Seven Superwomen

It was a quiet weeknight in Mike’s, the neighborhood dive bar in New Orleans owned and operated by Supergirl Onyx. Three regulars were perched on their usual bar stools, slowly working their way through their favored drinks: a bottle Dixie for Sandra who liked to drink local(ish), Miller Lite for Jasper who claimed to be watching his figure, and Crown Royal on the rocks for Deshawn who was drinking to forget.

The conversation was neighborhood gossip Supergirl Onyx was well aware of thanks to her super-hearing, x-ray vision, and copious free time. Unlike the other Supergirls, she didn’t play at being some kind of Empress or Queen of her domain. She let New Orleans run itself for the most part, as long as city hall didn’t piss her off. She also didn't indulge in the elaborate cruelty most of the Supergirls enjoyed, not because she didn't want to, but because she believed in Karma. The fewer people she killed, the less likely it was that one of their loved ones would become a Supergirl and seek revenge, just as Onyx wanted to destroy the League of Supergirls for killing her family three decades ago.

She passed the time watching Seven Samurai on the TV behind the bar. She liked watching movies on TV because they were a normal-speed experience. She could read a book in under a minute at super-speed, but a movie unfolded at its own pace, forcing her into a simulacrum of humanity.

She tried not to think about the crate that had been delivered to her Garden District mansion that morning. Inside had been an entire wardrobe of bulletproof outfits made by Supergirl Chao-Xing - some featuring the feared silver ‘S’ of the League of Supergirls and some without. There had been a note from the Chinese Supergirl.

"I wasn't sure if you still wear the symbol or not. Even if you're not in the League anymore, you're still a Supergirl. Stay safe and call if you need anything. C-X.”

The gesture was surprising. Chao-Xing had always taken care of the other Supergirls but she was also an integral cog in the brutal machinery of the League. After Freja had uncovered that Onyx had good reason to hate the founders, Onyx had resigned, the only Supergirl to ever leave the organization. She was beginning to regret that impulsive decision, waiting for the other boot to drop.

Why was Chao-Xing being nice to her after she'd turned her back on the organization Chao-Xing had devoted thirty years of her life to? Especially since Onyx had stolen from her laboratory after a night of intense lovemaking in Shanghai. The thought of sex with another Supergirl repelled Onyx, but it had been the best way to carry out the theft without being caught. Chao-Xing had been sleeping off the intense pleasure she’d taken while Onyx had slipped into the basement of the palace and made off with a rare element the human resistance - or so she'd believed - had asked her to steal.

From Chao-Xing's unexpected gift she'd selected a black tank top with a subdued gray Supergirl symbol, and a pair of black jeans. She didn't want people to forget that she could disintegrate them with a glance or yank out their spine if they stepped out of line. The feared ‘S’ still had its uses even if she personally despised the League.

Supergirl Onyx tends bar at Mike's

While Onyx was watching a potential Samurai recruit cut down an opponent with a strike almost too fast for the human eye to follow, the door opened and a woman strode into the bar. She was of average height, with black hair styled into an intricate updo, and emerald green eyes. She exuded an air of confidence and power unusual for an ordinary human in a world dominated by the Supergirls.

The newcomer wore an elegant green suit that screamed expensive bespoke tailoring. She was out of place in a dive bar, overdressed for the New Orleans climate, and probably unfamiliar with Mike’s reputation as a Supergirl-owned establishment.

Onyx sighed. She wasn’t in the mood to disintegrate a lost tourist with her heat vision but she had to maintain certain standards.

“Welcome to Mike’s,” she said. “Are you sure you’re in the right place?”

That was as much of a warning as she planned to give the interloper. If the 'S' on her chest wasn’t enough to give someone pause, Onyx couldn’t be held responsible for what happened next.

“Absolutely,” said the woman. Her green eyes sparkled with keen intelligence. “I’ve come a long way to meet you, Supergirl Onyx."

Sandra snorted into her beer and said: “Uh-oh!”

Onyx smiled and bared her perfect teeth as the woman approached. An obnoxious tourist would have been bad enough but a Supergirl groupie was beyond the pale. Someone was getting disintegrated tonight.

“If you turn around and leave now,” she said, “I might let you live.”

The woman ignored the threat and settled onto a bar stool, leaving a polite two-stool buffer between her and the glassy-eyed Sandra.

“You’re not going to kill me until you’ve heard what I have to offer you.”

Onyx spread her arms wide as if showing off the dingy bar.

“As you can see, I have everything I could possibly want.”

“Perhaps you’d like to know which of the three founding members of the League of Supergirls killed your family. I’d love a Manhattan if you can manage it: up with bitters, and use the good stuff.”

Onyx stared at her for a few beats. It was a closely guarded secret that her family had been killed when the nascent League of Supergirls had destroyed Cleveland as part of a demonstration of the futility of opposing them. Freja had uncovered the truth, but Onyx didn't know if the Swedish Supergirl had told the others. Even if she had, it was unlikely the League would share such things with a mere human.

Thirty-two years ago, her family had traveled to Cleveland for her cousin Winston’s wedding. Onyx had been too sick to make the trip, so had stayed behind with her grandmother. None of her family had returned from that trip. Their remains were lost in the piles of rubble and twisted metal that had once been Ohio’s second city.

She considered her next steps as she made the stranger's cocktail. The three founders of the League - Kara, Kristina, and Murowa - had all participated in the destruction of Cleveland, but she didn't know which of them had delivered the death blow to her parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, and uncles. Until now she'd never considered it would be possible to narrow the blame down.

She placed the Manhattan on the bar in front of the woman.

"You have my attention," said Onyx. "How would you have come by this information?"

"A fifth-dimensional imp owes me a small favor. They’re very good at historical research as long as they can resist the temptation to change it."

Onyx had no idea what the woman was talking about but she was willing to play along for the moment. She'd watched Seven Samurai several times and could pick up where she'd left off when the newcomer was nothing more than ash in the trash.

“What’s your offer?”

The woman took a sip of her drink and gave a satisfied nod. Onyx had used the good stuff as requested. Her regulars were happy with well bourbon and cheap vermouth, but Onyx enjoyed an occasional Manhattan, and her super-senses could taste the difference between quality booze and rotgut. Her suppliers knew better than to ask a Supergirl for payment for bottles that could fetch thousands of dollars on the open market.

“I have a job that needs doing,” said the woman. “It could use someone with your particular set of skills. If you do this for me, then I’ll give you the name of the Supergirl you most want to kill."

“Counter-offer,” said Onyx. “You tell me right now and I won't spend the next hour flensing and deboning you.”

“Threats so early in our relationship? I’m disappointed, Onyx. I thought you were above such crass thuggery."

Onyx shrugged. "I'm still a Supergirl."

"That means something very different where I come from."

"Where do you come from, lady? And who the hell are you, anyway?"

"How rude of me," exclaimed the woman. "I haven’t introduced myself. You could say I come from the universe next door and my name is Lena Luthor."

Lena Luthor

She paused as if waiting for a reaction to her name. When none was forthcoming, she simply held out her hand. Onyx shook it, now sure the woman was crazy but perhaps good for an entertaining evening.

"Nice to meet you, Lena."

"Likewise. It’s so strange to be on an Earth where the Luthor name doesn’t mean anything. It’s kind of a relief.”

Lena tapped her fingers on the bar top in a staccato rhythm.

"Anyway, your threats are pointless. I don't actually have the information I alluded to. It's in a state of - cosmic escrow - you could call it, with a trusted third party. Only when you finish the job will the entity in question release it to you.”

Onyx laughed. "How do I know you even have it, then?"

Lena reached into an inside jacket pocket and pulled out a small crystal cube.

"A taste," she said.

She ran a finger over the cube and it immediately projected a three-dimensional scene inside the bar. Cleveland in flames overlaid the room, as real as if they were there. Kara, Murowa, and Katerina hovered above the city. Their black costumes were singed and ragged, since Chao-Xing's wondrous bulletproof materials were years in the future.

The three superwomen laughed and bantered with one another as they used their heat vision and superbreath to rain death and destruction on the helpless city below. They had already destroyed every army in the world - the few Ohioans who dared take potshots at them with hunting rifles and handguns didn't even register as resistance to the invincible Supergirls. Hundreds were dying every second, but from this vantage point there was no way to tell who they were.

Sandra and Deshawn almost fell off their barstools in shock.

"The hell is this?" shouted Deshawn.

"The dawn of the modern world," said Onyx. "Turn it off, Ms. Luthor. It's a very impressive show."

Lena touched the cube and the projection disappeared.

"I just remembered the dog needs to be let out," said Deshawn.

"I need a nap," said Sandra.

"I'm late for karate practice," said Jasper.

A few minutes later, the bar was empty apart from Onyx and Lena. Onyx locked the door and turned off the red neon 'OPEN' sign.

"Thanks for chasing away my regulars."

"A great loss, I'm sure," said Lena. "So what do you say? Are you ready to join the team?"

"There's a team? What the hell kind of job needs more than a Supergirl?"

She glanced up at the television.

"Is this some kind of Seven Samurai deal?"

Lena frowned. "I don't know what that means.”

"You've never seen it? What about The Magnificent Seven? Or Battle Beyond the Stars, which is my personal favorite, even if the effects don’t hold up. I mean, Roger Corman: what are you going to do?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't indulge in popular entertainments but I can assure you this is no movie."

"How many of us are on the team?" asked Onyx.

Lena blushed. "Seven, actually, but that's a coincidence."

"Sure, sure. And you need us to defend your village from bandits who keep stealing your rice?”

Lena reached into another pocket and pulled out a square metal plate embossed with intricate circuitry. She placed it on the floor. It unfolded to several times its size in a blur of reverse origami.

"Well, it's the entire world that needs saving rather than a village, and instead of bandits, it's my brother and his legion of douchebags. Also, you need to rescue my girlfriend.”

"So there’s a princess to rescue? We're doing Hidden Fortress as well. Nice. You're a regular George Lucas. Who's your girlfriend?"

