Chapter 63

Kal-El's body tensed and quivered as wave after wave surged through it, his muscles locking in place and a small groan escaping his lips.

In hindsight, Kara really should have deactivated the magical electricity running through her door's security features… Or at least reactivated the identity check after she was done testing.

Well, it was currently on the minimum setting, so even Robin wouldn't have been permanently hurt, but catching her cousin with a trap like that was still disconcerting, particularly when she hadn't meant to prank him.

Deactivating the device, Kara ran a hand through her hair, pushing a stray lock behind her ear with some embarrassment. "Sorry about that, I was testing something."

"Ahem… Evening, Kara," Kal adjusted himself, shaking a numb hand until he got the feeling back while giving the door a wary glance. "Don't worry, it didn't exactly hurt, I'm just not used to electricity affecting me so much."

Saving her current progress, Kara pushed herself away from the computer and turned around in her chair, focusing on Kal. "I'm trying to incorporate magic into my defenses, the discharge should have bypassed most of your resistance."

"Well, I think you succeeded."

Kal took a quick look around the laboratory, taking in the mess she had made while experimenting. Two of her Karabots were completely disassembled, with several half-completed devices spread around the room where she had tested one idea or another.

Taking a few steps away from the door, he leaned against the wall in a relaxed manner and stared at the lava wall, enjoying the view for a few seconds.

"Not exactly," she shook her head. "I still haven't found a way to generate magic, only use it when I have a source, but I'm working on it… Amongst other things."

"I take it the loot from those villains was useful?" Kal turned back towards her, lifting an eyebrow at her surprised look. "Most of the tech was gone when the League picked over the place, it's not hard to make the connection. I can also recognize Count Vertigo's device on your screen."

"It's surprisingly effective as a distraction, I'm thinking of incorporating the design on all my bots," Kara confessed, stretching her arms and getting up. "So, are you here to arrest me?"

"Does it look like I am?"

Kara studied him, her cousin didn't seem angry, or even disappointed, just a little tired. "Not really, but Kori said you wanted to talk?"

"...Are you done here? Want to come over for dinner, I don't think you've been to my house yet."

The change in subject surprised her, but she wasn't going to complain. Quickly glancing at the computer, she realized she wasn't going to be making any more progress today. Adapting Vertigo's device to work with sunstone was easy enough, but she was having trouble enhancing its effectiveness against non-humans. She'd have to sleep on it.

Kara also realized she was getting a little hungry and, more importantly, she really didn't feel like having a serious talk right now. Dinner would probably delay that. "Yeah, I'm done for the day, what are you making?"

12 minutes later, they walked into Kal's home. It was an average sized apartment in midtown Metropolis and looked almost exactly like his room on the farm, lacking any of the sunstone devices Kara employed in her own home.

Part of her felt relaxed at the familiar setting, but the fact he had nothing Kryptonian in his apartment just drove home how detached from his birth family he was. Despite her previous life, Kal was currently far more human than her.

Realizing that they had even less in common than she first believed made her feel… conflicted. Kara liked the more homely human aesthetic too, but she didn't feel comfortable without at least some crystals to remind her of Krypton.

"Come on, let me give you a tour, I hope you don't mind if we eat on the sofa? Or I can clean the table if you want to, it's easy enough to memorize the positions and Barry probably wouldn't mind."

Glancing at the maple wood table, Kara saw dozens of miniatures spread atop the surface in an unfinished game of Warhammer 40k. "How exactly could you NOT finish a game with the Flash?"

"Well, we try to avoid using superspeed, it's more fun that way… at least until some emergency happens and we have to leave things halfway."

Fair enough, and the Flash could probably think even faster than her cousin, so it would be kinda unfair if they did use their powers.

Catching sight of a picture, Kara couldn't help walking closer and grabbing the frame, a smile on her face. "When exactly did this happen and why didn't I know about it?"

In the image were Kal, Lois, Selina and Bruce having fun at a costume fair —Bruce's frown didn't fool her— only Lois was dressed as Catwoman while Kal and Bruce seemed to have switched costumes.

"Well, we went to the Gotham County fair on a double date, only we didn't know it was "Superhero Night"..." Kal laughed while entering the kitchen.

