Years of hard work passed to get everything just right. Imra's Legion Flight ring had finally been repaired and she could return back to the future. Harry, Lena, Patricia, and Alex came to see her off.
"I knew this day would come," Harry said.
"Well, when I came in from even further in the future, you knew," Imra agreed. "And I had a lot of faith in Lena to get things done. She's one of a kind."
Lena waved off Imra's statement very casually.
"You better stop it because otherwise my head won't get through the door," Lena said. "And it was a team effort from all of us."
"All of those hours of work, months, years," Patricia said. "Well, I hope you have a safe voyage."
"See you again real soon?" Alex asked.
"Maybe," Imra said. "It was nice working with all of you in the past, the present, and in the future. But, we have a timeline to keep in tact."
"Maybe sometime I can see what the future holds," Harry said.
Imra just smiled, mysteriously. Harry understood how she could not say anything, as to not rattle the timeline. Very slowly, Imra leaned in, with lips pressing against Harry's. The two exchanged a long kiss with each other. Imra went down the line, and had subdued goodbyes with Alex, Lena, and Patricia, before she moved back and kissed Harry one final time.
"Stay safe."
Imra smiled and activated the Legion flight ring. She disappeared in a flash of light.
The second Imra left, Tess came back into the room. Lena took one look at her sister, who had a haunted look in her eyes.
"Imra gone?" Tess asked.
"You just missed her," Lena said. "Is everything okay?"
Tess answered with a shadow of a shrug. "I dozed off. It felt like I was having a nightmare but it was so real."
This statement caused Harry's attention.
"What happened?"
Before Tess could explain, Imra flickered into existence and caused the entire group to jump up in surprise. Lena turned to her, concerned.
"What went wrong?" Lena asked.
"Everything but the ring working," Imra said. "I just got away. I have to stop it, even if my future doesn't exist any more."
"What?" Alex asked.
"Today's the day," Imra breathed.
That chilling feeling which Harry had been feeling on and off over the last couple of months returned. Things had grown eerily calm with gusts of wind going off outside. Today would be the day something that happened. And Harry knew what was happening.
"I better contact Olivia and tell her to get the satellites completely online," Lena said.
"I'll alert the rest," Harry said. "If it's him…"
Harry did not need to ask the question. Tess's nightmare and Imra's frantic return back to the present told them all they needed to know. It was time for Harry to prepare for the inevitable battle with the greatest enemy. The one which Talia informed him would put the entire balance of the world at stake.
X-X-X
"Twenty years ago, on a day much like this one, life in Smallville changed. Mysteriously, meteors rained down from the sky, and changed our lives. Smallville had been called the meteor capital of the world and the ramifications of that evening are still being felt."
Chloe and Lois attended a press conference to celebrate, for lack of a better term, that milestone event.
"Well, the meteors aren't the only thing that came from that night," Lois said. "Not that either of us complained.
"No," Chloe said. "And speaking of which, do you know when…"
"He must have got tied up with Saturn Girl," Lois said. "You know how things go with him, a long goodbye."
"For some of us, we've lost a lot."
Chloe turned her head where Lana stood, alongside of Emily, Kyla and Alicia. Emily put a gentle hand on that of her best friend who smiled.
"Twenty years," Lana murmured.
"And for others, we have built a new foundation," The Mayor declared. "There are many people who overlook the strength and the valor of Middle America, and dismiss us. However, the real strength comes from what we do to build our lives and build our futures. We are Smallville strong."
Everyone applauded loudly at the Mayor's speech. Fireworks started to go off.
A loud bang caused Chloe to jump halfway into the air.
"Those fireworks sure are…" Lois said before she trailed off.
"Those aren't fireworks," Chloe said.
There were lights in the sky, but not from fireworks and not from meteor showers. Rather through several miniature portals opening and spitting out Parademons.
Chloe figured Harry should know about this right now, especially if it was widespread. The people of Smallville panicked big time as these hideous monsters stalked the townfolk.
