(“Your husband?  Kara, I see the woman I always knew you would grow up to be standing in front of me.  I just wish I could have seen all of this with my own eyes.  I missed out on so much…I…”)

(“You promised you would come find me.  You and Father.  If you’ve been alive all this time…where were you?”)

(“Adrift in space for twenty-four years.  Argo City was all that survived Krypton’s destruction.  A fail-safe your father created…”)

(“Twenty-four years?! I was trapped in the Phantom Zone for that time!  How could you…?”)

Barry could feel the anger threatening to explode from Kara, even if he couldn’t understand what she and her mother were saying.  He desperately wanted to help, to do something to calm his wife, but he also knew that letting her get this out was the only way for the healing process to begin.

(“Kara, you have to understand, Zor and I had no way of knowing whether or not our sacrifice was successful.  We only knew; as did Jor and Lara, that we were placing all our hopes for your survival over our own.  I imagine that the shockwaves from Krypton’s destruction were the cause of your entrapment.  You have every right to be angry.”)

(“I am angry!  Angry that you didn’t do more to find me and Kal!  Angry that the reason you sent me to Earth was to protect my cousin but when I got here, he had grown up while I was still a child.  I…”)

(“…have become a hero.  You survived while I had lost all hope of ever seeing you again.  Your father would be proud of you.”)

(“Where is my father?  How is he not here with you?”)

(“Kara…your father gave his life to save Argo City.  He sacrificed himself so I could live.”)

(“So Argo City is still out there?  There are more Kryptonian survivors?”)

(“Kara…Argo is…”)

(“Gone as well…that’s what you’re going to tell me…so I’ve lost my home all over again.”)

(“If only it were that simple.  Argo City did survive the destruction of Krypton thanks to your Father and Uncle.  The last survivors of our home-world prospered and lived in peace, not making the mistakes of the High Council…”)

(“So what happened?  Something devastating must have occurred to cause you to flee the city.”)

(“The Worldkillers, they happened.  After years of drifting in space we thought that we were safe. Their ship disappeared as Krypton’s cataclysm reached the final throes. We had no idea how wrong we were. They were like a plague, and I was the last survivor. I barely escaped; hoping to find a benevolent planet that could help fight these enemies.  I had no idea that Zor’s specifications for the pods he created had a program designed to track other Kryptonians.”)

(“So the Worldkillers are real?  Kal and I have believed for many years that they were myth.”)

(“They are…or were…I can’t know for certain if they survived the destruction of Argo that they brought about.  Kara, I know my being adrift in space on Argo City is no excuse for not looking for you and Kal-El, nor is it a good reason for leaving you trapped in the Phantom Zone.  If I’d known that…I’m so sorry I didn’t keep my promise to you.”)

Kara’s anger at her mother slowly abated as she now knew why her family had not come looking for her in all these years.  Alura had no reason to ever suspect that her daughter had survived with the overwhelming odds that destroyed the last remains of Krypton.  But she was here now, and the universe has given them a second chance.

(“I can understand your reasoning now, Mom.  I’m sorry I let my anger get the better of me.  You’re with me now.  We can catch up on all we’ve missed; you can start a new life here on Earth.”)

Despite the machines she was connected to Alura pulled her daughter into a hug.  Alex, Barry and J’onn each took a step back as none of them wanted to interrupt the reunion.  Over the next week J’onn worked with Alura as Barry and Kara helped her learn English, but all were unaware of the threat orbiting the Earth in the stars above.

Brainiac has been in stasis since his last failed attempt to destroy Superman.  With the exception of shrinking and taking Kandor all those years ago, his sole desire had been to eliminate Kryptonian life from the cosmos.  He found an opportunity to do so with the assistance of the Worldkillers and they very nearly succeeded.    Prior to the destruction of Krypton he had provided the four with a vessel that could track Kryptonians wherever they may go.  He had monitored the four’s progress and learned of the decimation of Argo City, in the intervening years, the tracking signal faded in and out of his vessel’s systems until the day he was defeated. 

