Final Chapter: Justice

Date: March 2 2030

A decade had passed since Supergirl went missing.
"Face it, Alex, she's gone, it's over," James looked gently into Alex's eyes, but even though his voice was soft, his words were so hard on her ears that she instantly lashed out at him, hissing in defiance.
"NO! No she's NOT!" the young leader of the DEO snarled. But that was when J'onn came up behind her.
"Alex, listen, we know it's hard, but it's been 10 whole years. If Kara were still alive, we would've found something by now!" he murmured.
"And how can you be so sure?" Alex snarled, but the tears in her eyes revealed that she was starting to take J'onn and James at their word.
"Because the DEO has never taken this long to crack a case before," J'onn answered with a pained expression. "And you know we've had allies all over the universe trying to help us find Supergirl. If she were still alive, we would know it by now."
Alex opened her mouth as though to protest more, but when she was unable to think up a suitable rebuttal, she closed her mouth again. The agony in her eyes was unspeakable and she looked so tired and old. It didn't matter that Kara had been absent from her life for 10 years now, it didn't matter that she'd since taken over the DEO and married Maggie Sawyer in that time frame. Even though life had continued on, both for Alex and for the rest of the universe, there was still one small part of her that was still frozen in time, stuck in that nightmarish night when Kara first went missing. That part of Alex would never move on, never be free to keep on going and growing. As long as Kara remained gone, so would that one part of Alex's soul. She would never be truly able to get over the death of her beloved little Kryptonian sister.
"Come on, Alex, it's time for you to take a break," J'onn finally broke the pained silence and wrapped a tender arm around her shoulder. It was an unusually affectionate and gentle thing for him to do, but underneath his stoic exterior, there was a heart of gold. And he loved Alex as much as any father could ever love a daughter. She really was just like his own child. It broke his heart to see her looking so dead inside and he gladly shed his gruff, authoritative persona to be the comforter that she so desperately needed. On Alex's other side, James did likewise, placing a comforting hand on her other shoulder before gently leading her away from the DEO. Alex, once again, looked like she wanted to protest, but when she could think of nothing to say, she fell silent once more and left the agency without resistance. Instead, she allowed J'onn and James to lead her onward and upward, out into the sunlight to try and take her mind off of some of her troubles.
Part of the reason Alex was so down today, out of all days, was just because it had been exactly 10 years, to the day, since Kara had gone missing. This was her 10th "death-day anniversary" and this day was always extremely painful for Alex.
"Where are we going?" the young DEO leader finally asked her retired predecessor.
"Universe Food, for a burger," he replied, the barest of smirks flickering across his aged face. If there was one thing that could always cheer a Danvers girl up, it was food, especially if it was greasy, deep-fried fast food. Unhealthy? Yes. Delicious. Definitely!
"Of course," Alex replied and, just as J'onn hoped, a small smile played across her face.
"We're bringing all of our friends too," James chimed in. "Winn, Cat, Lena, Eliza, Nia, Brainy and Maggie will all be there too."
"Ah, the good old gang," Alex's tired smile brightened once again.
"Exactly!" James nudged her playfully. "Now come on! I don't want to be the last one there! We've got burgers and meat pies to eat!" then he took off running down the city streets and, despite herself, Alex cheered up enough to go running after him. J'onn watched them both run off together and a sad, bittersweet smile flickered across his face once again.
Five minutes later, all of the Superfriends were squished into the largest table at that particular Universe Food joint.
"Ah! It's so good to see you again, Alex!" Nia was the first one to pipe up and a fond, unreadable smile spread across Alex's face in return. Nia was a relatively new addition to the Superfriends, having joined only three or four years ago. In that time, Alex had come to see her like a new little sister, not a replacement of Kara per se, but just as another sister to love and protect. Nia certainly did have some of Kara's old playful, goof, clumsy mannerisms after all. And Alex was far from the only one to notice how similar Nia was to Kara. It was part of what endeared her so much to the other members of the Superfriends. No one saw her as a replacement to Kara, but she did bring that old spark back into everyone's eyes.
"Hello Nia," Alex said as she took a seat right beside Maggie. Without a word, Maggie wrapped a supportive arm around Alex. They'd been married for just over six years now and, because of that, Maggie always seemed to know what Alex was thinking and feeling, even if she wasn't told about it. She knew that today was the 10th "anniversary" of Supergirl's disappearance, she knew that Alex was grieving today. All around, the other Superfriends gave Alex similar looks of empathy. Not pity, but empathy. She managed a smile back.
"How was work today, dear?" Eliza was the first to start up a conversation, knowing just how much pain Alex was in.
"Fine, mom," Alex replied, and then slowly, the casual conversation picked up from there.
