Do you have the location of the Totem yet?
No... we don't.
Something's off.
What could have gone wrong?
Hey, Joey! I'm just checking in.
Hi, Kelly! I'm taking my friend to see our new place.
Orlando says I'm gonna have my own room and everything.
Oh, I'm so happy for you...
- [explosion] - [Joey screams]
Joey?
[theme music playing]
[people clamoring]
Ma'am, let me help you...
It's okay.
Call 911.
[boy] Help...
Joey!
Can you sit up?
Ayesha... my friend...
Okay. Okay, you're okay.
Help is on the way.
- Orlando... - [Orlando] Joey!
How did this happen?
I... I don't know. But someone called 911.
- They'll be here soon. - To the Heights?
By the time they get here, people won't make it.
I can't breathe.
I'll take him.
You guys come on.
Okay, I've got you.
Come on. We're gonna go this way.
You're gonna go sit over there, okay?
Hi. Excuse me. Hi. This child can't breathe.
[man on PA] Code blue. Room 305.
Everyone near the collapsed building inhaled a lot of dust.
They're all experiencing these same symptoms.
Okay, so we need oxygen tanks, respirators...
We don't have enough.
It's worst case first. We have a 60-year-old grandmother on a respirator,
a 40-year-old father who's unresponsive,
and ten more cases just as bad.
So unless you can get me 100 respirators and a dozen nurses,
he's just going to have to wait.
Doctor, we've got another one from the implosion.
The Ormfell building.
We have another opportunity with Orquoia.
Let's schedule a City Council vote...
Why did you bring me here?
- Well, this was the closest hospital... - No, you have to take...
Councilwoman Rankin, are you okay?
Yes, I'm... I will be fine. Thank you so much for your concern.
The hospital's overwhelmed.
They've run out of beds, and they really need more equipment and more aid.
Don't think I would take any bed from anyone here.
I'm gonna make some calls. Let's go and open up a bed
for one of the good people of this community.
Thank you so much for bringing my attention to it.
She said she'd help... and she just left.
[Orlando] Of course she did.
Aren't you friends with Supergirl?
She got the council listening to me about the Ormfell building.
- Maybe she can help here. - Yeah.
[cell phone chimes]
Hey, babe, it's not really a good time. Can I call you back?
Joey was at the Ormfell building when it came down.
- What... Is he okay? - I... I don't know. It's bad.
The hospital is overwhelmed,
they have run out of respirators and oxygen tanks. I...
Can you guys come?
Look, I... I totally get it.
And as soon as we get a break, we'll head to the Heights.
We're dealing with something huge here.
I have some med school friends that work at other hospitals.
I'll see if they can send some respirators over.
Uh, that would be amazing.
Uh, I have to go. I'm so sorry, but you are amazing. You can do anything.
- I love you. - I...
[line disconnects]
[doctor] You inhaled a great amount of particulate matter.
You just have to rest.
Resting is not an option. I need to get back to work.
I heard about that... What was it? RP-90.
That new drug for respiratory issues, you can give that to me.
RP-90 is still very much in trials and extremely expensive.
Oh... [exhales] Come here.
You tell your chief of medicine that if he wants those healthcare grants
approved by City Council, then I get the medicine.
[sighs, coughs]
Excuse me. Can someone...
Hey. Hi.
Um, that child cannot breathe, we need some help.
I'm sorry. We're doing the best we can.
[woman on TV] That was the scene downtown as Supergirl saved the city
from one ferocious feline yesterday.
Since then, it's the only news people have been talking about...
[beep]
Hey, James...
Um...
I am at a hospital in the Heights.
There was an explosion.
People are gonna die...
And it's like no one cares.
It's like their lives don't matter.
Um...
I just... I needed to vent to someone that I knew would get it.
I'm okay. I'm okay. I just, um...
I don't know how you did it.
Because I'm already so tired.
[sobs]
I am exhausted.
