Chapter 49

Certain statements happened to be cliche. However, when it rained it poured. Harry surveyed the damage. Gwen, Cassie, Nora, and Jesse all recovering from the battle with the brainwashed and crazy Blue Beetle. And Sam having gone full Worldkilller. They just managed to enact this plan while Harry was preoccupied with the incident on Gemworld. Harry realized it was set up to keep his attention off Earth.

Lena sat up and drank a long swig of water. Harry put his hand on her shoulder. She jumped slightly, but relaxed.

"Are you okay?"

"Physically, yes," Lena said. "But, emotionally, it's an entirely other matter. I let Sam out, thinking that I would be able to distract Ruby long enough to, well for something to happen. I had no idea she was that far gone that she would kill her mother."

"Someone's in her ear," Harry said. "To think I thought rescuing the League Six were the most frustrating thing I was going to have to deal with today."

This particular statement caused Lena pretty much to jump at him with a jolt.

"Wait, you know where they are?"

"Apokolips. I found out when I was….well that's a long story. And one that I really don't have any time."

Apokolips, which meant Darkseid, which meant any trouble. Feelings aside, Lena knew she had to get in touch with Selene, and tell her about this problem. And enlist the help of the Team.

"She was, just too much," Impulse said. "And the scary thing is what it was not the scarab doing it, it was Ruby. Maybe, maybe, it wasn't the scarab falling into the control of the Reach we had to worry about."

"Given her world killer blood, you're worried."

Nora Darhk turned up, with a piece of the Starlight in her hand. She somehow knew they would need it to deal with with the problem.

"We can find Sam and bring her back using this," Nora said. "But, Ruby's going to be more difficult. If she's linked into the full power of the Scarab, it may shield her from the Starlight. Fortunately, there might be a solution we can use to break the connection and get through with her."

Nora put up the image of a temple. Harry recognized it, as did Impulse.

"It's in Biayla. It's been guarded by Aunt Marina for years. Originally, I think the intent was to use it if the Reach became a problem. But, with a slight modification, you can break through with Ruby and save her from it. And your...unique ability to charm women could do the next."

Harry figured as much.

"We're going to have to get as much help as possible," Harry said. "The magic involved is going to need to be strong."

"Well, I'll get all of the information on the temple as possible, and meet you back," Nora said.

Impulse started to nervously fidget. While she managed to save Aresia and put out one fire, there was another fire which had just blown open. And this might have been an even worse one created.

"How can I help?"

"We...we can handle this," Nora said.

"But, this is my fault! I should have been fast enough. But I wasn't fast enough. I'm never fast enough!"

"You can't think like that," Harry told Nora. "Just take a deep breath, and we'll figure this out. We might need your help after all, but you need your head in the game."

"Right, right, head in the game. I can do that. I can fix this."

Reign bolted out of the direction. The shackles of the weak and pathetic human woman who held her back had finally been erased. The Worldkiller freed herself and felt beyond liberated. She spread her wings and prepared to fry.

A few more shadowed figures appeared next to Reign. Her sisters. And the dark haired woman dressed in black stepped up in front of her.

"Reign?"

"You're not one of us," Reign said. "But, you have great power."

"Is Samantha Arias gone?"

Each memory fragment flickered. It was like shadows from the past life hitting her.

"Each second that passes, she's further in the distance. I will serve my purpose and will bring about order ot the world. A new age will rise."

The woman just smiled. Whatever Reign said appeased the woman. The woman motioned Reign to come forward and motioned for her. Despite the great power the woman wielded, Reign did not bend at the knee. She would not bend at the knee in case it was some kind of trap.

"Just who are you?"

"My name is Grail. I trust you recognize this seal."

A stone had been lifted up. The demonic looking mark flickered and caused Reign's mind flicker to life with the power. She recognized it and accepted it. She would step forward and join the sisterhood.

"Yes, join us. Join your family. For, he awaits and you will achieve your purpose. The new world is upon us."