By the end of lunch, all of the Superfriends were laughing and smiling again. Their hearts and stomachs were full and there were just as many burger wrappers on the table as there were smiles on messy faces. Although today was a day of suffering, grief and loss, it was also a day of hope, comradery and remembrance. Alex was laughing now, currently locked in conversation with Lena and Cat who were sharing all of their fond memories about Kara. Nia and Brainy were eagerly listening to Winn and James talk about some of Kara's more daring adventures. Eliza, Maggie and J'onn were all sitting together in silence, each of them watching Alex with tender expressions.
But as always, the fun and joy could not last forever. Instead, towards the end of the meal, Alex suddenly received an alert, an emergency message from somebody at the DEO. It was not good, and Alex's peaceful mood was spoiled immediately.
"More aliens have gone missing..."
15 minutes later, Alex, J'onn, James, Winn, Brainy, Maggie, Lena, Nia and all the other DEO agents within the area were all standing in conference as they discussed what they knew about the most recent disappearances. Alien kidnappings had been on the rise ever since Supergirl went missing, but these random bursts when five or more would go missing all at once were relatively rare. They only happened once every year or two. This was not a good thing, of course, but that just meant that whenever there was a mass-kidnapping, the DEO paid a little bit more attention.
"Lyra!" Winn gave a cry of anguish as it was revealed that one of the missing aliens was his girlfriend.
"Winn, I'm so sorry," Alex tried to touch his back gently, but he had since started to shake uncontrollably, fighting hard to keep from cracking.
The other agents, meanwhile, were trying to find some pattern between the victims. All of them except Lyra were students from National City University. They were of all different ages, species, backgrounds and statuses, however, so there was no apparent connection there. And Lyra herself, as a non-student, really seemed out of place.
"Is it some sort of personal vendetta?" Winn demanded, clenching his fists in anger and grief. It was a reasonable idea, but then that led to the question of why the students were captured.
"Unless they were taken as hostages to make it easy to keep Lyra contained," Lena suggested.
"Or maybe the students were the real target and Lyra was kidnapped in order to keep us distracted or deterred," Brainy replied.
"But do you think they were taken as hostages, or victims?" Maggie asked next. It was a grim question, but she had a point. In the past 10 years, no alien had ever survived one of these mysterious mass-kidnappings.
During the earlier days, the DEO had assumed that it was some anti-alien hate group, but when no one ever stepped forward claiming responsibility, they assumed that maybe it was just some random psychopath, but when the attacks proved to be too well-thought-out to have been done by anything less than an organized group, that left everyone back at square one. Too many aliens went missing at one time for it to be random or done by a lone wolf. But they happened so sporadically and mysteriously that no organization could be linked to the crimes. And worst of all, since no whisper was ever heard from or about the victims or their fates, there was nothing to track. No one ever tried to put an alien up for ransom and no missing alien was ever found in some sort of underground slave trade. They just vanished one day and that was it. It all strongly suggested that the victims were murdered. But by whom? And how and why? It was such a quick, clean operation, yet it seemed entirely pointless.
For the next few weeks, the DEO cracked down hard on trying to figure out where the missing aliens had gone this time, but no results could ever be found. Alex was reaching her wits end.
"I swear to god that we should just start doing DNA scans of everything until something comes up!" she hissed, running her fingers through her hair. Behind her, J'onn and James tried to calm her down, but for once, she wasn't in the mood.
"No! You know what? Let's do it! Let's freaking do it! Bring me the data on Lyra and we'll start scanning everything that has her DNA, and then we'll scan everything that doesn't until we find a trail!"
"Should we?" James asked, whispering to J'onn.
"Let's just humor her for now," J'onn replied. Alex had, many times over, proven herself one of the best leaders the DEO had ever seen, but every once in a while, there were moments when her temper still got the best of her. This was one of those times. But instead of disciplining her, J'onn decided to indulge in it just for a while. So he quickly assembled all of Lyra's things that could be found and ran them through the DEO's DNA scanners. Once Lyra's code was backed up in the computers, he had Lena invent a device that could quickly scan the DNA of anything it touched.
"Ah! I have just the thing!" the Luthor exclaimed, and she did. Just over 10 years ago, when she first met Kara, Lena had been in the process of inventing a device that would detect aliens with one simple touch. It was a skin-test based DNA scanner that fit into a device roughly shaped like a computer mouse. After realizing the social and political ramifications of such a device, however, she quickly discontinued it. Now, it seemed, the city was going to need that device after all, only this time, it wouldn't be used to identify aliens, but rather, to find them.
