Enter the Superboy

Characters: Divine, Superwoman, Superboy
Rated: PG for Violence and Some Strong Language
Summary: Superwoman, continuing her investigation into the people she believes to have created her 'sister', Divine, penetrates a Cadmus research facility, where she discovers a second clone, this one a young man. Both are confronted, at least, by Divine directly, pitting sister against brother and sister both.
OOC Date: Decemter 24, 2017
IC Date: December 24, 2017
Where: Biotechnics Research Campus

US-13 North is a two lane highway that stretches from Metropolis to Gotham and beyond. Kept in fair condition, there's not really much a long the stretch of road. Most of the scenery is simply a small space a grass that melts into trees. This is only broken up by the occasional road sign and mile markers.
Between Metropolis and Gotham, there's a few turn offs for smaller roads and only one rest stop. The only thing of real note out here is that it is also where the Project Cadmus facility is located.

Ever since becoming aware of the existence of Divine thanks to the seeming quantum entanglement of her mind with Kara's own, the young Kryptonian known the world over as Superwoman has been trying desperately to find Divine, to find proof of her existence and hopefully to neutralize the potential threat she represents, while hopefully setting the other woman - her clone sister, if she is right about all of this - free from the tyranny that has led to her creation and her virtual brainwashing.

Kara believes firmly that there must be a good heart and spirit inside Divine, though admittedly there has been little proof of that to date. But she feels compelled to try, not the least of which because Divine is her sister, biologically if not experientially.

Thankfully, Kara has put together enough evidence to convince her friends and allies among the Justice Defenders that Divine's existence is not just a wild theory or a nightmare. And together they have worked hard to find more proof, and to narrow down the possibilities so that they can find Divine before it is too late. Or more too late than it already is.

The last piece fell into place after Kara found evidence of Divine's involvement in a DEO operation. That was enough to give the better investigative types somewhere to concentrate their efforts, finding links between the DEO and a particular organization known for scientific efforts under government contracts: Cadmus.

Further evidence gathering has turned up a rather interesting subfile in a directory listing: a project codenamed Kr, the periodic table entry for Krypton and Kryptonite. Whether this represents a weapon intended for use against her, or the possibility of bioengineering related to her own biology, it is something to be investigated.

And that evidence brings Superwoman flying very low, within arm's reach of treetops and roadways, using cover to disguise her path on satellite views and flying slow enough that she is merely a fast-ish bird, not an aircraft, let alone a transsonic superheroine. She's headed north from Metropolis, and inland, towards the coordinates for what would seem to be a Cadmus facility. That facility is slated to contain the fruits of the latest generation of efforts for Project Kr.

And that makes that facility Kara's target for answers. An encrypted burst transmission bounces off a WayneTech satellite to the Justice Defenders HQ, informing her teammates and allies where she is, where she's headed, and the current timeframe. Backup will only come in if she does not call them off in half an hour.

The facility is not obviously a Cadmus facility, having a fairly mundane and generic name: Biotechnics. It has surprising amounts of security, including an actual wall surrounding the parking lot that surrounds a bland three story building in white and green colors, with a sign out front. There's a mix of vehicles parked out front, but there's also regular security patrols, four guards in hummers, all armed with body armor and rifles, and more guards at the solid gate at the front, a pair of them in a guard shack there. There's cameras spaced around the facility, and as expected most are pointed out and down towards things that might come up to the walls.

But a significant number are also pointed upwards, as well as some more unobtrusive but advanced short ranged radar and thermal cameras, and small observation drones that do their own patrols.

Most suspicious, from the point of view of the Woman of Steel, is that there's a complex UNDER the facility…and she can't see into it. It's been sheathed in lead. But there are obviously many more floors below the ground than above…at least ten, from a reasonable guestimate, depending if the floors remain standard sized for height. There's also a fair amount of heat radiating from it, suggesting there might be a power plant in operation as well.

In the complex under the facility, inside of a pod no less that was labeled 'Project Kr', lay 'the weapon'. Unnamed and Unawakened, Project Kr. would be in complete and total stasis, with three small creatures, telepathic drones, force-feeding him an education that mainly relied on encyclopedic knowledge and generally prestine knowledge of human history (from what humans know). He couldn't hear…couldn't feel. He hadn't been activated, and the only kind of contact he had was with the G-gnomes..his telepathic programmers.

His containment suit was pure black, with red pipe lining across the suit that led to the red s-shield on his chest that Superwoman had made so popular. Even if Superwoman entered that part of the facility, she could feel solar energy…and Superboy was bathing in it inside of the pod.

But even in that area, all is quiet..like he's a sincere secret to the outside world, only known within the confines of the facility itself.

Low and slow like this, automated radar systems are not going to pick up anything about Superwoman's approach to sound an alarm, and even human operators are unlikely to pick out her approach as being anything out of the ordinary. Not impossible, but unlikely.

The same cannot be said for visual scanners, when they get a chance to pick her up. Approaching at dusk helps cut down that range, but even so the low-light cameras should be able to pick out a human profile in flight at a range of a few hundred meters.

