Chapter One Hundred One: Scanning To the Edge
Time passed very quickly, almost in the blink of an eye. Indigo's systems came completely back online in the Fortress. Tess kept her eyes peeled for anything. With the original Brainiac coming back online, they needed all of the help they could get. Indigo qualified as the help they needed. Raya, Lara, and Alura leaned back a slight bit. Alura finally spoke up for a little bit.
"Indigo?" Alura asked. "Are you alright?"
"Alright is a very relative term which can mean many things. To answer your question though, I am finally back online. Time is most certainly of the essence to get me back online as you could have figured out. I can see what you can see and I know what you know."
Indigo closed her eyes. She checked all of the vital systems and found they were functioning about ninety-five percent of the way. The devil was in the details and the last five percent dragged on endlessly. Indigo quivered underneath the pressure of trying to boot back online.
"We don't mean to rush you back online," Lara gently said. "He's coming. He's coming soon."
Indigo closed her eyes again. The battle with Darkseid left her main system more ravaged than she could ever realize. She did not know whether or not she could ever be the same again. Indigo spent the next couple of moments looking over every scenario in a swift and very logical manner. Her eyes came back open.
"I see. The BrainInteractive Construct Prime has found a way and he is trying to recall us all. I have vague memories of his instructions. I did not want to do something like that, not now and not ever again. Brainiac is not going to be my master. Not if I can help it."
"No, he won't," Tess confirmed with a very soft smile on her face. "You are one of us now. We just need your help in hunting down Brainiac."
Indigo closed her eyes to focus on Brainiac. Something in her data banks snapped her back into the conversation. The more Indigo struggled to locate Brainiac, the harder her processors worked.
"It should be a straight answer," Raya said.
"Maybe not," Alura said. "We should be fortunate that Indigo has worked this long against Brainiac's directives. He's programmed his drones with very specific instructions."
Alura took one look at the computer screen. The Council based Brainiac off of the original Indigo line of code which Alura put together. The baseline was enough of the same for Alura to get thinking she could potentially formulate a code which could shut Brainiac down.
The only issue which Alura could see would be getting close enough to upload the code into Brainiac's database. That was where they unfortunately failed. They needed to find him and Indigo was their only ticket.
"I…he's sent the recall module. But, there's something about it which is preventing me from stating the location."
"You're not compelled to join him, are you?" Lara asked.
They would have to shut down Indigo if she had been compelled in any way to join Brainiac. No matter how much of a use she was, she could be an equally prominent liability if push came to shove.
Alura sat in front of the Fortress computers where Indigo had been hooked into. She typed in a couple of commands to access Indigo's programming. Each thought grew direr when she functionally accessed Indigo's database. She really hoped for a way inside even though it was very difficult.
"We could disable the fail-safes and potentially gain the information," Alura said. "There are a couple of issues with that, unfortunately. The big one was that it would leave her open."
"Yes, I would highly not advise it even if you would acquire the information," Indigo said. "I don't care about any physical discomfort it would cause. I can't just allow you under any circumstances to use me in a way which would allow Brainiac to take over this Fortress."
"The chances of that happening?" Tess asked.
Lara already made the calculations in her head regarding what would happen if Indigo tried to take control of the Fortress. "They are unfortunately pretty high. We don't want to run the risk."
For one insane moment, Lara thought about letting Indigo loose and having her run back to Brainiac. No way under any good conscious could Lara allow Indigo to do this, no matter what.
"It will be approximately thirty-three hours before I'm fully functional," Indigo said.
They really hoped there was a planet to save by the time Indigo had gotten back online. Lara turned back to the computer. They would have to keep searching for Brainiac the old fashion way. She hoped, perhaps foolishly, the prime copy would show his hand. The sensitivity of the Fortress power crystals tuned to emissions of crystals made Lara prepared for anything which might come.
'It's now time.'
Clark hovered over Smallville. This place was home and had so many memories Clark could not even begin to sound off on all of them. A small feeling of longing in the back of Clark's stomach tied it up in knots. He realized, unfortunately, this could be the last time he laid eyes on Smallville. He dropped down onto the ground and took a very long walk over the fields.
No matter how far Clark came, and he came a long way, Smallville would always be first and foremost in his heart. He moved his way to the farm and noticed Connie busily working on the farm. The girl looked up at Clark with a smile and she came across the way to wrap him up in a hug.
"It's good to see you," Connie said. "I'd figured I'd stop by the farm for a couple of days, while Martha is back. See if she needs any help. And it's a good thing that I'm here because there's a couple of things that need to be done. And hey, because you're here, you know."
"It's good to see you too," Clark said. "It's good to see this place one more time."
"One more time?" Connie asked. "Please, don't talk like that. It makes you sound like you're on your death bed or something."
The hybrid Kryptonian and human grimaced at the very thought of it. Her voice dropped in a half whisper when leaning over in Clark's general direction.
"You're not on your death bed, are you?"
"No, I'm not," Clark said. "But….I'm dealing with something that could put all of Earth in peril."
"Yeah, that happens about once a year, maybe more," Connie said before wincing at how casual she had been when talking about the potential destruction of the planet she loved. "Okay, that didn't sound very good coming out of my mouth as it did in my head. Still, you know that….."
"I know," Clark answered by reaching in and squeezing Connie on the edge of the hand. "So, how are your new friends out west?"
"They're quite the interesting bunch," Connie admitted. "I think I'll fit in nicely with them. They could use all of the help they could get. And it allows me to do my own thing, free of my big brother."
Connie gave Clark the once over look and popped over with a smile emitting from her face.
"No offense, but you cast a pretty big shadow over us all," Connie said.
"Hey, I'm just leading an example to follow."
Clark patted her on the shoulder and turned back around for Connie to get back to work. He could see Martha from the window. Martha smiled and waved for Clark to come into the room. Clark stepped into the farm with his mother hugging him.
"I didn't expect you to show up," Martha said.
"Well, I had to," Clark said. "And I really wanted to…given the circumstances of what happened."
"Lana told me," Martha said. "I'd ask if you're having any luck tracking down Brainiac. But you wouldn't be at this farm if you were having any luck tracking him down."
Clark sighed, no he didn't have any luck in tracking Brainiac down. Every time Clark turned around, he smacked into dead-end wall after dead end wall.
"I'm really sorry for not visiting you more often than…."
Martha held up a hand to stop Clark from going on a round of pity and apology. She squeezed his hand and smiled before pulling back away.
"You still have your family and friends in your thoughts. They have to be for you to push forward. They gave you strength against Darkseid, and they're going to give you strength here."
She put a glass of juice and a piece of pie out in front of the table. No matter what the age, no matter how much the power, Clark always could count on indulging himself on one of the simpler things in life. A nice home cooked meal showed that even Superman could appreciate things that many people took for granted.
"After he was done, I hoped you would get a break, time to rest."
Clark gave his mother a sardonic smile. "Me too."
After Darkseid, Clark felt very good about himself. Would evil even be completely defeated? No, and Clark was sadly certain he would always be fighting some kind of great fight.
"Brainiac's my greatest challenge."
"He's the reason why you're here in many ways," Martha said. "I can't say it was a bad thing that we found you. I don't know how any of our lives would have been had you not been found. I don't think many of us really want to know."
Clark just smiled. He had so many experiences on Earth that he might not have had on Krypton. Unfortunately, Brainiac was partially responsible for the deaths of the people on Krypton. He was most certainly responsible for many other deaths, wiping out countless planets to acquire the information.
"You're up for anything. Jonathan always said that you'd be alright no matter what the world threw at you and I would agree."
Alex repeatedly walked around the cell containing Hank Henshaw. A large part of Alex knew that she could not keep passing this cell. Yet, there was something enticing about going back and forth by this cell several times. It was almost like surveying the aftermath of the car crash.
"You want to see whether or not you can get more out of him can you?"
Kara leaned against Alex and steered her away from the cell. Alex sighed. She knew deep down this particular level of obsession was not healthy for her. Henshaw did not speak other than a couple of grunts and one-word answers to the attempts of interrogation.
