Contributions to Society

Characters and Some Info
Fandom: SuperGirl (TVShow), Arrow (TVShow), Flash (TVShow), Legends of Tomorrow (TVShow), Batwomen (TVShow)
Co-written with lrhaboggle
u/6270962/lrhaboggle
Genre: Horror
Rated: M
TV Show Timeline: March 1 2017-March 2032 (Alternate Universe of TVShow by CW)
Chapters: 24
Endings: 3
Cast
Team Supergirl
Kara Zor El aka Kara Danvers aka Supergirl (Alien Race: Kryptonian) / Age: 26-Year-Old
James Olsen aka Guardian (Alien Race: Human) / Age: 36-Year-Old
J'onn J'onzz aka Martian Manhunter (Alien Race: Green Martian) / Age: 300-Year-Old
Doctor Eliza Danvers (Alien Race: Human) / Age: 50-Year-Old
Nia Nal aka Dreamer (Alien Race: Human-Naltorian Hybrid) / Age: 26-Year-Old
Alex Danvers (Alien Race: Human) / Age: 28-Year-Old
Lena Luthor (Alien Race: Human) / Age: 26-Year-Old
Maggie Sawyer (Alien Race: Human) / Age: 28-Year-Old
Winn Schott (Alien Race: Human) / Age: 28-Year-Old
Cat Grant (Alien Race: Human) / Age: 40-Year-Old
M'gann M'orzz aka Megan (Alien Race: White Martian) / Age: 300-Year-Old
Team Flash
Barry Allen aka The Flash (Alien Race: Human)
Cisco Ramon aka Vibe (Alien Race: Human)
Doctor Caitlin Snow aka Killer Frost (Alien Race: Human)
Joe West (Alien Race: Human)
Iris West (Alien Race: Human)
Ralph Dibny aka Elongated Man (Alien Race: Human)
Cecille Horton (Alien Race: Human)
Harrison Sherloque Wells (Alien Race: Human)
Nora West Allen aka XS (Alien Race: Human)
Team Arrow
Oliver Queen aka Green Arrow (Alien Race: Human)
Felicity Smoak aka Overwatch (Alien Race: Human)
Dinah Drake aka Black Canary (Alien Race: Human)
John Diggle aka Spartan (Alien Race: Human)
Helena Bertinelli aka The Huntress (Alien Race: Human)
Laurel Lance aka Black Canary (Alien Race: Human)
Thea Queen aka Speedy (Alien Race: Human)
Quentin Lance (Alien Race: Human)
Team Legend
Sara Lance aka White Canary (Alien Race: Human)
Mick Rory aka Heat Wave (Alien Race: Human)
Zari Tomaz (Alien Race: Human)
Mona Wu aka Wolfie (Alien Race: Human)
Nate Heywood aka Steel (Alien Race: Human)
Leonard Snart aka Captain Cold (Alien Race: Human)
Ray Palmer aka The Atom (Alien Race: Human)
Planet Earth 38's Public
Lex Luthor (Alien Race: Human)
Lenny Thorul (Alien Race: Human)
Lois Lane (Alien Race: Human)
Lyra Strayd (Alien Race-Valerian)
Unnamed Female Infernian (Alien Race: Infernian) "Friend of Lyra Strayd"
Unnamed Female Almeracian (Alien Race: Almeracian) "Friend of Lyra Strayd"
Unnamed Female Maaldorian (Alien Race: Maaldorian) "Friend of Lyra Strayd"
Cho Leung (Alien Race: Human)
Samuel Sam Lane Wife (Alien Race: Human)
Unnamed Male Infernian (Alien Race: Infernian)
Unnamed Male Almeracian (Alien Race: Almeracian)
Unnamed Male Maaldorian (Alien Race: Maaldorian)
Unnamed Male Human (Alien Race: Human)
Midvale Middle Student Josie (Alien Race: Human)
Actor Dimitri Lind (Alien Race: Human)
Midvale Middle Student Rick Malverne (Alien Race: Human)
Midvale Middle Student Vicki Donahue (Alien Race: Human)
Alien National City University Student (Alien Race: ?)
Paul Nal (Alien Race: Human) / Age: 45 Year Old
Maeve Nal (Alien Race: Human-Naltorian Hybrid) / Age: 31-Year-Old "Older Sister of Nia Nal"
Planet Earth 38's Government
Android Querl Dox aka Brainiac 5 (Alien Race: ) / Age: 28-Year-Old
DEO Agent Vasquez (Alien Race: Human) / Age: 28-Year-Old
DEO Agent Hartmann (Alien Race: Human) / Age: 28-Year-Old
DEO Agent Reiff (Alien Race: Human) / Age: 28-Year-Old
DEO Agent Wolf (Alien Race: Human) / Age: 28-Year-Old
DEO Agent Raymond Jensen (Alien Race: Human) / Age: 28-Year-Old
DEO Agent Taylor (Alien Race: Human) / Age: 28-Year-Old
DEO Doctor Amelia Hamilton (Alien Race: Human) / Age: 45-Year-Old
US Army Lauren Haley (Alien Race: Human) / Age: 45-Year-Old
US Army Lucy Lane (Alien Race: Human) / Age: 45-Year-Old
US Army Samuel Sam Lane (Alien Race: Human) / Age: 45-Year-Old
Olivia Marsdin (Alien Race: Durlan) / Age: 45-Year-Old
Cadmus
Lillian Luthor (Alien Race: Human) / Age: 55-Year-Old
Otis Graves (Alien Race: Human) / Age: 45-Year-Old
Eve Teschmacher (Alien Race: Human) / Age: 45-Year-Old
Universe Food
Unnamed (Alien Race: Human) / Age: 35-Year-Old
Unnamed (Alien Race: Human) / Age: 35-Year-Old
 Chapter 1: A New Friend (Date: March 1 2017 9pm)
"Kara Danvers?" Kara whipped around to find herself face to face with a handsome gentleman in a dark red suit.
"Lenny Thorul?" she guessed. The man smiled in return, an obvious "yes".
"Pleased to meet you," he said, extending a hand. Kara shook it willingly, wearing a smile to match his own.
"Likewise!" she said. "Shall we take a seat?" she gestured to one of several empty tables behind them. They were currently standing in the doorway of a quiet little bar towards the edge of National City. It was a quaint, cute little place, and Kara appreciated how empty it was. It was nice and quiet!
"Of course," Lenny bowed his head in a playful politeness. Kara laughed a little before leading him towards a table in the back corner.
Kara and Lenny had been in correspondence for a few months now and it was all thanks to their mutual friendship with Alex Danvers, Kara's older (human) sister. Apparently, Lenny was a fellow DEO agent, though he was serving at a different base. But even though he and Alex were serving at different DEO sites, they had worked together on a mission once and been friends ever since. It was only recently that Lenny learned that Alex had a younger sister, and even more recently that said sister was also the famous Kryptonian hero named Supergirl. Kara had been a bit surprised to hear that Alex had told Lenny her secret identity, but Lenny was able to assure her that Alex had only told him, and this was because he was an old and trusted friend. No one else at his DEO site knew the truth about Supergirl's civilian identity, only him.
Shortly after Lenny realized who Alex's younger sister truly was, it became his biggest dream to get to meet her in person.
"Isn't it everyone's dream to meet the legendary Girl of Steel?" he asked playfully as he and Kara sipped on their beers. "I'm just lucky that I had a direct connection to you," he added with a chuckle, raising his bottle.
"Well, normally I wouldn't meet just anyone that Alex happened to know," Kara laughed back as she raised her own bottle. "You just seemed like a nice guy and I figured that it wouldn't hurt to finally get to meet you face to face. I'm always up for making a new friend! It's a pity Alex couldn't come along though…" just for a moment, Kara's face grew sad. She had wanted this little outing to consist of three people and not just two, but the way schedules worked out, Lenny was only available during the time when Alex wasn't.
"I can see her another time," Lenny said casually. "I've met her in person several times before, actually," he added. "We may have only worked together once, but we are not strangers. You and I, though?"
"Not anymore," Kara replied with a smirk as she took another sip of her beer. "You can cross "meet Supergirl" off your bucket list!"
"I wonder if I can cross "get her autograph" off the list too?" Lenny asked with a laugh.
"Oh, I suppose I could do that…" Kara replied, pretending as though Lenny had asked a great burden from her.
The rest of the evening passed pleasantly, the two simply laughing and chatting over DEO life, and Alex. But somewhere into Kara's third beer, she began to feel a bit woozy. In the minutes to come, the wooziness got stronger and stronger.
"I think I might be drunk!" she giggled, looking very uncoordinated and silly.
"Maybe it's time we get you home then, huh?" Lenny asked warmly back. "Can't have your sister raking me across the coals for keeping you out past your bedtime and then bringing you home White-Girl Wasted, right?"
"It is not past my bedtime!" Kara tried to whine, but when she tried to point an accusing finger at Lenny, her arm dropped to the table.