"Supergirl," said Lena.

"Interesting, " said Onyx.

Lena tapped the metal plate and a shimmering diamond of blue energy appeared above it. The diamond rotated through more than three dimensions in a way that made Onyx slightly nauseous.

"Care to cross the threshold with me?" asked Lena. “Or would you prefer to resist the call to action a little longer?”

Onyx shrugged. She was still unconvinced that Lena wasn't crazy, but going with her promised to be more interesting than waiting around for Kara and her cronies to kill her.

She followed Lena through the diamond doorway.

---

Onyx stepped out into a luxurious corner office looking down from a great height onto a city she didn't recognize, but that definitely wasn't New Orleans.

It was night but the skyscrapers were dark. There were no moving cars on the streets. Apart from the streetlights far below, the only illumination was a full moon.

"Where are we?" she asked. "Where is everyone?"

"National City," said Lena. "Lex has declared a curfew. Flexing his authority like the sad little man he is."

"Lex is your brother?" asked Onyx.

Before Lena could reply, the window shattered inwards as a figure smashed through, leading with a metal fist. The intruder's punch cannoned into Onyx's face before she could react, which could only mean that her attacker possessed some degree of super-speed. The blow hurt like hell, so they were also super-strong.

Onyx instinctively lashed out with her heat vision, unloading her most powerful blast into her opponent's chest. He roared in pain and staggered back, but notably did not disintegrate.

She got a better look at the intruder. He was some kind of grotesque half-human, half-robot. A cyborg? His face was flesh on one side and metal on the other, and the rest of his body followed a similar pattern. The two halves were crudely fused together in a manner that suggested violence. The metal had survived her heat vision without melting, which was impossible.

He wore fragments of a blue and red costume with a similar ‘S’ emblem to hers across his chest. The colors were red and gold - the same as Isabella’s. Onyx wondered if this biomechanical monstrosity was what passed for a superhero in Lena's world.

Cyborg Superman attacks

He took advantage of her confusion and decked her with a solid left-right combo that split her lip, hurt like hell, and left her head ringing. She tasted her own blood from the wound in her lip. She hadn’t bled since becoming a Supergirl and she hadn’t missed it.

"Whatever you're up to, Lena," he snarled through a half-metal mouth, "it won't work. Give up now and maybe Lex will kill you and your pet quickly."

So… not a superhero.

Onyx tried to go on the offensive. As one of the most powerful beings on her version of Earth, she didn't need to be good at fighting. A flick of her finger was enough to kill a human. She could melt a tank with a glance. Despite Chao-Xing's attempts to instill a few basic martial arts skills, very few members of the League knew how to fight.

She dug into old memories from before she'd become super. After her grandmother died, she'd gone into the foster system. That had not gone well. For years, Onyx had lived on the streets or in random squats, and sometimes had to fight off unwanted attention.

She might not be able to fight with any degree of skill, but she could damn well fight dirty.

Whatever was between the monster's legs hadn't been completely replaced with metal. It made a satisfying squelch when she rammed her knee into it at three thousand miles an hour. He doubled over in pain quite nicely.

She slammed her fists into both sides of his head, then grabbed him by the eye sockets and gouged them with her thumbs. One eye burst and the other shattered.

“I call that one the melon-baller,” she said.

Even blinded, he was still a powerful opponent. He landed a series of powerful punches into her bare midriff that made her want to throw up. She was glad she’d skipped the microwave pizza that was the one food option she offered in her bar.

She kicked his knees and shoved him back onto the floor. She sat on his chest and pummeled his face while he retaliated by punching her torso.

It was a battle of attrition as the two exchanged blows that could have split a battleship in two. However, she was attacking his head, which was more vulnerable than her abdomen, so she eventually prevailed.

"I give up," he said through ruined lips and broken jaw.

"So?" she replied.

She redoubled her efforts and continued to rain blows down until his head was a flattened mess of bone, flesh, and metal. His body spasmed and sparked before it went still.

She slowly got to her feet, feeling pain throughout her torso and in her jaw. She checked her vital organs with her x-ray vision and saw some damage to her liver and kidneys and two bruised ribs. With a start she realized that the man could have killed her. Fighting an opponent with superpowers was very different to disintegrating helpless humans who pissed her off.

She used her heat vision to burn the blood and gore from her hands.

"Who the hell was that?" she asked.

Lena grinned. "Hank Henshaw, also known as Cyborg Superman. One of the army of villains my brother has recruited for his little power play."

"If that's the worst he can throw at us, I don't know why you need a team of seven."

"Not the worst," said Lena. "Not by a long shot, which is why Lex was willing to sacrifice him. And from where I was standing, you almost got your ass kicked."

"I managed," said Onyx. "I just need to get used to opponents who can fight back."

"Well, you won't be alone," said Lena. "Come on, I’ll introduce you to most of your teammates.”

Lena touched the wall and a panel slid aside to reveal an elevator. They rode the elevator down to a sub-basement level.

Below the skyscraper was what Onyx had always imagined a supervillain's lair would be like. When she'd joined the League and visited several of their palaces, she'd been disappointed to discover her fellow Supergirls went for ostentatious luxury rather than gleaming stainless steel and super-science. Except for Chao-Xing of course. She and Lena Luthor would have a lot to talk about if they ever met.

They walked down a gleaming metallic corridor inlaid with complex circuitry and blue lights.

"Why me?" asked Onyx.

"Because I had leverage with you,” said Lena.

"If you're trying to save the world, Isabella would have helped if you'd just asked."

Lena stopped suddenly. Her expression darkened as she looked Onyx in the eye.

"I don't want superheroes," she said. "I want what you showed me when you pounded Henshaw's head into a sticky paste. I don't want heroes who’ll let Lex go with a slap on the wrist and a year in Club Fed. I want him and his crew dead beyond all hope of resurrection. I need a team who are willing - eager even - to do what heroes won't. I need bad girls.”

Onyx nodded. "If you've never seen Seven Samurai, I'm guessing you haven't seen The Dirty Dozen, either?"

Lena shook her head.

"The nice thing about bad girls is that we're also expendable," said Onyx.

Lena grinned. "Why, Supergirl Onyx, that thought hadn't even occurred to me."

At the end of the corridor was a heavy door with a keypad and retinal scanner. Onyx waited impatiently for Lena to open it, resisting a strong temptation to tear it open with her bare hands. There wasn’t a door that had been invented that was more than a suggestion to a Supergirl. Waiting for humans to do something she could do in a microsecond was always frustrating.

Beyond the door was the kind of supervillain control center Hollywood had imagined in the days before real supervillainesses had seized control of the world. An array of massive monitors on one wall showed scenes from around the globe, overlaid with scrolling streams of data and points of interest. The other wall contained seven monitors in portrait orientation. Five showed pictures of women in a variety of costumes. Lena swiped a control and the sixth monitor lit up with a picture of Onyx in the bar from earlier that night.

In the middle of the room was a massive conference table, arranged around which were the five women from the monitors, looking bored.

“It’s about time you came back,” said a woman with short blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. She wore a red and black leotard with a chest cutout that displayed a deep swathe of cleavage between her generous breasts.

“Power Girl, didn’t you notice the commotion upstairs?” asked Lena.

Power Girl (Karen Starr)

Power Girl shrugged, a gesture that caused her breasts to shift up and towards each other in a very enticing way. Onyx tried to play it cool but a wink from the blonde showed that she'd noticed Onyx ogling her cleavage.

“I wanted to see how the new girl handled herself. I have notes."

“Okay everyone,” said Lena, “this is Supergirl Onyx. Introduce yourselves and tell her what you can do. You know the drill.”

Onyx raised her hand in greeting. “I’m Supergirl Onyx. I’m from New Orleans.”

“Where’s that?” asked Power Girl. “Canada?”

“Louisiana,” said Onyx. “A port city near the mouth of the Mississippi River.”

“Oh yeah, there’s always a city there,” said Power Girl. “It was New Marais on my first Earth and Saint Denis on my second.”

“Your first Earth?”

“Don’t look at me like I’m from Atlantis or something,” said Power Girl. “You know there are multiple Earths. The one in my original universe met a sticky end so I moved on.”

She nodded towards the gray ‘S’ on Onyx’s chest.

“Do we really need another Kryptonian on the team?”

“What’s a Kryptonian?” asked Onyx.

“Supergirls on her Earth aren’t Kryptonians, they have a different origin story,” said Lena. “You both have similar powers, but very different vulnerabilities. I’m hoping that will give us an edge.”

“Wait, did you say ‘Supergirls’ plural?” asked Power Girl. “Fuck. How many of you are there?”

“I’m not sure,” said Onyx. “A few have gone missing lately, but around thirty. I was number twenty-two.”

“Dozens of Supergirls is a horrifying idea,” said Power Girl. “I only have to deal with one and she’s a damn pest.”

“Tip of the iceberg,” said Lena. “Some universes have more than sixty Supergirls.”

Power Girl shuddered theatrically at the notion. “Anyway, I’m Karen. I picked the name Power Girl because Supergirl was already taken. I guess I should have just called myself Supergirl 2 and rolled with it.”

“That’s enough,” said Lena. “Someone else? Anyone?”

A red-haired woman wearing a black bodysuit with a silver lightning symbol moved so fast that even Onyx couldn’t follow. One moment she was sitting at the conference table and the next she was standing in front of Onyx holding out her hand, which was vibrating faster than sound.

“I’m Flash,” she said, “but you can call me Brie. Brie Allen.”

Flash (Brie Allen)

Onyx waited for Flash’s hand to stop vibrating, then shook it, tentatively.

“Why do you wear a mask and then tell people your name?”

Flash shrugged so fast that even Onyx had trouble following the gesture.

“Secret identities aren’t an issue when you’re from a different universe. Who cares that Detective Brie Allen of Central City PD is secretly the infamous Flash in a world where Central City doesn’t even exist?”

“I didn’t think there was anything faster than a Supergirl, but I couldn’t even follow your movements,” said Onyx.