I feel like I can't get anyone to see the real problem.
It's like they're just focused on themselves.
[groans]
I feel so powerless.
Everyone here is so powerless.
These are someone's child, mothers, brothers...
And I'm scared it's only gonna get worse.
And I don't know what else to do.
Focus your mind, focus your energy.
Speak what you want into existence.
Ignis...
Oh!
Florence, I am so sorry.
I... I could've hurt you.
It's fine. We'll try again.
[cell phone chimes]
Hold on.
I've got to go. My friends are in serious danger.
I gotta get home.
Lena, take this book. Don't deny who you are.
I X-rayed the entire city.
There's no sign of her or Mitch's ship.
When we put that anti-magic cuff on Nyxly,
it made it impossible for us to track her.
Maybe it's not Nyxly we should be looking for.
Mxy is still full of 5th Dimensional energies.
The crystal is dampening his energy signature,
but perhaps we can modulate the Tower sensors
to isolate his specific wavelength.
There might be more information
on 5th Dimensional energy at the DEO's Desert Facility
to help me build a tracker.
Well, we'll need Alex's retina scan to get in.
- I'll give you a ride. - Okay.
Is everything okay?
Yeah. I was just gonna go home and check on Kelly,
but, uh...
- I'm sure she's got it covered. - All right.
[woman on TV] Traffic is still backed up for miles,
due to a building collapse in the Heights...
Andrea, traffic! Your network is focusing on the traffic?
Kelly, our viewers care about traffic.
A lot of people are suffering because of that Ormfell collapse in the Heights.
If you covered what they were going through,
it would bring needed attention and assistance.
I know my demographic and the Heights is just not newsworthy.
- I'm sorry, Kelly. - [beep]
[knock on door]
- Kelly Olsen, right? - And you're John Diggle from Star City.
Well, I'm in Metropolis these days, but yes. James sent me.
I didn't realize you and Jimmy were in touch.
Yeah, well, we talk from time to time.
We both have worked with some pretty spectacular people,
have, uh, similar struggles.
He called and told me what was happening here.
He also thought there was a better chance you would listen to me than him.
[chuckles] Oh!
I listen to him. Sometimes.
Well, look, I... I'm... I'm glad you're here.
The situation in the Heights is a mess.
Honestly, he sounded more worried about you,
about how you're taking it all.
I'm fine. I've overcome a lot in my life.
I just... I want to make sure the people in the Heights get the help they need.
And I'm not sure that there's a military solution here.
I see. I heard you served, too.
- I did. - You know that life.
Sometimes on the battlefield, you do what you have to to survive.
You just keep going.
Push yourself so hard that you miss the warning signs
that maybe something deeper is going on.
I'm not questioning your strength,
but I do want you to know I'm here for you.
Looking at those people at the hospital last night,
knowing how badly they're struggling...
And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't help them.
So you feel alone in this?
Alex sent respirators to the hospital, but the rest of the team...
Well, they have supervillains to deal with.
Oliver Queen was really good at seeing the big picture,
but sometimes, because of that, he would overlook things.
When I wanted to show him something he missed,
sometimes he would require proof.
- Wish it didn't always require proof. - I know. Tell me about it.
But right now, Kelly, what do you know?
I know something is making the people in the Heights sick,
and I know it's something more than just that Ormfell building coming down.
Okay. Best place to start is at the source. Let's go.
People were just about to move in.
Have new lives, new homes.
How is anyone ever gonna recover?
They'll find a way.
- We always do. - Mmm.
What is that?
[door creaks]
And just like that, it's gone.
Now we have a second chance.
No building, no commitment to affordable housing.
[inhales deeply] Oh!
That treatment I got has me feeling amazing and hungry.
I would kill for a sandwich right now.
I did that?
I... I thought about it and then it appeared.
I could transform this entire neighborhood.
[Brainy] I need real 5th Dimensional elements to lock onto Mxy.