"Drunker than I thought!" Lenny laughed again, but to Kara, it sounded like he was speaking from underwater. It was strange. And why did she feel so woozy and weird?...
For just a second, Kara felt a flash of fear, and she went to shake her head to try and wake up a little bit, but it suddenly felt immensely heavy. Even that one simple gesture made her feel weak and tired. Her entire body felt as though it were melting, and no part of her body would physically respond to her. She couldn't even shake her head, or raise her arm! She was totally paralyzed and woozy. Before she could realize that this was beyond a typical drunkenness, though, her mind followed in her body's footsteps and it too stopped responding.
 Chapter 2: Slaughterhouse (Date: March 2 2017 12am)
The next time Kara woke up, she was naked and strapped to an operating table, an IV drip in her arm and a red sunlamp over her head. In the IV bag was clear substance, little gold flecks floating inside of it. She woke up violently but, because of the sunlamp, found herself powerless to do more than squirm. None of her powers worked and she was as weak as a normal human, meaning that the straps holding her to the table were working. Even though she was weak, tired and woozy, however, she continued to thrash.
"I don't see why you insist upon wasting your time and energy. You're only going to make yourself upset, trying to do that. But you won't get out. I can assure you of that," an eerily pleasant voice behind Kara suddenly began to speak. She tilted her head back as much as she could and was horrified to find herself looking into the dark and sadistically delighted eyes of Lex Luthor.
"Impossible!" she breathed, so stunned by Lex's appearance that she forgot that she was totally naked.
"Ah-ah," Lex waggled a finger in mock chastisement. "Not impossible," he said. "Just improbable. But as low as the odds were, I still had a chance, and I know how to make the best of my chances," the smile he gave her was chilling.
"How?" the fear in her voice was palpable as, just for a second, she lost all pretense of trying to act brave.
"How?" he asked back, showing off more of his teeth as his smile widened sickeningly. "Why, Ms. Danvers, I am so glad you asked!" then, he proceeded to explain, gloating over her as his sick and twisted plan unfolded before her eyes.
Lex had been coming and going from his jail cell for months now, him having since bribed the guards into letting him leave every once in a while. During one of his many outings, he ran into an old friend and associate of his, Lenny Thorul. Lenny, like Lex, had been a vehemently anti-alien man. He still held those same hateful views, but he had been relatively inactive and underground ever since Lex was imprisoned. Now that Lex was free again, though, it didn't take much to persuade him to hop back onto the old bandwagon of attempting to wipe out every little last alien species from the planet until only a pure human race remained.
During his time in jail, Lex had come up with an ingenious new plan that was far more subtle than anything he had previously concocted. All he needed to set that plan in motion was a human who was safely on the outside of things. That human was, of course, Lenny. Stupid, devoted, determined, and perfectly obedient, Lenny. So while Lex still spent most of his time locked away, Lenny never rested, constantly out and busy, doing the Luthor's dirty work. He bought up an abandoned factory and fixed up the machines until everything was up and running again. This time, though, what used to be an old slaughterhouse for common farm animals was remodeled into a nightmarish laboratory that could contain and clone Kryptonians. As soon as that lab was done, Lex then commanded Lenny to go and find Supergirl and gain her trust in any way he knew how. He had chosen the lie that he was a mutual friend of Supergirl's' dear, beloved sister: Alex. The rest was history.
"And that's how he knew so much about the DEO!" Kara breathed in horror and disbelief.
"Correct," Lex said smugly. "He is quite the actor! I can't believe he even managed to get you to meet him up at a bar even after You Accepted His Invite!" the mad scientist added with a cackle. "I thought for sure that a girl like you would've had the brains to avoid a first meeting like that, but I suppose that being an invulnerable, perfect little Kryptonian has given you a god-complex, a false sense of security. I like that," he paused to smile serenely at Kara.
"How deliciously ironic it is," he mused. "I was always told that my pride was what caused my fall. Had I not overshot and overstepped my boundaries, I would've been happy. But now look! Supergirl! The hero of the world, second only to Superman, has made the very same fatal flaw that once ensnared me. You and I have the same foolish pride. The only difference is that your mistake will be much more permanent than mine…"
"You're crazy!" Kara tried to bluff bravely. "Someone will know that I am gone and they will come looking for me and-"
"Ha! Oh, Kara, my dear, no one will come looking for you! Lenny has taken care of that," Lex turned his head to the right and Lenny himself stepped out of the shadows, grinning twistedly up at Kara. Kara felt an unspeakable fury start to burn in her chest the moment she looked into those warm brown eyes once again only to see a bragging sort of triumph within them. That sick, little-
"You see, Kara, it was simple!" Lenny began, voice suddenly cruel and demeaning. "That little bar I invited you to was no normal bar. Didn't you ever stop to ask even once why it was so quiet and clean? No normal bar is quite that empty! Especially not at night!"
"What are you talking about?" Kara snarled as it suddenly occurred to her that he was right. She had considered that bar to be quaint, charmed by its small and quiet group. She hadn't even thought that such a small number of people should've been a red flag.
"That is because, my dear, stupid Kryptonian, that was an anti-alien bar. Don't you ever even do your research? Or is your god-complex so big that you think you can just waltz in to any old place and think that you are safe?"
"Anti-alien bar?" Kara echoed, anger turning into horror and revulsion. Lenny only nodded back at her, grinning gleefully.
"Yeah! Everyone there despises aliens with a passion! It's why they wouldn't address you, or I. They knew who you were too. Oh! Perhaps they didn't quite make the connection that you were Supergirl, but they knew you were an alien."
"But how?" Kara could only shake her head.
"It's because I told them, duh!" Lenny cried in disdain. "I am Lex Luthor's right-hand man! Of course I would know where to find an anti-alien hub. That bar is one of them. Now, it's unofficial, of course, but that means nothing. That is a spot notorious for anti-alien folks to meet up and discuss. I am amazed you didn't realize that sooner! But no matter. It made my job easier. All I had to do was let the bartender know who you were, what you looked like and when you'd come. Then, once you arrived, every drank you had that night was laced with Red Kryptonite."
"Red Kryptonite!" Kara echoed in horror as she remembered how weak she had felt after her third beer. It hadn't been a normal drunken stupor, it had been the Red Kryptonite, weakening her system.
"Yup!" Lenny smiled. "Once you were full of the stuff, it was easy for me to cart you away. And remember, since the entire bar despised you. Or rather, what you were, I had no trouble in receiving help. I had one of the patrons take your phone and drive it off to an abandoned gas station halfway into the next state while the others helped me load you up, up and away! Good luck hoping that someone will be able to find you now, sweetheart! We intend upon keeping you here for a while. Lex, after all, still has quite a few plans for you."
"Yes," Lex agreed with his assistant. Then he looked smugly back down at Kara once again.
"You see, Ms. Danvers," he began. "I am a changed man. Really I am! I have come to see aliens in a new way and I have come to realize that they still have quite a lot that they can offer me, and the rest of humanity. For although aliens are only second class citizens they can still-"
"Shut up!" Kara snarled, starting to thrash again as Lex dared to insult her like that, but he only put a finger to his lips before continuing calmly, ignoring Kara's rude interruption of his speech.
"That they can still make great contributions to society!" there was bravado in his voice as he said this, and it threw Kara off guard.
"Contributions to society?" she demanded. "What do you mean?" she was certain that he did not mean this in a way half as benevolent as he was pretending, but she could not figure out what he meant by this.
"You and your talents have inspired me," Lex replied calmly. "And now I intend upon using that inspiration, those noble traits of yours, and amplifying it a billion-fold!" he grinned mysteriously.
"So what are you going to do now?" Kara continued to demand bravely, finally starting to catch onto his evil little scheme. "Are you going to try and clone me and hope that you'll somehow get away with building a Kryptonian army?" she continued to struggle against her restraints.
"Close, Kara, close," Lex replied gently. But his voice hardened as he gestured for Lenny to approach her.
"But not close enough..." and before Kara knew what was happening, something else was being injected into her arm. More Red Kryptonite. It was then that she realized that the stuff in the IV bag was Gold Kryptonite, a permanent power-remover. Kara's panic and efforts to escape redoubled.
"Now, now, Kara, you surely don't want to spend the rest of your life squealing like a piglet, do you? After all, your legacy isn't over! I am going to make you a star, and you are still going to make many more wonderful contributions to society, just as you always have before. The people of Earth will love you for it!" Lex taunted her merrily, but Kara was thrashing around so violently that she didn't hear him at all. Lenny, however, did, and he laughed sadistically.
"Are we ready, boss?" he asked. Lex nodded once and Lenny gleefully scurried over to a large switch on one of the far walls of the lab. He yanked the switch down hard and, suddenly, the entire laboratory came to life. But while the ex-slaughterhouse took its first breath, Kara took her last.
