When Blackflame's bomb went off, the light was blinding. And in the instance before, Supergirl saw Nightwing's face and there was no fear in his eyes. For some reason that helped her fight the fear that had blossomed in her own heart in those last moments before the bomb detonated.

When the light faded, Supergirl found herself laying flat on her back--her uniform shredded into next to nothing and her skin feeling as though she had a really bad sunburn, but alive. She stood slowly, every bone and muscle in her body protesting the movement. She was not sure how far she'd been thrown in the blast, but the cracked white ground of the Wastelands was now charred black and there were massive canyons riddling the ground all around her. The ground shook with earth-quakes and in the sky silver lightning pierced the dark green night sky where an incandescent moon held a mournful face. There was no sign that Nightwing, Flamebird, Blackflame's goons, or the two sky-cruisers had ever existed.

On the horizon, she could see a blemish that could only be Argo City--which would have suffered damage in the blast. Despite the terrific pain Supergirl flew toward Argo City with every bit of speed she could muster.

In the city she found that buildings were shaking beneath the pressure of the earthquakes. The street was filled with people running and screaming out in fear and pain. Standing on top of a shuddering building, Supergirl surveyed the destruction all around her, watching the lightning piercing the sky and dark clouds the color of onyx rumbling across the sky. Superman had told her once that he had super-hearing; she had nothing near that. But she did have increased hearing, and the screaming was tearing at her heart.

Her thoughts turned to Nightwing, of her lie to him there at the end. She had not loved him; but for some reason the lie had felt right. In some way, she thought that perhaps her telling him she loved him had helped him face his death without fear. She did not understand why he hadn't wanted her to try to save him; she could have made it. She knew it in her heart she could have saved him.

"Saved him for what?" Supergirl asked the thundering sky, watching the destruction all around her. She could survive in the vacuum of space. She could just fly away from all of this. Nightwing had no such option.

Supergirl looked at the sky. It would take her a considerable amount of time to get back to Earth. It was sometime during World War II back there now. She would arrive at least sometime in the 1950's even flying as fast as she could. That was nowhere near her proper time. But, it was a start.

Below her another steeple fell, it's point heading straight toward a elderly man.

Supergirl was streaking through the air toward him before she even realized what she was doing, grabbing the steeple and carrying it away from the old man.

"Great job. I just saved him to die." Supergirl said landing back on the building above the people below.

The man rushed off, looking much like an ant from Supergirl's high perch.

She felt Alexander Luthor materialize beside her before she actually saw him with her own eyes.

"So, I listened to you. Krypton is dying." Supergirl told him angrily. "You and I both know it's not right."

"It's not right Supergirl. But it's the way it's meant to be. Destiny is not always right and it's not always fair. Destiny is an element. Like earth, fire, water, and air. It will not conform to human morality or perception any more than a tornado or earthquake. This was meant to happen. Krypton and all it's people were meant to die." Alexander said quietly, "I know how it feels to watch an entire civilization die and be helpless to prevent it."

"But I could have prevented it. Or at least stalled it." Supergirl bowed her head, "What is the point of having all these powers and being like a god when I cannot stop things like this? When I can't intervene? Am I destined to spend my entire existence fighting costumed morons? I couldn't save Leesburg. And I couldn't save Krypton."

Alexander put his hand on Supergirl's shoulder. "Nothing I can say to you will soothe your soul right now. But trust me when I say, that you are being prepared for something greater than this. Greater than you. Greater than any of us. There is a great war coming. And there is a battle where you will decide the course of it."

"And I have to be ready for that battle." Supergirl glared at Alexander, the sound of destruction all around them. "I keep hearing that. I lost last time. Supergirl was wiped out of existence and kept from my full potential when I did finally come into being. But forces have conspired to make me what I was always supposed to be, and to even become more than I was."

"Your voice drips with sarcasm Kara. But, you are correct." Alexander said quietly. His eyes troubled and sad.

"Don't call me that. You have no right to call me that." Supergirl hugged herself tightly.

"I will tell you something no one else has. And I will tell you something that I'm probably not supposed to."

