So if I had uploaded this when I actually finished part one of this, you would have all gotten this earlier today. However, as I wanted to make sure the entire episode flowed, I waited until I got all 15.5K words written out before I gave you the first part of what, I hope, is the start of a nice rewrite of "For Good," retitled "Of Two Evils" because really, between Sam Lane and Morgan Edge, who is the lesser of two evils?

Lena Luthor meets Morgan Edge (again), Max and Lucy arrive in National City, and they reveal what General Lane is planning to the D.E.O. The question is, have they arrived too late to stop what's happening?

Enjoy the first part!

***

The world was burning.

Fires licked the air and rivers burned everything in their path, the black smoke rolling across the sky and blocking all light. From the darkness came Reign, a black woman in black and orange slightly behind her and to her right, another silhouetted Worldkiller behind them.

Reign's eyes lit up red –

Kara woke up with a gasp, shooting straight up in bed, her heart racing in her chest. She swallowed hard, taking in gulps of air as she looked around fearfully.

The sheets next to her rustled, and Kara jumped when she felt a hand on her arm. "Kara?" Oliver frowned as he sat up, blinking sleep out of his eyes. Kara looked around again, her heart settling as she recognized her bedroom back on Earth-38. Nothing was burning, and it was still dark outside. Kara closed her eyes, exhaling slowly. "Breathe, angel," Oliver rubbed her back comfortingly. "What happened?"

Kara took a few deep breaths, reaching for his hand. Oliver took it with his free one, and Kara scooted closer to him. "Nightmare," she whispered. "It was the Worldkillers."

"Plural?" Oliver raised an eyebrow.

Kara nodded. "I saw three of them."

"Power, Pestilence, and Purity," Oliver recalled from what Kara told him the priestess had declared.

Kara nodded again, leaning her head on his shoulder. "I couldn't make out one of them at all," she said. "The other one didn't wear a mask, but I couldn't recognize her."

"We'll get to the D.E.O. in the morning and figure it out," Oliver stroked her back. "OK?"

"OK," Kara agreed, her breath finally evened out.

"OK," Oliver nodded, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "It's all right, angel."

Kara swallowed again, working moisture back into her mouth as she laid back down, Oliver settling next to her. She rolled over into side, and Oliver wrapped his arm around her waist, tugging her closer. Kara rested her head on his chest, taking a few deeper breaths, Oliver's heartbeat strong and comforting in her ear, lulling her back to sleep.

***

"You OK, Oliver?" Mon-El frowned, he and the archer meeting each other as they came down opposite stairwells.

"Yeah," Oliver nodded, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Just a bad night of sleep."

Mon-El winced sympathetically. "Those suck."

"Tell me about it," Oliver agreed as they headed to where Kara, J'onn, and Winn were.

"The Worldkillers are still out there," Kara was saying.

"The city has been quiet ever since your mission to Fort Rozz," J'onn shrugged.

"Yeah, I mean, we've been trying to track Kryptonian heat signatures, but all we're coming up with is you and your cousin," Winn nodded. "Which, I will say though, is nice, because I know where he is."

"They're not reading like Kara?" Oliver frowned in confusion.

"Probably because they're not like her," Mon-El theorized. "They may have been created on Krypton, but these Worldkillers are not, strictly speaking, Kryptonian."

"Mon-El's right," J'onn nodded. "Nothing about them follows a pattern we recognize. Reign didn't need a yellow sun or a Fort Rozz to retain her powers."

"Yeah, and the way she just shrugged off that Kryptonite?" Winn added.

"Don't remind me," Oliver grimaced, Mon-El patting his shoulder sympathetically.

"Sorry, man," Winn winced as well, then perked up. "Hey, maybe they were genetically modified?"

"Now that's possible," Mon-El nodded thoughtfully. "The Legion's fought many hybrids that were created in labs designed to have maximum destruction."

"Well, Reign said she left Krypton right before it exploded," Kara frowned. "If they've been here all this time, what have they been waiting for?"

"Maybe . . . " Winn tapped a few keys, and a chill went down Kara's spine as the image from Mon-El and Imra's battle with Reign came up on the large screens. "For her."