“Yeah, I’m an avatar of the speed force. I run faster than light, I can vibrate through walls, liquefy someone’s insides with my fists, that kind of thing. It’s pretty cool.”

The third woman rose from her seat and floated over to Onyx. She was a beautiful young Latina with brown hair. Underneath one of her emerald green eyes was a white tattoo of a symbol Onyx didn’t recognize. She wore a black and silver bodysuit with a swirling circle of blue and silver across her chest.

“Hi, I’m Silver Lantern,” she said. “Jessica if we’re doing real names. My power ring can create anything I can imagine. I usually imagine sharp pointy things and use them to stab people.”

Silver Lantern (Jessica Cruz)

---

“We don’t really do code names where I’m from”, said Onyx. “‘Supergirl’ is more of a title, like ‘Empress’.”

“So, in your world the Supergirls are in charge?” asked Power Girl. “Do you like being in charge?”

Onyx blushed and looked away without answering.

“Mmm,” said Power Girl. “I thought I detected a hint of submission. What delicious irony. All the power in the world but deep down you just want to serve the right master or mistress…”

Onyx couldn’t help her heart from beating faster as Power Girl’s teasing aroused her.

The fourth woman spoke up. She had green skin, red hair, and vivid golden eyes. Her costume was a sleek, skintight, blue and red minidress.

“Gross. Could you maybe give the human mating rituals a rest? I’m M’Gann, but they call me the Martian Mankiller.”

The Martian Mankiller (M'Gann M'Orzz)

“Are you really from Mars?” asked Onyx, excitedly.

“Of course. It would be a bloody stupid name if I weren’t from Mars.”

“I don’t think we have Martians in my universe,” said Onyx.

M’Gann laughed. Her features and clothes shifted and swirled, then reassembled themselves to be a perfect facsimile of Onyx.

“Your Earth could be full of Martians and you might not know it,” she said.

“In case you’re wondering about the other part of my name,” said M’Gann, “I also kill men. I’m super-strong, super-fast, and nearly invulnerable, so I kill a lot of them. I can also read minds, so I know what they’re thinking in their last moments. It’s quite delicious.”

Power Girl looked from Onyx to M’Gann, who was still disguised as Onyx. “Ooh baby, now there's two of you,” she said, “that gives me some quite wicked ideas.”

“Park your libido for a second, Power Girl,” said M’Gann, as she reverted to her regular form. “I wonder what’s really going on in your mind, behind all that hyper sexual bluster?”

Power Girl’s eyes glowed red. “Stay out of my brain, green stuff. Unlike our new friend, I’m quite familiar with Martians and I know your weakness.”

M’Gann backed away.

The last woman around the table lazily raised a hand in a half-hearted greeting. She had gray skin, purple hair and eyes, and wore a skintight black leotard and purple cape. A dark red jewel was embedded in her forehead.

“I’m Raven,” she said. “I wasn’t Lena’s first choice.”

Raven (Rachel Roth)

“You’re gray,” said Onyx. “Are you from Venus or something?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Raven. “My mother was human and my father was a demon. He's red, though, so I'm not entirely sure how I ended up gray."

“Oh,” said Onyx. “I didn’t know demons were a real thing. So what are your powers?”

Raven shrugged as if the conversation was the least interesting thing that had happened in her entire life.

“I can sling a few spells, but I can also astrally project, teleport, turn humans into meat puppets, or consume their souls. Just like dear old Dad. Lena wanted to recruit my friend Zatanna but she’s gone a wee bit crazy.”

“Occupational hazard of reality manipulation, or ‘magic’, if you prefer,” said Lena. “It’s a branch of computational mathematics, but doing it with your mind can attract fifth-dimensional parasites who feed off the residual energy, eating bits of your brain matter in the process. That’s why I use hardware to create portals between universes. Much safer."

“I have a natural advantage due to my ancestry,” said Raven. “99.99% of 5th dimensional feeders bounce off my brain. Zatanna wasn’t quite so lucky. She's been rawdogging reality with her gray matter for twenty years and now her brain is Swiss cheese. So you’ll have to make do with me while she's on a mindless rampage back home, turning people inside out. I really hope someone’s taping it.”

Onyx gestured to the remaining blank monitor.

“Who’s our seventh superwoman?” she asked.

“I have to make one more trip to recruit her,” said Lena.

Without warning, a figure dropped down from shadows that Onyx could have sworn weren’t there. She had long red hair and wore a black bodysuit decorated with a stylized red bat symbol, red boots, and red gloves. Her features were concealed by a mask with pointed ears.

“No need,” she said. “I took matters into my own hands.”

Lena stared at the newcomer in shock. “Batwoman? How did you…”

Batwoman (Barbara Wayne)

“How did I get to your Earth? How did I get into your impenetrable underground lair without being detected? How did I know you were putting together a team?” asked Batwoman. “Good questions. All I’ll say is that in the course of an investigation, your activities came to my attention. Our goals align - to a degree - and you have information I need. I suggest you get on with it.”

She pressed a hidden control in her glove and the seventh monitor lit up with a portrait of Batwoman in action.

“I hope you don’t mind me taking the liberty. Oh, and you can call me Barbara, just don’t call me ‘Babs’.”

"What kind of special bat powers do you have?" asked Onyx. “I assume echolocation, but what else?”

Power Girl, Silver Lantern, Martian Mankiller, Flash, and Raven all laughed.

"Is she your first Bat?" asked Power Girl. "That’s adorable. They don't do superpowers."

"Seriously?" said Onyx. "You're going to go up against a superhuman army without any powers?"

"Powers are a crutch," said Batwoman.

"Don't fuck with a Bat," said Flash. "Took me a pair of broken kneecaps to learn that lesson."

“The sidekicks are another thing,” said Raven. “You can fuck with them like crazy. Have any of you come across Nightwing? Buns of steel and a tongue that won’t quit. Turning him into my plaything was the best decision I ever made.”

Lena composed herself and took her seat at the head of the conference table.

“Ladies, if you would please take your seats, I’ll explain the situation I’d like you to resolve.”

A holographic display in the middle of the table showed four costumed figures. One was obviously a “good” Supergirl - a blonde-haired woman wearing a dark blue long-sleeved leotard and red skirt combo featuring a red and gold ‘S’. One was a muscular man with black hair and ruggedly handsome features, wearing a blue and red bodysuit featuring the same red and gold ‘S’ symbol. Both supers had red capes. The third was a ginger-haired man wearing a red version of Flash’s costume. The last was in a green and black bodysuit, with a glowing green ring on his right hand.

“Our world has always had more villains than heroes,” said Lena, “but the heroes we had held the line: Batman before he retired, then Supergirl, Superman, Flash, and Green Lantern. With the help of organizations like Star Labs and the DEO, a delicate equilibrium between good and evil has been maintained.

“Three months ago, that equilibrium was shattered when Superman, Flash, and Green Lantern all disappeared. My brother, Lex Luthor, was the prime suspect, but his subsequent behavior showed that he was not responsible. He and Superman were nemeses, and the idea of someone other than him defeating Superman drove him into a rage.

“He has emptied the cells of the DEO and Star Labs to gather a veritable legion of doom: rogue Kryptonians, Daxamites, White Martians, Reactron, Metallo, Doomsday, and more.”

The display changed to show a figure in a purple and green suit of bulky power armor, surrounded by the army Lena had described.

“All men,” noted Raven, sardonically. “Big fan of the patriarchy, your brother?"

Lena nodded. "He has… issues with strong women."

“Suits me,” said M’Gann. “I like killing men.”

“Did your brother’s misogyny have any bearing on your decision to recruit an all-female team?” asked Flash.

“I knew he’d hate being defeated by women,” said Lena. “So that was part of it.”

“Any power ring wielders in the mix?” asked Silver Lantern.

Lena shook her head.

“Shame,” said Silver Lantern. “I’ve killed all the ones in my own reality. I miss their screams. My ring misses eating them.”

Lena ignored Silver Lantern and continued her exposition without breaking stride.

“Lex has captured Supergirl. She fought like hell but she was badly outnumbered. My sources tell me he’s been torturing her for information about what happened to Superman. We need to rescue her before he runs out of patience and kills her.”

“Hold on,” said Onyx. “You said Supergirl was your girlfriend. Does she know you’re a supervillain?”

“I’m not a supervillain!” said Lena.

“You have an underground lair,” said Power Girl. “That’s kind of a red flag.”

“Okay, I’m not a supervillain any more,” said Lena. “Supergirl and I have had a complicated relationship. We started as friends but became enemies. Nemeses, in fact. Then we were reluctant allies, friends again, and finally lovers. Before all of this happened, I was planning to ask her to marry me.”

“That’s just fucking adorable,” said Raven. “So what happened to the other heroes?”

“I don’t know,” said Lena.

“That’s a lie,” said Batwoman. “You know they were abducted to another universe through portals. The same thing happened to Ultraman in my reality. I’ve been investigating his disappearance and I’m at an impasse. Superwoman is tearing my world apart looking for him and she’s not being delicate about it. I need to find him or his body before Lois leaves nothing but rubble for the Syndicate to rule. I need the data you’ve collected in order to identify where he was taken, but it’s not on your network.”

“You got into my network?” asked Lena. “That should be impossible.”

“I’m good with computers,” said Batwoman.

“That’s an understatement. I’m going to fire my IT department,” said Lena. “You’re correct, though. The data is in cosmic escrow along with the rest of what I’ve promised all of you. It will be released when Lex is dead and Supergirl is rescued.”

“You have no problem with us killing your brother?” asked Flash.

Lena shrugged. “I’ve given him more chances than he deserves. I won't let him threaten mine and Kara's happiness again."

Onyx noted that Lena’s Supergirl was called Kara. She couldn’t imagine a world with a Supergirl Kara who wasn’t evil.

"Your Supergirl will be okay with that?" asked Silver Lantern.

"She'll understand, " said Lena. "She'll forgive me."

She sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

"Feels weird to be rescuing Supergirl," said Power Girl. “I should be tormenting her.”

