Ultragirl kept on pounding at the shield in an effort to break through.  She could hear Clark and Barry almost begging her to stop, but through her anger, just ignored them.  She was so far gone in the thoughts that her entire family had betrayed her, left her to die that she wouldn’t cease her futile attack.  Alura could only watch in sadness as she could tell that this other Kara either didn’t remember their conversation or just didn’t want to let go of the hurt.  Finally, mother spoke to daughter in her own effort to stop the assault.

“If you were really my daughter you would know that I didn’t abandon you.  Zor and I sent you away to save you from Krypton’s fate.  We couldn’t have possibly known that the shockwaves from the planetary destruction would knock your pod off course.”

“LIAR!  You and father were two of the most brilliant scientists on Krypton!  You’re telling me neither of you anticipated that eventuality!”

“Kara…”

“NO!  No apologies!  No false platitudes!  Come out from behind that shield and face me!”

Alura knew she had no other choice but to leave the safety of the shield.  She knew that the real Kara was safe in the regeneration matrix and would hopefully have her memories restored soon.  It was just a matter of time and maybe she could do what Barry hadn’t.  Maybe she could get through to Ultragirl.

“Kelex, deactivate the Argo protocol.”

“I must protest this Alura Zor-El.  Deactivating the protective barrier could be…”

“Just do it Kelex.  If Ultragirl wants me face to face, I’ll give her that.”

“While I protest, I obey Alura Zor-El.”

Kelex dropped the shield but kept a watchful eye on the regeneration matrix where his monitoring indicated that Kara was nearly recovered from her ordeal.  All that remained was for her to wake up.

“All right Kara, here I am.  You want to have it out with me?  Fine.  Let’s get it over with.”

Ultragirl was shocked, she wasn’t sure it would be that easy.  For a moment she just stood there unsure of what to do.  Alura took this as a good sign and moved forward slowly.  In the next instant, Ultragirl snapped, violently attacking her mother in a fit of rage.  She was punching with all her might and Alura just stood there taking it.  She didn’t dare to raise a hand against this version of her daughter, knowing it would only escalate the situation.

Ultragirl threw fist after fist until Alura was unconscious on the Fortress floor.  But try as she might, she couldn’t bring herself to deliver the death blow.  Part of her desperately wanted to, but killing her mother in this way wouldn’t be honorable.  She knelt there, heaving breaths as Barry had turned his back and Clark spoke.

“Did that make you feel better Ultragirl?  It couldn’t have.  If any part of you was really Kara, you would have found a better way.”

“Spare me your self-righteous pandering Kal-El.  Don’t think I’ve forgotten how you abandoned me to Brainiac.  Maybe you’re right, maybe my mother shouldn’t be the target of my rage.  You should be.”

“And what would that prove?”

“That what everybody says is true.  You know it and I know it.  I’m stronger than you, faster than you, and more powerful than you.”

“God knows that in time you could be.  Maybe you are.  I’ve felt you hit and chased you through the skies.  I’ll even admit I’ve had my doubts.  Batman has his theories and shared them with me.  But you’re twenty-six years old.  It wasn’t until I was your age that I finally learned to fly.”

“That just means you’re weak!”

“The difference between you and me; Kara is that you still don’t know your limits.  It’s why you burn yourself out with solar flare.  Just so you know, I could’ve caught you and stopped you, any time I wanted to.”

“So confident, would you care to test that theory out?”

Before Clark could speak, a rumbling began to sound from behind Kelex.  Barry turned to see as Clark looked over Ultragirl’s shoulder.  She ignored the sound while still trying to goad her cousin into a fight.  Kelex was doing everything he could to prevent the situation from escalating.  But the regeneration matrix was reaching critical as the rumbling got more intense and fissures began to crack in the chamber.  Finally when the energy became too great and the matrix could take no more stress; a large crack appeared with a fist through it.  This was all that was needed to release the mounting pressure as the matrix split open.

