"I've never heard that name."
Icicle's cautious gaze swept over Adrian, sharp and assessing. His voice lowered, carrying an unmistakable threat. "What is your purpose? Why are you here? This is my territory, so you should think very carefully before answering."
As he spoke, frost crept across Icicle's right hand, the air around his fingers turning blue with cold. He was ready to strike the moment Adrian made the slightest move.
They had not exchanged blows, yet Icicle could already feel it, that suffocating pressure radiating from the man sitting so casually in his seat. He had faced countless enemies, metahumans and killers alike, but none of them had ever made his instincts scream this loudly.
Adrian showed no reaction. He sat in Icicle's chair as if it belonged to him, his posture relaxed, his expression bored rather than threatened.
"I once knew a man named Lex Luthor," Adrian said slowly. "He believed there were countless universes. Some almost identical to ours, others completely different."
Icicle's eyes narrowed, but Adrian continued, unbothered.
"In one of those universes, a world very similar to this one, my brother experienced the same kind of loss you did. The same trauma. He came to the same conclusion. That injustice exists because society itself is flawed. So he tried to fix it by creating a new order."
Adrian leaned back slightly, his tone calm, almost conversational. "He used force. Armies. Fear. Power. And it failed."
Icicle did not interrupt, though his breath fogged the air.
"If you really want to change the world," Adrian went on, "you do not start with fists or weapons. You start with thought. Control the way people think, and decades later, anyone who resists looks like a criminal, not a rebel."
A faint smile touched Adrian's lips. "So yes, I admire you. At least a little. You understand that ruling minds is more effective than ruling bodies. Your methods are far more refined than my brother's."
"You…" Icicle staggered back a step, genuine shock breaking through his composure. "You know our plan?"
"That was never a secret," Adrian replied, rising to his feet. "At least not to me. There are very few things left in this world that surprise me."
He took a step closer, his presence pressing down like a physical weight. "But from where I stand, you and my brother are the same. Frightened children, desperately trying to make the world stop scaring you."
Icicle clenched his jaw.
"When no one teaches you how to face fear," Adrian continued evenly, "and the world keeps reminding you how small and powerless you feel, you try to reshape reality instead. You convince yourselves it is noble. Necessary. You dress it up in grand ideals, even if it means wearing crowns you never earned."
For a brief moment, Adrian's thoughts drifted to Clark. To another world where Clark had lost Lois, where grief and paranoia had twisted him into something unrecognizable. A protector who became a tyrant. The resemblance was impossible to ignore.
Icicle stared at Adrian, unsettled. He inhaled deeply, forcing himself to regain control.
"Maybe you're right," Icicle said coldly. "But who isn't afraid? I don't care how you know these things. Leave now. Your philosophy won't save you here."
"Confident words," Adrian replied. "Either you trust your base very much, or you've never learned how fragile confidence can be."
Icicle's composure cracked. "Everything I do is to help people. Five hundred thousand die from cancer every year. I can cure it. If some die along the way, that is their contribution."
His voice rose with agitation. "Politicians and their greed killed my wife. I can fix this world. No one is going to stop me."
Before Adrian could respond, guards poured into the room, blades drawn. They rushed him in a chaotic wave.
They never stood a chance.
In the blink of an eye, every guard collapsed, bodies hitting the floor before Icicle could even register what had happened. The air stirred once, then fell silent.
A blur filled Icicle's vision. Suddenly, Adrian was in front of him.
A hand closed around Icicle's throat and lifted him off the ground with ease.
Red light ignited in Adrian's eyes, heat radiating outward. His voice was calm, almost bored. "I didn't care about your New World nonsense. Not until after a family dinner reminded me how stubborn people can be. Take me to Brainwave."
"Mmph!"
Icicle clawed at Adrian's arm, struggling for air. "I won't let anyone stop this. After my wife died, this became my purpose."
Adrian exhaled.
A blast of freezing breath erupted from his lungs, stronger and colder than Icicle's own. It slammed into Icicle's face, sealing his mouth shut with ice before he could react.
"Mmmph! Mmmph!"
Ice spread instantly, shards locking his jaw in place.
"Then die," Adrian said flatly.
A beam of red heat vision lanced forward, striking Icicle's face point blank. His struggles weakened, then stopped entirely. His hands slipped from Adrian's arm.
Thud.
Icicle's frozen body hit the ground and shattered into scattered ice fragments.
Adrian did not spare it another glance.
Activating his enhanced vision, he scanned the underground base. Deep within its core, he found Brainwave, seated in a chamber filled with machinery, electrodes pressed against his skull. Silver-white energy crackled around him as amplified mental power flooded the tunnels.
Adrian moved forward without urgency.
He had no intention of stopping Brainwave. He intended to use him.
As he advanced through the winding corridors, heat vision flared again and again, cutting down anyone foolish enough to block his path.
Minutes later, the final reinforced door melted away under his gaze.
Brainwave stood waiting.
Removing his helmet had not weakened his control. His eyes gleamed with unnatural clarity as he watched Adrian step inside.
"I didn't expect it to be you," Brainwave said calmly.
"Likewise," Adrian replied. "I thought your stroke would leave you useless. Clearly, I underestimated your luck."
Brainwave smiled faintly. "God gave me this responsibility."
"You should thank me," Adrian said, shrugging. "I killed your son. The power he stole from you returned to its rightful owner."
Brainwave paused, then smiled wider.
"You're right. I should thank you. I killed my wife long before that. Hearing everyone's thoughts showed me how rotten this world is. My son was weak. Even if you hadn't killed him, I would have. Absorbing his power was inevitable."
Adrian raised an eyebrow. "Interesting logic."
Brainwave's eyes glinted. "So tell me, Adrian. If you kill me now… will you feel anything?"
Adrian tilted his head slightly, unimpressed.