"You know, when Krypton exploded, pods weren't the only thing that rained down on Earth," Mon-El paced, speaking as he thought. "So did Kryptonite." He nodded, settled with his thought. "Yeah, Brainy had to track some of that green stuff down when the Legion battled Zod."

Kara did a double take, and Winn jumped from his seat. "Um, rewind," the techie said nervously. "Zod? Superman killed him."

"Resurrection is possible," Oliver said grimly, thinking back to the Lazarus Pit. "Wouldn't surprise me if Kryptonians had some way of it, too."

"And he was resurrected," Mon-El nodded.

"But that's the future," Winn bit his lip, nodding and trying to reassure himself. "We talked about that. So you're saying, basically, that the Kryptonite and the pods came at the same time?"

Mon-El nodded in confirmation. "Agent Schott, see if you can pull our records of those meteor showers and map their spray pattern," J'onn ordered. "There might be a way we can locate exactly when these Worldkillers first arrived."

"On it," Winn nodded, heading back to his station.

Kara sighed, looking up at the footage again. "Reign will be back," she said quietly. "Soon."

"What's she waiting for?" Oliver frowned.

"Or what's she doing?" J'onn thought as well.

"Well, wherever she is, she's planning her next move," Kara shrugged.

***

"So you were a doctor before you joined the FBI?" Sam asked to cover her nerves, dressed in a medical gown.

"Yeah," Alex walked in behind her, leading her towards the MRI. "I was gonna be a researcher, so I had a job, actually, up in Seattle for a while. And then, as it turns out, I needed a little more action than just a microscope and an Excel spreadsheet."

Sam smiled as she sat on the bed, Alex putting a foam pillow up by where her head would be. "Well, thank you very much for doing this."

"You're sure it's OK that we use the L-Corp lab?" Alex asked for clarification.

"I am," Sam nodded. "No one will be here for a while." Alex nodded, turning to get set up. "Sorry, I just don't like hospitals. Hate being sick, hate tests."

"Well," Alex turned back, holding a pillow. "MRIs don't hurt."

"OK," Sam bit her lip, moving to lay down.

"All right, put your legs," Alex told her.

Sam adjusted her legs, letting Alex put the pillow under her. "So, I looked up my symptoms," she swallowed nervously. "Memory loss, headaches . . . it could be really bad. Like, brain tumor bad, ALS."

"You know what else causes memory loss?" Alex raised an eyebrow. "Caffeine withdrawal. Yikes."

Sam giggled. "Right."

"Which is why we're taking pictures, OK?" Alex continued, putting a blanket over her. "We're gonna find out what's going on, and when we do, we're gonna deal with it, whatever it is. OK?"

Sam smiled, nodding. "All right."

"OK," Alex nodded back, walking out.

Sam watched her leave, then took a deep breath as Alex booted up the machinery.

***

"Lena!"

Lena looked up as she approached the corner, and smiled when she saw James walking her way. "Jimmy!" she smiled back. "Good morning."

"Morning," he returned, the two walking side by side the rest of the way down the street. "Where are you off to?"

"Vironique's," Lena answered with a smile. "It has the most overpriced egg Benedict in the city, but most people thank me later when I suggest it. Would you like to join me?"

"It sounds great, but I'm not sure if I have time," James shook his head. "I have an editorial meeting at ten o'clock."

"Oh, right," Lena nodded, remembering that on her calendar. "Would you like me to join you?"

James gaped like a fish for a few seconds, then cleared his throat. "I mean, you can, but I can handle it."

Lena raised an eyebrow, trying to decide if she should be amused or offended. "You don't want me to join."

"No!" James hastened to say. "As the owner, of course you're welcome to join. It's just that, to be honest, I think the staff gets a little self-conscious when the big boss is just kinda sitting there staring at them."

Lena smirked. "So you're saying the only way they could be more intimidated is if I had Slade and Malcolm as silent bodyguards."

James exaggerated a shiver. "Exactly."

Lena laughed in amusement, but it was quickly cut off by a cold voice behind them. "Well, well, well." Lena stopped in her tracks by the stairs up to Vironique's, and she and James turned to see a very unwelcome figure walk down them. "I thought Vironique's had a hard 'no liberals' policy."