 Chapter 3: Universe Food (June 2 2017-Dec 2017)
Over the next few months, every DEO site in the country went mad trying to find Supergirl. When no results were yielded, every other government agency was called into play and, soon, even international and intergalactic organizations were enlisted, but not a single soul could find a single clue about the whereabouts of the missing Kryptonian. No one on Earth or in space had any idea where Kara had gotten to and it didn't matter how hard anyone looked, nothing ever came of it.
"Alex..." James Olsen approached the broken DEO agent with a tender and agonized expression.
"Don't," Alex croaked back, voice full of pain and fury. She would've spoken louder, but after Kara went missing, it was like she had died as well, her own strength vanishing entirely. She couldn't even turn around to look at him as he entered her little office.
"I'm sorry," James replied, then he took a seat opposite of Alex's and simply held her hand. No more words were spoken, but none were needed. Instead, Alex's hand only lay limply in James' as the two old friends silently grieved their beloved Kara Danvers.
Back at CatCo, for the first time ever, someone caught Cat Grant crying. She was silent, and almost motionless, but every once in a while, she would wipe at her eyes, or her shoulders would convulse. That was how Winn Schott knew that she was grieving.
"Ms. Grant?" he asked, voice consoling, even though his own eyes were red and swollen.
"Mr. Schott, you had better have your transcript ready for me this time," Cat replied, voice totally devoid of emotion. But she would not meet his eyes and that was how Winn knew just how deeply her heart was aching. Maybe Cat could lie with face and voice, but her eyes could never lie. Winn opened his mouth to say more, but at the sight of his miserable-looking boss, he felt his own throat close up and he quickly left her office before collapsing in his own, muffling his cries with his hand as he whimpered Kara's name.
"Please, Supergirl, come back! We need you!... I... need you..." but Kara was not going to be coming home any time soon, and everyone's mourning carried on.
Even Lena Luthor got in on the action, enlisted to try and help find Supergirl. Not long after, then, she was told by Winn that her beloved Kara Danvers had gone missing as well. Lena nearly ran L-Corp into the ground after that, using every little last resource to try and find the two missing women. It did no good.
"I don't care!" she cried when another one of her workers warned her about how low the company was on funding. Even though she knew he was right, she didn't want to hear it. She would sooner see L-Corp go bankrupt than surrender the search for Supergirl and, more importantly to her, Kara Danvers.
"Money is nothing compared to a life!" she continued to thunder. "And until we can find them again and bring them both home, safe and sound, L-Corp will continue to work full speed ahead to try and find them!" so Lena continued to flush millions of dollars down the drain in a vain attempt to find Supergirl and Kara. It didn't work. No one on Earth had any clue where the Girl of Steel had gone.
J'onn had left Earth entirely, joining a squadron hunting the stars and nearby planets for Supergirl. Superman was part of that group too, but they were making about as much progress as anyone down at CatCo or the DEO. J'onn would never admit it, but the loss of one of the two girls he considered a daughter was a blow so devastating to his soul that there were some nights when he genuinely wondered if ending it all wouldn't be the better option.
"I failed her," he murmured softly, sadly. "It should've been me who died. God, how I wish it had been..."
The rest of the country wasn't faring too much better. Supergirl had been a national symbol, and icon of hope. For her to have gone so completely missing was a crushing blow to everyone in America. But even so, the people of the world were strong, and they fought hard to keep their heads up just as their superhero would've wanted them to. Every citizen played their part in staying strong and hopeful, for Supergirl's sake. And even various large-scale agencies and companies invested in the mourning and grieving processes, sometimes offering some of their goods and services for free in the name of the hero who had so freely given her own self to them, time and time again.
Leading the charge was a relatively new company called Universe Food. It was a fast-food chain, but it had since garnered massive respect from the public eye, firstly for being so charitable, secondly for being so supportive in the wake of Supergirl's disappearance, thirdly for being a "human-run enterprise with a strong belief that aliens CAN make great contributions to society" and fourthly for having really great burgers. It would never quite gain the mainstream attention that McDonalds had as a cultural icon, but Universe Food quickly dominated the country and all who ate there was all in agreement that the burgers were sublime. Or, as the cheesy tagline said, they were "OUT OF THIS WORLD!" Never had the planet seen such human-alien cooperation before in light of Supergirl's disappearance. It was the start of a new era, for better and for worse.
In the days to come, Universe Food invited the press to test their launch lineup of food. National City's press was beyond amazed and delighted with the results. One of the city's top food critics ate all the burgers and meat pies and stated in his review, "It's the best burger I've ever eaten, light but filling, sweet and crispy and sour and juicy all at once. Your taste buds will dance and sing as they are treated richly with each and every warm, filling bite!" and he approved greatly of the "special sauce" really used to spice up the burger's flavor. He gave it 4.5 stars out of 5, and for someone like him, that was incredibly generous.
All the other news companies in National City quickly followed suit and, each and every time, every little last reporter and critic fell in love with the mysterious new diner's AMAZING burgers. One writer for CatCo decreed that the burgers were even better than a "Grade A" meal, and that Universe Foods deserved an A++++++++!
And various doctors around the city had to admit that the burgers were surprisingly healthy. Of course, they weren't perfect, but they were noted to increase muscle mass and strength and endurance in any of its eaters, which was quite the impressive claim for any fast food joint to make. The only difference was, Universe Food could actually, legitimately make that claim. Their food really did cause their customers to grow stronger, and many doctors attested to it.
"The meat is delicious! Whatever animal it comes from, it certainly packs a punch! It's flavorful and outrageously healthy for a burger!" one doctor had declared, while devouring a Universe Food meat pie. "Everyone should try it!" he added, though his voice was somewhat muffled by the pie, which he was still devouring hungrily. He was far from the only one who thought this way.
Countless other reviews, from every sort of person and posted on every sort of social platform, all said similar things about the new and mysterious burger joint:
"Universe Food has the best burgers in the world!"
"Favorite snack of all time!"
"So cheap and simple, yet so delicious and wonderful!"
"Best burger meat of all time!"
"Far better than McDonalds or BK!"
"I don't know what their secret recipe is, but it's no secret that Universe Food is the BEST!"
Over the next few months, Universe Food continued to grow in size, power and popularity, gaining notoriety and money faster than any restaurant before it ever had. But even though Universe Food was thriving, that could not totally offset the gloom that came with knowing that the Girl of Steel was still missing.
"I can't believe you got us Universe Food," Alex remarked one night as Winn stopped by with a bagful of burgers and meat pies. She was still grieving terribly over the loss of her little sister, but she was trying to put on a brave face for everyone else.
"What?! It's a new place and it's done so much for Supergirl's memory that I think it's only fair we give it a try," he replied with a sad smile.
"Big Belly Burger was better," James replied, but his voice was hollow, no humor at all in it.
"Just shut up and eat," Winn sighed as he tossed everyone their burger. J'onn, Eliza, Lena and Cat were also in attendance, though none of them were even speaking. As much as some of them hated to admit it, though, the burgers were pretty good.
"It is delicious," Alex admitted as she took another giant bite of her sandwich.
"It really is!" James agreed, sounding genuinely surprised at how much better Universe Food tasted compared to any other fast food joint or burger place he'd ever been to before. One would think that all low-down places like that would taste similar, but no, something about Universe Food was just too darn good to deny!
"Whatever animal it may be from, it's amazing!" Lena murmured as she dug into a meat pie.
"Agreed!" Winn was already on his second burger.
"Rip-off Big Belly Burger," Cat replied, but no one missed how hungrily she was devouring her own.
"Wonder what's in it?" Eliza mused sadly. She still sometimes felt too sick and sad to eat, but for the sake of her remaining daughter, she ate. If only Kara could've been here... She would've loved these burgers! In fact, she probably would've downed a dozen of them and still be hungry for more! A bittersweet tear rolled down Eliza's cheek as she thought about her younger daughter.
It made her feel good, though, to think that this burger joint was doing their best to try and help the country through one of its darkest hours. Perhaps that sounded silly to say out loud, a burger joint offering America hope and comfort, but it was true! The corporation donated a large portion of its profit to various charities across the country, especially charities that were for pro-alien organizations. It made Eliza feel a little bit better to watch a pro-alien company soar through the ranks, and it gave her hope that someday, the world would see peace once again...
"This burger meat is far superior to whatever pink paste is in McDonald's patties!" Cat suddenly decreed, startling Eliza from her sad reveries. Around her and Cat, the others laughed, but they were all in agreement with what she had said. It was the start of a new era for the fast food industry, and as Eliza secretly hoped as well, it would be the start of a new era for human-alien cooperation too. It was the least they deserved after all the tragedy they'd suffered through with the loss of Kara and Supergirl…
 Chapter 4: Merry Christmas? (Dec 25 2017 5pm)
There was still no sign of Supergirl or her reporter friend, Kara Danvers. There wasn't even the tiniest of hints to suggest where either of them had been before the time of their disappearance. As such, by the time Christmas rolled around in National City, it was a very cold day indeed. And it was the hardest Christmas Alex had ever been forced to endure. Even though Cat threw a private party in her fancy house just a few miles from the city, the only guests being those who had known Kara well, Alex still found it hard to see a Christmas without her precious baby sister there with her. Without Kara there, was it really a merry Christmas?
