Advance chapters on [email protected]/Saintbarbido.
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(Jon's P.O.V)
The sky above the farm was a chaotic swirl of smoke and fire. Supergirl hovered high above us, her fists clenched so tightly her knuckles gleamed white. Her eyes burned with a crimson glow, her voice sharp and trembling with disbelief.
"Parademons?! Here?!"
"Parademons?" Raven echoed, her tone curious and wary.
"Apokoliptian bio-mechanical soldiers," I explained, my eyes scanning the battlefield. "They're the foot soldiers of Darkseid's army."
There were at least thirty of them descending upon us like a swarm of hulking, insect-like creatures with glowing green eyes and metallic carapaces.
They were strong for sure, but not insurmountable. Not for us.
"I guess now's not the time to ask what they're doing here?" Raven muttered, her voice dry despite the tension.
"AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!"
Shadows from her cloak coiled around her, lashing out like living tendrils. They snaked across the air, wrapping around a group of Parademons and dragging them to the ground to be swallowed in their own shadows.
"Raaaggh!" Supergirl's roar split the air as she shot forward, a blur of red and blue.
Her fists tore through the screeching ranks with brutal efficiency, each strike sending Parademons flying like ragdolls.
I moved to intercept the stragglers, keeping the farmhouse between us.
My own fists flashed like greased lightning. Every punch turned flesh and metal into mulch, every blast of heat vision boiling the green blood that oozed from their insect-like bodies.
It wasn't a fight. It was a slaughter.
But then he arrived.
A hunched, hooded figure glided through the boomtube atop a floating disk.
My heart sank as recognition hit me like a punch to the gut.
One of Darkseid's top generals. Here. On Earth. On our farm.
Desaad.
The moment he stepped out of the Boom Tube, the portal closed audibly and Supergirl froze.
Her breath hitched at his sight, her hands trembling at her sides.
And then she snapped.
"DIIEE!!!"
A scream of pure, unbridled rage tore from her throat as she launched herself at him, faster than I'd ever seen her move.
Desaad barely had time to open his mouth before Kara's fist slammed into his face with bone-shattering force. The impact sent him hurtling across the field, his body carving a deep trench into the earth.
But she didn't stop.
She was on him in an instant, breaking through the last of the Parademons before hammering blow after blow onto Desaad with terrifying intensity. Her actions burned with fury, wild and unrelenting.
I didn't need to read her mind to know what had happened.
Seeing him had triggered something. Forgotten memories, locked away in her mind due to trauma.
Memories of Apokolips. Of her time there. Of him.
My face twisted and stomach churned at the mental images she was unknowingly projecting—images of pain, of suffering, of endless torment.
After Krypton's destruction, Kara's pod was intercepted and captured by Apokaliptian forces.
Desaad and Granny Goodness had been responsible for brainwashing her. When she'd proven too strong, too defiant to be one of Granny's Furies, they'd handed her over to the League of Shadows.
I couldn't imagine enduring all that and still holding onto who you were. Connor and I might look like Dad, but Kara? She was the one who truly embodied his ideals.
But now, she was losing herself to rage. If nothing was done, she might never come back.
I moved to intervene, but Raven's hand shot out, gripping my arm. "Jon… be careful."
(General P.O.V)
Supergirl's fists were a blur, each strike shattering the air with a force that sent shockwaves rippling through the ground.
Desaad had no time to react, no time to even beg. The only thing keeping him alive was the red forcefield generated by the Fatherbox in his hands. But even that was cracking under the relentless onslaught of Kryptonian fury.
The moment Kara had seen him, something inside her had broken—or maybe it had snapped back into place.
"You." Her voice was a whisper at first, barely audible over the chaos. But then it grew, sharp and venomous. "You!"
Her next strike shattered the shield and caved in his chest plate, sending him crashing through the cornfield with a sickening crunch.
Jon moved instantly, his speed carrying him across the field in a heartbeat. But before he could reach her—
She finished it.
Her heat vision flared to life, twin beams of raw, unfiltered fury slamming into Desaad before he could even scream.
The energy washed over him, disintegrating his body in an instant. His hood and armor melted away like wax under an open flame, leaving nothing behind.
No body. No ashes. Just a scorched scar in the earth and the smoldering remains of a half-destroyed Fatherbox.
