The Legion of Super Heroes- Friends forever

Brainiac woke with a start, and flicked his legs out of bed. He looked at the mirror in front of him, he hadn't got any sleep in a week, and those dark circles under his eyes were becoming more prominent. He looked at the clock on his bedside table, which read 7am, nearly time for him to get up anyway. He struggled to remember why he had woken up, but failed. As a robot, it had been easier to remember, but now, it was difficult. He looked at the journal he kept on his desk, and wrote in it, as he had done since he became human, to monitor his progress as a human. So far, all it said was that he had joined the local college, and was dealing with lessons, having nightmares and headaches, and missing the legion.

He got dressed in that same old uniform that everyone else wore- a plain blue shirt, tie and black trousers. He was just doing up the laces on his shoes when the alarm went off on his clock. He slapped his hand on it sharply, before grabbing his bag and going down for breakfast, holding his head which was still fairly painful after waking up. He was wondering if it was normal for humans to get a headache in the mornings as he was eating breakfast. The bell rang for lessons to begin, and he walked into class. When he sat down at the desk, waiting for psychology to begin, he noticed a young girl sat down at the desk, who hadn't been there since he'd started. He thought she was very pretty, especially for a coluan. She had blonde hair that went down her back, and her eyes, were alike what Brainiac's had before, except they were purple and blue, and had black pupils, not white. Brainiac knew he had seen those eyes before, but just couldn't tell where. The teacher came in, holding the remote for the projector

"As all of you know, I have been monitoring your dreams, for this lesson, so we can learn from them." She said

The blonde haired girl put up her hand and opened her mouth

"Even yours" said the teacher. The girl's hand dropped to her side, relieved.

A dream came up on the screen. It looked rather scary- a young woman with blonde hair was fighting something that the class couldn't see. She jumped behind a rock, and kept looking behind it, as if expecting her attacker to come for her. She had friends with her, who all looked in pretty bad shape. A young woman with black hair came up to her.

"We can't keep holding him off. We've got to do something!!" she said. The blonde woman held her head. "I know. DUCK!!" she added, as a blast narrowly missed the other girl's ear.

The blonde woman seemed to be thinking "I'll get him, I'm more powerful, and you know it"

"Fair enough, just be careful"

The woman hovered up, looking for her attacker; her blue eyes were filled with fear. A hand grabbed her forehead, and her chest. The girl seemed to be in pain. Black streaks appeared at the front of her hair, her dress ripped, her eyes changed, and the marks on her chest and her forehead (which had been a circle split into three), turned into three circles. The girl hit the floor. The other woman ran out, trying to save her, but the attacker grabbed her, and she got the same treatment, only this time, it was fatal. The other woman sprinted over to her. The woman opened her eyes "the goddess never kept you alive, you were keeping her existence." She said, before dying in the other woman's arms. The other woman cried out, and laid her down. She opened her eyes again, and the mark on her forehead glowed slightly, as her eyes filled with hatred. She flew up to the attacker, and grabbed his forehead. "How do you like it?" she snarled. The woman's dress gradually came back, and the marks grew closer together, until they finally made that old mark. Her attacker lashed out at the woman's hip, injuring her. The girl fell to the floor, but she still got up. "You know you've just injured your friend, don't you?" she said. The girl used the last of her magic to go back to a chamber. She put something on her forehead, and instantly disappeared, into the machine that the helmet on her head had been connected to. The screen went blank.

"Yeah, bit of a weird dream, I know" said the blonde haired girl

"What do you make of it?" said the teacher

"Um, possible past, or a prediction, although last time I checked, I couldn't predict the future" she said.

"Next dream?" asked the teacher. The whole class nodded. The teacher put Brainiac's on:

Bombs were falling on his home world, Colu, and a young Brainiac lay under a bed, crying his eyes out. A young woman, the same woman in the blonde haired girl's dream, held out her hand.

"You can't be a hero hiding underneath your bed you know" she said softly, holding out her black gloved hand. Brainiac took it, and she pulled him out from under the bed. "You know Meacha's in trouble, don't you?" said the woman softly. Brainiac looked up at her, questioningly, and worried. The woman disappeared unexpectedly. Brainiac called out when he was outside the room, calling out for Meacha. He saw some large doors, and Meacha's small figure coming out of them, although she was a few hours younger than him, she was unbelievable adventurous.

"You know you're not allowed in there!!" squeaked Brainiac. Meacha held his hand and he pulled her away. The scene faded into something else. An older Meacha was running away from something, her blonde hair flying behind her, and her blue eyes focused on a ship. Brainiac was just boarding, when she came running, followed by some coluans. She was grabbed by one of them, and she flew out of his grip, only to be grasped by more, holding her arms. "Brainiac, just go!! Forget me" she insisted before being dragged back screaming. Brainiac boarded the ship and took off, doing as he was told. The dream blanked

Brainiac stayed silent. The girl next to him answered for him "Um, guilt?" she muttered. Brainiac nodded "I shouldn't have left her, but she was the princess of Colu, and, well, what she says goes." he explained, holding his head

"Yeah, well, reprogramming doesn't work on all coluans. The hive mind found that out the hard way." Explained the girl, smiling "and why you couldn't recognise me is a mystery". She grinned. Brainiac looked up, his mouth open

"Yeah, I'm here" she laughed. Brainiac's mouth quickly twisted into a smile, and he pulled his head out of his hands "Um, talk to you at break" said Meacha.

Brainiac couldn't get over how different she looked. She now wore platform boots, and her ankle had what appeared to be a guard over it, but on asking her about it, he found it wasn't for decoration; her boots were fixed onto her by the ankles. She also had bands over her stockings that fixed them permanently to her legs. Her armbands (when he asked her if they were hot wearing them) were actually her forearms. Brainiac wanted to ask her why her clothes were bolted onto her, but he resisted. Almost as if she could read his mind, she answered

"I have no idea why my clothes are fixed on. I only know my hair is dyed black at the front because of the stress used when I was resisting reprogramming"

"Ouch" said Brainiac "So, how'd you resist?"

"Difficult. I could feel my forehead throbbing after. When I looked in the mirror, the marks had gone together on my forehead. I tapped them, and they went back to normal. Weird huh?"

"Yeah"

"Oh, and did I tell you? I can do more than just fly now"

"Really?" asked Brainiac, interested

Meacha nodded "I can create a shockwave, throw balls of energy at people, and can reprogram robots and read coluans minds. But, all of them leave that mark on my forehead"

Brainiac looked at her, shocked. He held his head, as a headache came back on. Meacha's hand jumped to his forehead

"Ow, I felt that" she said, holding her head. Brainiac closed his eyes and opened them again

"They've been coming up ever since I became a human" he muttered. Meacha's face lit up.

"Maybe I can help out, or someone I know can" she said, her hand on his shoulder

"No offence, but I seriously doubt you can help, or even know someone who can. You've only been here, what, a day?"

Meacha folded her arms. "Just because I'm new, doesn't mean that I don't know anyone"

Brainiac looked at her "Who were you thinking of?" Meacha grinned. She took his hand, and led him outside

"Um, we're not allowed to leave, you do know that, right?" protested Brainiac

"And? They only let you leave if you can come up with a good reason" she said

"That being…?"