"But apparently they're fine with murderers," James retorted.

Edge clicked his tongue, walking right up to get in their space. "You know, Mr. Olsen, for a newspaper man, I'd like to think you'd be a little bit more considerate with your words. My lawyers can bury you alive for defamation of character."

"I don't know," Lena smirked. "Don't you have to have character to defame?"

"Ooo," James grinned smugly, not bothering to hide his amusement.

Edge just smirked back. "And the pot calls the kettle black. You know, Lena, I do love it when you talk tough, though."

Lena rolled her eyes as he walked past them to his car, and she turned to look after him. "You know, Edge, you act like a bully, but underneath it all, you are scared to death of a powerful woman you can't control," she accused, James turning to watch. In doing so, they missed the duo walking down the street their way, both of them slowing as they overheard what was going on. "You're so terrified, you would sacrifice kids, poison our water, do just about anything to kill me and get rid of the problem."

"And you got it wrong, Lena," Edge told her. "I like powerful women. Nay, I love powerful women. But you're not a powerful woman. You're wasting away in that ivory tower, posing as Cat Grant, hoping that the gleam of liberal media is gonna somehow magically rub off on you. I don't have to kill you, Lena. You're already dead."

A low whistle sounded behind them. "You know, Cat Grant can annoy the hell out of anyone," a slightly familiar voice said, and all three of them turned to see a dark-haired man approach, wearing a dark grey peacoat over black dress slacks and a dark green button-down shirt. Lena was surprised to see James do a double take when he saw the smirking dark-haired woman that was with him, she in palazzo pants and a glossy emerald blouse, matching the man's color scheme except for the black coat she wore. "Clearly you don't know her very well, because if you did, you'd know there's no way anyone could ever pose as her," the man continued. "They'd just be wasting their time."

Lena frowned, wracking her brain to figure out why this man was so damn familiar when Edge straightened, narrowing his eyes to slits. "Mr. Lord," he greeted coldly. "I thought you left National City after that mind control fiasco a few years back."

"Well, I did," the man shrugged, and Lena's eyes widened when she realized this was Maxwell Lord, the CEO of Lord Technologies, and the man who had been behind some of Kara's biggest problems in her first year as Supergirl. "But I suppose, as the cheesy saying goes, home is where the heart is." He paused, then mockingly pointed between Lena and Edge. "I'm sorry, was I interrupting something?"

The woman behind Max snickered, and Edge gave him a nasty glare. Max just raised an eyebrow, not daunted at all. Edge finally sneered and turned his glare on Lena. "Enjoy the eggs," he snapped. "They're mediocre, you'll fit right in."

Max's eyebrows raised, but Lena snapped first. "Burn in hell, Edge!" she barked.

"I hear the company is fantastic," Edge countered, then glared at the valet in the driver's seat. "Come on, what, are you napping in my car? Let's go!"

The valet scurried out, and all four watched as Edge got in his car and drove off without a care in the world. Finally, Max turned to his companion. "I take it back. The files really didn't exaggerate."

"What the hell are you doing here, Lord?" James narrowed his eyes.

Max raised an eyebrow. "It's wonderful to see you, too, Mr. Olsen. Thank you for such a warm welcome back to the city."

"James," the dark-haired woman stepped forward as James opened his mouth again. "Please. That was two years ago. We don't have time for this."

"Lucy," James began.

"It involves my dad," Lucy interrupted, and blinking, James shut his mouth with a click. "It's why we came back to National City."

"We?" Lena asked, looking between them.

"Let's just say we have common goals," Max nodded, looking James in the eye. "It involves your girl in blue."

James tensed, and Lena looked at her fellow CEO sharply. "What about her?" she demanded.

Max and Lucy exchanged wary looks. "Nothing good."

***

Kara hummed to herself as she walked to her desk, checking her phone for any new messages. When she found none, she put her purse by her chair, then stopped when she saw the small white box next to her keyboard. She blinked rapidly, then looked around. "Hey, Eve!" she called, and the assistant looked up from her work. "Who brought this in?"

