return. A few days. I can't train you properly without them, and I'm not letting Clark or Sam start your training."

Kora nodded eagerly and rushed to Brainy, already talking about suit designs.

Lena turned back to Kara, expression tightening. "Speaking of how badly you got hurt—I want you to promise me that won't happen again. Brainy said the only reason Astraea did that much damage is because you barely fought back."

"I couldn't bring myself to hurt her, Lena. I kept seeing the little girl who idolized me. My sister in all but blood. I felt like I deserved it—like it was my fault she became this."

"It's not," Lena said firmly. "You had no control over what happened to her. She made her own choices. You can't let her weaponize your guilt. You didn't do this to her."

"I still could've tried to look for her," Kara whispered.

"No. You thought she was dead. By that logic, you should've known about Argo too. You were a kid, Kara. You're not perfect. Being super doesn't change that. Astraea may blame you for what happened to her, but you don't have to blame yourself."

"Maybe you're right. But it doesn't make it any easier to accept." Kara admitted as Alex returned with the pod.

"Alright, let's take a look at what we have here." Brainy said as he moved away from Kora to examine the pod's data.

"Interesting, it appears that possibly due to the damage the pod suffered during Krypton's explosion, it suffered extensive system failures. Astraea's pod protected her from the blast, but not much else. The pod drifted aimlessly in space, its remaining power only enough to keep her asleep, but not keep her body in stasis. It still aged until it crashed on a planet in the Helionis Star System." Brainy said.

"I've never heard of that system." J'onn said.

"That's because it hasn't been discovered yet. In this time period, it's uncharted space. The planet she crashed will one day be called Vellara Prime. The planet is habitable to Kryptonians, but barely. It's a wild world with no sentient civilization. Even the atmosphere would've prevented her from properly absorbing yellow sun energy. She would've only received enough to keep her alive and slow her aging, aided by the fact that Vellara Prime's orbit is much faster than Earth's, but not much else. She likely aged at a fraction of the normal rate," Brainy continued, eyes narrowing as more data scrolled across the holographic display. "Not stasis, not full yellow‑sun exposure — something in between. Enough to keep her alive. Enough to keep her growing. But slowly. Very slowly."

Kara felt her stomach twist. "So she grew up alone."

"Alone," Brainy confirmed, "on a hostile world with no civilization, no guidance, and no functioning AI. The pod's systems degraded too far to maintain educational programs or psychological support. She would have awakened to nothing but wilderness."

Lena's expression softened with a kind of horrified sympathy. "A child. Alone on an alien planet."

"Not just alone," Brainy added. "Alone with a damaged Kryptonian AI core. One that—" He hesitated, recalibrating the projection. "—attempted to fulfill its directive to protect and guide her, but with corrupted data."

Kara's breath caught. "Corrupted how?"

Brainy turned the display so everyone could see. "The logs indicate the AI attempted to reconstruct missing information about Krypton, her family, and... you. But the corruption caused it to fill gaps with conjecture. Faulty conjecture."

"Meaning?" Alex asked.

"Meaning," Brainy said carefully, "that Astraea grew up believing Kara abandoned her. That Kara chose not to protect her. That Kara left her to die."

A heavy silence fell.

Kara closed her eyes. "Rao..."

J'onn stepped closer, voice gentle. "Kara, this was not your doing."

"I know," Kara whispered, though her voice trembled. "But she doesn't."

Brainy continued, "There's more. Vellara Prime's environment is extremely harsh. High gravity fluctuations. Predatory megafauna. Violent seasonal cycles. Astraea would have had to fight to survive from the moment she woke up."

Donna exhaled slowly. "So she grew up thinking Kara abandoned her... and had to survive a death world alone. That's a recipe for a superpowered grudge."

"It gets worse," Brainy said.

Lena's eyes narrowed. "How?"

"The corrupted AI didn't just misinterpret Kara's absence. It reinterpreted her purpose. It told Astraea that Kara was meant to protect her... and failed. That Kara's failure was the reason her life became one of suffering. That Kara's survival on Earth was proof she chose herself over Astraea."

Kara's voice cracked. "She thinks I betrayed her."

"Yes," Brainy said softly. "And she believes it with the certainty of someone whose entire worldview was shaped by that belief."

Kora, who had been listening quietly, stepped closer to Kara and took her hand. "Then we have to help her."

Kara squeezed her daughter's hand, grateful but aching. "I don't know if she wants help."

"I never thought I'd hear you say that about anyone." Alex said to her sister in shock.

"I can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved and it doesn't seem like Astraea wants that." Kara said.

"Well, this is interesting." Brainy said from where he was examining the pod.

"What is it?" Kara asked.

"According to this, Astraea wasn't alone on that planet. At least, not the whole time." Brainy said, to their surprise.

"What, who?" Kara asked.

"Unclear. That is all the data I could recover from the pod. I suggest that the next time you fight Astraea, you try to get those answers from her yourself." Brainy recommended.

"And next time, I'm gonna fight back. She made her choice and maybe someday I'll be able to pull her out of this darkness she's trapped in, but for now, I'll treat her like any other enemy." Kara said, though it clearly broke her heart to do so.