"You feel sick"

"Oh"

Meacha led him along the street, and to the legion headquarters

"No!!" protested Brainiac, struggling to get her arm off his wrist

"What? I thought they were your friends"

"Yeah, but I left the legion about a week ago, and I'm still nervous about what I did!!"

"Heard about that. Sadly, I wasn't on Colu to actually become one of the army" she grinned

"Where were you?" asked Brainiac, wondering why he hadn't caught a glimpse of her

"I was looking for you. I hacked into the legion's communicator system, and found you, and under Imperiex's nose, hacked into his computers. Even went to Takron-Galtos to get answers. Not to mention tracking down enemy ships for answers, although I blanked on one of them"

"Why didn't you just call me on the communicator system?" asked Brainiac. Meacha stopped for a moment

"I was going to, but then I wondered about Imperiex. What if he was listening? I called after I learnt he was gone, but then when I knew how, I didn't want to call"

Brainiac thought "so, you kept an eye on everything that was going on, when did you leave Colu by the way?"

"The second the reprogramming process failed, which was about four years ago, and then I came to New Metropolis"

"And you didn't think to call me then?" asked Brainiac

"I did call"

"When?"

"When I was sure that everything was safe. Although sadly you'd already left the legion. They didn't tell me where you'd gone, so I spent hours checking records, and then I came here"

Brainiac thought for a moment "how did you get over here anyway? You can't have flown…"

"I didn't have to" she smiled

Brainiac raised an eyebrow

"I have a ship you know" Meacha said, as if it was the most obvious thing

"Oh"

Brainiac looked up at the massive Legion sign, and a banner over it said "Auditions"

"Oh, man" he squeaked. Meacha looked at him

"What?" she asked

"I am not going in there. I'll feel like an idiot, and I feel guilty enough as it is"

"Hey, they forgave you ages ago. I asked"

Lightning Lad came running out, closely pursued by Saturn Girl. Meacha loosened her grip on Brainiac's wrist

"Hi!!" she said loudly. Lightning Lad spotted her

"You gotta take my place, it's a nightmare in there, and I hate auditions!!"

"Who doesn't?" said Saturn Girl

"Oh, lookie who I got!!" said Meacha, pointing at the place where Brainiac's wrist had been a minute ago "Oh" she said, disappointedly as she noticed his absence

Meacha walked back to the college and walked up to him with her hands on her hips

"Why did you do that?" she asked

"I told you"

"And so did I" she muttered darkly "how do you intend to get rid of the headaches?"

"No idea" croaked Brainiac

"I could help. My powers are less lethal on Colu as they are on here, because I can control them better"

"Oh, goodie" said Brainiac sarcastically

Meacha grabbed his wrist. "Come on sasquach, we've got to go home"

Brainiac felt himself being dragged off his feet again. He saw Meacha's ship in the garage

"Wow" he said in awe

"Get on!!" ordered Meacha "and if you drool on it, you're walking home" she added

Brainiac wished it had been him driving, as Meacha took a more dangerous route, she made flips, spun the ship round, and above all, made Brainiac feel sick. They finally made it onto Colu (Brainiac threw up the second he was off the ship)

"Come on! It wasn't that bad" Meacha said cheerfully

Brainiac sighed, holding his stomach. Meacha grabbed his wrist again. The coluans all bowed down low to Meacha, and gave Brainiac many amazed looks, who blushed.

They finally went into the palace, where Meacha automatically walked quietly, hoping no-one would notice her

"Why are you sneaking about?" he whispered

"Because I ran away, and I'm worried about being caught- I don't want to die next time they attempt to reprogram me!!" she whispered angrily

She finally made it into her own room. It had been a long time since she, or anyone else had seen it, and to be honest, she was only hiding in there until it turned dark. Brainiac looked at it. Her bed was covered in cables, a computer lay smashed on the floor, and another computer connected to the wires on the bed was busted, and its screen smashed. A large mirror was standing upright, but had a large crack in it. Brainiac picked up a clockwork doll from the floor. It looked remarkably like him when he left. He wound up the key in it, and watched it move across the floor. Another one was sitting next to it, that of a pretty black haired girl. He wound her up, and like magnets, the two were dancing together. A blonde- haired woman lay on the floor. He found a key in her side, and watched her dance on her own. This one was different. She did cartwheels, and did graceful moves like a ballet dancer. The first two he'd wound up had collapsed on the floor. He frowned at them, they looked different. The one that looked like him had grown up, and was the same age as him, the girl now looked like Shrinking Violet. The woman who was dancing had changed as well, to look like a coluan and the same girl from Meacha's dream. She fell to the floor.

"She's called Meachiami, also known as the coluan protector, and goddess. She died the very second I was born." Said Meacha, looking at what the whirring noise was.

"She also told me to go find you, when we were kids" smiled Brainiac. Meacha smiled, peeking out the windows

"Hey, it's dark!!" she said suddenly

She looked out the door, before ushering Brainiac to come with her. The two made their way across a corridor

"Do you even know what you're doing, or where we're going?" asked Brainiac

Meacha nodded "Do you remember when you said that I wasn't allowed to go in a room?"

Brainiac remembered

"Well, that door doesn't open for anybody, in fact, it doesn't open at all. But, only Meachiami could enter it. Now, how did I get in? It's only meant to open for the goddess herself, and I know for a fact that Meachiami was before my time"

Meacha ran along a corridor, finally coming to where the doors were. She put her hand over the doors, and they opened immediately. She pulled Brainiac in, and shut them behind her quickly.

Brainiac's eyes took a few moments to adjust from the darkness to the bright light of this room. This room was massive, and in the shape of a circle, with a domed ceiling. In the middle of the room was a massive ditch, where a bright light was coming out from the bottom. Brainiac looked at Meacha for some sort of explanation. Meacha was standing still, almost frozen. She could see something that Brainiac couldn't. She was seeing herself the day the bombs were falling:

Her younger self was running in, frightened. She strode too near the edge of the ditch, and saw herself fall, heard herself scream. Then she saw herself rise up alive, the marks on her forehead together, and then apart, as she walked out, unharmed.

As Meacha heard the doors shut behind her, she snapped out of her trance, and strode near the edge.

"Don't you dare jump" said Brainiac

"Wasn't going to. Whatever we need is down there" she said, pointing to the bottom. Brainiac came up to her "It's a 100 foot drop"

Meacha grabbed his wrists again, and jumped, but floated when she was near 50 feet down. She put Brainiac down on the floor at the bottom. There were more wires down here, and a massive crystal was the light source. The crystal itself was wired into a machine, and Brainiac felt a headache coming on. Meacha placed a helmet on him. Before going out of her room, she had grabbed a tranquiliser needle. She told him to look the other way. He was a little suspicious at first, but gradually calmed down for her so he looked the other way. He felt a sharp pain in his left arm, and looked round, only to see Meacha putting a needle in his arm

"What are you doing?!" he panicked. Meacha looked as if she was going to cry

"I have to. This wont hurt as much as the treatment, I promise" she said in tears. Brainiac watched her pull it out of his arm and a drop of blood appear as he collapsed.