Tell me you found some.
No, but we did find something else that might help.
Baltorian scanners.
They're portable and able to trace
even minute amounts of 5th Dimensional energy.
[Brainy] Interesting.
Sprock, it's already found a source of 5th Dimensional energy.
[trilling]
- Is that the Ormfell? - The one Nyxly blew up?
You don't think she'd return to the scene of the crime, do you?
[Brainy] Be careful, Supergirl.
Nyxly re-powered herself once before, she could do it again.
I'm not letting her get away this time.
Kelly? Dig? What are you guys doing here?
We came back here to see if we could identify
what was making the people in the Heights sick.
A.R.G.U.S. stands at the ready, but this is pretty otherworldly.
More your deal than mine.
Nyxly, an imp, bent on world domination built a device
that we thought would freeze half of National City.
And I blew it up. At least that's what I thought I was doing.
Instead Supergirl powered up the device
that infused Nyxly with 5th Dimensional energy.
That same energy also infused into the building itself.
And when Nyxly destroyed it...
It spread the dust and debris throughout the neighborhood.
[Alex] Hey, you okay?
I'm glad you're here.
The contaminated debris is radiating small amounts of 5th Dimensional energy.
It's what's making people here sick.
Our scanners will help us locate the debris.
All together, they should make for a powerful energy source.
And that will give us what we need to find Nyxly?
- [Brainy] I believe so. - But will it help the people
here in the Heights?
Removing the contaminated debris
should lead to the people recovering almost immediately.
[Alex] Great. Everybody wins.
Things have changed with the Ormfell building gone.
Now we can have five new tech companies in there, instead of just one.
We have a real opportunity, Councilwoman.
We need a new vote.
The people in your district seemed to really need housing.
The people in my district don't know what's really good for them.
Wouldn't you like to have your whole re-election campaign funded?
[councilwoman] Sure, who wouldn't?
Don't worry about it.
That's just the beginning if you vote with me.
- [monitor beeping rapidly] - [panting]
- Hey. - Hey.
Pressure and debris from the Ormfell building coming down
- caused damage all over the community. - It's awful.
Neighborhoods like this get less resources and support,
so it takes them longer to recover.
Many times, it's just people in the community
desperately trying to help themselves. They need help.
Well, Nyxly will pay for what she did. I'll make sure of it.
And once we get Mxy back, he'll be able to fix everything.
He can just snap his fingers and put everything back to the way it was.
But the way it was, wasn't...
Oh, looks like it found some more contaminated debris.
Once it's gone, we will get things back to normal. I promise.
[cell phone rings]
Hey, Orlando, how's Joey? What?
- I'll be there soon. - Hey, babe.
Hey, I feel like we haven't really talked in days.
Yeah, I know. It's been so intense trying to find Nyxly.
My friend called and said that the respirators
made it to Chisholm Memorial Hospital.
Yes, thank you. But I think it's more complicated than that.
Orlando just called and Joey should be getting better. And he's not.
I'm worried we're missing something.
- [Supergirl] Alex. - Yeah, go.
We got the last of the debris to calibrate our sensors.
We need to get back to the Tower ASAP.
All right, I'll be right there.
Supergirl said that we've got all the debris.
That should help everyone here.
Dreamer, we have to get to the Tower.
Here. Take mine. Maybe we did miss something.
Thank you.
- [Kelly] Hey. - [Orlando] I, um...
I keep telling the doctors he's getting worse,
but no one's listening.
- They keep saying he should be fine. - I feel really bad.
I know. We're going to figure this out, Joey.
I promise.
[device trilling]
Have the nurse check him again. As long as he's sick, keep pushing.
Okay.
I'll be back, okay?
[device beeping]
[Kelly] How's Rankin so much better?
Who's that?
She's the councilwoman that represents the neighborhood.
Although, she's more focused on gentrifying it
than helping her constituents.
She was near the building when it imploded
and was here sick the other night.
