[Color=Orangered][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]Metropolis:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][INDENT][sup][COLOR=SILVER]January 20[SUP]th[/SUP], 2019 – 12:10 pm | Justice League Headquarters - Metro Tower[/COLOR][/sup][/INDENT][/COLOR] She beat the crap out of his coworkers. Tried to [i]kill[/i] his friend's daughter. Made a mess of his beloved kitchen and rec room and most [i]damning of all...[/i] [i][b]Ruined Lunch.[/b][/i] Yeah, Duncan was feeling [i]pretty damned good[/i] after having punched the ancient Kryptonian straight in her genetically perfect freakin' face; standing there, fist still smouldering slightly from the force of atmospheric friction from all the Newtonian Laws he'd both broken and vindicated in that one instant. [color=teal]"Two hours..."[/color] The Champion growled ruefully under his breath, shaking the smoke off his hand and looking more than a little irate [color=teal]"...Two hours I spent making that [i]goddamn pie.[/i]"[/color] This was immediately followed by a slow deliberate breath in and an exhale of much the same fashion; A coping mechanism that had developed in him in the years since he was just a boy who had a fateful meeting with a big goddamn truck- Realizing early on that losing his temper would be a [i]very[/i] bad thing with what he had become. [color=teal][i]'Let it go, MacAodhan.'[/i][/color] The short hero internalized, as he marched back inside to grab his coat, laying amongst what was left of his beloved mahogany table, before throwing it on and charging out the gaping hole he'd left in the wall [color=teal][i]'Let it go.'[/i][/color] [hr] On her knees and crying like a child who lost everything, Solara sat. And in front of her lied Kitsune, unconscious, but clearly alive. The heroic girl had done more than her part, occupying the Kryptonian long enough for others to get outside. Solara’s shouts of emotional pain quiet all of a sudden. Her tears of ache did not exactly stop, yet lessened. She lowered her hands, wiped her bloody nose and looked down on the girl, who had bested her on a whole new level. Grudge replaced some of the sorrow on the smooth face. Then a white blur flew past and suddenly Supergirl was holding the sleeping League member. Gently she put her down on the road. Concrete tickled the back of Supergirl’s hands and she almost lowered her guard and became Lara again. It felt good being out in the sun and let it warm her skin once again. It’s generous energy giving her the strength to protect the people she loved so dearly. If only she could share such moments with Solara, and not use its power to defend against her. Then shouts of fear drew both Kryptonians to look at the Hello Kitty building. Not exactly loud sounds, but neither of them needed such to hear. [b]“… some kind of sick enhanced individual! A scary mess of a madwoman!”[/b] a man said into a phone. Fear cluttered his breathing as Solara eyeballed him. [color=f6989d]“You… You don’t even know who I am? You’ve forgotten m-me? After everything I…”[/color] A devilish fury fought with the still present grief and sobbing, and she launched forward. Was then stopped with enough force to crack open the street, had Supergirl not been careful. She swung Solara around and separated the woman's contact with the ground, as she spun her backwards in a controlled throw. A short one, and not exactly meant to hurt, as much as merely put more distance between the civilians and the one threatening them. [color=f7976a]“Don’t want to fight you,” [/color]Supergirl muttered. Wherever she looked this was the place with most people in it and the spot to stay and defend. [color=f7976a]“Get out, everybody!”[/color] Supergirl yelled loud enough for even the top floors to notice her. She planted her feet in the pavement, with the sound of steps fleeing the building behind her. Jimmy approached from the Tower and Supergirl almost allowed herself to smile. [i]Sometimes being a hero isn’t about punching or moving heavy stuff, sometimes it’s about not moving … not for anything.