Supergirl looked at Alexander. Her hazy half-formed memory of him, which made no sense, was that he was somehow Lex Luthor's son. Although it made no sense to her how that was possible.

"Do tell. Krypton is falling apart around us. People are dying. Why don't we just continue standing here gabbing about how I'm not the hero I was supposed to be?"

"Sarcasm. So unlike Supergirl."

"The Supergirl you knew is not the Supergirl I am. At least that's what they keep telling me." Supergirl crossed her arms and looked at him quizzically.

"When the skies go red, you will know that the war is beginning again. And you will know that moment." Alexander hesitated for a moment before continuing, "And the name of the enemy you will fight is Lord Xenon and he is the Anti-Monitor."

"Isn't the Anti-Monitor that creep responsible for the red skies on Earth a few years back? The one where a lot of heroes died when he tried to fuse this universe with the anti-matter universe of Qward? The Crime Syndicate lives on a planet in Qward." Supergirl felt a shiver go through her soul.

"That is how history remembers it. The reality was different. But as they say worlds lived. Worlds died. Reality changed and warped."

"You are from the Crime Syndicate's planet. Your father is the Lex Luthor of that world." Supergirl said suddenly, as the memory rose fully formed in her mind. She then looked at him frowning, "But from what I remember… Lex Luthor of that world is not old enough to have a son."

Alexander smiled, "Perhaps you are not the only one from the future."

Supergirl looked out across the horizon, seeing the dark clouds rumbling, the lightning piercing the sky.

"There is something you must do Supergirl. So that you can fulfill one more piece of the destiny that brought you here to Krypton."

"Which is?"

"Jor-El does not realize that the end is near. You have to make sure that Superman comes to be!"

Supergirl found Jor-El and Lara on their balcony, watching the storms and holding one another.

<"Is this the end Jor-El?"> Lara asked, her eyes filled with fear.

<"We have several months at least. This is only a symptom of Krypton's dying days."> Jor-El said quietly.

<"Unfortunately you are wrong.">

Jor-El and Lara turned quickly.

<"Kara! It is so good to see you!"> Lara rushed over to her adopted niece to embrace her.

<"Unfortunately aunt this is no social visit."> Supergirl looked at Jor-El, <"Jor-El… this is the end. Krypton only has a little time left. You must send Kal-El to Earth.">

<"But I have not built a ship big enough for all of us!"> Jor-El exclaimed. <"Has your father completed his craft?">

<"My father is dead. Killed by Blackflame."> Supergirl looked at Jor-El and Lara. <"Krypton is dying. I am doing all I can to save the people here. But not even my great abilities can prevent the planet from exploding. I can only hope to make the last moments of our people's lives better.">

Jor-El's face registered shock at the news. But it lasted only a few moments.

<"Thank you Kara. May Rao watch over you and make your own last moments better."> Jor-El said hugging his niece. He then took his wife by the hand and led her into their home where they would prepare their son for his departure.

As Supergirl flew back toward Argo City, the planet beneath quaked and cracked. A giant fissure opened, running in a jagged line toward Argo City.

Supergirl outraced the jagged fissure streaking toward the city, pulling people out of the way as the ground beneath the city began to give out. The city shook violently as it divided neatly into two pieces. The screams were louder and Supergirl set about saving everyone she could.

Supergirl did not know how much time she had been at it.

All she knew was that she had saved many people from death. But, there were many she had not saved. The streets of Argo City were littered with bodies crushed beneath crumbled buildings, pinned in crashed vehicles, or having jumped to their deaths.

It had been nearly night when she'd returned to Argo City. Now she could not tell what time it was as the sky was filled with storm clouds and smoke and brimstone. The air was filled with screams, cries, the roar of fire, and the rumbling of destruction. It tugged at her, and she felt a moment of peace in her heart knowing that at least Nightwing, Flamebird, and Zor-El had died quickly and relatively painlessly.

The building was burning out of control and outside a woman screamed, crying out for her baby inside.

Supergirl heard the woman's cries and crashed through the building.

Making her way through the inferno, following the baby's strangled cries, Supergirl found the baby girl in her crib, her face red and angry, her fists swinging at the air madly.