She looks fine now.
[device trilling]
She's reading high levels of 5th Dimensional energy.
We need to get her back to the Tower.
- She must be connected to all of this. - Who's connected?
- [Orlando] Rankin, again. - Orlando, don't!
[John] You may need to suit up.
Yes, the disaster two nights ago was horrible for all of us.
But as you can see, I'm back working for this community.
I'm hearing that there are still people in the hospital
injured from the explosion.
All I can say is I feel great.
I'm back on my feet,
and I'm here to show everyone
that they shouldn't let their own weakness hold them back.
So you just got better, huh? Just like that?
I'm not taking questions from the public right now.
I watched you leave the hospital.
You get some fancy treatment and get better?
What about my brother?
What about all the people in that hospital?
I want to help the people of this community.
I want to help you pull yourselves up by your own bootstraps.
It's not us who are the problem,
it's you and the whole system that supports you.
The same system that puts us down while it tells us to pull ourselves up.
People deserve better.
- [grunting] - Get me out of here.
Let's go.
Take care of them.
[Kelly] I'll get Rankin, you stay here!
[grunting]
There is something wrong with you.
There's nothing wrong with me. Everything is finally right.
- You have to stop! - I won't be stopped by you.
You're not strong enough.
With all of this, we'll be able to find Mxy.
Good.
- [Kelly] Where were all of you? - Kelly? What happened?
Rankin is the problem. She's a source of the 5th Dimensional energy,
and I don't know how or why.
There was a fight at the hospital and I couldn't stop her.
Kelly managed to grab some of Rankin's hair.
- Kelly... - I needed your help.
I told you the people in the Heights needed your help
and you didn't see them.
- You don't see me. - Kelly, I see...
We're gonna stop the person who did this.
I know! I know that you're all trying to stop Nyxly.
I know. But do you hear me?
Do you see what is happening?
People are gonna die.
And I feel like I am yelling into a void.
We're supposed to fight for everyone, together.
And yet, I am looking at people suffer, people that look like me
and everyone here is just too busy.
Where is the outrage that people are gonna die without help?
Without hope?
Maybe you could spare a second for them.
I'll, uh... I'll go after her.
- I'll go with you. - Wait.
Let's just give her a second.
Until she's ready.
[grunting]
Sorry about that.
I don't know what just happened.
No need to apologize.
[grunts]
You wanna talk about what's really going on?
I am not one to be hopeless.
I just don't know how to express what I'm feeling.
And I'm a psychologist.
I just want to make a difference.
But I am one person fighting a system
that has been against those that need it for centuries.
And we have been fighting for centuries.
Fighting through exhaustion, fighting through being tired,
fighting to get things right, but now is not the time
to walk away from this fight.
Use your exhaustion to fuel your fire.
I've carried racial trauma like breath.
So I know what you're carrying.
I had an opportunity to become a special kind of hero.
But it would've meant me leaving Lyla, my kids,
and everything I love behind.
So I had to ask myself...
what kind of a hero do I really want to be?
So the question is...
what are you gonna do with what you're feeling right now?
I want to be an advocate for the people who have lost hope.
For the people who have been failed by those meant to protect them.
For the people who don't have heroes that look like them.
Protecting those that are exhausted,
so they don't have to fight every single day for themselves.
Good.
Let that guide you.
- I'm sorry, I... - It's okay.
Kelly, I'm so sorry.
I have, um...
I have pushed down so much trauma that the Heights has brought up.
I have pushed it down and smiled,
and stayed friendly,
and stayed positive,
even when it didn't feel right.
Even when people's lives were being discarded.
You push it down and you keep going.
And over time, that gets...
exhausting.
You may not get it, but I need you to understand that it exists.
It's important.
People need hope.
And there's a whole group of people with none.
No hope in hospitals, no hope in police,
and no hope in superheroes.
I was just so desperately trying to catch Nyxly,
because I knew she would cause more damage.
