The building had been plunged into complete darkness.

Correction: the building had been plunged into complete flashing red lights, blaring sirens spouting intrustion warnings and screaming... lots and lots of screaming.

Kara of Argo City hefted her rather large gun and the backpack full of goodies* and moved forward, toward the screaming.

(* The stuff she acquired last issue - aren't you glad someone was paying attention? - GD)

She wasn't completely sure what good the gun would do against Blackstarr, but at least she wouldn't go down without a fight. Of that much, she was sure.

"Come on out and play!" Blackstarr's voice echoed through the corridors. Kara couldn't quite tell how far ahead she was. The screaming was getting louder, so she kept moving forward...

The screaming

When she closed her eyes, she could still see the monsters*... the big bug monsters who had...

(* As seen in Superman/Aliens - GD)

Killed

Everyone

When she closed her eyes, she could still feel their hot breath on her heels, could still smell the rot of the bodies and feel what was left of the people she had loved the most in her short life squishing beneath her toes as she

ran

Run, the voice told her

Run... faster...

They were still behind her, hiding in the darkness. They were somewhere

up ahead, somewhere... waiting...

to tear her into pieces...

to devour her

to... she closed her eyes tightly trying not to see what she was

seeing...

The red lights continued to flash in STAR Labs

Swirling red lights... making a strobe that let the movements of those left alive.

They looked up at her, holding their small intenstines in with their bare hands

Some merely cringed at her footfalls, as they held their eyeballs tenderly, so as not to drop them.

"Where is she?" she muttered to one of them... she shook his shoulder, only to have his top half fall to the floor. His bottom half impotently slid down the fall, leaving a trail of blood in its wake.

She stared at the man's face for a moment, before starting to move on... toward whatever lay ahead...

She stopped herself, and took another look.

It was her father.

She screamed... and screamed and screamed... They came out of the surrouding corridors, drawn by her horror, feeding off of her fear.

She felt her legs start to give way beneath her, and she propelled herself

onward

The corridor was empty... the bodies were gone...

"That was then" she reminded herself. But that wasn't the truth though... it had been now. She could still see the faces, still had the smell in her nose... the scent of burning flesh.

The screaming up ahead stopped.

The quiet set in.

"They're all around us" she heard someone whisper, "They're all around us."

The bug eyed monsters crept through the quiet, never disturbing its sanctity.

She moved through the quiet, slicing it with her presence -

Blackstarr... Kara could feel her... could smell her coming...

The Destroyer of Worlds stepped from around the corner and stopped abruptly. "Well, what do we have here?" she grinned. Her entire face twisted into a smile, one that wrinkled the star symbol that someone had cut into her forehead. "Awfully far from home aren't you?" she mocked, "Oh wait, that's because you don't have a home anymore!"

"Bite me!" Kara cried as she shifted her blaster upward, opening fire on Blackstarr.

She stood under the onslaught of the laser as it continued to slam into her stellar-clad chest. She continued laughing, and shaking her head, "Poor little Kara," she mocked, her voice full of baby-stomping, "You didn't honestly think that your little gun was going to stop me did you?"

Kara held her expression firm. "Actually," she said, throwing the bulky gun forward into her opponent, jumping to the side and rolling with a fluid motion, while pulling the pin of the concussion grenade in her hand and throwing it up and over where Blackstarr stood...

Blackstarr's smile faded as grenade exploded, sending a large portion of the roof high into the air, and the rest of it directly onto onto her prone form. As she started to get back to her feet, the rest of the roof came back to earth, hard.

Kara got back to her feet with a smile, staring at the pile of rubble that had, for now, buried Blackstarr, "That's what I was hoping would happen cow" she finished.

She glanced around, looking for the nearest emergency exit... and hoping that she would be able to find it before Blackstarr had freed herself. After all, a cheap trick like dropping the ceiling on someone only worked once, if it ended up working at all... she had gotten lucky, she reminded herself, damn lucky... it wouldn't work a second time.

At any second, Blackstarr would be throwing off the shock of what had happened, and simply shove everything off of her. Once she did... she would no longer be in the mood to play. Kara knew that Blackstarr would simply find and kill her.

She glanced at the backpack she was still caring around her neck... wishing that she hadn't thrown the gun away as a distraction.

"Sacrifices" she muttered as she tried the handle of the door. It opened smoothly.

