Seeing Green Episode IV: Close Encounters

Chapter Thirteen

"Guys," Cisco into his mic. "I'm picking her up on my radar. She's headed this way."

"Take your positions, everyone," Oliver said over the comm. "Conserve your arrows, Thea. Wait for the right moment and be sure to make a clean shot."

"Gotcha," she replied.

"And remember, Kryptonite arrows are heavier than what you're used to. Factor the weight in your trajectory."

"I know Ollie," she said, probably rolling her eyes from the tone of her voice, but Kara couldn't see from where she was located. They were all hiding out in different places around the stadium, except for Kara. She had been pacing little circles at the 50 yard line. She stopped and hugged herself as if she was cold. The sun's shadows were getting long as it was now late afternoon. A cloud drifted over, blotting out part of the light.

"Heads up," Oliver said. Kara squinted up and found that it was not a cloud, but the silhouette of a woman. It was Ursa. She drifted down, landing lightly.

"So you chose to thwart me in one of these barbaric arenas where men brutally attack one another for entertainment, glory, and monetary gain. Ha!" Ursa turned up her nose and looked around the stadium. "Such a primitive species. When I take over I will put an end to this backwards practice."

"Are you really so eager to take responsibility for seven billion lives?" Kara asked. "Isn't Zoe enough to worry about?"

"This world needs me as much as she does!"

Kara used her x-ray vision to see if she was carrying the Phantom Projector on her person. She wasn't. What a relief. She tucked her hair behind one ear, a signal to Barry that she didn't have it.

"I see you brought your friends along," Ursa remarked, scanning the perimeter. "Afraid to take me on all by yourself? You moved that wardrobe. But are you really so strong?"

Ursa flew at her. Barry zoomed by and she knocked him into the turf. His body slid, tearing through the field all the way to the end zone.

Ursa laughed, "Touchdown," she mocked.

"Barry!" Kara cried, flying towards him. Ursa grabbed her foot and tossed her to the turf too. Her body plowed through the earth before coming to a halt near the end zone.

"Show me what you've got, Supergirl," Ursa challenged. Icicles crashed and exploded as they rained down on her body. Ursa, quite annoyed by this, simply blasted Caitlyn away with a gust of freeze breath. "Two can play at that game," she said. She turned back to Kara, who was slowly lifting herself from the exposed ground.

Just then, Kryptonite arrows flew at Ursa from both sides but she deflected every one of them. She caught one particularly good shot that nearly dug into the back of her neck. As Ursa looked to see who it belonged to, Kara could see a tiny trickle of blood running down from the spot where it had just barely pricked her.

"Nice shot, Loverboy. Where'd you get all this Kryptonite? It doesn't just grow on trees you know!"

Whack! Kara had taken the upright goal-post and smacked it into Ursa like a baseball bat, sending her flying across the field.

"Home run, bitch," said Kara.

Enraged, Ursa crawled out of the crater she was in, covered in soil and bits of green grass. "How can you say that word?!" she bellowed. "That's the N-word for women!!"

Kara considered this and found it to be true. "Alright, I take it back!" Kara cried. She flew over and landed where Ursa was now standing. "But you shouldn't hurt my friends. Test me, and you'll be sorry."

"I don't want to hurt you but you leave me no choice!" Ursa announced as she launched herself at Kara. Fists flew. Kara managed to block a few, but with Ursa's higher level of skill, most of the blows hit their mark. Kara swung at her just as Barry whizzed by and attempted to shove an arrow in her side. But Ursa was too quick. She stuck out a foot, tripping him, sending him face first into the dirt. Kara's blow landed in her rib-cage. Ursa was momentarily put off balance but quickly recovered. Caitlyn pelted her with ice again. Ursa turned and blasted her away with her laser vision.

"Caitlyn!" Kara cried out as Caitlyn crash-landed in the bleachers. Ursa grabbed Kara from behind, pinning her arms down in a backwards sort of embrace. Kara struggled to free herself but Ursa had a firm hold.

"Give up, Supergirl," Ursa hissed in her ear. "You can't defeat me. I'm stronger than you. And your friends are no good, either."

"Ohhh. Now you've done it, Crazy Lady," Cisco said, shooting his waves of energy at the two women. Ursa was once again knocked a little off balance.

"Meta-freaks!" She cried as she turned and adjusted her footing, using Kara as a shield against his vibes.

Fwoomp. Ursa writhed suddenly in pain as an arrow stuck in her back, but her arms remained around Kara. Kara quickly clasped Ursa's arms and threw her weight forward, flipping them over together, head over heels. Both women were now lying on the ground, Kara on top of her. She began to get up off of her. When she looked back, Ursa was sitting on the ground, reaching around her back, trying to pull out the arrow. It was difficult as the shaft had broken off, and the head had been driven deep into her body.

"It didn't have to be like this Ursa," Kara said somberly, knowing that Ursa would now begin suffering from the deadly effects of Kryptonite poisoning.

"That's right!" she retorted viciously. "We could have been great together, you and I. Two powerful women raising our children and ruling over Earth!"

"Earth doesn't need a ruler like you, Ursa."

"Oh come on Kara Zor-el! You know as well as I do this planet isn't going to fix itself! The people wage wars to boost their economy and gain control of resources. They pollute with reckless abandon. They have an obesity epidemic in one part of the world while other people are starving. They have drug cartels and human trafficking! Which is the first thing I will put a stop to when I become their sovereign!" Ursa cried out in pain as she had finally gained purchase and began slowly removing the arrow. She held one of her hands over the wound to stop the bleeding, and began to rise.

"Really? And how do you propose to do that?"

Ursa sneered like she was enjoying this. "Simple. Eliminate the men responsible."

"And by eliminate, you mean kill."

"What would you have me do sweet Kara? I could put them in the Phantom Zone. Does that suit your delicate sense of justice?"

Kara thought carefully. That's what Jor-el was trying to do. Put the criminals away safely, humanely, in the Phantom Zone. And Ursa does have a point. The world is pretty messed up right now. But could she really pull it off? Could she end the fighting, and actually achieve world peace?

No, only someone insane would think that they could.

"Kill them or put them in the Phantom Zone, either way, when does it stop, Ursa? You can't stop people from stealing, raping, murdering, polluting—"

"No. But I can make them fear me. Crime doesn't pay, it gets you killed. I can make things happen like no other leader before me."

"But you can't be everywhere at once. You are not a god. You can try to fix this planet. You can try, but what it always comes down to is the people have to make a choice. Not out of fear, but because it's what's right."

At that, Kara turned and began to walk away.

"I just have to kill all the bad men..." Ursa said desperately.

"It won't work Ursa," Kara said, looking back over her shoulder. "There will always be bad people. And not just men, either,"

"I am all-powerful! To these people we are gods!" Ursa cried in frustration.

"You can't protect the world from itself," Kara muttered to herself.