Yes, in the future.
But while you all have the luxury of focusing on tomorrow,
they are barely surviving today.
I don't know how I missed this.
I really do care.
Like, when Agent Liberty was targeting aliens,
I marched amongst the aliens.
But you are an alien.
You were activated in a fight that was close to you.
I mean, just like I was in the Heights.
Sometimes you are gonna miss things
because they are different than your lived experience.
It doesn't necessarily make you a bad person,
but we really need to hear each other.
What can I do to help?
Acknowledge that even you have blind spots.
Hear me when I say that they need help
and support me in restoring some justice.
- I am gonna fight this fight. - You should.
And you never should've had to do this alone.
None of this is okay.
And I just feel so guilty.
I appreciate that.
But guilt is an inactive emotion.
It's about what you do next.
It's about how you change going forward.
I thought I was listening, J'onn.
You know, our lives and our experiences,
Kelly and I, we have so much in common. I just...
You will most likely never understand what she's going through.
I came to this planet as a Martian.
And in my heart, I've always been more Martian than anything.
But...
I have chosen to wear the face of a Black man for a very long time now.
I could've changed races,
could've changed into someone else entirely.
But if I'm honest...
wearing this skin has made me feel most like an alien on this planet.
Feeling like I don't belong.
Never quite getting comfortable with the idea that this...
really is my home.
But I also realize that Kelly and James
don't have the option to make that choice.
I know you, and I know your heart.
And I know how much you and Kelly love each other.
She does, too.
When she's ready to open up, you'll be there for her.
And she'll be glad that you are.
I analyzed Rankin's DNA, thanks to the sample Kelly got,
and I think I figured out what's happening.
It appears she was given some kind of gene therapy
that interacted with the 5th Dimensional energy
and turned her into a kind of energy siphon,
pulling the very life-force out of the people in the Heights
to make herself stronger.
But I was in the Heights, too. Why isn't it affecting me?
It only affected the people who were initially in the blast zone.
So how do we stop her?
The power-dampening tech we used on Nyxly can create our own energy siphon
that will pull the 5th Dimensional energy from Rankin
and the debris and return it to the people.
It won't heal all their wounds, but it will give them their energy back.
This process will consume
all the 5th Dimensional energy in the debris.
We won't be able to use it to track Mxy.
The people in the Heights are the priority right now.
And we'll make sure to lure Rankin out of the Heights
when we take her down.
Agreed. But not too far.
We need to stay close to the affected people
in order to properly redirect the energy back to where it belongs.
With just a slight modification for Rankin's specific energy signature,
our scanners will lead us right to her.
It's okay.
If it means getting them healthy...
let's go get her.
Okay. All right, I'll let the team know.
- Do you need a ride to the Heights? - I got to take care of something first.
[Kelly] Brainy.
I need your help with that.
The helmet needs some work.
The sight-lines aren't great, and more importantly,
I have some other visibility ideas.
I have been waiting for this moment a very long time.
[trilling]
Wow.
I've been working on yours for quite a while.
I have a few 31st century ideas I think you'll like.
Brainy, I have a question.
- Fire away. - In the 31st century...
are we any better?
Have we figured out any of this?
Ended discrimination, racism?
Please tell me we do.
I want to tell you it's all in the past
and that we have evolved past it all.
Even in the 31st century, we haven't.
It is better in so many ways,
but there are generational scars.
And honestly, a lot of work still to be done.
- You know what you have here... - [tapping]
...in this time, that we never had?
What?
You. As the Guardian.
There is still time to make a big difference.
I believe in you, Kelly Olsen.
I always have.
[sighs] Now...
tell me.
What do you think about something flashy?
Yeah.
[typing]
You don't know what you're doing.
I know exactly what I'm doing.
You're not gonna hurt this city anymore.
With this power, I can transform this city,
sweep away the useless and the weak and make it perfect.
