Ordinarily, Kara would have made a tacticall retreat, she wasn’t ready to face such a lineup of Villains even if she had brought her heaviest armor. But now… now she felt confident.

For a full second, they just stood there regarding each other, then the Joker stopped moving his fingers, leaned back on the chair and sighed, finally looking up

Waving a gloved hand through his hair, the Clown licked his lip and sucked in a breath. “I suppose congratulations are in order, good job rescuing dear Ivy,” mockingly, he clapped three times and then smiled wider. “Such a pity what happened to her, infected by Blockbuster and magic, why, I heard it was irreversible.”

Kara let him talk, giving Kori a little more time to recover her strength, wary of starting the fight with her friend in less than ideal condition, not when his speech wasn’t affecting her.

She supposed the Joker’s little act was meant to cause anger, but she didn’t know Poison Ivy all that well… and her Cadmus personnel were already working on reversing the effects of Blockbuster.

“She has an impressive healing factor, you know, perhaps she can overcome the infection? It certainly made torturing her into compliance a frustrating experience… the scars just kept regenerating, you see.”

Now that she was standing in front of the Joker, Kara couldn’t help wondering if killing him was the right move... It seemed too easy an out for him.

She must have changed her posture because the Joker seemed to notice he had affected her and turned his head sideways. “Would you like to know how long it took for her to break? Do you think your little girlfriend can last longer?”

Staring directly at the Clown, Kara decided she was right, death was definitely too easy for him… and he was known to trick his way out of his eternal punishment anyway, repeatedly.

No, if she wanted something done right, it was better to do it herself. She knew of several beings who had their own personal hellish dimensions, how hard could it be to build one herself?

Kara’s armor screamed, her telepathic blocker far from enough to defend against Grodd’s mental assault, the device exploded inside her helmet and the pain hit her, needles seeming to pierce her entire body.

Instead of flinching, Kara attacked.

Wearing her rage like a shield, she trusted the Courage of Mehen to keep her in the fight and flew straight at Grodd. Her shoulder gun opened fire aimed at the Joker’s head, the stream of bullets bouncing against a floating spell circle.

Circe frowned, one hand extended to keep the magical shield from breaking under the constant hail of projectiles, while the other made a wave, transfiguring a giant hand from the wall that grasped towards Kara.

The Joker laughed unconcerned, a sound that started normal but quickly descended into a mad, uncontrolled crackle, his fingers starting to move again.

Major Force leaped at her, both hands glowing with power. Actually matching her speed, he punched out like a boxer, aiming straight for Kara’s head.

Without losing momentum, Kara flew between the stone hand’s fingers, too fast for the spell before meeting Major Force head-on.

Catching his fist, she watched his eyes widen as she twisted his glowing hand to the side and countered with a punch to the kidney, the impact sending a shockwave that pushed the green mist away from her location.

Major Force coughed, starting to fly back down but, before he could, Kara adjusted her grip and pulled him back while using her other hand to lift the man over her head and throw him straight up. “SHAZAM!”

The lightning came down on her head, striking the villain on the back and making him scream before dispersing into smaller bolts of electricity that illuminated the entire underground floor.

From below, Red Volcano stomped the ground, sending a large piece of asphalt flying up at her, the material starting to melt from the heat of his thermokinesis.

Kori attacked, coming right behind the lightning bolt, she grabbed Major Force by the back of the head and threw him at the boulder with all her strength.

The villain flew down at tremendous speed, hitting the boulder face first and exploding through the asphalt before hitting the bare ground with enough strength to make it shake, then Kori fell on top of his back, pushing the green mist away with the impact and creating a crater.

Momentarily leaving both villains to the woman, Kara shifted her focus and flew straight at Grodd, Circe, and the Joker. All around her, roots started attacking, piercing the ceiling or lifting from the ground to halt her movement, but she was too fast and the Joker was only human.

He could somewhat predict her movements, but he simply wasn’t fast enough to catch her without overwhelming numbers or a distraction.

The pain she was feeling seemed to multiply tenfold, the familiar feeling of nails piercing her skull intensifying so much that she halted midair and cradled her head with both hands, a root wrapping around her arm.

“Useless,” Grodd said in her mind. “Why continue to struggle? It’s only a matter of time before I get inside your mind, give up and I’ll make it painless.”

A second root wrapped around her leg, then a third gripped her chest and another managed to damage her shoulder gun while she struggled with the mental assault. Behind her, she heard Red Volcano speaking. “Access: Black Adam.”

Damn, he had gotten his hands on Amazo’s tech! Taking a deep breath, Kara relaxed, letting the pain pass through her body, she could handle it, she had felt worse.

She wasn’t about to lose here.

