I've written for Legion of Super Heroes before, but this will be my first time crossing it over with Young Justice. This chapter will come off a little rushed, but hopefully it will be enjoyable for you readers.
The story is set post-Season One for LOSH, and it is set pre-Denial for YJ.
I don't own either fandom. I wish I did. But wishing on a star doesn't always come true. Lying cricket.
Brainy liked to drown himself into projects when upset. His recent reason was because of Superman's departure no more than one month ago. While it had only been a month since Brainy had last seen his idol and best friend, to the 31st Century, Superman was dead. The youngest member knew better than to actual dwell on that.
So, to pass his time, he began to work on the time bubble. He had always planned on fixing it up, and now felt like a good time to do so. The team didn't need him for missions, not with almost all of the Legion housing at the tower once more.
His friends had tried to get him out of working on it, bribing him with trips to museums and other things that Brainy could easily turn down. It was getting so bad that he had to lock his door on them on a weekly basis (since Cosmic Boy and Bouncing Boy would override the command; COMPUTO wasn't as loyal as everyone thought it was). None of them appreciated privacy it seemed, at least when it came to him. Honestly, he may be young, but he was more than capable to take care of himself. They also didn't seem to understand that Brainy just needed to fix up the time bubble and then he'd be good to go.
"Brainy," Saturn Girl said while knocking on his door. "It's not healthy to be locked up like this, even for you."
"Busy," Brainy responded like always.
"Brainy," Saturn Girl sighed.
"I'm almost done," Brainy snapped. He was. He almost had it finished. Then he'd rejoin them and-
Oh...he wasn't supposed to have hit that. That was not a piece to have messed with. Before he could say a thing and reverse what he had done, a sphere encompassed the Coluan. The light flashed, and once it died out, Brainy was no longer around.
Green Arrow sat with a cup of coffee in one hand and the newspaper in the other, watching the lights on the dashboard do absolutely nothing. Really, why wasn't an intern doing this? This felt like a job for an intern, not him. He'd bring this up, but Batman's already vetoed bringing in innocent civilains. So yeah, he wasn't going to go up against the Bat unless someone was on his side.
He was one of the few members at the Hall. Most everyone else was on patrol or doing heroics elsewhere. Batman, Aquaman, Flash and himself were at the Hall, keeping it running. So really, the Hall was silent with Green Arrow unable to talk to anyone to pass the time. He was about to go back to his paper when he saw a light in the Metropolis area. Something had tipped the radar. Tapping into the satellite, he was able to pull up the video. What he saw almost made him drop his cup.
"This is not good," he commented as he went for his communicator.
"What is it?" Batman grouched.
"We've got a Brainiac clone in the middle of Metropolis Park," Green Arrow said in a serious tone.
"Come again?" Hal Jordan requested, having hoped into the conversation.
"You heard me. He has the Brainiac symbol, looks like him too," Green Arrow said. "He just looks smaller, and he has hair. Weird."
"Jordan, you, Aquaman and I will head out," Batman ordered.
"What about Superman?" Aquaman asked.
"Do you want half of Metropolis to be destroyed?" Batman challenged.
Silence was met to that question, definitely because they couldn't challenge Batman on that statement.
"If we need him, I'll call," Batman said, probably to ease their concerns. "Until then, monitor him."
"Righto," Green Arrow responded, switching off his com. "This may get ugly."
Hal had arrived to the scene first, and played crowd control with the other police. The Brainiac clone hadn't woken up yet, which was actually a plus for them. However, Hal wasn't willing to face it alone without some back-up. As he was ushering pedestrians away to a safer location, he saw a flying ship appear from the sky and land in the park, only a few feet from where the clone laid. Hal quickly flew over to it, and nearly groaned when he saw the young Team stepping out of it. He really didn't need to watch out for them while dealing with the clone. Double checking that he wouldn't have to worry about the crowd, the Green Lantern flew over to where the group was gathering.
"Is this close enough?" Miss Martian asked.
"Yeah," Artemis responded.
"Hey, what are you kids doing here?" Hal asked, landing in front of the assembled group.
"We're not kids," Superboy snarled in anger.
Hal held up his hands in surrender. A moody Superboy was not who he wanted to deal with at the moment. He needed to be at full strength if he had to deal with the Brainiac. And they have proven themselves as of late, so perhaps they could be trusted with this. And besides, it was better to have nine instead of three up against the thing.
"Alright alright," he consented. "So how did you know to come here?"
"Aside from it being all over the news?" Robin asked with a smirk.
Hal nodded his head. He hadn't thought of that.
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," he said. "You all realize Batman will have your heads for this."
"Maybe," Robin shrugged. "But I'm not passing up a chance to fight Brainiac."
Hal shook his head. He was going to warn them against overconfidence and to not underestimate Brainiac's ability, when he was cut off by the sound of squealing tires.
Goodie, Bats is here, Hal thought, looking over to watch the Dark Knight and the King of the Sea stepping out of the Batmobile.
The two Leaguers walked over to their assembled group. Hal watched the exact moment that Batman's slits narrowed even more at the sight of the Team. However, he didn't make a comment to them as he stalked past them and to the figure laying against the grass.