That's why once she has had a good chance to check the place out, Superwoman stops messing around. She goes from just barely above fast bird speed suddenly to just barely below the speed of sound, whipping swiftly over the intervening space and bouncing up over the outer wall far faster than any human reaction could allow. The automated systems are sure to be sounding alarms, and people will be responding. But given what she has seen, Superwoman doesn't delay dealing with guards.

Kara pops up and dives straight down, slicing through a wall in an oval shape with heat vision and then punches the reinforced concrete out of her way in an explosion of stone and dust, then rips a pair of elevator doors open, punches down through the floor, and flies down the shaft in a wide spiral, avoiding the beams of emplaced weapons in the shaft and moving fast enough most have difficulty tracking her

Once Kara comes out on the lowest non-lead-sheathed floor, she rockets down the hallway and hammers her way into the doors leading to the next accessway headed down inside the location she cannot see - not yet - and within which she knows the secrets must lie. She has, so far, timed everything to avoid any significant injury to human personnel. But she can't guarantee that as well anymore. Only hearing and scent remain to give her warning of human presence, so things are going to get sloppier. She just has to keep moving as quickly and efficiently as she can, to find the labs.

To find Project Kr.

Alarms do indeed sound…but sooner than expected. The sensors for this facility are advanced, and meant specifically to trigger on the advance of metahumans. Oddly enough, Superwoman's profile is definitely at the top of the list, so a human-sized object moving at supersonic speeds cause klaxons to start blaring in a *mrraaaah* *mrraaaah* that echos through the complex. The surface guards are trained…which means they fall back to the armory to break out the real weapons, while the internal security scramble.

Even then, Superwoman smashes clean through the armored doors between her and her target, punching through concrete and straight through something organic, like a resinous material, warm to the touch, reddish, and infused with lead that continues to block easy viewing. The doors are much more solid here, made to slow down someone with super strength.

More importantly, capsules…or cysts?…along the walls split open in places as thick bodied creatures pull free, metallic helmets covering their heads as they take a moment to orient themselves, then turn as one and begin converging towards Superwoman's location. The leaders are in front of her as she breaks through the next door, immediately throwing themselves at her in an attempt to tackle her down by sheer numbers.

Elsewhere in the facility, a man in a suit picks up a phone, dialing a number, then says. "Director…Superwoman is here." There's a sigh on the other side of the line, then a man's voice, thick with the sugared charm of the Deep South, says. "Well. That's a fly in th' ointment. Activate th' self destruct, if you would. Any idea where she's goin'?" The man in the suit glances at a screen. "…straight into the cloning floor…she's searching.

Director Beauregard mmms. "Well now. We're lookin' at a family reunion here, seems like." His voice hardens. "Trigger the red sun lights if she penetrates Project Kr, then activate the bulkheads. It'll be a pity if she was to pass away, but then, we couldn't be expected to know she wasn't that -other- eeeeevil Kryptonian running about we've heard rumors of." The suited man nods. "Yes sir. I'll set them to autotrigger." The director hmms. "Excellent. Evacuate the facility, and do in the computer core."

Superboy can't hear a thing.

He rests dormant until Superwoman can manage to find her way to the innermost chamber of the cloning facility. He makes no move, no sign of life minus the beeping that monitors him constantly. Thus does he sleep soundly, as he's being taught the world in continuous fashion, not even a thought entered his head about how the facility was about to enter self-destruct, that arguably the world's most famous hero was coming for him, or that anything of note for that matter was around him.

So there he is, blissfully unaware of the events of the real world transpiring around him. Regardless, at the pace that Superwoman is in, she could likely find him in record time. Regardless of what soldiers attempt to stop her or what physical barriers remain in her way. Though not even Superboy knows of any traps that Cadmus has established…for if he awakens, who knows what could happen?

The huge, lumbering G-gnome enforcers try to pile on, and Superwoman responds swiftly, batting them away, tossing one into a line of the others, interrupting their advance. She keeps this up, never intentionally punching to wound or kill, only batting away attacks and using Kryptonian-powered judo-throws to disrupt their attacks as she continues to make her way further downward.

That this facility's sensors and defenses appear to have been specifically tailored to her own powers is all the clue Kara needs to assure herself that this place is exactly what she thought it might be: home to at least part of the conspiracy against her, and against Divine. Her clone sister might well still be here, downstairs. So that is where Kara heads, using the cargo elevator shaft to launch herself down without having to punch through floors. She doesn't have anyone with her to crack computer systems, so she has to make due with what she can see, what she can hear, what she can smell.

The organic structure smells odd, making it harder to pinpoint anything. But she can smell the ozone of high-energy conduits down below. And her hearing is picking up the sounds of heavy armored doors and bulkheads being closed down there, which makes that her primary target … hence the blasting open of the elevator doors at the bottom of the shaft, and then Superwoman has to find her way through whatever she finds here.