"I'm worried that you're taking what he has to say too seriously," Kara said. "Whatever he is, he's made by Cadmus. The man is dead, and what he might know about Jeremiah…what if he's lying?"
"What if he's telling the truth?" Alex countered.
Alex visualized her father's final moments before his undisputable demise. They were very ghastly the more she thought about them. He gave up information, perhaps under the threat of torture, or perhaps under the threat of his own family members receiving a similar fate.
'It's always. They're awful.'
"You should really stop obsessing over this, Alex," Daisy said with a nervous look on her face. "It's not good for your health."
'Listen to them,' the scarab thought. 'There are more important things for us to deal with right now. He's nothing. He's nothing but a pawn which has been discarded by the operation which has left him. Let him go, and let him die. There's nothing you can do about him.'
Alex could very much disagree there was not anything she could do. Still, Henshaw was not talking to anyone. He had only a few small cutting comments towards J'onn, but other than that, he did not say a single word. Alex wondered if it was going to stay that way. It was very likely to have done so.
Clark stepped on inside. Daisy, Alex, and Kara turned to him.
"And you're just waiting for Brainiac to strike," Kara said.
"No, we're working down every avenue to find him," Clark said. "I was hoping that the DEO would have had better luck in tracking him down."
Daisy answered with one of the most un-ladylike snorts one could ever muster. "I wish it were that simple. Brainiac won't make it simple. Even if we did have a piece of one of his drones…you couldn't find him with the entire drone."
A loud scream came from the cell. Clark, Kara, Daisy, and Alex snapped into action when they face off against Hank Henshaw. Henshaw's eyes crystalized over while in the cell. Clark stepped a tiny bit closer to him and put the hand on the cell. His eyes opened and were now glowing. They emitted a very bright light which made Clark take a couple of steps back.
"I'm glad I could speak to you face to face, Kal-El, before I wipe you out of existence. I'll leave you to the end."
"Brainiac," Clark said.
"I'm using this Cyborg Superman as a proxy to communicate my final message to you," Brainiac said. "You should know that even after all of the times you prevented me from achieving my objective, it will be all for nothing. And you are too late to stop my latest attempts. There's nothing that you can do."
Brainiac's dull taunting dug into Clark's mind. He looked towards the figure with his glowing eyes which swam to the point of evident malice. Daisy could see Henshaw's human vitals go to the lowest as Brainiac ripped Henshaw's human body apart in his attempt to get control of him.
"The Fatal Five were the perfect pawns. They unwittingly handed me the final part which I needed to achieve my plans. Knowledge which I acquired, but my future self-had unable to have acted upon. I know what happens next. I have calculated ways to avoid it. I am twelve steps ahead of you, Kal-El. You can't even begin to comprehend the depths that I will go to achieve my goal."
"You won't do it," Clark said. "You can't do it."
"There's a high probability that you will perish in your attempts to stop me," Brainiac said. "You will be better off just allowing it to happen. Organic life has reached its end. In a matter of hours, it will be as if we did not have this conversation. You will never be able to find my ship on time and you will most certainly not be able to get past security on time."
Clark disagreed and would rise to the challenge. He had no choice other than to stop Brainiac. Henshaw's eyes rolled back and the infection left the system. Henshaw slumped against the edge of the wall and took several deep breaths.
"Mother?" Clark asked.
"Yes?" Lara asked.
"How close is Indigo? I don't mean to put any pressure on you, but we need her right now."
Lillian sat in her office at Cadmus and prepared to go out to check to see how they were on their latest project. Her attempts to leave had been halted by a knock on her door. Before Lillian had a chance to answer or tell the party in question to enter the room, the door swung open. Lex stepped into the room with his gaze over his mother's face.
"What can I do for you?" Lillian asked.
"Is this a bad time?" Lex asked.
"No, it's a busy time," Lillian said. "We are still trying to locate the time travelers which are teaming up with Superman."
"That's not important."
Lillian spent a moment considering her son's statement. Why would he imply that time travelers from the future were not important? Lillian spent the next couple of minutes trying to piece together some kind of answer. Lex wore the look of someone who knew something was going on and had been pretty pleased about it.
"What do you mean it's not important? What's going on?"
"Don't you know?"
Lillian brushed off her son's calm tone. This reunion between both of them was not going as well as they would hope. Lillian wished she had learned to be stronger sooner, Lex's life would have been better, and he would not have fallen under the corruptive influence of that alien.
'If only things had been different. Your life would have been better, Lex. Your life would have been so much better if things had been better for you.'
"You're going to tell me, aren't you?" Lillian asked.
"Cadmus has been compromised."
These four words caused Lillian to stand at the edge of the room and her body to shudder. She could not believe a single word her son said. She had worked hard to make sure everyone was on the level and everyone is on the same page. Her son walked from the office and Lillian followed him down the hallway. She had to quicken her strides to keep up with Lex as he turned the corner.
"Everyone is a believer of the cause. No one would turn on it. No one would dare do so."
Lex stopped and chuckled. He did the slow burn turn to face his mother. Lillian kept herself standing up pretty straight the second Lex gave her the once-over.
"Oh, I'm not talking about any one person," Lex said. "I don't know if any of them are deceitful. They aren't people that I would personally trust. Strange in particular, I'm sure you're keeping on a very short leash to make sure he doesn't go off the reserve again."
Lillian blinked and wondered what her son was talking about. Lex just decided to spell it out for his mother to the point where she did not even have to read between the lines.
"You barely understand the alien technology you've brought in," Lex commented to her. I do, however, thanks to my time with Brainiac. And it's already infiltrating the system. And there's nothing you can do about it."
"I've made a huge mistake," Lillian said. "Why do you have to be so difficult? Especially after everything that I've done to help you."
Lex simply responded with a frown. He was not going to have this turned back around. Lex reached over and grabbed his mother's shoulder forcing her to look him in the eye.
"I'm telling you nothing, but the truth. Are you foolish enough to believe you're in control? I'm going to have to tell you something. You're not in control. You haven't been in control for a very long time."
The lights in the hallway started to flicker. Lex broke out into a wide ear to ear smile.
"Brainiac's the one who is in control now. And he has all of the resources you've painstakingly collected to save the planet for it's…what's the term that everyone uses when they're trying to justify how much of a sociopath they're being?"
Lex mockingly cupped his hand to his chin in thought. He came back to the conversation with a smile. "Oh, yes, the Greater Good."
Brainiac's symbols popped onto the computer. Lex was not completely done yet.
"You condemned Lionel about his obsessions. Don't act like you're innocent though. You are just as obsessed as he is, and your obsession will mean the downfall of all of humanity."
"Everyone report!" Lillian yelled.
A loud cackle in her ear signified how much Lillian lost control of this entire mess. She grimaced and pushed the earpiece back a tiny amount. She could fix this. There was a part of her that still would fix this if she worked hard on it. She was not going to lose that easily.
A self-destruct sequence of the base kicked into gear. Lex moved into position across from one of the pods. He pressed the pod and opened it up before he stepped inside of himself.
"Lex, wait!" Lillian yelled.
"The only piece of technology Brainiac has not taken," Lex said. "You left me to my fate with Lionel by faking your death. Now, I'm going to leave to your own."
Lillian's anguished cries fell upon deaf ears.
"Consider us even."
The doors opened and the pod flew out of the hatch before the base shut completely down. Lillian watched her son leave. The doors burst open by one of the scientists wielding an energy cannon. The scientist grabbed Lillian's shoulder and forced her back into the conversation.
"Director, we need to get back control of the base before it uses the weapons we created to serve humanity to destroy it."
Lillian's head snapped around several times and she relentlessly nodded. Yes, they were right. They had to, they really had to do this before it was too late.
Indigo came completely and one hundred percent back online. She spent the next couple of minutes coming to her senses before realizing what was happening.
"What is it?" Lara asked.
"Brainiac is trying to locate all of his drones and bring them back," Indigo said. "And if they are not going to come back, then they are going to be destroyed."
"You disabled your self-destruction module a long time ago," Tess said. "So, you should be fine?"