"Cheer up, Alex, it's Christmas!" Winn murmured to her as she and Eliza arrived at Cat's house. He, James, Lena, J'onn, Maggie (Alex's new girlfriend) and Lyra (Winn's new girlfriend) were the other attendees.
"I'll try," she muttered, not sounding very excited. She trudged sadly, slowly, into Cat's house. The first thing she was aware of was not the smell of a roast or a ham or even a turkey, but of-
"Burgers?" Alex let out a bark of laughter despite her grief.
"It's a Christmas charity," James explained to her. "Universe Food was doing some sort of Christmas thing where, for every burger bought, they donate some money and a batch of Christmas cookies to various pro-alien charities…" but Alex still couldn't stop a laugh at the humor of seeing a beautiful table covered in gorgeous decor surrounded by all sorts of Christmas treats only for the centerpiece to be a giant silver tray of burgers.
"They have a Christmas line," Cat frowned as Alex continued to snicker at the comical sight of fast food on a silver platter. Then she pointed to the tray of meat pies. Those looked a bit fancier and nicer, and as Alex would soon find out, they really were holiday themed, so to speak. While the burgers were just burger, like always, the meat pies came in more creative flavors, reminiscent of chicken, turkey, ham, roast and all the other things people normally ate on Christmas.
For almost an hour, the small family gathered around Cat's fancy mahogany table to eat, drink and be merry (or at least, as merry as possible). While they dined upon ever meaty delicacy Universe Food had to offer, they traded memories about Kara and tried to bring her good cheer into their hearts again so that this Christmas could still be a merry one after all.
"She was always such a stupid, foolish girl!" Cat shook her head as she ate a Double Meat Burger. "She had so much promise and potential, yet she never seemed to see it herself, always lowering herself to standards she was already so much higher than!"
"I never knew her that well, but I know that Winn was fond of her, and I myself hold her in great esteem. She seemed like a good and kind person," Lyra nodded as she munched absentmindedly on a turkey-flavored meat pie. "And Supergirl was, cliche though it may be to say it, my hero. I held so much respect and admiration for her. She was definitely a great loss for this country…"
"And Supergirl was so much like her cousin," James agreed as he moved onto his third burger. "I know Supergirl hated to be compared to him, but she had all the strength, courage, honor and heart that he did, I am honored to say that I was her friend. And I am just as honored to call Kara a friend as Supergirl."
"Same," a bittersweet smile spread across Winn's face as he played with his meat pie sadly. "Kara never failed to make me laugh. She was just the sweetest girl! And my favorite memory of Supergirl was when she saved me from myself, and from Myriad…" Winn paused as his bittersweet smile became even more bitter at this memory. It was only thanks to her strength that he'd been able to overcome Myriad's brainwashing. It was now his greatest regret that he had failed to save her, even though she had saved him...
"She was like a daughter to me," J'onn said next once Winn finished sharing his memory of Kara. "I was so proud to have known her and it will always be my greatest pride, getting to serve with her," he murmured as he slowly at his meat pie.
"And Kara was my daughter," Eliza agreed as she ate her own burger. "Not by blood, but she was just as much my child as Alex is…" she turned to her surviving daughter with a pained look and Alex began to cry, unable to share her own memory because of the grief it caused her. Maggie held Alex gently, kissing and caressing her before talking about how much Kara had meant to her as well.
"She was so welcoming of me, Kara was," Maggie said. "She was over the moon when she found out Alex and I were dating, and I have never received such a warm reception before in my life! I will never forget that… or her."
"Kara was my best friend," now it was Lena's turn. "I loved her more than anything, more than words can ever say. She trusted and welcomed me when no one else would. Her spirit and her faith are the things I will remember and miss most about her. I was so lucky to have met someone as kind and trusting as she… And Supergirl, herself, has saved me several times as well, thanks to Kara's faith in me, prompting Supergirl to feel the same. I would do anything to bring them back!"
And the group continued to speak on behalf of Kara's memory, continuing to eat their burgers and meat pies throughout the entire conversation.
Lyra chuckled as she sank her teeth into her Double Meat MeatPie. It was warm and fresh and flavorful and delicious. The gravy was like nectar and the meat was nice and chewy and salty and warm. The crust was fresh and crispy, the filling was rich, what more could she have possibly wanted?!
Cat, as she sank her teeth into the first of her Double Meat Burgers, said "Delicious!" Her burger, like Lyra's, was warm and fresh, bursting with goodness. The Sauce was like sweet and the meat was nice and juicy. The salty sweetness was a perfect combination!
Lena slurped up some of the gravy from her meat pie, looking content for the first time in months. The food sat richly in her stomach, warm, and she couldn't stop a smile as she reached for another meat pie.
"I should stop," she told herself, but she didn't. Instead, she indulged, and with Kara's face in her mind, she continued to chow down on the warm, salty, meaty goodness sitting on her plate before her. Kara would've devoured an entire plate in mere seconds, so tonight, in her honor and memory, Lena was going to let loose and do the same and eat as much as she wanted to, no regrets, just indulgence.
Winn, James and Maggie were experimenting with the sauces and gravy, slathering on the meaty goodness and trading flavors. It was enough to even make Alex and Eliza laugh as their friends invented "new" flavors, by mashing everything up together and calling it a meal.
"That's what we call a stir fry," J'onn teased them, but he stole some of the strange mash Winn, James and Maggie had made and seemed quite pleased with the taste. Alex stole a bit of it next, snatching it right out of Maggie's hand playfully.
"Hmmm," she murmured as she licked her fingers clean. "Not entirely terrible!" and for the first time in a long time, the guests of the table began to laugh. It was still freezing cold outside, but the temperature inside was starting to warm up once again. Maybe it really could be a Merry Christmas after all…
 Chapter 5: Contributions to Society (Dec 25 2017  8pm)
But while the rest of the world grieved, two men were more than happy with how things were going. These were the men behind the curtain.
“How are productions looking, Lenny?” Lex asked over a prison phone call.
“Excellent, sir!” Lenny replied. “Your cloning machine is working like a charm! I don’t think supplies are going to go down any time soon, unless we get exposed of course...”
“Excellent,” Lex replied, then a sickening smile spread across his face, which he buried in his sleeve so that none of the watching guards could see.
“Let me hear it, will you?” he asked.
“Sir?” Lenny faltered.
“I want to hear how production is going,” Lex replied.
“But sir, I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Lenny frowned a little. He knew that Lex was probably surrounded by at least 15 guards right then. 
“Do it anyway!” Lex replied, a dangerous edge creeping into his voice.
“Yes sir!” immediately, Lenny’s thoughts of defiance were wiped clean out of his mind. He had been standing outside when talking to Lex but, at Lex’s behest, he entered back into the factory.
All at once, Lex was met with a heavenly symphony to rival even the likes of Beethoven and Mozart. He could hear whirring, grinding machines. Metal on metal. The hiss and growl of fire and heat. He could hear an oven creaking open and shut constantly. He could hear the sound of flesh being cut and burned into raw meat. He could hear sizzling as the meat was cooked and turned into consumable food. He could hear clattering, clanking, whirring and churring. He could hear roaring and moaning. 
But his favorite sound of all was of the raw and desperate screams and sobs that raised even over the machinery and heat. Thousands of high-pitched screams of pain and pleas for mercy permeated the air and every single voice sounded exactly the same. Every single voice sounded exactly like hers, like Kara Danver’s.
Coming out of a small black box on one side of the factory was an endless stream of Kara clones, all naked and afraid, panicked as their first sight of this earth was nothing but death, despair, pain and mutilation. They were quickly held in place by claw arms as they were moved onto a conveyor belt made to burn them alive in the flames of an oven or chop them up into pieces or string them up by their ankles before shoving the charred and chopped up remains into packages sent to be shipped out across the world under the label of Universe Food. The screaming and crying were so loud, but Lex reveled in it. He liked hearing the Kara clones squeal and cry out and weep. He liked their panic.
“Ahhhh!” Lex sighed in pleasure as Lenny continued to hold the phone to the chaos. He could hear the Kara clones begging for help or mercy, begging for the pain to stop. He could hear them screaming and wailing in panic and confusion. They didn’t understand what was going on. But how could they? They were only, at most, 10 minutes old. And that was about how long any of them ever lasted before the beautiful machinery in Lex’s horrible scheme cut their lives and bodies short. Even after the phone had been yanked away from his ear, Lex continued to revel in the sound of his enemy’s dying gasps and wails. In an endless round, Kara would die over and over again for all eternity, her body being used as literal meat to strengthen and power humanity.
