Takes place sometime after the "Batman Ending" in Injustice 2's story mode. A non-related counterpart to my "Saving Supergirl" story.

Superman is banished into the Phantom Zone and Supergirl tries to come to terms of her new role on Earth after everything that's happened. How can she make something of herself in a world that has a big problem with Kryptonians because of Superman? Will she be able to change the public's mind about her and prove she's not her cousin and replace him as the new Kryptonian hero of Earth?

Written from Supergirl's POV.

I don't own the Injustice franchise or anything DC Comics related.

I regained consciousness from my fight against Kal and noticed that the Batcave was a complete mess, a result of the two-on-two battle between Kal and my former co-mentor Wonder Woman against Batman and myself.

I saw Diana laying unconscious on the ground after what I quickly knew was a result of her loss against Batman.

I stood up and saw a large hole in a wall far from where I was where a computer system used to be and I walked over to it and it was through that hole that I witnessed Batman and Kal fighting each other.

Despite not having any powers, Batman was still able to handle Kal on his own because he was wearing a newly designed Kryptonite-enhanced Bat suit, something I saw him wear when I lured Kal and Diana into his Batcave location as he ordered. He came prepared and his suit allowed him to be on even grounds against Kal.

I saw Batman deliver a powerful blow to Kal and it knocked him on the ground. Kal tried to get back up, but he couldn't and fell back down unconscious.

Batman was the winner.

After the fight was over, Batman stumbled to the ground on one knee in exhaustion.

I approached Batman and placed a hand on his shoulder in concern for him, ignoring his suit's slow-rising effects on me.

Since his armor was also built from lead, another failsafe against Kal, I was unable to scan him for injuries with my x-ray vision. But I was certain he had none or nothing serious if he did get hurt.

Batman quickly deactivated his suit to avoid hurting me.

"Is he . . .?" I asked him about Kal, wondering if he was alive or dead.

"He'll be out for a while." he said and I was relieved he was still alive. "I'm sorry, Kara."

"For what?" I asked with a confused look on my face.

"I couldn't save him." he replied.

"Neither could I." I said.

Because of my relation to Kal, I assumed I had a better chance of convincing him to end his ways and seek redemption than anyone else. Unfortunately, I was proven wrong when he refused and I failed just like all the others. He was pretty much lost and nobody, not even I, his last living relative from Krypton, could reach him.

Batman and I may be from different worlds, but we both had one thing in common besides fighting for justice: we both had relatives who had turned evil. Kal for me and Robin for him. I'm not entirely up to date on what made Robin turn against his own father, but it probably wasn't pretty and I''ll find out later.

"What do we do with him?" I asked.

"We can't return him to his Red Sun prison cell. It may malfunction again and it's not the first time it's happened. Although we got lucky before when it did, we may not be able to reactivate it if does and he'll be able to break out successfully. It's too risky." he said.

He had a point. That cell he was in may have kept him in check before I came, but I was there when it malfunctioned and, at the time, I hoped we would succeed in freeing him when I first saw him inside, thinking hew was a victim. I now felt pretty stupid for doing that. I didn't bother to stop and think that he was put in there for an extremely good reason and I assumed Earth people hated Kryptonians and I later learned why later on. I was just so excited to see him after all these years because I never thought I would be reunited with him and he believed he was the last Kryptonian alive, aside from Zod, until we met.

If taking him back to that cell was an option now, I'd put him in there myself without hesitation this time.

But Batman was right. Another power outage was risky and we had to place Kal somewhere else that can never be breached like that and I knew just the place to store him in.

I despised what I had in mind for him, but it was the only thing that I could think of to prevent him from running loose again and causing mayhem in the name of "truth, justice and the American way" as I was told he used to do back in his hero days.

"Are you familiar with something called 'Phantom Zone'?" I asked Batman.

"Yes. I know all about it, its purpose and we have the technology for it here." he said.

I was surprised they had the Phantom Zone here on Earth.

"I was thinking that-" I said until he interrupted.

"-we send Superman there as an alternative to the Red Solar cell." he finished for me.

"Yeah, how did you . . .? Nevermind, the Phantom Zone's the perfect option. I don't like it I admit, but in this case, it'll have to do and it would spare everyone here the danger Kal poses even if he was back in that cell. It's located in the Fortress of Solitude." I said.