"And the girls didn't suspect anything?"

"Bruce told them he found someone willing to sell him their costumes for enough money, and he's a pretty good liar. Also, most of the costumes there were pretty on point."

Kara took in the picture with a smile, making a mental note to tease both Selina and Lois about it when they finally found out their boyfriend's secret identities… how the heck didn't they recognize the real costumes?

Then she got a glint in her eyes. "So, when are you going to start dating her again?"

From the kitchen, she heard Kal stumbling, grabbing the edge of the sink and breaking a corner of the stone. "Ah, well, the whole secret identity kinda messes with that. I don't want to hurt her."

"You do know she won't just wait forever, right?" Kara threw herself on the sofa, taking off her boots and stretching her legs.

"I… may have been trying to avoid thinking about it."

Kara just snorted, then smiled when she saw him bringing a steaming plate of lasagna. Martha really had taught him well.

Sitting by her side, he offered her a plate and started asking about her company then how she felt after acting as a hero in Phoenix for a few weeks, smiling when she told him about getting shot and offering his guidance about working with the police.

Kal's eyes shone with passion as the conversation naturally turned to his work as a reporter. He genuinely loved his job, even writing the smaller local articles, not just when he was using the Daily Planet to reveal some criminal conspiracy or cases of corruption.

The conversation petered out and they were soon stretched on the sofa, game controllers in hand as their characters struggled on the TV.

"You've got to be kidding me, another one?" Kal almost growled as he drove Peach off the edge of the road to avoid the blue shell right before the finishing line. Kara knew he was out of mushrooms.

He almost made it, the recovery from a fall being faster than the accursed item, but it wasn't enough. Kara just snickered as Bowser passed him by, earning first place once again and showing her utter superiority against her little cousin.

"Muahahaha, you're a thousand years too young to beat me."

Playing Mario Kart as a Kryptonian turned the AI characters into less than inconveniences, but Kal could keep up with her and, if they didn't accelerate their thoughts, the duo could still be surprised by items used at the right time.

The hardware limitations could also prove challenging, no matter how good their reflexes.

The game wasn't exactly a favorite for Kara, but there was a reason Mario Kart popped up across multiple dimensions and was so famous. And it was amusing to let Kal have some hope, only to utterly crush it at the very end.

Stretching her legs over Kal's lap, she leaned against the arm of the sofa and started another game, watching as her cousin chose Luigi this time, she went with Wario.

Before the race started, Kal laid his controller aside and put a hand on one of Kara's knees, briefly closing his eyes in thought. "About yesterday, Koriand'r said the Joker was still alive… Why spare him?"

Damn, they were going to have that talk after all. She hoped Kal wasn't going to act as if he was her father.

Well, she really, REALLY hoped he wasn't going to act like Zor-El or she'd have to worry about an Injustice situation, but having him act as a human father would be annoying as well.

Pulling her legs closer, she adjusted her position and looked at Kal's face, his smile was gone, but he still didn't seem angry. "Does it matter?"

"I want to understand, you didn't seem to have a problem killing Ultra-Humanite, or letting The Shade kill Wotan. Why spare the Joker?"

"I wasn't going to," she said, putting her own controller aside. "But he had sold his soul to a demon and I wasn't sure what the new owner could do if I killed him. It's also possible that he's connected to a curse from Gotham and killing him could make it worse."

"So you weren't just being merciful," Kal sighed, reclining against the sofa. "You'd have killed all three even if they had surrendered, wouldn't you?"

"And you'd have spared them even if they had killed civilians," she accused.

"If they were defeated? Yes, but I wouldn't pull my punches if there were lives on the line," at Kara's doubtful look, he shook his head. "The League may avoid killing, but that doesn't mean we're forbidden from doing so. We purposely left some wiggle room in the documentation we co-sign with governments whose territories we operate in."

"That's certainly not what it seems like, Wotan nearly blocked the sun only a few months ago. How the hell did he escape alive if you weren't being soft?"