"Well, she's not your Supergirl," said Lena. "She’s being held in the old LexCorp tower in Metropolis. So, get over there, kick his butt and rescue my girl.”

"No," said Batwoman.

“What do you mean ‘no’?” asked Lena. “That’s why you’re all here.”

Power Girl laughed. "Genius Lena Luthor recruits a team from seven different universes and the next step in her cunning plan is a fucking frontal assault? Where did you learn strategy: the Somme?”

"We're not ready," said Flash.

“We barely know each other,” said Martian Mankiller.

“We don’t trust one another,” said Silver Lantern.

“We need intelligence,” said Batwoman, “and a real plan.”

“Personally, I liked the frontal assault idea,” said Raven. “But we’d need a good soundtrack. Something heavy. I’m not doing Ride of the Valkyries again, so don’t even ask.”

"We're outnumbered 3 to 1," said Power Girl. "Onyx barely held her own against that cyborg. We need to train and learn to work as a team while Babs does her thing."

"Don't call me 'Babs'," growled Batwoman.

"What is her 'thing'?" asked Onyx.

"Prep," said M'Gann. "That's what the Bat does. That’s her superpower.”

"We don't have time to come up with a perfect plan!" shouted Lena. "Lex is going to kill Kara.”

"Nah," said Raven. "Lex isn't going to kill Supergirl until he figures out how to steal her powers."

"Different universe, same old Lex Luthor," said Silver Lantern. “He hates Kryptonians, but he also wants to be one.”

"That's a long term project," said Batwoman. “She may be uncomfortable but she’s not going to be killed anytime soon. Besides, any Lex Luthor worth his salt would make you watch her die.”

“I feel like I’m out of the loop,” said Onyx. “Kryptonians, Lex Luthor, Superman, the Bat. It’s gibberish to me but you all seem to know what’s going on, even though you’re from different universes.”

Power Girl patted her on the head. “Don’t worry about it, sweetie. Seems like your universe is kind of a backwater. Come on, I’ll teach you how to fight like a real Supergirl.”

Finally someone was speaking a language Onyx understood.

“A fucking training montage?” she said. “Count me in!”

---

Of course Lena’s lair had a danger room. Power Girl had already familiarized herself with the features of the chamber, having been in Lena’s reality for two days already.

“I watched your fight upstairs,” said Power Girl. “You had a couple of good moves but overall you fought like a street rat rather than a Supergirl.”

“I was a street rat before I was a Supergirl,” said Onyx.

“You weren’t born with powers? How old were you when you got them?”

“Twenty-five,” said Onyx. “The same age every Supergirl begins the transformation.”

“Fascinating. Your symbol is the family crest of the house of El, but you’ve never heard of Krypton. It may not even exist in your universe.”

“It’s an ‘S’ for Supergirl.”

Power Girl shook her head. “A superficial resemblance. I got the impression from your fight that the cyborg was the first powered individual you’ve fought. Is that correct?”

Onyx nodded. “Supergirls are the only superhumans in my world and we don’t fight one another. At least not so far.”

“Lesson one: use all of your powers, not just your strength. You took him by surprise with that blast of heat vision, but after that you relied on brute force. That’s not going to work against Doomsday.”

“My heat vision didn’t do much,” said Onyx. “It should have melted his metal parts.”

Power Girl grabbed a thick metal bar and held it up.

“Nth steel,” she said. “Same stuff used in Cyborg Superman’s metal parts. Hit it with your heat vision.”

Onyx fired a continuous beam of heat vision at the bar. The metal glowed but stayed intact.

“Nth steel can absorb so much heat energy,” said Power Girl. ‘It would take you ten minutes to melt it, which is long enough for Cyborg Superman to turn your skull into a tiki mug.”

“So what do I do?”

“If one power doesn’t work, use another. Try freezing it with your super-breath.”

Onyx took a deep breath, creating a temporary vacuum, then pursed her lips and blew a stream of compressed, frozen air at the nth steel bar.

Power Girl punched the bar and it shattered.

"Nth steel becomes brittle at low temperatures. You still need super-strength, but it becomes vulnerable.”

"Good to know," said Onyx.

"Next lesson: just because you can take a beating doesn't mean you should."

“What do you mean?”

Power Girl stood with her hands on her hips. “Hit me,” she said.

Onyx tentatively threw a punch but Power Girl dodged it.

“You have super-speed,” said Power Girl. “Use it. Don’t stand still and let your opponent wail on you - always be moving. Try it now, dodge my attack.”

Onyx danced back and forth, but Power Girl’s strike didn’t come from the direction she expected. The blonde superwoman flipped up and over Onyx before jabbing her from behind. There was no real power behind the punch, but the point was made.

“Do you have Star Trek in your reality?” asked Power Girl.

“Yes. Why?”

“Remember how Chekov out-maneuvered Khan at the end of Wrath of Khan?”

Onyx nodded. “It was Kirk, but yes: his pattern displays 2-dimensional thinking.”

“Exactly!” said Power Girl. “Khan’s experience was in ground-based warfare, while Chekov was a starship captain. You can fly. You’re not limited to the ground. Be like Chekov and use all three dimensions.”

The two women sparred for half an hour. Power Girl was a stern but effective tutor and Onyx was a quick study. Their mock battle was the most intense workout Onyx had gone through since becoming a Supergirl. To an outside observer, the fight would have been a blur of black and red, swirling up, down, and around the danger room in a three-dimensional ballet.

They took a short break.

“So, you’re from another planet?” asked Onyx. “This Krypton place? How did you end up on Earth?”

Power Girl sighed. “Krypton was destroyed. I watched it die from the safety of the escape craft my father built for me. I eventually arrived on Earth after a detour through a field of Black Kryptonite that gave me a very different sense of morality than my cousins, Superman and Supergirl, who had taken a quicker and more direct route to Earth.

“What’s Black Kryptonite?”

“Okay, you’ll have to excuse me from nerding out but I’ve been studying this stuff for years. Kryptonite is a family of radioactive fragments of my home planet that have a variety of effects on Kryptonians. Green Kryptonite weakens and kills us, Red Kryptonite does weird shit you wouldn’t believe, and Pink Kryptonite makes us dumb and horny.

“Black Kryptonite is its own special kind of nasty. It’s what you get if Kryptonite is combined with umbral matter.”

Power Girl noticed Onyx’s confused expression.

“Oh my god, you’re such a rube. Umbral matter is what's hiding in the void between universes. Imagine you’re a frightened child in a dark forest with just one candle for light. The candle is a universe and everything beyond that circle of light is the void. Every awful, nightmarish thing the child imagines to be hiding there in the dark, is umbral matter. It's always trying to get in and sometimes it does. Kryptonite radiation acts as a carrier wave and embeds umbral matter into the cells of a kryptonian. It corrupts us.”

“So, if you hadn’t been exposed to Black Kryptonite, you’d be a superheroine?”

Power Girl shrugged. “Maybe. Probably. Not every Kryptonian is an angel - the Phantom Zone is full of examples - but evil Supergirls are the exception. In general, we’re made rather than born.”

Onyx thought for a moment. “In my universe there are only evil Supergirls. You’re saying that’s not natural?”

“Yeah,” said Power Girl. “I’d bet good money that the equipment in my lab would find umbral matter inside you. If there are only evil supergirls, then somebody arranged it that way."

“Could you remove it?” asked Onyx, not sure what answer she wanted.

“No,” said Power Girl. “Getting umbral matter to mix with normal matter is hard, but once it’s in there, it's even harder to get it out.”

“You said something about living on a different Earth. What happened?”

“Well, because I am just the luckiest girl in the multiverse, not only did I get to watch my home planet die, I got to see my adopted home conquered and stripped bare by Darkseid.”

“Is that a who or a what?” asked Onyx.

“Lady Darkseid is a trans-dimensional bitch-goddess,” said Power Girl. “She rules Apokalips, a hell-planet in a parasite universe that latches onto different realities so she can suck them dry. One day, she chose my Earth as her latest meal. Heroes and villains from across the globe united and stood against her armies. It was an incredible sight. We never stood a chance.”

“You lost?” asked Onyx.

“It was a forlorn hope. The sky was black with millions of parademons. We were outnumbered by her cadre of Furies. In the end, I was the last one standing. I’d caught Darkseid’s eye as a suitable recruit for her Furies. She gave me a choice: serve or die.”

“What did you do?”

“I ran,” said Power Girl. “If you learn nothing else from me, learn this: when someone gives you a choice like that, they are trying to take away your power. Darkseid offered me two options where she wins and I lose: I rejected both and chose door number 3. I created a portal and escaped to another universe. Ms. Terrific taught me the trick but she never had the chance to use it before a parademon tore her in half.”

“Lana said making portals was dangerous," said Onyx.

“It is incredibly dangerous and maybe I’ll live to regret it, but at least I’ll be free until then. I’ve made a life for myself on my new Earth. As Karen Starr, I’m rich, powerful, and adored. As Power Girl, I’m powerful, feared, and I get to make Supergirl’s life hell. I take what I want, I do what I want, and I fuck who I want. Watching two worlds die really encourages you to live in the moment.”

Onyx sensed the sadness behind her hedonistic bluster.

“And you live in constant fear of Darkseid attacking your new home,” said Onyx.

“Martians make such a big deal about reading people’s minds,” said Power Girl, “but it’s not that hard, is it?”

“What did Lena promise you?” asked Onyx. “A way to beat Darkseid?”

Power Girl laughed. “Lena is too smart to fuck with Darkseid. She promised to tell me Supergirl’s secret identity. Once I know who she really is, I can kick things into high gear: destroy everything and everyone she loves.”

“Will that make you happy?”

Power Girl shrugged. “You have no idea how fucking annoying she is. So damned perky and full of sugar and spice. I really hate her. What about you? What did our corporate minx promise you?”

“The name of the Supergirl who destroyed everything and everyone I loved,” said Onyx.

“Ah, I see,” said Power Girl. “The great wheel turns whether we like it or not. Then you kill her?”