She stepped outside for the first time since coming to the planet Earth, stepped into it and the pale glow of its one yellow sun. She stared up at the sun and smiled as she took to the great blue friendly sky. She had forgotten about that advantage to Earth - and her stay in the complex at STAR Labs had kept her too depleted and confused to give the matter much though. Now though - now her chances were perhaps a bit better against the might of Blackstarr than she had at first thought...she would still need allies though... she just had to get their attention again.

Perhaps, if she could get Superman to take an interest, perhaps he could help her as he had done before against the bug monsters... or, if worse came to worse, she could always simply call on the aid of

:
Maid of Steel

"Passages"
Issue 11
June Year 2

Script by Gary Dreslinski
Plot by Barry Reese

Midway Museum

"Just stay quiet!" The teenage girl hisses as she shoves her pistol into Joceyln Roger's face. "If you so much as make another peep, I swear to fucking god I'm gonna make a hole so fucking big in your head that I'll be able to reach in and wave my fingers out the other side!"

Craig Morris kept his place between the tour group that had been waiting to get started and the girl who had simply wandered in off the street and into the Amazon exhibit area.

At first, Craig had thought it was Linda Danvers... it SHOULD have been Linda, he corrected himself. Someone had tried calling a few minutes later, just as the girl had started waving around her gun and telling everyone to stay where they were. Perhaps that was Linda, calling to say that she was running a few minutes late for work. Whoever it was, they had to let the phone ring... the girl had said that she was going to kill the first person that tried to answer it. Craig caught the look in her eyes, she meant it.

He stayed between her and the tour group... the morning group that Linda had been scheduled to lead... he wasn't sure if it was a good thing, or a bad one, that she wasn't there. She'd been dealt a bad hand of late, having one more thing hit home to her... on the other hand, her trials had toughened her, he had seen that even in the small amount of time he's known her, perhaps she would be able to see a way out of that he couldn't.

He caught Jocelyn's eyes, she was terrified. He tried not to shift his position too much, not only to keep the girl at ease, but also in hopes that the lump in his pants wouldn't allow gravity to ease its way down his leg and onto the floor. It was bad enough that it had happened... it would be far worse to walk away from a situation with everyone knowing about it.

"What do you want?" Craig asked, quietly.

The girl cocked her head, and turned her attention to him. "What did you say?" she demanded.

"I asked, 'what do you want?'"

She smiled, "That's what I thought you asked." she shifted the pistol in her hand toward him. "Want to ask another one Mr. Inquisitive?"

He shook his head from side to side.

She smiled, "That would probably be best." she looked at him again, as if studying his face, "You know, you're kinda cute, anyone ever tell you that?"

He reluctantly nodded.

"Whatta you say, that after this is all over, maybe we could do something sometime?"

"Well actually, I'm sorta..." Craig started, and then stopped, "That might be nice."

The girl pulled the trigger. Craig felt the hot flash of metal in his chest... and explosion that seemed to rip out his insides, one that dropped him to the ground. He screamed out his mother's name and emptied his bowels, again.

The girl laughed, "Anyone else wanna be cute with me?"

"I don't know - would I be 'cute' enough?" a woman's voice asked.

The girl pulled Jocelyn back in tight, with the barrel to her head, and shifted toward the voice. Craig was still screaming. The women in the tour group were sobbing in terror, the men were trying hard not to admit that they were doing the same.

She took a step back when she saw who it was.

Supergirl stood with her arms folded in front of her, waiting.

Considering the state of her spandex, she had simply grabbed what she had left - the old reliable short red skirt. People, well, men (and maybe Satan Girl a voice added sarcasticly in the back of her mind) seemed to like it better anyway. Her blonde hair was still cut short... something that she was still not sure how it had happened, nor would it could signify...

Her top though - that had been her own addition... pressed for time, and out of the blue - she had simply cut a S shape hole in a plain white shirt. Perhaps it wasn't the smartest idea... but better than just using a pen or iron on... Cutter would have been able to book her on any show in the country if she had done it before... if he had lived to see it.

She glanced down at Craig Morris, writhing on the floor, screaming in pain, "Please hold on" she prayed, "Please Wally - let him hold on..."

The girl shifted her pistol back toward her. Supergirl took in the look of terror on Jocelyn's face. "Don't do anything stupid," it said, and she took it to heart.

"I really wouldn't do that if I were you, just put down the gun and I won't have to hurt you."

The girl shifted her pistol back to Jocelyn's head. " I guess that's what makes us different, I'm not really sure if I actually care if I hurt anyone here..."

"Maybe you should." Supergirl countered, moving forward at a pace that would have made Wally West proud.