"With help. Batman believes it was Klarion who rescued him," Kal confessed, then continued. "Kara, when we first formed the League, we fought to kill, doing our best to destroy the invading Appelaxians. Yes, they turned out to be energy beings, but we didn't know that at the beginning. The point being that the aftermath took a lot of smoothing over with plenty of justifiably nervous authorities on top of not feeling like we were being true to the League's mission. Also, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Hawks, even I have killed before, but there's a huge difference between killing a Villain while protecting people or executing them in cold blood."

"I know that, but I'm not willing to shoulder the blame when they inevitably escape and start killing again. How many lives could you have saved if you'd killed the worst of your Villains?"

"...Dozens, hundreds, perhaps even thousands," Kal turned away from her, eyes growing distant as he undoubtedly remembered some occasions where letting a Villain live had cost him. "But, if your goal was to save lives, why not program your drones to get rid of guns? It would be easier than fighting Villains and save far more lives around the planet. Or perhaps eliminate cigarettes? Those cause even more deaths."

"A slippery slope argument?" Kara huffed, insulted. "That's a fallacy and you know it, there's a huge difference between summary judgment and taking away free will."

"I know you know that, but, Kara, if people thought it was fine to kill Villains in cold blood depending on how bad they were, judges would be able to give out execution orders. You're taking away their right to self-governance and denying the moral authority of their laws. It's not as bad as taking away free will, as you said, but many have fought just as hard to earn those considerations."

That… was actually a good argument. It didn't really change her mind, but she could still recognize it as valid, and she could respect Kal for sticking to his beliefs even when it clearly hurt.

There was only one problem, Kara hadn't killed the Villains just to protect innocent lives. Oh, it played a part in her decision, but it wasn't even the deciding factor. No, she wasn't that much of a hero.

The fact was, Kara killed them for two other reasons, their crimes disgusted her and, most importantly, they could threaten those she loved. She was selfish like that.

Kal seemed to sense he hadn't convinced her, getting up from the sofa and walking towards the cabinet, opening one of the drawers and pulling a memory-stick before throwing it towards her.

"Here, I had a hunch I wouldn't be able to convince you that easily, but maybe some hard data will help."

Kara stared at the device for a second before connecting it to the nanomachines on her costume and downloading the information; she'd have to look at it later. "What kind of data?"

"You're right that Villains did tend to escape from normal penitentiaries, but our answer wasn't to just kill them, it was to improve the prisons. Belle Reve has been active for almost 7 years now without a single escape."

Knowing what she did, that didn't inspire as much confidence as Kal probably would have hoped. "And when that fails too?"

"Then we review what went wrong and do better," Kal said with a serious face, leaning against the cabinet and crossing his arms. "Come on, while I do my absolute best to avoid killing and Batman utterly refuses to, do you really think the Hawks, Wonder Woman or Aquaman avoid fatalities because it's the nice thing to do? The Justice League acts as the face of heroes around the world, it's imperative that we're seen as both strong AND merciful. Having people legitimately fear our involvement to mean life or death does nobody any good.

"There's currently an estimated 2.7 million metahumans in the world. Only 6 years ago, there were less than half that number. The thumb drive has information about new metahuman treatment both here and around the world, particularly in China. Would you care to guess which countries have the fewest civilian casualties?"

Well, that was a much better way of convincing her the Justice League was right than just appealing to vague ideals. If the data checked out, it would mean that the League, as the representative of the hero community, was actually preventing damage by being so lenient.

Not that they were perfect, but having an actual rationale was better than she expected… and more thought out too.

"Well then, aren't you glad I went as Forge instead of Supergirl? No way to connect the League with such a vicious murderer."

"Kara," Kal warned as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Sorry, I recognize that the long term game theory might be valid, but you know I won't change my approach," she confessed, looking directly into his eyes. "I'm not trying to be an extra-governmental organization running a marathon, Kal. If you don't want me killing those who threaten my family, catch them first, and make sure they stay caught."

"Then at least give me a chance to do that, you were planning yesterday's assault for weeks." For a few seconds, they just stared at each other, but it was Kal who released a long breath, his shoulders shaking. "Look, I'm not asking you to take it easy in a fight, but if you have time to plan things, then you have the time to warn the League or at least try to arrest them first. Do it for me."

Ugh, how the heck did a grown man have such good puppy dog eyes? He just had to resort to her greatest weakness like that.

