2013-04-09 - Family Affairs: Power Girl vs Divine, Round One

New York City. There are thousands of grocery stores in the city. A woman in a pair of shorts, a tight white t-shirt, sneakers and a baseball cap is within one of those. A small mom and pop store. Karen likes to support the smaller, independent stores. She carries a grocery basket in one hand, a few things within it already. Currently she is studying the array of cat food, trying to decide what her fickle feline might want this time around.

"I don't know what I despise the most about you: your human disguise or your 'superhero' costume.", a voice casually states right behind Karen, one that is very familiar to the kryptonian: her own, just laced with malice and some annoyance. Along with the statement two strong hands rest upon Power Girl's shoulders, not keeping her in place, content in massaging the strong blonde's musculature while the woman keeps talking.

"You are nothing like I would have expected. Well, nothing aside from the miniscule clothes.", and leaning to rest her chin over Karen's shoulder, the mysterious woman's body pressing against PG's back, Divine chuckles "I am glad they erased from my gene pool whatever makes you so... mundane."

Power Girl tenses. She knows exactly who it is behind her. With a massive effort of will to not just turn around and punch the woman behind her, she selects a paticular can of cat food and puts a few in her shopping basket. She doesn't turn around to regard her clone, but does respond, "Being Karen is part of who I am as a whole. I'm more than just Power Girl. I'm more than just Karen. I'm both. I have friends, family." The blonde glances at the woman resting her chin on her shoulder, "Can you say the same, clone?"

"I am glad to say I don't...", Divine grins and slips her arms around Karen, in a faux-hug, her eyes fixated to PG's. "All those things don't make you 'more' than just Power Girl... that make you less Divine...", and whispering to Karen's ear, brushing her lips against it as if she can barely contain her emotions towards the original, some vile hatred dripping from her teasing words "And you and I know thinking about what me and my buddies might to these friends, families will make you just as predictable and vulnerable as the others we have already beat. Just how I am going to beat you right now..."

There's that briefest moment when Karen can detect Divine's intention but may react before the dark-haired version of her can execute her plan: Divine is going to take off with her, and damn the consequences to the building and the people inside the store with them.

While she was expecting an attack, Power girl was not expecting to be taken straight up through the roof and into the sky above. Thankfully the only other people in the store were the owners, and they were near the front. The roof is smashed open, a wide hole testament to where the twins left.

PG is a veteran of many battles however, so she isn't caught off guard for long. Two seconds after they clear the store Power Girl bows her head and then rocks it back with vicious force, holding back only slightly as she attempts to drive the back of her head into Divine's nose and mouth.

"Motherfuc-!!!", the woman behind Karen yells and hovers back with her hands covering both nose and mouth, a few drops of blood running between her palms and fingers showing she got, if not hurt, at least bloodied. Divine's eyes, however, spell rage Karen probably doesn't see too often in her enemies: this woman is not just someone who is trying to best PG to achieve something. Besting Power Girl is -all- this woman seems to want. It's personal for her and they have never met.

Diving so fast a sonic boom explodes throghout the city sky Divine attempts to tear through Karen's abdomen, flying with two hands closed in fists to try and really hurt her enemy, but not kill. No, she wants Karen to bleed and squirm, she wants to see that look in PG's face when she realizes she has been bested.

Needless to say, this woman is, and looks, crazy. "YOU'RE NOTHING!", she yells out loud, growling!

Perhaps PG has something to prove as well. This isn't the first time she's had to deal with the idea of someone else being her. It is a throughly frustrating experience that has wounded her, a wound that never really healed. Now here is yet ANOTHER version of her. But this one wants to fight, this one doesn't want to be friends. That's just fine by Power Girl.

PG grins at the sight of Divine's bleeding, perhaps she used far more of her strength than she expected, or maybe Divine isn't as quite as tough as the real thing. Going along with the idea of showing this copy the real deal, PG simply hovers their, bracing herself as she allows Divine to drive both fists into her gut. By Rao and Wally. That hurt! It nearly knocks all the wind out of her, but she takes it nevertheless. The impact of the blow creates a shockwave that shatters the top windows of the taller buildings in the area, car alarms begin to blare below.