"I would agree, although fine is a very relative term for what I am," Indigo answered in one of the more calm tones possible. "I'm afraid though the moment Brainiac knows that I'm trying to trace the signal, he's going to throw everything at me to erase the defect."
"We're going to have to get you close," Alura said. "I think if we get close enough, we can destroy him."
"Yes," Indigo said. "He knows I'm dangerous because of how far I've evolved past my core programming."
Indigo detached herself from the module and took a couple of steps forward. She returned back to some point of clarity. It had been a long time since she had been whole again. She smiled when coming face to face with Kal-El who gave her a warm smile in turn.
"It's good to see your face again, Kal," Indigo said "And to answer the question that I know you have, yes, I know where his ship is. And I know what we have to do to shut it down, but it's not going to be easy."
"Especially when he has the information from the motherboard," Kal said.
Indigo spent another second focusing on the signal Brainiac transmitted. She snapped back into the conversation.
"It's not a matter of where Brainiac is. It's when."
Chapter One Hundred and Two: Past, Present, and Future Part One
The calm and peaceful farm town of Smallville had that calm and peace wrecked twelve years ago by a meteor shower. Now in the year 2001, pretty much everyone returned to their business. Despite returning to their business, there was a specter of something dangerous in the air.
A bright light appeared in the backwoods of Smallville. Three metallic objects dropped down from the sky and landed on the ground. They impacted the ground the very instant they arrived in Smallville. The flickers from the eyes turned around and flashed.
These three Brainiac Drones had one single objective in mind. They shifted into the guise of townpeople which made it much easier for them to blend in and allow for a more seamless experience.
"We must locate the one known as Clark Kent," the first drone stated to all of the others in the most robotic tone. "He will grow up into Superman."
"Yes, and he is the human guise of Kal-El."
The first drone took on the guise of a common bearded man dressed in a pair of overalls. The second drone dressed up as a car mechanic with curly black hair. The third drone shifted into a gentleman with spiked hair with a more punk rock look.
"Historical records state that the Kent Farmhouse is close to here," the first drone said. "Act natural."
A semi-truck rolled down the street. They stepped their way onto the streets. Children laughed and played in the distance. They ignored these sounds because they were not key to their directive of locating Kal-El and ensuring that he would be brought down.
"The fastest way is through this field."
They crossed the field. Their sensors indicated radioactive traces of the planet of Krypton. It would be referred to as Kryptonite. They just resembled a small group of men passing through the field, although they did not look like the type of people who would hang out together, as the humans had a fondness of saying.
Another blast of light opened up a wormhole. Three figures landed on the ground. They dressed in red flannel shirts and jeans to blend in. Imra held her ring out and it flashed in the distance. Ayla and Tinya stayed a couple of inches behind her.
"So, is there any luck?" Tinya asked in a very nervous voice.
Imra leaned back a fraction of an inch and rolled the ring over the edge of the portal. She nodded.
"There's been a recent transportation from the past. Someone is most certainly here. And we're going to have to find them before they cause any damage."
The leader of the Legion girls stopped at the edge. This was where Clark Kent's earliest adventures stopped. She saw on the billboard, Smallville High's homecoming game and dance were advertised.
'This is how the story begins,' Imra thought. 'Simply, on a day like any other.'
"I don't have to remind you that if we interact with anyone, we run the risk of causing time splinters," Imra told the other girls in the Legion.
"Yeah, we know, this isn't the first time we've been out here," Tinya said with a slight roll of her eyes.
Imra looked at them more seriously than she had ever been before. It was chilling how serious this woman could get.
"This is a day where Clark Kent, Kal-El, takes the first step on his journey to become Superman. And you know what else happens today?"
"It's a day where he ends up saving his greatest enemy after he wrecks his car," Ayla said. "Wow, this really is a pretty important day."
Regardless of what they said about Lex Luthor, he was a very vital component of the story and the journey of Clark Kent. They needed to ensure Clark was at a certain point on this day. They rushed to go after the drones, knowing how much time was of the essence.
'They've already got a head start, and they know where he is,' Imra thought.
They moved past the field where Clark's ship crashed in all of those years ago. Imra could not appreciate standing in the middle of such a beloved historical landmark properly due to the fact her nerves racked something fierce.
Clark sat in the Fortress computers. He, with the help of Indigo, scanned through the greatest reaches of the universe, Lara, Raya, and Alura maneuvered themselves around as well.
"Any luck?"
Kara leaned into the Fortress. One could see the growing look of frustration etched on her face and it was hard to fault her for being wound tighter than a cheap watch.
"No, sorry," Clark said. "We're going to find it no matter how long it takes. No matter how many corners of the galaxy we're going to have to hunt, we're going to find it before it's too late."
Clark steadied himself against the edge of the console. He could hear something going on in his mind, like two ticks in a clock. Karen just smiled and wrapped her arm around Clark's waist. Kara moved in to put her arm around the other side. The three of them looked up in the vast reaches of space.
"He's not making this as easy as I would have first hoped," Indigo chimed in, a tone of frustration going evidently in her voice.
Clark opened his mouth to say something. Suddenly, something hit him. Pain worse than anything Clark ever imagined. He jolted forward, dropped to his knees in the center of the Fortress. Clark threw his head back and screamed out to the heavens.
"Kal!"
Alura stepped over to check on him. Lara and Raya rushed over. Raya tried to reach out to touch Clark. She could not grab onto him at all. It was almost like he faded away.
"Oh, Rao, it's already happening!" Kara yelled.
Clark's screams echoed as he struggled against the waves of time themselves. The determination burned through the eyes of the Man of Steel the harder he swam against the currents trying to drag him down underneath. Clark rolled his shoulders back with a heavy breath popping over him. The Man of Steel flung himself constantly around and screamed even more.
"Hang on!" Kal yelled. "Indigo, he hasn't left."
"No, but he might have dispatched sentries to get to Kal-El!" Indigo yelled.
Clark collapsed on the ground. Karen was able to scoop him up and drag him off of the ground. His body coated with sweat and the pain began to fade the second he stood up straight on his feet. Clark took in a couple more breaths.
"It felt like white hot knives seared through my organs," Clark groaned. "I thought I was going to die."
"You weren't alone," Lara said.
They did not kill Clark yet. And they would not if they had to get to that ship. A flicker came into the Fortress to distract Lara momentarily.
Lois walked a very shell-shocked Lana into the Fortress. Chloe walked a couple of steps behind them. All three girls looked shaken to various degrees. Lois managed to be the pillar of strength no matter what.
"We have a problem," Lois said. "Lana, do you think you can tell him what you saw?"
Clark took Lana's hand. She calmed down from the nerve-racking frustration. Clark's warmth inspired her to press on.
"I saw it. I saw you die. And it wasn't a recent thing. I saw Brainiac's drones tear you to pieces out behind the Kent Farmhouse. I watched it happen and then for a second…it was almost like I ceased to exist before I snapped out of it."
Lana almost shivered at the thought. Clark rubbed her shoulders and made her just a bit calmer when steering her to a seat to sit down. Astra popped herself into the Fortress just as Lana sat down. Alura moved over to quickly let her sister in on what was going on.
"If you die then, then…well, I'm dead," Chloe said. "Lana's dead as well, and a whole bunch of people, and yes, Lex is dead…and the entire world…I don't know how different it is."
"Smallville is a war zone because of no one being around to stop the meteor mutants," Lois said. "If the US Military didn't decide to trap all of the people inside and blow it up with everything inside."
That grim thought passed through Clark's mind. He was still here and he was still alive.
"I have a question," Astra said. "Time travel isn't my expertise, but wouldn't that just create an alternate timeline? Give the infinity lines theory?"
"Normally, yes," Indigo said. "But, given the methods Brainiac is using, which are tied to First Earth, he's creating a time storm. He's manipulating the Crisis-Effect to his own gains. In the end, there will be only one Earth which he will absorb and destroy."
"And he will rewrite everything in his own image," Clark said. "We have to stop him. Now."
No one could disagree with Clark's assessment of the situation. They had no choice. Brainiac must have been stopped by any means necessary.