Grodd snorted, causing her pain to intensify yet again… it only served to make her angrier.

With a scream, she strained her muscles and ripped her way free of the roots, then had to twist aside as Circe blasted a bolt of magic at her previous position. The spell so powerful it burned through the roots and the floors behind them in a straight line before disappearing up into the sky.

For the first time, Grodd moved, lifting a hand to his temple, his attack temporarily halted to gather strength. Circe also waved her arms, transfiguring the rubble into hundreds of magically enhanced birds.

Kara rushed Grodd, the Villain finally struck, but she drowned the new wave of pain with a scream of Shazam that called lightning toward him and forced Circe on the defense again.

Unfortunately, the demigoddess was no longer rattled, managing to form a shield with one hand while sending another blast of magic with the other. Kara decided to take the hit.

Widening his eyes, the ape roared, sending a blast of telekinesis down at her while uselessly trying to jump away, his movements far too slow. The desperate move didn’t stop her, but together with the shield, it saved his life.

Kara had been aiming for his head, instead, her fist broke through the shield and hit his large belly, piercing through his enhanced muscle like it was tissue paper and bursting out of his back.

Circe’s magic blast hit her on the shoulder before she could finish the job, overcoming her armor’s defenses and burning a hole through its metal plates to reach her flesh, the impact sending her flying away from the ape.

Twisting midair, Kara dug her fingers into the ground, enhancing it with her protection field, but she still slid twenty meters before stopping.

Grodd screamed, mouth open impossibly wide as he instinctively pressed a hand to his belly, trying to keep from bleeding out while he walked towards the portal, in too much pain to continue his mental assault.

Staring at Circe, Kara flicked her arm aside, getting rid of Grodd’s blood and guts before touching the hole in her armor to check the angry bruise it had left on her skin.

Red Volcano came flying between them, metal body bouncing on the ground before hitting one of the garage’s support beams and stopping. “Unfortunate that I didn’t have time to modify Professor Ivo’s tech,” he growled, shaking his head and starting to get up. “Access: Wotan.”

Red Volcano just made a mistake.

Exploding into motion, Kara dodged another bolt of magic and switched targets, attacking the android before he could recover or change templates into Black Adam again. Red Volcano managed to erect a magical barrier, but Kara punched right through it with her Nth metal gauntlet.

The impact pushed him back into the support beam with a dent in his armor then, using all her strength, Kara stomped on his head, her greaves caving in his metallic skull with such force it crushed most of it, sending one of his eyes and a lot of electronics flying and smashing his body through the pillar.

Flying back, she dodged a third magic blast from Circe and used another lightning bolt to wipe out her transfigured birds.

Sparing a glance to the side, Kara saw Kori fighting Major Force, the Villain manifesting metal spikes and using energy blasts to try and hit her friend without much success. But Kori also couldn’t close the distance.

With a smile, Kara noticed some of her spare drones had finally arrived, descending into the parking lot from the same hole in the ceiling she had used and opening fire upon the Joker.

Circe reacted fast enough to protect him again, an angry look on her face as she knew she’d have to play defense once more.

The Joker took a look around and sighed, finally getting up from his chair. “Ah, it was fun while it lasted,” with grace, he took off his gloves and dropped them on the ground before patting his purple suit. “I suppose I should be going.”

No, he wasn’t escaping here.

Narrowing her eyes, Kara flew at him, ready to fight Circe head-on. The witch was in no way weak at close range, having traded blows with Wonder Woman before, but it should be easier than facing her magic.

Before she was halfway toward the bastard, the world seemed to lose color, her movements slowing down and the distance seeming to stretch between them with every meter she flew.

Stopping in place, Kara heard clapping. Turning to her left, she saw Black Adam standing with his arms crossed beside a larger super… no, he wasn’t Black Adam, he was slightly smaller, with less harsh features and lacking the malice she had felt from the villain.

She was seeing Teth-Adam.

The clapping came from the second man, he was blonde with a square jaw and sharp eyebrows, his clothes were white, with a flamboyant green cape and blue eyes that looked at her with mirth.

“Impressive,” the man said, a smile on his face. “I honestly didn’t expect you to achieve so much here.”

Kara set her computer to analyze the situation before drawing upon the Wisdom of Zehuti, but it didn’t answer, somehow, she was isolated from her powers. Glancing at Circe and Joker, she noticed they hadn’t moved, their bodies having gained a gray color.

Stepping back on the floor, she narrowed her eyes at the man. “Who are you?”

“Me? You may call me Neron,” he bowed a kind smile on his face. “How about I make you an offer?”

Briefly, Kara glanced at the infernal portal, the only thing to retain its color inside. So this was the demon helping the Joker, or perhaps it was the other way around?