Where is it?!

At the bottom of the elevator shaft, the doors are torn open to show…well, more G-nome enforcers, including some that spit fire or use telekinesis, and a hallway that leads to a door. Oddly, this particular door doesn't have the armored blast door down she's seen closing on some other areas, and is in fact open at the moment but slowly starting to close again, possibly because some of the G-nomes were inside at the time. A flurry of fireballs and several pieces of lab equipment accompany the charge of the enforcers.

More alarmingly, the klaxon change tone, becoming a constant. *REEEEE* *REEEEE* and are now accompanied by a calm female voice. "Attention: Facility purge in progress. All personnel must evacuate immediately. Proceed to your evacuation route. You have fifteen minutes to reach minimum safe distance. Attention: Facility purge in progress…."

A large pod is center in the room beyond the door, gleaming white and high tech with some biologically-looking aspects feeding into it. There are other cylinders along the walls, containing floating…bits. There's a console near the main pod and others along the side cylinders. More technological banks of equipment are built into the biomechanical walls.

Superwoman's large maze run would most certainly lead her to to his pod…though once more he is completely unattentive and unresponsive to what happens around him, even if his G-nome 'protectors' are guarding the cloning chambers and making sure Superwoman doesn't infiltrate too far. Given, they manage to fail pretty easily, but Kon remains idle, and unused. Though the G-nomes may end up waking him as a last ditch effort to save themselves from a beat down. Regardless, there his body lays, pristine and ready for use.

Like any good weapon, he is sheathed until his time comes.

Superwoman's large maze run would most certainly lead her to to his pod…though once more he is completely inattentive and unresponsive to what happens around him, even if his G-nome 'protectors' are guarding the cloning chambers and making sure Superwoman doesn't infiltrate too far. Given, they manage to fail pretty easily, but Kon remains idle, and unused. Though the G-nomes may end up waking him as a last ditch effort to save themselves from a beat down. Regardless, there his body lays, pristine and ready for use.

Like any good weapon, he is sheathed until his time comes. Continuing to be unaware of what's going on around him. Though his telepathy is starting to expand little by little…so now he's reading the G-nomes minds for the briefest moment before they manage to keep him contained still. Subconscious efforts to be sure, but still he is, monitor systems on him completely functional.

Fireballs don't do a whole lot to Kara, but Superwoman cannot help the instinct to duck and cover herself with her cape. Still, she launches herself against the defenders, tossing them this way and that way - still not going out of her way to hurt them - and heat-visions right though the large lab equipment tossed her way.

With a whipcrack of air displacement, Superwoman launches herself right along the ceiling and then shoots through the gap of the still-closing vault door. "'Scuse me." she shouts, tossing one G-gnome at another to send them into a chaotic tumble and disrupt their efforts at controlling the door and other defenses. Instead, she heat visions the door's hydraulics and hinges, gumming up the works to keep them from sealing her in if at all possible. But then she's off!

Kara can see the pod, and she rushes towards it, at first fearing that Divine will be inside, trapped there to die when the facility is purged. What she finds is not Divine, but a young man. Raven-haired, he reminds her of her cousin, though all grown up from the baby boy she remembers. Could this be the source of the genetic material they have been using? Or is he somehow another clone or creation, like Divine?

What Kara does know is that he is alive. She rushes to the computer, interfacing quickly and initiating a dump of what data yet remains in this terminal even as she looks for way to open the pod. She doesn't even notice, at first, when the lighting - already red - changes, as red sun lamps snap on. She's so busy with the computers it isn't until she feels herself weakening that she reacts.

They have minutes to escape if they are to live. No longer having time to be subtle or careful, Superwoman rushes to the pod, seizing hold of it, shattering its locks as she tries to get it open. Then the red sun lasers blast away at her form as she finally triggers active automated defenses. She struggles, trying to yank the broken pod cover open, even as more and more of the red sun lasers blast into her, weakening her until at last … the telepathic attack of the remaining G-gnomes knocks her unconscious.

Little did Superwoman know that she already did more than enough to free him.

As Superwoman fell down unconscious and severely weakened from the power of the red sun lamps that were already releasing the appropriate radiation. it was then that it happened, even as hope seemed to fail and likely the Justice Defenders were already starting to move out.

Project Kr would awaken.

Seeing Superwoman, and realizing she bears the same symbol on her chest after looking at himself then her, the pod's sun radiation provides him easily enough power as he uses his tactile telekinesis to completely crush the red sun lamps without any sort of mercy or restraint. With red sun radiation no longer pouring into the room, Connor pushes the door of the pod -hard-, leaving it shattering into a wall, which crumbles itself. Thus does Superboy take his first steps, wobbly but true, then the G-gnomes attempt to stop him with a psychic attack at him….but the difference between now and then, is before Superboy was in a pod, unconscious and unwilling.

That has changed.