"Now, now. It's all going to be all right." Supergirl said, wrapping the baby in her cape and holding her close to her chest. "I'm going to get you out of here."

A wall of flame crashed down in front of her. Supergirl frowned. She would do just fine with the flames, but the baby was another story.

Closing her eyes, Supergirl summoned the wings of fire--allowing them to draw the flames so that a path cleared before them. Supergirl shot through the opening, heading right through the hole she'd made earlier when crashing through the wall. The air outside was clearer and cleaner than it had been inside the building, but it was still filled with soot and smoke and the stench of death.

<"My baby!"> The woman cried out, taking her child from Supergirl's arms and holding it tightly, showering it's angry face with kisses as it cried loudly and shrilly. <"Thank you so much Supergirl! You saved my baby!">

<"The streets of Argo City are dangerous."> Supergirl told her, <"You should find some place to hide yourself and your baby--until things are safe.">

The woman said, > "I believe this is the end of Krypton. The one that the left-over fanatics of Rao and Baro still preach about from time to time.">

<"You may be right."> Supergirl said, <"Take care of yourself and your child.">

<"Thank you Supergirl. May Rao look over you.">

<"You as well.">

<"Mother?"> Supergirl called out as she walked through the doorway from the balcony. The apartment was dark and parts of it had collapsed. However, it was not on fire and the quakes had stopped here as far as she could tell.

<"Kara?"> The voice was flimsy and weak.

Supergirl rushed to the sound of her mother's voice, finding her trapped beneath a collapsed wall.

<"MOTHER!"> Supergirl pulled the wall away, instantly noticing that her mother's legs were completely crushed.

<"Kara."> Alura's voice was weak and it looked as though she were having a difficult time keeping her eyes open.

<"Oh mother… what happened?"> Supergirl lifted her mother, carrying her into Zor-El's lab.

Supergirl set her mother down on the lab table.

<"Oh, when the government buildings and science buildings were destroyed I feared that you were dead. I just knew that Blackflame was to blame somehow."> Alura said, coughing up blood.

<"Don't speak mother. Save your strength.">

<"I do not have much longer. I know that Kara. It is all right. I know that your father is gone. He said he was going to the Science Council offices to do some research. And I know in my heart Argo City is dying. There is nothing left for me."> Alura's voice grew weaker and weaker.

<"No mother. Please. Stay with me.">

<"I love you Kara. Thank you for coming to us and being my daughter…">

Supergirl's scream of anguish filled the room.

"Please no. Not again. Please. Wally. Spectre. Alexander. Anyone. Please. Please. Bring her back. Bring her back."

But no one answered her calls. No one. It was as though the Universe and all the beings within it could not hear her.

Supergirl looked at the rockets in the corner of the room. Zor-El's prototypes.

Supergirl went over to the ships, opening the hatch of the larger of the two prototypes, powering it up.

There was a loud rumbling outside and she knew that the end of Krypton was only moments away.

"Let's hope you are were a better than average rocket ship maker Zor-El." Supergirl said as the artificial atmosphere of the ship began to cycle through.

Seconds ticked by agonizingly as the roar outside grew louder.

"Come on!" Supergirl said growing impatient. The lab was filling with smoke and the light pouring in from the windows looking outside was a blazing red.

The rocket ship suddenly accelerated and smashed through the ceiling.

As she headed toward space, Supergirl saw the planet coming apart all around her, and knew that the final explosion would happen any moment now. Had any one else on Krypton figured out that their planet was doomed? Or were they hiding in their homes awaiting the end of the destruction?

Through the cockpit she saw a rocket ship streaking away from planet Krypton.

At that moment Krypton exploded into a million pieces.

Supergirl looked in horror as one huge chunk of the planet, glowing green and malevolent hurtled straight toward her and smashed into the rocket ship. She felt the ship lurch as it's shields held.

"Oh crud." Supergirl looked at the read-outs on the console, as it flashed that the shields would hold, but could not take another direct hit. According to the console they would be clearing the atmosphere in only a few more moments. "I should have just flown. I would have been fine in the vacuum."

But she did not really at this point want to risk leaving the ship.