"Perfect! If we can just scan everything we might be able to find some trace of Lyra's DNA and we can use that like a trail of breadcrumbs to figure out what happened to her!" Alex muttered as she took the renovated device from Lena. J'onn still looked a tad uncertain, genuinely concerned for Alex's mental health, but he couldn't deny interest in Lena's little device.
"So you just scan something and it tells you if it's alien or human?" he asked Lena.
"Yes," Lena replied. "I input a rough set of every human gene known to man into that little machine and if anything lacking those genes touched it, the device would register them as non-human."
"Wow," J'onn was genuinely impressed.
"Though of course, now, I've had to modify it," the Luthor continued. "Lyra's gene code is what's in that device now and if you ever touch something that does have her DNA on it, you'll know." J'onn nodded slowly. Maybe this was a better idea that he had thought...
About four days later, then, Alex made a horrific discovery.
"Heads up!" Winn teased her, tossing her a Universe Food meat pie.
"Thank god! I'm starving!" Alex chuckled as she sank her teeth into the meat pie. Mmmm! It was warm and fresh and flavorful! The gravy was like nectar and the meat was nice and chewy and salty and warm. The crust was fresh and crispy, the filling was rich. What wasn't to like!?
"It's one of those new 10th anniversary ones," he said. "They dropped it just a few days ago."
"Ah! I forgot that chain was turning 10 years old," Alex replied thoughtfully, then she took another bite of her pie.
"Well, I'm off!" Winn gave Alex a playful salute. "I've got to deliver these other pies to the rest of the DEO now."
"Mmmhmm," Alex replied, mouth full as Winn turned to go. He laughed at her one more time before exiting the area. Alex, meanwhile, turned back to her little meal with a big smile. That was when she got a sudden idea.
"Why not?" she asked, laughing at herself as she pulled out Lena's DNA scanner. She touched a piece of the meat pie to it. Then she screamed.
In no time flat, the story had spread like wildfire all over the DEO and all of its other associated agencies. Horror unmatched filled every last agent as Alex went sprinting on by, headed to the nearest Universe Food store for more proof. After purchasing one of everything on the menu, she brought it all back to the DEO in less than a minute and scanned every last burger, growing closer and closer to puking until she hit the very last one on the line. It was the very first burger ever, the original flavor. With shaking hands, Alex scanned it. Then she fainted.
By the time she came back around, J'onn, James, Winn, Brainy, Nia and Lena and all the other DEO agents in that location had figured out the truth. They were just as shaken as Alex had been, barely even able to think because of how deeply shaken they had been.
"I can't believe it. I can't believe it. After all of this time... I can't believe it," J'onn had since fallen to his knees in disgust and despair. Winn was puking in a nearby bathroom, crying out Lyra's name as his stomach emptied itself. James was on a total mental and emotional lockdown. Lena looked absolutely enraged. Nia was panicking and even the normally calm and rational Brainy seemed at a loss for words or understanding. All of the Superfriends had been shattered by Alex's accidental discovery, and none of them could process anything for the rest of the day.
But after enough time, their nightmarish discovery finally began to sink in. It was still hard to stomach, but they could not deny it. For the past decade, that fast food empire had been serving the remains of aliens. For the past decade, the Superfriends had been devouring their friends and allies without even realizing it. The entire company was built upon sick, twisted lies. And the entire universe had unwittingly fallen for it. It was enough to leave a very, very sour taste in everyone's mouth. But as nightmarish as the truth was, it simply had to be spilled, and J'onn wasted no time in spreading the word across the country. He called up every governmental and DEO agency in the USA before spreading telecommunications to other countries, and then other planets and beyond. Lena and Cat, once again, helped with the press side of things, quickly whipping up story after story to tell the world (and everything outside of it) what was really in the Universe Food burgers.
It didn't take long for the scandal to reach the rest of the public's ears. Thanks to Lena and Cat's combined influence, power and media smarts and skills, the entire country of America managed to learn the truth all in one night. Once word reached the president's ear, then the story really went viral. And even after the known universe, with every planet and galaxy inside, getting to hear the truth, the DEO managed to tell other dimensions as well. It reached all the different iterations of Earth and every dimension that the DEO was able to reach. Soon, there wasn't a soul alive who didn't know the truth behind Universe Food and its mysterious burger meat. Soon, every universe could only say one thing:
"I ATE WHAT?!?!" from Gotham to Metropolis to National City to Star City Central City, to beyond and back again, every little last person in every little last corner of every little last universe was exposed to the vial truth about Universe Food.
"I ATE WHAT?!?!"
But even though the truth was out, that didn't mean the battle was over. Not even close. Instead, it was only just beginning.