The other, more important reason Power Girl let Divine hit her is that now the raven-haired copy is back in striking distance. Which she takes full advantage of by grabbing the back of the bra strap of Divine's top with one hand. A knee comes flashing up towards, aimed right for her gut, followed by an elbow that is centered on the lower spine.

Say what you'll about Power Girl but she is willing to take punish to dish it out in kind, and before the shattered glass from those windows hits the ground Divine is getting grabbed and attacked. She cannot keep Karen's hand off her top, but in a way it makes things easier for Divine: she doesn't want to leave PG, she wants to press the action and win it in Power Girl's territory.

Coupling the raven-haired woman's attack and Karen's recovery the attacked aimed at the clone might not be the best PG can do, but still they hurt the villainess, forcing Divine to grab PG's short and leg to keep herself from skyrocketing down onto the pavement alone, trying to drag her nemesis with her.

On the way down Divine growls and has a hand on PG's face, trying to make the blond fall face-first on the ground "MIGHT HELP YOUR UGLY MUZZLE, YOU BITCH! IT CAN'T GET ANY WORSE!", trying as hard as she can muster to damage the original with elbows and even bites before they hit the street level.

Power Girl is slammed into the middle of the street, face first, the impact cratering the concrete ten feet in every direction. People scream at the sudden, violent appearance of the two fighting women and run in every direction, desperate to get away.

The landing doesn't quite push them through to the sewers below, but close. Power Girl groans softly, dazed for the moment. Despite being dazed she raises her arms up, blocking the elbows in a boxer's block, the bites do not break her skin, but they will probably leave bruises behind.

Divine is out of control. The smallest upperhand she gets the woman has her hands together raining double-fisted blows upon Karen's guard, hurting her oponents forearm but probably wearing herself out faster than she is going to break PG's arms. Each blow is accompanied by a loud scream, a loud, loud thud and a shockwave that seems to widen the noticeable cracks on the asphalt around the pair.

"WHY. WONT. YOU. DIE?!", Divine screams at every single attack, putting all her back, glutes arms and energy into it, savage and out of control, but also unfocused and undisciplined, leaving plenty of room to Karen to work with, planning her next move. Divine is, if anything, predictable in her own strategy of attacking, attacking and attacking!

Power Girl takes the beating, waiting for her moment. Normally Power Girl is the one enraged and fighting with all of her anger, but she always has -some- control. Divine obviously has not learned that quite yet. PG seizes her chance when Divine has both arms raised over her head. She doesn't attack with raw strength this time. Kryptonians do have other powers after all. Which she demonstrates now.

The air heats up suddenly, blue eyes flashing an angry red an instant before a blast of heat issues from them, the blast radius encompassing Divine's face and upper torso. PG once again doesn't hold all that much back in terms of power. She wants to put Divine down before anyone gets hurt.

Divine is mid-scream when the beam of heat hits her squarely on the face, shutting the raging woman up and hurling her down the road, bouncing over the pavement and creating smaller craters in her wake until she is finally done. Once the raven-haired villain finally stops her face is beet-red, and she is angry, one of her eyebrows burnt by the intensity of PG's blast.

"STOP! THIS! NOW!", Divine growls out loud, as if she had enough of everything that just happened, even staggering a few steps back, a few people still trapped inside cars or apartments looking through cracked windows as the two women face each other."YOU don't believe me when I tell you, so I am going to TEACH YOU A LESSON!", the woman growls, a bit of spit running down her chin as she spews her words with emotion "Stop fighting RIGHT NOW or these humans will get it, and you -know- I can kill off a couple of dozen before you take me out, IF you can take me out. SO STOP FIGHTING AND KNEEL!"