“Who said that aliens couldn’t make a contribution to society?” Lex asked himself with a small, satisfied smile as he opened up his own Universe Food burger. Ahhh! Made freshly from the best kind of meat: Kara Meat. It was his third burger of the day! Then once he finished his little meal, he curled up into his tiny bed. It was cold, especially since it was the middle of winter, but the triumph of having finally vanquished a super made Lex feel warm, and the burger sat richly in his stomach as he fell asleep, dreaming of all the profit his new company would continue to turn for years and years to come. It was the start of a new era for sure!
And Lex fell asleep with a smile on his face, happy not just with his triumph over Supergirl, but with his sick, sadistic little inside joke. Universe Food’s front of being a “human-run enterprise with a strong belief that aliens CAN make great contributions to society” seemed like a sweet thing to say, but he knew the truth. Lex knew better. And he was the only one in the entire universe who did. He was the only one who truly understood what “contributions to society” really meant in this case, and that fact filled his blackened heart with a sadistic glee even colder than the snow and ice outside his prison cell.
 Chapter 6: All You Can Eat (Date: March 2 2018) '1st Anniversary of Universe Foods and 1st Anniversary of Supergirl Disappearance'
It had been a year since Supergirl went missing and still not a trace of her could be found anywhere, whether on Earth or in space. To help cope, all of her grieving friends had watched videos of her nonstop, still searching desperately for her and turning to every pro-alien organization they could find for help. Given its social status as one of Supergirl’s most supportive businesses, Universe Food was on the list of pro-alien organizations.
“Never thought I’d live to see the day a burger joint was considered a pro-alien organization by the government!” J’onn mused as he skimmed through his list of organizations only to see Universe Food on it.
“Well, you can’t deny that they’ve been wildly helpful this past year,” James looked over J’onn’s shoulder at the list. 
“Yeah, now it sounds like they’re trying to hold an eating competition in honor of their first birthday,” Winn noted with a grin as he skimmed an article about it online. J’onn turned to him with a warning look.
“Oh, no, we are absolutely not-”
ooo
“I can’t believe I’m doing this…” J’onn, along with countless other people of National City, stood at the city’s heart where a long table literally overflowing with burgers awaited. It was the Universe Food All-You-Can-Eat Anniversary competition where people were entering in as pairs to see who could eat the most the fastest, a cash prize awarded to the winning duo. There rules were as follows:
Rule 1: Every couple must eat all their food. If one gives up, they both lose.
Rule 2: No Using Alien Powers such Superspeed.
Rule 3: Whoever eats more in 20 minutes wins. 
The food listing was as follows: 14 Double Meat Burgers, 10 Double Meat Meat Pies, 6 Original Meat Pies, and 10 Original Burgers. This was for the first round. The second round took it further, consisting of 6 Double Meat Burgers, 24 Double Meat Meat Pies, 12 Original Meat Pies, and 20 Original Burgers. Then the third and final round went all-out, consisting of 30 Double Meat Burgers, 20 Double Meat Meat Pies, 24 Original Meat Pies, and 30 Original Burgers.
Alex and Maggie were the first to lose, one human-alien pair lost second, an alien-alien pair lost third, Winn and Lyra lost fourth, and several other contestants (human and alien alike) ended up losing as well. The winners consisted of Lena Luthor and her L-Corp assistant, Jess. Somehow, against all odds and expectations, Lena somehow managed to eat the most, even though she had been the most reluctant to enter this trivial little game (behind J’onn). The reward was actually pretty nice, $1000, but as one who already owned a multi-billion dollar company, Lena was quick to give all the money away, giving some of her portion to Jess before donating all the rest. 
“God, I’m not going to be able to eat for weeks!” Lena moaned as she rubbed a very full stomach. Jess would’ve laughed, had she not been equally stuffed. In front of them, the crowd laughed and clapped, both awed and humored that their local Luthor was the one to win the competition. Lena shrugged goodnaturedly at them all, feeling just a bit better knowing that she’d won some of the crowd’s respect and admiration that day, even if it did come out of something as silly as an all-you-can-eat competition. 
So that was how Universe Food celebrated its first birthday, trying to overshadow the grief that came with realizing that Supergirl had, by this point, been missing upwards of one year with still no sign or trace to be found anywhere…
 Chapter 7: In the Days to Come (Date: March 2 2019-2021) 'Years 2-4 of Universe Foods and Years 2-4 of Supergirl Disappearance'
In the days to come, there was still no progress made in the hunt for Supergirl. Despite the lack of results, however, the people of National City were slowly starting to heal, coming to accept the fact that their mighty Girl of Steel was well and truly gone. It was hard for them to swallow and even harder for them to get over, but they were all making progress on the path to healing. Alex and Maggie had since traveled to Greece on a one-month holiday, James Olsen and Lucy Lane wound up getting back together during the search for Supergirl and Winn and Lyra were reaching their second anniversary as a couple.
But as well as everyone was coming along, evil was still very much awake and alive. Maybe nothing drastic had happened, but Lex and Lenny were far from inactive. Instead, their glorious machine continued to churn out burgers faster than any human could ever hope to consume. Lex even became bold enough to send an anonymous shipment of his food to Cadmus, addressed directly to “Mother”. When she received the package only to find it filled to the brim with assorted meat products, she thought for certain that Lex had gone crazy. The only other item that came in the package was a note that read: “Trust me, and enjoy the fruit (meat) of your son’s labor”.
It was a very suspicious thing to say, so Lillian was quick to feed some of the burger meat to some of her least favorite Cadmus members, but when nothing bad happened to them, she dared to taste some of the food herself. She was surprised at how delicious it was! She still had no clue what on Earth had prompted her son to randomly send her a package of burger meat, but she figured that he had his reasons and ways and that, one day, it would all become clear to her. Until then, however, she would continue to accept his gifts. She would be cruel to turn them down, and they really weren’t half bad! 
So on Lillian’s orders, Universe Food became the official Cadmus menu. The others were certain that if her son hadn’t gone bonkers, she had, but as strange as this command was, none of them were stupid enough to dare defy Lillian Luthor. Instead, if any of them found her command about them eating burger meat to be strange, they had the good sense to keep such sentiment to themselves. Instead, they only obediently ate their burgers, putting just as much blind faith in her as she was in her beloved little boy. She was certain that Lex had something in mind, she just didn’t know what it was… Yet… 
In the days to come, Universe Food continued a steady expansion, quickly rising to the top of every chart in the country.
“If there’s one thing humans did right, it was inventing the burger!” one Almeracian said as she and some of her buddies grabbed a few burgers for lunch.
“Definitely worth the trip!” a nearby Infernian agreed, having already been on a spaceship headed past Earth when she decided to take a pit stop on the blue planet just to see what it was like. It wasn’t the best place in the universe, but it wasn’t bad either. And the food, at least, was pretty good.
“Wonder if it’ll ever expand into outer space?” a Maaldorian mused, chowing down on her fifth meat pie. The others laughed in amusement, but they couldn’t help but wonder… They certainly wouldn’t mind it if Universe Food lived up to its name and expanded… But only time would tell if such a dream became reality.
“Until then, though?” the Almeracian gave a giant grin as she bit into her next burger. Mmmm! It was so warm and juicy and all the toppings were fresh and flavorful. One of her buddies was busily dousing her meal into every sauce that that particular location possessed. Soon, her burger was like a rainbow of colors, every flavor from salty to sweet to sour dancing on her taste buds as her, quite messily, ate her meal. The others at the table pretended to be repulsed by her table manners (or lack thereof) but they were just as lost in the deliciousness of their food as everyone else in the restaurant was. 
“Mmmm, nice and chewy!” the Infernian remarked happily. “It’s not too burnt and crispy. I can actually taste what I’m eating!” she added with a laugh. The food she’d been eating while stuck on her space trip had been less than stellar, so this burger was like paradise to her. It was nice and filling, rich and tender. It beat the ziploc stuff her crew had packed by a longshot! What wasn't to like!? 
“I’ll make a note to tell all my friends back home!” the Maaldorian nodded as she downed yet another meat pie. The gravy was so flavorful and meaty, and the crust was nice and crunchy, yet it still managed to be melt-in-your mouth. That is to say, it was crunchy, without sacrificing flavor. And it complimented all the filling of the pie marvelously! So much meaty tenderness was packed into every bite that he was already busily getting out his communication device to tell her family back on her home planet that if they ever chose to visit, she was going to take them out to a Universe Food location the second they touched down. Earth had a good many marvels for alien life to explore, but as far as this Maaldorian was concerned, its greatest achievement was its burgers and meat pies, especially the ones made by Universe Food! And many other people, human and alien alike, were in agreement.  
In the days to come, Lex finally made another communication with the outside world. This one was directed at his mother.