"Ok, so we know where our missing aliens went," Alex muttered darkly as she called all of the DEO in for a giant meeting. "What we need to do now is figure out who's behind this. Once we have that information, we can take them down!" a wild and almost hateful cheer rippled through the DEO in response to Alex's fiery words. After the initial disgust, hurt and betrayal had past, the only thing anyone felt for Universe Food anymore was the utmost rage, hatred and desire for revenge. Gone was all the good will. Gone was the pride and joy. Gone was the amusement at the burger joint's quirky tagline and "pro-alien" views. Now all that remained was a desire to kill and destroy, to tear the empire down brick by brick.
But despite everyone's vim and verve, there was still the burning question of who was to blame for all of this. Because the scale of the crime was so extreme and elaborate, it quickly became clear that this was not the fault of some random or ordinary hate group. This was something far bigger, stronger, richer and more refined. But it still had to be someone with all of the resources and cruelty needed in order to pull such a giant stunt off. And successfully, no less! This meant that the DEO was still scratching its head, even with the list of possible culprits cut down.
Then someone finally managed to put the pieces together. Sadly, she wasn't able to spread the word before she was kidnapped.
"It was Lex!" Lena gasped in horror and disgust as she put together the final piece of his puzzle. Then her dismay changed into pure fury.
"I should've known!" she snarled. "I should've known he'd try something like this! Who else could be so intelligent, cunning, resourceful and cruel?! Who else has the time, money, power, heartlessness and bitterness to create an empire like this?!"
Lena had suspected her brother from the moment it was revealed that Universe Food was selling alien meat to customers. She already knew that such a sick and twisted scheme would be right up his ally. But since she had no proof beyond a bitter gut feeling, she kept her mouth shut. She led a private investigation into the food company. While it dealt with the fallout that came after Alex and the rest of the DEO made the big reveal to the rest of the universe, Lena was able to sneak in and learn all of the company's dark secrets. Though these undercover operations, she was able to find quite a few pieces of LexCorp technology. Not L-Corp technology, LexCorp. That was the nail in the coffin for Lena. Seeing obvious signs like that made it clear. And then she began to realize how Lex was able to pull such a stunt off. She figured out his cloning machine and his secret warehouse and the fact that he had a small group of insiders to help him do the dirty work while he remained behind bars.
"You sick, twisted, clever monster," Lena snarled as she uncovered more of Lex's dirty dealings. It enraged and agonized her beyond words to realize that this was the fate that had befallen Kara. For 10 long years, the girl had been copied over and over again, each of her poor, innocent copies being slaughtered mere minutes after they were "born". And the original Kara herself, meanwhile, had long since been consumed, eaten up about a decade prior. It was enough to make Lena want to-
That was when Lena had been kidnapped. Even though Universe Food had a lot to answer for, the mastermind behind it all never rested, and he was always vigilant. As soon as the secret got out, he wasted no time in enacting some security measures. He knew his legacy was over. He knew his empire was finished. But he didn't care. If he was going to go down, he was going to go down in style. So instead of focusing on trying to cover up the truth, Lex abandoned all of his Universe Food locations and let the public do with the company what it wished. He, meanwhile, turned his focus back on all of Supergirl's family and friends back in National City...
"Sir! They've found out about us! They're onto us!" Lenny panicked into the phone as he dialed up Lex's number.
"Panic is a bad color on you, Mr. Thorul, I can fix this," Lex replied calmly, reclining in his cell. He had already known about how his secret had gotten out. It was blasting on every last channel on every last TV in this rotten, god-forsaken prison. It was all anyone ever talked about anymore. Every article, every tweet, every post, every show, every podcast, every radio, every broadcast, all it was was the scandal of Universe Food. Lex had already known that his enterprise had been sniffed out as the evil slaughterhouse it was. So by the time Lenny managed to get ahold of him to call, badly freaking out, Lex was already five steps ahead.
"We won't be able to save the company," he began.
"What?" Lenny sounded horrified and devastated all at once. Partly, he was worried that he would lose all of his investments and earnings. And partly, he was worried because this had been a 10-year-long endeavor, after all. Losing anything after 10 years was always disappointing. He hadn't worked this hard for this long just to see it all fall through now, especially so quickly and easily. One little slip and the entire company was crashing down like a building set for demolition. So part of his fear came from frustration and outrage at the very idea of losing Universe Food now.
And also, he was scared. If the company fell, where would that leave him? Even if he somehow managed to escape the blame and prison sentences sure to follow, what would he do? Where would he go? He could scrounge out his earning now and set them aside for a comfortable living later, but what would he do once his precious empire was crushed into the dirt? Would he even survive the oncoming onslaught of media attention that would be sure to hit him full force now that the secret was out? He didn't want to die or go to jail, but those seemed to be his only options now. How could Lex just so calmly accept the fate of Universe Food?