"Oh, they had it down at reception," Eve answered with a smile. "I thought I would bring it up for you."

"Oh," Kara blinked, taking the box and opening it up. "Did it have a card or anything?"

"No, just a note that said it was for you."

"Huh." Kara narrowed her eyes at the box, then lowered her glasses slightly. A quick second scan revealed nothing dangerous, and Kara saw the outline of something that made her do a double take. She opened the box and carefully took out a black velvet box, unclasping the gold latch and opening it.

Her eyes widened in shock when she saw the red crystal earrings inside in the shape of flowers, set in gold, lying inside. "Whoa," she breathed, tracing over the earrings with one finger.

"Wow," Eve's eyes widened. "Those are beautiful!"

"Yeah," Kara agreed, blinking rapidly as her vision swam slightly. "They are." She shook her head, trying to clear it, then put the earrings down. She would put them on in a few minutes. "Thank you, Eve. I'll see if I can figure out who bought these later."

"Maybe it was Oliver?" Eve suggested. "A work surprise?"

"Maybe," Kara considered. "He's more of an in person gift giver, though."

"Ah," Eve nodded. "Well, good luck."

"Thank you," Kara smiled, picking up the box and heading for the restroom to change her earrings out.

Eve watched her go, a small frown on her face, then turned back to her computer, dismissing the small red flash she saw in Kara's eyes as a coincidence. It could have easily been a glint off her glasses.

***

"How's it going, Winn?" Oliver asked, leaning against the center console.

"The same as it was thirty minutes ago," Winn sighed, leaning back in his chair and spinning to face him. "I've got the entire planet to search, but I'm searching."

"Kara and her cousin both landed in the United States, though," Slade mused, frowning thoughtfully as Malcolm and Laurel skimmed through tablets to update themselves on what had happened on Earth-38 so far. "Would that narrow the search?"

"Maybe," Winn shrugged.

"Sir," an agent approached quickly, eyes wide. J'onn looked up from his tablet expectantly, and the agent swallowed. "Major Lane is here."

Winn almost fell out of his chair. "Lane?" J'onn repeated sharply, making the Earth-1ers look at each other in confusion. "Major Lane?"

"Lucy Lane?" Winn asked for further clarification.

"Yes, sir," the agent confirmed.

"Oh, dear," Winn mumbled, straightening up in his seat. "This can't be good."

"Is she here with her father?" J'onn asked with a scowl.

"No, sir," the agent shook his head. "She came here with one person . . . Maxwell Lord."

Oliver's eyebrows shot up. Now that he thought about it, those names sounded vaguely familiar. Behind him, Winn whistled lowly. "Oh, boy."

J'onn seemed to brace himself. "Let them in."

The agent nodded and left, speaking into his comms device. "How do I know those names?" Oliver asked out loud.

"Major Lucy Lane is the daughter of General Sam Lane, US Army," J'onn answered, placing his tablet on the console. "And he is . . . "

"Xenophobic," Winn said helpfully.

J'onn sighed. "A little more tact when Major Lane arrives, Agent Schott?"

"What?" Winn protested as Malcolm and Laurel exchanged suspicious looks. "He is!"

"And I know it," a clear voice rang out, and everyone turned as the pair walked in, escorted by a quartet of agents. "I know exactly what my father is," Lucy nodded to Winn. "And it's not nice." She smiled at J'onn and gave a sharp salute. "Director."

"Major," J'onn nodded curtly, holding out his hand. "It's been a long time."

"Yes, it has," Lucy agreed, shaking his hand. "I apologize for coming on such short notice."

"It's certainly a surprise," J'onn said, eyeing the man with her. "Given present company as well."

"If you're worried about me attempting to bring down your golden girl, Director, don't be," Max shook his head. "I made my peace with Supergirl a long time ago."

"I admit, Mr. Lord, you were helpful with the Black Mercy, creating a cure for your own problem, and during Myriad," J'onn narrowed his eyes, and Oliver tensed, making the connection. Judging by Slade and Malcolm shifting to keep the man in their sights, they made it as well. "But I am also keeping in mind the trouble you caused Supergirl and the D.E.O. before that all happened."

