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The Multiverse of Superwomen (Ch.3)
🕑 Added 2024-04-18 15:15:24 +0000 UTCThe tips of her black boots touched down upon a balcony of LexCorp. The doors were locked but that posed no challenge to a superwoman like her, and she easily ripped them open before marching inside.
Her arrival startled those working in the offices, and those present quickly scrambled out of their cubicles, taking cover behind one another near the back wall. There was something strange about this intruder beyond their incredible powers, though. In fact, they all suddenly thought the same thing: she looked an awful lot like someone who worked at LexCorp.
It was Lena, albeit taller and muscular, wearing an all black kryptonian supersuit with her initials on the crest. She had this arrogant, impatient look upon her face, as if she wanted answers yet didn't want to waste her time even asking the questions. She felt the need to seek out her brother Lex in this universe to see if he could possibly help her. It didn't take long, however, to discover who the real CEO happened to be.
They turned up in a wine-coloured, three-piece pantsuit. Unlike the others in the room, they at least had enough guts to confront this visitor who somehow had a similar face -her face- because the CEO of LexCorp was, of course, Lena Luthor.
"When I was told about you," she started, "I thought it was a prank, and yet I come down and here you are."
"You? You're weak," the super-powered Lena replied. "You haven't yet transformed yourself."
"Well, 'weak' is a matter of perspective. I feel I am strong in other areas. But transformed myself like you? No."
"Did Kara not betray you?"
"I don't even know anyone named Kara."
"Supergirl then. You didn't kill her?"
"Oh, I know of her. She's dead, but it had nothing to do with me."
"Amazing," replied her empowered doppelganger. "Here, everything is different. Even the technology seems less developed."
"What do you want?" asked the CEO, feigning confidence in the face of her more lethal, unhinged self.
"I was pulled here by another superwoman. She wore a blue and red suit. She had short dark hair, and-"
"Ursa," Lena interrupted. "Oh, we all know her. She's a menace. She killed off our resistance -including Supergirl- and effectively took over the planet. Last we heard she was residing in Superman's old hideout."
"I was actually there," said Lena, now standing over her physically weaker double. "The fool caused some kind of split in reality itself, and now kryptonian women from right across the multiverse are spilling into this one, and she can't seem to stop it."
"Well, that's absolutely terrifying, if I'm honest. But why have you come here, to me of all people?"
"I wanted to find Lex, actually."
"Well, he's gone, and I was asked to take over. So you'll have to deal with me instead."
"I want to go back to my reality. Not this backwater. Despite the limitations of your tech, maybe together we can still find a way?"
"And what do I get in return?" asked the new CEO.
"I don't think you're in a position to bargain," super Lena replied. "But getting rid of me might give you the means to send everyone else back as well because, believe you me, they going to keep on coming."
As soon as she said this, a news report on a nearby office screen caught their attention. It was a woman wearing a black and red lined supersuit flipping cars around in thecentrer of National City. She had blonde hair, red lips, and a neutral look upon her face. But there was an "SS" on her chest.
"Who is that?" asked the local Lena, a little impressed.
"That's Kara. At least, it's a version of her. A really really nasty version of her," replied super Lena, cracking her knuckles together.
"She doesn't look like our Supergirl, though? Yet we look alike. It doesn't make any sense."
"Nothing makes any sense here now, and it'll make less and less sense as more of us godlike beings come through, so I suggest you start researching everything you know about inter-dimensional travel."
"But where are you going?" asked Lena.
"To National City, of course. My old hunting ground. I'm going to have a second bite of the cherry. I had some qualms about ending Kara in my reality. But this one, however, will be a pleasure to put down."
She exited via the balcony again and scorched across the sky in the direction of National City, determined to confront this newest and darkest Kara.
"Should we do what she says?" asked one of Lena's employees. The CEO put her hands on her hips and stared out the window for a moment before smiling and turning to face them.