But despite Lenny's begging, Lex ignored him in favor of his own plans.
"The company will crumble," he continued calmly. "But that is of no importance to me anymore. Instead, I want Lena."
"You- what?" Lenny cut off his panicked rant in genuine surprise.
"I want Lena," Lex replied, still as calm as ever. "You and I both know she will be able to trace this all back to me and if she succeeds, we are both dead. If you want any chance of escaping this mess alive and living a peaceful life undercover, then we need to take her out. Once she is gone, I can handle everything else. I can give you the life you want, you just need to follow my instructions to the letter. Do you understand? To. The. Letter!"
Lex continued to drill it into Lenny's head that obedience was more important now than ever. If Lenny really did want any hope of having a happy ending after this nightmare was over, then he would have to listen and do everything Lex asked from here on out. To do anything less would be to send them both to the grave. Lenny was thoroughly convinced and agreed at once to do whatever Lex asked.
"What's your plan?" he whimpered and, on the other line, Lex gave a very terrifying smile. He might've lost this battle, but he would NOT lose the war. The real fun was about to begin!
It was shortly after that phone call that Lex set his plan in motion to kidnap Lena. Telling Lenny to ignore all threats he received from outside forces, he had the man turn his attention away from the company and towards Lena. Lex managed to force some money though to pay for Lena's kidnapping, arranging it such that some of Lenny's more loyal mooks (half of which were robots designed by Lex himself to run the company since he didn't trust humans) set a trap for Lena. They led Lena to one of the older Universe Food locations. Once she was inside, the robots attacked her and quickly brought her to the slaughterhouse where the nightmare had begun over 10 years ago.
"Hey, sis!" Lex greeted through the phone when Lena came around. She was tied to a chair in Lenny's office in the slaughterhouse.
"Lex!" she snarled, going from terrified to outraged the moment she heard his voice. The phone was in front of her on a table, out of her reach.
"The one and only!" Lex sounded smug.
"You did this to me, didn't you?!" Lena continued to snarl.
"It took you this long to figure it out?" Lex teased sadistically. "And here I thought you were the smart one!" he added with a cruel laugh.
"If you think killing me now will solve anything, you're wrong!" Lena replied, tugging violently at her restraints. "All you're doing is setting yourself up for failure! Even if you kill me now, the DEO will notice that I'm gone and they'll trace it back to you anyway!"
"Oh, sister, sister, sister! Dear sister, you didn't really think I was going to kill you, did you?" Lex pretended to be disappointed in Lena. "I thought you knew me better than that! We're still family, after all."
"You are NOT my family!" Lena spat back bravely, still struggling to escape.
"Our last names, our histories, our parents, the rest of society, and your own infernal little DNA scanner would beg to differ," Lex replied calmly. "But enough of that stupid little ancestry stuff. I did not bring you here to exchange pleasantries with you."
"You don't say?" Lena continued to fight back.
"I simply came here to keep you out of the way while I finish my work," Lex talked over her.
"Your business?" Lena sounded disgusted. "Don't you know that your empire is crumbling and that there is nothing you can do to save it?"
"Oh I know that!" Lex sounded so dismissive that Lena could almost see him literally waving her off. "I didn't mean that. I don't care what happens to the company now. I never had much stock in it anyway. All I ever wanted, Lena, was blood. And I intend to get it. As much as I can, for as long as I can. Even if this legacy should crumble, it will not go down easily, and I will make every last moment last!"
"You're sick," Lena choked on her own anger.
"Is that the best you've got?" Lex asked back smugly. "And here I thought you were the smart one!"
For nearly four months, Lena remained in captivity, locked away in Lex's slaughterhouse. In order to keep his own cover, however, Lex never left prison in order to visit her personally, even though he wanted to. Instead, he sent Lenny in to look after her, keeping him under the very strict orders that if he ever did anything to harm Lena in any way, the poor alien clones in the slaughterhouse would have it better than he would. Naturally, this terrified Lenny into submission and even though he liked to tease Lena about how helpless she was, he never once even dared to mistreat her, just in case Lex ever found out.
Lena, meanwhile, could only sit there in the darkness and hope that her friends would figure it out and come rescue her. Or at least shut down this sick, twisted operation. Lena had seen Lex's nightmarish machinery at work and it had been the most disturbing, upsetting and mentally scarring thing she'd ever seen. She would never be able to get those images of Kara being burned and crushed and cut up alive out of her head. It had been hard to stomach and even harder to watch. She knew it would be impossible to forget. Now, she didn't care what happened to anyone or anything, all she wanted was for Universe Food to be shut down, permanently.