"Fine, I guess I can try. But! That's only if they're not plotting to kill or mind-rape my loved ones," Kara grudgingly conceded, but only because he was the one asking.

Besides, when her company really took off, she was gonna be one of the richest people on Earth and lobbying cheap politicians was a time honored and completely legal pastime in the US. That Execution law Kal mentioned may just be achievable.

Her cousin didn't seem entirely satisfied, which Kara couldn't fault him for. There were still a few Villains she wouldn't hesitate to kill despite their talk, and he'd probably prefer an unconditional promise, but they'd both just have to live with the compromise.

"Haaaaa…"Kal said, pushing away from the cabinet, pulling a chair and sitting in front of her, hands over his knees. "Fine, at least I trust you not to take things too far."

"Thanks, K… Clark, I appreciate it."

"You're family," he just shrugged as if that explained everything and, in a way, Kara supposed it did. Releasing another long breath, he relaxed a little. "... You know I don't actually mind when you call me Kal-El, right?"

"But it's not how you think of yourself, is it?" She asked, glad for the change in subject. "It's about time I stopped treating you like you had the upbringing you never did but, honestly, I'm glad you found such a good family."

"Me too, even if I do wish I could remember Krypton," Leaning back in the chair, Kal ran a hand through his hair. "Alright, since I've utterly failed to change your mind, it's time to do the second best thing, tell me about the fight."

Kara lifted an eyebrow. "What? Are you going to go over what I did wrong?"

"If you want to? While I'm not able to help with technology, I do have years of experience fighting Villains… and Diana has given me enough scalding feedback on my battles that I've even learned a thing or two."

Kara had not thought about having someone go over the fight with her, but she did have everything recorded on her armor, and her cousin would be one of the only ones capable of following her actions even after calling upon divine power.

"How much time do you have?"

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Turns out Kal had to leave to save the day five times in two hours, but with their minds accelerated, they could still go over the entire fight dozens of times, noticing every single place where Kara had made a mistake.

After they were done, she had felt like she absolutely sucked at fighting, at least until they went over some of Kal's own battles and he messed up even more. Turns out you can make mistakes in the thick of the fight even if you have superspeed, or years of training.

After coming back home, Kara projected the data from her nanomachines into the wall of her bedroom, reading over the terabytes of information contained inside as fast as she could.

It seems like Kal's argument was not undeniably correct, there was just not enough time to really tell, but his approach did have merit.

The number of metahumans in the world was growing everyday and, while the vast majority could be considered nuisances, some were extremely strong.

A metahuman's first power manifestation was often in a stressful situation, and they needed time to learn control. That meant their first crimes were often by accident or far more violent than they hoped for.

As they gained control and skill with their powers, fatalities and even injuries gradually diminished and even went away entirely in most of the countries the Justice League was active in.

There were always the outliers, those who got drunk on power, never acquired skill or were genuinely evil, but the vast majority actually deescalated.

On the other hand, in China, The Great Ten were allowed to kill resisting metahumans, and Ghost Fox Killer periodically executed the worst offenders, adding them to her power, but that meant even average criminals often felt out of options and fought to the bitter end.

It resulted in most of the world having far more mild repeat offenders with some monsters slipping through the cracks, while China's metahumans as a whole were significantly more violent, and even a first-time offender could cause dozens of fatalities in a desperate attempt to escape.

It wasn't definitive proof by any stretch. It was uncertain how much of the data was thanks to local culture or the government, and the total number of deaths or damage was not that different when controlled for comparable economic factors, but the League certainly seemed to have adopted a valid approach. Of course, that only made Kara more certain that she was right.

She was helping the Titans because they had plausible deniability to act in places the League legally couldn't enter while still making it certain who was responsible, effectively projecting the League's power into places the Villains thought safe.

She had also created Forge to deal with the worst offenders, allowing the League to retain their image while still eliminating monsters like the Joker and allowing her to protect her loved ones.

Still, Kal had asked her to keep him and the League in the loop, and that was far more important than any moral argument he could have invoked…

Oh, Kara would still go for the kill against anyone she considered a threat, but no more executing defenseless Villains unless they were actively hurting her loved ones. Even if she was sure she could get away with it in any court that cared to persecute her, her relationship with Kal wasn't worth losing.