"I know. I've been to the Fortress plenty of times before." he said.

Before departing, he went to get something to restrain Kal with in case he were to wake up early and he got out two pairs of shackles, both with a Kryptonite shard in the middle. I cringed at the items, but I remembered they were for Kal, not me.

Batman approached Kal with the cuffs. However, before he could put them on him, I stepped in and said, "Wait, allow me. Since I was supposed to be responsible for him, I feel it's fair that I be the one to restrain him, Kryptonite shards or not." I said to the Bat.

We both knew the mild consequences of the shards' effects on me if I did this, but he agreed and gave the cuffs to me.

The second they were in my gloved hands, I started to feel the effects of the shards getting to me already, just like his suit did a while ago.

Batman appeared worried for me, but I gave him a look that told him I could do this by myself and he stood by and observed.

Ignoring the shards' dulling feeling over me, I walked over to Kal's fallen form and strapped both cuffs on his wrists and ankles and when I finished, I quickly backed away, with Batman catching me as I felt wobbly and lost my balance and the pain stopped.

Kal was fully restrained now.

"Thanks for putting them on him." said Batman.

"Happy to help." I said back while rubbing my forehead.

He looked around and I didn't need my x-ray vision to read his emotions. He looked upset about something.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"My jets. They've all been damaged and destroyed during my fight with Superman. I can't fly to the Fortress." he said.

"Well . . . I could fly us there, if you want. Just put Kal in yourself inside one of the jets and I'll do the flying for you." I offered.

"Good plan." he said, making me smile at being told my idea was good.

"Which one do we take?" I asked.

He pointed to a jet near his ground vehicle, the "Batmobile" as he called it, and, braving the pain again, I hoisted Kal, who was still unconscious, up and into the jet's backseat and helped place Batman into the front pilot seat. I went under the jet, picked it up with my hands and gently hovered the jet out of the Batcave to its launch pad and when we were out in the open air, I increased my flight velocity and took off into the night sky.

"How are you in there?" I called out to him during the flight.

"I'm fine." he answered.

"What about Kal?" I asked.

"Still out." he said.

I was hoping he would stay that way until we reached the Fortress. But he was strapped with the Kryptonite cuffs, so he shouldn't be bale to cause trouble were he to awaken early.

I kept flying until we made it to the Fortress. I was hoping my flying speed hadn't made Batman feel sick, but then again, he has been flying in that fancy bat-themed jet of his for years, so he's already used to flying at high speed and altitudes.

I carefully landed the jet on the ground and Batman hopped off while I grabbed Kal from his seat and set him down gently, once again ignoring the Kryptonite sickness until Batman decided to transport Kal himself to spare me the cuff's pain on me and I let him.

When we got to the area where I fought Robin, Black Adam and Kal himself earlier, Batman set Kal down again and immediately got to work on setting up the Phantom Zone projector technology.

While he did that, I felt that since he was going into the Phantom Zone, he couldn't go in while wearing his "Superman" uniform and had to wear something else. A prisoner going into an interdimensional prison wearing their costume didn't sound right to me.

I had an idea and told Batman that I would be gone for a few seconds. He was fine with it and I flew out and was back in the building where we had our meeting on taking down Brainiac. I was here because I distinctly remember Kal changing out of his prisoner garb minutes and into his uniform in this place before the meeting happened. I was looking for the prison uniform I saw him in before.

Remembering where he put it, I grabbed it from the floor and flew all the way back to the Fortress. It all took me six seconds.

Batman saw me holding it in my hand, looked at Kal and nodded in approval of my idea and I switched his clothing in a matter of four seconds. It was due to having to remove and refit his Kryptonite shackles, they slowed me down for a moment. I used to change Kal's diapers in his infancy days and despite it being decades later, changing him was nothing new to me.

Soon, Kal was back to wearing his prisoner uniform and I was holding his Superman uniform in my hands. I wasn't sure over whether or not to burn the costume. He stained its meaning with his dictatorial ways and seeing it gives people nightmares, but it was also a part of Krypton and it and my own costume were all that were left of my extinct homeworld. I decided to just store it somewhere until I could make a choice later.