Eventually, Lena's prayer was answered. Just like she predicted, the DEO took note of her absence and realized that Lex must've been behind the whole operation. They figured that part of the plot out fairly quickly, but it had still taken them a few months to finally find the place where Lena had been taken. Once they found it, however, they were on guard immediately.
"Be careful," J'onn muttered. "The fact that we've finally managed to find this place today after 10 years of searching does not mean that we have finally achieved our goal. It means that Lex has finally decided that he needs us, and he wants us here. We are not here of our own merit, but of his. We only found this place because he wanted us to. So keep a sharp eye out!"
"Yes sir," everyone else in his company muttered. This company included a large chunk of the National City DEO, agents from other DEO bases across the country, government agents, the Justice League and the Superfriends. It might've looked like overkill, but in a time like this, there was no such thing as being too cautious. Besides, after the scandal of Universe Food got out, everyone took it as a personal offense. Half the people in this squadron had come of their own will, not because J'onn asked them to. Everyone had a score to settle with Lex now.
The band was able to make it inside the slaughterhouse with ease, but once they were inside, what they saw was the last thing that they would've ever expected... Nothing... There was nothing. The entire factory had been turned off, closed up and shutdown. It was dark, silent, and sterile. Not a single sign of life or death anywhere to be seen. No blood, no death, no decay, no meat. That was how they knew Lex was onto them...
"Well, well, well, you managed to find me," suddenly, a hologram sprung to life. It was Lex himself.
"I must commend you," he said. "I never thought it would take you so long, yet you managed to surpass my wildest expectations and actually take an entire 10 years to figure it out. I really do applaud you for that. You were all just super!" he clapped at them mockingly.
"Lex!" Alex snarled at once. "Where is Lena?"
"Oh, my sister!" Lex pretended as though he had almost forgotten. "You needn't worry about that. She is safe."
"Oh, yeah, because we're totally just gonna take your word for it!" Nia dared to say, chest puffed out bravely.
"Well, do you have anything better at the moment?" Lex asked innocently, and Nia wilted again, embarrassed and afraid. Lex laughed coldly at her.
"But you are right," he admitted at last. "You should take my word for it, because my word is your God now. It is all you have in here. If you want to get out of here alive, then you must listen to me. And I suggest you spend more time worrying about yourselves anyway because you are the ones in real danger here. Even if Lena were dead, or dying, or just severely injured and it a lot of pain, it wouldn't matter! You cannot reach her either way. I am in control now and you can do nothing but listen. Or die!"
"Then we're going to destroy this place! We'll set it ablaze and watch it burn until we can spit in the ashes!" Alex spat. "We will do it even if it means killing Lena because we all know she would rather die a thousand deaths than let you have one single victory! And we all feel the same way! We would burn ourselves to burn this place before we let you win!"
"Oooh, bold speech, Mrs. Danvers," Lex smirked. "But I don't think you'll want to do that. You see, I knew you would be here tonight. In fact, it was I who allowed you to find this place at all. If you really want to try and burn this place to the ground, by all means, go ahead, but I warn you that the nukes I have stored underneath this place are a little bit temperamental..." he trailed off with an icy cackle as every eye widened.
"Wait a minute! Did he say nukes?" Aquaman interrupted nervously.
"Yes," Lex replied calmly. "So go ahead. Destroy this place if you must. Or be terminated instead. Have a lovely day!" then his hologram flickered off and the slaughterhouse came alive once more. This time, though, every machine was aimed to kill the Superfriends.
What ensued was a very violent and vicious battle between man (and alien) and machine. With the Superfriends on one side and the entirety of Lex's slaughterhouse on the other, the battle began. Every weapon and power was activated, trying to fend off the wild, crazed machinery. And if that weren't enough, Lex also sent in his robot workers. Other mechanical monstrosities from all over the galaxy had been brought here tonight for this battle, and now, all of them were ready for the attack!
"How well-prepared was this psychopath!?" Green Arrow snarled as he fired arrow after arrow into robot after robot.
"This is Lex Luthor we're talking about here!" replied Superman, using his laser vision to immobilize some of the claws swinging from the ceiling.
"He's always prepared," Batman finished Superman's sentence, tossing more crazy gadgets and gismos in every direction.
"This is more than just prepared!" Wonder Woman replied with an icy laugh before she took out a few more rogue robots.
In the background, Nia, Maggie and Brainy were busy taking on a couple Metallos that had just arrived while Alex, Green Lantern, J'onn and James were trying to protect Superman while also fending off some of the rogue machinery. The other DEO agents and Justice League members were just as busy trying to stop the oncoming swarm of metal soldiers and machinery.
But while all that chaos was going on in the slaughterhouse, two of the heroes were elsewhere, doing their best to find Lena. These were Winn and Flash. Together, the two were trying to figure out how Lex was controlling the machinery from his prison while also trying to figure out where Lena was. Knowing that Lex had nukes was another thing they were trying to solve but, at Winn's behest, they needed to find Lena first.