Power Girl gets to her feet as soon as the woman is off her, she watches as Divine comes to a rest and seems mildly irritated when she gets back up. Floating up from the original impact crater, she hesitates when Divine makes her threat. After considering the terms for a moment she folds her arms over her chest and says in a calm voice, "No. I will not kneel. You won't hurt anyone either. You're me and I'm you. I might get a bug up my ass about things. But I'd -never- hurt innocent people to get my way."

PG shrugs her broad shoulders, "Besides. That isn't beating me at all, Divine. That's a cowards way, a losers way." A blonde eyebrow arches, "Are you a loser, Divine?"

For a moment Divine looks at Power Girl, arms folded over her generous chest, giving the I Know You Better Than Yourself speech, looking as angelic as ever, while the clone has her face all red, is dripping with sweat, has an almost torn bra for an outfit and has one brow burned. Something about this doesn't click with the raven-haired villain, and a fast use of her heat vision absolutely destroys the face of the first floor of a building close to them, people inside screaming as debris falls over them. While still alive, they must be in need of help.

"Did I stutter, Power Girl?", a semblance of a smirk on the woman's lips, as the rush of empowerment makes Divine almost glow. Karen and this woman couldn't be further appart from each other, Divine's eyes glowing still, as a threat, and next time, it won't be the building that will be getting it.

Power Girl looks completely dumbstruck. Her jaw hangs open as she watches the destruction. But it is only for a moment, a couple of seconds. When Power Girl's blue eyes look back to Divine there is a change in them, a change in her expression, posture.

Anger, no, hatred, seethes from every pore of the heroine. A charging rhino protecting her young couldn't look more dangerous, a lioness on the hunt would pale in comparisson, an active nuclear ICBM in flight would seem harmless compared to the blonde woman standing there. When she speaks, her voice is the essence of ice, her expression promising untold agony, "I am going to save those people, Divine. Then. I'm going to find you. When I do, I will beat you to an inch of your life. When you beg for mercy. I will snap your neck and throw your corpse in the trash with the rest of the garbage." Then she is moving, faster than the eye can see, so fast that even Divine may have trouble keeping up. Rubble is tossed aside at a breath taking pace as she uses her hearing and x-ray vision to find and rescue the people that have been hurt for nothing at all but to send a stupid, prideful message.

There is something in Karen's tone that makes Divine realize just how serious PG is about protecting these people, and there is something about it that is chilling. Karen is probably the most laid back of the kryptonians she and Match found onf Earth, and now she is furious.

Snorting, Divine just shrugs. Even better. Although the villain's first impulse is to continue the fight, maybe even take advantage of Karen while she is trying to rescue the people Divine has hurt, there's this voice at the back of Divine's mind that says 'You should be here! What if others come!? Are you insane!? Bla bla bla, I'm Match and I can't have fun!'. Groaning, Divine knows the little boy is usually right. She will see Karen again soon enough anyway.

"Know your weaknesses, Power Girl... because we -are- meeting again... you might want to correct them if you plan on living through our next fight...", says the woman, before taking off, as fast as she can, while Karen saves innocent after innocent from the debris, her fast movements and X-Ray vision helping the blonde heroine save all the humans around them with minor injuries while the sirens sound at a distance.

Power Girl takes a deep sigh of relief at finding everyone that was in danger. No lives lost, no nightmares. She waits until the police and ambulances arrive before taking off herself. She needs to be alone with her thoughts. She may have scared Divine, but she managed to scare herself as well.

---

A few hours later, when Divine is flying back to her meeting place with Match the raven-haired kryptonian clone bothers to stop mid-flight, close to a skyscrapper, something off with her reflection. Frowning the woman flies closer, heart beating faster and faster as she gives herself a look: her bra is practically ruined, her hair is a mess, she has a few marks on her skin and a reddened face, but what really draws attention is something else. As Divine's eyes widen, realizing she is one eyebrow short, an ear-splitting scream can be heard all over the streets of Dubai.