Inside the Watchtower, many heroes gathered due to the summon.
"Silence please?"
Those words came from Superman who was hovering above the floor, his cape was the thing that caught everyone's attention not his words.
"This summon was urgent but necessary, we are... being attacked by many enemies. Earth might be safe for the moment but the blue lanterns have fallen, some have departed from this world and some are refugees"
The entire hall was filled with nothing but silence, some looked down as they honoured their fallen friends
"Wait, Green lanterns are empowered by the Blue lanterns... how fucked are we?"
The owner of the voice was well hidden but the message began to cause discord.
Clark sighed as he looked at the crowd, he then snapped his fingers thus creating a sonic wave that silenced the crowd.
"Our friends may have fallen but we have not, let's honour them by protecting what they stand for."
"Interesting"
Someone slowly walked towards Clark and it was none other than Brainiac 5, but he looked slightly different.
His usual Emerald eyes representing his coluan heritage began to vanish as they turned red.
"You have been a thorn in my conquest for knowledge... for too long, "They" have granted me the gate in too divergent realities and... more.
They say keep your friends close and your enemies closer, if the dark knight was here I would be worr..."
"Querl, what are you saying? you're.." Clark paused for a brief moment and began to analyse Brainiac 5 but he could barely scratch the surface since he was coated in lead.
"You're... Brainiac, did you... take over Querl's body"
As Clark tried to take a step forward, Brainiac's body began to release a green glow.
By instinct Clark leaped backwards exiting the range of the green glow, he couldn't believe that Brainiac fused himself with Kryptonite for the sake of winning.
A force of pressure was released from Brainiac's body and made those present kneel, some tried to resist and some plummeted to the ground.
"When did you take over Querl's body?, there were no signs... Brainiac, What did you do?"
Brainiac grinned as he heard that statement, his usual collected demeanor and arrogance was nowhere to be seen.
His eyes were filled with pure desire, it was as if he achieved true independence from his core directive but Clark noticed corruption of self in his eyes.
"This energy?Did you...fuse with a father box? did you really have to go that far!"
"Yes, I have transcended and self actualized.
Kal-el, do you know about the myth of Outer Gods?"
The confused face of Clark made him grin and he continued as he added:
"It is said, Outer Gods left behind fragments of will, anchors, or embodiments.
If a person fuses with one of these, they can gradually lose themselves, becoming a vessel."
"No...you didn't!!"
"Hehehe! Yes I did!"
After putting one and two together, Clark began to piece everything together.
Brainiac was not just circuitry. He was code, living code, able to endure, adapt, and hide in ways no one could detect.
And Querl, Brainiac 5… was his descendant. That code had always been inside him, buried deep where no scan or probe could reach.
Brainiac 5 was not only his descendant but his vessel, carrying the fragments without ever knowing.
"You know Kal-el, my awakening had not come with a sudden strike.
It was a process, stretched over years. A whisper here, a stolen memory there.
I began to steal pieces of him and replaced them with my own...until he was completely erased"
Many people had many questions but the most evident one was simple, why weren't the security protocols of the Watchtower working.
"Bart, I keep telling you... water isn't wet. Water is the thing that makes other things wet, the property itself can't give it's self it's own property"
"J!!!, water is touching itself all the time therefore water...is wet, what do you mean "water isn't wet" that's like saying soap doesn't make itself clean?"
Everyone noticed Bart and Jayden arguing as they entered the room, the duo paused their steps as they saw Brainiac and others kneeling.
"What the hell is happ...."
"Hold it!!!" Brainiac raised his hand as he interrupted Jayden, he then pointed at Bart and said:
"You're stupid, you're basically saying dirt is dirty because when you put it on something other than dirt, it makes it dirty.
The dirt itself isn't dirty and water... isn't wet!"
'Did I waste too much time monologuing, things were just getting good'
Brainiac sighed as the button on his hand began to beep.
"Well Kal-el, the pieces have fallen into place and you're not not surviving this time...Ciao"
A boom tube appeared behind Brainiac and extracted him from the tower.
"Brainiac!, what was that all about??"
Those who were kneeling on the ground slowly rose up with relief on their faces, but that was short-lived.
Beep!
Beep!
Beep!
The emergency lights began to flash as the tower activated zero gravity mode.
A giant boom tube appeared above the Watchtower and began to suck it in.
"The propulsion systems are not working, the boom tube is generating EMP radiation.
Most systems are shutting down!"
Cyborg's voice was filled with panicking as it spoke through the comms until it began to fade.
' Brainiac? did he sabotage the entire ship?'
Jayden's mind raced as he analysed the situation, however his thoughts were rattled as he felt getting warped.
As he tried to regain his clarity, the pull intensified until they got sucked in.
'What the...hell happened??'
Jayden's mind was hazy and he could feel himself losing consciousness.
'Why is the lighting so...red?'
As he began to pass out, he looked out the window and noticed that they were no longer on earth and what terrified him the most was the giant red sun from this solar system.
...
Thanks for reading 🙏 😁