The Multiverse of Superwomen (Ch.1)

Ursa had conquered the world to begin with, and then subsequently had taken great care to wipe out any and all who might depose her, taking enormous satisfaction in destroying any man or woman who dared challenge her rule. But with all of her enemies now smoth, she sat on her ornate throne, and boredom consumed her. Channelling her former commanding officer, General Zod, she would frequently cry out "I win. I always win. Is there no one on this planet who can challenge me?"

But, as usual, there was no response. She had certainly won, and was surrounded by the trophies to prove it. She even wore the supersuit of Kal-El as the ultimate symbol of her victory on Earth. As time passed, and as she exposed herself to the yellow sun above more and more, she felt her muscles grow and become as mighty as Superman's once were. She had truly become invincible to all before her. She was Ursa, Superwoman.

She cried out again in the Fortress of Solitude which she had made her own and converted into a palace of sorts. But amidst the emptiness, there was no reciprocal sounds. Just her powerful voice echoing away into the distance.

She spoke to herself then:

"There has to be another to challenge me out there, surely? I could leave this wretched planet but what if my powers fade under the light of a different sun? What if I get trapped on a planet even more pathetic than this one? At least here I'm like a god to the inhabitants. No, I will stay, but I bore of a life without combat, without war, without others to beat into submission. No one is remotely my equal now. What a shame that there wasn't nearly enough super-powered individuals on this Earth to annihilate. One at a time I did it, however. Superman is no more. I dealt with his beloved cousin, too. Then, that Power...girl. Indeed, I wiped out the amazons who wouldn't kneel before me, including that "Wonder Woman" character. What was so wonderful about her, eh? Nothing it seems. I proved that. There's only one wonder woman on this planet, and that's me."

She then looked at the molucule chamber, which was shattered and broken beyond repair.

"It once empowered me to godlike status, and then it was destroyed, which means I can't even create a group of new enemies to keep me entertained and to hunt down like prey. So without that, what am I to do?"

She then stared at the mostly fractured crystals beneath the felled, burnt out control panel.

"Perhaps there is something here? Some Kryptonian technology that can help me?"

She flew over to the remains of the machine and filtered through the crystals. Most were darkened, but she found one, purple in colour, that was still active, and placed it the cracked device in front of her. It contained all of the information regarding the controversial research into inter-deminsional travel. Ursa's usually sharp eyes widened.

"This is it!" she declared. "I can bring someone who is my near-equal from another Earth, and then make them fight me, and when I crush them I can simply bring another, and then another. Oh, how exciting. The satisfaction might be endless."

But there was a reason why the technology had been banned on Krypton as it was seen as chaotic in nature, and Ursa certainy didn't know enough about the subject to be meddling with such power, yet didn't care. She commanded the panel to open a portal somewhere in the Fortress of Solitude, only to realize that she had to be more specific. The tech needed to know what planet Earth, what time, what reality, what city, and who exactly to be pulled through.

Ursa was impatient now and rolled her eyes.

"Oh, for goodness' sake! Just bring through any superwoman who can challenge me no matter what reality or time or Earth or city they're from. I need a good battle!"

Just as she finished, the Fortress of Solitude started to rattle and the natural light it seemed to emit went dark, then light, then dark and light again. There was a strange banging noise accompanying it, and then, nothing. Suddenly, the panel blew up.

"Hmm, I don't think that was supposed to happen," said Ursa, slightly anxious. Yet no superwoman appeared before her. "And to make things worse, it doesn't appear to have even worked. How typical."

But as soon as she'd finished her sentence she noticed a figure appear in the distance. They were dressed in armour and had a black cape flowing behind them. Their hair was short like Ursa, but it wasn't a variant of her. It was someone else. She floated gently over to the spot where Ursa stood in her blue and red costume before breaking their silence.

"Are you of the house of El?" She asked, coolly.
"No," said an untroubled Ursa, placing her hands on her hips and arrogantly dipping her head back to the right as if staring down on the stranger. I merely wear their garb as a trophy. They're all dead. And you, who are you?"

"Faora," said the stranger, slightly suspicious of her host. She then squinted at Ursa. "I was fighting Kal-El before I was suddenly dragged here. Do you know what happened?"

"Yes," replied Ursa with a smirk. "I brought you here, or at least, I used a machine to bring a superwoman here who'd give me something of a fight. That's all."

"Then send me back immediately," Faora replied without even raising her voice.
"I'm afraid I can't, traveller. The means have been lost. So even if I wanted to aid you, I can't. You're here for good it seems. That is, until I kill you and remind everyone of my dominance on this planet."
"Do you really think it'll be that easy?" responded Faora calmly.
"I do, of course," replied Ursa. "But don't worry, I'll draw it out long enough so you can enjoy a little more life, while I enjoy-"

Before Ursa could finish the sentence, Faora had struck her full force in the side of her face. In her arrogance, Earth's conqueror had missed the initial swing of Faora's arm, and thus, she crashed against one of the walls of the fortress. Ursa managed to pull herself off the ground and was left furious, yet another feeling replaced it quickly as she turned to face Faora once more. Despite the insolence of being struck without proper warning, she was delighted to feel the raw strength of another Kryptonian being used against her; to be properly challenged as before.

She smiled at Faora then, but her adversary offered nothing in return. She was stone-faced and laser focused on Ursa. They both clenched their fists and flew at one another with immense speed; the resulting collision sending out a shockwave that nearly caused the entire structure to come apart, a fact that distracted Faora for a moment as she tried to pull herself back to her feet. As she did so, however, Ursa super-suckerpunched her, sending Faora straight against another wall of the makeshift palace.

As Ursa flew over to confront her, she reached out with both of her hands and grabbed her hosts' fingers. In that moment they engaged in a test of strength that rocked the very foundation of not just the building but the whole continent; yet neither could better the other. They both wondered then if this battle would just continue until the Earth's core was shook beyond repair and the whole blue sphere came apart around them. They didn't care, though. Neither would relent.

But then something happened that they didn't expect. There was a sudden red blast that struck them both and they each collapsed to the ground. Shocked and angry, Ursa jumped up and wanted to know who had disturbed their titanic duel. What she saw before her was yet another awesome superwoman floating a few feet above. Her eyes had steam billowing out of them, a clear sign that she had just used her heat vision on Ursa and Faora to break up their tussle.

"What's going on?" asked Ursa. "You're not supposed to be here. I already have one superwoman to challenge me, and she's not even dead yet."
"I know I'm not supposed to be here," they replied in a grandiose tone. "But somehow I just appeared in this strange place."
"What's your name then?" asked Faora who came to Ursa's side now.
The newest arrival stared down at them; her eyes glowing red again while a michevious grin rose up her face.

"Mala. I'm Mala."

To be continued...