Meacha found some wires and placed them on her forehead, arms, chest, and legs, wired into the crystal itself. She closed her eyes, and felt her head spinning as she used her mind powers to take a look in Brainiac's mind. She found nothing wrong with it, except for the massive crack in it from turning him from robot to human. She put her hands over it, and used her power to fix it together again. Her head started to ache, but she needed to fix this crack. She could feel herself falling to the floor, but she kept on trying to heal Brainiac. She heard a voice behind her, and spun round- Brainiac was looking at her

"You don't need to do this" he said quietly

"But I have to. You're sick" she whispered.

"I know. I'll heal eventually, all humans have headaches"

"No, not like yours. Yours is because of damage."

"You're giving yourself a headache. And you're destroying yourself" he said. Meacha still refused to let him tell her how to heal someone's mind. She grabbed the end of the crack, and forced some of her robotic parts on it, hoping that Brainiac would be ok, although, she knew the possibility that Brainiac could become a robot again.

She fell to the floor, and faded away, now she no longer needed to heal Brainiac. When she awoke the next morning, it was to hear Brainiac's voice. She looked up; relieved that, no, he wasn't a robot. She smiled and dragged herself up. She slipped on something, immediately to fall to the floor again. Brainiac helped her up. Meacha looked round for what she slipped on, only to discover it was the floor. She looked at her feet, which were in boots, but flat ones, not like the platforms she'd worn. Her hands were in long gloves; even the clothes she wore looked different. She was in a reasonably short blue and purple dress.

"Hey, check out your forehead!" said Brainiac. Meacha looked at her reflection in the crystal. The three marks had gone together

"Oh, man" she said, tapping her forehead, and was amazed to find that the mark wouldn't split up

Brainiac looked up "How are we going to get out?"

Meacha grabbed his wrist and flew up

"You really freak me out sometimes" he said when his feet were safely on solid ground again. Meacha didn't seem so shocked she was now a human, well, a green one. She and Brainiac flew out of Colu with no trouble- in fact, they weren't even recognised.

Meacha dropped Brainiac off at the college.

"I'm just going to go and park this, and I'll be ready to make excuses in no time." She said, leaving Brainiac to go to class. He walked into his history lesson, thinking about what had happened to Meacha, which was one question that needed answering. Another was what he was learning today. 'Myth, Legend, or Real' were the words written on the board. A picture of Meachiami was on the board. She was smiling so sweetly, and holding what appeared to be a flower. Superman was next to her. Brainiac shook his head. This lesson was going to be easy. He knew loads about Superman, but not so much about Meachiami. The teacher came in, pointing at the pictures

"Superman, Real, Myth, or Legend?" he asked

"Real" said Brainiac smiling

"Explain"

"Um, the man out there with the "S" on his shirt isn't called "Sal"" he said, sounding like Kell-el when they'd first met, and gesturing his thumb to the window. His eyes widened "No way!" he said as he noticed Superman. The entire class stood at the window, noses pressed against the glass. The legion was fighting a robot, whose armour wasn't made of metal

A voice came from the left "Forgetting someone?!" Meacha came flying towards them

"Oh, right" said Cosmic Boy "Give us a hand!!"

Meacha rolled her eyes. "You could say please next time…". She flew off towards the robot, and grabbed its head. Timber wolf jumped from a building

"Timberrr!!" shouted Meacha playfully. Timber wolf helped her take the armour off the robot. Meacha picked up Shrinking Violet, who shrunk, and flew to the robot. In a few seconds, the robot was destroyed. The legion disappeared, and Meacha ran to her class.

The class sat back down. The teacher then greeted them with the picture of Meachiami

"Real, Myth, or Legend?" he asked

Brainiac was thinking. He'd seen Meachiami in Meacha's dream, so naturally she was a possibility, but where had she come from? And what had happened to Meacha anyway? Then the answer hit him. Meacha was Meachiami, Meachiami was the older Meacha- but why'd she change her name?

Brainiac looked up "Real!!" he half laughed, wondering why he had been so stupid in the first place

The class looked at him, the teacher raised his eyebrow

Brainiac opened his mouth "Meacha and Meachiami are the same thing. And to think I thought myself clever, when I couldn't even answer the most obvious question in the entire universe!!!" Brainiac sat back on his chair smiling. The bell went, Brainiac sprinted out, never more hopeful to leave the classroom.

He was greeted with something on his door- a notice. There was a disco on at a place called "satellite 245", wherever that was. Brainiac looked on the computer- it turned out satellite 245 was a permanent party for college students, and sometimes older people. He heard Meacha's voice outside, she was talking to Superman. The two seemed exited, and Meacha was showing him the notice about the disco.

"I've got to go check see if someone else wants to go…" she said "Want to come with?" Superman nodded, holding out his time-bubble technology. The two got in, and returned with Kell-el, who looked annoyed

"Come on, you need some fun!" said Superman. Kell-el groaned, knowing he had no choice in this. He had been notified that most of the Legion was going. Chameleon boy came sprinting towards them, asking something about the disco. Meacha nodded. Chameleon boy was bouncing up and down excitedly, before walking off. Meacha waved at them as they walked off, she yelled something at them

"Don't forget, meet up on Saturday!!". The team put their thumbs up.

Saturday came really quickly in Brainiac's opinion, and he really wanted to know why the legion wanted to go to a disco, when they should be helping out, so he followed the girls into town, when they weren't looking (although he had the suspicion that Saturn Girl knew he was there). The girls walked into a clothes shop, and started walking out of the changing rooms in various different outfits, and with different hairstyles. Brainiac turned his back on them, and went off to see what the boys were doing. Same thing. Looking at clothes, although they didn't seem as passionate about it as the girls were.

Brainiac went back to the college and lay down on his bed. He looked at the flyer. The disco was on that night, and all he knew was that the legion and Meacha were going, along with the entire college. A knock on the door stopped him thinking, and he immediately went to his computer, making himself look busy.

"Um, come in" he said. Meacha came in

"Um, hi, er, you going to the disco tonight?" she asked

Brainiac turned round "No. I'm too busy". Meacha came over and looked at his desk.

"Sure you are. You have no homework" she smirked

Brainiac hit his head on the keyboard "Um, no, I'm not coming"

Meacha tilted her head to the side "Come on. You need to come out of that shell of yours. It's not healthy."

Brainiac lifted his head from his keyboard. "Fine, I'll come, as long as it keeps you happy"

Meacha smiled, and walked out.

Brainiac sighed "Completely oblivious to the fact that I have no idea how to get there, have nothing to wear, can't dance and really don't want to go". Brainiac went back to his bed and lay back down on it, staring blankly at the ceiling. He had no idea how long he sat staring at the ceiling, but then thought about what a normal college student would do. Go shopping? Go to the cinema? Go to an arcade? Library? Study? He thought about the final option- he had been doing too much of that lately. He rolled out of bed to look at the clothes he had- just the outfit he'd left the legion in, some jeans and a shirt he wore on weekends, and his school uniform. Maybe it was time to come out of that shell of his and get a social life by shopping.

He looked around town like he'd never seen it before. He walked into the same shop that he'd seen the boys go into, and looked at the clothes. Mainly jeans, but the shirts were so cool. He looked at some in particular. A purple polo shirt and a red polo shirt. Most would have considered them boring, but he didn't want to look too out-going. Next was to look at the jeans. He eventually decided on some black jeans- he already had blue. He walked out the shop feeling slightly more relaxed than before. Meacha had been right- it was unhealthy to stay cooped up inside.