"He's a strange one," Aquaman commented. "He looks almost human."
"That's what's weird," Hal said with a nod. "Why would Brainiac have a clone like that?"
Batman shook his head. Something wasn't adding up, but he wasn't sure.
Brainy felt himself coming back from falling unconscious. The blast had been powerful enough to force him to knock out, which wasn't great because he felt groggy. He started to move his limbs, getting to his knees. It was at that moment that he heard something. Turning his head, his purple optics were focused on several weapons being pointed at him.
Wonderful, he thought dryly.
He stared at the weapons for a moment before blinking when he realized who were pointing the weapons at him.
I have the Young Justice team and three of the Justice League founders pointing weapons at me, Brainy thought to himself. Which means I'm in the past. So I can safely say I'm in a time where the name Brainiac is going to get me killed.
"Stay down," Batman ordered.
"Right," Brainy responded before his optics landed on the red S on Superboy's shirt. He blinked from surprise. "Superman?"
He watched the eyes widen on "Superman" and then before he can blink, he gets punched in the face. The force from the hit sends the android several feet back, hitting a tree along the way. He gets to his knees once more and moves away just in time to see the fake Superman lunging at him.
Definitely not Superman, Brainy thought as he ran his mind through 21st century history. No, no this is Superboy. Superman's clone. I don't remember the records mentioning anything about him being this volatile.
He continues to run from the angry Superboy, and can vaguely hear some of the other team members shout at Superboy. An arrow shot past him, taking a lock of his hair as it passed him by.
Great. Now the whole team is after me, he thought. This may not end well for me.
"Kent! Why aren't you at the park!?" Perry demanded as he stalked into the newsroom.
"Is there a reason to be there?" Clark asked innocently.
"A damn Brainiac is dueling off with that team of young heroes and three Justice League members!" Perry explained, walking over to the desk.
Clark's eyes widened a little as he stiffened. A Brainiac? And he wasn't notified?
"I've heard through the grapevine that it doesn't look like a regular Brainiac. It's smaller, looks almost like a human," Perry continued. "He even has hair like a human! Imagine it, a Brainiac with blond hair. Crazy ain't it?"
A Brainiac with- Oh no, Clark felt his body run cold for a different reason, his thoughts in a panic. Brainy!
The reporter was up and out of his seat, running for the elevator. He ignored his fellow workers who were watching him practically break the button.
"I'll get that report on your desk by tomorrow," Clark shouted as he entered the elevator.
"Wai-" Jimmy was cut off when he saw the elevator leave without him. "He's sure in a rush."
Batman was surprised that the Brainiac clone wasn't fighting back. Instead, it had created a shield using his arm, blocking their attacks. They were trying to corner him, and get close enough for Batman to use his EMP device. It was getting tricky, but they were making headway...
...until a red and blue blur appeared, standing before the clone in protection.
Whoever tipped off Superman about the Brainiac was going to face Batman's wrath. Then again, the media was probably already there, and Superman did work for a newspaper. Something was off with Superman though. He wasn't immediately attacking the Brainiac. Instead, he was looking him over... with concern.
This is strange, Batman thought cautiously.
"You okay?" Superman asked the Brainiac.
The Brainiac looked relieved and dropped his shield, giving Superman a nod. The Man of Steel turned his attention on the heroes, and actually looked a little angry. This was getting more and more annoying for Batman, who wasn't backing down like the others in the face of Superman's glare. It was like Superman was taken over by a completely different person.
"Why wasn't I called?" he demanded.
"Because you go ballistic whenever Brainiac is mentioned," Batman answered, and did he just see the Brainiac flinch?
"This is different," Superman responded.
"How so?" Hal asked, keeping his distance.
"Because he's my friend," Superman answered sharply.
The assembled heroes were shocked into silence at the admission. A Brainiac, Superman's sworn enemy, was his friend. Brainy stayed silent, knowing he should just let Superman handle the situation since the heroes wouldn't believe a word he said.
"Uuuh, you wanna run that by us again?" Kid Flash asked before remembering who he was talking to and added on, "Sir?"
Superman ran a hand over his face, because he really didn't want to explain this out in the open. Too many people were around. But he couldn't really go back to the Hall with the Team following; they weren't ready for it yet.
"We'll go to the Mountain," Superman said. "I'll explain everything there."
"Sir, do you think it's a good idea to bring the Brainiac to the Mountain?" Aqualad asked cautiously; he didn't want to set off the Man of Steel.
"We'll go," Batman broke in, effectively overruling any misgivings the young heroes had. "And you'll explain everything, got it?"
Superman nodded, then looked over at Brainy.
"Does the flight ring work?" he asked.
"I haven't checked," he responded, before levitating into the air. "Good. It wasn't short-circuited."
"Alright, stick close," Superman responded.
"Is this a good idea?" Kid whispered to Robin.
Robin shrugged.
"Superman seems to trust him. And there's something different about the Brainiac," Robin responded in a whisper. "So we'll just see how it goes."