They find that he is -much- harder to take down with telepathy alone, until they are rejected completely, a telepathic attack from Project Kr easily knocks the G-gnomes unconscious….and now that they are alone, he looks to Superwoman, tilting his head at her. a piece of broken glass catches his attention…and he sees his reflection for the first time.

Like a child taking it's first true breath, he looks at the glass a moment, touching his face before he comes to the conclusion that this is what he looked like…he turns then to Superwoman, looking at her with a confused curiosity that he couldn't explain. Not with words. So he kneels down and touches her forehead then backs away, uncertain if she's like him. Regardless, he attempts to wake her up by giving her shoulder a light shake.

"…can you hear me?"

The Justice Defenders are not coming yet. It has not yet been half an hour since her signal. Indeed, that half hour will end just three minutes after the 'purge' of the base that has been put into motion.

That is probably not good.

Gentle shaking, and no more telepathic attacks, is enough for Kara to struggle and get her brilliant azure blue eyes to flutter open, looking up at … at the boy. From the pod. Now he is standing over her.

"Yes. I can hear you. But … we need to go. Self-destruct. Probably a bomb."

Weakened by the red sun lasers, Superwoman struggles to her feet, but leans into the opening of the pod, the white sun radiation of the pod flushing through her system. That helps a good bit, but it likely won't be enough.

"We need to go." Kara offers again, more strongly. "Can you … fly?" she questions, uncertainly.

Superboy has connected.

Superboy tilts his head at Kara as she finally awakens. "You can…okay." he nods a few times as he appears to be thinking. But his hearing senses are almost overwhelmingly in play. He can hear the sounds of footsteps in the next city. he puts his hands over his ears for a moment as he takes a moment to fine tune, his brain working incredibly quickly to help him solve this issue pretty quickly. Regardless, he looks back at Kara, a quiet "I'm alright." is displayed as he helps her stand up. Though even as she asks him her question, he tilts his head and he looks around. "Yes. Yes, I…I should." he nods a little bit, pointing at the Red s-shield on his chest. "Do you need my help?" he asks then as he looks at his 'mother' "..Superwoman?" he asks curiously as he offers her a hand.

Regardless, he would already start to float by concentrating, doing a form of a simulated flight thanks to his Tactile telekinesis. Regardless, he nods softly to her. "I…can hear it. We don't have much time.."

and when Kara is ready to go, she would find Superboy to easily be able to keep up. Though his form is wobbly and a little sloppy because it's his first time.

With his help, Superwoman stands. She offers the young man what she hopes is a reassuring smile, as she finds her balance and her strength, then walks to the control console, pulling out the unit she plugged in there, so that she can review that data later. It may well be all she gets out of here.

Everything except this young man.

Kara holds out her hand towards the floating boy. "OK. We have to fly, as quickly as we can. Out that door, to the right, then up the shaft. Hold onto me. We'll get out of here." Somehow. Kara tries to keep her doubt out of her voice; mind over matter. She doesn't mind, and this needs not to matter.

That said, Superwoman lifts off, and then launches herself towards the half-open door, scooping up the unconscious G-gnomes as she does so. Out that door, to the right, and she flies for the elevator shaft, rather wondering where all of the G-gnome enforcers and their Keepers went. This hallway was full of them. But now, they are all gone. Disappeared.

Kara cannot fly out as fast as she did in, thanks to the red sun radiation. But she's flying as fast as she can, as confidently as she can, leading the young man even as she carries the two G-gnomes.

Those three and the data on that stick may well be the only evidence Superwoman manages to salvage from this.

Project Kr jets after Kara, though as he's flying he manages to catch something else…a genetically enhanced wolf in it's cage. Seeing as how he shouldn't be the only one with freedom that Cadmus created, in record time he busts it out and carries it in his arms. For the dual purpose of saving the creature and so Kara has another piece of evidence. Regardless, he carries the creature with extreme ease, and he remains back on Kara's tail just as quickly as he left it.

Though despite his half-Kryptonian DNA, he's still equally affected, it's just not as fast and his powers start to wane. following Kara's directions as best he can, he'll carry Superwoman if he has to, but regardless, they appear to be making excellent time, all things considered.

Superboy has -many- questions, but for now his only concern is getting he and Superwoman out of there with the G-gnomes and the wolf.

"No, wait …!" Kara protests as Project Kr lets go of her hand, going to the wolf's cage. Still, she cannot complain. She doesn't want to leave anyone behind to die here if she can help it, so she respects his efforts. "Alright. C'mon, you two. Fast as we can."

Superwoman's admonishment is the last she bothers with speaking, instead leading the way purely by action. She shoots up the service elevator shaft, then down the hallway, past the devastation she created, and then up the ruined elevator shaft she entered first. Just a few floors up, and then they shoot out and through the oval hole she sliced through the reinforced concrete wall.

From there, Kara and her two G-gnome prisoners, Kr and his wolf, shoot out across the parking lot as she both hears and feels the first thundering ripples as the charges let loose …

They may not make it out of here after all.