Floating down towards the floor was Kara, clothed in a black solar radiation suit with a silver House of El crest adorning her chest.  She landed on one knee before slowly standing up and taking a deep breath.  When her eyes opened, she surveyed the scene around her.  A smile for Clark, love and adoration in her eyes for Barry, and then she saw her mother, hopefully only unconscious. Lastly she saw her nightmare playing out directly in front of her.  The black cape, the blonde hair streaked with blood.  But she knew that she wasn’t going to let Clark or Barry die in front of her.

Ultragirl however had paid no attention to the goings on behind her.  Still obsessed with proving she was better than Clark; she continued to taunt him.

“Come on Kal; let’s test your theory out.  Put your doubts to rest.  Or has living among the humans your whole life made you forget where you come from?”

“I don’t have to prove anything to you; Ultragirl.”

“You’re afraid.  FIGHT ME KAL!”

Kara knew that Barry and Clark had seen her as Ultragirl continued to rant about her powers.  As such she listened quietly while waiting for her moment to speak.  When she had had enough after verifying that her mother was still alive, she finally spoke.

“No.”

Ultragirl heard the voice and slowly turned to face this new person denying her a chance to prove how she was better than Clark.  Upon seeing her own face she sneered in disgust.

“I’m not falling for any tricks; Kal.  Did you have Kelex create one of your Fortress droids to look like me and program it to sound like me?  Pathetic.”

“I’m not an android or a program.  And your fight is not with Clark or with Barry.  Your fight is with me.  My name is Kara Zor-El and I am Supergirl.”

Ultragirl was suddenly looking into a mirror and didn’t like what she sees.  She had turned her back on National City and that life.  All the years of being looked down upon and seen as Superman’s sidekick had; in her mind, been an insult.  Internally she felt the need to rage and scream when confronted with what she saw as her weaker self.  Now confused and off-balance mentally, she chose to fight.

Ultragirl threw a punch, believing that her other self was nothing more than a hallucination.  She was surprised when Supergirl reacted faster and caught the fist coming directly for her face.  With little choice, the former took off, flying up through the top of the Fortress, smashing some of the crystals on her way out.  Kara knew she couldn’t let her duplicate get away and began to follow but stopped as Barry caught her hand.

“Kara…do you…?”

“I remember everything Barry.  And I promise you, we’ll talk later.  But I can’t let her get away.”

Barry let go of Kara’s hand and she flew up, following Ultragirl’s path.  She was determined to catch and stop her other self from doing considerably more damage.  And while her lips were set in a hard line of determination, she smiled just a bit when she heard Barry encouraging her.

“Go get her; Supergirl!”

Kara was flying faster than she ever had before and rapidly closing the gap on Ultragirl.  She couldn’t be sure if it was because she wasn’t wearing her cape or if it was because her duplicate wanted her to catch up.  Either way, it didn’t matter as stopping Ultragirl was the most important thing.  In minutes they were out of the Arctic on a course for New York and then Metropolis.  The two women were streaks of black through the sky before Kara finally caught her adversary.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to prove here, Ultragirl, but I won’t let you get away with it!”

“I already have!  I showed National City the truth about us!  You’re not the hero they all thought you were!”

“That’s where you’re wrong!  It doesn’t matter what you’ve done!”

“Doesn’t it?!  Go back to National City if you survive this fight with me!  You’ll see that they fear you, Supergirl!  You could use that!  Be more than just what they want!  We have the power to be Gods!”

“Power without responsibility is no power at all!”

Ultragirl scoffed at Supergirl’s inherent goodness.  She hated this weak version of herself and turned mid-flight to where she was now barreling towards Kara at break-neck speed.  Ultragirl impacted with a thunderous punch to Kara’s midsection, momentarily throwing the heroine back.  Just as Kara righted herself, Ultragirl was back on her, her fists flying and screaming in fury.  Kara knew she was on the losing end as her opponent knew all her strengths and weaknesses and she was realizing that she hadn’t yet fully recovered from being in the regeneration matrix.