“I’m sure you are very anxious to know why I sent you all that burger meat,” he began, voice low and sultry. “Well, I think you have been patient enough, so allow me to direct you to Cadmus’ dissection lab…” while Lex gave instructions over the phone, Lillian was curious enough to follow them all to the letter, taking one of her Universe Food burgers into the lab with her before scanning it.
“Oh my god!” she breathed when the tests were finished.
“Marvelous, isn’t it, mother?” Lex sounded smug as he listened to her gasp once she was done testing, studying and dissecting the little patty. “Alien-meat burgers! And you can even absorb some of the host alien’s powers if you eat enough of them!” he added, a boyish excitement creeping into his voice as he said this. Lillian was beyond impressed and pleased with her son’s cunning work.
From that day forward, Lex rejoined Cadmus. Although he was still behind bars and, thusly, unable to physically be present within the anti-alien agency’s ranks, he and Lenny continued to work behind the scenes as well, recruiting Lillian into the evil scheme too. The rest of Cadmus still remained ignorant to the truth behind what they were eating all the time, but Lillian knew the secret, and she was beyond delighted and amazed. Harnessing aliens for their powers to benefit mankind?! It was brilliant! Pure genius! Just like her son! And she was beyond thrilled and proud to help him out with his evil endeavors. 
It was a very strange way for mother and son to bond, but neither of them cared about that, far too satisfied with life right now to care. As far as Lex was concerned, he had gained another ally and asset in his mother. He had not gained a friend or confidante, but another beautiful cog in his nightmarish machinery. And with this newest cog, the machine would turn even faster and harder than ever before. They were entering a new era in the food industry, and they had just taken it all a step further thanks to the newfound alliance between Lex and Lillian.
 Chapter 8: Abduction (Date: March 2 2022) '5st Anniversary of Universe Foods and 5st Anniversary of Supergirl Disappearance'
Draaga was heading home when he witnessed the abduction of three of his alien friends. They were taken by several shady and masked figures. He didn’t know it, but they were members of Cadmus. Draaga was quick to try and come to their aid, running over to help, but that was when another shady figure lunged out of the darkness at him and was quick to strike him over the head as hard as possible. He was knocked out immediately and while he collapsed onto the street, even more shady figures arrived… 
Hours later, Draaga and the other three aliens woke up in glass chambers. They were all stripped bare. When they woke up, they woke up violently, panicking immediately and thrashing around in desperation. They tried to scream out to one another but the glass was so thick that they couldn’t communicate. They all continued to try and break the glass, kicking and clawing and punching at it, but it still did nothing. They couldn’t even scratch the glass. Instead, as their eyes flashed with panic and outrage and confusion, nothing else changed.
After a time, then, Lenny Thorul arrived. He, with a sick and sadistic smile, explained what was about to befall them, and it was not a pretty rundown, not at all. While they continued to tremble in their containment chambers, he paced back and forth in front of them, gloating over his triumph. He explained to them that they were all about to supply the meat for four new burgers that Universe Food was hoping to put out soon.
It was then that the doomed quartet realized where they were. It was in an old and empty warehouse, which used to also be a slaughterhouse. It had been remade into something halfway between a new slaughterhouse and a science lab. 
“For cloning,” Lenny explained gleefully as he jerked a thumb over to the sciency part of the giant warehouse. Several large boxes, machines, waited there. The cloning machines. To keep the supply of meat running even after the original alien was finally all used up… And a conveyor belt ran out of the cloning machine, leading to the slaughterhouse portion of the building… 
One of the glass containers began to move forward towards and through the cloning machine. Once there, metal arms were quick to shoot out and grab hold of the alien inside. She began to panic, screaming and crying as she thrashed uselessly against the chains that held her in place. She was forced through the cloning machine and once it had her DNA, it went to work. Meanwhile, she was continually pushed along to her final destination. She reached the whirring, screaming machinery, scarlet-stained blades spinning like mad. The others looked away, but all too soon, they had joined her, leaving behind an endless trail of clones to follow in their footsteps, one right after another, into the cruel jaws of death.
ooo
“Well, that’s the best news I’ve heard all day,” Winn smiled dryly as he set his newspaper down.
“What?” James asked, looking over his shoulder, curious to see what had caught Winn’s eyes.
“Universe Food is making new burgers for its fifth anniversary,” Winn replied, tossing James the paper.
“Hmmm,” James skimmed the names of the burgers. “Kind of cliché, don’t you think?” he asked. Winn pretended to get offended.
“How dare you insult my favorite burger joint?!” he cried, putting a hand over his heart.
“I thought Big Belly-” James began playfully.
“Has been owned by UF for about three and a half years now, so it counts,” Winn finished. James only laughed in response. Back in Universe Food’s earlier days, when it was still a rival of Big Belly, there had been many heated discussions between Winn and anyone who would listen about which was better. Now that the two had become one, though, the need for arguments was over. James still liked to tease the poor technician about it though. As far as he was concerned, though Big Belly was owned by Universe Food, they were still different chains. Call it old habit or brand loyalty, James still liked to joke with Winn as if they were still separate.
“Did you want to go out for a burger later tonight?” James asked after a moment.
“Do you have to ask?” Winn smiled back and James raised a hand for a high-five.
“You’re gonna have to nix that burger plan,” Alex suddenly walked through the door, expression cold.
“What’s wrong?” James’ face instantly changed into a look of concern.
“Four more aliens have just gone missing,” Alex replied darkly, then she quickly led the two back in the direction she had come from, to one of the larger rooms in the DEO. There, upon the monitor, were four faces.
“Two Almeracians, a Maaldorian and Draaga” Winn read off with a pained expression.
“Yep,” Alex looked disgusted, eyes burning with a quiet but hateful rage. James and Winn both looked at her sympathetically. They knew that she was still bitterly mourning the loss of her younger sister, Kara Danvers. Even though it had been five whole years since the young Kryptonian went missing, Alex was still holding out the hope that Kara was still alive. She just needed to be found. And now, they had four aliens more to keep an eye out for as well.
 Chapter 9: Elseworlds (2022)
Universe Food catches the public’s eyes, ears, hearts... and stomachs.
Universe Food acquires Big Belly Burger and becomes an international chain.
Universe Food hits a billion sales!
Universe Food becomes an INTERGALACTIC chain.
Universe Food hits a trillion sales!!!
Universe Food opens new locations on various local planets.
Universe Food opens its 10,000th location on Earth!
Universe Food turns five years old!!!
Universe Food has four new types of burger: Fire Burger, the US BBQ Teen Burger, the Double Meat, and the Bacon Bomber.
Universe Food Review: God, that’s good!!!
Lex skimmed through old headlines about Universe Food, having secretly kept every single clip and article that he could. He smiled in satisfaction at them all, a very clear pattern of growth rising up between each headline throughout the last five years. It did his heart well to know how swiftly and smoothly Universe Food was rising. He liked to look back on the early headlines when it was still only a local joint, now it was stretching into the vast reaches of space and earning trillions and trillions in profit! 
As soon as he could, Lex made a personal visit to his slaughterhouse, wishing to see how everything was going personally. It wasn’t too hard to bribe the guard into letting him go for a day.
“How much trouble do you think I will be able to cause in less than 24 hours?” he had asked before filtering a couple million from his pocket to the guard’s.
“Not much,” the guard replied, willingly turning a blind eye on the Luthor as he left his cell. It didn’t take him long to reach his slaughterhouse after that.
“How are we doing in here, Lenny?” Lex shouted over the screaming of the machinery and the aliens in the background.
“We’re doing wonderfully, sir!” Lenny shouted back before gesturing for himself and Lex to step into his private office. It was a small room he’d built off the side of the factory and it was completely soundproof. That way, he and Lex could speak to one another without losing their hearing or their voices. Wonderful as it was to watch the aliens squirm and scream like slaughterhouse pigs all the way to their untimely, graphic, agonizing demise, it was very hard to carry out a conversation in such an environment.
“As I’m sure you already know,” Lenny began excitedly. “We’ve opened far more restaurants than other big companies like McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, and Subway combined and we’ve got a giant group of hungry customers flocking in from all over the galaxy. Every alien race imaginable wants our burgers!”
“Good, good,” Lex allowed his eyes to drift shut slowly in pleasure. It made his wicked heart twist with pleasure to think how rich and famous he was becoming off of the suffering of his enemies. His one regret was that he was unable to reveal himself as the genius mastermind behind the whole plan. Since he was still serving 30-some life sentences, however, he’d been forced to allow Lenny to be the face of the company.
“How are plans for further expansion going?” Lex asked a few moments later, opening his eyes again.
“Further expansion?” Lenny echoed. “But, sir, we’ve already dominated the galaxy!”
“I don’t just want this universe, Universe 38, Lenny,” Lex replied, frowning. “I want all of them.”
“All of them, sir?” sensing that Lex was about to snap, Lenny made himself as small as possible.