With deft precision, Chloe slammed on her signal watch, hoping to get the help of at least one Kryptonian in the vicinity.
X-X-X
Supergirl zipped as fast as she could to Smallville, just in time to see the Hordes of Parademons coming down onto them.
"Hey, up here double ugly!"
The Parademons turned their attention from the terrified town's people to one badass blonde Kryptonian. Supergirl lowered the boom with a fierce attack to rock the Parademons back a few feet. Supergirl zipped from creature to creature and rattled them with multiple punches.
"That's right, get over here and fight!" she yelled. "Come on! Get over here!"
One of the creatures charged Supergirl. Supergirl twisted around the grasp of the creature and came down, driving the point of her elbow down upon her head.
One of the creatures blasted an energy beam towards Supergirl. Supergirl rose up, struggling to get to her feet up until the point where Power Girl dropped down.
"Keep your eye on the ball, kid."
Power Girl's strong lung capacity allowed her gale force to take the creatures down. They all crashed down to the ground with thunderous explosions.
"Come on!" Power Girl yelled. "Bring it!"
Superwoman came in, never one to miss out on a fight. She sent the creatures flying. They were just the warm up course for the invasion to come. Superwoman worked her muscles and started to pound on her attackers. The creatures all jumped. Superwoman caught one of them by the ankle and slammed it down.
"Here we go."
Another one of the creatures jumped on Superwoman's back. Superwoman rocked it off. Two more had been taken down by Power Girl and Supergirl. The three Kryptonian women linked hands and proved their teamwork was on point by creating a miniature tornado which sent them flying.
Saturn Girl appeared and calmed down the population. They moved on in ordinary fashion. One of the creataures jumped at Saturn Girl's back.
At the last second, Superman came down and clapped his hands. A sonic wave of energy knocked most of the Parademons down. Those who remained standing ambled off.
"Where are they going?" Supergirl asked.
"The real threat is coming," Power Girl said. "Wait for it."
Another Boomtube opened up. Things got a little bit hotter. Power Girl, Supergirl, and Superwoman stood side by side with Superman as a tall saturesque woman approached. Dark hair and ready to fight. And beside her was an even taller redhead woman in green followed by a dark haired woman who had electrified whips.
"Trouble indeed," Harry responded.
This trio of these dangerous women approached the super powered Kryptonians. The tall one, the leader of the group, brandished a large rod in her hand which gave off intense pulses of energy.
The rod sent Supergirl, Superwoman, and Power Girl flying backwards one by one. And another portal opened up, with the three women sending the trio of Kryptonians flying through it.
"We're okay!" Superwoman yelled through the communication link. "But, there's trouble in Metropolis."
"Deal with it!" Superman yelled back. "I'll handle them."
That left this trio of women three on one against Superman.
X-X-X
Superman face off against these three women. With Superwoman, Supergirl, and Power Girl sent off and Saturn Girl helping deal with crowd control, Harry had to deal with this situation on his own.
"So, you're going to handle us, aren't you, big boy?" the women with the whips asked. "Mmm, we'll see."
The woman withdrew the whip and cracked it in Harry's general direction. He dodged the attack and the whip came inches away from hitting him.
"Just who are you?"
"Darkseid's elite," the tall dark-haired woman said. "Barda."
"Knockout."
"And Lashina," the whip-wielding woman said. "And we're here to make sure you don't interfere in his plans."
Harry circled around them. The large woman, Barda, jumped into the air. She towered over Harry, who was no midget to say the least. Harry dodged the attack, from both her fist and her rod. And then Knockout swooped in, almost living up to her name by sending a huge rocket-buster of a punch towards Harry. Harry craned himself back and dodged a couple more attacks.
Seconds passed, with Lashina rushing Superman, only to find another woman appear and pull her back.
