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Arthur found himself in a remote Island after the exchange, it was a small jag of rock and black sand marooned in a smoldering sea. The sky above it had that eerie, wrong light that followed an alien invasion.
Arthur stood at the lip of a crater made by none other than Doom, cloak whipping, shadows pooling at his boots. Beside him, Doom knelt, mute, a silhouette of bone and jagged shadow; his head bowed, molten violet eyes dim but watchful. Cradled across Doom's broad forearms, wrapped in protective coils of shadow energy, was a containment pod. Frost veined the clear casing. Inside, curled and fragile as a sleeping thing, floated Kara Zor-El.
Arthur bent, the violet glow of his ring stroking the pod. For a long second he just looked at the hair, the face made still by kryptonian science, the faint rise of breath.
"Let's get you out of here," he said softly.
The ring answered, a slow pulse, and shadows answered back. They dragged themselves from the ground as if pulled by strings of night tendrils, then muscle, then a magnificent claw the size of a small house. It scraped along the pod's seam, talons clicking on frost. For a heartbeat the pod resisted, Arthur's jaw set. The shadow hand flexed, talons grinding through composite with malice until, with a sound like an animal tearing paper, the casing split down the side.
The girl inside slid, freed from ice, and the world tilted for a second. Doom's great hands closed like a cradle, catching her before she could fall to the scorched earth. The pod's lid fell away in a sheet; frost powdered to the wind.
Kara's lashes fluttered. Her lips parted. For a breath she hung between sleep and waking, pale and very small against Doom's armored forearm. Then her eyes opened slow, exhausted, blue like a glacier. They found Arthur's face and widened.
"Arthur…" Her voice was a fragile thing.
He stepped closer, his fingers brushed ice from her cheek. "You look terrible," he said, the teasing tone rougher than a smile. "They really did a number on you."
Kara's lips quirked despite the shards of pain. "Shut up," she whispered, and the world shrank to that small, furious, stubborn sound. Her hands cool and uncertain at first found his neck as if surprised they could still move. Then because she was Kara and because this moment had a rightness to it, she leaned up and kissed him. It was clumsy, soft, utterly human: a thanks and an apology in one. Her hands threaded behind his head.
He let it hold him a single beat longer than he should have and then pulled back, gently. When he looked at her, his eyes were bright violet, and there was something like awe.
"At least you're awake," he said.
She hugged him, whole and sudden. "I'm sorry," she said into his chest muffled, contrite. "For being stupid. For going alone."
Arthur laughed, a short, astonished sound, searching her face with a careful tenderness that made her blush. "You do that," he teased. "You go off 'alone' and nearly become an exhibit in a Kryptonian museum. I have to rescue you, and then deal with the paperwork."
Her cheeks pinked; she managed a half-grin. "You don't have to joke."
"I have an idea," he said. He set her carefully on her feet. "Stay still."
She blinked but obeyed, trusting him with that small, stubborn faith. "Alright," she said, voice faint.
Arthur's palms opened and gauntlets assembled across his hands: interlocking plates etched with sigils the color of fire. They pulsed to life, raw and hungry for radiance.
"Solar Gauntlets," he murmured. He turned them slowly in the light, watching the runes flare. "Last time I used these… it was on Ultraman. Different boy, different weaknesses. He's sun-soft. But for you.." He let the mischief in his mouth show. "This will give you wings."
Kara's eyes widened. "What… what are you..."
He stepped in close; the gauntlets sang with promise. The yellow-white of stored sunlight crept up the seams until the metal looked like bottled noon. Arthur lifted his hands and used the Gauntlet's skill, [Solar Flare]. Kara covered her face to shield it from the incoming flare.
For an instant, she flinched and then the light poured out, a clean, bright heat that washed over skin and sinew and whatever alien prison had dulled her. It touched bone and blood and sleep until a tired, feral strength settled back into her veins. Her lashes trembled, and then she inhaled, deep and fast, like a diver returning to air.