On satellite 245, Meacha was waiting around for Brainiac, wearing a purple dress with a blue belt, and black platforms and blue stockings. She eventually gave up and joined Superman and Kell-el at the bar. She spotted a cute brunette girl looking shyly at Kell-el. She poked him

"Ow, what?" he asked her. She pointed at the girl. He raised an eyebrow

"Come on grouchy, ask her for a dance!!" she said

"Uh, no"

"Oh, come on!! You look like you need a dance"

"I don't dance" he said firmly

Superman had joined in "Come on, ask her for a dance!!" he urged "You have my DNA, let's see if you've got my charm as well…!" Meacha laughed. Kell-el raised his eyebrow again

"Um, I don't dance" he said, blushing slightly after looking at her

"Ooh, methinks you think she's hot…." Giggled Meacha

"Shoo" said Kell-el. Meacha got off her chair, and returned about two seconds later with the girl

"Um, want to dance?" she asked, blushing

"Uh, yeah he does" said Superman for him, pushing him off his chair. Kell-el smiled and nodded, he went with her. Chameleon boy took his vacated seat.

"Who's the cutie with Kell?" he asked

"His date" answered Superman.

"Wow!! He got a date?!" exclaimed Chameleon boy. Meacha nodded, and both Superman and Meacha inhaled half their drinks up their nose laughing.

A romantic song came on the stereo, and Superman, Meacha and Chameleon boy immediately looked round at Kell-el. They all started to laugh as they observed Kell-el doing a slow dance with the cute girl. Kell-el looked round at them and shook his head

"Are they friends of yours?" the girl asked

"Uh, no" he said. The girl smiled

Meacha was looking about, observing the many couples. She found one that grabbed her attention, and her hand automatically jumped to the communicators

"Hey, check out who Violet's grabbed!!" she said excitedly, holding Superman's in her hand. Superman and Chameleon boy looked up. As did Timber Wolf and Phantom girl, Bouncing boy and Triplicate girl, Lightning lad looked as if he was going to laugh, until Saturn girl poked him.

Shrinking Violet was dancing with Brainiac

"And I thought he wasn't going to come…" sighed Meacha, leaning on the table, and reaching for a drink.

"They better not start kissing…" said Lightning lad "or I'll feel I'm missing out on something"

"Hey, quit complaining" said Saturn girl as she kissed him. Timber wolf and Phantom girl sneaked off the dance floor

"That is so cute" said Phantom girl

"Really? I never would have guessed… you'll be saying that those funky biscuits I made are adorable next…" he said

"You're cooking…" muttered Phantom girl

Meacha was leaning on her elbow. "You know, I always wanted to know why he never wanted to come back to Colu…" she said softly

"Cos he was scared solid of the other coluans…" muttered Superman

"No, he found you guys. He's known me his entire life, and he thought I was pretty much dead. I'm glad he moved on."

"But personally, I still think his biggest fear was going home"

"Ooh, maybe he was afraid of being reprogrammed. No need now. I kind of messed up the hive mind." She said, laughing nervously at the end. She went back to giggling at Kell-el, who had kissed the girl's hand

"Like a gentlemen…" sighed Meacha. Superman snorted into his drink

"So, what's her name?" asked Chameleon boy, grabbing the confidence to ask him

"Xara, maybe Sara? I don't know. Sounded like Xara" said Kell-el

"So, what else did you get, besides her name?" asked Superman

"Um, her number" said Kell-el

Meacha, Superman and Chameleon boy leaned closer to him

"Is that lipstick I see?" asked Chameleon boy. Kell-el blushed, and nodded

Superman put his arm round his shoulder "That's my charm" he said grinning.

The song ended. Everyone looked at Brainiac and Shrinking Violet. Shrinking Violet gave Brainiac a kiss

"Ooh, that's a bit forward…" said Lightning lad. Saturn girl poked him in the ribs.

Shrinking Violet went back to the legion, Brainiac stood by the door, looking as if he was in dreamland. Meacha sat down next to him, and tapped his leg

"Dude, if you love her, then go after her" smiled Meacha. Brainiac looked down at her

"I know, but I don't want to hurt your feelings" he sighed

"Hey, I'm not jealous. In fact I think it's great you've got a love interest"

"Really?"

Meacha nodded "Yeah, it means that you're becoming more human, and you're keeping my 'worry spot' clear"

Brainiac knew that Meacha's 'worry spot' was that part of her mind that had all her worries. "And, one of your worries was me not finding a love interest?" he asked

"Nope, my worry was you staying a little more robotic than everyone else after becoming a human. But my mind is clearer now I know that mind of yours a little better- wow, what an animal…" she said, with that cheeky grin on her face. Brainiac knew that grin was not always a good sign- it meant she was hiding something from him, or plotting something.

Meacha stood up. She caught sight of Xara near the door, still smiling at Kell-el

"Go on, go talk to him. Don't make me drag you over there like last time…"she said smiling. Xara went over to Kell-el, and started talking. Meacha grabbed Brainiac's arm.

"Come on, talk to her. Like I said before, the legion forgave you ages ago…well, a week ago. You weren't yourself, which was understandable. Everyone knows that" she said softly

Brainiac shook his head. "I know, but I'm just afraid"

Meacha shook her head "Come on, you wuss" she said grabbing his arm, and dragging him over, she kept an eye on him this time just to make sure he didn't run away- no need, he didn't. The two arrived at the bar, with Brainiac greener than usual. Meacha went and sat on the table

"Come on sasquach, you've got to admit, you've missed these people…" she said, gesturing to everyone around the table

Brainiac nodded.

"Sasquach? Where'd that come from?" asked Superman, raising his eyebrow

"I have no idea. I'll call anyone sasquach" laughed Meacha

Shrinking Violet went up to Brainiac "So, what have you been doing?"

"College" said Brainiac

"I didn't think you'd need college, with that 12th level intelligence of yours" she smiled. Brainiac shrugged "I needed to pass time"

"Try Takron-Galtos if you want to pass time" said Meacha, looking at her drink

"You only said you went there to get answers" said Brainiac

Meacha blushed "Yeah, I got caught. Spent some time in there"

"So, you're a criminal?" asked Brainiac

"Nope, just a misunderstanding" she smiled

Shrinking Violet looked back at Brainiac "So, how's college?" she said

"Boring. Learnt some new stuff, got a headache, did some homework. You know, typical student stuff"

"Fair enough. So college is no where near as fun as the legion"

"No, I wouldn't say that"

"It's better?"

"No, it's nowhere near as stressful"

Shrinking Violet laughed. "I think I'll quit and go to college then"

"I'd advise you not to- homework is scary"

The two laughed, and looked into each other's eyes, before blushing and looking away. Meacha looked at Superman's watch, who looked at it as well

"Um, it's only midnight...." he said

"Midnight?" asked Timber wolf

"You're not a were-wolf." Said Phantom girl

"I know that. I've only just realised that I'm tired. We've been dancing since about 7?"

"Well, I've been dancing. You've just been shuffling" muttered Phantom girl

Timber wolf grinned

Brainiac looked up at the sound of the time "What? It's midnight?!"