"Jay Dee HQ, Jay Dee HQ, this is Superwoman. Coordinates … trouble …"

The explosions are intelligently set…rather than a huge crater, they blow upwards, the thermal explosions melting through the supports as the first explosion causes the upper building to 'jump' off the ground for a moment, before it come crashing down, the whole thing collapsing into the lower levels with a cacophony of screeching metal and secondary explosions. Soon there's nothing but a fiery mass of wreckage, and a tall pillar of smoke rising over the countryside.
Of more immediate concern, however, is that Superwoman's signal out meets only a high whine of static. A jamming signature.

There's an audible series of claps, however, from the figure hovering above the field. Dressed in black, a facemask hiding all but her eyes and upper face, dark hair mussed and short, as she hovers above the pair and their prisoners. "Great job." Divine says sarcastically. "Cost the taxpayers a few hundred million, but hey, where else is all that defense contract gravy train going to go?" Her eyes narrow as she floats lower, focusing on Superwoman, then Superboy. "…?" She frowns. "…I don't know what you two were doing here, but I won't let you get away with destroy a government facility."

Superboy manages to fall after the explosion and lands hard on the ground, but he kept his wolf save and sound, though the wolf is largely unconscious, he floats up then, looking at Divine as she arrives at the scene with her more sarcastic comments. But Project Kr simply gives her a tilt of his head. She looks kinda like him too. Though then he steps forward.

"We did not destroy the facility. It was entered in a self-destruct program. It destroyed itself….it does not make sense." says superboy then, but then he is distracted by the sight of the sky…and he looks enamored. the grass and ground that touches his feet. the sight of fire. the cool breeze that touches his neck and messes up his hair. He seems to just ejoy his surroundings….though he can hear the static from Kara's attempt at radioing help. Superboy seems enamored.

"So that's what the sky looks like…." he mutters softly to himself before his attention returns to Divine.

"He's telling the truth, Divine." Superwoman answers, as she lands beside Superboy and his wolf, still holding into the two tiny G-gnomes she saved. "And you know that. I would never destroy a facility like this and risk the lives of those inside, even if they were guilty of horrible crimes, which at least some of them were."

Kara has never seen Divine in person, only in her dreams, through their connection. But she knows instantly who this is. "I came here looking for you. To save you from them." Kara doesn't lie. Ever. And no matter the other woman's programming, she knows that to be true. She would feel it to be true. "I didn't find you, though I tried. But I did find him. And even before I found him, they had started the self-destruct countdown. I couldn't let him die in there. So I broke him out."

Superwoman lifts off, bringing herself up face to face with Divine, as golden yellow sunlight fills her body once more, rejuvenating her, restoring her strength. "They had red sun weapons. I would have died. But his pod was using white sun radiation to charge him. He busted out, and saved me. The pod gave me the strength to lead us out."

And Kara lifts the two G-gnomes in her hands. "These were with him. I don't know yet what they are, or why. But we did not destroy this place. And neither you nor anyone else gets to blame us for that. And you know it."

Divine folds her arms, narrowing her eyes. "I don't know who the hell he is, or what those little gremlin things are, but I don't believe for a moment you wouldn't self-righteously destroy a facility if you thought it was 'dangerous.' I know all about you, playing the heroine." She cracks her knuckles. "Not gonna fall for it. The Director was right. You're a public threat waiting to happen. And I'm gonna make sure that threat stops right here. That's MY job." She raises her fists. "I make threats go away."

There's no warning other than that before she suddenly becomes a blur of motion as Divine dives at superspeed, trying to slam her fists into Superwoman's stomach to knock her back into the burning wreckage.

Superboy seems to narrow his eyes at Divine as she starts to act like a little snot. Regardless, Kon steps forward. "I am Project Kr. The Superboy, clone of the Superwoman. To replace her, should she perish. To destroy her if she turns from the light." he states then…though this is likely what was crammed into him by Cadmus. "….but she is no villain. Even you know that…though your statement doesn't make sense..you have the evidence right in front of you…or are you being controlled too?" he questions.

But then Divine attacks superwoman, and Superboy almost looks like he doesn't know what to do. Though he starts to float, looking up at Divine after, looking her in the eyes. She would hear a voice in her head. "Why are you doing this?" the question was sincere enough, but it wasn't hostile. Though Kon-El was still attempting to make sense of the world, even he knew the difference between right and wrong, relative as they may be.

"I would never destroy a facility full of people, no matter what." Superwoman responds. "Your Director is a liar. I am not playing at anything. I have been doing all I could to help and save as many as I can, all around this world and even beyond, for almost two decades. And I am only a threat to those who would use their power to endanger others. So if your Director tells you I am a threat … then that makes your Director the villain. Not me."

As soon as Divine's fist lashes out, it meets Kara's palm, and as she launches forward at superspeed, Kara twists around in mid-air, throwing the other woman past her towards the wreckage she so wants to visit.

"I will not justify your blind, foolish hatred with violence, Divine. I harmed no one here, and I am not going to start now." She turns to Superboy, and tosses him the G-gnomes she was carrying. "Take them, and the wolf. Take the location from my thoughts, and go. I will meet you there."