Ultragirl had the same revelation and felt that she could end this quickly.  Her attacks became more brutal and more violent as Kara now sought only to defend herself.  They were both under the light of Earth’s sun so they should at least be a match for power.  The difference though was that Ultragirl wasn’t holding back and Kara inherently did.  And as long as she held back, she had no chance of beating her darker self.

“If this is the best you can do Supergirl; Kal wouldn’t stand a chance against me!  The both of you are so bound by your morality, thus making yourselves weak!  I think that once I’m done with you, I’ll throw your broken body at his feet, right before I snap his neck!”

Kara began to feel her anger welling up, she still didn’t know what Ultragirl had done in National City, but she would have to deal with it soon enough.  She started shifting back into the offensive as her enemy continued to taunt her.

“And I won’t stop with Kal.  When I’m done with him, I’ll finish the job I started on our mother.  Then your precious Barry Allen.  I won’t stop until I’ve destroyed everything and everyone you care about and love!”

Kara was seething now.  Ultragirl had her on the figurative ropes but just kept talking.  Kept threatening.  All this had Kara seeing red.  A punch from Ultragirl was once again coming directly for her face, but Kara was able to block it at the last second.  This caught her enemy by surprise but what happened next finally served to put Ultragirl on the defensive.

“You won’t get near them!”

Kara screamed from the depths of her soul as her heat vision exploded from her eyes.  Knowing what Ultragirl had planned gave Supergirl the push she needed to surrender her control.  The scarlet beams hit Ultragirl full force, burning deep into her flesh.  For the first time, this twisted version of Kara felt fear.  Her face was burned and blistering as she turned and fled the battle.  She knew she would need time to recover and headed for the Fortress in Nevada.

Kara knew she had just taken control of the fight and would not stop pursuing Ultragirl until one of them was defeated.  She had tapped into a new level of power that had her matching Ultragirl’s speed.  In less than ten minutes they were over National City, the sonic boom that accompanied them was able to be heard in Keystone and Central City.  Within twenty minutes they were over Nevada and Kara had been able to wrap an arm around Ultragirl’s neck.

As soon as she caught sight of the black fortress Kara delved deeper into her flight speed.  She pushed as hard as she could until she and Ultragirl crashed down through the black crystals, an earthquake shaking the ground with their impact.  Both women were bruised and bleeding as they wearily got to their feet.  Ultragirl was more worse for wear as she had taken the brunt of the landing but that didn’t stop her from reengaging in a fist fight.

Back and forth they went, neither giving up any ground.  The rest of the Fortress was falling to pieces around them.  Ultragirl connected to Kara’s face with a left hook.  Kara answered back with a hard right jab to the stomach.  The force made Ultragirl double over in pain.  Feeling as the fight was coming to end, Kara clasped both her hands together, swinging them up into Ultragirl’s chin.  The impact was so powerful that the villain was sent flying where she once again landed hard on her back.

Exhausted, Kara limped over to where Ultragirl was prone on the ground.  She was curled up into a ball while one of her legs was positioned at an odd angle.  It was clearly broken but she refused to give Supergirl the pleasure of seeing her weakened.  Ultragirl sneered at Kara before speaking one last taunt.

“It’s…good to see you finally embracing your true potential Kara.  This is who…you should have always been.  Finish me off!  Do it and you become me!  Don’t…don’t pretend that it’s not what you want!”

Kara closed her eyes and shook her head.  She knew that she and Clark always had this potential but they never wanted to go down that road.  She was already regretting what she had to do to stop her twin.  With deep remorse in her voice, she spoke.

“You’re wrong about me Kara.  Wrong about yourself.  I could never become you, because I wasn’t raised like that.  You’re a dark reflection of me created by black kryptonite.  You let Brainiac twist you into believing you were above humanity. But it’s our humanity that makes us stronger.  Our family crest has always stood for hope.  And that hope is what humanity sees when they look to the skies to see Superman and Supergirl.”