[/i] [hr] Traversing big cities was always a pain in the ass for the Champion- Yeah, sure, [i]hypothetically[/i] he could just jump to wherever he needed to be, but [i]realistically,[/i] well... He wasn't Supergirl or Shazam. He had momentum to worry about. So, in lieu of crashing through buildings, cars and people like a deranged pinball, the only real option he had was what he was up to right now- Jumping from building to building and cursing vehemently every time he landed just a bit too heavily and broke some brickwork with his foot. [color=teal]"Aw, fer..."[/color] Said vertically-unimpressive Canuck grumbled as his toe ate through the concrete lip at the edge of one of many unfortunate rooftops that would be ruined by the superhuman and his awkward locomotion that day. Being the strongest man alive kinda sucked sometimes, when every waking moment was a constant, frustrating exercise in restraint. Pushing that thought from his mind and finally arriving at the place where the Kryptonian had apparently landed (judging by the hot pink dome of light he'd seen earlier), Duncan came to a landing, making a small crater in the paved road and a small line of sheared cement as he came skidding to a stop. What he found was... not what he expected, to say the least; Kitsune loudly snoring on the ground. Solara sobbing uncontrollably. His teammates gathered around not entirely sure what to [i]do[/i] here- not that he'd blame them- It'd been one of [i]those days.[/i] Of course, all of that inaction came to an abrupt halt, as was the norm, when Solara found the strength in all of her grief to stand up and keep swinging. For which she was abruptly thrown on her ass by Supergirl. [color=teal][i]'Stupid, stubborn piece of...[/i][/color] The Lion ground out internally, as he let out a clearly annoyed breath and his fists clenched... but then unclenched as he took another look. The aged Kryptonian was not just some insane alien bent on the world's destruction. She was just... grieving. And lashing out. A [i]person.[/i] Between the tears running down the weathered Kryptonian's face, the screaming and all the Kryptonian crests before him, on both of the physics-defying women in his vision and painted on the garrish Hello Kitty statues above, something began to click in the back of his head; Something he'd heard a while back- [color=navy][i][b]"...To reach out to those in need and inspire others to do the same. That is life's greatest necessity and its most precious gift."[/b][/i][/color] A long sigh escaped the Champion as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. [color=teal]"...Goddammit, Clark."[/color] Calmly walking behind the still-prone, shaking Kryptonian and casting a quick glance Supergirl's way, he finally spoke out loud. [color=teal]"That's enough, Solara. It's over."[/color] [color=f6989d]"It's... never over... [i]Mutant...[/i]"[/color] Said woman rasped as she slowly got to her feet, battered, bloodied but still not giving up as she immediately jumped at him with a clumsy, punch-drunk haymaker [color=f6989d][b]"NOT FOR ME!"[/b][/color] There was a loud, sonic crash as the blow connected, and had the Canuck not planted his foot firmly in the ground, he would've clearly gone for a good flight eastward through the city. As it was, he just... stood there, completely unmoving, hands still in his pockets and face unchanged as his eyes bore holes into the Kryptonian's own, even with her fist still planted upon his brow. For a moment, Solara just stood there in wide-eyed pause, clearly unsettled by that... before a thunderous shriek of raging defiance escaped her again and she began swinging wildly at his mug once more. To which the Champion responded by... [i]still not moving[/i], or really reacting in any percievable way as consecustive blows of thunderous intensity continued to slam into his face. Maybe it was the cloud cover from being on the East Coast in the middle of January. Maybe it was something else. But the raging Kryptonian's strikes grew steadily weaker and weaker the more she swung until finally she could swing no more, clutching the front of Champion's open jacket in a death-grip as she stood on shaking legs and sucked in as much oxygen as she could. [color=teal]"So, Kara Zor-El..."[/color] Duncan asked, pausing to wipe a trickle of blood now flowing freely from his nose, even in her weakened state, Solara was still a [i]Kryptonian,[/i] after all [color=teal][i]"Did all this bring your planet back yet?"