Supergirl ~ Legion of Super-Heroes ~ Part Three

***

Kara could feel Querl occasionally looking at her from where he was picking up broken pieces of glass and pottery, but she focused on picking up various papers that had flown everywhere.

However, something under an old envelope caught her eye, and frowning, she reached out and picked up a black framed picture. She looked at the picture, curious and confused. "Huh."

Querl stood up, looking grateful for the distraction, and he walked over, looking over Kara's shoulder. "You had a pet?"

"Yeah," Kara smiled, looking down at the picture of her and her cat, but frowned again as Querl crouched down next to her. "But if this is my subconscious trying to tell myself something, I don't get it."

"Could be a random neuron firing," Querl mused. "What's its name?"

"Streaky," Kara answered. "I, uh . . . I found him on our street right after I came to Earth, actually. He was a stray, too."

"You felt an emotional kinship," Querl nodded.

Kara tilted her head, thinking it over, then grinned. "Yes," she nodded, thinking he made sense. "Yeah. We were . . . " She was distracted by movement on one of the chairs, and her eyes widened. "Friends." Querl turned to look as well, and he saw what she had: the same black cat in the picture was curled up on the chair. "I used to go out every night and feed him," Kara stood up, walking over to Streaky and squatting down, holding out her hand to gently stroke him. "I didn't wanna touch him. I was so strong, I could have hurt him. So, I practiced being gentle. And then, one day, I pet him." She picked Streaky up, giggling when he purred, just like he had years ago. "And he purred, and everything was OK." She sat down, putting Streaky in her lap, running her hands over his fur as Querl stood. "I felt like an alien on Earth for so long, and he helped me feel like a human."

She smiled as Streaky purred, and she continued to pet him, not noticing Querl's thoughtful expression.

***

"Reign is finding bigger targets," J'onn paced in front of the heroes. "She wants to teach us an abject lesson."

"She's going to cleanse the sinners of society locked away," Alex tapped her fingers anxiously on one of the consoles. "The ones that she feels were granted mercy."

Malcolm closed his eyes. "And where do we know where several sinners of society are locked away?"

"Albatross Bay," Laurel seethed.

"That's crazy," Thea groaned.

A screen nearby started flashing an alert, and Cisco pointed. "Crazy's happened."

"She's already there," Mon-El looked at the schematics showing a break-in.

"She's gonna kill everyone," Amaya breathed. "It won't matter if they're guards or prisoners."

"And they'll all be fish in a barrel," Lily gulped.

"Well, we've got to do something," Nate turned around.

"You're still injured," J'onn reminded him. "I'll go."

"You can't, J'onn," Slade shook his head. "Not alone. You know how strong she is."

"What other choice do we have?" Nate argued.

Mon-El, however, nodded as if deciding something, and turned around. "You know, we been asleep for many years."

Barry slowly started to grin. "Feeling up for some exercise?"

"I am," Imra smiled back.

Querl looked back and forth as Mon-El nodded at Sara, who nodded back and held out her hand as Barry held his out to Imra. The two Legionnaires shook their hands in response, then Querl looked at his leader. "You're being facetious?"

Mon-El rolled his eyes fondly as Cisco snickered. "This guy."

***

Chaos was kind to describe the horror going on inside Albatross Bay. A better word to use was a And the Kryptonian causing it couldn't have been any happier.

She strolled past bodies of inmates and guards and ignored the showering sparks from failing lights. Every person she had crossed so far was dead.

However, as she approached another cell, she stopped for a second, hearing a voice inside. Every inmate so far had tried to attack her. All of them failed, but they tried to fight all the same. So why was one lone prisoner not making any move against her?

She walked closer to the cell, only to pause when she could clearly hear the words being spoken. " – of the renewal, I submit to you," the man inside was saying. "For Rao is the light, but he was born of fire."

Reign moved into the doorway, eyes narrowed. "How do you know those words?" she demanded coldly.

The man kneeling in front of a Kryptonian symbol on the wall slowly turned. "I – " he stammered, looking up at her in a mixture of awe and terror. "I was awoken to them."

"People are quick to claim salvation when faced with death," Reign scowled, stepping further into the cell. "Do you think that is enough for me to spare you?"

"You don't have to spare me," he shook his head. "You just have to let me serve you."

Reign tilted her head, looking at the man long and hard, but before she could make the decision, something stopped her.