Kara's hands curled into fists. She pushed off the ground as if testing gravity, testing herself, and her posture snapped solid. The color returned to her cheeks; the cloud in her eyes cleared. She looked down at Arthur with a stunned, grateful grin.
"Better?" he asked.
She dropped the tiny smile and leapt forward, hugging him again so hard his ribs complained. "Yes," she breathed against his chest. "Yes. Thank you. I'm sorry! I wanted to protect everyone, Finish Zod, finish what Krypton started, close that chapter once and for all..."
He held her, strong and unshaking. "I know why you went," he said, sincere, voice rough with something close to admiration. "I understand your motive… I don't fault you for that. I just don't like you getting kidnapped while you do it."
Her eyes, suddenly very clear blue, searched his face, an unguarded fierceness there. "Now that we're together," she said, and the resolve was back, this time steadied, "what do we do about them?"
"What am I asking? Of course we kick his ass, together." She said, small voice suddenly enormous with purpose.
Arthur let out a short laugh, proud. "That's my girl," he said.
"Let's go," he said.
They took off.
The sky above was wide and endless burning gold at the edges where the sun dipped, and deep violet where space began. The wind roared across the open stretch of air as both Arthur and Kara cut across the heavens like twin comets, one wrapped in shadows and violet light, the other blazing in the color of dawn. They flew so fast the clouds tore apart in their wake, spiraling into white ribbons behind them.
Kara's laughter rang through the air, pure, bright. She shot ahead of Arthur, spinning backward mid-flight, golden hair catching the sunlight and scattering it in a thousand directions. Her cape danced like fire behind her, and she called out, grinning wide.
"You're too slow, Blackwynd!"
Arthur didn't bother racing her. He just smiled, that rare kind of smile that made the corner of his mouth twitch and his usually cold eyes soften. The shadowy aura that trailed him flickered once, dimming as if to let the light around her shine brighter.
"You realize," he said, voice carried by the wind, calm and teasing, "we're supposed to be heading into a battle."
Kara twirled again, completely upside down now, her laughter echoing through the vast sky. "I know!" she called, spinning upright and flying closer to him. "That's why I'm doing this. Because once we're down there, there won't be time for… this."
Arthur turned his head just enough to meet her gaze. The sunlight painted her face gold. Despite everything they both looked almost at peace.
He slowed a little, letting her glide around him in lazy circles. Every time she looped past, she would stretch her hand out, brushing her fingers through the faint trail of violet energy that followed him. It shimmered briefly, like night meeting dawn.
"You know," Kara said softly after a moment, falling into formation beside him, "it's strange. Flying like this with you. It feels… right."
Arthur's brow lifted slightly, though his tone stayed light. "You mean despite me being a walking bad omen and all?"
Kara snorted and bumped his shoulder mid-flight, playful. "You're not a bad omen. You're just… dark and mysterious." Her grin widened. "Like a space bat."
Arthur gave a small laugh, low and quiet. "A space bat. That's a new one."
"See?" Kara said, spinning past him again, flying backward so she could watch his face. "You're laughing. That's already an improvement."
He looked at her, really looked at the spark in her eyes, and something in him relaxed. "Maybe your sunshine is rubbing off on me."
"Maybe," she said, almost shyly, before shooting ahead once more, streaking toward the sun like she was racing it. "Try to keep up!"
Arthur sighed, shaking his head, though the faintest hint of amusement tugged at him. He surged forward violet light erupting behind him, shadows spiraling into wings that tore through the clouds. Kara laughed and darted higher, weaving through the air, spiraling around him again in a graceful blur of red and blue.
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If you Like this story! Check out my other stories! Solo leveling in Westeros.
&
If you wish to read more or simply support me than check out my patreon at
"https://www.patreon.com/FrenzyAren"
You can Get Access to 3 More Chapters OR 7 More Chapters if you want