Grail understood the power and potential all of these women wielded. While their Blue Beetle weapon had slipped through the cracks, she would be a valuable failsafe to keep the heroes occupied while the Worldkillers reach their final ascension.

"For them, there is no hope. There is only Darkseid."

Zatanna got the message from Harry as did Mareena. The two women slipped into a tower right beside Harry. The energy gate opened up and Illyana stepped up. Nora and Illyana exchanged a look of unease. While they patched things up a little bit, there was still some bad blood.

"I got your message."

Raven joined them. She could feel something. Something bad. Something which put her on unease. She did not feel this much anxiety since her sixteenth birthday approached.

"Thanks for coming," Harry said. "All of you."

"Given what you've done for us, happy to help," Raven said.

"We need to build up enough magical energy to charge the temple," Nora explained.

Illyana looked at the calculations. Something about them caused her to raise an eyebrow.

"You're reading this, aren't you?" Illyana asked. "I'm not the only one…."

"Well, that's going to require…." Zatanna said.

"I suppose it was only inevitable," Raven said with a sigh. "But, the trick is to lure her into the temple. Because the rune crafting won't work anywhere else than the temple."

"So, it's just us?" Mareena asked.

"I tried to ask Constantine, but she's currently with Wanda dealing with a situation in Hell."

The casual way Harry dropped that statement made several of the women stare at him. At any other time, they would ask for clarification, but now was not the time. Harry would have looked into that situation a bit more, but unfortunately, he had the entire thing.

"We got to get Ruby, and then figure out Sam….."

"The Shadow will deal with Sam."

Lena stepped into the room to join them. One could see this situation had affected Lena. The guilt of her mistake in letting Sam caused her to be affected.

"I talked to Selene," Lena said. "She agreed to call in some favors to find out what is going on with Sam. She did tell me there's a chance. A small one, that she's inside there."

"Always a chance," Nora agreed. "Thirty-six years of memories, real tangible memories are not going to be completely destroyed, no matter what her nature is. Although, the situation is dire."

Harry really wished he could offer assurance. But the truth was, with everything that had happened, they would have to put these fires out one at a time. Ruby was the one that was the easiest and she was difficult.

"We'll all play our parts and we'll do this," Mareena said.

"Let me know when you save her," Lena said.

A crackling in Harry's headset brought to life. Harry readjusted the ear piece to compensate for the magic pouring through the air around them.

"Dad, it's me."

The voice of Nora Kent-Luthor-Allen crackled through the headset.

"I've got sight on her. You can get to the temple. And once I lead her in, get ready...um are you ready to move?"

"Ready when you are," Harry said. "Zee, Mareena, get in position. This could get ugly."

Harry honestly hoped it would not get ugly, but he had to face reality. He had a teenager who had lost her mind, with some kind of super weapon. And she was half World-Killer. Harry studied Nora Darhk's notes one last time.

"If anyone can bring her back to life, it's you," Nora said.

The portal opened. Nora, Harry, Mareena, Zatanna, Illyana, and Raven lead the way.

"We're in position. We need to get her into the temple. You have a ten second window to get out and make sure she stays in."

"Right, I can do that," Impulse said.

"So, do you think she can pull it off?" Nora asked Harry.

"I believe she can."

Blue Beetle prepared to move to take down the traitor. Despite the Scarab's attempts to hold her back, which Ruby did not understand, she moved forward. Anyone who stood in her way from now forward was dead. She was tired of standing back and letting others look over her.

A blur of light erupted in front of Blue Beetle.

"What are you doing here? I warned you that I would hurt you."

"I don't want to fight, I just want to talk. You're...let's just talk."

"I don't have anything to say to you."

Impulse sighed. She wanted to provoke Ruby to chase her. Not provoke Ruby to blast everyone into oblivion. She walked that slippery where one wrong step could cause problems.

"You do. You know that this isn't you. If you don't get control, there are innocent people who are going to get caught up in the fire. But, you're strong. Whatever they did to her, whatever the Reach did you, you can snap out of it. You can still save this. We...can fix your mother. No one blames for that."

