Chapter Seventeen
Here we go, guys. :) Silver Kryptonite!Kara and the first part of the Cadmus battle, though it's not much of a first part. XD I'm currently working on the next chapter, which has the rest of the Cadmus fight, and I'm hoping to get that up before I go to bed.
I hope everyone enjoys!
***
Oliver had gotten a taste of what Kara's super strength was when she had punched him after her nightmare. He was not prepared for her to crash through the wall, grab him by his suit jacket, and carry him out into the night. "Oliver!" he heard Dig shout.
Kara slugged him with a right hook that had him going head over heels, smashing onto a nearby roof. He groaned in pain, stumbling and getting to his feet, turning to see Kara land on the far side of the roof, her fingers curling into fists. That prompted him to jump to his feet, holding up his hands. "Kara, I'm not him," he tried to reach her, eyes wide. "I swear I'm not!"
"I don't know how you got here," Kara growled, her eyes starting to glow again, making Oliver look around for a place to hide. "But get the hell off my Earth!"
A sonic scream hit her, and Kara went flying. Oliver spun around to see Slade and Dinah race across the roof, Thea and Nyssa swinging up a few moments later. "How many types of that crap are there?" Slade growled, watching Kara stagger.
"Never mind that, how do we deal with her?" Dinah nodded to Kara.
"With an overwhelming amount of backup," Oliver grimaced. "Remember the Dominators?"
"None of us could beat her," Thea nodded miserably.
"She's back," Nyssa warned.
"Get away from him," Kara warned, holding her hand to one ear, pointing at Oliver with the other. "Slade, Thea, Nyssa, Dinah, get away!"
That made all five vigilantes blink. "It's just you?" Thea asked her brother in surprise.
"Guess so," he said, sounding just as confused.
***
Felicity's computer chirped, and her jaw dropped. "Oh, my God."
"What?" Quentin turned around.
"Booyah!" she threw her hands up in the air triumphantly. "Who's the best hacker in two universes, people?" She pointed at her screen. "I got them!"
"You found them?" Alex asked hopefully.
"Cadmus is hiding right in the center of the city," Felicity said confidently, a wide grin on her face.
"Send us the coordinates," J'onn ordered.
"On it," Winn tapped on his tablet.
***
Alex pulled out her phone, dialing rapidly as Maggie put the van in drive. "Let's get the others," she said.
"Yeah," Alex nodded absently. She ignored her fiancée's confused look, instead focusing on the number she was calling. She saw Dig, Rene, Malcolm, and Laurel hurry towards the van, Laurel still looking shaky on her feet, but when she heard the line pick up, she straightened. "We've got a problem," was all she said.
***
Everyone on the rooftop paused when they heard the announcement, and Oliver turned. "Go," he said.
"Oliver!" Dinah protested, even Nyssa looking at him as if he were insane.
"She recognizes you, she doesn't see me," Oliver shook his head. "The more to deal with Cadmus, the better."
"Danvers?" Slade asked reluctantly. "How do you get this out of her system?"
"The only experience we had with it was with her cousin," Alex answered. "We don't have a cure. It just needs to wear off."
"How long could that take?"
"It took a few hours, but that was because of a rock. What was the Kryptonite like that she was exposed to?"
Oliver closed his eyes. "However much silver Kryptonite could form a chandelier."
There was silence on the other line. "Then I don't know," Alex said reluctantly.
The four other vigilantes looked at Oliver hesitantly. "Oliver," Thea began.
"Kara matters more," Oliver shook his head. "All of you, go." He smirked at Slade. "Kill some Cadmus bastards for me."
That seemed to make up Slade's mind. "Get her back, kid," he told him before heading for the edge of the roof.
The three women followed, and Oliver turned back around to look at Kara, who was watching the others leave. She finally turned back to him, narrowing her eyes. "You're not fooling anyone, Chase."
Oliver swallowed, making sure to hold his hands away from his body so she could see them. "I'm not Prometheus, Kara," he insisted.
She simply let out an enraged cry and flew at him. Oliver narrowly dove to the ground, looking up to see her whip around horizontally in midair, and feet hit him in the chest, catapulting him backwards. He shouted in pain when he collided with the ledge of the roof, wincing and reaching for his back. "Dad!" he heard William cry.
"Oliver?" Felicity asked nervously.
He grimaced, about to reply, when he felt Kara stomp on his back, smashing him into the ledge. He cried out again, remembering how completely out of it Wally had been after Kara had taken him out when she was under the Dominators' control. She hadn't been trying to kill him then, though.
If she thought he was Prometheus, though . . .
His train of thought was interrupted when he felt Kara grab him by the throat, and he choked for breath. "Kara!" he rasped. "This isn't you!"
"This is me protecting my city and my friends!" she snarled. "You won't hurt anyone ever again!"
There were protests all over the comms, having heard Kara's words, and Oliver closed his eyes. "Kara," he tried one last time, only to choke when her grip on his throat tightened –
And suddenly, with a wail, she released her grip. Oliver collapsed with a grunt, reaching up to massage his throat. "Oliver!" Dig shouted.