Divine mmphs as she's thrown, but doesn't looks dismayed…nor does she go far, as she flips over and smashes through one of the walls, then floats up, flames running over her boots and pants for a moment as she idly dusts a bit of debris off her shoulder. "What's to stop her? She's had no training. She owes no loyalty to the law of the land. Look what she did here…if you didn't destroy this place, I'll bet you punched right through it, instead of taking it to the authorities." She shrugs. "And now? How does anyone know? You could say whatever you want for why this place is burning wreckage. And they'd believe you. Even if you did it, they'd believe you."
Her brow furrows at the voice in her head as she looks at Superboy. <Because you weren't ready. You need more training. You're the backup. Because I'm ready. I'm her replacement.> "Hatred? Of you? I don't need to hate -you-. Because I'm like him." She thumbs at Superboy. "I'm here to be a better hero. One that has a place. That doesn't do whatever she feels is right, but what the law says is right. What the legally elected in power say is right." She floats down idly. "The Director isn't evil. He just sees what will happen. When there's more like you, running around, having your fights, destroying buildings…towns…cities…countries." Her eyes narrow. "You're all a threat. You're all out of control, independent. Until you submit, you'll always be a danger. One 'accident' away from being Public Enemy Number One."

Divine pops her neck. "But you know the real reason I don't need to hate you?" Her lips curve up. "I'm -better- than you. I'm not some accidental refugee who learned to fight over years of throwing yourself at villains. I was raised from -birth- to be a heroine. Trained again and again, day after day, year after year, until I was ready." She points to Kara. "You're in the way of the future."

Divine mmphs as she's thrown, but doesn't looks dismayed…nor does she go far, as she flips over and smashes through one of the walls, then floats up, flames running over her boots and pants for a moment as she idly dusts a bit of debris off her shoulder. "What's to stop her? She's had no training. She owes no loyalty to the law of the land. Look what she did here…if you didn't destroy this place, I'll bet you punched right through it, instead of taking it to the authorites." She shrugs. "And now? How does anyone know? You could say whatever you want for why this place is burning wreckage. And they'd believe you. Even if you did it, they'd believe you."

Her brow furrows at the voice in her head as she looks at Superboy. <Because you weren't ready. You need more training. You're the backup. Because I'm ready. I'm her replacement.> "Hatred? Of you? I don't need to hate -you-. Because I'm like him." She thumbs at Superboy. "I'm here to be a better hero. One that has a place. That doesn't do whatever she feels is right, but what the law says is right. What the legally elected in power say is right." She floats down idly. "The Director isn't evil. He just sees what will happen. When there's more like you, running around, having your fights, destroying buildings…towns…cities…countries." Her eyes narrow. "You're all a threat. You're all out of control, independent. Until you submit, you'll always be a danger. One 'accident' away from being Public Enemy Number One."

Divine pops her neck. "But you know the real reason I don't need to hate you?" Her lips curve up. "I'm -better- than you. I'm not some accidental refugee who learned to fight over years of throwing yourself at villains. I was raised from -birth- to be a heroine. Trained again and again, day after day, year after year, until I was ready." She points to Kara. "You're in the way of the future."

Superboy seems to frown for a moment when Divine seems to backlash at him, though even despite what he says, he shakes his head for a moment. He cracks his neck then, standing up to his feet. Though it looks like he's about to take the fight to divine, he ends up getting g-gnomes tossed at him, which he catches easily with just his mind, picking up the wolf, he looks at Superwoman and Divine, nodding a few times before he jets out of there at hyper-sonic speeds only after he took the information from Superwoman's mind as discussed…

Superboy has reconnected.

Kara gave Superboy the location of her original transmission to the Justice Defenders. Given the timeframe, and the fact that she cannot get a signal out, Justice Defenders will be arriving at those coordinates in a minute, two at the most. And when he arrives and they find him, the wolf, and the G-gnomes, they will help him, and know what she faces before they get here.

She has done her duty.

"No one elected your Director, Divine. And whether you like it or not, murder is never right. Ever." Kara shakes her head. It's true that she has very little combat training; she has never needed it. But she has grown up with her powers for over thirty years, which gives her more of an edge than Divine likely can even imagine in the understanding and use of her powers. It's the hand to hand fighting where her clone sister is going to hold an edge. And that's just the way it is. Kara can't undo that, and she knows it.

"Any responsible hero does all she can to minimize the danger to civilians and property. But we do not choose the time and place of villain activity. All we can do is the best we can do when the situation begins." And Kara smiles - smiles - at Divine. "Like now. I have harmed no one. I have not threatened you, nor offered you violence. But you call me a rogue, out of control. Find a mirror, Divine."

Kara waits. She'll talk for as long as talking is given any chance. But when the fight comes - and she knows it will - she will meet it to the best of her ability. That's all she can do. She wants to save Divine. But that may not be possible. She may have to settle for saving Superboy, Project Kr, for now.