"Um, yeah. Why, what's wrong Cinderella?" said Meacha

Brainiac looked at Shrinking Violet "I've got to go"

"Why? What's wrong?" she said

Brainiac tried to think of an excuse, and failed.

"So, no running away then?" asked Meacha, smiling.

A massive crash sent the Legion and whoever else was on Satellite 245 to the floor. The legion got up fast. A robed man came in, with a superior air. He looked at the legion.

"Shouldn't you be fighting crime, rather than partying?" he said

Meacha looked shocked, and went to run. The man forced her to the floor with a twitch of his hand. When Meacha got up, she wore something entirely different. She wore a black and red one-piece suit, and she had a metallic headband on. Brainiac looked at her like he'd never seen her before.

"Clearly you don't know Meacha like I do" smirked the man. Brainiac stood up to him "What have you done to her?" he whispered shakily

"She was my servant, and my best commander. Didn't she tell you she worked for me?"

"Nope. And who are you? Let her go!!" he commanded

"You only need know me as your master" said the Master

Brainiac shrugged "I've met loads of people called Master, and they never win, what makes you any different?" he asked

"Quite simple. I'm going to win" he explained. He used Meacha as a weapon, fighting the legion

"Using a girl as a shield? Coward!!" Brainiac yelled, holding Meacha's wrists as she desperately tried to kill him. Brainiac looked into her eyes and saw nothing but pure hatred. He let go of one of her wrists for a moment to throw her, and grab something, anything that could knock some sense into Meacha. He grabbed a bar stool, and held it towards her, trying to fend her off.

"Violet, get everyone out of here!! I don't know how long I can keep her away from you!!" yelled Brainiac over his shoulder

"No!! I'm not leaving you!!" she screamed back

"Just go!! It's me she wants- well, I think it is"

Xara looked petrified, and her skin looked deathly pale. She was muttering something under her breath rather fast, and very quietly. Kell-el grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the scene. Brainiac threw the stool at Meacha's head, knocking her out. Whether she used to work for a psycho or not, she was still his best friend and he'd rather not leave her.

Back at legion headquarters, Kell-el was wrapping Xara in a blanket. Although she was away from any form of danger, she still looked very pale. Her large green eyes were staring at nothing in particular, she didn't answer when anyone called her name, so Kell-el waved his hand in front of her face. She still carried on looking at virtually nothing. Kell-el tapped her shoulder. She still didn't look up. Everyone left her alone. It was probably the shock. Xara looked up a few minutes later, and bought her knees to her chest, looking out the window. She rested her head on the glass, looking out. She got up suddenly, and dropped the blanket on the floor, looking for someone- anyone. She had to tell someone what she'd just seen.

In Brainiac's lab, Meacha was lying on a table, still knocked out. Everyone was crowded round her.

"I just want to know why she'd do something like this" said Brainiac, holding his head in one hand.

"Maybe she didn't know she was doing anything like this" piped in Bouncing boy

"I don't know. We'll have to ask her when she wakes up- which could take ages" suggested Triplicate girl

"So, what do we do until she wakes up?" asked Chameleon boy

Everyone looked at each other for some sort of explanation

"I'm going to see how Xara is" said Kell-el, walking out

Everyone walked out, leaving Brainiac to wait for Meacha to wake up.

After about 10 minutes of waiting for her to wake up, Brainiac got impatient, and yanked the headband off. Meacha's eyelids twitched, and her eyes opened

"What took you so long?" asked Brainiac. Meacha sat up, only to realise she was strapped to a table

"Oh, very funny. Where am I?" she asked "and what happened anyway?" she added

"Who was that man? He called himself "Master"" asked Brainiac

Meacha thought for a minute "I was infiltrating an enemy base at one point to get answers. Next thing I know, that idiot comes along in the base. The last thing I remember was being dumped on Colu. That's why the coluans don't trust me, because I became a pirate" Meacha looked as if she was going to cry "I should've told you. I guess I just, blanked. The sight of him bought me back to my senses. I'm sorry"

"When was this exactly?"

"Well before Imperiex started to have fun. I was dumped, and then tried to find you. I told you I blanked. Maybe this was what I was doing."

"Why didn't you resist the headband when he was doing this?"

"Couldn't. It was fixed on my hard-drive"

"You don't have a hard-drive now. You can resist"

"Oh, goody" Meacha smiled at the thought. "What do we do with him now we know about the head-piece?"

"Throw the loser in Takron-Galtos. I want this over by breakfast- I'm starving here…" said Brainiac, holding his stomach as it growled

Meacha smiled. "Can you get the straps off me now?"

"Oh sure." He said, getting rid of the straps on the bed. Meacha clicked her neck. Brainiac flinched

"That was gross" Brainiac pointed out

"I know, but my neck hurts" smiled Meacha

Xara came running around the corner

"I've found you at last!! I need to tell you something" she panted

Brainiac called everyone to the meeting room. Everyone sat down to hear what Xara had to say

"Um, I've just seen something, and I don't know whether it's going to happen or not, but you've got to get out of here" she said

"What did you see?" asked Star boy

"Uh, a ship. It looked like that "Master" person was coming to find you, well, Meacha anyway"

"What does he want from her?" asked Cosmic boy "Besides her being his servant" he added, glancing at her

"I wasn't even aware until now that he was using me" growled Meacha, back in her old outfit

An argument broke out, arguing whether or not Meacha was guilty of the crimes she'd committed, and not been aware of. Xara held her head, and grabbed the microphone of Brainiac

"It isn't Meacha he's interested in!!" she bellowed over the voices of the Legion

Brainiac rubbed his ear "Ouch, that hurt" he mumbled

"Sorry" muttered Xara; she went back to her megaphone. "The 'Master' was never interested in Meacha; she was never valuable to him, only the information she carried was partly valuable"

"What information? And who was more valuable?" asked Triplicate girl

"Think about it. Who did Meacha know most about?" said Xara

"The legion?" said Chameleon boy stupidly

"Good guess, but you need to be a little more precise" Xara smiled

Everyone thought. Superman looked up

"Um, what qualities does this person have? 'Cos I've got a good idea who" he asked

"Good with trying to take over the universe, clever."

The legion still had blank faces

Xara carried on describing "Blond haired, short, well, shorter than me at the minute, green. Likes tuna salad…green eyes…"

She was gesturing to this person, but no one guessed

"Uh. Meacha?!" answered a very stupid Cosmic boy. Xara looked like she could have thrown something at him, sadly Meacha got there first, flicking a rubber band at him

"Is an older version of this puppet, and is a younger version of this doll…name begins with a 'b'" Meacha said, holding the puppets up

Cosmic boy raised an eyebrow. "No, seriously, who?!"

Xara's eye twitched, pointing at Brainiac

The legion sighed on knowing the answer

"Wait a minute, Brainiac's the target?" exclaimed Superman, standing up

Brainiac gulped.

"Not so much him. Brainiac 1.0 would have made a fine addition to this 'master's' army. Sadly, he was out of date to find the original, so he thought a descendant would be just as good. He was wrong" explained Xara

"How'd you know all this?" asked Kell-el

"My ability to find the information I want is pretty good. I simply looked into the 'master's' mind, and saw what he wanted, the second we saw each other. Meacha was only ever a decoy. He wanted us to see what he thought he wanted. Sadly, he needs to know exactly who he's dealing with before messing about"

"And, who is he dealing with exactly?" asked Shrinking Violet

"In short, the legion, a witch who can get whatever she wants, just by muttering a spell, and a very young goddess" Xara explained

"Where are you from exactly?" Kell-el asked Xara

"Zarok" she answered

"The sorcerer's world?" he said

Xara nodded "The reason I can do magic"

"What happened to the hat-thing you have to wear?"

