"Who are you?"
Both Supergirl and the alien bald man asked in unison as they watched a figure in a black-and-gold suit suddenly appear and catch the axe. The unexpected entrance of this newcomer left them both puzzled. This wasn't Iron Man, and whoever he was, he didn't seem to be aligned with either of them.
If it were the alien bald man, he wouldn't have caught the axe, and if it were Supergirl, he wouldn't have claimed, "Her blood is mine!"
Su Sheng's sudden appearance left both combatants stunned—and he wasn't the only one causing surprise. Back at the headquarters, the members of ARGUS were equally shocked as they watched the scene unfold via satellite surveillance.
"It's him!" Alex and Hank Henshaw instantly recognized the black-and-gold steel suit on the screen.
"I've finally found you!" Hank Henshaw declared. "Call in the team and move out immediately!"
Hank turned to Alex, his expression tense. "You're in charge of keeping an eye on him. Find out who he is."
"Leave it to me," Alex replied solemnly.
ARGUS quickly mobilized, heading to the scene.
"Who am I? That's a secret."
"Everyone has secrets, don't they?" Su Sheng casually weighed the axe in his hand, glancing at Supergirl before turning his attention to the alien bald man. He stepped aside. "Are you two still fighting? If so, carry on."
Supergirl and the alien bald man exchanged a look before rushing at each other simultaneously.
No matter who this guy was, they both agreed on one thing: deal with the opponent first, then deal with him!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The battle was intense—or rather, it was a one-sided beatdown. The alien bald man was strong and skilled, while Supergirl, though powerful, lacked any real fighting experience. The result was inevitable.
It was brutal.
Painful to watch.
Su Sheng almost felt bad for her, but he held back from intervening. After all, Kara was Supergirl, and fighting was a part of her journey. Besides, even though she was taking a beating, her Kryptonian physiology ensured she wasn't as fragile as she appeared.
Whoosh!
A missile suddenly streaked through the sky and exploded near the fighters.
At that moment, the alien bald man had Supergirl by the neck. He turned his gaze to the plane in the night sky, sneering before hurling Supergirl towards it.
Boom!
The plane exploded on impact, crashing down.
"Alex?" Supergirl spotted the agents inside the plane and, eyes flashing with determination, shouted as she flew towards the wreckage to save them. Meanwhile, the alien bald man marched up to Su Sheng, reaching out to reclaim his axe.
Su Sheng stepped back, then with a flash of movement, sent the alien crashing to the ground and swung the axe down.
Puff!
"Ah..." The alien bald man's right arm was severed in an instant. Su Sheng placed the axe against the back of his neck and chuckled, "Your axe is sharp. Shh, don't scream, or I might accidentally cut your neck off."
"Don't worry, I just have a question."
"Have you encountered any other Kryptonians lately?"
"Hmph, you'll never know." The alien bald man scoffed, suddenly lunging forward to impale his neck on the axe.
Puff!
The axe sliced through his neck, and he twitched a few times before going still.
"Damn, you think you're a samurai? Suicide after defeat? Why not just disembowel yourself!" Su Sheng muttered in frustration, pulling the axe from the corpse. As he turned, he saw Supergirl descending slowly, carrying a few agents dressed in tactical gear.
As soon as she landed, Alex directed her men to surround Su Sheng.
"Let me guess," Su Sheng said with a grin, looking at Alex.
Alex's expression hardened as she shot a quick glance at Supergirl before regaining her composure.
"Alex, what are you doing here? What's going on?" Supergirl asked, bewildered by the sight of her sister leading a team of agents.
"I'll explain later," Alex whispered, slowly approaching Su Sheng. "Who are you?"
Su Sheng glanced at the bloodstained axe in his hand and the black-and-gold uniform he was wearing. He almost quipped, "I'm Liangshan's Black Whirlwind," but quickly shook off the thought. Why had he suddenly thought of Li Kui?
"It doesn't matter who I am," Su Sheng replied, smiling. "What matters is what I do and which side I'm on."
"Be here at this time tomorrow, and I'll be waiting for you!"
With that, Su Sheng flew off in a blur of motion.
If this had been any other time, Supergirl would have chased after him, but right now, she was more concerned with her sister's sudden involvement with ARGUS.
Alex turned to face Supergirl, knowing that she had a lot of explaining to do.
Elsewhere, Su Sheng returned to his collection room inside the Codex. After stashing the alien's axe and grabbing a few vials of Speed Serum, he stored the Codex back in its place, changed out of his battle suit, and headed back to the apartment.
Jesse's progress was too slow. It was time to give her a boost.
Back at the apartment…
Jesse was working on calculations, her legs bent as she scribbled on paper. Her bare legs gleamed under the light, and the loose T-shirt she wore had slipped off one shoulder, revealing most of her left side.
Because she couldn't fully grasp the data while running at high speeds, Jesse was struggling with the suit design. Seeing Su Sheng return, she stood up and asked, "How did it feel when you ran? What were the wind resistance and body sway like?"
"Come here," Su Sheng said with a smile as he approached her, holding the serum.
"What's this?" Jesse asked, panicking as he injected the serum into her arm.
"Your father's research shows that Speed 6 can be upgraded to an improved Speed 10. Don't worry, no side effects!" Su Sheng chuckled, stepping back as Jesse's eyes began to crackle with lightning.
A gust of wind suddenly whipped through the room.
"Wow!"
In the blink of an eye, Jesse found herself lying on the bed in the bedroom. She stood up, dazed. The uncontrollable speed and frequency of her movements made her feel as though she was teleporting. After a few tries, she gradually got the hang of it and zoomed back to Su Sheng, excitement written all over her face. "You actually did it! I have the Speed Force! Am I the Flash now?"
"The Flash? No, you should be called Jesse Quick!" Su Sheng laughed.
"Awesome!"
Jesse zipped around the room, leaving trails of yellow lightning in her wake.
"Hold on," Su Sheng said suddenly, easily grabbing her as she sped past. "Don't waste the serum's effects. Use this time to really feel what it's like to be a speedster and finish designing my new suit as soon as possible. If you do a good job, I'll reward you with more Speed Serum!"