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Tensions between Earth and New Krypton go on escalating. General Lane has succeeded in turning the world against Superman and New Krypton thanks to Mirabai's illusion spells. Mon-El is pre


Quote1 Yes, he did. And countless others besides. But my father would want justice, not vengeance. Quote2
Supergirl src

The Hunt for Reactron is a 2009 Supergirl storyline published in Supergirl (Volume 5) and Action Comics (Volume 1). It is part of World Against Superman and the larger New Krypton story.

Synopsis

Tensions between Earth and New Krypton go on escalating. General Lane has succeeded in turning the world against Superman and New Krypton thanks to Mirabai's illusion spells. Mon-El is presumed dead and any Kryptonian is under suspicion for attacking Earth.

Kara Zor-El (New Earth), Flamebird and Nightwing are teleported to a Metropolis alleyway. Deceived by Mirabai's spells, Kara right away flies off the handle and attacks Thara, yelling that Flamebird killed her father and tried to kill her. Nightwing steps in to try to defend Thara, and Supergirl recognizes her cousin's foster son, Chris Kent.

Their fight spills out into the streets, and there the Kryptonian trio sees that the attack Mirabai orchestrated and the "murder" of Mon-El is playing on every video billboard in the city. Their faces are being splashed across the huge electronic billboards, branding them the murderers of Mon-El and enemies of the world. They have been labelled 'the Metropolis 3', and they are said to have been laughing when Mon-El died and that Metropolis has needed to ration water because of the attack on the sewer system.

The citizens of Metropolis are ready to take on the heroes, and the Science Police shows up to deal with them, led by a revenge-thirsty Guardian. After a brief brawl and realizing they have been set up and Guardian cannot be reasoned with, Supergirl grabs the unconscious Thara and flies off with Chris following behind.

Elsewhere in Project 7734, Metallo and Reactron are undergoing repairs. Metallo sports a new skin while Metallo is bitter that he must stay strapped to a gurney because his suit is leaking radiation for some reason and must be studied and repaired. While Metallo mocks him, Reactron swears he will hunt down Supergirl, who he has developed an unhealthy hatred of.

Meanwhile the Kryptonian trio is hiding out in Paris, in one of the many Supergirl's safe houses (Kara has apartments all over the globe acting as mini Fortresses of Solitude). Thara is standing outside, listening to international news transmissions -all news programs seem to be focudes on the Metropolis attacks- and the conversation that Kara and Chris are having below in the apartment. Chris professes that he loves her -which makes Thara happy- and Kara calls her former friend an insane religious nutjob who believes in fairy tales -which infuriates Thara-.

Thara reenters the apartment and lets it be known she overheard their conversation. Kara stutters and keeps silent as Thara talks about the obviously faked news broadcasts. The three begin to try to figure out who framed them, but there's tension between Kara and Thara.

In Metropolis, Lois tries to track down her father unsuccessfully. Then she races to see Cat Grant and tries to convince her not to go to the Morgan Edge show, reasoning that the anti-Kryptonian stories should stop and that the video of Mon-El's death is fake. Cat replies Kryptonians and those who stand with them are now the enemy, so Lois might want to watch what she says and writes.

Back in Paris, Supergirl finally puts some of the pieces together: she realizes that Reactron must have been part of this set-up since they all lost their powers briefly, and those illusions must have been part of the plot against them. Then she decides it's time to go and get Reactron and bring him to New Krypton for justice. Thara disagrees, stating that bringing Reactron to Alura is basically sending him to an execution. Kara retorts her mother is fair and lives up to her duties, unlike someone else who was praying to a figment of her imagination while killed her father.

Thara -who loved Zor-El as a father- explodes and slams Kara into the Eiffel Tower. Both girls start a very public brawl, and before Nightwing is able to stop them, calm them down and bring them back inside, the Squad K turns up.

As the three young heroes fight for their lives, Cat Grant and Morgan Edge talk about how Supergirl, Nightwing and Flamebird are menaces. Then they cut to Paris where Kara, Thara and Chris are fighting with Squad K, and Cat states the daughter of the "Queen of New Krypton" is "without a doubt a threat to every man, woman, and child on this planet". While Cat pours the hatred on, though, the trio of heroes manages to escape Squad K.

After the broadcast, a very angry Lois confronts Cat, dressing her down and calling her a hate-mongering propaganda tool with zero ethics. Lois storms off, and Cat and Morgan write her outburst off as jealousy.