"Not for me. I don't need to wear one. The pendant round my neck kind-of helps with that"

"Cool. Do you know what happened to Zyx?"

"Oh yeah. Thankfully, I'd never do anything that offends anyone"

"Uh, coming back to why we're here?" said Cosmic Boy loudly

"Oh, sorry" blushed Xara

"How do we put this moron in prison? I want to both be free and be able to eat again…" growled Meacha, holding her stomach as it growled loudly

"I did tell you that you had to eat before I tested your mind" said Brainiac

"I know. I did. And I'm still starving to death." Meacha added

"Back to the situation?" said Xara

Everyone paid attention

"To get this 'Master' into prison, we need to have a decoy. I was going to suggest Meacha, but I suspect that he would notice a change in his assistant's mind, so naturally we need a different decoy. Someone he needs". Xara was looking right at Brainiac

"Oh, great" he muttered

"Yes. You are the very person he wants, but, I was thinking…a little more robotic" Xara looked directly at Chameleon boy

"Ok, I'll try" said Chameleon boy. In a few seconds he was Brainiac as a robot. Meacha held up a mirror

"Wow!! So this is what it feels like to be Brainiac. Cool!" He started checking out every feature Brainiac had had before. He looked at the original "I'm jealous…"

"Why's that?" said Brainiac

"Because you don't put on weight as easy. Cool body or not, I'm still agreeing that the 'mark of the terror' was your face…" he added as he looked at Brainiac's face in the mirror

Brainiac stood for a moment with his mouth open before sprinting after him.

The two went running out of one door, and came running in through another. Brainiac pounced on Chameleon boy like a cat on an old tired mouse. Chameleon boy twisted Brainiac's arm round

"Ouch!! My arm doesn't bend that way…" he pleaded

Chameleon boy smirked "Stop chasing me"

"Say that the 'mark of the terror' isn't my face" smiled Brainiac

Chameleon boy opened his mouth to answer back, but Shrinking Violet stepped in

"Enough boys. Brainiac, don't be so sensitive, Cham, don't say Brainiac's ugly- he's actually rather cute—"

"Hear hear!!" shouted Meacha cheerfully

Brainiac looked up, mortified at Meacha's comment

"Now both of you apologise" added Shrinking Violet, trying not to laugh at Meacha's comment

"Sorry" said Chameleon boy and Brainiac

"Thank you" said Shrinking Violet, flying back to her seat.

Chameleon boy walked off, changing back to himself as he went

Xara opened her mouth "Actually, the Brainiac I was thinking of was the original"

"Oh" Chameleon boy changed into Brainiac 1.0, and flew to Brainiac

"Brainiac, I am your great, great grandfather, now, go do my bidding and clean your room…" he said, mimicking Brainiac 1.0's voice

Brainiac snorted with laughter. Shrinking Violet laughed, and blushed, she muttered to Meacha, who was sitting next to her

"I hate my laugh"

"Oh, come on, it's cute"

Chameleon boy continued to mock Brainiac 1.0. Xara stepped in

"Ok, we get the message."

Chameleon boy went back to his seat, giggling away. Brainiac bit his lip and stayed quiet, still smiling

Xara then looked at Meacha "I need you to wear that headband and that jumpsuit, just to gather more information. The headband will keep you in control but give 'master' the impression that you are still under his control"

Meacha looked surprised "Ok, but I really don't think he'll fall for that trick" she smiled

"Brainiac, you'll need to stay on the ship or go somewhere safe" Xara turned to him

"College doesn't count as safe, does it?" he asked sarcastically

"Actually, no it doesn't" smirked Xara

"Ok, staying on the ship" said Brainiac loudly

Xara smiled "We'll need to infiltrate the 'master's ship', which should be coming round," she looked at a watch "right about now"

A bang from the front end of the ship sent the legion flying out of their seats. Bouncing boy sprinted to the controls. Meacha immediately helped to edit her headband, before putting it on, along with her jumpsuit. She sprinted to "assist" her "master"

Chameleon boy immediately turned into Brainiac 1.0, and ran off to help Meacha. The two took a deep breath, and walked stiffly onto the 'master's' ship

Brainiac was about to run to his lab, when he thought about something. If the 'master' realised Chameleon boy was mimicking Brainiac 1.0, then the lab was going to be one of the first places he'd want to look, so Brainiac took another direction. Shrinking Violet was just walking out of her room, in the outfit she wore whenever she was on a mission. Brainiac sneaked in, lurking under her bed, just to hide. He could feel the ship shaking, and tried hard not to think about what was happening, but it was futile.

Bouncing boy was waiting for Meacha's signal that she and Chameleon boy were on the ship, it came later than he thought

On the 'master's' ship, Meacha was trying to act like she had done before- cold, relentless, heartless and uncaring, and with hardly any facial expression. Chameleon boy was desperately trying to swallow his fears, and act like Meacha, only with a hint of superiority. The two soon reached the control room

"I have bought the person you desire, Master" said Meacha, bowing slightly.

"Of course you have. You have done well. I had my doubts, as you are young, but you show better qualities than the other dimwits working for me" The "master" had his hand on Meacha's shoulder. Although Chameleon boy couldn't see it in her face, he could sense Meacha's fear.

"And you must be Brainiac 1.0, an honour to have you on my ship" the "master's" tone was flattering, but Meacha knew that Brainiac 1.0 wouldn't have cared.

"Who says it is your ship?" asked Chameleon boy harshly. Meacha bit her lip to try not to laugh. The "master" took a few steps back; he had been unaware of Brainiac 1.0's desire to rule. Meacha winked at Chameleon boy

"I was more hopeful that you would work for me" hissed the 'master'

"No, I work for no-one; I only demand their utmost respect and undivided allegiance to me" Chameleon boy said with a superior air

The 'master' was rather taken back. He hadn't planned for this.

"I don't understand" he hissed

"I know, to avoid me deleting you, I suggest that you join me" said Chameleon boy

"Meacha, get him!!! Snarled the 'master'

Meacha didn't move

"I have already sworn my allegiance to Brainiac 1.0." She said with no feeling, standing next to Chameleon boy, but telepathically, she muttered to the entire legion "having this much fun should be illegal…". Meacha was trying hard not to laugh

Chameleon boy looked at the foolish man in front of him, and the 'master' looked at Meacha

"You were my servant, and you swore an oath" he growled

"I know. But I am now Brainiac 1.0's commander, and right hand assistant, and he promises to take far better care of me"

"I'm sure he will" snarled the 'master'

"Come with me, and you will see what will be your ship, if you wish to me one of my commanders, and you will have the best seats in my empire" said Chameleon boy, his hand outstretched. The 'master' took it. Chameleon boy teleported them back to the Legion's ship, and enclosed the 'master' in a box.

Meacha tapped on the wall, smiling. She took off her headband, and swung her hair about. Chameleon boy automatically turned back into himself. The 'master' hammered on the wall.