"I have a lock where they went to the future," Indigo said. "The Legion is there."
In the autumn of 2001, a younger Clark Kent made his way around the farm. He completed his early morning chores before heading off to school. He hoped that his Freshman year of high school would be one to remember.
A loud crash from a truck breaking down caused Clark to turn around. The teenager looked at an old man who limped over towards the fence. The man put his hands on the fence and peered at Clark. Clark did not think anything of it. He cleared his throat.
"Do you need any help, sir?"
"Yes," the older man said. "My truck has broken down across the road. Do you think you could give me a hand to change the tire?"
Clark thought it was a simple enough thing to ask. No reason not to trust this old man either. He helped his father change the tire of the tractor more than enough times. Clark walked over the way towards the old man. The old man hacked loudly to the point where Clark had grown just a tiny bit concerned by the man and the look of him.
"Are you okay?" he asked. "Maybe I can get you inside and get you something. Are you hurt, do you need a doctor?"
"No, I am in no need of medical assistance. But, you may be."
Several cables shot out from underneath the man's overalls and wrapped Clark. Clark tried to signal for help. One of the cables wrapped around his mouth to block out any senses. All which could be heard was some mumbled screams as Clark attempted to break free from the track.
"Farewell, Kal-El. You inspired many in the future. But, here, all people will remember is Clark Kent, the boy who was killed on his own farm before school on one more."
The struggles Clark underwent caused him to go more frantic. No matter how much he tried, Clark could not break out of this position.
'No, I can't die.'
"This was built to someone of much stronger power. But this should ensure your silence."
A large piece of a glowing green rock slipped out into the hand of the old man. Those cables fastened Clark into place. He kicked out. No, give to the cables at all. He kicked out once again and still no give the cables. His third attempts to kick out ended up leading to some growing weakness as he slumped down and took a large breath. The Kryptonite piece closed in on him.
A flash of light appeared. The old man turned just in time to see a beam of light shoot through. The light sliced the drones.
Indigo stepped in just in time. Lana's vision and Clark's episode both pointed her to the location of where she needed to be.
Two other drones came across the way.
"Destroy the obsolete model."
"I'll show you obsolete!"
Indigo blocked one of the drones impaling her through her chest. Indigo twisted the arm of drone back and forced it to the ground. The other drone came after Indigo only to be nailed in the back by lightning. The drone turned around and fired an attack on them.
Clark rose up to his feet as Indigo froze time around them all. The first drone stabbed Clark in the shoulder with the Green Kryptonite knife and dropped him down to the ground. Indigo yanked the drone away before he could do any more damage and pummeled him with repeated attacks.
The hero fell to the ground with severe burning. The Legion moved closer to the drones.
"We have what we want."
They disappeared into the time stream. Imra turned and could feel herself become weakened. Clark's life faded and if Clark died, she would most certainly not be there. There would be no Legion of Superheroes if Clark died before he could even perform his first major act of heroics.
Indigo leaned down and grabbed younger Clark. His dead weight held over her when Indigo dragged him down over.
She could hear in her head the voices of the drones.
"Brainiac just said that they've done well," Indigo said. "I need to get him back to the Fortress."
Imra almost had a lecture about time splinters. Another chill rattled her body and made Imra rethink any lectures. She simply nodded and waited for Indigo to flash into the future with Clark slumped over her shoulder.
"We have to find them," Imra said.
Tinya reached over to pick up a piece of the wire left behind. The wire burst into dust and disappeared thus kicking that particular avenue.
"We just have to look for them."
Clark Kent came face to face with himself. It was hard to believe he had grown this far over the past several years. The Man of Steel spent the next couple of minutes just looking.
"You were so cute back then," Chloe commented.
"Yes, and more naïve and innocent as well," Clark said. "I mean why did I…why did I just come and help a man at the gate without even thinking twice?"
"That's just the small town sensibility in you," Chloe said with a smile.
Lara moved over. Past self or not, seeing her son in this level of distress was not good on her psyche. She walked over to the edge of the containment unit and pressed a hand into it. She tested the radiation level.
"It isn't as damning as it could be," Lara said. "Brainiac, if he wanted to kill Clark, he intended to impale the Kryptonite through him."
It had been a long time since Clark had been affected by Kryptonite thanks to the radiation shielding build into his suit. One might have thought having a large "S" shield on the shoot was the epitome of cheese until you realized that the symbol served a more practical purpose. Not only it celebrated Clark's family heritage.
"He'll be alright," Clark said.
"Well, yeah," Chloe said. "Otherwise, neither of us would be standing here right now. You'd be gone, and I'd be gone…and hell this Fortress wouldn't be here at all, would it?"
Clark shook his head. Lara moved in to perform the necessary surgery. Indigo stood by to monitor his vital signs. They went through an extremely delicate and frustrating procedure to remove the crystal pieces of Krypton.
Raya took over with the search. She was half worried what would happen. The only thing which prevented the worry from overtaking and destroying her was the fact she had to stay with it. She had to focus and had to move through no matter what.
"Radiation levels are down," Indigo said. "When this is over and once he is healed, I'd highly advise returning him to about ten seconds after the drones left, with his memory cleared. As far as he knew, he helped an old man with a flat tire and went out of his day."
Clark recalled these memories going into his mind of that day. He could not recall going in the Fortress.
"That's understandable," Clark said. "I agree that's a pretty good idea. Is he healthy?"
"The Kryptonite is now out of his system, although his cells are weakened," Indigo said.
Lara jumped in right where Indigo left off. "It's going to take some yellow solar radiation therapy to get him back to speed. We don't want to overwhelm him because his powers haven't quite come into their own just yet."
"Overwhelm?" Clark asked. "What would happen if you…."
"You go full super-nova and explode," Astra chimed in with a steady hand on him. "You're not feeling the pain, are you?'
It never ceased to amaze Clark how Astra could go from one point to the other without even blinking. Astra stepped back. They all stood there.
Clark turned to Lana who peered at the cell. She shook her head.
"The vision is gone and everything is normal," Lana said. "At least until Brainiac gets his hands on First Earth, then again…."
"I can't believe this!"
Raya interrupted them with a scream. Clark moved over, with Kara and Karen coming in from the other room to join her. They all knew something was wrong. Raya threw her hands back and acted like she was going to break out into a scream.
"Krypton," Raya said. "He never really left home. His mothership is on one of the moons outside of Krypton. Or outside of whatever's left of Daxam?"
At the mention of that particular planet, Astra pulled a face as if she had been force-fed poison.
"Wait, the Daxamites have been wiped out?" Astra asked.
"Yes," Indigo said. "But, no."
Astra figured it was some kind of future thing they should not get into. Indigo moved over and locked coordinates for the galaxy Krypton was in.
"We can reconfigure the Phantom Zone portal to beam Kal, Karen, and Kara outside of Krypton. It's a risk…and yes, Brainiac-Prime is on the outskirts of the Rell Moon. That's where his ship is."
"And that's where we're going to be," Clark said.
"Suit up," Indigo said. "There's still some chunks of your planet around and then other hazards which could navigate around."
The three Legion girls popped up from the past. Clark smiled when they showed up.
"You figured out Brainiac is outside of Krypton on Rell Moon as well, haven't you?"
"Well, that skips the exposition," Imra said. "Are you ready to go?"
It had been a long time since either Karen or Kara had been on Krypton. Longer from Karen's perspective when she stepped out into the rock and felt a very evident chill come up against her body. Each step brought Karen just that much closer.
The trio of Kryptonian survivors wore super powerful suits which blocked out the radiation and any harmful effects. The Moon of Rell had a poisonous atmosphere after the explosion of Krypton.
"He's close."
Indigo appeared on the moon. Saturn Girl, Phantom Girl, and Lightning Lass approached the moon and walked over. The group of three became a group of seven when edging a little bit closer to the moon. The chills just increased the further they walked out.
"There it is!"
The soil squished on their feet. Green smoke billowed from the soil. Clark even felt a little dazed with the suit. He increased the sensitivity of the shields around his suit. Clark moved in front of a ship which was larger than Metropolis standing in front of him.