Wonder Woman appeared and sent Lashina flying. Lashina rose up from the ground and rushed towards Diana. Diana caught Lashina flush and took her down to the ground.
"Figured you could use the assistance," Diana told him.
"Glad you're here," Harry responded.
Knockout engaged another new arrival, Maxina.
"Well, three more notches for my King," Maxima said. "Once you learn some respect."
The Warrior Queen and the imposing redhead before her engaged in battle. The two of them fought, with Maxima getting the upper hand. It had been a long time since Maxima found herself in a dominating position, something which she relished when bringing Knockout down to the ground. A loud crack echoed with Knockout being brought completely down and the wind being knocked out of her.
Barda came back to the attack on Superman, with Superman dodging all of her best attacks and returning fire with some of his own. Superman flipped Barda over onto her back with a huge thud echoing through the room and came high into the sky before crashing down onto the back. Barda's legs buckled before Superman sent her crashing down to the ground with another thunderous couple of punches.
Knockout and Lashina lost their battles against their opponents.
"Regroup!" Lashina yelled.
Lashina activated a portal and she and Knockout slipped through. Barda came inches away from escaping, only for Diana to snag her.
Two of the three got away, but they had been left with a nice consolation prize squirming within the lasso.
X-X-X
Barda had been returned to the barn, wrapped up in Diana's lasso.
"Where is he?" Harry demanded. "Where is Darkseid?"
"He...he's waiting," Barda said. "He's coming. Granny won't be too happy with what happened. My failure."
The door opened, and Harry, Diana, Maxima, and Imra all stood up, just in time to see Tess walk into the barn.
"Barda?" Tess asked.
"Traitor!" Barda yelled. "You abandoned the cause. And us!"
"No, I wasn't a traitor, and you saw it as well," Tess said. "You helped me get away, but Granny recaptured you and reinforced the brainwashing. I can't believe that you don't remember, after all we been through."
"You can't lie to me," Barda said. "But, even if I...even if have doubts, it really doesn't matter. Darkseid comes for all. And Superman is the final obstacle."
"He's after something," Superman said.
"What Darkseid's been searching for this entire time," Barda remarked. "He's after the Anti-Life Equation and will stop at nothing to get what he desires."
Another couple of loud cracks echoed from afar. Superman realized something.
"Keep a close eye on Tess," Harry told Diana. "I've got to take care of something."
Diana responded with a nod and went to wish Harry luck, only to realize he had flown off before she had a chance to do so.
X-X-X
Power girl, Superwoman, and Supergirl squared off against endless hordes of Parademons. The trio of Kryptonian women fought them.
"Oh, of all the times for Astra to be unreachable and on Argo," Superwoman bemoaned. "Her and Faora both, we could use the backup."
'Going to have to deal with this one ourselves," Power Girl said. "Cut a path, we have to get to that machine."
That large machine, with a drill at the bottom, hovered over the ground of Metropolis. Power Girl could see it coming, the very thing she hoped was not going to come. She threw herself completely into the attack and bombarded them.
"Clear the path!" she yelled.
Supergirl took one of the energy rods from the creature and blitzed him with a violent attack. The rippling force knocked him down to the ground. Supergirl extracted the rod from the creature's stomach and plunged it deep inside of him again.
"Come on!" she yelled. "Bring it!"
Superwoman came inches away from the machine. Only to encounter further resistance. Superwoman blasted the Parademons with an intense blast of heat vision.
"If this starts to drill," Superwoman said. "It will reach the center of the Earth."
"That can't happen," Power Girl said. "Cover me!"
Supergirl and Superwoman formed a protective barrier to allow Power Girl to try and get in and shut the machine down. Unfortunately, there had still been too many of them. Despite the constant need of attack, attack, attack, the Parademons continued to violently rush forward and brutlize them.
From the heavens, came an angel of vengeance, wielding a mace. Hawkgirl slammed down onto them and sent them flying.
"So many of them," Hawkgirl grumbled.