At that moment, another huge chunk of the planet slammed into her, knocking out the shields.

"Oh cheese… that's no good." Supergirl looked for the button that would open the cockpit so that she could get out of this rocket.

Another piece of the planet struck the ship, and a short circuit went through the control panel.

Before Supergirl could react, using her strength to tear her way out of the cockpit, a read-out flashed across the control panel reading in Kryptonian "SUSPENDED ANIMATION SEQUENCE INITIATED". Through her view screen she saw Kal-El's ship make the leap to light-speed.

"Oh good… he got away…" She felt so sleepy. So sleepy that when another chunk of Krypton slammed into her ship and damaged the ship's navigational system and erasing the coordinates programmed in only a short while ago she didn't notice. Another chunk smacked into the rocket ship, sending it hurtling in a different direction.

The view through the cockpit was filled with glowing green chunks of Krypton, which would be deadly to Superman in forty or fifty years when they reached the Earth's atmosphere.

"Kal-El…" Supergirl whispered.

At that point the gas filling the cockpit, the one that brought about suspended animation, overcame Supergirl.

Everything went dark and she began to dream.

Everything was dark. She had dreamed a million dreams.

And then there was light.

Supergirl's eyes blinked open as they flooded with light.

"It's so bright." Supergirl said, sitting up. The rocket ships inner lights had turned on, leaving the tiny cockpit overly bright.

Supergirl's eyes adjusted to the brightness and she typed commands into the control panel, the cockpit opening for her. She stepped outside, finding herself standing on cold hard rock with dark skies all around a small pinpoint of light glowing behind brown clouds. She knew where she was instantly.

"The Pocket Universe Earth." She whispered.

Once after Superman had taken her back to his world, she had returned to her home Universe, to see the remains of her birth planet. It had been nothing more than a burnt dead rock floating in space. It had filled her with immense sadness and reaffirmed to her that deeply rooted feeling that there was no where she belonged. A feeling that had kept her from returning to earth for a very long time. Not until she had returned to warn Superman and the others about Brainiac and the approach of War World.

And now she was alone here.

"You are not alone."

The voice came from behind her, and it sent a cold shiver through her soul. Supergirl spun around, coming face to face with the Time Trapper. Supergirl took a step back, the dark area that hid the Time Trapper's face was ominous and filled her with quiet terror.

"Ah, so I see you know me just by sight." The Time Trapper's voice had an odd quality, making it difficult to determine gender.

"I don't know how I know you, but I do." Supergirl frowned, stepping back as the Time Trapper stepped forward to close the gap between them.

"You have no reason to be afraid of me my dear." The Time Trapper said quietly, "I'm here to help you."

"I somehow doubt that. Superboy told me… no, he told Lana Lang that you did nothing but create problems for the Legion of Super-Heroes. But, Lana Lang… why do I remember her as a separate person? As the Insect Queen? I was given her memories and her DNA when Lex created me." Supergirl shook her head, "How do I remember that?"

"Residual memories. You're beginning to remember things as the time line repairs around you. Eventually you'll be sent into the far future, join the Legion of Super-Heroes, and your time line will be more or less completely repaired."

"You hate the Legion. And have only terrorized the 30th Century." Supergirl said, again unsure of how exactly she knew that.

"My reach goes far beyond the 30th Century. I wait at the end of time for the end of everything." The Time Trapper sounded oddly sad in that moment. "But the Legion and I-- we have a curious destiny. Our lives and our fates are entwined. There are several theories as to why, but that has nothing to do with you."

"Why am I here?"

"You're here because this is part of your destiny." The Time Trapper reached out and took her hand, his hand felt weird and inhuman. Supergirl felt her skin crawl. "And you have been lost in time for all this time--preparing for your destiny."

"Lost in time." Supergirl said softly, then looked into the gaping darkness that was the Time Trapper"s face. "You're responsible for all of this!"

"I am." The Time Trapper said quietly, "I am responsible for you. I created this Pocket Universe after all. And I created you. I'm your father--after a fashion."

Supergirl pulled her hand from the Time Trapper, taking several steps back.