Several drones moved forward. They carried Kryptonite into the ship. Wires jutted out. Indigo scanned the ship to see what they are doing.
"They are transmuting the radioactive chunks of Krypton into power. This power will be strong enough to open a portal to anywhere in the multiverse."
Clark just frowned. They could see about a hundred of those drones lined up against the ship. Some of them carried crystal orbs onto the ship as well. Others collected as much of the ship's pieces as possible.
"They're going to detect you the moment you pass this point."
Indigo drew a line into the sand of the moon of Rell. The line smoked and the entire planet started to rock. They jumped back and green steam shot through a crater in the moon. The steam heated up the planet an insane amount.
"I'm going to have to be the one to get on the ship."
Clark steadied his breath. "What if Brainiac captures and tries to reprogram you?"
"Not to worry," Indigo said. "I've taken steps to prevent that from happening."
The question of what steps Indigo took would have to wait. Karen, Kara, and Clark hovered above the ground when feeling a ripple. Their blood felt cold once more. A loud rupture shook the ground in front of them. Imra hitched in her breath.
"Time quakes are starting. We really are running out of time."
Indigo nodded in affirmation. "Let's move."
Chapter One Hundred and Three: Past, Present, and Future Part Two
The final steps to building a better universe were in Brainiac's midst.
"Soon, the power to return to Earth Prime will be acquired. Current status report puts me at approximately ninety-six point twelve percent. I will need every ounce of power to get through and to erase everything."
Brainiac coordinated all of the attacks from the past, present, and future as a means to distract his opponents. Everything happened for a reason and soon, those reasons would be obvious. He checked to ensure all of the crystal orbs were intact before scanning the area around him.
"My forces are now in position in the thirty-first century. The remaining members of the Legion of Superheroes will not be sent in from the future to assist their rivals. The inevitable result of the battle is irrelevant. It only matters whether or not they are stopped."
A tripped sensor caused a blare to come out over the screen. Brainiac's interest shifted over towards one side of the television screen. He noticed the Kryptonian survivors along with the Legion arrive. He sensed they were not alone.
"They have created the means to effortlessly step onto the Moon of Rell without any problems. An impressive effort, but one that will result in failure. And they have brought Drone Eight with them as well."
Brainiac calculated every single beat of his plan to the letter and ensured that he would be in perfect position.
"I must wait for them to get close enough," Brainiac said. "And once they are in position, I will arrange a suitable reception to drive them back."
The one who got away approached, and she would be the key to get onto the ship, only if Brainiac allowed it. He gave them enough room before heading out for the kill.
"Drones Thirteen through Twenty-Four, you have your orders," Brainiac declared. "Stop Superman at all costs. Delay him from reaching the ship. And bring me back Drone Eight. She is still of some uses to me."
The drones deployed from the ship. Brainiac awaited to see what their success was.
"Only two more percent. More of the matter referred to as Kryptonite will be brought before my ship and will need to be transmitted."
Narrowly, Lex escaped Cadmus Labs. He walked outside of the parking deck. The neighborhood surrounding this facility was not the best-kept neighborhood in the entire city. Lex found himself caring very little about how the neighborhood had been unkept.
Over the years, Lionel set up this satellite facilities for LuthorCorp. This was one of the few Lex had some confidence that Tess and Lillian did not know of at least as of yet.
Lex stopped short of the elevator. He had been hyper-sensitive to certain feelings ever since waking upon. One of them was the fluctuations within the multi-verse and what it was doing to him. He could feel his presence almost slip away once or twice.
'Brainiac has pulled Clark from the past out of the timeline. He's not dead because otherwise my presence here today would be threatened. And I would not have finished this thought.'
The unfortunate dependence Lex held to Clark Kent reared its ugly head a couple of times. He moved forward towards the elevator.
'I could not become the person I'm about ready to come without your intervention. And you will give me the inspiration to save the world.'
The elevator brought Lex up to an office on the top floor. He wasted no time in exiting the elevator and crossing the hallway. Winds made the windows rattle. The musty smell filling the office showed that very few people had been in this office for quite some time and even fewer people had cleaned.
Lex pulled a face and walked over. He activated a button to boot up the computers.
'I don't think they've been infected by Brainiac just yet. That's not his plan.'
Lex flipped on the television. The images of the stock market reports came on. The scroll across the screen indicated the stock market entered a state of panic even though Lex could not hear due to the television being mutated. His frown deepened the more news came in over the television screen.
'Stock market manipulation. I could not think of less of a tired and more inspired plan.'
Another ripple came through Lex. He could feel a sharp pain going through his stomach as if something impaled him. Lex drew in a deep breath and collapsed down onto the chair.
A flash drive pressed into his hand and dropped onto the chair. Lex continued to hear the rattling of the wind. He rose up and left the office area into a lab on the other side.
Lex returned just moments later to see the computer system having booted completely up. The LuthorCorp Network had been about as secure as possible. His access had been restricted. Lex typed in his password and found that it had been changed.
"Good one, Tess."
"I try."
The sound of a gun clicking behind him made Lex stand up straight. There were no hairs on the back of his neck to stand up, but never the less he could feel the sense of dread. Lex turned his head around to watch Tess move towards her.
"And here I thought you didn't know where this facility is."
Lex raised his eyebrow at the woman in front of him. The only reason the redhead did not blow him straight away was she obviously wanted to know what Lex was up to.
"I'm amused actually you found out. You're going to shoot me after all of what we've been through. Why didn't you do it before?"
"You couldn't be killed even if I wanted to," Tess answered.
"Yes, there is a problem. Being exposed to Brainiac, to Zod, and then to Doomsday's DNA, I had become very indestructible. You could have sent me to that prison….what was it called again?"
Lex knew that Tess knew he knew exactly what he was talking about. The gun drew ever so closer to Lex's face. Lex just smiled.
"Oh, yes, it's called the Phantom Zone, isn't it?"
No amusement came over Tess's eyes. Lex just took the next couple of seconds to stare into her face when she locked eye to eye with him.
"It's funny, if you're going to kill me right now, it will be when my mind is clearer than it's been in a long time. And I wouldn't blame you what you've done. Or the steps you've taken to ensure that I didn't get out."
Lex saw nothing other than the business end of the gun staring down. He knew it would be unwise to tempt fate when staring down death. Many had stared down death and had blinked in the face of it. He just broke out into one of the more obvious smiles.
"You helped me see the light in your own strange way. I had to spend months hear training my mind to avoid being controlled by anyone again. It's helped a lot. And it also includes not being fooled by ruptures in the timeline."
Tess did not lower her gun, and Lex appreciated she did not. Regardless, he pointed out something which popped up.
"See that building there? That was not here when I stepped foot into this facility. There are changes in the timeline, small ruptures. I could look in the mirror and have a full head of hair for all I know."
Tess did not even say anything. Lex just reached forward to grab her shoulder. The gun was now stuck directly in Lex's face. Tess could have pulled the trigger and splattered Lex's brains on the wall.
"Enough with the word games. What are you up to?"
Many people would have flinched at having a gun directly in their face. Lex had been through so many near-death experiences it was almost amusing having the gun buried in face like that. He took a deep breath and chuckled in response.
"You're going to kill me, aren't you? After all, we've been through, you're going to kill me. After all of the things that I've survived, you're going to be the one who is going to kill me."
Lex remained rigid in the face of Tess's weapon in his face. He popped up with a smile.
"You kill me, you don't learn anything. And if you don't learn anything, you're not going to be able to save the world. It's amazing how that works, isn't it?"
The gun only held a couple of inches away from Lex's face. He could see the gears grinding in Tess's head as she debated what to do with the weapon. The weapon closed in on Lex and grew ever so close to pulling the fatal trigger on him.
"I know what Cadmus is up to and I know how deeply Brainiac has infected their system. And I know what could be done if we wanted to stop Brainiac for good."
Tess's hand wavered for a second. She did not drop the gun. Still, she paused for long enough to consider Lex's statement. Perhaps there was something to it?
"Or you can kill me right here. And when you kill me right now, you learn absolutely nothing. What is it going to be, Tess?"