“It’s not that easy,” said Onyx, “Unless I can find a way to isolate her from the rest of the League, it will be me against almost thirty Supergirls.”

“I don’t like those odds,” said Power Girl. “I’ve been on the other side of that.”

The two women were silent for a moment.

“I know what would cheer us both up,” said Power Girl.

“What’s that?”

“You servicing me like the submissive little tart we both know you are,” said Power Girl.

“I thought you were never going to ask,” said Onyx.

“I wasn’t asking.”

---

Power Girl straddled her face while Onyx ate the blonde superwoman out. She’d lost track of how many times she’d made Power Girl orgasm, each climax more powerful than the one before. It felt so good to be beneath a woman as strong as she was, to feel the press of super-strong thighs against the sides of her face. When Power Girl used her heat vision to tenderize her ass and then slapped it, she felt a sting of real pain that made her wet with arousal.

She knew that sexual domination and submission was a game, but when she played that game with a human who lacked the strength to make her feel anything approaching the sensations she craved, the suspension of disbelief was simply too much. The fantasy lacked bite because she always held absolute power over a human and both of them knew it.

Being with Chao-Xing had been the closest she’d ever come to a satisfying submissive encounter since becoming a Supergirl, but that tryst had been tainted by her hatred of the League and the deception she’d been engaged in. Sex with Chao-Xing had merely been a means to the end of stealing from her laboratory. She couldn’t deny that it had felt good at times but being with Power Girl was on a whole other level.

God help her it would be so easy to fall in love with Power Girl.

There was a knock at the door.

M'Gann was waiting outside when they emerged.

"If you two are done being gross and so incredibly loud, Batwoman wants us to do some reconnaissance."

---

Raven wrapped the team in the impossibly expanding folds of her trans-dimensional cloak and transported them from National City to Metropolis, carrying the team across the continent as easily as taking a step. The sensation was oddly nauseating: less like traveling and more like being consumed in one spot and regurgitated in another.

They were in another city, across the river from a built-up downtown thick with skyscrapers. The tallest was decorated with a gaudy purple and green 'L' symbol. LexCorp Tower.

"No frontal assault today," said Batwoman. "I want to know exactly what's inside that building. Power Girl and Supergirl Onyx: use your X-Ray vision. Flash: scout the perimeter but do not get closer than five hundred meters. Raven: look for magic. Silver Lantern: use your ring to scan for strange radiation or other emissions. M'Gann, probe with your telepathy and integrate everything the others see: put the complete picture in my mind. I'm going to piggy-back off the municipal WiFi and see if Lex has better firewalls than Lena."

Onyx was taken aback by Batwoman's confident assumption of command and the ease with which the others simply accepted it. Whatever reputation people like Batwoman had it was powerful enough to cross universes.

She did as she was told and examined the interior of the tower with her X-Ray vision. In a lab on the top floor was a cage of glowing green bars, inside which was what appeared to be Lena’s Supergirl, curled in a fetal position and clearly in pain. She was guarded by a dozen of Luthor's superpowered army, along with a greater number of human guards.

"Found our kidnapped princess," she said.

M'Gann shook her head. "She's a decoy. Brainwaves are all wrong."

"Most of the guards are illusion magic," said Raven. "The humans are real, but the supers are phantasms."

There's a cylinder of lead five meters in diameter running down the middle of the tower, from top to bottom," said Power Girl. "I can't see inside."

"I can," said Onyx. "But I don't understand what I'm looking at."

"It's a bomb," said Batwoman.

With a start, Onyx realized that M'Gann was relaying everything she saw to Batwoman who was able to decipher the complex mechanism with ease.

"A bomb?" asked Onyx. "That's not going to do much to us is it?"

"It’s a crude but effective shrapnel bomb," said Batwoman. "Designed to deliver multiple ordnance with one explosion. An incendiary to kill Martians. Green Kryptonite to shred Kryptonians."

"I'm detecting dark matter," said Silver Lantern. "That could turn me inside-out. There are tachyon pellets that even Flash wouldn't be able to dodge. Some other emissions I don't recognize '

"There are fifth-dimensional feeders as well," said Raven. "At a density that could damage even my brain."

"That entire building is a dirty bomb targeting supers," said Batwoman. "As soon as we get close, it detonates and tears us to pieces."

"Does Lex know who we are?" asked Power Girl. "If the bomb is targeting our vulnerabilities, maybe Lena has a leak in her organization."

"Maybe," said Batwoman, "but maybe not. It looks like he's just covering his bases. There's lead in there for Daxamites and diamond for Grendelians, but we don't have either on the team."

Flash returned in a blur of super-speed.

"Downtown is a panopticon," she said. "Lex has every approach covered. You sneeze in the direction of that tower and he'll know. Plenty of goons patrolling but no heavy hitters."

"It's a honeypot," said Batwoman.

She tapped on the miniature computer built into her left glove for a few minutes. It wasn't clear if she was hacking or just keeping her fingers busy while her mind worked.

"We need corpses," she said eventually. "Close enough to convince Lex that he got us."

"I can raid the morgue," said Flash.

"I can conjure charred flesh and bones," said Raven.

"I can copy genetic coding," said Silver Lantern. "Make body parts seem Kryptonian or Martian for a day or two."

"Fake up the remains of two Kryptonians, two humans, a White Martian, and two Daxamites," said Batwoman. "We interrupt his surveillance and set off the bomb. Flash scatters the fake remains around the blast site. Questions?'

There were no questions. The team went to work.

---

Back at Lena’s lair, the big monitor showed live footage of the smoking crater that had once been LexCorp Tower, surrounded by a circle of devastation carved from the heart of downtown Metropolis.

The announcer said that Lex Luthor had released a statement condemning the act of wanton terrorism by pro-Kryptonian fifth columnists.

"You're absolutely sure Kara wasn't in the middle of all that?" asked Lena.

"She was never anywhere near the tower," said Batwoman.

"What about casualties?" asked Lena.

Power Girl shrugged. "Apart from Luthor's goons, only a few dozen. Barely anybody lives in that neighborhood and only the night shift was in the offices. Security guards and a few cleaners."

"Could have been worse," said Lena, "but I wish you'd cleared it with me first."

"That's not how this is going to work," said Batwoman. "You gave us a job to do and we're going to do it without any armchair quarterbacking from you. If you didn't want a mess, you shouldn't have recruited butchers."

Lena nodded. "You're right. I've been hanging out with Supergirl for too long. What matters is the results, not collateral damage."

She sighed. "My informant was wrong."

"Your informant is dead," said Batwoman. "Lex killed them weeks ago after torturing them for information, and has been feeding you lies ever since."

"Then where the hell is my girlfriend?"

"I picked up some stray thoughts from one of the goons," said M'Gann. "His partner was assigned to guard a DEO facility in Nevada."

"Makes sense," said Lena. "The DEO was set up to contain rogue aliens, including Kryptonians."

"Please tell me we're doing the frontal assault this time," said Raven.

Before anyone could answer, the air was split by the shrill cry of an alarm.

"Nope," said Power Girl. "I think the other side is getting their frontal assault in first."

"Lex thinks Lena’s team was just blown up," said Onyx. "So there’s nobody to stop her from being snatched."

Batwoman almost smiled. "He won’t risk everything on this: he’s split his forces. We can reduce his numbers.”

Power Girl turned to Onyx. "It's show time, girly-girl. Remember: heat vision on Martians before they get in your head. Sweep the leg for a speedster. Keep moving and think like Chekov or Kirk.'

"Yes, ma'am!"

Power Girl smirked. "That earns you a reward when we're done."

---

The fight that followed was faster and more frightening than Onyx had expected. Afterwards she could have sworn it lasted several hours but in fact it was all over in ten minutes.

There were three ways out of Lena's lair, and Lex's supervillains were split across all of them. Lex's knowledge of the base was impressive.

Onyx and Raven moved to cover the East tunnels. Martian Mankiller and Silver Lantern the West tunnels. Power Girl, Flash, and Batwoman went to the main approach from the elevator.

Onyx turned a corner and was suddenly confronted by an eight-foot tall white creature like a shaved Yeti with a serious dermatological condition: a white Martian. She felt an intrusive tingle at the back of her mind and instinctively lashed out with her heat vision.

She unloaded a blast of such fury that the walls of the tunnel buckled and started to melt from the waste heat. The Martian screamed both audibly and in her mind as she incinerated him.

"Nice," said Raven. "Martian barbecue."

The Martian had been the vanguard. Next up were a huge hairy man carrying a blue steel axe, a smug-looking douchebag in dark red and blue - from Power Girl’s description of their superior attitude, Onyx pegged him as a Daxamite - and a man wearing a suit of black power armor with glowing green highlights.

The guy in power armor laughed when he saw the gray 'S' on Onyx’s chest.

"Kneel, Kryptonian scum, and we'll make it quick. My kryptonite armor makes you powerless!"

"Wrong origin, dickhead," said Onyx.

She quickly examined his power armor and determined it was made of nth metal. She took a breath and sent a blast of frigid breath towards his helmet, then closed on him with a burst of super-speed, leading with her right fist. His helmet and head shattered when she connected.

Meanwhile, Raven had conjured a rain of molten lead that rained down on the Daxamite. He gasped as the metal seared his flesh and hot particles of the metal entered his lungs and began to dissolve him from the inside.

Raven conjures a rain of molten lead

The goth half-demoness was so enthralled by the Daxamite's dying screams, she took her eyes off the hairy brute with the axe. He swung hard, aiming for her neck.

Onyx flipped backwards and managed to block the decapitation swing with one arm. To her surprise, the axe cut into her flesh all the way to the bone. The radius had stopped the blade - just - but had fractured in the process. She didn't have time to appreciate the irony of her first broken bones coming after she had supposedly become invulnerable.

Raven seemed stunned by her near death and Onyx’s last-second save. She stared at the blade in Onyx’s arm, the only thing standing between the axe and her neck.

Onyx lashed out with her uninjured arm, pounding a fist into her assailant's nose.

The crunch of cartilage and the spray of blood was more satisfying than his response. He grinned as if the pain was merely fuel for him.