Kara didn’t recognize the bastard, so he probably wasn’t one of the more dangerous demons, nothing like Trigon at least, but she didn’t claim to know every single being in DC, and he could be lying about the name.

“You have nothing I want.”

“Really? I doubt that.” Neron shook his head. “No, everyone is selfish, everyone has a price and, while I don’t claim to be omnipotent, there is much I could do for you.”

Kara glanced at her armor, but it hadn’t been able to find a solution out of the demon’s spell. They weren’t in a different dimension and he hadn’t accelerated time for them, even her magic sensors weren’t picking anything.

“Let me rephrase then, you have nothing I’m willing to sell my soul for.”

Talking about souls… Teth-Adam should still be bound to the Amulet, had the demon managed to form some kind of soul communication? Is that why she didn’t feel her divine blessings? She was only borrowing them through Teth-Adam after all.

“Well then, it’s good that that’s not what I’m after,” Neron put his arms behind his back and started walking around her. “No, I merely ask that you retreat from the battlefield, in exchange, I could heal you fully?

“Yes, I do believe that missing leg can be quite uncomfortable, and your insides don’t seem to be right either, I could help them settle… or even restore your original body, healthy and unchanged, a Kryptonian doesn’t need all those unwanted additions.”

Kara growled with anger, how the hell did he know about her body? And after she had gone through all the trouble of creating her Forge persona.

“So you offer me something I’ve already solved? You’re not very good at this, are you?”

Kara had to confess that getting rid of the last traces of Psion’s meddling in her body was tempting, very tempting, but not enough to make a deal with a demon, much less spare the Joker.

For the first time, Neron lost his smile. Behind the demon, Teth-Adam snorted in amusement.

“Would you care for an exchange then? You have achieved your objective here, rescued Ivy, and dealt with the Injustice League, but there are still those who threaten your family. I can tell you Vandal Savage’s location? With the petulant child wounded, you could easily deal with him.”

Kara hesitated, Alan had managed to deal a strong blow against Klarion, it gave her a unique opening to Vandal, yes, the immortal would still have protections, but she doubted they would match a Lord of Chaos, not in such short order, if only she could locate him…

The Joker’s new team would be trouble, but he had already proved ready to betray one team, and Circe was a misandrist, the new team wouldn’t last very long.

“And what about vengeance?” Neron regained his smile, standing right in front of the Infernal portal and taking an arm off his back to offer her his hand. “Surely you don’t think your Uncle’s plans to save Krypton failed without interference? Would you like the names of the ones responsible? They’re still alive.”

“What?” Kara froze, her heart skipping a beat. Someone had caused Krypton’s explosion? Her Krypton? “Who?”

In hindsight, Kara realized how unlikely it was for her planet to explode without a culprit, and she had read something about Brainiac or Zodd being the causes in some universes, but she knew for a fact they hadn’t done it to her planet.

Had someone planned it all? Murdered her mother, her father, everyone she had ever known in this life…

Kara’s arms started shaking, the red light of rage starting to overcome her self-control and spilling out into the place, giving it a new color besides the usual gray.

She wanted to scream, to attack him and beat the information out of the demon, but her training with Alan allowed her to remain in place, even if it took a lot of effort. “Fuck you.”

“What?”

“Fuck you,” Kara said between her teeth, the words almost hurting. She wanted to know who was responsible, she wanted to tear out their spine and send their souls deep within the Phantom Zone to be utterly consumed by its owner, but she refused to be manipulated. “No, I don’t need you for any of that.”

“Ah, how… regrettable,” Neron said, lowering his hand. “Still, the offers shall remain open. I’m sure I’ll see you again when you’re desperate enough…  although the price will be much higher then.”

Behind the Demon, the world started moving again, although Kara didn’t regain her powers and the world didn’t lose its gray colors. Widening her eyes, she realized Neron planned to keep her trapped here anyway, unable to stop the Villains from leaving or even help Kori fight them.

With a roar of rage, she launched a shard of red light at the demon, but he swatted it aside with contemptuous ease and turned to watch Kori still fighting Major Force, the Villain getting closer and closer to hitting her with his powers.

“What about you, have you come to a decision yet?” Neron asked, glancing sideways at Teth-Adam.

“I have dealt with your kind before, even kept one by my side for a time, nothing good ever came out of it,” the ancient Kandaquian shook his head. “ Perhaps if you had offered the worm that previously wore my prison, I’d have considered it, but no, much as I desire my freedom back, I’ll not take an honorable woman’s body. That much of my old self remains.”

“That… is even more disappointing,” Neron nodded, his face turning into a scowl before he turned back to Kori. “Very good form, I wonder if she’ll survive the fight alone?”

