Malrick held Kara's hand and helped her to her feet.
But before they could take a few steps, Kara's legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground.
Malrick quickly caught her before she hit the floor.
"I'll carry you out," he said quietly.
Sliding one arm under her knees and the other behind her back, Malrick lifted the frail girl into his arms. She was light—too light, as if she hadn't eaten in days.
The corridor outside the lead room was lined with broken bodies. The once-pristine white walls were splattered with blood.
Kara stared at the carnage as they passed. Some soldiers had been cleaved in half, others reduced to unrecognizable messes. A flicker of grim satisfaction passed through her dull green eyes.
Leaning against Malrick's chest, she could only see his profile—the sharp jawline, the calm expression that didn't waver even amid the slaughter.
This was the man who had saved her when she was at her weakest.
Kara knew he wasn't her cousin Kal-El—the angelic figure she had dreamed would someday come to rescue her. But to her, it didn't matter anymore.
A faint sparkle appeared in her eyes. When she looked at the corpses, her gaze was hollow and cold. But when she looked at Malrick, it was like a dead neon light flickering back to life.
If Malrick had looked down at her at that moment, he might have thought she was about to utter that clichéd line—how she had no way to repay his kindness except by giving herself to him.
Of course, that wasn't the case. Kara, who had been imprisoned and tortured for more than a decade, had a heart colder than Lex Luthor's bald head. At most, she would silently remember this debt.
As Malrick carried her, Kara's gaze drifted down from his face to his chest—and froze.
That symbol—an "S." For years she had dreamed of it, hoping it would appear alongside her cousin's face, heralding her salvation.
But now, seeing it up close, she felt… different. The excitement she should have felt didn't come.
Instead, she found herself hoping that the man carrying her wasn't Kal-El.
Her voice was hoarse from disuse, rough like sandpaper scraping metal. "Are you… Kal?"
She startled herself with how broken she sounded and quickly shut her mouth, embarrassed.
But Malrick didn't mind. In fact, her cracked voice reassured him. The worse her condition, the better—because it proved just how much she needed saving.
That lead-lined prison bathed in red sunlight had been a living hell for her. And he was the one who pulled her out of it.
He walked calmly through the bloody corridors, thinking, It's stable. The life codex is secure.
"I'm not your cousin," he said finally. "I'm from another world. You can call me Malrick."
He hesitated, then added, "Your brother was killed by Zod."
In this version of the universe, Superman had never reached Earth. Zod had intercepted and murdered him while searching for the life codex—the genetic key to restoring Krypton.
Kara trembled at Malrick's words. The first half calmed her, but the second shattered what little peace she had left.
"Kal… my cousin… he's dead?"
Her voice cracked. A wave of cold washed over her, numbing her from the inside out.
"Why? Why would Zod kill him? How do you know this?"
Even in her weakened state, Kara clutched his shoulder with trembling fingers.
"I heard Zod's transmission," Malrick said, lying smoothly. "He's outside Earth, threatening humanity to hand you over. He believed the life codex was inside your cousin's body. When he didn't find it, he killed him. But the codex isn't in him—it's in you. That's why he's coming now."
Kara stared at him, stunned. Then anger erupted from her disbelief.
"For the life codex… Zod killed Kal!?"
If sunlight had touched her just then, Malrick was certain heat vision would have erupted from her eyes.
She no longer cared how she looked—frail, disheveled, weak. She glared at him with raw emotion.
"Are you telling the truth? Zod was exiled by the Council! How could he have met Kal!?"
"I have no reason to lie. He's out there now."
Malrick carried her out of the underground base.
At the exit, an army was already waiting—guns raised, armored vehicles lined along the street. The moment the two appeared, gunfire erupted, deafening and chaotic.
Luthor's forces didn't hesitate to open fire, even in the middle of the city.
But the bullets never reached them. A shimmering bio-field surrounded Malrick and Kara, deflecting every shot a meter away.
Then, with a faint red glow in his eyes, Malrick unleashed a beam of heat vision. The entire squad fell silent in seconds.
Kara's eyes widened. "Heat vision… you're a Kryptonian too?"
"I'm human," Malrick replied calmly, "but I carry Kryptonian blood."
And with that, he soared into the sky—carrying her higher and higher until they broke through the clouds.
Sunlight poured down on Kara's pale skin. She closed her eyes, whispering a faint "thank you."
Under the golden rays, her body began to change. Her skin regained color and softness. The blue veins beneath her skin disappeared as her blood surged back to life.
Her body, once drained and brittle, filled with warmth and strength. Her face, once hollow, softened into delicate beauty. Even her tangled yellow hair regained its golden sheen.
In minutes, the broken girl from the lead chamber had transformed into someone reborn.
The sunlight was the greatest gift to any Kryptonian—and it had just revived her.
Malrick watched her energy rise and carefully lifted them higher, into the exosphere.
When Kara opened her eyes again, her emerald gaze was bright and alive.
She looked at him, ready to speak—when a deafening roar flooded her ears.
The sound of the entire world crashed into her mind all at once.
Kara gasped and clutched her head, overwhelmed by the noise.
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