With Kal still out, I decided to speak with Batman about something.

"Batman?" I asked.

"Yes Kara?" he asked while still working.

"I never told you why I defected from Kal and his group before our battle against Brainiac, did I?" I asked.

"Not exactly." he said.

"Well, here's why." I said and I told him, in short terms, what happened between Kal and I the last time we stood in this place together. I fought the urge to shed tears again during my tale and felt foolish for believing the lies I was told about everything.

Batman stopped working and approached me in a calm manner.

"You didn't know Clark's sinister nature yet until he actually proved it to you, Kara. I can't really blame you for siding with him without knowing the full facts about him. You were just another victim of his and his loyalists and stood with him because you and him were family, not because of his cause. You believed in justice, but not in the way your cousin saw it. That makes you a true heroine of Krypton, not him." he said.

I wiped a tear escaping from my eye as he spoke.

"The war he started years back took long to end and it did in the Insurgency's favor, but at a heavy cost for those who fought with us. Throughout that war, he was the very thing he and I fought against in the glory days. He may be an enemy of the world now, but, like I said earlier, he wasn't always like this. The old, heroic Man of Steel, the person Earth's people admired and loved, died long ago when Joker destroyed Metropolis, killed his wife and their unborn child and mentally broke him. I've missed that part of him every day and, to be honest, it pained me to fight him, especially in front of you, Kara." he finished.

I blinked away another tear that leaked down my cheek at his words. How I wished I could have seen my cousin in his heroic heyday. Why did my stupid pod have to steer off-course during our escape from Krypton? Damn that Brainiac!

Batman and I both shared a few things in common: we both fought for truth and justice and we both lost people very near and dear to us to serious, life-changing tragedies. Batman lost his son to Kal who supported his tyrannical leadership along with his parents long ago to a man with a gun (I heard about Batman's origins from, again, Diana and Adam. That was one of the few things they were honest about.) and as for me, I lost not only my cousin because of a mentally deranged human man dressed as a clown, but also all of my family, friends, and race because of Brainiac.

But most of all, Earth lost its greatest hero, the "Last Son of Krypton" and now looked up to the person standing in front of me as their next protector. He was but a man in a suit and without powers, but he was still able to hold his own against regular and superpowered foes as I've seen him to against Brainiac and Kal.

All it took to change the world for the worst was the cunning will of a single man and that man (if he even was one mentally from what I've read about him) was brutally killed by my only, living cousin he was targeting and while that psychotic monster was dead and gone, his final actions birthed a new monster that was worse than Brainiac or Zod put together and in time, half of the world's greatest heroes became the world's greatest threat and they were all led by Kal-El, a.k.a. Superman.

Suddenly, stirring sounds were heard and Batman and I looked and saw Kal starting to move slowly. He was waking up.

Batman and I stood our ground as we watched Kal open his eyes. Despite being shackled, we were still cautious.

Kal tried to move, but he couldn't thanks to the cuffs.

"Wha-? What's going on? Where am I?" Kal asked as he tried to free himself from the cuffs. He didn't see us because we were standing behind him as he sat up.

"You're in the Fortress, Clark." said Batman.

Kal spun around and saw me and Batman standing beside each other, staring at him.

He looked down at himself and asked, "Where's my uniform?"

"I changed you out of it and into that and I've stored your suit somewhere else." I told him.

"Kara, help me get these cuffs off. He put them on me after he attacked me." Kal said.

"Batman didn't put the cuffs on you, Kal. I did." I admitted.

"You put these . . . these things on me?" Kal said angrily at me.

"Yes, and I am not taking them off." I replied.

Kal eyed Batman with anger in his eyes. Good thing the Kryptonite cuffs disabled his heat vision.

"You put Kara up to this, didn't you Bruce?! You turned her against me with your influence!" he said.

"Batman didn't turn me against you, Kal. I'm doing this willingly and I've defected to his side the second you admitted to me what you've done to this world the last time we were here. You've proven to me that you're too dangerous and mentally unstable to be anywhere except imprisonment. The cousin I vowed to protect and fight alongside with upon my arrival died the day you evolved from a heroic figure into a vicious savage tyrant. Jor-El would be deeply ashamed of you if he were around to see what his child has become." I said.