[/i][/color] His response was an inarticulate shriek as Solara reeled back and slammed her fist directly into his gut, with all the rage and intent she could muster but almost none of the strength she had before. [color=f6989d][b]"Shut. Up. [i]Mutant.[/i]"[/b][/color] The Ancient Kryptonian strained to hiss, still holding onto the shorter man's jacket [color=f6989d]"You know [b][i]nothing.[/i][/b] of my World!"[/color] An indignant growl escaped him at that. [color=teal]"I know that whether you like it or not, you are fuly half of all that remains of your people. And as you were [i]so goddamn fond of pointing out[/i] the only one who remembers them at their [i]greatest.[/i]"[/color] The Lion of Nova Scotia continued without missing a beat, a sliver of curiously calm anger making it's way into his voice [color=teal]"Why don't you take a look around? Use those [i]superior[/i] eyes of yours and see how that great, [i]glorious[/i] people of yours are going to be remembered."[/color] [i]That[/i] gave the alien pause, as her eyes took on a familiar glow and darted around her, X-ray vision revealing what normal eyes would not; people running for their lives, huddled up in rooms together taking shelter, hearts beating swiftly... [i]afraid[/i]. So [i]very afraid.[/i] The anger on her face twisted and melted slightly as some unreadable expression wrenched it's way onto it. The shaking returned. [color=teal]"That's right... [i]look at it.[/i]"[/color] Duncan continued, unrelenting in his psychological offensive [color=teal]"All the history, all the [i]progress[/i] and [i]greatness[/i] of the Golden Age of Krypton, and all that will be remembered of it on this world and any other they encounter in the years to come... will be one [i]raging, rampaging [b]monster.[/b][/i]"[/color] An icy chill ran up the Kryptonian's spine at those words and she tried to jump away from the man as if bitten, only for his hand to snap out of pocket and hold her right where she was, yanking her forward, even, so he could stare directly into her trembling, panicked face. [color=teal][b]"Is that what you want?"[/b][/color] His response was a wheeze... then a sniffle... followed by a high-pitched, nasal sound as Solara did everything in her power to ignore the grief that had bubbled just under the surface after Kitsune's efforts. [color=f6989d]"N-No... I... I..."[/color] At that, Duncan's other hand made it's way unto her shoulder, and his tone softened. [color=teal]"Then let us [i]help you.[/i]"[/color] That did it, as the dam on Solara's grief finally broke and her legs gave out beneath her, only spared from smacking into the cold cement below her as Champion held her upright in something resembling a hug as she openly wailed into his uniform. Breathing a small sigh of relief and shooting Supergirl a grin and a "We good" thumbs-up, even with his nose bloodied and a small shiner forming around his left eye, where half his domino-mask had been sheared off under Solara's punching, The Lion of Nova Scotia then quickly fished his ear-piece out of his pocket and flicked it on. [color=teal]"Q, it's Champ. Ya still in the Monitor Room?"[/color] The faceless hero gave a curt reply between hisses of pain, [color=slateblue][b]"Yeah Champ, still in the Monitor Room... Sorry I couldn't help out with some bots to keep Solara busy, but I guess it all turned out for the best that I didn't."[/b][/color] [color=teal]"Eh, don't sweat it. It's just been one of those days."[/color] Champ mused, grunting slightly as Solara clung to him just a bit harder and began sobbing even louder [color=teal]"But while you're there, would you mind firing a wide-band transmission into space? Towards Saturn, if ya can swing it."[/color] Shifting slightly again, he elaborated. [color=teal]"The Tameranean Defence Force has a comms buoy orbiting around Titan. Just let Commander Koriand'r of the Third Fleet know that her [i]'Brother-Duncan'[/i] needs a favour."[/color] [color=slateblue][b]"... Tameranean Defense Force?"[/b][/color] Shaking his head with a laugh, Question sighed. [color=slateblue][b]"Damn Duncan, you have friends in the [i]weirdest[/i] places."[/b][/color] The faceless hero sent the message out following Champion's instructions. With a small snort and chuckle of his own, Duncan agreed; [color=teal]"Man, you have [i]no idea...[/i]"[/color]