"If anyone can deactivate Lex's nukes, it's her!" Winn told the Fastest Man Alive as they raced along the country.
"But where would Lex keep her?" Flash asked back as he sprinted along, Winn firmly strapped to his back.
"That's the big question, isn't it?" he replied with rueful smile, but then, they managed to find her.
Winn, being a giant fan of Superman, had managed to remember one of the Man of Steel's many battles against the evil Lex Luthor. This particular battle took them both back to Lex's mansion.
"Which is hidden under a forcefield!" he muttered in remembrance. And then he realized that the slaughterhouse had been concealed by the same type of technology. That was all he needed in order to give Flash instructions. Even though he had no idea where Lex's mansion was, he knew enough about Superman lore to be able to figure it out. Or at least narrow down the options. Then, with Flash running as fast as he was, it didn't take them too long to finally find it. Winn was able to hack into the mansion with ease once they finally got there, and they found Lena within five minutes of walking in through the doors.
"We have to hurry!" Lena replied, barely even stopping to thank them as they finally cut her free from that blasted little chair.
"Your welcome," Winn replied with a pout, but Lena kept on talking, explaining all the parts and pieces of Lex's plan that they didn't initially figure out. This included the many, many clones Lex had been making through the decade, in order to feed the machine and his own bloodlust. Lena explained all that she had seen in the slaughterhouse while it was active, explaining what Lex had done and was planning on continuing. Suffice to say, the news had shocked and disgusted Flash and Winn to their cores, but they forced themselves to remain focused. They couldn't afford to break apart now. Instead, Lena only demanded that they all go to Stryker Island at once and deal with Lex personally...
While the Superfriends continued to contend with Lex's machinery, Lena, Winn and Flash made a beeline to Lex's front door.
"You can't be here!" one of the head guards snapped, but Lena's only response was to sock him in the jaw as hard as she could.
"That was assault!" Winn panicked as the guard collapsed.
"Which we can deal with later!" Lena replied impatiently before urging Flash onward. He swiftly delivered them right to Lex's door.
"Hiya sis!" Lex grinned, waving at Lena through the bars. Lena's eyes burned with hatred. She didn't even bother speaking before pulling out a gun she'd taken from his mansion right before she, Winn and Flash all left.
"Now, I really don't think you want to do that," Lex smiled cheerfully up the gun at his sister.
"Oh yes I do," Lena replied, a hungry light in her eyes.
"No, I mean, you really don't want to do that," Lex explained calmly. Then he told her about the nukes. Suffice to say, Lena did not take it well.
"Well now what are we supposed to do?!" Lena snarled five minutes later, pacing around outside of Lex's cell angrily. "We can't defuse them in time to save our friends, but I don't dare do anything until I know they won't blow up!" she continued to spit angrily, demanding answers, but Flash and Winn could only watch her helplessly, just as stuck as she was. But then suddenly, a light went off in Lena's head...
A bit later, the trio was at the slaughterhouse again. They had no intention of rejoining the battle, however, choosing instead to go in a back entrance. While the heat of the battle took place in the heart of the factory, Lena and her companions stayed back to work on the machinery.
"Think you can rewire and restart this thing?" Lena whispered as she gestured to the cloning machine before handing him her DNA scanner.
"With the proper time and tools I can," Winn replied, then he got to work. The next half hour was easily the most stressful half hour that any of them had ever endured, and that was saying something, coming from a superhero, a Luthor, and a man who worked as a technician for an alien-containment agency. But in the end, while the battle had since leaked outside of the slaughterhouse and into the front of the building, Winn managed to get the machine up and running again. As soon as the green light went on, Lena proceeded to throw one of Kara's old shirts inside...
She had no idea who she was, where she was, or how or why she was, but she did know that the three people who had been present when she came out of the machine had said that there was something very bad that she would not like waiting just outside. If she wanted to be happy and have a good life, she had to go out to that bad place and help the people fight off the silvery machine things, which were large and scary and had no faces and came in all shapes and sizes. They told her to go out to the bad place and stop the bad things so everything would be good and happy again. They told her that she would be called Linda, and that she had to stay very secret and quiet while she worked. It was all very confusing and sudden, but she was a fast learner, and while the one they called Lena stood up to run away, the other two stayed behind with her.
"Well, sis, not too surprised to see you out here amongst the other riff raff," Lex's hologram popped up once to address Lena during the thick of battle. He gave her quite the fright, but the surprise quickly turned to anger. Her eyes flashed in defiance as she snarled at him, promising to defend her friends to and with and until her very last breath.
