Power Struggle
Power Struggle is a superhero crossover short story written by Jim North. It is the fourth entry in the Action Stories line of the Lawndale's Finest shared universe.
Synopsis
Jane Lane (aka Supergirl) has faced some nasty enemies in her time, but now she has to deal with Val Willis, a reporter from Metropolis with only one thing on her mind: the complete and utter destruction of Supergirl . . .
Summary
Warning: The following may contain plot or ending details.
Editorial journalist Valerie Willis takes a trip from Metropolis to Gotham City, intent on interviewing Supergirl, who has been the subject of several scathing article by her. She confronts the hero just after Supergirl manages to fight off the Eradicator once again. Val asks several pointed questions, obviously meant to set Supergirl off her stride, and in the process inadvertently hits too close to home with a question that reminds the Girl of Steel of how she wasn't there to save her best friend Quinn when she needed it most.
Supergirl loses her temper at Val in front of a crew of other reporters, then - mortified at what she has done - excuses herself to attend to another crisis in progress. Intent on continuing the interview, Val follows Supergirl to the scene of a siege and crosses the police line into a live minefield. Supergirl tries to warn her back, but she steps on a high-tech electroshock booby trap and disappears in a burst of electricity.
Angered at this loss of life and her inability to have prevented it, Supergirl storms the building in the middle of the minefield and almost effortlessly defeats everyone within. The press confront her about Val's death outside and, having no answers for them, she runs home to be comforted by her brother, Trent. After checking with the police the next day and being absolved by them of any responsibility for Val's death, Supergirl decides to hang up the cape for a while and just be Jane before anyone else dies or gets hurt because of her.
A few days later, Jane goes in to the Lawndale Lowdown to see if any photos need to be taken, but editor Jodie tells her that even if there were, they couldn't do anything with them because of all the electrical problems that have been plaguing Lawndale for the past while. Then, just as Jodie's computer seems to start working properly again, Val appears on the screen, wildly transformed to have pure white skin and electric blue hair that perpetually stands up on her scalp.
Val proclaims herself to be Livewire and demands that everyone in Lawndale hand their valuable over to her if they want to continue getting power to their homes and workplaces. To prove her control, she changes all the stop lights to green, causing crashes and traffic jams all across the suburb.
Jane changes to Supergirl and quickly heads out to help people. While doing that, she finds that Livewire has control over virtually all telecommunications devices as well as other electrical systems in Lawndale. She begins a search to find the supervillain, but Livewire finds her first, bursting from a set of televisions in a flash of lightning.
Livewire explains that she isn't really interested in the money and other valuables - though she admits it's a definite perk - but that despite her transformation, she still plans on following through with her original intentions of bringing down Supergirl. Supergirl tries to talk her out of it, but is attacked for her efforts.
The fight is destructive but short as Livewire realizes that it had taken more energy out of her than she'd thought to keep Lawndale under her control, so she retreats to the Lawndale Hydroelectric Dam to absorb the electricity generated there. Supergirl deduces this move and interrupts her, starting their fight anew.
Becoming more and more incensed at Supergirl's refusal to give up, Livewire pours all of her energy into a full frontal assault, blasting the hero with a single concentrated beam of electricity. Supergirl powers through it, unwilling to turn back or to the side, until she manages to reach Livewire and enclose her in a bear hug. Her power completely spent, Livewire gives one last show of defiance before both women collapse to the ground, unconscious, to be found by the police moments later.
Livewire ends up placed in a high security cell far away from any unshielded electrical sources, and Jane decides that being Supergirl isn't so bad after all, and becomes even more determined to keep working at being a superhero no matter how low things seem to get.
External Links
- Power Struggle on FanFiction.net
- Power Struggle on the PPMB