"I was the one that fixed her," Ruby said. "Just like Granny fixed me."

"Granny, as in Granny Goodness!" Impulse belted out. "Oh, scrap, this is...of course, of course, he's looming faster. Have to...have to stop him."

Impulse snapped herself. Focus on the mission. Don't get sidetracked. There would be problems with getting sidetracked now.

"You're strong. You can fight this. Just look into your heart and be the good person I can. Granny's using you."

'Listen to the Impulse. You need to let them help you.'

'You're always the one who is telling me to take the extremes. And now I'm unchained. Are you saying that I should stand back?'

'I told you to take extremes against your enemies. But, you're putting innocents in the crossfire. You're a good person, Ruby Arias. And you should not fall down this road. There's no return. You'll be even worse than Black Beetle. You'll be worse than the monsters who would enslave the universe.'

"Come on, Ruby."

Ruby armed the plasma cannon. Nora Kent stood in the face of the death. Yet, the speeder did not blink.

"Don't you understand. Everyone pushed me around. But now, I'm free. Finally, free."

Blue Beetle aimed the cannon at Impulse who dodged out of the way. She ran up the side of the building and blind sided Blue Beetle with a shot to the back of the head.

"Going to have to catch me first."

Impulse darted out of the way a few seconds later and Blue Beetle followed. She would be nothing but ash when Blue Beetle got her hands on Impulse.

Out of all of the things she did in her life, this might be one of the reckless. Well second most reckless, but pretty much up there. She traveled through an underground tunnel and stepped into a secret control room. Her source brought Chloe to this place.

Everything had been tied together. Lex and the Godfreys, and Chloe needed to know how and why. She accessed the computer.

The Godfreys had been working with Lex to seed mistrust with humanity. With what also amounted to a false flag operation to set up an alien invasion, with the Reach, and make Lex look like a hero when he and his team of Thunderbolts stopped them. The Godfreys worked for some kind of higher power.

Chloe prepared to download the files, hoping she could have them and expose Lex. After all he put her through, she really needed this.

"Hello, Ms. Sullivan. Long time no see."

Chills came down Chloe's spine. She pressed a button to activate her warm. The beefy hands of Lex's head of security Otis grabbed and restrained Lois. And then, the man himself, the devil in a suit.

"The damperings down here will block that signal," Lex told her. "You know something about you that I admire, Ms. Sullivan?"

Chloe only mustered a look of absolute loathing in Lex's direction.

"You have persistence. It's a pity you never quite had the necessary self preservation to get far in life."

"What are you doing?"

Otis tied Chloe to a chair and made sure the ropes were as tight as possible. A chain snapped around Chloe's ankles to further fasten her to the chair for good measure. Lex stepped over to Chloe and gently cupped her chin.

"I'm doing what's necessary to make sure humanity can stand on their own two feet. After I'm done, they'll never trust aliens again."

Lex reached into a case and pulled out an object.

"A little friend to remind you of the last time we met."

A doll, not unlike the one which possessed Chloe for years, had been placed on the table in front of her. Chloe realized some kind of camera must have been placed in the doll. She mustered the best "you bastard" look she could as Lex slipped out.

Well, this could have gone better.

Impulse charged around. Blue Beetle made headway and she could feel the heat. The doors to the temple in Biayla had been thrown wide open for Impulse to blow completely through.

"NOW!"

It only took Ruby a second to realize she had been led into a trap. Unfortunately, it was just one second before she had been trapped. Beams of magical light, interlocking kept her into place.

"Why didn't you tell me this was….."

'It's for your own good.'

The Blue Beetle, Ruby Arias, collapsed to the ground. Pulses of agony erupted through her body as the beams interlocked with each other. From the shadows, Illyana, Raven, Zatanna, Nora, Mareena, and Harry activate the runes on the temple and make her head feel like her head is splitting open.

"You were right, not enough power,' Mareena said.

Nora nodded. They all knew what to do. She leaned in to kiss Harry on the lips to get this process started.