"Is that all you've got, little Supergirl?" he gloated.

He pulled his axe out of her arm in a fountain of blood and pulled back for another swing.

Onyx dodged aside at super-speed, but he adjusted to follow her. He wasn't quite as fast as she was but fast enough that her advantage was blunted. The two raced around one another, jockeying for position before trying to land a blow.

She knew she was at a disadvantage: wounded, bleeding, and with only one arm capable of throwing a punch.

"Slow him down," said Raven.

The reminder that she was not alone in the fight shocked Onyx out of the fog that had descended on her. She took a deep breath and blew freezing breath on her opponent as she circled him.

He slowed as his muscles grew stiff from the cold.

"Stand back," said Raven.

Suddenly it was as if every light had dimmed. The corridor became dark, illuminated by a blood-red light that came from Raven herself. The young half-demoness shifted and became two beings in one - the second a scarlet phantasm shaped like a monstrous version of the bird she took her name from.

The red raven swooped onto the brute and swallowed him whole. Tendrils of energy erupted from the ghostly bird, flowing into Raven. She arched her back and screamed in a way Onyx couldn’t tell was from pain or ecstasy.

Then it was over. The phantom raven disappeared, the lights returned to normal. The man they'd been fighting was frozen in place like a statue, his face locked in a rictus of pain. He seemed less than he was.

"What did you do to him?" asked Onyx.

Raven glowed with an inner energy.

"I ate his soul," she said. "I can't do it often but it's super-effective. It also gives me the power to do this…"

Raven reached forward and put her hands on the horrible wound in Onyx’s right arm. Looking at it now, Onyx realized how close she'd come to losing the whole thing. Raven's fingers glowed red and the wound began to close up. The pain receded as flesh and bone knitted back together.

She flexed her arm: as good as new.

"Thank you," she said.

"You saved my life," said Raven. "It's the least I could do. I'm… used to working alone."

"Me too," said Onyx.

Onyx reached for the axe that had cut into her with such ease. She tentatively pressed the blade against her skin but it failed to penetrate. Whatever had given it the power to pierce her invulnerable flesh had died with its owner. That was a shame: it would have made an effective weapon against Kara.

Lena’s voice came from a hidden speaker.

"Raven and Onyx. Your sector is clear of hostiles. Power Girl, Flash, and Batwoman need assistance."

Onyx was suddenly anxious and afraid for Power Girl. She barely knew the buxom blonde superwoman, but she already knew she cared for her deeply.

Raven swirled her cloak around them and teleported them to the others in a swirl of purple smoke.

Flash and Batwoman were fighting what could only be described as a gigantic shark man. Power Girl was down, unconscious on the floor. Her normally ruddy complexion was pale and slightly green.

Power Girl wounded by a Kryptonite grenade

"Kryptonite poisoning," said Batwoman as she dodged a blow from the shark-man. "Deathstroke set off a Kryptonite grenade."

"Where is the son of a bitch?" asked Onyx. "I'll kill him."

Batwoman pointed to the two bloody halves of what had once been a man in blue and orange armor. "Power Girl ripped him apart with the last of her strength."

"Good girl," said Onyx. She knelt by Power Girl. "Is there an antidote?"

"Hang on," said Batwoman. "Raven, help Flash finish off King Shark."

"Bet," said Raven. She conjured a mass of tentacles around King Shark.

Batwoman did a backwards flip and landed next to Power Girl. She took a vial of red liquid from a hidden pouch and poured it down Power Girl's throat.

"A solution of depleted red kryptonite will slow the green kryptonite poisoning, but we need to get the shrapnel out of her."

She took a green-tinged scalpel from her belt. "Use your X-Ray vision and tell me where to cut."

Onyx nodded. She used her X-Ray vision to look inside Power Girl and was shocked at what she saw. The shards of green kryptonite from Deathstroke's grenade had turned her insides into a casserole. It was a wonder she was still alive. Before her powers had been drained by the green kryptonite, her flesh had knotted back in place over the poison. Onyx quickly identified the largest chunk of green and instructed Batwoman, who quickly used her kryptonite-edged scalpel to cut a path to the shrapnel. Onyx pulled it out.

She barely paid attention to the bass grunts and screams of pain from King Shark as Flash and Raven efficiently killed the behemoth. She and Batwoman established a rhythm as they chased down every piece of the green rock that was killing Power Girl.

The blonde bombshell's blood stained the floor around them as they cut into her repeatedly, but that was a sign of progress. Removing the kryptonite was the key to saving her - once that was done, her powers would do the rest.

King Shark took his last breath.

"Raven," shouted Batwoman. "PG needs sunlight to recharge. Can you provide?"

"Big light?" said Raven. "No worries."

She conjured a sphere of yellow light and positioned it above Power Girl. It felt like a portable summer's day.

Power Girl's breathing had become shallow, her giant breasts barely moving, but as her body soaked up the rays of Raven's artificial sun, she began to take deeper breaths. Onyx almost cried in joy when she saw Power Girl's bust heaving.

"Almost done," said Onyx. "Just splinters left."

"We need to get it all," said Batwoman. "Keep going."

As Power Girl's strength returned, it became harder to cut into her, even with Batwoman's kryptonite scalpel. They persevered. The last splinters were lodged in Power Girl's spleen. Onyx's fingers were slick with blood and fluids when the final piece was out.

Onyx cradled Power Girl's head in her arms as Batwoman gathered the kryptonite in a lead-lined pouch. No doubt she had plans to use the deadly substance on any of Lex's army who would be vulnerable.

"Hey Karen," purred Onyx. "You gonna hang in there for me? You gonna wake up?"

Power Girl coughed. Her eyes remained closed but in a quiet voice, she said: "I thought I told you to call me Mistress."

Onyx laughed. "I'm sorry, Mistress." She leaned over and kissed Power Girl on the lips. Power Girl returned the kiss weakly but eagerly.

"Is it over?" asked Raven. "Did we win?"

Martian Mankiller and Silver Lantern flew to join them. M'Gann's expression was almost ecstatic - a far cry from her usual, sombre mien. Blood dripped from her hands and stained her arms and costume.

"We mopped up," said Silver Lantern.

"More!" said M'Gann. "I want more!"

"M'Gann went berserker on those dudes," said Silver Lantern. "It was a sight to behold. Is PG going to make it?"

Onyx stroked Power Girl's hair. "She is. She's a tough broad."

Batwoman stood up. "Lena, what's the scorecard?"

"20 to 0," said Lena's voice over the intercom. "Assuming Power Girl lives. That's a big chunk of Lex's army."

"More?" asked M'Gann, her voice hopeful.

"There are still more," assured Lena. "Everyone gather in the control room. We need to figure out our next move."

---

"We need a new base of operations," said Batwoman. "If Lex gets hold of the nuclear launch codes, he'll take out National City just to get Lena."

"I have a ski lodge in Aspen," said Lena. "There's no way Lex will nuke that. He loves skiing."

Raven teleported them to the ski lodge and then fainted. Flash caught her before she hit the ground.

"She's probably not used to using her powers this much," said Lena.

"Maybe she needs to eat another soul," said Onyx.

Lena's ski lodge was exactly the kind of thing one would expect from a multi-billionaire: a mansion built in the style of a log cabin. The great room had a mountain view so gorgeous it made Onyx gasp. There were times she regretted not staking a claim for a larger domain than just the city of New Orleans. She loved the crescent city, but some mountains or even a large hill would be nice.

“Are we sure Supergirl is in the DEO facility in Nevada?” asked Lena.

Batwoman had found a computer and was typing furiously. "My AI agents are going through the logs from the tap I placed in Lex's network when we were in Metropolis. He has decent COMSEC but there’s chatter to support the Nevada story.”

"Could it be another trap?" asked Silver Lantern. "Like Metropolis?"

"Maybe," said Batwoman. "I'll need to cross-reference a few different sources."

Cradled in Onyx's arms, Power Girl was returning to full consciousness. She reached up and stroked Onyx's cheek.

"You did great," she said. "You saved my life."

"There's a lot of that going around," said Onyx. "I'm glad you're alive… Mistress Power Girl."

Power Girl sighed with a mixture or arousal and satisfaction. "I'm in no state to do what I want to when you call me that. Give me an hour or two and I will burn you down."

Onyx leaned forward and kissed her. "Focus on healing. There's a hard fight ahead."

---

M'Gann flew into town and returned with a pile of steaming pizza boxes. The seven superwomen and Lena inhaled slice after slice while spitballing strategies for an assault on Lex's base in Nevada.

"If we go in mob-handed, they'll do the same to us as we just did to them," said Batwoman. "Channel us into kill zones and take us out."

Raven was half-asleep with a mouth full of the veggie special. "I could teleport us into the middle of the base."

Batwoman shook her head. "First of all: don't talk with your mouth full. It's gross. Secondly, we don't want to teleport blind. Lex might have traps for exactly that possibility."

"How about we crack the nuclear launch codes ourselves and nuke him?" asked Silver Lantern. "I haven't nuked anyone in years."

"If he's holding Supergirl in a green kryptonite cell, she would be powerless," said Lena. "A nuke could kill her."

"Mole man," said Power Girl, her voice still weak. "We tunnel in. Hit the basement level. Probably where the cells are."

"I don't hate it," said Batwoman.

"High praise from a Bat," said Flash.

"Those who need sleep, get some sleep," said Batwoman. "The rest stand guard. I'll flesh this plan out a little."

---

Onyx shared a huge four-poster bed with Power Girl in one of the guest bedrooms. The buxom Kryptonian fell into a deep sleep the moment her head hit the pillow, her body craving rest as it continued healing. Onyx watched her for a while before turning in.

She had trouble falling asleep as her mind whirled with thoughts and anxieties.

What the hell was she doing? Was she really falling in love with a superwoman from another universe? What happened when the mission was over? Could Onyx abandon her need for revenge and accompany Power Girl to her universe? Would Karen Starr be willing to give up the billionaire playgirl lifestyle to share Onyx's bed in New Orleans, living under the constant threat of being attacked by the League?