She punched the girl in the face, sending her flying in one direction - and the gun in the other... Linda caught the bullet in her hand just before it would have hit Jocelyn in the face.

Supergirl looked down at her hand... it was red and throbbing... even more so, it was bleeding around the spot where a partially impacted bullet had lodged in her hand.

Midway Hospital

"So... you're the guy who took my father's name?"

"So... you're the guy that's dating my sister?"

"Yeah - I guess I am" they both answered, and shared a laugh.

Jack Knight stood by the bedside of Will Payton, trying hard not to look uncomfortable.

Will looked up at Jack, hoping for the same thing.

"So, how did you become Starman?" Will asked, "I thought your brother... David isn't it... had taken up the legacy... Not the politest guy in the world."

"David's dead." Jack answered.

"Oh my god!" Will exclaimed, "I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to..."

Jack shook his head,"No, it's ok - saying that David 'wasn't very polite' is probably the nicest way I've ever heard that he was a bit of an asshole at times." Jack sighed, "Especially when it came to proving that he was ready to take up Dad's mantle."

Will nodded, "He did seem a bit..."

"Obsessed?" Jack offered.

Will nodded, "How did it happen?"

"Remember the Mist?"

Will nodded.

"Let's just say some legacies are nicer than others..."

Will stayed quiet for a moment, simply staring at the face of the man who shared his name... the man who loved his sister.

"I really want to apologize" Jack said, changing the subject.

"For what?"

"Well - when Sadi... Jayne, god... Jayne..."

"Who's..."

"Long story... anyway, when Jayne asked me to go find you in space - I did... or at least, I tried to... I honestly did try to track you down... it's just...."

"Space is a big place."

"Much bigger than pulp novels give it credit for being."

Will nodded and smiled, "I've noticed that too."

"And everytime I found where you were..."

"I was already one step ahead of you huh?"

Jack nodded with a grin, "I guess they can't keep a good Starman down huh?"

"About that..."

Jack held up his hand, "Don't give it a second thought. I've already talked to my father about it. He thinks that you've earned the name."

"But what about..."

Jack burst out laughing, but then stopped himself, looking at Will's confusion, "Sorry... but you weren't about to ask what I was going to call myself now were you?"

"Well... the thought had..."

"I'm still Starman," Jack said off-hand, "I'm always going to be Starman, like my father before me. Some day - maybe there will be another generation of Knight that will take up the rod and the name... hopefully not the tights though," he quipped, shuddering at the thought of the cheesy red tights his father had wanted to pass on," But that doesn't mean that you can't be Starman as well. The way Dad looks at it, there have been overlaps before - and the world is big enough to hold two guys named Starman - and dangerous enought that it'll need it."

Will nodded, "Thank you... and please tell your Dad I said that its an honor."

"I know... it is isn't it?" Jack said with pride, "I still can't believe it sometimes." he whispered.

"Any idea when they're going to let you up and around?" Jack asked.

Will shook his head, "There's no reason they can tell that I should even be in here. They're trying to get ahold of STAR Labs so I can be transferred back there...to see if there was some sort of energy drain caused by Satan Girl, or if its something deeper."

Jack nodded, "Well - you know that you can count on Jayne coming in every morning to see you... and every afternoon... and every evening that she had find a way to sneak passed the nurse on duty."

Will smiled.

Jack nodded to the window, "Just tell them you want the window open for some fresh air... I can do the rest." he grinned.

Will moved his hand. It still wasn't easy, but it was worth the effort. He placed it to rest on Jack's.

"Thank you" Will said, his voice filled with tears, "Thank you..."

Jack put his other hand on top of the pile, "For what?"

Will could think of a long list of things to say... from speaking to his father about the legacy to coming to visit him in the hospital bed, but his answer sprang forth from his lips before he could overthink the matter, "For loving my sister." he said, "For putting up with her - She deserves to be happy."

Jack Knight, the man who had faced down death time after time as Starman, blushed, "That's the easiest part of my life." he responded, "The best part."

223

Midway Museum

She heard the voice in her head, calling to her. It had called to her from the other side of the city, drawing her here when she had gone out to knock over a 7-11. She had come here instead, to this museum.. she had been drawn into the confrontation with the staff and patrons... with Supergirl... there was a reason for all of it... there had to be...

She could feel that her face was bruised rather bad, it hurt to even twitch her mouth, let alone to say anything.

She looked over to where Supergirl was picking up the guy she had shot, probably to take him to the hospital for something equally heroic... the voice in her head was louder, telling her to pull herself up... to look at what was in front of her face.