And no one will stop me.
I'm going to destroy this whole city and rebuild it from the ground up.
Take the energy siphon.
You need a clean line of sight
between Rankin and the people she's drained
- in order to restore their energy. - I got it.
Protect the neighborhood! Fan out!
Come on.
Orlando Davis?
Orlando. I'm here because of Kelly Olsen.
- You're... - Guardian.
I know how to give everyone their energy back.
But I need your help.
I'm not leaving my brother.
All you heroes end up being the same.
You say you care, but you're just gonna go and leave us with a mess to clean up.
- Why should I trust you? - You shouldn't.
Trust should be earned.
And when you've been wronged, nothing in you tells you to trust again.
I'm just asking for a chance.
A start to prove I'm different.
What do you need?
[grunting]
Look. Up there.
[groaning]
This power doesn't belong to you.
- [indistinct chatter] - [Orlando laughs]
[applause]
I spoke with the doctors.
They think it'll take time for people to recover, but they will.
And remember, always eat your vegetables.
- What? It's true. - Thank you.
I'll always be here for you all.
Also, the cops got Rankin.
I guess justice is being served.
Sounds like the Heights is gonna need a new council member.
Nah, I'm out. I'm an ex-con.
I don't even have a place to live, and I gotta take care of Joey.
That's exactly why they need you.
You've fought harder than anyone I've met for what's right here.
I'll think about it.
[metal clangs]
I'm Guardian!
Congratulations, Guardian. That was a helluva debut.
James would be so proud to see you like this, working with the community.
It reminds me of something Jefferson Pierce once said.
"Don't be a hero to the people.
Be a hero for the people."
"For the people."
- Good luck. - Thank you.
[sighs gently]
I was wrong.
I'm sorry.
I thought I understood something that is so much larger than I grasped.
While there are more injustices than I can count,
this is the time to double down against them.
And if we're gonna work to fight oppression,
we've got to do it together.
And I am so grateful that this is just the beginning of this conversation.
And I want to do better.
- I will do better. - You fight supervillains.
And the city needs that.
It also needs someone who will be there for the people.
That's my fight.
- But I can't do it alone. - Neither can I.
And I'm lucky to have you.
Mmm-hmm.
And Guardian.
[chuckles]
- Headed back to Metropolis already? - I am.
Worlds await.
It told you where to find the Courage Totem?
Finally. Now we have some planning to do.
["If I Have A Son" playing]
If I ever go
I'll teach you to be strong
'Cause even when you're right
They'll tell you that you're wrong
And if you want something
You work twice as hard
'Cause that's the only way we get far
Far
Your skin, it glitters like gold
There's love inside of your soul
But no matter what you say No matter what you do
This world will never be As friendly to you
I wanna keep you close I wanna keep you safe
I hope I see the day Where I don't have to pray
Every time you go
That's all I wanted
All 'cause his skin look like mine
I hope the world makes a change
So when you get here, it's not the same
Same
[door closes]
[Alex] I, uh...
I... I may not, uh...
understand, and, uh...
you know, I understand that I won't fully ever...
I just...
I just want to be...
an ally to you in every way.
I, uh...
I feel like a valve has been released...
and I have no control over my emotions.
Which is something I have always prided myself on.
All I keep saying is that I'm tired...
of fighting for something that we should all be innately fighting for.
[voice breaks] I am so tired.
Yeah, and... [hesitates] I can't process it all right now.
Well, how do I support you?
Because I love you.
And it kills me to see you in pain.
Just...
let me be.
And don't push me to unpack it all right now
so it can be communicated for you.
Hold the space and love me...
without having to understand all of me
and all of my experiences.
And for now, just...
[voice breaks] Hold me.
["If I Have A Son" continues playing]
Your skin, it glitters like gold
There's love inside your soul
I wanna keep you close I wanna keep you safe
I hope I see the day Where I don't have to pray
Every time you go
[theme music playing]