Neither possibility seemed likely, which meant that their relationship would be as brief as it had been intense. If she fell in love with Power Girl, her heart would inevitably get broken.

She absolutely could not fall in love.

Too late.

---

Onyx blinked awake. Power Girl had one arm and her head draped over her chest. She breathed in the scent of Power Girl's blonde bob and sighed. The aroma of coffee wafted in from another part of the lodge.

"I think we have time for a quickie before breakfast," mumbled Power Girl.

"You gonna let me come this time?"

"I think you've earned it," said Power Girl. She straddled Onyx in one swift motion. "After you've shown your Mistress how much you adore her."

---

The others were gathered in the lodge's formal dining room, drinking coffee and eating pancakes.

"Good fuck?" asked Silver Lantern. "You made the entire building shake, so I assume so."

Onyx blushed and said nothing as she poured herself a mug of coffee.

Power Girl was less reserved. "Excellent fuck," she said. "Thanks for asking. This little minx knows how to rock my world."

She slapped Onyx on the ass, hard enough to sting and it was all Onyx could do to keep herself from moaning with arousal.

"You should learn to take pleasure in killing men," said M'Gann. "It's a purer form of ecstasy."

Power Girl shrugged as she smothered a stack of pancakes in Vermont maple syrup.

"I don't have to choose," she said. "I kill, I fuck, I drink, I dance. I eat what I like and the weight goes straight to my tits. It's all good!"

M'Gann shook her head. "Kryptonians are almost as disgusting as humans."

Power Girl made a show of slurping her coffee as loudly as possible and followed with a dramatic "Ahh!"

"If we’re done with the casual racism and hedonism," said Batwoman, "let's discuss the plan."

Onyx was surprised to see Batwoman had removed her cowl. Underneath the mask she was a beautiful young redhead with emerald green eyes. Somehow she'd expected someone older and more scarred by experience. Barbara Wayne could have passed as a Supergirl on Onyx’s Earth.

"There's an abandoned mine two miles from the DEO facility," she said. "The feds were planning to use it as a nuclear waste dump but changed their mind when a senator from Nevada became majority leader."

Onyx was too young to remember the US Senate as anything other than a footnote in the League’s officially sanctioned history books. The idea of humans having a significant say in government was strange to her.

"I have classified maps,” said Batwoman, “so Raven can teleport us directly into the mine. Silver Lantern will tunnel us into Lex's basement."

"Onyx and I could do it quicker," said Power Girl.

"And louder," said Silver Lantern. "You chicas would make more noise than you do when you’re eating each other out. Lex would be waiting for us."

Power Girl conceded the point. "Saves me from breaking a nail."

"What do we do once we're inside?" asked Flash.

"We establish a beachhead while you scout the perimeter," said Batwoman. "Our first priority is to find and secure Supergirl. Second priority is to eliminate Lex, but he may not even be there. Third priority is to kill as many of Lex's army as possible."

M'Gann raised a hand.

Batwoman frowned. "No, M'Gann, I am not changing the priorities so you can murder more men. Once Kara is secure, you can go wild, but not before then."

M'Gann lowered her hand.

Batwoman took a deep breath. "The worst of Lex's army will be there, including Doomsday and Solomon Grundy. Do not try to fight either of them alone unless you enjoy being beaten to death."

She continued.

"Onyx will be the tip of the spear. Power Girl and Martian Mankiller hold behind her until we've cleared out any fire or kryptonite hazards, but use your X-Ray vision and telepathy as early warning. Flash will be our scout but don't take her for granted. Silver Lantern and Raven, you're our glass cannons. Keep to the rear if possible and hit hard. Don't waste your energy - make every shot a kill shot."

"What about you, big time?" asked Raven.

"I'll be around," said Batwoman.

"What about me?" asked Lena.

The superwomen turned to where Lena had entered. She had swapped her tailored clothes for a suit of blue and red power armor emblazoned with a red and gold 'S' across her chest

"Kara lost her powers temporarily last year and I stepped in," said Lena. "I did quite well, even if I do say so myself."

Batwoman stared daggers at her. "Doomsday would rip through that tin can like it was tissue paper."

"And he'd turn you into a fine mist with one good punch," said Lena.

"I know enough to not give him that opportunity," said Batwoman. "You may be a killer in the boardroom but you're out of your depth on the battlefield."

"I'm coming," said Lena. "Kara is my girlfriend and I want to be there to protect her."

"We may not be able to protect you," said Batwoman.

"Don't worry," said Lena. "As long as Kara is safe and Lex is dead, you'll still get paid. Even if something happens to me."

"The Magnificent Seven, and Lena is also there for some reason," muttered Onyx. "Doesn't quite have the same ring to it."

---

Raven enveloped them in her dimensionally impossible cloak and teleported them a half mile beneath the Nevada desert, according to the plan.

Then everything turned to shit.

A fist the size of a steamer trunk smashed into the side of Onyx's head, sending her flying several feet into a solid rock wall.

The mine was dark, lit only by the flash of weapons, energy beams, and Raven's casting. The sexy little goth was still kicking, it appeared. Onyx could see in the dark but something in the rock interfered with her x-ray vision. All she knew was that they were suddenly embroiled in a fight for their lives.

Onyx roared from her impromptu tunnel and assaulted the creature who'd attacked her. Doomsday was a mountain of muscle and spikes. She remembered Batwoman's warning against fighting the beast alone but she didn't have any choice. She ploughed into him and the two of them tumbled down a shaft and into a passage far from the rest of the fight.

Doomsday

What followed was a mutual beatdown of a kind Onyx hadn't experienced since her first year living on the streets. Back then she'd been merely an observer as two bums high on god-knew-what beat the everloving shit out of one another with wild abandon. This time, she was a participant in the fun. It was her jaw that broke, her fist that shattered Doomsday's arm in response, her ribs that snapped one after the other, and her knee that carved a chunk out of the monster's spine.

She used the tricks that Power Girl had tried to teach her. Doomsday was slower but stronger - she dodged and weaved in three dimensions, landing ten blows for every one she took. But that one blow in ten was bad. She turned Doomsday's tough hide and bones brittle with freezing breath before shattering them with her feet or fists. She lanced focused beams of heat vision into his skull, trying to find a piece of brain that would slow Doomsday down when fried.

She was damned if she was going to let this mindless thing beat her to death on a world she hadn’t been born on. She was Supergirl Onyx, she was from New Orleans, she'd lived through Mardi Gras over thirty times, and she wasn't done catching beads. She had things to live for. What the hell did Doomsday have to compare?

Somehow, she beat or outlasted the monster. Her left arm hung limp at her side. Her right leg was shattered in six places. She didn't have a single intact rib. Her left eye was a hollow socket. She was pretty sure her spleen was history.

Doomsday, on the other hand, was a real mess.

Not able to trust her legs, she floated along the mine shaft towards the diminishing sounds of battle. If the rest of Lex's army were waiting, her victory over Doomsday would be a pyrrhic one. Perhaps her fellow superwomen had prevailed.

The main shaft where they'd been ambushed was awash in painfully bright light. It took a moment for Onyx to identify its source: Raven. The young woman had seemingly transformed into a beacon of pure light - more phoenix than raven. She floated in mid-air.

"Did we win?" asked Onyx.

Power Girl slammed into her with a super-speed hug. Onyx gasped as the impact rearranged the shards of her broken ribs.

"What happened to you?" asked Power Girl, her voice high with anxiety.

"Doomsday," said Onyx.

Power Girl’s eyes went wide as she took in the extent of Onyx's injuries.

Onyx grinned, realizing that she was missing more than a few teeth. "Did not know who he was fucking with," she said.

As she surveyed the scene, a tendril of light arced from the being that was Raven and engulfed her. The healing was faster and more brutal than when Raven had fixed her fractured arm. She gritted her remaining teeth and tried not to scream as her body was painfully rebuilt by Raven’s power.

"We won," said Power Girl. "At a price. Jessica and M'Gann didn't make it."

Onyx nodded. She'd known it was coming. Not every Samurai made it home. That was just part of the genre.

Raven's light went out. One moment she was a transcendent being of pure light, the next she was a young woman in a leotard who looked like a stiff breeze would snap her in two.

Batwoman's normally pristine costume was ripped and torn, revealing a toned midriff decorated with a cross hatch of old scars.

"You killed Doomsday," she said.

Onyx nodded. "Fucked him up slightly more than he fucked me up."

"That's the only way to do it," said Batwoman.

The helmet of Lena's power armor had been split, leaving half her face exposed.

"They dug a tunnel for us already," she said. "Who knows what's waiting at the other end."

A furious Flash disappeared down the tunnel and returned with her hands dripping with blood.

"Just goons," she said. "They really weren't expecting us to survive."

"How did they know we were coming?" asked Power Girl.

Batwoman sighed. "Normally I'd say one of us is a traitor, but after that fight I don't see how any of us could be. Lex - this version of Lex - is very good."

“Or he has help,” said Raven. “I’m detecting traces of fifth-dimensional energy. I think he had an imp spying on us in Aspen."

“That two-timing purple bastard,” said Lena. “All right, let's finish this.”

She looked around the corpses that represented the remains of the most powerful force for evil her world had ever seen.

"By my reckoning, there's only C-listers and goons left. I have dibs on Kite Man."

They made their way through the tunnel and into the basement level of Lex's base. Whoever was left had evidently decided discretion was the better part of valor as they faced no further opposition.

They found Supergirl in a cage made of bars infused with Green Kryptonite, unconscious and curled in a fetal position. She looked like she hadn’t eaten for weeks.

Onyx snapped the bars and Lena gently lifted Supergirl's emaciated form into her armored hands.

"She's so thin," wailed Lena. "I can barely feel a pulse."

"Where should we take her?" asked Raven. "I have one more teleport left in me and then I'm done for the day.”

"The base in National City," said Lena. "The equipment I need to look after her is there."

"What about Lex?" asked Power Girl.