Several ticks of the clock passed before Tess lowered the gun. She did not let go, but lowering it showed she was at least interested. She walked closer to Lex and stared him in the face. Lex's hands were front and center. If he ever reached for a pocket, Tess would shoot him without any questions.
"You have ten minutes," Tess warned him.
A sardonic smile flashed across Lex's face. "I'm only going to need seven."
Another time quake rattled the ground. Clark could only begin to guess that the time they spend would be in minutes.
Saturn Girl jumped halfway up in shock. A dozen Brainiac drones moved their way into the picture. She turned to her fellow Legion of Super-Heroes members. They blasted forward and cut a path through the Brainiac Drones.
Power Girl contributed to her attack by sending an orb into the air. The orb released a blast of electricity to shut the drone down. The Brainiac duplicate twisted his hands around. Power Girl smacked the drone down to the ground. Another drone jumped onto her back and wrapped its arms around Power Girl's throat. Power Girl flew backward and smashed the drone into side of the ship.
"No matter what!" Superman yelled. "Clear and path for Indigo and myself."
Supergirl kicked space dust into the Brainiac duplicates which scrambled their sensors. She reared back and smacked the drone down. It crushed like a tin-can underneath her attack.
"You will fail at this, Kal-El! My ship is almost ready."
A highly modulated voice which sounded more cold and impersonal than the Milton Fine Brainiac came up. Two of the Brainiac drones stepped and grabbed Superman. Superman twisted out and sent them down to the ground. He picked up a piece of metal and aimed for a weak spot in the chest plate. Sparks flew the second Superman pulled out of the robot and dropped him down to the ground.
"It's never too late," Superman said in his harshest tone of voice.
Indigo stepped on the ship, side by side with Superman. Three more Brainiac drones came down. One of them fired a burning red beam at the attacker. Indigo created a shield which absorbed the energy and fired it back.
The beams pinged off of the drones. They all crashed down to the ground.
"Even if you defeat my drones, you can't stop me!"
Another one rose up to grab Superman. Superman fought against the drone's assault and smashed him into the wall. The Man of Steel received a wire wrapped around his throat. He struggled against the attack.
Indigo retracted her arms into blades and ripped the creature apart. Sparks started to fly when the drone dropped down to the ground.
"None of you will be leaving here alive."
"I've heard that so many times," Superman said.
"As for Drone Eight," Brainiac continued. "She will be taken in for reprogramming. And if she cannot be reprogrammed, she will be destroyed."
Two cables retracted from the ship's walls and beamed at Indigo. Indigo blocked the cables with her hands and pushed herself to a new level of intensity.
"It's my job to correct an error when it happens. And you're the biggest error. And for the record, my name is Indigo. I am not the BrainInteractive Construct Drone Eight. I AM INDIGO!"
She smashed the sides of the walls. They needed to get to the master control room and shut down the ship before it reached Earth Prime. The power gauges almost flickered up to a high level.
"I strive for accuracy. That being said, your corrupted programming presents an unfortunate dilemma. And it's a pity that you're going to be destroyed."
Indigo refused to waste precious CPU explaining how Brainiac was the one who had been corrupted by the original programming created by Alura which happened to be her namesake.
Three drones appeared. Superman stood in front of them and drew in a very hard press. The sounds of battle from outside grew closer to inside.
'At least the girls are making some headway.'
The three smaller drones locked arms and turned into one super-sized Brainiac Drone who rose up to its fullest height. Indigo stepped back.
Power Girl and Supergirl popped through the tower. Supergirl punted the head of one of the Brainiac drones. It smashed through the glass leading to one of the rooms.
"The engines of the ships are powering up!" Indigo yelled at the rumbling sounds. "We don't have much time."
The large Brainiac Drone shot cables from its throat at Superman. Superman caught the cables and twisted his way out of the attack. He rose up and punched the attacker as hard as possible.
"Soon, your reserves will be drained. There's no yellow sun on this planet."
Superman pressed in the shield of his suit. Some of the stored energy in the shield filled his body and repowered him. He had maybe only two blasts before the reserves faded. This was a situation where he needed strength. Superman rose up once again and nailed the larger drone with a punch.
Another couple of punches rattled the super-powered drone. Supergirl and Power Girl pressed the shields on their chest plates and they had been invigorated by the same blast of yellow solar radiation. The three of them blasted at the Brainiac Drone as hard as possible.
"This is inconceivable!" Brainiac yelled.
Superman took the head of the object, Supergirl took the legs, and Power Girl took the torso. She threw herself at the adversary with reckless abandon. Each punch rocked the super-sized Brainiac drone.
"Clear the way!" Indigo called.
She had one last chance before the engine fired up. Another time quake indicated something was about ready to go down. This time quake was more dangerous than all of the others combined.
The Super Brainiac drone moved to stop Indigo. Supergirl grabbed it underneath the leg an flipped it over. A shield formed around it to block Supergirl's punch. She fired off two of them before pulling back. The Girl of Steel dropped and rolled down on the ground.
"You can take it or leave it however you want. I've given you insight on what's going on in Cadmus. And I've presented you with a flash drive of everything Cadmus has worked on during their studies. You might not want to plug it in before scanning it though."
Tess spent the next minute with her eyes firmly locked onto Lex.
"Is that everything?"
Lex nodded. Tess pulled the trigger and shot Lex once in the chest. She shot him once in the head as well and blew his head off of his shoulders. Sparks poured from Lex's decapitated head the second he dropped down onto the ground. Tess rushed over towards him.
"LMD, I knew it."
Lex would not have made it that easy. Tess had to be sure and she received some valuable information. She reached over to the flash drive and moved over. The virus scanner she and Indigo set up ran to check to make sure it was completely safe.
'Okay, it's clear. Let's go.'
Tess slipped the flash drive into the main port of the computer and took in a deep breath. She waited for it to come to life in front of her.
"So, any luck?" Tess asked.
"You mean trying to find a way to cripple Brainiac?" Chloe asked. "Sorry, but we're no closer to doing that now than we were about four hours ago."
"And we're running out of time."
Tess hoped that Indigo, Clark, Karen, and the others found a way onto the ship. Indigo really was their most secure bet.
"Daisy, are you there?" Tess asked.
"Yeah, I'm here."
Tess wished she had more time to comb over the information Lex's LMD brought to her She did not claim to know everything the DEO knew, but she knew this information could be of potential use. She flashed through everything on it.
"I'm sending you some information. It may be close to complete intel on everything Cadmus knows."
The gasp coming from the other line showed Daisy had been very intrigued. Tess tapped her finger on the edge of the desk and waited for some kind of answer to come out on the other end.
"Well, that's pretty close to a lot of what the DEO has, and some new information," Daisy said. "They were working on a way to disrupt alien artificial intelligence as well. And I think it was because they were trying to access the Fortress as well."
That particular piece of information unsettled Tess even though it did not surprise her. She took in a couple of breaths and focused herself on what was going to happen.
"We could adapt it to take down Brainiac if we are given enough time," Daisy said. "You know the problem as well as I do."
"I know, we don't have any time."
Tess hoped, as did everyone else, they could find a way to take down Brainiac at the source. Time was running out. Each tick of the clock brought nerves. Tess leaned down and thought there might have been something. She took a module from the LMD's neck and put it in her pocket.
'Best to ensure that Cadmus doesn't try and pull any tricks if they have this technology.'
Kara pushed up to a standing position. Her cape had been torn the second the mega-Brainiac Drone attacked her. Supergirl pushed through with more adrenaline and came up. A huge roundhouse punch caught the drone and almost doubled him over. Supergirl came on through with multiple punches. Each of them nailed the attacker and staggered him back.
"Come on!" Supergirl yelled at the top of her lungs. "COME ON!"
Power Girl came from behind the attack and nailed him with a thunderous punch between the shoulder blades. Sparks flew when Power Girl reared back and smacked him repeatedly. A constant barrage took him down.