What I said was hurtful, but it was the truth.

"I . . . I can't believe this! I simply cannot believe this, Kara you . . . you traitor! You betrayed me, our people, our family, that symbol you're wearing, everything! You let Krypton down!" he said to me voraciously.

"No Kal. You did all those things yourself when you changed for the worst. You stained our name, our symbol, our people, all of it!"

My voice grew into anger during my speech.

"The people of this planet hate and fear me and our symbol because of you! I was hurt inside when I saw the frightened expressions on their faces every time they saw me approaching to help them! They probably thought I was like you and your followers simply because of my uniform and because I'm a Kryptonian too! Do you have any idea what that feels like, Kal? Do you?!" I said with sheer rage.

"Kara." Batman said and placed a hand on me to calm me down and it worked. Unlike with Kal, Batman showed zero amount of defensiveness around me, mostly because he knew the reason for my outburst and felt it was justifiable. I didn't want to snap like Kal did.

"They were simply mislead to believe we were criminals because of Batman and his team of terrorists, and so are you. I'm the only savior Earth needs, not him or them." he said calmly.

"Batman is the real hero of Earth. You and your band of followers are the real terrorists of the world. Earth welcomed you with open arms and just when you earned the people's trust and were unafraid of your presence, you suddenly turned on them. Earth doesn't need a dictator and it never did. No world in existence does." I said.

"My rule brought peace. I ended all of Earth's violent conflicts under my leadership. Everything I did was for the good of the world and things were perfect. I should have done this sooner years ago, then Lois and our child would be alive today. My reign was right and always will be. This world is mine to rule and guard from people like Batman, Brainiac, and itself." he said.

I gawked at his words. He really was deep denial. Rao, how delusional can he be than he already is?!

"Kara, earlier I told you to make a choice of being with me or against me and it appears you've chosen wrong." he said to me.

"I've made the right choice, Kal and I don't regret it at all. Batman and I share a common sense of real justice, unlike you." I said to him.

Our argument ended there and Batman approached the projector. I guessed it was ready to be used.

"What are you doing?" he asked Batman.

"You're going to be imprisoned again." Batman told him.

"I told you before Bruce, I am not returning to that cell ever again." Kal said.

"You're right, Clark. You're not going back. We're sending you to the Phantom Zone. Kara and I feel it's the perfect place to send you at this time." said Batman.

"The Phantom Zone? That place is for criminals, Bruce." Kal said with annoyance in his voice.

"I know, and you fit the description." Batman said as he powered up the machine.

"You wouldn't dare send me there." Kal said.

"Watch me." Batman said. He typed in a few commands, but hesitated for a moment as he turned to me.

"Before we send him Kara, I'm going to depower him with more Gold Kryptonite exposure." he warned.

"Are you going to use that dagger on him again?" I asked, worried it might harm Kal further than what I've seen earlier.

"Not at all. The dagger was just a prototype Firestorm created sometime before he was captured by Brainiac. You may want to keep your distance when I activate the machine or it'll effect you too." he said.

He took out a Gold Kryptonite dagger from his belt and placed it on the panel. I was confused because I thought he lost it on the ship.

"How did you-?" I started to ask.

"We made backup copies of it. You didn't think he'd make just one, did you? I'll remove his ankle cuffs first. Cover me." he said.

I nodded and he approached Kal and crouched to reach his ankle cuffs while I readied myself again in case Kal tried anything and Batman unlocked his ankle cuffs without protest from Kal.

When that was taken care of, I hovered high above to the Fortress's ceiling and watched as Batman walked back to the computer and typed in something in. The machine scanned the dagger, beeped and three projectors appeared, powered up and in a matter of seconds, they engulfed Kal in three yellow beams.

I shuddered at the sight of the gold rays.

Unlike with the Green Kryptonite and the gold dagger, the process appeared to be painless since Kal didn't flinch or grunt in pain from the exposure as I watched from the sidelines.

The only look he had on his face was a look of annoyance.

I'm not going to lie, seeing Kal stripped of his powers by those golden lights hurt and scared me inside because it felt as if I were the one being exposed to it too, but it was a proper punishment he earned for his immoral deeds and as much as I disliked the Gold Kryptonite, I also supported Batman's use of it on him.