Oliver had to give the man credit, he didn't so much as flinch. In fact, he just raised an eyebrow and put a hand in his coat pocket. "Peace offering?" he suggested, pulling something out and pitching it to J'onn.

The Martian caught it with quick reflexes, every D.E.O. agent in the vicinity drawing their guns, Slade beating them to it. Max wisely placed his hands in the air, waiting expectantly. J'onn examined the spherical object in his hand, narrowing his eyes. "This is the Omegahedron that powered Fort Rozz and Myriad," he identified.

"The good General Lane gave it to me," Max nodded in confirmation. "Wanted to know if there was any possible way to weaponize it."

"Weaponize it?" Oliver repeated sharply.

"Director," Lucy stepped forward, swallowing. "I've been keeping an eye on my father ever since Myriad happened. When Project Cadmus went down, and when he heard Supergirl and Superman played a part in it, he started planning something. When Max was brought back into it, we knew something was wrong."

"Then Reign showed up," Max nodded. "And if we thought he was paranoid before . . . "

He let the sentence hang. "When we had enough intel to get even the slightest idea of what he wanted to do, we went to get what we could, bring it back here," Lucy told J'onn, reaching into her sleeve and pulling out a USB drive. "And what's on this . . . " She shook her head, swallowing. "I think my dad's gone insane."

"It's that bad?" J'onn looked at the drive like it was an envelope that carried anthrax.

Lucy nodded numbly. "We're on your side for this, Director," Max told him.

After a moment, J'onn held his hand out for the drive. "Stand down," he ordered. The agents around the room did as commanded, Slade narrowing his eye before doing the same. "Agent Schott," J'onn turned around. "I want everything on this drive, now. If Major Lane and Mr. Lord are to be believed, this comes before our current problem."

"Yes, sir," Winn took the drive from him.

"So on a scale of the alien bar to Lillian Luthor, how accepting is General Lane of aliens now?" Malcolm couldn't help but ask sarcastically as the Earth-1ers drifted over to join them.

Max snorted. "He'll make what Cadmus attempted look like mosquito bites."

"That'll be quite the feat," Oliver remarked.

Lucy frowned, looking at him. "I'm sorry, I don't think I recognize you from before."

"You wouldn't," J'onn shook his head. "Lucy Lane, meet Oliver Queen. Kara's fiancé and partner in crime."

The look of surprise on Lucy's face was so comical that Winn laughed before coughing to hide it. "Oh," was all she managed to say.

"So she knows?" Slade smirked as Laurel burst out laughing.

"She knows," J'onn confirmed. "As does Mr. Lord."

"Nice to meet you," Oliver nodded politely before giving Max an iron glare. "If you so much as look at her the wrong way – "

"I'm either getting an arrow, a sword, a scream, or a bullet of some kind in me," Max guessed. "I've heard nonstop griping about the new vigilantes in town. It gets a bit old."

"Well, the arrows are first in line," Oliver smirked. "Then it's swords, and then it's screaming."

"Debatable," Laurel shrugged.

Oliver gave her a look. "She's my fiancée."

"She's our little sister," Slade deadpanned.

"Then you're next in line."

Lucy cleared her throat. "I'm confused."

J'onn sighed. "Meet Slade Wilson, Malcolm Merlyn, and Laurel Lance. They're on Oliver's team, but have adopted Kara as their little sister."

"And they're scary as hell if you piss them off!" Winn looked past Oliver to address them. "Just saying!"

"Noted," Lucy sized the three of them up.

"Maybe we can unleash them on your dad," Max suggested.

"I'm not opposed to that."

"Whoa!" Winn's eyes bugged wide open when he saw what was on his screen. "Holy . . . wow!"

"Agent Schott?" J'onn prompted. "What problem do we have?"

"OK, we have way more than a problem," Winn swallowed. "We've got hell."

"Told you," Max said simply.

"Winn, what is it?" Oliver asked.

Winn gulped. "I don't have everything yet, but from what I can see . . . a plan to rip Supergirl's good image to shreds, and take her down with it."

Laurel's eyes narrowed to slits as Slade and Malcolm growled. "How?" Oliver demanded.