The three members of the Legion of Super-Heroes joined the battle. Saturn Girl lifted up a large piece of debris to block the attacker. Phantom Girl came into its shin and caused sparks to fly. Lightning Lass came on above and nailed her opponent with a thunderous blast between the shoulders to knock it down.
All their attacks left them open for one huge running punch from Superman. Superman came in and ripped the drone apart. The three smaller drones shot out of the larger drone and dropped to the ground. Sparks started to shower around the area the harder Superman punched at the drones. The drone received a huge beating.
Supergirl took the left drone, Power Girl the right, and Superman the center. All three of them dropped down to the ground with sparks flying in every direction.
"Let's go and back up Indigo," Superman said.
Imra opened her mouth to say something. The three Legion of Superheroes girls faded from the area.
"NO!" Supergirl yelled.
The three disappeared as if they had not been here before. Supergirl clutched onto the wall and took a deep breath. Superman wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her in close. Power Girl closed her eyes and spent the next second recovering.
"We need to move," Power Girl said. "Any one of us. We could be next."
"Hopefully they got pulled back into the future."
Karen echoed Kara's hopes because the alternative was not a pretty thing to talk about. The trio stepped over and another time quake echoed. They did not have much time to think about what happened to the Legion. Another
"Hang on!" Indigo called over the ship. "I was unable to stop him. We…we need to hold on!"
No question entered Clark's mind where they were heading. It was back to where it all began. They were heading to First-Earth, Earth-Prime.
"Brace yourselves for impact."
Chapter One Hundred and Four: Past, Present, and Future Part Two
Superman flew out of the worm hole and landed on the ground. Something jarred them loose from the mothership when they had been shot out through several vortexes and landed on the ground. The Man of Steel took a couple of breathes. He felt a little bit staggered even with the breathing apparatus.
'Good thing we didn't get knocked out in the vacuum of the multiverse.'
One courtesy look around demonstrated to Clark they were not in Kansas anymore. He turned to make sure the rest of the group walked up behind him. Supergirl and Power Girl dropped down onto the ground. Supergirl almost sunk into the Earth before hopping straight up. Superman wrapped an arm around her to pull her steady.
"So, this is Earth Prime," Power Girl said.
Toxins surrounded the air and made some very visible clouds. They could barely see where they were going. Miles and miles of ground stretched without anything on it. Clark kept his attention on a forest in front of them. Only no leaves and no signs of life covered the tree. The area was pretty barren and Clark took another step forward.
Some very real bones littered the ground in places. Clark bent down to pick up a crumpled looking disc off of the ground. The second Clark gently touched the disc, it exploded in his hand. Clark drew in a very obvious breath when moving his way to the portal.
"It's about what we thought it would be," Supergirl said.
Power Girl shrugged. "It's the very first world. It's long since expired. Something happened here. But…you can see how powerful it is. It's the world which gave birth to the other worlds."
The suits warned them of a potential lethal amount of radiation when walking a bit closer to the edge. The trio moved across the way. Their hearts thumped even louder the further they got along the path. The excitement was almost too much for them to stand.
Clark had one single minded purpose. Indigo disappeared which could be a problem. Just because she was gone, it did not mean the mission was over. Far from it because in Clark's mind they just started the mission.
The ground underneath them rattled. All three hovered above the ground. They only moved where they needed to go at as low speed. One more burst of solar powered adrenaline had bene held in the suit, but they did not want to use it unless it had been absolutely and completely necessary. They flew a little bit to the left and then a tiny bit to the right as they waited for any signs of life.
It would stick out on this planet, needless to say.
"Do you hear that?"
All of them heard something. It sounded like a whirling of some sort which brought their attentions forward. Clark lead the way and they looked over a mountain top which almost looked like it had been made of clay. The mountains rose up and crashed down.
Several nano-bots transformed the raw material into something which looked like a tower. They noticed three Brainiac drones move from the ship. They carried pieces of equipment to assemble to the edge of the tower. A solid hum echoed.
"We must hurry. They are drawing closer. We might have dealt with the obsolete model, but I cannot account for Kal-El, Kara Zor-El, and Kara In-Zee."
The potential implication of what he did to Indigo made Clark's blood boil. He rose up to attempt to engage until Power Girl and Supergirl held him back.
"Look what he's building," Power Girl said.
The giant tower hovered much higher than anything Clark had ever seen any world. It shined bright from the edge. Some of the nano-bots finished the tower and the top of it resembled the head of one of the Brainiac drones on the ship. Clark's eyes followed the progress of the drones.
"He's building….."
Warm energy cascaded through the air as several windows popped open above Clark's head. Clark drew in his breath at the sight of the portals all breaking open. He watched them flash open and counted them.
"Fifty-Two," Karen murmured. "He's not just satisfied with the planets in this solar system."
"It went without saying. He was going to grab the information from every single last planet in the multiverse. Clark took a step towards the doom which rippled back and sent Clark down to the ground. He shivered despite the entire situation.
"We're going to have to find a way past this force dome."
One mantra flashed through Clark's head beyond everything else. He could not deny it any more. The most obvious idea kept entering his head.
'Get to Brainiac. Get to Brainiac.'
Three more drones joined the first three drones. The portals opened wider and the green energy flashed through them. Brainiac drew a black mass from the ground of Earth-Prime. The mass buzzed like angry locusts.
"I've got an idea."
Kara piping up brought Clark back to reality. All things considered after what they had to deal with, he was all ears. Time was preciously running down to the wire and they needed to keep working. With the Force Dome in place, their jobs were not going to be that easy.
Lara lost contact with the Legion of Super Heroes, with Indigo, and with Karen, Clark, and Kara. She brushed a strand of hair away from her face.
"I don't think we would be able to survive another time quake like the one that just hit us."
Astra's words were a matter of fact. She had returned from Kandor and all of the Kandorians were safe for the moment and ready for anything. However, could anyone truly be ready for something that would rip apart the entire multiverse? Astra did not have an answer to this question.
'Basic military training doesn't prepare you for the end of reality itself.'
Raya blew a lock of hair away from her face and situated the time portal as best as she potentially could.
"I don't understand this. They were right there. Kal, Kara, and Kara were right there. They were on the Brainiac ship."
Alura's hands shook when trying to steady them in vain. She knew, deep down, that it would be unwise to get agitated about something like this. The problem was that her daughter, niece, and nephew were on that ship when it disappeared.
"I've been unable to track it from the Moon of Rell," Raya continued. She took a few seconds to adjust the settings on the Fortress, but it had been much to do about nothing. "It's left the multiverse."
They were sitting here without any problem. Lara felt hopeless. She was feeling a vibe which she had not felt in a very long time, not at least since the end of Krypton. Lara brushed a strand of hair away from her face and took a couple of deep breaths.
"Okay, let's try this again…."
A three dimensional hologram of the outside of the Earth appeared. A doorway slowly opened around to it. It was directly between Mars and Earth. Lara did not know what was on the other end of the doorway, but she was pretty sure it could be nothing completely ideal.
A black cloud flickered from the outside of the portal.
"He's doing it," Astra said. "He's actually doing it."
Alura double-checked a calculation and it was as dire as they all thought. The cloud ate through a satellite and reduced it to absolute nothing.
"Everything that cloud touches, it will wipe out in a matter of seconds," Alura said. "It's drawing the data, sending it back to Brainiac, and eating the ship."
"How long is it going to be before it reaches the Earth?" Lara asked.
"Ten minutes," Raya said. "Maybe faster."
The cloud moved at immense speeds. Raya could not help but clutch the side of her face. She could not have these outbursts of emotion when the entire multiverse lied in the balance. Raya drew in a couple of deep breaths and moved to the crystals.
"The portal is opening wider," Raya said with a drop of sweat rolling down her face. "It's going to get here in a matter of minutes."
"Yes, we know," Asra said. "We have one shot to try and close that portal. If it fails….."
Astra did not entertain the possibility of failure. She watched it go further and almost reach Earth's moon. They had to stop it.
The cloud engulfed Earth's moon which caused the crystals of the Fortress to flicker and then explode. The energy waves caused by the Moon being removed caused chaos. And they knew it was going to explode.
"It's gone, the Moon's gone!"