"No. Lex Luthor of the Pocket Universe created me. Using DNA from Lana Lang." Supergirl hugged herself tightly. The dead world around them was her home. Her real home. Dead just like all of her other homes. Leesburg and Krypton.

"I created the Pocket Universe my dear. And handpicked what existed and what did not exist. I prevented the creation of Batman. On the night that his parents were to die, I stepped in and insured that the gunman's gun never fired. Batman never was, because without the death of his parents, there was no reason for him to be. There was never a Wonder Woman here. In my Pocket Universe, Heracles killed Hippolyta and all of her Amazons. There was never a clay babe given life by goddesses. In this world, Clark Kent became Superboy and he went to the 30th Century to fight alongside the Legion of Super-Heroes and he was killed there in the 30th Century. I only needed a Superboy. I didn't need any of the others. After all, certain things had to be preserved after the Crisis obliterated them to insure my own destiny. So, I created the Pocket Universe so that those events could be preserved. So that there would be a Superboy to meet the Legion."

"Do you mean the Crisis of the Anti-Monitor?" Supergirl asked.

"Ah, yes. The Crisis of the Anti-Monitor." The Time Trapper laughed, "Before the Multiverse was reformed, it was known as the Crisis of Infinite Earths. But after the Crisis, there were no infinite earths. Just one. Clark Kent never became Superboy. He never went to the 30th Century to fight alongside the Legion. And there was no Supergirl."

"Because I died in the Crisis." Supergirl remembered what she'd been told while being trapped in various pasts. "And the universe conspired to prevent me."

"The Universe did no such thing. The Anti-Monitor and his agents did. What no one realized at first, except I, was that while the Anti-Monitor died, he was also reborn when the Universe was reformed. The reformation of the Universe after the Crisis changed even his history. In the reformed Universe, Lord Xenon was born in the anti-matter Universe of Qward. And he knew that one day, he was destined to destroy the Universe. All of it. He removed himself from Qward, creating himself a palace outside of time."

"Lord Xenon? Alexander Luthor told me that Lord Xenon and the Anti-Monitor are one and the same."

"They are. And they are not." The Time Trapper shrugged, "Just as you are Supergirl and you are not."

"Explain."

"Before the Crisis, Superman had a cousin named Kara Zor-El. She gave her life during the Crisis to destroy the Anti-Monitor. She did not kill him. But her sacrifice left him gravely wounded--his body shell so severely damaged that he never recovered from his wounds." The Time Trapper continued, "Supergirl should not have died. The Crisis created anomalies in time. And when the Universe was reborn at the Dawn of Time, Supergirl should have been reborn as well. Kara Zor-El should have left Argo City again to seek out her cousin Kal on Earth and become Supergirl."

"Lord Xenon sent his various agents out into the Universe, to insure that there would never be a Supergirl. One of his minions went to Krypton and made sure that there was an accident that resulted in Alura In-Ze being unable to have children." The Time Trapper said, "And they prevented the earthquake that nearly destroyed Argo City--an event that had Zor-El create a hovering platform for Argo City to exist on, as well as putting an indestructible dome impervious even to the ravages of space over it. One that allowed the city to survive the destruction of Krypton."

Supergirl shivered; she was unsure if it was the chill in the air of this dead planet, the Time Trapper's story, or just being in the presence of the Trapper.

"So I was erased from reality so I wouldn't stop Lord Xenon?" Supergirl asked quietly.

"Yes. The Universe attempted to set things right. Power Girl was briefly put into your place; but while Power Girl has the power, she wasn't Supergirl. She is considered to be a different aspect of Supergirl, but Power Girl has always been her own entity. She failed, without even hurting Lord Xenon. Then Laurel Gand was substituted for you, pulled back through time to the 21st Century to face off against Lord Xenon. But, while Laurel Gand had the heart, she didn't have the power. She was merely inspired and created by the image of Supergirl. She died horribly at Xenon's hands. Only the True Supergirl could face him and destroy him."

"But Lex Luthor was allowed to create his own Supergirl in the Pocket Universe?" Supergirl felt all the pieces falling into place.