Winn braced himself, then clicked on a media file. "It revolves around these."

Oliver frowned when he saw the red crystal earrings on screen. "What?"

"Those aren't crystals," Lucy said grimly.

"It's Red Kryptonite," Max nodded, making Oliver blanch. "And I don't know if we got here in time to stop it from arriving or not."

"Red Kryptonite?" J'onn demanded, turning to Max. "You know how the public turned against Supergirl the last time she was infected with it!"

"That's exactly the argument I gave General Lane when he demanded I make more," Max shot right back. "I said if he wanted to hurt her, go for the green stuff. He actually wanted that later."

"Later?" Laurel echoed.

"After the Red K took effect," Max nodded, pointing at the earrings. "The Red K in those earrings is an improved formula he had me make."

"So what symptoms are we looking for?" Slade asked.

"Well, the good news is you won't be dealing with an immature brat who's going to go around thinking she's queen of the world."

"That's the good news?" Winn snorted.

"The bad news is you'll be dealing with a Kryptonian just as violent," Max continued. "And this Red K is designed to bring out her violent side."

"How so?" J'onn asked.

"Here," Lucy moved over to Winn's station, her fingers flying over the keys. "Unfortunately, my dad was very cryptic in his work, so we can't say exactly who he's going to hit."

"Going to hit?" Malcolm looked at her sharply.

"This Red Kryptonite draws some negative emotions out, but what it really brings out this time is emotional attachments," Max answered, and several gazes immediately turned to Oliver, who closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"What we've gathered is my dad plans to make a hit on someone close to Supergirl while she's under the influence of Red Kryptonite and make someone else take the hit," Lucy explained. "So when Supergirl, Red-K influenced, goes after the wrong person – "

"As violent as the last time this happened, may I add," Max added helpfully.

" – in front of National City," Lucy continued, "he gets the chance to put her down."

"Put her down," Laurel growled. "You make it sound like he thinks she's a rabid dog!"

She kicked the thing closest to her, which happened to be the main command console, and Malcolm raised an eyebrow when she cursed. "Did that help?" he asked.

"No," she grumbled.

"Did that hurt?"

"Yes."

Both yelped when Slade smacked them each on the head. "General Lane is taking a huge risk, though," Oliver frowned, ignoring the three bickering vigilantes behind him. "He's assuming the Red Kryptonite works, he's assuming Supergirl will react like he wants her to, and he's assuming people will support him killing her. I mean, Supergirl has saved the world twice."

"He's bonkers," Max shrugged.

"When Reign came, it was like the last straw for my dad," Lucy nodded. "He's started thinking that whatever makes Reign the way she is will infect Supergirl and Superman, too."

"That's not possible," Winn shook his head.

"We figured that out," Max nodded between himself and Lucy.

"I tried to tell him that," Lucy added. "But Dad's lost it."

J'onn sighed. "Do you have any idea when this attack will happen?"

"No," Lucy shook her head. "All we know is that it'll happen around when these earrings get delivered to Kara."

"We ran into Mr. Olsen and Ms. Luthor on our way here," Max said. "We told them the basics of what's going on. They know what to look for."

"Good," J'onn nodded, turning to Oliver. "Check her loft, see if anything's arrived there."

"You got it," Oliver nodded, walking past them.

"Agent Schott, monitor every government vehicle coming in and out of the city," J'onn ordered. "I want to know the second General Lane enters."

Winn nodded nervously, turning back to his computer. "Here we go again," he mumbled.

***

Kara opened her notebook, skimming through what she had written regarding the Albatross Bay attack, when she heard a strangled noise from nearby. Blinking, she looked up, only to see James looking at her like deer in headlights. "Something wrong, James?" she tilted her head.

"Uh, no," he cleared his throat. "No, just . . . nice earrings. Are they new?"

"Oh, yeah," Kara nodded, reaching up to touch one of them. "They were left at reception for me. Eve brought them up to surprise me."

" . . . ah," James weakly nodded, then cleared his throat again, looking around everyone that had gathered for the meeting. "OK, let's get started. Investigative team, what do we have?"