"Where's Brainiac gone?" asked Shrinking Violet. Meacha shrugged. A bang from one side of the ship sent just about everyone to the side of the ship

"What the heck was that?!" yelled Triplicate girl

"Let's go find out" shouted Kell-el

"Uh, Meacha, Chameleon boy, Triplicate girl and Shrinking Violet, stay here" ordered Superman, as the others flew off. They came back several minutes later with a very pretty pink skinned girl, with red hair and beautiful green eyes. She was wearing a purple puff-ball dress complete with matching shoes. The tiara on her head made everyone think she was royalty

Meacha cringed, before saying to Chameleon boy: "Hold me back if I look like I'm going to kill her"

"Why?"

"Dawn and I go back years. I thought I'd seen the last of her when we were trying to help Brainiac"

"Why?" repeated Chameleon boy

"She chickened out trying to fight my people"

"And she also remembers you being a space pirate" smirked Dawn her hand on her hip

Meacha tried hard not to retort

"Oh, you don't know, do you? She was a space pirate" she said loudly to the legion

"We know that, but she was under someone's influence at the time, and was unaware of her actions" said Kell-el. Meacha smiled, glad someone was backing her up

"Well, I still think she's likely to go the same way as before" added Dawn. Meacha's face fell, and her hand started to twitch. She started towards Dawn, but Chameleon boy grabbed her hand, and Shrinking Violet grabbed the other

"Don't let her get to you" whispered Shrinking Violet. Meacha took a deep breath, and relaxed. She switched on a smile. Dawn smirked

"I can see right through that you know. You still haven't forgotten I know you very well"

"And I still remember you. You left Brainy and me to go it alone. I nearly got killed as a result. At least I got him out"

"Where is Brainiac anyway?" she said, hastily changing the subject

"That's the problem. We have no idea" piped in Superman

"Oh. I can help find him" Dawn smiled

Meacha rolled her eyes. Trust Dawn to want to turn Brainiac away from her. She always had.

"Uh, ok" said Shrinking Violet. Dawn grinned

Everyone split up. Shrinking Violet was hoping to search Brainiac's lab, and his room, but she wanted to change into something more comfortable first- her pyjamas- she was tired, and wanted to go to bed immediately after. She went back into her room, and found her pyjamas on her bed as always. She was just putting on her nightshirt when a hand grabbed her ankle. She screamed, and lay flat on her stomach to see what was under her bed

"Brainiac, get out from under there!! And what are you doing in my room?"

Brainiac straightened up "I was told to find somewhere to hide, and your room seemed…"

"Like a good place? Fair enough. Why didn't you come to the control room?"

"I just wanted to know if it was safe to come out"

Shrinking Violet shook her head, smiling

"What are we going to do with you? You have an old friend on the bridge by the way"

"Who?"

"Someone called Dawn". Brainiac groaned. "What's wrong?"

"She nearly got us killed. She also has it out for Meacha, so it's probably best to get her off this ship, pretty soon"

"Yikes, sounds dangerous"

Brainiac nodded. Shrinking Violet tilted her head to the side. "We've got to let the team know you're safe though"

"Ok, let's get Saturn girl" said Brainiac

"Or, we could use a communicator" smiled Shrinking Violet, pulling hers out. She talked into it, saying clearly "Bingo!!"- a saying that she used when she was trying to be discreet when she'd found something, and knew an enemy was around, although Dawn could hardly be called an enemy

A crash came from outside the corridor, Violet poked her head out. Meacha was on the floor, Dawn picked her up.

"What does 'bingo' mean? What are you hiding from me? Stop looking at me like that!!" Meacha was thrown against a wall. Violet ran out

"What the heck is going on here?" she shouted. Dawn had her hand on Meacha's throat

"Um, she was hiding something from me. I found this in her pocket, and someone said Bingo, I think she's a spy". The thing was a communicator that Meacha had made to stay in touch with the Legion

Violet shook her head "That is a communicator she uses to keep tabs on everyone. We know she has it"

"But, she might be a spy. What does Bingo mean?" said Dawn

"I said Bingo. I've found the thing she was looking for"

"Brainiac?" Dawn eyes lit up

"Nope. I found her- um- favourite shirt. It's been missing for ages. Turned up in my room. Mistake I'm afraid" Shrinking Violet came out a few minutes later with the shirt Brainiac had been wearing, leaving Brainiac topless

"Oh. Looks a little big to be Meacha's shirt" said Dawn, unimpressed

"Oh, no. I like it. It keeps me looking slim, and It's more of a nightshirt than anything else" smiled Meacha, taking it from Shrinking Violet, and looking at Brainiac

"Lookin' good" she said telepathically to Brainiac, who folded his arms. Dawn walked off. Shrinking Violet looked at Meacha, whose arm was bleeding

"Ouch, that looks bad, come on in" said Violet, noticing Meacha's injury. Brainiac looked at it, and bandaged it up

"She has it out for me. I know she does" said Meacha shakily as she was being bandaged up. "I think she got my hand as well. I can't feel anything" she added, shaking her left hand, which looked swollen

"She's broken your hand as well. What happened?" asked Violet with a worried tone in her voice

"I don't know. She heard the communicator. Next thing I know she's beating the living daylights out of me in the corridor, trying to get answers. She's nuts" Meacha shivered. Brainiac was bandaging up Meacha's hand, when the Legion came in

"What happened to her?" exclaimed Timber wolf

"Dawn. When I approached her, she was strangling Meacha. Thinks she's a spy". Explained Shrinking Violet. Meacha nodded, holding her injured hand

Dawn's voice came from the corridor. Brainiac jumped under the bed. Meacha stood up, shaking her head and pointing to Brainiac's hiding place. Her message was clear- "He isn't here"

The Legion moved to let Dawn through

"Where is he?" Dawn growled. Meacha shook her head

"I know he's here, so don't play cute. You're in enough trouble as it is, pirate" Shrinking Violet stepped in for the second time

"Stop picking on Meacha all the time. She's done nothing wrong" said Shrinking Violet

"Sure she hasn't. Everyone in the universe knows about her" Dawn explained

"Er, my mum is the President of the United Planets. I talked to her about Meacha's case, and Meacha's been cleared of all charges" piped in Phantom Girl "I can make her come here if you don't think so" she added threateningly. Timber wolf looked at her, smiling

"Not to forget, Meacha's mother is the queen of Colu, so I'd advise you to stop bullying her" said Bouncing Boy, trying not to laugh at Brainiac's scared face looking out from under the bed.

Dawn stalked off, realising she was fighting a losing battle. Brainiac mouthed "has she gone?". Lightning lad looked at Dawn's shadow moving away, and nodded. Brainiac crawled out.

"Remind me why I bothered to make friends with a maniac" said Brainiac

"Me or her?" asked Meacha looking up from her spot on the floor

"Her"

"Um, she just automatically assumed that we were friends with her. Not to mention she has a crush on you, and a desire to pull you away from everyone you ever cared about"

"Like you"

"And everyone else" added Meacha, looking at her feet. "I need some sleep" she said, standing up

"We just need to put our guest in Takron- Galtos" said Lightning lad

"Her?" smiled Meacha hopefully

"No, him". Meacha held her head, she pulled a small chip out of her pocket

"In case anything happens to me. I really don't think I'll last to long" she said, holding the chip out. Brainiac looked at the chip, and then, with a "just take it" look from Meacha, took it.

