The air split apart with thunderous cracks as Anissa and I exchanged blow after blow, suspended high above the vast blue of the ocean. Each of her strikes sent shockwaves that rippled the sea's surface below us. I blocked and dodged where I could, but her precision was merciless. Her strikes weren't just powerful, they were refined. Calculated. Years beyond mine.
I gritted my teeth, straining to keep up with her. Every punch she landed sent concussive shockwaves over the ocean's surface. The air cracked like thunderclaps with each strike. Her movements were sharp, clean, effortless. Mine were reactive, defensive. It was all I could do to block and counter, sweat already beading my brow as her knuckles found my ribs.
I went to throw a heavy punch, only for Anissa to vanish mid-air and reappear behind me, a spinning back kick slamming into my side like a truck. Then a punch connected with my gut, sending me hurtling backward. Before I could regain control, a searing beam of emerald-green energy slammed into my chest, throwing me across the ocean like a meteor crashing down.
BOOM.
I was being launched across the sky, crashing through the waves before plummeting. My suit screamed warnings as a green beam of heat vision slammed into my back , searing through my suit's shielding like a laser torch. Not even my TT shield barely helped me from getting cut in half.
"GAHH—!" I roared in pain as I crashed into the ocean, boiling water around me from the residual energy. I sank deep, my suit crackling and sparking, the nanotech struggling to recover from the heat. But before I could rise, I felt it, new presences. Reinforcements? For me or Anissa?
Breaking the surface with a gasp, I looked up. Before I could gather my breath, the sky above me flared with movement.
Anissa floated calmly in the air, unbothered. That's when Galatea and Mark arrived.
The air snapped with sonic booms as they flew in fast, flanking her.
Galatea crossed her arms, unimpressed. " Hey by the order of the US government and the Global Defense Agency. You are to surrender yourself to us for question. Or don't." She then cracked her knuckles I could use the exercise." , her eyes narrowed with amusement.
Guardian didn't say anything he just stared with a cold expression.
Wait Mark and Supergirl? No that must be her clone Cadmus made. Wait, she exists in the universe to?
Anissa didn't look amused. She turned her gaze to Guardian, her tone suddenly frigid.
"You're Nolan's son," she said, voice cold and sharp like a blade. "Do you stand with Earth as well, and where is your father?"
Mark didn't say anything, his expression became unreadable as he activated his helmet.
"No matter," she continued with a calm face. "I will gain my answers sooner or later. But for now… stay out of my way. I am in the middle of educating one of my people."
Galatea stepped forward and boldly grabbed Anissa's arm. "You're not going anywhere."
Anissa's head tilted, ever so slightly. She saw Galatea crest of EL. "Remove your hand."
Galatea grinned. "I don't take requests from aliens."
That was a mistake.
Anissa's emerald eyes glowed fiercely. "It wasn't a request. So let help you learn your place."
Anissa's head slowly turned toward her. Her emerald eyes lit up like molten stars. In a flash of green light, Galatea screamed, flying backwards as Anissa's heat vision carved into her, sending her flying backward midair.
The shockwave of the blast sent seafoam spinning and Mark bolting forward to intercept.
"Stand down!" Guardian shouted, readying a punch for Anissa.
But Anissa didn't even move.
CRACK!
The punch landed but did nothing.
She caught Guardian by the throat with one hand and turned to me as I flew back into view. "It seems you both need to be educated."
Guardian's fists pummeled her sides and face, his power armor amplifying every strike, but her face didn't even twitch. No bruise. No crack.
"Let. Me. Go!" he growled.
Galatea struggling to stay afloat in the air, breathed heavy, and he body was trembling. Greenish black veins formed on Galatea's face and body. "What... what did you do to me?" Galatea gasped, smoke trailing off her suit. Her knees buckled as burns spread across her chest and arms.
Anissa floated forward slowly, voice calm and menacing. Mark still in her hand. "Your crest bears the House of El. From scanning your body, I can tell your a clone, But not of Kryptonian quality. Your to sloppily made with to many impurities. A fake of a fake. Maybe On Krypton, you might've been accepted… but in the Empire you will be lucky to be made a breeding mate?"
"Watch your mouth bitch." Galatea said breathing hard and gasping. "I'm one.... of a kind. Your alien ass doesn't get to tell me my worth. I... already got one bitch in my ear."
Then on Galatea and Guardians comm. voices can be heard.
"Guardian do you read me." Cecil says.
"Red Sun come in. What is your status with the target." Waller says
Anissa clenched her fist. Green energy condensed around it, turning blood red.
"You are an abomination. If you survive this you might be worth something."
Anissa fired.
The blast slammed into Galatea, hurling her like a ragdoll through the air. She crashed down into the ocean with such force it sent up a pillar of saltwater and foam.
She then appeared in front of me kicked me with great force. It knocked the wind out of me from the ocean to mid air. She then hurled Mark toward me, his body spinning through the air like a comet.
I barely had time to brace before he collided with me. We smashed together, both of us spiraling through the sky like wreckage, before crashing down onto the surface of a abandoned island.
The sand exploded around us as we tumbled across the beach.
I groaned, coughing up seawater and spitting blood. "Hey can you talk to Cecil?" I asked Mark, pulling myself up. I hope he can work with me.
He winced, one hand clutching his ribs. "What for?…"
"So we can get the league here, and some back up. If you hadn't noticed she's been kicking are buts"
Then the ground trembled.
A red beam shot from the sky, crashing just a few yards away. Galatea, her body twitching and smoking, slammed into the beach like a meteor. She groaned, trying to lift herself up, but collapsed face-first into the sand.
And then… she came.
Anissa descended standing between our beaten bodies, arms behind her back like this was a casual lecture.
Her black bodysuit shimmered with residual energy. Her emerald eyes glowed with power. Every step she took toward us made the sense of danger rise in my body.
She looked at us both and sighed.
"Well. I had hoped Cain would be the only one who needed educating." She raised her hands and grabbed us, both of us by the neck.
We were lifted effortlessly into the air, our feet dangling. She then blitzed and slammed us into a nearby mountain.
"GAHH—!" Me and Mark were being overwhelmed
Her grip was vice-like. She turned her gaze from me to Mark, and then back again.
"Now…" she said calmly.
"Let's pick up the lesson where we left off, boys."