"DOC rounded up most of the prisoners who escaped Albatross Bay during Reign's attack except Thomas Coville," Kara answered, wrinkling her nose in disgust at the name.

James nodded. "Let's see if we can get a quote from the warden on the record. Art department," he looked over. "What's up?"

"The Parks Conservancy is having a black-tie gala tonight," Lena answered, walking in. "All the city's major donors are gonna be there." As she did, she paused when she saw James microscopically nod towards Kara. Lena casually looked at her friend, almost faltering when she saw the crystal earrings she was wearing. She plastered her smile back on her face, however, and leaned against the table. "I feel like an ace reporter would be able to find a story."

Thankfully, Kara didn't seem to notice she found anything wrong, as she smiled right back. "OK, you guys heard the boss," James said, and Lena noticed Kara tense next to her. "Who's headed to the gala?"

Kara whipped around suddenly, one hand flying into the air. Lena jumped when keys smacked into her open palm, and Kara's fingers curled around them, her eyes narrowing angrily. "I got a story for ya!" Edge's voice yelled, and Lena whipped around to see the man walk into CatCo, fuming in fury.

James blinked rapidly, seeing his suit torn and dirty in places, his hair mussed up like he'd been in a fight. "What the hell happened to you?" he asked in disbelief.

"I survived!" Edge snarled.

"Survived what?" Kara scowled.

"An attempt on my life!" Edge snapped. "How about this – why don't you try 1,500 words on how this deranged, trust-fund baby hacked into my car and tried to steer me off the edge of this damn city!"

Lena did a double take, then grinned. He couldn't be serious, could he? "Wait, wait . . . you're accusing me of trying to kill you? Oh, that's rich."

"Look, whatever happened to you, Lena had nothing to do with it," James told him.

"Yeah," Kara scowled, and both James and Lena looked over at her, noting the unnatural sneer she had in her voice when she spoke. "So why don't you just turn around and go accuse one of the other fifty people who despise you in this city?"

"She shows up where I have breakfast, hangs out at the valet stand just a little bit too long, tells me to go . . . what was it, 'burn in hell?'" Edge accused. "And then somehow, mysteriously, my car steers itself off the road, explodes into the water. Coincidence? I don't think so."

"I don't put hits on people no matter how much I despise them," Lena scoffed.

Edge nodded sarcastically. "That's right. You like to do the dirty work yourself." He walked forward, glaring daggers into her. "Here I am, sister. Why don't you man up and finish the job?"

Before he could move any closer, Kara smoothly stepped in his path, close enough that Edge backed away in surprise. "How about you find the exit?" she hissed, eyes narrowed to slits as she kept walking forward, making Edge, still surprised, back up as well. "Or would you like me to help you find it?"

Edge finally found his footing and straightened, glaring past her to Lena. "You better get ready to finish what you started, because you wound me up and I'm not gonna rest until it's over," he spat. "And I never lose. Got it?"

Kara actually reached out and shoved Edge away with enough force to make it look like she was angry, not a superpowered alien. Edge stared at her in shock, along with everyone else in the room. "Exit," she pointed. "That way. Now."

Edge ground his teeth, glaring daggers at her. Kara seethed right back, and had Edge been looking really closely, he would have seen red flashing in her eyes. Neither noticed James silently take a picture of the earrings she wore before texting on his phone.

***

Lucy looked down at her phone when it chirped. She pulled it out, checking the message, and she paled drastically. "Oh, my God."

"What?" Max walked up to her, the others turning to see.

Lucy just swallowed and zoomed in, then held up her phone. "Dad's already started."

Winn balked when he saw the glittering red crystals Kara wore, and Slade closed his eye, seething. Max just turned to J'onn. "I don't suppose I can borrow a lab to get to work on adjusting that gun to the cure I've got?" he asked.

J'onn didn't even try to argue. He just nodded to one of the agents, who peeled off down the hall, Max following after him.

***

If it seems like Lane's plan involves grasping at straws, that is pretty much exactly what he's doing. Hopefully, however, you guys like where this is going!

For reference, here are the Red Kryptonite earrings Kara is currently wearing:

So, all of you who hate Lane say aye?

Next part will be coming tomorrow morning!