"Sure sure. Bring up everything we know on that particular wing of science. It's important we find a way to rid ourselves of all these pesky metahumans."
And with that, the office settled itself down again, and the relevant parties upstairs in the labs were informed to get to work. A few minutes passed before Lena turned to the same employee again, whispering, "And while you're at it, draw up everything we have on file about kryptonian DNA."
Meanwhile, it didn't take long for super Lena to reach National City.
"Overgirl!" she cried, before leaping towards her. Despite her super speed, the blonde-haired villain couldn't turn in time to deflect Lena's initial punch. The tremendous impact launched her straight up into the skyline of the city and through the side of one of the tall buildings.
Lena followed the flight of her body and planned to deliver another blow mid-air. However, she lost sight of her mighty foe who then appeared swiftly behind her and drove a kidney shot right into Lena. She then grabbed her soft, long black hair and pulled her head and upper body down so she could violently raise a knee right into their chest. Again and again Overgirl struck her there before swinging Lena by her hair and sending her face first to the pavement well below.
Lena crawled out of the road then and stared up at her approaching enemy.
"This bitch," she said to herself before steading her body and flying up towards Overgirl from the opposite direction. The collision shook the foundations of the city but neither seemed to care. For at least ten minutes they both hurled themselves throughout the city irrespective of what damage they'd cause or people they'd hurt. Despite the fact the Lena had made herself stronger through her experiments than the average kryptonian, Overgirl was proving to be the better fighter, and eventually had her bicep and forearm wrapped around Lena's neck and tried to crack it.
"Why did you bring me here?" asked overgirl in a thick Germanic accent.
"I didn't," squawked Lena while trying to pull herself free of the hold. "I understand this isn't your first rodeo when it comes to inter-dimensional travel, passing from one reality to the next, but if I actually get out of your grip, I can guarantee it'll be your last."
As she said this, Lena actually began to pull Overgirl's arm free, but as she did so in desperation, a sudden, scarlet-coloured blast came down from on high.
Overgirl let go of Lena fully then and rolled along the ground. Due to the aforementioned blast there was now steam coming from her cape. She had a face like thunder and she searched the street for the upstart that had dared interfere and struck her with their heat vision. It was then that she noticed her. Dressed in a super suit coloured grey and red, she calmly decended to around where they had been fighting. She was blonde, too, and looked identical to Overgirl. But this variant had a hammer and sickle on her chest.
"The Red Daughter," said Lena getting back to her feet.
"And who might you both be?" she replied in a thick accent of her own.
"Lena Luthor. You won't really know me, but I obviously know of you. And this one is-"
"I don't know who she is, despite looking just like me, but I know what she is, and I'm here to put you down, monster."
"It'll take more than you," replied Overgirl grimly.
"How right you are," replied Lena, creaking her neck back before letting her head spring forward, subsequently firing two red blasts from her eyes. The Red Daughter followed her lead and joined in. Despite all of her stength, Overgirl couldn't contend with two superwomen targetting her at once. For a minute or two they bombarded her until her body could withstand no more and she collapsed.
When defeated, the Red Daughter floated down beside Lena and they studied her remains.
"It is never a pleasant thing to do," she said.
"Speak for yourself," Lena chided her. "This isn't the first Kara I've killed."
As she said that, she thought about striking Red Daughter next, yet quickly remembered that she had helped save her only moments before, and could be a useful ally if another like Overgirl turned up.
"But you're not really Kara, are you? And you're not like Overgirl either?" she asked.
The Red Daughter just shook her head.
"You have their face, though. That'll take some getting used to."
"But what will we do with her body?" asked the Red Daughter.
"I don't care," replied Lena, lifting herself off the ground gently with the Red Daughter following her. They landed on one of the high-rise buildings left undamaged by their earlier rampage. They studied the city now in chaos. Sirens could be heard below, and smoke could be seen billowing above.
"We should help these people," said Red Daughter. Yet Lena was unconcerned.