Kara stared at the situation, watching Grodd stumble into the infernal portal. She tried to blast him with heat vision, but it didn’t work and, when she sent another shard of red light, the demon blocked them.

Circe motioned with her arm, pulling Red Volcano’s remains from under the rubble, his damaged head and one of his arms stayed behind but she threw the rest into the portal before turning to Kori and starting to cast another spell.

Teth-Adam stared at Kori fighting and sighed. “Enough, I tolerate your games as I wanted to meet the one who wielded my powers, but you test my patience.”

“Oh,” Neron lifted a sharp eyebrow. “And what exactly can the shade of a fallen hero do?”

Out of the gray dimension, Major Force finally hit Kori with one of his blasts, sending the woman flying back nearly 30 meters before she finally hit the ground.

With a word of power, Circe finished her spell, and golden chains wrapped around Kori’s body before she could recover, pulling her down and dragging her closer until the Major could grab her by the face.

Kara tried to fly, but the world seemed to stretch again, preventing her from gaining any ground towards the villain, frustration and fear starting to affect her even through her rage.

The Joker stopped at the edge of the portal, taking the chance to look towards Kara, she noticed he couldn’t see her, but it didn’t stop him from taking a mocking bow.

Circe floated above the portal, waiting with the Joker while the Major lifted Kori and started to drag her towards them. Kara wanted to scream.

“Shazam!” Teth-Adam called, the lightning bolt piercing through the gray dimension and striking his chest, his body gained a few centimeters, his muscles becoming even better defined. “You may be powerful, but without a deal, you’re not yet strong enough to block the power of the gods.”

Neron’s eyes shone with green light, his hands gathering power as he moved to fight Teth-Adam, but the champion was faster.

Without calling on the wizard’s name again, he gathered power around himself, lightning cracking around his body as he lifted a hand and pointed at Kara, releasing a torrent of electricity, the bolt tearing the gray dimension apart before hitting her.

The world seemed to crack around her, then it exploded, snapping Kara back to reality with a thunderous explosion that disrupted Circe’s spells, made the Major stumble, and sent the Joker flying away from the portal, body bouncing painfully on the floor.

The witch dropped into the portal with a yelp and the Major took a second to recover, giving Kori the chance to punch his elbow and jump away.

The infernal portal finally started to close, shrinking slowly and cutting off the roots that were sucking its magic for power.

Kara felt her connection to the power of the gods returning, Teth-Adam’s soul fading back into the amulet, retreating farther than he had before

“Wielding such power as I am now will weaken me again,” the ancient man managed to say from the amulet. “But I have learned not to spare their kind, or let their plans succeed.”

Free from Neron’s grasp, Kara was livid, the red light of rage spilling from her eyes and surrounding her body like a halo. Still, she was coherent enough to know not to follow her enemies through the portal, but that didn’t mean there was nothing she could do.

Her glowing eyes turned to Major Force, one of Captain Atom’s major villains and someone who shared the same kind of body.

Yes, he’d do nicely.

The Major was fast enough to react with a punch, but he didn’t have the skill to stop her as she blasted through his defenses, drove the air out of him with a knee strike, and then grabbed him by the throat while he was still recovering.

The villain tried to resist, but she squeezed his neck, stopping him from focusing as she dragged his body over the portal. For a second, she focused her rage, concentrating the red light around her fist into a sharp spike.

The Infernal portal was barely two meters wide when she punched his chest, the red light pierced his metallic skin right above where the heart should be, then she pulled her fist back and dropped him, light spilling from the hole instead of blood.

Looking down on the closing portal, Kara could see Neron sitting on a throne surrounded by demons, two dark figures sitting at each side of him but in a lower position.

The Demon stared at her with a furious look, but he didn’t move. In front of him, Circe widened her eyes and hurried to form a shield around her and Grodd while the sitting figures snapped to their feet and flew away as fast as they could.

Unable to even speak, eyes starting to go vacant, Major Force’s body cracked, light leaking through the fractures and widening them until, with a metallic groan, his breached frame couldn’t contain his strength and exploded, waves of power simply vaporizing the demons around him.

The energy hit Circe’s shield, causing it to crack and the witch to fall to her knees and finally smashed into Neron, boiling his flesh away before starting to consume his bones, but he never moved and his glowing green eyes never left her.

Then Kara had to jump back, some of the explosion leaking back through the portal and cutting a line straight through the building and into the sky before it fully closed.

Behind her, the Joker pushed himself to a sitting position against a large piece of rubble, his suit was ruined, one of his legs was bent the wrong way and there was a cut on his forehead leaking blood all over his makeup.

He started laughing, then wheezed, coughed, and spit some blood to the side before laughing again and lifting his arms a little, palms turned towards her. “Haaa… hahahaha… Well, I had a blast. How about you?”