A few minutes later, the process was completed and the rays were shut off.

Kal was now a powerless, mortal person like Batman.

"Kara, it's safe now." Batman called out to me and I gently hovered back down to the ground and stood next to him.

"Even without my powers, the Phantom Zone can't hold me forever. I'll be back." Kal threatened, vowing revenge against Batman and probably me, not that I'm surprised at his threat, considering the fact that he now views me as a traitorous enemy.

"We'll be ready." Batman said fearlessly and pushed a button and a purple portal opened up behind him and in front of Batman and I.

It was the portal that led to the Phantom Zone, the only place suitable of holding my vicious cousin.

Before sending Kal in, I felt I had to say something to him. He and I may have been on opposite sides of morality, but he still deserved a final statement with me. After all, despite my youthful appearance, I'm still his older cousin.

"Kal, I don't . . . I wish . . ." I uttered, unable to say what I wanted to say. This was too much for me.

"We were family, Kara." he said, probably trying to guilt me into having second thoughts about his upcoming punishment. But I wasn't fathomed by it.

"We still are. I hope someday you'll see that." I said.

I meant it. As insane as he was and despite our argument a few minutes ago, I still believed that there was still a hint of good in him and that he would one day drop his wicked ways and redeem himself. People like Flash, Green Lantern, Catwoman and Harley Quinn did it, I hoped Kal could too.

With my statement having been made, Kal walked to the portal, looked at me one more time with a "I'm so disappointed in you" look on his face and entered and as soon as he did, the portal vanished, taking him with it.

With Kal gone, it was now just me and Batman inside the Fortress. I stared at the spot Kal was standing at a mere second ago with a blank look on my face, unsure of what to do with myself.

My whole purpose of coming to Earth was to guard and care for Kal and see that he would one day make a life for himself here and make something of myself.

He succeeded at first in becoming the famous "Superman" and was beloved by all except his enemies, only to later evolve into something terrible and immoral. Although Kal and and I helped save the Earth from Brainiac and then later, alongside Batman, from Kal himself, I still felt like a failure inside because I believed that Kal's downfall was partly my fault. I was not there for him during his upbringing on this planet and, until I met him again in that prison cell as a grown man, he had lived all his life thinking he was the last of Krypton. If my ship hadn't steered off-course after Krypton died and I was brought to Earth with him, he probably would not have become the person he is today. I'm not entirely sure if that was true or not, but I still felt that way.

I feel so alone now in a world that feared my kind because of him.

I heard Batman approaching me from behind and I knew he was going to try comforting me after the events of the last 48 hours.

"Are you alright?" he asked while placing his hand on my shoulder. I didn't look at him.

"No." I replied and walked away from him. Thoughts of doubts swirled in my head.

"This symbol should give people hope. He made them fear it." I said while placing a hand on the symbol on my chest.

"That symbol's meaning is up to the person who wears it." he said, refusing to blame me for the crest's change of meaning under Kal's brutal leadership. I wore it too, but I had no intention of scaring people and he didn't see me as a bad person. Even when we first met at the prison, despite his surprise of seeing me, he never judged me because of my similarity to Kal.

"When Clark and I founded the Justice League, we didn't govern people. We protected them, plain and simple. Maybe the world could use a team like that again." he said.

I turned to look at him with a confused look on my face. I heard of the Justice League and of Kal's previous involvement with them as a member and leader. I think he was telling me that he wished to rebuild the team and I had an upcoming guess of what else he had in mind involving me.

"Welcome to the Circle of Trust." he said and held out his hand to me.

I looked at him, then his hand, then at him again. I was right and I could hardly believe it. This Earth man was not only accepting of me, but he was also offering me a membership in the Justice League. With Kal gone and stripped of his membership/leadership, I could step in and replace him as the new Kryptonian member of the group and hopefully repair the damage Kal did to the team and public.

I smiled and shook his hand, accepting his offer. I now knew where I belonged. Earth was my new home now. I lost one planet and I would not lose this one to people like Brainiac and Kal and I would now be able to defend it alongside the man I once called an enemy now turned friend.

"Thank you, Batman." I said.