They put the 'master' in Takron-Galtos, and made sure that Meacha would be safe in a room of her own on the ship. Brainiac had gone back to sleep in his own lab, with the door locked, to keep Dawn away

Meacha woke up in the middle of the night, and walked along to the kitchen to get a drink. She closed the fridge door, only to be greeted be Dawn

"Look, leave me alone. I've done nothing wrong" she said angrily to Dawn

Dawn blinked "I know. I shouldn't have gotten angry. Maybe people do change" she said, looking at the floor

"You better be serious" said Meacha, taking a step forward, but keeping her distance

"I am. Really" nodded Dawn "You didn't bother to fight back, and that's kind- of what I wanted. To prove that you weren't doing anything wrong" she said, taking a step towards her.

Meacha looked out a window "Then, gain my trust then letting me do a mind scan. Everyone knows that if you let me do a mind scan, it's a good sign that you trust me" she said

"Fine" said Dawn. Meacha put her hand to Dawn's head and began a mind check, but Dawn grabbed the mark on Meacha's chest, which choked her, Meacha was on her knees when Brainiac came walking in. He was about to run out, but he saw Meacha on the floor, and ran to help her. Dawn tried to stop him

"She did a mind check on me. I reacted in a way that seemed appropriate" she said sweetly. Brainiac looked at her "How could you?" he whispered

Brainiac screamed for help. Kell-el came running in, as well as Superman

"Dude, what's with the-" began Superman, but he stopped short at the sight of Meacha on the floor

"Get her to my lab, now, and get Saturn Girl. If she's who I believe she is, then she should be fine" Kell-el picked Meacha's limp body, and put her on Brainiac's bed. Saturn girl came in shortly.

"Can you do a mind check on her?" asked Brainiac. Saturn Girl nodded

"She'll be fine. Her body's pretty much healing, but as long as her mind is in a healing state, she'll be fine," she pulled Brainiac closer and lowered her voice "Although, we're lucky that Dawn didn't grab Meacha's head, or she'd have been finished. Because her mind was occupied, well. It wouldn't have been able to cope with two things. Best to keep her under watch." Saturn girl pulled out a device, that had 'mind activity' written on the top, and 'pulse' at the bottom. Both the titles had meters under it.

"When do you think she'll wake up?" asked Brainiac

"No idea. Hopefully…in about a week" said Saturn girl, smiling

Brainiac took the monitor and relaxed a little, knowing Meacha would be safe. He walked out the room, smiling a little. Shrinking Violet came up to him, and put her hand on his shoulder. She was carrying a large textbook

"Look what I found in this book. I did some research on Meachiami, but nothing came up. Until I found this"

She opened a page. There was a picture of a statue of Meachiami on one of the pages. Violet explained

"I don't know why, but Meacha could be a regeneration of Meachiami. I looked up when she was first heard of, and look what it came up with". Brainiac looked at it

"The same year I came online"

"It's also the time she died. There was no record of her in Metropolis, or anywhere else but Colu"

"So, Meacha having those powers is a mere coincidence?" he said. Shrinking Violet nodded.

"I found more stuff, I found what she said before she'd died- the place she was from was Metropolis, but 9-10 years from now- which is weird. She was fighting something called Brainiac 1.0, but couldn't kill him, and that her friends were dead"

Brainiac clicked his fingers suddenly "She used time-bubble technology, and now she's a paradox, because her fate should have been by Brainiac 1.0"

Shrinking Violet put her hand on her hip "You're in the wrong career". Brainiac smiled. Superman came along "Um, you do realise it's past midnight, we should probably get some sleep. Meacha's safer. Computo locked the doors of your lab from the inside"

"I think I'll stay up. I'm not that tired" said Brainiac. The yawn after made Superman laugh

"Bed" he said firmly. Shrinking Violet escorted him to his quarters.

Brainiac was awoken in the morning by the monitor that Saturn girl had given him. Meacha's mind levels were high, and her pulse was there. Brainiac smiled, but frowned when he noticed just how high her mind levels were. No- one could survive that much stress. The levels soon died down, making him sigh in relief, but the pulse was dying with it. Soon, there was nothing on the monitor.

"No" he shouted. Shrinking Violet fell out of her bed onto his mattress (he'd been sleeping on her floor). She pulled her hair out of her face only to see him sprinting along the corridor, she got up and ran after him. Brainiac couldn't open the door when he arrived- It was locked from the inside.

"Computo, over-ride locks!!" he half- shouted in his desperation. The doors opened, and Brainiac and Shrinking Violet were greeted with the sight of Meacha on the floor. Brainiac ran up to her, and tried to wake her up, but Meacha's head rolled from side to side.

Meacha was dead

Brainiac held her head in his hands, trying to stop his tears. Shrinking Violet hugged him. Brainiac stood up, and as he did, the chip Meacha gave him fell out of his pocket. He picked it up. Violet put her hand on his shoulder, Brainiac looked at the chip and then to Violet's face. The other Legionnaires arrived; Porcupine Pete and Infectious Lass had Dawn

"How did you get here?" asked Lightning Lad, looking impressively at Porcupine Pete. Infectious Lass pulled out a tracking device from Dawn's pocket

"We did some research on this "Master" person, and we found that he was taking orders from someone else" said Infectious Lass "So we tracked this person down. It was pretty obvious from the beginning, but we wanted to make sure"

"Obvious in what way?" asked Triplicate girl

"We found this on board the Master's ship" said Porcupine Pete, holding out a photo. It was of the Master and Dawn. The Master's arm was around Dawn's shoulder, and she didn't seem to mind

Lightning Lad looked at the photo "Father and daughter. Should've guessed" he muttered to Saturn Girl

Brainiac was holding Meacha in his arms and the chip in one of his hands

Shrinking Violet looked up at the two substitutes "Take her to Takron-Galtos."

Porcupine Pete and Infectious Lass nodded, before forcing Dawn to their ship. Brainiac looked at the chip in his hand

"I wonder what she's saying?" he muttered to himself

Everyone followed him to the control room, where he put the chip in the computer. A video of Meacha came on screen. She smiled

"Hello Legion. If you are seeing this, it means that I am dead, and have given this chip to someone I know very well, and trust very much. First up, I want to say that I enjoyed working for you, and wouldn't change it for anything. Not even the Universe. I also wanted to note that, yes, in fact the second this thing is activated, I teleport home, to Colu. Also, the chip in my neck- ow that one hurt- activates a semi conscience, keeping me alive long enough for me to heal again, so, no. Not dead yet. You'll have to get up pretty quick to catch me out." Meacha giggled "Don't worry, you'll see me again, hopefully. Just…older." She went to turn off the screen, but hesitated "In fact, I might as well do this now" she added. She held up her arm, and recited

"To the legion of Super Heroes, I now make this promise. To use my powers for good, to fight for justice, and protect the innocent. To aid the Legion in times of peril, and to keep their secrets safe. I now choose the name Meachiami to go by. Long live the Legion" she smiled, before the screen vanished.

Brainiac smiled, as did the rest of the legion. So Meacha couldn't join the legion, but even better, they had the coluan "goddess" on their side.