"I thought like that once. But, truth is, we're all alone. People will always betray you in the end, unless you control them."
"Nonsense," said Red Daughter, stepping off the ledge and drifting over the city. "They need some help."
"On you go," said Lena. "I'm off. But no doubt we'll meet again, if needs be."
With that, Lena flew fully away, leaving a confused Red Daughter to pick up the pieces. Indeed, clean up and rescue went on throughout the night and into the mourn, but, when Red Daughter's services were no longer needed, she returned to recover Overgirl's body, only to discover that it now missing. She knew it wasn't a case that their enemy had somehow faked their own death. No, she was really gone, so who would take her body like that? As the Red Daughter pondered the ways of this new, foreign Earth she was trapped on, more and more superwomen appeared, ones famous and ones obscure.
There were Powergirls popping up, and even the odd Galatea. In one reality, Lucille Newtrich had become Ultrawoman, and so she was dragged through. In another, it had been her sister Nell who'd stolen Ultrawoman's power. Then Reign turned up, caught between destroying the world or escaping back to her own. Dr. Gretchen Kelly had also taken Superman's abilities permanently on one Earth, so she was pulled through unexpectedly. Even Batman and Co in Gotham had to deal with an unstoppable kryptonian Harley Quinn now causing mayhem.
In Smallville, a red-haired, very much human Lana Lang had to suddenly contend with a surly, dark-haired super Lana Lang clad in leather turning up at her front door. It wasn't long before a second empowered Lana appeared, but this time wearing a yellow and purple supersuit. Then there was another, yet this time in white and red. The most dangerous came in the form of a Lana dressed in grey but without a cape. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she had a constant sullen look on her face. She attacked them all then, demanding to know what was going on. It wasn't long, however, before she felt weakened, quickly staring up at their yellow sun, one unlike the red variety that powered her in her home reality.
When would it all end? Never, perhaps. And it was all due to Ursa's folly. The evil, beautiful villain herself had ultimately dispatched Sylvia while still outside the crater where the Fortress of Solitude had once stood. But more superwomen arrived and she had to fight them, too. She was a warrior, of course. She loved a good fight. But this really was becoming too much even for her. She sat there for a moment between battles, trying to regather herself, only for a shadow to fall upon her again.
It was Dana Deardon aka Obsession this time, once a regular women who had developed an unhealthy fixitation on Superman in her dimension to such a degree she had taken powers similar to him. Enraged at the news that Superman was been apparently killed in this realm by Ursa, she'd moved heaven and Earth to find and exact revenge upon her.
Ursa rolled her eyes and drew herself up once more, knowing that, despite her growing fatigue, she would still have the beating of Obsession.
"I'm really getting bored of this," she whined. "I didn't even take any pleasure from breaking the last of my toys. I'm sure it'll be the same with you."
Yet a fear secretly grew in her then. How long could she really keep this up? What if a hundred more Obsessions came after her? A thousand? A million?
Again, two superwomen fought in the Antarctic; cruel blows leading each to be thrown across the vast, empty, icy landscape. But, just as she had surmised, Ursa was too much for Obession, and eventually used all her fighting skills picked up in the military to knock her opponent unconscious. She moved in for the kill then, pulling Dana's hair back and grabbing her throat, but as she did so, another showed themselves.
"Oh, what now?" asked Ursa, sensing their presence behind her.
At first, all she could see was a figure of a woman floating beside the image of the sun, which obscured their appearance with its intense light. Despite her incredible vision, Ursa still had to squint to try make them out. But, as the person moved and finally blocked out the light with their body, she could now identify them. It was actually her. Another Ursa.
They stared at each other for a moment until a smile started creeping up on both of their faces. Without even having to say a word, they instinctively knew what the other was thinking: variants of her were also coming through. They wouldn't have to fight alone now. If they were patient, more would come. They could fight together. Her individual drive to conquer could now be a collective one. A whole army of Ursa against all of the pretenders.
To be continued...