He retracted his hand and did something unexpected: he lifted his hands over his head and took off his mask, allowing me to see his face for the first time since I was told about him. Diana and Black Adam never actually showed me images of Batman without his mask and suit when they lied to me about him and this was my first time seeing the man behind the mask.

"Call me 'Bruce Wayne'. The world knows who I am anyway thanks to your cousin. He revealed my identity to the world a few years ago when we starting fighting. but people still want me around regardless of who I am." he said.

"Only if you call me 'Kara', at least when we're not out there doing superhero things. When we are, I prefer 'Supergirl' in front of people. I'm not sure if I want my real name known to everyone outside of our group yet. Maybe someday, but not yet." I said jokingly.

"Deal." he said.

It won't happen overnight, but I would do everything that I can to win the acceptance of Earth's people. I wanted to show everyone that I am, always have been and always will be, a virtuous Kryptonian with no intention of repeating what Kal did to them. I wanted to erase the fearful reputation he built of my kind and of our symbol and replace it with a new, friendly one, to show Earth that I was on their side and will be forever.

"Now what?" I asked him. With our task complete, what else was there to do now that Earth was safe from Brainiac and my cousin?

"We return to Gotham, inform the others of what took place here and later help with rebuilding the damages Brainiac caused with his invasion." he said.

"Sounds like a plan." I said and looked around the Fortress for something.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"There's nothing here you can use to repair your jet, so I guess you'll be flying with me again." I said.

"I'll have my jet repaired when we get back to the Batcave." he said while putting his mask back on. "But before we leave, do you need to recharge yourself with the Fortress's solar panel?"

I thought about it and felt that maybe I should. After all, the events of the past few days took some out of me.

"I suppose I could spare some time with the solar panel." I said. "What about you?"

"I too need a quick break before leaving." he said and we both made our way to the solar panel room where I last saw Kal charging himself at prior to my learning about him.

Since I didn't know how to activate it with the Earth technology here, Batman helped me out and activated the panel and I walked toward it.

"How long until we depart?" I asked.

"Thirty minutes." he said.

"Good enough." I said and hovered above the machine and remained floating there, allowing the yellow sun rays to soak me all over in their soothing heat and energy while Batman made his way to a camping bed and laid down on it, taking his mask off again for better comfort.

If the solar panel healed humans the way it did with me, I'd let him use it first since I felt he deserved it more than me after his conflict with Kal. He looked quite exhausted. He was human with no powers, of course he was more exhausted than I.

Half an hour later, I left the panel and Batman got up and deactivated the machine.

"You ready?" he asked.

"Yeah, you?" I asked.

"Yes. Let's go." he said.

We both exited the Fortress, with me carrying him, while flying to reach the outside faster and when we got back outside, I placed him inside his unflyable jet and I once again carried his jet and took off into the sky, heading back to civilization.

Earning Earth's acceptance of me was going to take time and patience to accomplish, but Batman and I were certain that I would succeed. One step at a time.

During the trek back to Gotham, I made a mental reminder to pay a visit to Harley Quinn later. I wanted to know how she was doing since her scuffle with Diana.

I was now so glad she talked me out of taking her to Kal for treatment and protection, at least that's how I saw it at the time. He surely would have vanquished the clown woman the instant he laid his eyes on her and I'd be feeling extremely guilty if that happened.

I was fully aware of Harley's history before her recruitment with Batman's group from reading up on Earth's heroes and villains, both former and current, during my stay with Adam and Diana. But I put it aside because she had earned her redemption, the same thing I too planned to achieve to atone for Kal's deeds.

Who was I to judge her?

Here's the first chapter to the story. I hope you like it. I was hoping this would be a one-shot story, but I felt it needed more chapters to fully explain things. So, it'll be a multi-chapter tale.

With Superman gone, Kara now plans to prove herself worthy to a world that hates Kryptonians.

Can she succeed in winning them over?

Will they love her or hate her forever?

Will Batman's team also be accepting of another Kryptonian in their midst and give her a shot at being one of them?

She has a long way to go, but she won't give up because, as she stated earlier, "Kryptonians don't surrender.", similar to what Batman said to Superman about never quitting before their final battle. The House of El lost one hero and now it'll gain a new one.

Enjoy. More to come eventually.