Crisis On Earth-1

El Mayarah

[Authors Note: And now, the resolution to the cliffhanger I left y'all on on Wednesday. Not much to say today, so I'll leave you all be. Enjoy El Mayarah! And lemme know what you think!]

In the wake of Kara's passing, National City's crime rate had skyrocketed. All of the lowlife humans, and aliens alike, were crawling out of their holes; taking advantage of the Girl of Steel's sudden absence. Of course none — but a select few — knew the truth of the matter. But that didn't stop every news outlet, and amateur blog, throwing out theories and speculation as to where the Girl of Steel had gotten off to. Many theories hit the nail on the head, and it only made matters worse that they were becoming more and more frequent by the day. People were starting to catch on that their beloved hero had met a gruesome fate at the hands of a rival Kryptonian known as Reign. A genetically augmented Kryptonian many civilisations across the universe came to know as Worldkiller; before justice was dispensed on their world, and it was left in ruins.

Despite Clark's efforts to protect both Metropolis and National City, there was only so much the Man of Steel could accomplish on his own. Of course Guardian was spotted almost every night, stepping into the shoes most would rather leave unfilled. Even the NCPD had stopped their witch hunt of the vigilante, and favoured letting him act in Supergirl's absence so that they could focus their extremely thinly spread forces on more important and urgent matters. But Guardian was a man in a suit — and while being able to hold his own — was no replacement for the Girl of Steel. But not for lack of trying.
Criminals didn't have as much to fear from Guardian as they once did from Supergirl, and it was showing. Despite the effort of both heroes, National City's crime rate was skyrocketing at a tremendous rate, with no signs of slowing down.
Admitting that the Girl of Steel was dead would only insight chaos, and worsen their current situation. And keeping the information under wraps allowed all those currently mourning the loss of Kara Danvers come privacy, in order to come to terms with their loss. Everyone was reeling from their loss, and they were all coping in their own way. Some of them threw themselves into their work, like James and Winn. Others were working on finding Reign and extracting vengeance, like Alex. Some were crying themselves to sleep every night, staring at photo albums of their daughter, like Eliza. Others were refusing to break down, in order to preserve the memory of their surrogate daughter, like J'onn. Some were carrying the weight of an entire species on their back, like Clark. And others were drinking away their pain day after day, and shutting themselves off from the rest of the world in an attempt to cope with the loss of their best, and only friend, like Lena.

Another bottle of expensive scotch down, and Lena didn't feel any better. No matter how much she drank, thoughts of Kara flooded her mind, lingering like images from an old dream. She'd wished them away many times, but they persisted nonetheless. It probably didn't help that Lena was sat on Kara's couch, wrapped in a blanket that smelt like her best friend, in complete silence; staring at the boxes that were supposed to full by now. She'd offered to empty Kara's apartment, and ensure nothing of value was misplaced, and nothing incriminating was discovered. But upon arriving at the apartment of her best friend, all the wounds were ripped open, and a fresh set of emotions formed by grief consumed her. It'd been hours since she'd forced herself to open the door, and not a single thing was packed away. Instead she was glued to the couch; alternating between holding a picture frame with a photo of the Danvers family in it, and a bottle of scotch that peeled the skin off the inside of her throat as she drank straight from the bottle like a teenager at an eighteenth birthday party.
After another hour of sobbing on the couch, Lena was finally too drunk to feel anything. She pulled herself to her feet, and walked over to place the picture frame in one of the boxes, and smiled down at it sadly. She went to walk back over to the coffee table and grab a few other photos when suddenly a blur burst through the window, and broke one of the windows, it's glass shattering into millions of tiny little pieces, scatting across the floor like confetti. Shielding her eyes from the sudden explosion, Lena recoiled and crawled into a crouching position, only peering through the gaps in between her fingers once she'd heard the glass settle, and whatever was inside had settled after their sudden landing. Despite the fact that she was hammered, Lena would recognise that figure anywhere. But she knew it was just a hallucination, or a dream she was trapped in that was orchestrating this sudden unbelievable sight.