"He's alone now," said Lena. "Find him. Bring him to me."

Raven wrapped her cloak around them and transported them to Lena's underground lair.

As Lena hurried away to the medical lab, Power Girl gently punched Onyx in the shoulder.

"Come on," she said. "Let's find that bald bastard so Lena can put him out of our misery."

---

Batwoman tracked Lex to a trailer park in Montana. As his plans had unraveled, so had his COMSEC, leaving him easier to track.

Onyx found him slumped on a chemical toilet, the cells of his power armor drained, cursing everyone around him.

Lex Luthor is not having a good day

"That fifth-dimensional fucker betrayed me!" he said. "Left me hanging out to dry."

Onyx and Power Girl stripped him down to his expensive underwear. They carried him back to National City, each holding an arm, with him dangling beneath them. They ignored his constant litany of threats and insults.

They presented him to Lena, who had swapped her power armor for a neatly tailored set of medical scrubs.

"Supergirl will live," she told Lex. "That's the only reason I'm going to show mercy."

"I knew you wouldn't kill your big brother," said Lex. "I'm telling you, Lena, you and I are going to do great things together!"

"Snap his neck," said Lena, her voice cold as ice. “Make it quick. That’s the mercy.”

Onyx didn't give Lena time to reconsider as she cleanly twisted Lex's head one way and then the other. The arch villain slumped into a heap.

"Clean up," said Lena. "I don't want Kara to know he was ever here."

Power Girl’s eyes glowed red and she calmly disintegrated Lex's corpse with her heat vision. She turned to Onyx and held out her hand.

"Come on," she said. "One more fuck for the road."

"Yes, Mistress Power Girl," said Onyx.

"Just in the bedroom, Onyx," said Power Girl. "You beat Doomsday one-on-one. You don't bow your head to anyone unless they're getting you off."

Onyx laughed. "When you're right, you're right, Karen."

She took Power Girl’s hand and led the way to the nearest unoccupied bed.

---

Lena and the five surviving superwomen gathered in the control room, sat around the conference table.

"I'm a woman of my word," said Lena. "The escrow for your rewards is lifted."

A memory crystal identical to the one Lena had used to show the destruction of Cleveland back in the bar appeared on the table in front of Onyx.

A folded scrap of paper with a name and address written on it appeared in front of Power Girl.

A vial of liquid appeared in front of Flash.

A memory stick appeared in front of Batwoman.

A single sheet of parchment covered in runes appeared in front of Raven.

Flash was the first to take her reward, as expected. "You're sure this will work?" she asked.

"Guaranteed," said Lena. "He'll make a full recovery.”

Flash sighed and smiled.

Raven examined the scroll in front of her for a moment and laughed. "I can't believe he ended up in that shithole! The dimensional equivalent of a trailer park in Montana. No more hiding, dear old dad: it’s time to die for real.”

"Be careful," said Lena. "Trigon may be a shadow of his former self, but he is still a cunning old bastard."

Batwoman plugged the memory stick into her gauntlet and examined a holographic display. After a few minutes, she looked over at Onyx. "We need to talk."

Power Girl unfolded the piece of paper and read what was written. "Linda Lee. Hawksmoor Hall, University of Metropolis. Supergirl is a fucking college student? No wonder she's so annoying."

Onyx touched the memory crystal and watched her family die in vivid detail. They had taken shelter in the church where the ceremony for her cousin’s wedding had taken place. One of the founders had casually collapsed the building with a puff of super-breath and then used her heat vision to pick off any survivors. It had taken less than ten seconds for Supergirl Kara to eliminate Onyx’s family.

“Of course it was Kara. Who else would it be?"

A new voice spoke up. "I'm guessing your Kara is a little different to me.”

Supergirl was at the door, leaning on a cane.

Supergirl's recovery from months of green kryptonite exposure is slow

"Sweety," said Lena, rushing over to her, "you should be in bed."

"I wanted to see you all before you left and to thank you. I don't agree with most of the things you did, but I'm glad you did them. I know you're all bad girls one way or another, but I don’t think you're as evil as you think you are."

Power Girl turned to Onyx and mimed putting her finger down her throat and puking. "See what I mean? When they talk, it’s like drinking pure saccharine."

---

They took their time saying goodbyes to one another.

"You saved my life," said Raven. "I owe you at least one."

"I'm pretty sure you saved all of our lives," said Onyx.

Raven placed her hand on Onyx’s wrist and drew a letter 'R' with one finger. It flashed purple for a second and disappeared.

"If you need me, trace the 'R' and I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Thank you, Raven. Even if I never need you, I hope we meet again."

"Oh, you will definitely need me," said Raven.

"Stay sharp," said Flash.

"You too, Brie. Good luck," said Onyx. “You have someone back home?”

“I do,” said Flash. “He’s been sick for a while, but Lena gave me the cure. Once he’s back on his feet, we’re going to do such wicked things.”

Batwoman ran some kind of scanner over Onyx and nodded as the results confirmed what she had suspected.

"Ultraman and the other abducted supers were taken to your universe," she said. "Who has the ability to do that?"

Onyx was taken aback. This whole train of events had been set into motion by one of the League of Supergirls from her world?

"I don't know," she said. "I mean if anyone was going to build a machine to punch through reality, it would be Chao-Xing. Oh shit. Victoria and Eden!"

"Who are they?" asked Batwoman.

"They were extremists - Supergirls who wanted to exterminate humanity rather than rule. They got sick of being told no and Kara got rid of them but she never told the rest of us how she did it. There were no bodies and no evidence of a fight between Supergirls. Maybe she used a portal to send them away."

"And this Chao-Xing would have helped?"

Onyx shook her head. "Not a chance. Chao-Xing fucking hates Kara." She sighed. "If you're looking for someone arrogant enough to abduct people from a different universe, Kara fucking Lang is your girl."

Batwoman was silent and stared at her. Onyx felt like she was under a microscope.

"You don't like Kara, do you?"

"I hate her," said Onyx. "She killed my family. But I'm not giving you a bum steer. 95% chance she's your Supergirl. 4% it's Chao-Xing. 1% it’s someone else.”

Batwoman nodded. "I'll look into it."

"You're going to my Earth?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. I won't bother you if I do. Don't worry about it."

Onyx nodded but she had the feeling she should definitely worry about it.

Power Girl and Onyx were the last ones to leave and the last to say goodbye.

"Hey," said Onyx. "I'm going to miss you."

"You sure you don't want to come with me?" asked Power Girl. "Starr Tower has all the mod cons."

"I want to come with you more than you can possibly imagine," said Onyx, "but I have unfinished business back home."

"They'll kill you," said Power Girl.

"Not if I kill them first. Batwoman thinks Kara's the one who's been making all those portals. If it's as dangerous as you say, then maybe she'll just drop dead when her brain gets eaten."

"Hope springs eternal," said Power Girl.

They intertwined their hands and kissed.

"I love you," said Onyx.

"I know," said Power Girl.

The portal opened on the street outside Mike's. Lena and Onyx stepped through.

"That was an interesting diversion," said Onyx. "Thank you, Lena. Will I see you again?"

"Do you want to come to the wedding?"

"So you asked her?"

Lena nodded. "As soon as she woke up. She said yes."

"Congratulations. Please send me an invitation, and make sure to invite Power Girl as well. If I'm still alive, I'll come."

Lena walked through the portal back to her home universe and the woman she loved. Onyx looked over the faded exterior of Mike's. She'd been putting off painting it for years.

She needed a drink.

---

Two weeks later…

It was a quiet weeknight in Mike's. The regulars were being more-or-less regular and Onyx was watching The Empire Strikes Back. She poured herself another glass of bourbon. She'd been drinking a lot more since she'd come back from Lena's universe.

For a minute after she’d returned, still high from her victory over Doomsday, she’d flirted with the idea of flying to Smallville and beating the shit out of Kara. She’d talked herself out of it.

The idea of vengeance seemed hopeless. She should have gone with Karen. There was nothing here for Onyx other than a run-down bar in a city that was a living metaphor for slow decay.

The door opened and a woman walked into the bar. She had short blonde hair, blue eyes, and an unbelievable bust concealed beneath a long coat. A quick flash of x-ray vision confirmed that she was wearing both under the coat.

"Hey," said Power Girl.

"Hey," said Onyx.

Power Girl surprises Supergirl Onyx

Power Girl slid onto a bar stool, not taking her eyes off Onyx for a moment.

"So this is your bar. It's very shabby chic." She eyed the bottles behind the bar. "I'll have what you're having."

Onyx poured a bourbon and placed it in front of Power Girl.

"What are you doing here, Karen?"

"Aren't you happy to see me?"

"I'm fucking ecstatic," said Onyx. "You don't know how much self-control I'm using to not take you on this bartop right now. But why are you here?"

Power Girl shrugged. "I was thinking about my best girl going up against thirty Supergirls, and I thought you might need an assist. Also, I miss that swirly thing you do with your tongue."

"What happened with Supergirl?”

Power Girl laughed. "That did not go the way I expected." She took a sip of bourbon and nodded in approval. "Linda Lee - a grad student at the University of Metropolis. She grew up in a fucking orphanage. No family and no friends. She never let herself get close to anyone because she was afraid of exactly what I was planning to do - one of her enemies hurting her loved ones to hurt her. The bubbly Supergirl thing was all an act. She was so fucking miserable that god help me, I actually felt sorry for her."

"So, did you put her out of her misery?" asked Onyx.

"No. I gave her my company," said Power Girl. "Linda Lee is now the owner and CEO of Starr Industries. I gave her some heartfelt advice on living her best life and then peaced out of that Earth."

"You made a portal?" asked Onyx. "Despite the danger."

"No, I swiped one of Lena's while she was tending to her Supergirl," said Power Girl. "Joke's on me, though. The damn thing only had one charge, so now I'm stuck here with nothing but a trench coat.”

"With me," said Onyx.

"You wanna do that thing you mentioned on the bartop now?" purred Power Girl.

"Everybody out!" said Onyx. "We're closed."