Oliver was about to respond when he heard an animalistic roar of rage from Kara behind him, so unlike her that he nearly jumped a foot in the air. It was what she yelled in pure anger, however, that made him turn. "RHEA!"
Oliver spun around quicker than he had ever done in his life. His eyes also widened larger than he was certain they'd ever been before.
Because who Kara was facing with such anger was most certainly not Queen Rhea of Daxam. "Yeah," Clark Kent sighed, a look of regret in his eyes as he raised his fists into ready position. "I was afraid you might say that."
Kara screeched lividly and flew into the air, Clark pouncing as well. Oliver quickly dove for cover as the two Kryptonians exchanged blows. "Well," he blew out the breath he'd been holding. "That takes care of Kara."
"You beat her?" Quentin asked in surprise.
Oliver peered out from behind the water tower, watching Clark catch Kara's fist with one hand and punch her with the other, sending her reeling. "Well . . . her cousin's working on that."
***
From the back of the van Maggie was now driving twenty miles over the speed limit, Dig blinked rapidly. "Her cousin?" he repeated.
"Did I stutter?" Oliver asked dryly.
"Thank God he made it," Alex sighed.
"Her cousin," Dig mumbled.
"You all right?" Rene asked with a grin.
"I don't know," Dig sighed.
"Need a cup of tea?" Laurel asked in a slight slur before wincing and groaning, holding her head. "Goddamn drugs . . . "
"You're doing better than I expected," Alex raised an eyebrow.
"Metahuman physiology, I'm guessing," Malcolm predicted, raising an eyebrow at Laurel. "So am I finally seeing what Laurel Lance looks like when she's on a high?"
"I have no idea," Laurel groaned.
"Next left, Maggie," Felicity said, and Maggie swerved. "Completely normal-looking building."
Maggie stepped on the brakes, stopping outside a multi-level building that looked abandoned from the outside. As soon as the van squealed to a stop, there were three armed soldiers running out, machine guns raised. Alex quickly shot one of them down; the other two were killed by a red arrow in the heart, and a triple tap to the chest. J'onn pulled the second van up, and Slade, Nyssa, Thea, and Dinah emerged from it. Maggie, Alex, Dig, Rene, Malcolm, and Laurel came out of the first one, all of them armed to the teeth. J'onn transformed into his Martian form, growling. "At long last."
"Can you still hear us?" Alex asked.
"Loud and clear," Winn answered.
"Shoot them all for us," Iris pitched in.
J'onn and Alex simply turned to Dinah and Laurel. The two metahumans nodded, taking deep breaths. A second later, both screamed in the direction of the doors. The combined sonic screams sent the team reeling, their ears ringing.
They also made the doors nearly disintegrate, there was so much power behind them.
Startled shouts came from inside the base, and as one, the team charged into the building, ready to bring Cadmus down once and for all.
***
Five minutes into the cousins' battle, Oliver noticed two things. One was that the rooftop was completely trashed.
Two . . . the silver Kryptonite didn't seem to be affecting Kara's powers at all. If anything, her hallucinations were causing her to use them even more.
The good news was that Clark didn't seem to be tiring. Oliver didn't know how long that would last, though. The last thing Oliver needed was Kara beating her cousin and then going after him. "Holy frack," he heard Cisco say over the comms.
"Are you seeing this?" he asked.
"Oh, we're seeing it," Quentin answered. "Damn."
"I knew she was good, but I didn't know she was this good," Cisco pitched in.
"Who does she think she's fighting?" Winn asked.
Oliver winced, seeing Kara fire her heat vision at Clark, who responded in kind, the two of them locked and not letting up. "Rhea."
"Oh," Winn's voice quieted. "That . . . that would do it."
"Who's Rhea?" William's voice spoke up.
"A really nasty word that none of us should say in front of you," Quentin answered, making Oliver snort.
Clark suddenly let out a shout of pain, and Oliver shot to his feet, watching Kara kick him in the knee before hovering in the air and diving for her cousin, nailing both fists into his ribs. Clark flew back to the edge of the ledge, and Kara was there in an instant, planting a booted foot on his chest, leaning down. "You completely ruined me!" she yelled, and the comms erupt with chatter, everyone trying to get through to Kara at once. She doesn't pay the voices in her ear any attention, even as Oliver watches her hand wrap around Clark's throat to choke him. "You made my life hell! All because of a stupid grudge you couldn't let up! You killed your husband to do it! Why couldn't you just let your pride go?!" Clark started to choke as Kara's grip tightened.
"Kara!" Cisco shouted.
"Almas, stop!" Malcolm yelled.
"Kara, please!" William joined in.
And the impossible seemed to happen. Kara faltered.
It was so sudden, both Oliver and Clark stopped and stared at her. Kara was frozen in place, blinking rapidly, before she snarled and leaned over her cousin again. "William, stay on comms!" Oliver reached for his, desperate. "William, keep talking to her! She can hear you!"