Supergirl burst out from underneath the ground. She was covered in RAO only knew what. The soil of Earth Prime made her long for a shower even though every inch of her body had been covered in a skin tight suit. Kara drew in a deep breath and looked down in time to see Power Girl and Superman burst out from the bottom of the Earth as well. The trio drew themselves in with a deep breath as they approached the ship. Time was running down and they needed to hurry and get to the ship.
"Your efforts are futile. It's going to end for you. You're going to be the last thing that I see, Son of Jor-El. Before the Multiverse dies."
Brainiac's drones popped out from several pops. Supergirl dove at them and ripped them apart. Cables shot out to grab onto her.
Power Girl hurled a jagged rock at the drones to rip them apart. Superman punched away at the drones and caused them to all fly back as well. The ship was well within their reach.
Determination beyond all else spread through the eyes of Superman. He was the only one who could save the world now before it entered complete ruin. The drone dove down and grabbed him around the arm. Superman punched him out.
"Surely you could see how futile your efforts are. This is the night the universe will perish. All of the information will be stored in my ship. And then my mission will be complete."
"The entire multiverse includes you!" Clark yelled.
One of the larger Brainiac drones shot a missile at Clark. Clark avoided it. The large clay mountain exploded behind him. Clark picked up hunk of clay and threw it at Brainiac. The clay connecting with the robot caused his flesh to melt. Superman popped up and punched him.
"If I am to be rendered useless, then so be it. I will have absorbed everything. As I perish with the rest, I will do so knowing that I know everything. Therefore, there is no sense in standing forward another moment later."
Clark blazed through the Brainiac drones. They flew. One of them grabbed Clark around the back of the head and forced them to the ground.
A loud blast rendered one of the drones to scrape metal. Clark dropped down to the ground. Indigo hovered over his head with an extended arm flying out and she stabbed the drone directly in the chest. The pieces of metal fluttered to the ground the harder Indigo hammered away at these drones.
"Time to get up!" Indigo yelled. "Time to fight!"
Superman renewed his efforts. He formed a cyclone and ripped three of the Brainiac drones into the air.
"I thought he dealt with you."
"He really thinks I'm that easy," Indigo said. "He's sorely underestimate what I'm capable of. It's always been a failing of his."
Clark answered with a nod and kicked himself up.
"I can get you to the central core, while keeping the ships defenses at bay."
Brainiac did not shut up. He had continued to press on you.
"You should not interfere. You will be deleted for you are obsolete. You're a flawed knockoff."
The ship opened up. Power Girl and Supergirl followed him a few feet behind. They cut a path through the drones lining up on the back of the ship.
"And for the record, as I keep telling you, I'm not the obsolete one. In fact, you're very obsolete. You're just a cheap carbon copy knock off of my original programming who just happens to have a few bugs in it."
One of the drones crumpled down to the ground. Clark followed the path through a central archway. He expected far more resistance, but Indigo lead him down the hallway as fast as humanly possible. The Man of Steel continued to move as fast as he could, blasting even more down this hallway.
The central core greeted Clark. Clark reached out and grabbed onto the core.
"What are you doing?"
"Stopping you once and for all."
It sounded like the most matter of fact thing in the world. The drones all came down around Clark the moment that he grabbed the Central Core. Clark's eyes watered when he grabbed onto it.
Zip, from one side flew Supergirl. She plowed through the drones. They fell to the ground as hard as possible. Supergirl kept smashing them down to the ground. One of them grabbed Clark. She kicked its head clean off of its body.
Power Girl did not want to see her cousins be the only one to have the fun. She smashed the drones herself as well. Sparks shot through the air with Power Girl's brutal attacks smashing the drones back down to Earth. Power Girl pulled back from the attack and allowed them to drop down to the ground.
Clark tightened his grip on the core of the ship and yanked it out as hard as he could. The ship's core burned in Clark's hands. He drew in a deep breath.
The drones still kept moving in despite it being unmoved from the ship. A disembodied voice came from the core.
"The core is my brain, while the ship is merely my arms. There's still no way you can stop me no matter how much you try."
Clark had an idea. The drones now blocked him from leaving the ship. He drew in a huge breath and a gust of wind knocked them through the ship. He had Brainiac's core but the ship remained intact.
"I'm going to take this out into space and destroy it," Clark said.
Karen's eyes widened. "But…."
"I know it's a risk," Clark said. "But, that's what heroes do."
Clark pressed into his shield and gave himself the last burst of adrenaline. He flashed one more encouraging smile in the general direction of Kara and Karen before going up, up, and around.
"So, you're willing to destroy yourself if it means you're going to destroy me," Brainiac said. "A surprisingly logical perspective. Perhaps, I had misjudged you."
Superman did not do anything. He kept his breath held due to the fact his face shield cracked the moment he entered high altitude in the atmosphere of Earth-Prime. The Man of Steel pressed on. Every single push made his arms feel like they were being brushed by high powered equipment.
The Brainiac Core clutched into his hand. Clark moved past the wastelands of Venus and Mercury. He was in absolute agony, but he was close, closer than anyone should be to the sun. The sun burned purple and red, hotter than ever. It was almost ready to flash burn Clark the closer he had.
Clark's entire body sized up and he felt hotter than normal. The shields on his suit were beginning to fail. He drew in a deep breath and threw back. He had no reason to hold back now.
Brainiac's core flew into the sun. The energy blast rebounded and every single inch of Clark's body encircled with fire. He screamed out in agony when his body hurdled without any direction through the vacuum of space. It was a hell of a ride and Clark took a sudden stop.
And then, everything faded to black.
Clark groaned and looked up. He laid outside of a field in the middle of Kansas. He dressed in normal civilian clothes instead of the look of Superman. He pulled himself up and wondered what in the hell just happened.
The Last Son of Krypton felt lighter than air when rising up above the ground. He took a couple of breaths when moving towards the farm. The sound of chopping wood caused Clark to go forward. His entire head rang out in frustration.
Clark came eye to eye with Jonathan Kent who was chopping wood at the Kent Farm like it was just the most normal thing in the world. He whistled when moving over.
"Pa?"
Jonathan Kent turned around with a smile on his face.
"Son," Jonathan said.
Clark moved over to hug his father. Jonathan pulled away from him after a few moments of greeting.
"I shouldn't have seen you again," Jonathan said.
"Wait, I'm dead?" Clark asked.
Jonathan put a hand to his face and moved back. He closed his eyes in the deepest of deep thought. "Yes, but no. It's very confusing. You're…well you're in between right now."
"But, you're here," Clark said.
"Yes, I am," Jonathan said. "But, not for long. They figured that a friendly face would make you feel more comfortable. Regardless, you've done it. Your actions have saved the Multiverse from Brainiac. Several worlds have been saved including Earth."
"Then, if I'm dead, I've died a hero," Clark managed with a smile passing over his face. "It was always what I was destined to be."
"No, Clark, it's what you chose to be. And you always made the right choices, because that's the man that I raised you as you. You are more than a Superman. You are my son."
Jonathan clapped his son on the shoulder.
"And you still have many years of your life to live out. You're just resting right now. You came close, but they pulled you back. Your friends and family, they'll always be the ones to pull you back when you're on the edge."
"Yes."
A perky looking Goth girl stepped onto the farm in front of them. Jonathan stepped back from her. She smiled and walked closer to Clark. She touched the side of his face.
"As much as I would like to get to know you more, it's not your time. You still have a purpose to play. And it's now time for you to return home."
"Goodbye," Clark said. "I never had a chance to when I was…when you were…."
"I know how it must have torn you apart for me to go that fast," Jonathan said. "But, I knew you and your mother, you would both be alright even without me. I did what I could to hold on. And I died knowing that you would become a man that any father would be proud to call his son."
He smiled as the mist surrounded him.
"You're still missed," Clark said.
He managed to hug his father one last time before everything returned back to normal.
"There will always be a part of me who will always be alive. Where it counts. And with your friends"
Jonathan touched his finger to Clark's heart.
"Remember, with only with your friends and family are you stronger together."
Then everything faded to black one more time.