“Yes, Lenny, all of them,” Lex bit out every word. “I want every single universe to know my name! I want to reach parallel universes and crossover worlds. I want every single alien in any known universe to bow down before me! Got it?!” he growled, and Lenny nodded at once, shaking.
“Good,” Lex backed down a little, then he looked past Lenny out the window of the office and back towards the heart of the factory.
For a moment, there was only silence as Lex peered out the window, watching limbs being violently ripped off of still-living aliens before everything was tossed into a giant oven. He watched as struggling, squirming bodies cried out in misery and agony. He watched them try to escape, thrashing and attacking their chains. It wouldn’t work, though. Lex had been doing this for five years. He had it down to a science now. He only gave one soft laugh of amusement as he watched one of the many Supergirl clones being held immobile by several giant metal arms hanging from the ceiling. While she screamed her lungs out, the claws placed her on a conveyor belt and held her down as the belt moved slowly forward, pushing her closer and closer to the incinerator. She was finally fully inside the machine and the metal doors clanked shut as she and thousands of other clones were slowly cooked alive, flesh burning and bubbling off to reveal the warm meat beneath.
But Supergirl wasn’t the only one being cloned over and over again. The four new missing aliens, along with a vast host of other species and breeds, were being cloned as well. The entire left half of the warehouse, which was now far larger thanks to all the expansions done, was nothing but cloning machines. After a few seconds, another fully-formed clone would pop out, and then the giant metal arms would grab hold of them and place them on the conveyor belt where they would walk the same path their billions and billions of predecessors had. To the far right of the slaughterhouse was a giant packaging station where all the fresh cuts of meats were quickly stored and sent out, to be shipped all over the world and the universe. It was a very swift, efficient process that picked up quite the pretty penny.
But once Lex grew tired of watching his beautiful creation, he turned back to Lenny.
“I will be back in one month,” he said. “When I return, I should have a way for you to reach these Elseworlds, and I expect you to utilize my technology in full. Do you understand?” he asked, and Lenny had the good sense to nod rapidly.
Just as promised, one month later, Lex returned to Lenny with plans and tech to help him reach all of these parallel universes and alternate dimensions. Lenny was quick to pitch the idea to the rest of the company, expressing his desire to expand their chain into the Elseworlds as well as their own. After he introduced his company to all of the other known Earths across all the other known universes, it didn’t take long for the Universe Food joints to become just as popular in the Elseworlds as it was in Universe 38, where it all started.
Soon, there was a Universe Food on nearly every block in National City, Metropolis, Gotham, and every other major city in the USA and there were now officially hundreds spanning all of their counterparts. Earth 1 quickly became a breeding ground for the chain and acclaimed superheroes like the Flash and Green Arrow could easily be caught devouring the meat pies of the famous industry, all of the rest of their team eating right along with them.
“The Anniversary Burger is easily my favorite,” Barry grinned as he ate his fifth in a row. Cisco and Caitlin were also on their fifth burgers and no one was showing any signs of slowing down. Iris was so busy chowing down on a meat pie that she didn’t even respond verbally, choosing instead to just keep on eating.
“It’s got nothing on the Fire Burger!” Oliver replied, and for good measure, he doused his in hot sauce, earning horrified looks from everyone else, especially Felicity. But Sara actually dared to copy Oliver and douse hot sauce on her own spicy burger. It burned her tongue like nothing else, but it tasted so good! 
But even though the two could not agree upon which burger was better, they and all their friends only had one thing to say: “God, that’s good!”
Back in Gotham, Batman had taken quite a liking to the US BBQ Burger, a fact that Alfred and Robin liked to tease him on.
“I never pegged you for a fast-food person, Master Wayne,” Alfred noted as Batman finished his fourth burger.
“Yeah, if you aren’t careful, you won’t even fit into the Bat Cave anymore!” Robin agreed cheekily. Although Batman was nowhere near fat, he had gained a few pounds from all the Universe Food menu items.
“If you aren’t careful, nor will you,” Batman replied with a growl and his Robin had the good grace to look a bit embarrassed. Batman continued to indulge himself, secretly trying to reason that as much as he was eating, at least it wasn’t as much as Batwoman, who was far more into Universe Food than just about anyone else in Gotham City. And all across the rest of the known universe(s), other aliens were buying up the burgers as fast as possible.
“That’s more like it!” Lex muttered when Lenny gave him the news.
“We’re well on our way to becoming the first decillionaires in the universe!” he cried enthusiastically.
“I don’t care about the money,” Lex replied with a scoff. He had been born from money and had spent his whole life reveling in it. A billion dollars was nothing to him now. Especially not while he was in prison for life without parole or bail. Sure, the cash was nice, and it did keep everything in fine working order, but this stopped being about business about four years ago.
After he dared to acquire Big Belly and spread his influence to the stars, it became about pleasure and pride. He didn’t care if his company started giving out burgers and meat pies for free! What mattered to him now was seeing his legacy fill the heavens and stretch across the cosmos. And what he enjoyed most of all was reveling in the knowledge that, every few seconds or so, another one of his enemies was burned or crushed to death. He had the infinite pleasure of knowing that he got to kill Supergirl over and over and over again, and nothing made him feel more alive!!!
But while Lex sat alone in his cell, laughing manically to himself, and while Lenny continued to run the machinery of the slaughterhouse, everyone else across all the known universes continued to eat. And eat. And eat. And eat. And eat. And say, “God, that’s good!” all the while. 
 Chapter 10: Marriages, Mourning and Meat Pies (May 2022)
If there was any sort of good news to be had during these dark times, there finally came a time when Winn and Lyra got married. They chose to get married in Shanghai and, as a joke, some of the food at the wedding included Universe Food menu items.
“How romantic,” Alex gave the newlyweds a dry smile as they united under the altar. Lena, who was sitting beside her, said nothing, but the bitter smile on her own face spoke volumes. It was clear that, aside from Alex and Eliza, she was taking Kara’s disappearance the hardest. She still had yet to realize that Kara and Supergirl were one in the same, but even though she was unaware about that truth, it was still clear that she missed the younger Danvers terribly. At least Alex had Maggie and James had Lucy and Superman had Lois Lane. Who did Lena have now that Kara was gone? So the wedding felt especially bittersweet to her.
By now, however, she had managed to regain some of her own composure such that L-Corp was no longer on the brink of bankruptcy due to Lena’s fervor. In the early days of the hunt for Kara and Supergirl, Lena had nearly spent all of L-Corps time and resources in a vain attempt to find the missing duo. Now, though, some of the shock and initial grief had finally faded and Lena was able to get her mind back into a better place. L-Corp was running smoothly again.
What’s more, Lena had also entered a partnership with Universe Food, both of them sending each other money and resources whenever the other needed it, At the moment, it was thanks to Lena that everyone in the wedding reception had nearly 100 different burgers and meat pies to feast on. She'd been the one to place the order and she'd received a nice discount on the meal. 
Lena did find it funny, she never thought that there would ever be a day in which her company partnered up with a burger joint, of all things, but sometimes the best of friendships came from the most unlikely of places. This was one of those times, and the mysterious CEO of Universe Food had been all too eager to partner up with the younger sister of the infamous Lex Luthor. She would never understand what truly drove “Mr. Thorul” to be so adamant about a partnership with L-Corp, but seeing all the good that he was doing (for humans and aliens alike) she’d finally agreed, and it seemed that their partnership had been a good decision on her part, strange as that sounded. 
“As long as we keep getting discounts on Double Meat Burgers and Bacon Bombers, I say that L-Corp should stay in!” Winn joked as he and his new bride dined on a few of the burgers before moving onto their gorgeous wedding cake. It was just as delicious as it was beautiful and the only thing prettier was the happy couple of newlyweds. For once, there was finally something worth smiling about. It was a day of marriage, mourning and meat pies and, for the first time in a long time, the Superfriends felt uplifted.
 Chapter 11: Getting a Clue (Date: March 1 2023-July 4 2023)
About a year after Draaga and friends disappeared, Alex finally thought she had found a connection between their disappearance and the disappearance of Kara five years prior to that. Even though the gap between the two incidences was five years, Alex was certain of her theory, and it became a hope of hers that if they could perhaps find even just one of the missing aliens, the others would follow soon after.
“I know it sounds crazy,” she admitted to her friends as they all sat around her apartment, listening to her talk while casually munching on more Universe Food menu items. “But I’ve noticed that in both cases of the disappearances, they happened late at night under similar circumstances: swift and sudden ambushes by figures in black suits. They aren’t quite Cadmus uniforms, so perhaps it’s another organization, but I’ve finally been able to crack the shoddy recording we got from the gas station where Kara’s phone was found and that’s what the footage dictated: a group of people powerful enough to subdue even a Kryptonian Supergirl.”