His son's voice was much clearer when he spoke again. "Kara, please, don't! Don't hurt him! This isn't you! Please, don't hurt him!"
Kara's grip loosened more, and as Oliver made his way closer, he could see her taking heaving breaths that had nothing to do with how much she had been fighting. She was drawing them in quickly, and Oliver could see her veins ripple silver again . . . except not as violently as they had been before. "Kara," he whispered, Clark reaching up to take her hand away from him. Oliver quickly shook his hand at him, and the other Kryptonian froze in place. "That is not Rhea."
"Shut up," Kara whispered, but it didn't have the bite it had earlier.
"It's not, Kara," William insisted. "I can see who you're fighting. It's not whoever this Rhea is."
Kara shakily looked down at the hand that held her cousin tight, and before Oliver's eyes, she started to relax her grip. "Kara, please, trust me. This isn't you. You were about to kill your cousin."
And then Kara's eyes fly wide open, and she shoved herself away from Clark, eyes wide in terror. Clark went to one knee, taking deep breaths, rubbing his throat. "Kara!" Oliver ran to her.
"You're on Lian Yu," she panted, looking up at him. "You should be on Lian Yu!"
"Kara," Oliver whispered, crouching in front of her. "I swear, I'm not Prometheus."
"It's my dad, Kara," William said, and Oliver could see the quick flash of silver ripple through her irises before it was gone. "You put Prometheus where he needed to be. He can't leave ever again."
"My name is Oliver Queen," Oliver told Kara fiercely, watching her look up at him, shaking slightly. The silver was still pulsing in her veins, but as he watched, the color started to pulse weaker and weaker. "You saved the lives of my son, his mother, my sister, and my friends on Lian Yu when you showed Adrian Chase, called Prometheus, that you were not going to let anyone die while you could save them. You did save them, Kara. You saved all of us. And Chase is where he belongs – in purgatory, for the rest of his life."
"You saved us, Kara," William said. "Just listen to us and let us save you."
Kara's breathing started getting more ragged, and she cried out in pain, reaching up to grab her head. "Kara!" Oliver lunged forward, Clark getting to his feet.
"Oliver, I'll get your gear and get it to you," Cisco said.
Oliver didn't wait for a confirmation; he just took Kara by the shoulders. "Kara?"
She looked up at him, silver blazing in her eyes. But as she stared at him, the silver slowly faded away, until all that was left were blazing sky blue orbs, starting to cloud as her eyes filled with tears. "Oliver?" she mouthed.
"Oh, thank God," he choked, hugging her tightly, and Clark sighed in relief as Kara fell into Oliver's arms, sobbing into his shoulder.
***
William, too, started to sniff, rubbing at his eyes as he fell back in his chair. "She's back," Winn said quietly, smiling.
"Your mom would be so proud of you," Felicity smiled at William.
He managed a shaky smile back.
***
Kara sniffed and lifted her head from Oliver's shoulder, eyes widening as her cousin approached. "Clark?" she whispered.
"Are you OK?" Clark asked, crouching down by her.
"Do I look OK?" Kara croaked, sniffing. "I tried to kill you! Both of you!"
"I tried to kill you back when I was affected by silver Kryptonite, too," Clark countered. "That wasn't your fault, Kara. And that was just a rock."
"Kara, you were affected by pounds of it," Oliver told her, cupping her face and wiping her tears away. "There was no way it wasn't going to do something horrible. And you hallucinated two of the worst people to ever exist. Of course you were going to fight them. We don't blame you."
"You snapped out of it, Kara, faster than I ever could have," Clark put his hand on her shoulder. "You fought it. You always fight."
"So stand up," Oliver whispered fiercely. "Stand up and fight back."
Kara took a few deep breaths, then nodded, taking his hand. Oliver kissed her forehead and helped her up. "By the way," she said, her tone suddenly much lighter. "Clark, meet my boyfriend, Oliver Queen."
Oliver snorted loudly, unable to keep from laughing. "This was not how I expected to meet your cousin."
"The last time I met my cousin's boyfriend, I was on the receiving end of silver Kryptonite," Clark raised an eyebrow, but held out his hand. "I hope you're worth her while."
"Doubtful," Oliver shrugged, shaking his hand. "But I'm trying to be."
Clark smirked and nodded, accepting his answer. "I say he is," Kara mumbled, but she was blushing.
Oliver snorted again, Clark laughing, and the opening of a breach interrupted them. They turned as Cisco jumped out, in full Vibe uniform. "It's safe to approach, right?" he looked around.
"I'm fine, Cisco," Kara nodded.
"Good," Cisco nodded, walking over and handing a duffel to Oliver, who took it. "Because the sooner you guys get to Cadmus, the sooner this ends."
Oliver smirked, turning to Kara. "Let's put these guys down for good."
***
Team SuperArrow vs Cadmus is next, guys. :)
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