The cold bite of the Kryptonite collar pressed against my throat is unrelenting, its sickly green glow the only light in this sterile, metallic chamber. My arms ache from the weight of the chains suspending me, and every breath feels like fire in my lungs. Lena stands before me, her smile clinical, devoid of remorse, as if I’m not Kara Zor-El, but just another subject in her twisted pursuit of science.

“I told you, Supergirl,” she murmurs, circling me like a predator, “even gods can be dissected.”

I try to summon the strength to fight, to pull free, but the Kryptonite saps every ounce of power I have, leaving me weak, trembling, and utterly human. The humiliation stings almost as much as the pain—me, the girl who was supposed to be invincible, reduced to nothing more than an experiment on a slab.

I meet her gaze with what’s left of my defiance. “You won’t break me, Lena.”

She laughs softly, adjusting the restraints with practiced precision. “Oh, Kara, I’m not here to break you. I’m here to see what makes you tick...and maybe, just maybe, learn how to stop the next one of your kind from showing up.”

The room hums with the cold, clinical sound of machinery starting up, and I brace myself for what’s to come. Whatever she has planned, I know one thing for sure: she isn’t stopping until she’s torn every secret from me. And I’m not sure how much longer I can hold out.