“FINISH ME!”

Ultragirl spat in rage and anger that she had failed to convince Kara of her true nature.  The latter turned to walk away, but was stopped by a weak hand wrapped around her ankle.  Ultragirl was allowing herself to be dragged across the broken crystal shards, practically begging to die.  Kara couldn’t and wouldn’t do it.  Instead, she kicked her leg free and knelt down.  With a deft flick to the forehead, Ultragirl was knocked out cold.  Looking around her, Kara spotted some red and blue fabric buried under the rubble.  Upon pulling it free, she saw that it was the spare uniform she had kept hidden at Cat Co.

With her memories restored and her powers back, Kara stripped out of the solar radiation suit and into her Supergirl uniform.  True it was a little dirty from the fight, but at last she was feeling like herself again.  Only one last task remained.  Kara knew she couldn’t leave Ultragirl there, as she would recover and just try all of this again.  Gently, Supergirl picked up her dark self and launched them both into the sky.  Anyone who watched the flight felt hope again as she made her way back towards the Fortress of Solitude.

Back in the Arctic, Barry and Clark were waiting for the outcome of the fight.  Alura and Zod had both been tended to and would be sporting the wounds from their battles for some time.  Barry sat with Alura, the pair trying to comfort each other while Clark and Zod were locked in a stare down.

“Go ahead Kal-El.  Lock me up as you had me before.  I know you want to.”

“I have bigger problems to deal with than you at the moment, Zod.  Brainiac and the Worldkillers are still out there.   And if I know Brainiac, he’s not going to let this defeat go.”

“Very true.  But I still will not help you.”

“You already did.  You were the one who targeted Reign.  You were the one who went directly for Brainiac after telling me to move.  Face it Zod, there’s still some good left in you.”

Zod fell silent as to neither confirm or deny Clark’s statement.  He just turned away as Hal and Tomar arrived back at the Fortress.  They had hoped to return with good news but it was slightly lacking.

“No sign of them?”

“Unfortunately, no there wasn’t Superman.  Wherever Brainiac went, we couldn’t trace him.”

“I’m sure you did your best Hal.”

“We did everything we could Kal-El.  It will take him time to repair the damage Zod did to his ship.  We need to remain focused on the Worldkillers.  They still have a plan to eliminate Kryptonian life and I have a feeling Earth will suffer the consequences.”

“No one is assigning blame Tomar.  They can’t attack again until they’re healed from the fight.  That will also take time.”

A gust of wind and the sound of someone landing created a pause in the conversation.  Clark turned as Barry looked up after having his head in his hands with worry for Kara.  When he caught sight of her, a slow smile began to form on his lips, but fell as soon as he saw the other Kara lying over her arms.

“Then we shouldn’t wait for them to attack again should we.  We need to be proactive this time, Clark.”

“Sure, when you prove you’re the real Kara.  Not Ultragirl trying to pull the wool over our eyes.”

“Okay, up until two hours ago I thought I was thirteen.  When I came out of the regeneration matrix I was wearing a solar radiation suit.  And I guarantee if I pull down the right shoulder of my uniform, and then hers, you’ll see the scar from the dagger, a scar she won’t have.”

There was no need for that as Clark already used his x-ray vision to check both versions of Kara.  The one in the Supergirl uniform was telling the truth and she was the real Kara.  A sly smirk appeared on her face before she spoke again.

“You already checked, didn’t you Clark?  With that settled, what are we going to do with her?”

“Well, she couldn’t break through the Argo protocol, so I have an idea.  For now, we’ll lock her up behind the shield.  And Kelex, see if you can make a red sunlight bracelet that will take away her powers.”

“I have another idea, Master Kal-El.  A gold kryptonite bracelet will work better.  Forged with a dwarf star alloy clasp will be sufficient.”

“Get to it then.  Kara…?”

“For now, Barry and I are going to go home.  I need a shower and we need some alone time.”