"Yes, I allowed his Matrix to become Supergirl. I was able to hide her existence for Lord Xenon. But, it was quickly evident in time that as Matrix you were not powerful enough of spirit or soul to face Lord Xenon."

Supergirl felt a tear slipping from her eye.

"So, I allowed the veil between my Pocket Universe and the real universe to be breached and you to go get Superman. My Pocket Universe has it's own destiny to play out. I could spare my Supergirl from that destiny. Because not even I will survive Lord Xenon's wrath if he escapes into this Universe."

"So you allowed those criminals to escape the Phantom Zone and destroy this world? Your world? The one you created." Supergirl was getting nearly hysterical, waving her arms around at the dead barren landscape. "All of these people?! Dead? For what?"

"So you could become a real Supergirl. And save the Universe. You will save reality and all of existence when you defeat Lord Xenon. This world had to die, so that everything else must live. One planet and the lives of the people on it are small in comparison to all of existence, including all the different realities, dimensions, and alternate universes in it."

"So, what did going to the real universe get me?"

"It showed you what a hero was. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Justice League, the Titans. These heroes showed you what it means to be a hero. You gained a soul through Linda Danvers. She would have died without you. But the two of you together were complete and created a vessel for the wandering spirit of the Earthbound Angel." The Time Trapper said, "It is the angel aspect that gives you the extra power you need so that Lord Xenon will not defeat you this time when the two of you again meet."

"And all of this time I've been lost in time?"

"It's been so that you could grow and become strong. The Supergirl who faced the Anti-Monitor was Kara Zor-El, Superman's cousin from Argo City. She was strong. But, not strong enough. The Supergirl who will face Lord Xenon will have the strength of Matrix, with the powers of an Earth-bound Angel--plus the heritage." The Time Trapper smiled in the darkness of his hood.

"So, all of this manipulation has been to make me who I'm supposed to be."

"Yes. Your journey through time has replaced those things taken from you when Lord Xenon's minions uncreated you after the Crisis." The Time Trapper said.

"So… why tell me all of this? Why bring me here?"

"Because I need your help Supergirl."

"Why should I help you?"

"Because it's the right thing to do." The Time Trapper said, "And because I can reward you greatly."

Before Supergirl could say another word a flash of light wiped away the dark barren world.

"Where are we?" Supergirl asked, looking around the massive room. Outsides it's windows she could see a thousand galaxies spread out in every possible direction.

"My lair. We have been here all along. I do not leave it's safety." The Time Trapper sat down on his throne. "We are safely outside of time."

"What do you need help with?"

"My greatest enemy is soon to be born. And I need you to help me ensure that does not happen." The Time Trapper said, "And really it's in your best interest to help me insure that. Otherwise the Universe is in danger and Lord Xenon will escape his prison before you're ready for him."

"So, you need me to help you save the Universe?" Supergirl asked coldly, looking around the strange room. "Is there some reason that you couldn't get Superman, Batman, or Wonder Woman for this? Why me?"

"Because I don't have anything to reward them with." The Time Trapper said, "You on the other hand… well, I think I might have just the thing for you. Or should I say things?"

The Time Trapper gestured to a corner of the room covered by dark curtains. The curtains parted to reveal fifteen containers side by side, they looked like the units that Belle Reeve used to contain their more lethal prisoners in suspended animation.

Supergirl gasped, recognizing several of the people within the containers.

The first five containers housed Fred and Sylvia Danvers, as well as Mattie Harcourt, Cutter Sharp, and Dick Malverne.

TO BE CONTINUED IN SUPERGIRL: THE MAID OF STEEL ANNUAL #2!

NEXT ISSUE: Supergirl: The Maid of Steel Annual #2 finds Supergirl returning to the Pocket Universe only to find that all is not what it was on that once dead rock. Supergirl's adventure through space and time comes to end, leaving the Maid of Steel with a new understanding of her place in the Universe and her destiny. As well as giving her the opportunity to save her friends and family from their deaths. But, can the Time Trapper be trusted? Then come back here for Supergirl: The Maid of Steel #21 to see what new directions Supergirl's life begins moving in as well as the return of Blackstarr and Kara of Argo City in "Beginnings and Endings."