Superboy has reconnected.

Divine makes a faint tch sound. "…and now you're a bad influence on him too." she mutters, then shakes her head. "The goverment appointed the Director." Divine agrees. "Who appointed you? Or the other Defenders? People like Tony Stark? None of you were appointed." She raises her chin. "I follow orders. I destroy threats, instead of letting them crop up again, like your type do. How long until the next supervillain breakout in Gotham, do you think?" She smirks a bit, settling back to the grass as she faces off against her sister, the flames shooting up in the background, then reaches up, pulling off her facemask as she crushes it, revealing fully the face underneath…the blue eyes, the features so much like Kara's own as she lets the remains tumble to the ground. "I am what metahumans should be. Registered. Trained. Loyal." She slits her eyes. "And you just had the kid kidnap two beings, so I don't think you're exactly as pure and pristine as you think you are." She starts to say something, then hesitates as there's a crackling in her ear from the earbud there, as she gets an annoyed look. "…seriously..?" she mutters. "…speaking of which." And then she's off like a shot in pursuit of Superboy, trying to overtake him.

It doesn't take long for Superboy to notice he was being followed. Though he pauses, making sure the creatures were safe and sound against a tree. But the wolf looked at Kon, and they looked at each other for a moment and the wolf nodded, guarding the G-gnomes to make sure they don't awaken and run before Superboy turns around to fly at Divine.

It's like watching two supersonic forces smash into each other, with Superboy attempting to punch Divine right in the mouth with a sonic punch. "Do you want to have a choice? I know mine."

Divine takes off after Superboy, and Superwoman takes off after her, which means that when the two of them collide, Superwoman flies right up on them, seizes Divine and throws her away. "He's your brother! Are you so blind stupid and programmed you can't understand that?! He just woke up fifteen minutes ago, Divine! What the HELL are you doing?!" Kara is apparently done with the calm and polite, at this point. Divine is no longer offered a chance to choose her own path. Anywhere she tries to go to get past Kara, she gets Kara in the face. Period. "Get them to safety. I'll be fine. Go." is all Kara offers to Kr.

The shockwave of the impact blasts down the trees in the area as Divine grrs, then is grabbed and thrown away, using her flight to stop herself. "What the hell are you talking about?!? -HE- threw the punch!" She sounds positively aggrieved now. "I was just flying after him to get the two G-nomes you nabbed. The ones you kidnapped?" she says, trying to dart past, then pulling up short as Kara intercedes. "…you wanna not fight so bad, get out of my way, I'm taking them and you can…" She glances at Kon. "…HE…can do whatever he wants. "But it won't be overlooked that he was…that he left the facility with you."

Superboy seems to only be on self-defense, as he could have followed through….but he didn't. He stayed back and Superwoman arrived just in time to throw Divine back. Though at the words of Divine, Superboy approached, the red aspects of his pitch black suit started to glow, including the S-shield. "I choose freedom." He gives a nod to Superwoman before he grabs the wolf and the G-gnomes and speeds off towards the meeting point.

He has faith in his 'mother'

"I rescued them from dying when the damned base self-destruct went off, you crazed nutjob. I didn't kidnap them, and all I'm trying to do is see them to safety, rather than let you and your Director murder them out of hand the way he has already tried once today." Kara responds.

And Superwoman intercepts any and all attempts to get around her or pursue Superboy. "He chose not to die, and to save others. And you would label him a criminal. That's pathetic. Now, you back off and head back, or not. You're not getting to him, and you're not getting to them. Period. You think you can take me? Do it. Or get out. But if you stay, your cover will be blown. Backup has already arrived, and will be here in probably another ninety seconds, with plenty of cameras."

Superboy has reconnected.

"Crazed nutjob?!? You sanctimonious, self-righteous….you have NO right to take them. NONE. Don't bullshit me! You got them out, fine. But now you're dragging them off to your Justice buddies instead of letting them rejoin their people." Divine snaps, her eyes glowing red. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!!!" A pair of beams snap out, firing rapid fire bolts of red heat energy like a machine gun as she finally loses her temper, already shooting forward in a evasive, spiraling course as she uses the barrage for cover, then swings with both fists clasped together to try and spike Superwoman right into the ground.

Superboy keeps flying as fast as he knows how to until he can reach the Justice defenders. But even still, he looks behind him as if internally debating something. that red S-shield heralds his arrival…so hopefully, that's already enough influence for them to believe his story. Regardless, he can still hear Divine and Superwoman talking and how Divine lost it…but in this way, he's happy he made the right choice…by going to the Justice Defenders, and above all else, choosing his own freedom than by being a pawn to Cadmus and the Director.

Eventually, he arrives at the destination, landing a little sloppily due to his inexperience, but he stands up straight and looks around. He sets the wolf down, which is already apparently enough for the wolf to choose Project Kr as it's 'person' and then he sets the G-gnomes down, who are likely still unconscious. Then he waits…waits for what possible judgements may come. Waits for the dirty looks he may get…because he's just a ripoff of the original Superwoman. Awkward times are likely to come….but he'd still rather be here than in that pod.