"I know," Power Girl agreed.
Despite the pressure being on, at least Karen was able to shut down one of these drills. It would be a drop in the bucket compared to what Darkseid had plan, but one less thing to worry about.
The Parademons scuttled, likely to help protect the next target. Only Hawkgirl was not going to let them give chase.
X-X-X
"And another series of portals just opened up in Gotham City. The various military forces around the world have been stretched thin, and our heroes are struggling to keep up. We'll keep with you for as long as we can and continue to give strength and support to our heroes, wherever they may be."
In the DEO, several guards had been knocked down onto the ground. An imposing figure with grey skin and red eyes appeared, along with a tall dark-haired woman and a short woman with grey hair. Darkseid, Grail, and Graunny Goodness moved through the facility.
"There he is," Granny said.
The trio came across a captive Lex Luthor who put down his book and looked mildly annoyed by the inconvenience.
"You're not surprised to see me, are you, Mr. Luthor?" Darkseid asked.
Darkseid opened the cage and pulled Lex from it.
"Yes, I knew you would be arriving," Lex said.
"You and Lionel though you could shield her, and make her durable enough to resist," Granny said. "There is nothing you could have done to stop us from having dear Lutessa."
"I'm not that Lex…"
"An alternate," Darkseid said.
"I can help you," Lex said. "I can take down Superman."
"If you could, you would have done so before," Darkseid said. "Your last scheme was a miserable failure. Your arrogance assumes that I need your help. And since you are useless to me, there is no sense of letting you breath."
Lex stared death right in the eyes, in more ways than one. The Darkness came to consume him.
From the ceiling, came Superman. Grail rushed Superman and engaged him into battle. The two exchanged a few rapid fire punches, with the skilled female warrior going all in for her attempts to take down Harry. Harry almost got hit with a couple of bone-crushing blows.
"Not bad!"
Superman grappled Grail from behind and took her down completely. Grail almost came back up, only for Superman to send her flying through the wall.
"Impudent child!" Granny bellowed. "How dare you make a mockery out of Darkseid?"
Harry cut through and disabled the old woman and the weapon she wielded in a couple more punches. He could see something opening up behind him and Darkseid slip through the Boom Tube.
Harry lifted his hand. The energy crackled through his hand and every nerve ending in his body had been sent on fire. Harry's hand rattled when he pulled back on the portal.
Lex scuttled off like a cockroach as Superman disappeared through the portal.
X-X-X
Superman landed on a hellish world with fire and despair all around. The screams of the people around him brought chills to his spine. And in case Harry missed his guess, he had landed straight on Apokolips, in all of it's, well glory was not quite the word Harry would use to describe what he ran into.
Another familiar figure stepped up. Steppenwolf and a small army approached him.
"This time, I'm ready."
Harry shot beams of energy from his hand and folded up Steppenwolf's forces like cheap cardboard. The Man of Steel sprung forward and engaged the General. Steppenwolf withdrew a flaming sword and swung it at Harry. Harry dodged the first two attacks before ripping the sword from Steppenwolf's hands. This crazed general staggered a couple of inches forward before Superman lowered the boom onto him.
Steppenwolf went down in a heap. Things went silent and gave Harry a chance to assess everything around him.
"I'm on Apokolips."
No went dead, cutting off Harry's communication to the outside world. Not good, no matter how one sliced it.
"You've got to be around here somewhere."
"You're not quite what I expected from a Kryptonian. But it doesn't matter. I've waited for this for a long time."
Darkseid descended and faced Superman. The two squared off, neither making a move towards each other.
"I'm here to stop you," Superman said. "The Anti-Life Equation will never be yours."
"I see it clearly now," Darkseid said. "Farewell Superman."
Beams of light shot from the eyes of both adversaries and intersected towards each other. A small vibration rattled through the area as the two squared off in a battle of wills. The beams pushed back and forth.
Something had to give, somewhere and somehow.