“They must have Kryptonite, then!” Lena muttered, setting down her burger as her eyes narrowed in focus. “Lex must be behind it, because as far as I know, he’s the only one with any access to Kryptonite! And besides, if you think about it, why would Kara have been at that lonely old gas station at all? There’s a fair chance that her kidnapping may have occurred somewhere else with the footage of her at the gas station being entirely fabricated. That’s a very Lex-ish thing to do…” 
And as Lena said this, all eyes were opened a little bit wider. What if Kara’s true kidnapping had occurred somewhere else entirely with the gas station only being a ruse? What if Kara’s true kidnapping had been staged by Lex Luthor himself? It was certainly something he would do.
“But now that leaves the question of how we’re supposed to prove this,” J’onn reminded everyone solemnly. “Regardless of Lex’s guilt in this matter, we need a way to incriminate him. We need definitive proof, or else the rest of the world will brush it off as us being paranoid. Lex is locked up on Stryker Island, after all.”
“Well, maybe I can go try to talk to Lex while everyone else here stays behind and does another sweep of our victims and their final nights before their disappearances,” Lena continued to plan thoughtfully, burger still untouched as something new came along to distract. Alex was quick to catch onto what Lena was saying.
“Maybe we should try to speak with the family and friends of the missing aliens again to see if anything in family history would point to why they, in specific, were kidnapped,” she said slowly, bouncing off of the younger Luthor’s ideas. “If nothing comes from that, we’ll at least be able to get a better look into our victims’ histories and figure out how they might’ve been spotted, if we do assume that the kidnappings were done through random choice. With any luck, we’ll find clues to see where the connection point is, because there HAS to be one somewhere, even if we don’t yet know where or what it might be… Then we can start researching the culprits," Alex nodded as she spoke, giving a determined look to everyone else in attendance.
"There's a problem with that, though," J'onn interrupted, "We would need to look to space and Earth both in order to get a full picture of our missing people and we have neither the time nor the resources to do so. With Supergirl gone, we’ve all needed to work extra hard to keep this city safe and I don’t know how many people we can spare to go to space right now. And even if we did have unlimited time and money, who's to say that whoever is doing the kidnapping won't catch onto us and try to hunt us down as well?"
"I can handle that," Cat finally added her own two cents into the conversation. She had been quietly eating a meat pie, but now that the conversation was finally starting to steer into waters that she knew she could tread, she was quick to voice her own plans and opinions.
"As the CEO of a large reporting company, I can easily get word out across this planet and maybe I can even use my connections to Universe Food to reach into the heavens as well," she suggested. "I can send an ad out in the paper to draw in the family of the missing aliens, It wouldn't be too hard for someone like myself to get the publication spread across the country, As for outer space, while that would be tougher, I think it is doable. And I have never been one to back down from a challenge," she added fiercely, She was just as invested in saving Kara as the others were.
"And if Cat can't handle outer space, I can help with that," Lena agreed, referring to her own close ties with the food company. Although L-Corp was no media empire, it was no stranger to media either, and Lena was sure that she had enough resources to help Cat reach the stars, if that help was required. The two CEOs exchanged guarded but respectful smiles as they shook on it.
"Good!" Alex sounded relieved. Her own burger remained untouched, first due to nerves and then due to excitement. "Then once we're able to get in touch with the families and conduct interviews, maybe we can find out what happened, That's when we come in," she gestured to herself, James, Winn, J'onn and Maggie.
"Well, if we know where the kidnapping took place, I can get on that right now," Maggie offered, Even though her jurisdiction only fell within National City's borders, she still knew how to run an investigation. Besides, as an unofficial member of the DEO, she knew that she could easily obtain a fake license that would give her power anywhere she went.
"I can do the same, I can assist Ms. Sawyer in an early investigation on the crime scenes," J'onn agreed. “Then when it is time, I can head to the stars to look for our backstories and maybe for some more info on the group responsible for these heinous acts.”
"Excellent!" Alex repeated, looking hopeful for the first time in years, "Then it looks like it's settled!" she and James and Winn were going to stay back in National City and continue to look for Kara while Cat, Lena, J'onn and Maggie would look for the other missing aliens, both across the globe and across the stars.
"I think we're finally getting somewhere!" she said next with a genuine smile, and the other people in attendance smiled back, playfully raising up their Universe Food burgers in a toast, They would find their missing friends, they were certain of it! But burgers first.
"Yes, burgers always first!" Alex joked with a bittersweet smile, quoting Kara as she finally bit into her food. Then the room fell silent as everyone continued to dine on Double Meat Burgers and Bacon Bombers, hearts finally as satisfied as their stomachs.
 Chapter 12: Scouting Out the Enemy (Date: US Thanksgiving 2023)
When Thanksgiving 2023 rolled around, Universe Food invited the Superfriends to a new hotel they were opening. It was all the way over in Tokyo, but Universe Food was paying for the travel expenses.
“Should we go?” Alex asked, sounding like she would’ve preferred to stay behind and continue to look for the missing aliens, and it was Lena who answered.
“You remember I’m in very close partnership with Universe Food, it would be rude of any of us to deny their request,” she said as she studied the invitation. She understood Alex’s reluctance, but she was firm in her decision. Lena wanted to continue her positive relationship with the powerful fast food chain and that wouldn’t happen if any one of the invited guests decided to get cold feet now. Alex and the others began to see Lena’s point and, at last, the large group of friends found themselves headed over to Japan.
“Wow!” even though Alex had been the most reluctant, what she saw took her breath away. It was even grander than the greatest five-star hotel on Earth. It was 100 stories tall with 50 rooms per floor and the ground floor had some of the largest and fanciest dining areas anyone had ever seen. As one might’ve expected, though, the only meal options came off the Universe Food menu. 
“Wait a second! Look!” J’onn was the first one to point it out. Some of the patrons were anti-alien people. None of them were with Cadmus, but J’onn already recognized them, both from past encounters and because they were on a master list of names he kept at the DEO. 
“Why would they be eating here?” Lena narrowed her eyes. “Universe Food is very open about its pro-alien politics. Why would anti-alien groups be staying HERE?” Alex, James, Winn, Eliza, Cat, Maggie and all the rest of the Superfriends were quick to grow suspicious and they tried to make their stay at this fancy new hotel as short as possible. It was a grand and luxurious place, but neither J’onn nor Lena felt safe around the anti-alien crew. None of them did, but J’onn and Lena were the most overtly on edge. All of them were quick to leave once the grand opening was over, having spent the rest of their time subtly scouting out the enemy and trying to understand why there were so many anti-alien faces at a pro-alien hotel such as this… 
But while the Superfriends were swift to go back home, one patron was more than pleased with how everything was running. Lex Luthor. He was unable to be at the hotel in person, but he had watched the Superfriends visit through some of the secret cameras Lenny set up for him.
“Good,” he growled as he watched them depart. None of them suspected. Perhaps they were wary now, but he had heard Lena herself verbally and personally confirm that she and the others were still close friends with Universe Food. And not only that, but he had been able to see them all up close and personal in order to better study them. That had been the entire reason Lex created this hotel at all: to spy on the Superfriends. Lex created the hotel for the sole purpose of scouting out the enemy, luring them in just to see them up close.
And he’d chosen Japan just because it was so far away that no one would ever suspect it as belonging to him. It was all a very elaborate setup, but for the man who had everything (monetarily speaking) it was easy to accomplish. He’d also sent in some Cadmus agents just to see if the Superfriends would recognize them. Of course, he’d put them in different uniforms, but it seemed as if at least a few of the Superfriends were still able to recognize their enemies. That told Lex a lot about how informed the Superfriends were, but as aware as they were, he could rest assured and revel in the knowledge that they still had yet to know the dark secret behind Universe Food… That was the greatest triumph of all in Lex’s opinion! Besides, it really was nice to have such a large and fancy hotel now at his command. It had been a very fruitful day in Lex’s mind. 
But once that meetup was over, Lex allowed Lenny to end the live feed while he returned to the prison’s cafeteria where all of his fellow inmates were chowing down on burger after burger after burger, all from Universe Food of course! Just like he had promised, Lex had managed to create a system where, at least once a week, the local Universe Food would send a few hundred burgers over to Stryker Island for the prisoners. Nothing filled the evil Luthor with more sadistic pleasure than watching his fellow degenerates feasting upon the flesh of their enemies. Lex himself sat at the head of the room like a king, feasting amongst his subjects, all of them hungrily devouring their enemies and crushing them between their teeth, literally.
As Lex ate, he heard the others talk amongst themselves about how tasty the burgers were. It evoked a sick and twisted laugh from the deranged Luthor and he was all too happy to bite into his own sandwich, smiling as the flavors ran warmly down his throat. Victory had never tasted so sweet!!
Co-Author Myself and Co-Author lrhaboggle, Rest of this Fanfiction To Be Continued (With Chapters 13-Chapter 25 and 3 Endings) all Posted before September 1, You can find lrhaboggle on Fanficiton Wattpad ArchiveofOurOwn
Category:Fanfiction
Category:Superheroes
Category:Horror