She managed to get herself to her knees. She glanced back at the others, no one was paying any attention to her anymore... it was as though she didn't matter.

She reached out and touched the golden chest armor, the one with the eyes of a demon* that had called her. She touched the surface of the armor, allowing her hand to linger.

(*As seen in Supergirl #8 - GD)

"Seize your destiny" the voice in her head told her, and she did.

She pulled the armor down from the wall, it came down smoothly. No alarms went off... it, and the other pieces, had been sitting out, unprotected from casual examination - as if they had been waiting for her.

She grabbed the spear in one hand, and with a fluid motion, placed the golden helm on her head, she felt... different... she felt powerful...

she felt

"FREE!" the voice that was not her own came from her new form, " At long last Chryseis is free once more!"

Supergirl turned at the sound of the new voice, and looked down at the bleeding Craig Morris in her arms, she started to put him down, but glanced over to where his attacker had been. She was gone, and an Amazon warrior, wearing the museum's newest pieces was standing in her place.

It didn't take Ralph Dibny to put two and two together.

She looked back down at Craig... he was dying, she could feel the lifeforce draining from him.... she prayed to Wally again, wishing for her angelic powers again... wishing that she could somehow save him.

The Amazon warrior was striding toward her, holding her spear aloft.

"You will all pay now!" Chryseis declared.

Supergirl could feel the fright of the rest of the tour group, she could see Jocelyn still balled up on the floor, trembling. She could leave... and get Craig to a hospital - where they could save him. But that would leave everyone else to the mercy of the Amazon. Or she could stop Chryseis as quickly as she could - and hope that she would still have time... although she doubted it. Either way, someone was going to die...

"I'm so sorry," Linda muttered, as Supergirl started to place Craig Morris's bleeding form on the ground...

The Amazon however, did not give her that luxury... she raised her spear in front of her, "You have troubled the will of Chryseis for the last time mortal! Let the Portal of Passing remove you from my sight forever!"

A light burst forth from the spear, spreading outward, toward Supergirl... Linda tried to get out of the way.. but it was of no use.

The portal consumed her...

Jocelyn Rogers blinked her eyes again, to make sure she had seen what she had... Supergirl had arrived to save them all, she had been about to take the dying Craig Morris to the hospital... she had...

"Vanished" Chryseis finished with glee, "Your savior has vanished from the face of the Earth, never to trouble anyone again! Now..." she smiled a twisted smile, "we shall see what there is to be seen..."

Supergirl blinked her eyes again. The light had served to temporarily blind her... in the distance, she could hear the sounds of steady gunfire... she could feel the heat of a nearby fire...

She could feel the weight in her arms... she blinked again and the haze dissipated. Craig Morris was still in her arms, moaning... dying...

She took a look around her. The museum was long gone... everything seemed to be long gone... she didn't recognize where she was... everything was in ruin... the sounds of children crying filled her ears...

And then...

"Get down!" a voice called out to her, she turned just in time to see what appeared to be a large hand grenade being flung in her direction.

She ducked in time to have someone springboard off the side of her back, catch it one handed in mid-air, and fling it back the way it had come... with explosive results...

"Wha...?" She started, as she started to get up.

"Sloppy work there Power Girl - those Ratzis almost had you there."

She turned with her best smile, "Thank you - but I'm not Power Girl..."

Wildcat leered, "I can certainly see that now miss...." he declared, "Why don't we see if we can find the rest of the JSA and maybe get you some more clothes... not that I mind, mind you..."

Supergirl smiled, "The JSA? You're Wildcat then!"

He nodded.

"But, you're so youn..." she stopped herself, "Where am I? What year is this?"

Wildcat rolled his eyes, "Not another one," he muttered, "It's 1945... Welcome to Warsaw."

NEXT: The JSA! Nazis! The coming of Blackstarr! Plus a few surprises!

Don't miss Supergirl #12!

The Letters Page

A funny thing happened with the last couple of issues - something that every writer both loves and dreads: A controversy. Some of you loved the issues. Some of you hated them. All of you read them, and for that I'm grateful.

The mail, and the posts relating to Supergirl alone would make this issue double-sized, so I'll just say that I appreciate the time and effort that everyone took to discuss my issues. Both Pro and Con.

A special thank you to: Jess, Sammy, Dave, Ralph, Clay, Barry, TJ, Dale, Bobby and everyone else who shared their opinions with me.

It's been a great run so far - and its only going to get better!