The damaged device beeped once, then slowly dimmed, leaving only silence in its wake.
"Your mom's safe. Connor and Wolf are with her," Raven said quietly, landing behind Jon.
He nodded, his attention fixed on Kara.
She stood over the scorched ground, her chest heaving with raw emotion, fists clenched so tightly her palms were bleeding. Her eyes still glowed with heat, flashing between crimson and blue.
Jon approached cautiously, his voice soft. "Kara—"
"No." Her voice was cold, but beneath it, he could hear the tremor. "He's dead. I killed him. And he deserved it. He had it coming."
Jon didn't argue. It was true.
But this wasn't just revenge. This wasn't satisfaction. This wasn't guilt.
This was raw, burning hate.
Raven appeared beside him, her dark aura a familiar comfort. "Jon, her mind is—"
"I know," he said, cutting her off.
Kara turned to them slowly, her eyes empty despite the storm raging inside her.
"I don't feel better," she whispered. "I thought I would. I thought… I thought it would stop. But it's still there." She placed a shaking hand on her chest. "I still hear the screaming. And the voices… they're all mine, Jon."
Apokolips had branded her in ways that ran deeper than the scars on her body.
And Desaad—one of the monsters who had shaped her suffering—had just died screaming at her hands.
It should have been enough. But it wasn't.
You can't balance the scales with revenge. That's not how the world works. But Jon couldn't tell her that. Not now.
He took a slow breath, choosing his words carefully. "Kara… it's over. He's gone. You don't have to carry this anymore."
Her lip trembled, but she shook her head. "No. No, it's not over. Not until they're all gone."
Her meaning was clear.
Desaad was only the first.
Granny Goodness. The Furies. Darkseid.
She wouldn't stop until every last one of them was erased from existence.
And that scared him. Because he could see her memories, her plans. The worst part was that she was prepared to lose her life in her pursuit of vengeance.
"Kara," Jon said gently, stepping closer. "If you go down this path, it won't bring you peace."
Her glowing eyes locked onto his. "And what if I don't want peace?"
That stopped him cold.
Because he didn't know how to answer.
Would he have done the same if he had seen his torturer standing before him?
Would he have hesitated?
No.
'Then you will die. Darkseid is too powerful.' The words lingered on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them.
Instead, he did what he thought his dad would have done.
Jon stepped forward… and wrapped his arms around her.
Her entire body locked up.
Her breathing hitched.
For a long moment, she didn't move.
Then, slowly, the tension in her shoulders melted.
Her head rested against his shoulder, her hands still trembling at her sides.
"I hate them," she whispered.
"I know."
"I hate that they took so much from me."
"I know, Auntie."
She clutched the front of his shirt, her fingers digging into the fabric. "And I hate that it still hurts."
He closed his eyes. "I know, Kara. And I'll help you pay them back in full. Together, we'll kill them all."
Supergirl—the strongest, roughest girl in the universe—was crying in his arms.
Raven stood a few feet away, watching silently. She didn't speak, but Jon could feel her presence—steady, grounding.
After a while, Kara pulled back, wiping at her red eyes with the back of her hand. She took a shaky breath. "Thanks… I—I need some time."
Jon nodded. "Take all the time you need."
She hesitated, then gave a small nod before lifting into the sky and vanishing into the clouds.
Jon let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
"She's not okay," Raven commented softly.
He sighed. "I know."
"You're not okay either. You realize you just promised to help her kill a god?"
"Sooner or later, it was going to be us or them," he said, shrugging. His gaze remained fixed on the sky. "This only made it clear. Peaceful coexistence with Apokolips isn't an option. I'll make them pay for attacking us… for hurting her. I'm sorry if I've disappointed you, Rae."
Raven rolled her eyes and kissed his cheek. "You idiot. That part of you is why I love you. You couldn't disappoint me even if you tried."
"Love?" Jon teased, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
A light blush spread across Raven's cheeks, but she didn't shy away from his gaze. This time, she was the one who took the initiative.
They didn't know why the Parademons had come to Earth. Or why they'd targeted the farm.
All they knew was that Desaad was dead. And now, Apokolips would know.
Darkseid would know.
The war had just escalated.
But for now, Jon couldn't spare a thought for any of it. All his attention was on the soft feel of Raven's lips as he kissed her back.