Yeah. Kara's sister has a temper, and a lot less self-control then she ought to have. And that's OK. In truth, that's exactly what Kara expected; her own self-control is hard-fought, something she built over thirty years and more growing up on this world with powers beyond imagining. To Kara set her off. On purpose.

Superwoman does not get out of the way. She never loses sight of Divine, and she is right there, taking the hits of heat vision and not - much - caring, when Divine reaches her, and she grabs hold of her as the blow lands, and she takes Divine with her, tumbling end over end through the trees and into the ground.

Superwoman said she wasn't getting out of the way. Wasn't letting Divine past her. And she meant it.

This is going to hurt. Both of them.

So be it.

The two land with a *CRASH* that shakes the ground, digging a huge furrow of dirt and rock as trees go toppling away to either side, old pine groaning as it tumbles down as squirrels and a few other animals make a break for it. Kara is right about Divine's temper…she's been trained to be aggressive, to go on the attack. It's made her blunt. Made her lacking in restraint. But it makes her a very strong fighter…she doesn't flinch.

The impact is side by side…the slide ending when both collide with a rocky limestone cliff that cracks, pieces tumbling off as the rock face shatters. Divine kicks off from the ground, flying up to catch one of those falling slabs then powers it down at where her opponent is, trying to sandwich her even as she follows up with a sustained blast of heat vision, trying to cut through the rock and pin her. Every attack is multilayered for her…feint, counter feint, strike., even as she shifts to the left, flying along to make herself a harder target.

For the moment, Superboy is forgotten, along with her orders, as she focuses her frustration and years of indoctrination on one target.

As already stated, the one edge Kara has in this fight is her decades of experience with her powers. Divine may have been taught to fight from brith, but she was taught by humans. Her trained instincts are human. Her expectations are human.

As warm and wonderful as she may be, Kara Zor-El is not human.

Superwoman does not flinch away from heat vision, she blocks it with some of her own. She punches through limestone slabs causing them to fall apart to useless rubble. She doesn't bother with breathing, and thus is not distracted with dust and particulates. Her attacks are swift and reasoned, not propelled by rage or frustration or a need for aggression.

Superwoman's actually fighting intelligently to burn up more and more of Divine's time, trusting in her teammates to get Superboy and the G-gnomes and get them out of here. Trusting in them to film the woman attacking her, and use that as evidence of Divine's existence to unmask her masters' secret operations. And hey, if Divine is going to be all distracted, that gives them a chance to delve into the ruins of the facility and see what they can find there as well.

Superboy turns his head to the sounds of epic combat between Superwoman and Divine. but he keeps to his charge and remains put, though he's clearly fighting himself on whether or not to help. But he'll trust in Kara…as she was the one who saved him from that place. Regardless, he sends a mental message to hopefully help Kara «I believe in you.» and whether that would help or not in terms of basic wordplay, Superboy sent the -feeling- to her as well. he meant it in the most innocent of sincerity.

Then a message would go out to Divine. "Why do you continue? Please, stop this. Why do you let them use you as a weapon?" he asks in honest curiosity from one clone to another. he can hear the sound of every wood chip coming off those trees, the sound of every animal being knocked away…the sound of each impact against skin and bone.

Divine may have been trained in human techniques…but it's rapidly obvious she was allowed to logically develop those techniques with her powers in mind, in VR training to learn the physics involved in her level of power. If there's a 'weakness' to her fighting, it's that she fights aggressive…she doesn't retreat when she can attack…she doesn't back off when she can get in someone's face to keep them off balance. The shock waves from the impacts send booms thundering over the hills as the sisters trade blows back and forth, reason meeting passion, to the point where the smoke from the remains of the facility overhead are eventually blown back by the constant concussions transmitted through the air, revealing the moon in all its glory.

Finally the two break apart, Divine breathing a bit heavier as she floats back…both silhouetted by the half moon, Kara on the lit side, Divine on the dark. The black-clad Kryptonian tilts her head, her ears picking up the incoming Javelin approaching the area. Part of her wants to keep fighting…to PROVE she's better. Not just a copy. And Kon's thoughts in her head cause her to shake her head firmly. <No one uses me. I'm a soldier, kid. I follow orders. Otherwise, it'll all break down…>

Karen's nostrils flare as she says. "…I don't have time for this. Don't be too proud of yourself…you can't offer evidence of anything. The building is gone, the base melted to slag…and the kid…you wanna slap him with everyone knowing what he is, a clone, for the rest of his life? A copy of you?" The last is said more bitterly. "Do him a favor. Put him on a nice farm somewhere, away from all of this, if you care about him." Her eyes narrow. "Because if he come against me and mine…I won't hold back with him either. Or you."

Then with a sonic boom she accelerates away from the incoming ship, the ripple of sound washing over the area. <…good luck, kid.>

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