In her apartment Lana -who is still suffering from nosebleeds- discovers Kara's back and has brought Nightwing and Flamebird with her. They decide to try to get Lois' help in clearing their name and perhaps getting a confession from Reactron. Lana and Chris leave to go find Lois.

Meanwhile, General Lane -who has just revealed they set up Kara, Chris and Thara by framing them for Mon-El's death and ruining Metropolis' water supply- is sending Reactron out to finish cleaning up the mess before their names can be cleared. First thing he does is force Squad K's Colonel Hazard to take Reactron in to hunt for Lois Lane. Hazard doesn't want to include an obvious sociopath into his group, but he is outranked and overruled by General Lane.

Chris and Lana meet Lois to tell her everything that has happened. Chris tells his foster mother about Reactron and Metallo's involvement with the destruction of Metropolis' water supply. After hearhing their story, Lois senses the mind games and military involvement hint at her father being behind everything.

In Lana's apartment, Kara and Thara are trying to patch things up. Previously, Thara warned Kara was corrupting Lana. Kara stormed off silently as Thara tried to explain she didn't mean their hostess was becoming evil or anything of the sort. Now, Kara asks her friend what she meant with it. But Thara is sick of fighting with her friend and asks her to forget she said anything. Then Kara shows her friend the blood bloom petal from their visit to the Fire Falls,and tells Thara that the petal was the only thing that made the trip to Earth with her.

Lois is still talking to Chris when the Squad K arrives. Chris takes off to intercept Squad K in mid-air, intending to draw them away to save his mother and Lana. Kara and Thara then arrive to confront the threat together.

While the Kryptonian trio engage the Squad K and Hazard tells Guardian his and Science Police's assistance is not need or wanted, Reactron holds back because his suit lacks flight capabilities at the present time. So he takes to the streets and begins destroying things indiscriminately until Hazard warns him to stop.

Kara, Thara and Chris race into the demolished sewer system, chased by the army. When the young Kryptonians pause as they see the destruction they are being blamed for, Squad K catches up with them. However, Chris has a plan.

He tells Supergirl and Thara to stand down and be taken into custody. They are immediately cuffed in "Red Sun shackles" which depower them and led away by Squad K when Reactron arrives. He slaps a powerless Kara to the ground and receives another stern lecture from Hazard. Then Thara and Chris explain to Hazard their side of the story and tell him Reactron isn't there to support Squad K but to tie up the loose ends permanently. Just as Hazard realizes they've been tricked by Reactron and General Lane... Reactron executes Hazard and Squad K.

The Kryptonian teenagers are at the non-existent mercy of Reactron, who begins choking Supergirl until Chris realizes red sunlight doesn't affect his tactile telekinesis. Chris and Thara break out and rescue Kara, and the three heroes come up with a strategy to take him down: Thara will go high, Chris will go low, and Kara will kick his butt up the middle. Supergirl, Flamebird and Nightwing charge him.

Unfortunately, Reactron is still too powerful. He manages to take Thara down and depower and knock out Kara and Chris. During the battle, Lois shows up to witness and report the fight. He threatens Lois and she actually manages to hurt him, but she cannot stop him.

Right when it looks like he's going to murder to Kara and Chris, Thara transforms into Flamebird and crushes Reactron like a bug, yanking the Gold Kryptonite from the chest of Reactron and disintegrating it.

As soon as he is helpless, Reactron sings like a canary, explaining all is General Lane fault as Kara, Lois and Chris look on. Flamebird wants to kill him right there, but Supergirl talks her out of it, saying her father Zor-El wants justice, not vengeance. Chris then kisses Flamebird, which turns her back into Thara.

Reactron is srunk and imprisoned in a crystal which Kara intends to take to New Krypton.

Before leaving, though, Kara and Thara have a heart-to-heart talk where they forgive each other and restart their friendship. Kara apologizes for not believing Thara was Flamebird. She also thinks if Flamebird is real, so is Rao, and it means their father may be "in a better place".

Thara then says she has to tell Kara something about Lana. Lana walks in to a distraught looking Kara. Lana asks if everything's okay, and Kara says it is, though the look on her face is one of mistrust or suspicion.

Thara leaves and Kara says she has to go to New Krypton (to deliver Reactron), but will return to talk to Lana about what she's been hiding from her.

Issues

Notes

Recommended Reading

Links and References


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