"Perfect! Just as I was hoping!" Lex replied, then his hologram vanished once again as he resumed his control over the slaughterhouse machinery, this time having it all focused on Lena. As much as he had wanted and tried to protect her, his sentimentality only ran so far. Instead, after Lena had defied him enough, he decided to let her die with the rest of them. If all went well, he would kill them all tonight, so even if his company and name and legacy went down in flames, at least his enemies would too.
But little did he realize that Lena had just outsmarted him. By throwing herself to the front and center of the fight, she ensured that she would have all of Lex's attention. If that were the case, that gave "Linda", Flash and Winn just enough time to get the drop on him once again. Flash quickly escorted Linda back to Stryker Island, teaching her how to fly as he ran alongside her. Winn stayed back, finally joining the fight as well. Linda really did prove to be quite the fast learner and even though her flying was still very crooked and chaotic, she at least managed not to crash into Lex's prison cell once they arrived at the jail.
"Alright, Linda, remember what we talked about," Flash whispered as they approached Lex's cell. "Hit the bad man with no hair as hard as you can on the back of the neck," he pantomimed punching his own spine. "Then break the little box thing in his hands. Step on it or hit it, it doesn't matter. Just make it crack and break, ok?" he asked, pantomiming destroying the controller Lex was using to run the slaughterhouse.
Linda only nodded in return. She still had no clue what was going on, but in the short time that she had been with this "Flash" person, she had understood that this "Lex" person was a very bad person who had done quite a lot of harm. The others back where she had come from wanted to stop him, but they were too busy back there to do anything. Flash had to go back to help them now, which left Linda as the only free one to stop Lex. She was scared, but when Flash smiled at her, she felt better.
"Yes," she nodded at him before he ran away again. He was very fast.
"Good," he replied, moving his hands so that the shortest fingers on the inner sides of both of his hands were up while all the others were down. She didn't know what it meant and it didn't appear to do anything, but she had managed to pick up that it was a good sign that meant "yes" or "good". It made her happy to know that he was giving it to her, and she tried to copy the movement. He laughed a little before pointing with another finger at Lex's cell. Then he ran off, leaving Linda alone...
Flash arrived in time to see all of his comrades finally captured by machinery.
"Ah! Bolt Boy! You're just in time!" Lex's hologram grinned, then, even faster than Flash, a metal claw shot out and grabbed his neck.
"Gaaakk!!" he choked as he was suddenly dragged up in the air.
"Flash!" some of the other heroes strapped down below cried out to him, but it was too late. He could only dangle in the air while Lex smirked at them all, a wicked triumph in his eyes. Every hero who had walked into his domain was now fully present and accounted for. Victory was his!
"Let it be known on this day that I managed to stop the Man of Steel, the Girl of Steel, and all of his petty little associates!" he bellowed with his arms raised high. He still wanted nothing more than to be recognized as a hero and a god, but since it seemed that those days were long gone, he could at least revel in the fact that he really had done something that no man had ever done before: beat two Kryptonians! (Or at least, he was about to). With his victory assured, he switched all of his machinery back to factory settings. The slaughterhouse came to life once again.
But even though Lex had managed to beat two Kryptonians, he hadn't even considered a third. He never got the chance to either, Linda taking Flash's words to heart and genuinely hitting Lex on the back of the neck with every ounce of strength in her body. She had wanted so desperately to make him proud that she did not hold back. Lex's head went flying off of his shoulders at a speed that would've been comical, had the end result not been so horrific or graphic. With him dead, then, Linda caught sight of the little control panel that he'd been using to work the slaughterhouse. She remembered Flash's second command and, with an eager and hopeful expression, she quickly stomped it into the ground. She also succeeded in stomping a hole straight through the floor of Lex's cell, but that was lost on her as she continued to crush the controller until it was only a pile of plastic chips and wires bathed in Lex's blood.
Meanwhile, back at the slaughterhouse, all the machinery suddenly came to a halt.
"It worked!" Lena shouted at once and all the others realized that it was true. Her cunning little plan to draw Lex's attention away had worked. He'd been so fixated on her and the rest of his enemies that he totally forgot to pay attention to himself. It cost him his life.
"Thank goodness!" Nia, Brainy, Flash and some of the meeker members of the Superfriends wasted no time in squeezing their way out of their metal binds. The others, meanwhile, grunted and groaned as they escaped their steel confinements. So that was the end of it. Lex was dead, the slaughterhouse was permanently shut down, the controller to it had been destroyed, and all the clones had been killed as well. Since Lex knew that the Superfriends would be coming that night, he'd quickly disposed of all of the remaining alien clones and stopped production.
"Well, actually," Winn began. "There is still one last clone..."