Now the beacon has reactivated and Vril Dox is waking up.  Four separate signals alerted him to the crash landings of the escape pods.  The first crashed deep in the Arctic ocean with a Kryptonian signature following behind.  Sensors indicated that this was Kal-El himself and Brainiac knew he was ill prepared to face Superman at the moment.  The second signature disappeared over a desert in Asia.  The third also indicated an oceanic splashdown, somewhere in the Atlantic.  The fourth was the most promising as Dox’s vessel was monitoring local news reports and focused in on the sightings.

“This is the one.  This pod carried the leader of the Worldkillers.  She is the key to finding the others and completing the eradication of Kryptonian life.  She will lead to a true reign over this world, and then the universe.”

As Brainiac set his vessel on a course to follow his target, he retreated to a storage compartment that held his own remnant of Krypton.  He had learned of the effects that the green and red variants had on Superman, but this unknown version was completely untested.  Upon opening the compartment; the black rock seemed to absorb all light that shined on it, not unlike a Black Hole.

 He too had learned of the prophecy from the databanks in Kandor.  The Worldkillers were a means to an end for his conquest.  But this rock would create the one they would follow.  And that one; he knew would be his Kryptonian weapon.  It was her destiny.

Weeks passed as Brainiac tracked the Worldkiller around the globe.  Her path indicated she was searching for something.  He had no doubts as to what she was looking for; she was searching for her family.  Traveling by night to avoid the primitive humans of this world was her best option.  In her opinion this backwater world probably had little to no knowledge of aliens and she wanted to keep it that way.  Her weeks of travel had led to massive disappointment that she had yet to find the other Worldkillers and she settled in an abandoned freight train, only to have a bright light awaken her along with the feeling of weightlessness.

When the light faded and she had regained her equilibrium the Worldkiller stood up.  With a quick assessment of her surroundings she discovered that she was inside a space-faring vessel.  To her left was a viewport that looked out into vast nothingness and as she tilted her gaze downward she could see the blue-green planet below her.  In the next moment a voice resonated all around her, it was cold and metallic and in the depths of her memories, familiar.

“Greetings; Worldkiller.  Many years have passed since our last encounter.”

“Who are you?  Why have you brought me here?”

“To complete your mission.  You and your family have long been on a quest for vengeance against those that created you.”

“And what do you know of my mission?  What do you know of my family? Who. Are. You?”

“It is understandable that you would have forgotten me after all these years.  How many has it been since Argo City was decimated?  More than two decades perhaps?  I have followed you since that time.”

“I grow tired of these games.  Show yourself or I will destroy this vessel and you with it.”

“There is no need for threats, my old friend.  I have revealed myself.  I am all around you.  But if you truly wish to see me…”

Brainiac used the mechanics of his ship to create an avatar for himself.  Various pieces of metal and wiring snaked down from the ceiling and out from the walls to create a form that was as close to what he looked like at the last time he had met with the Worldkillers.  Memories started to coalesce as the Worldkiller recognized the creature standing in front of her.

“Welcome to my vessel.  I can see by the look on your face that you remember me now.”

“Yes…you are Vril Dox.  You convinced my family to rise up against our captors on Krypton.”

“I was Vril Dox, now and forever more, I am Brainiac.  And I have returned to offer you a new chance at the destruction of the last Kryptonians.”

“I am tempted to take you up on that offer.  But it cannot be done without the rest of my family.”

“I expected as much.  And I know where they are.  I can take you to them.”

“Then let us be off.  If Kryptonians still live as you claim, we will finish what we started.”

“I had hoped that would be your answer.  Vengeance will soon be yours, Reign.”

Reign was slowly beginning to remember more than just her name and purpose.  Being on Brainiac’s vessel was unlocking the keys to her past and one name sprung to the forefront of her mind…Zor-El.