Disclaimer: I don't own DC

Planet of the Bravest

Chapter 2: The Error

Alex stumbled through the alleyway, grinding his teeth together, trying to fight the pain. He yelled, slamming his back against the wall, he felt his shoulder blades bend and stretch. His hands gripped his belly as he felt his stomach turning. As his eyes glowed a blue colour, Alex yelled out one more time before a metallic substance began to leak out of his nose. Breathing heavily, panicking as the substance begun to run down his neck. He stared at his hand, screaming as it changed into a metallic black gauntlet. Suddenly a pair of spikes burst out of his back and his blood began to spread across his back.

"I assure you meat bag the change only hurts the first time," the voice in his head said.

But Alex's only response was another scream as pads of something burst out of his shoulder. The Blood covering his abs began to solidify, creating a solid material around his arms. Blades burst out of the back of his legs while his chin began to expand. The metallic material covered his mouth, blocking any screams he could release. Then spikes burst out of the back of his head and his blood began to cover his head and eyes. His feet began to change into metallic boots of some kind, whilst the same armour covered his legs. After another agonising minute of pain, Alex was covered in dull grey armour. He opened his eyes, his vision was normal, but when he touched his eyes he felt a pair of eye lenses covering them.

"Ah it seems that human DNA is compatible with the armour…so sorry for the pain meat bag but it is a necessary part of the Sentry armour," the AI explained.

"What are you talking about?" Alex asked.

"Well you see meat bag the armour you're wearing is traditionally only worn by those worthy of wearing it, each individual Sentry armour must seek an individual with qualities that fit the armour, for example this armour model 385 will only grant the wearer full access if they possess determination, as such putting the wearer through intense pain is a way of testing the wearer's resolve…wait why am I explaining this to you, you're only a temporary wearer until I find a more appropriate one."

"Yeah, I suppose a temp is all I'm good for isn't it…how do I get this damn armour off?" Alex asked.

"Hmmm, it seems you're definitely not an appropriate wearer, my scanners indicate you are intelligent for a human, yet you lack any kind of motivation."

"ARE YOU IN MY MIND! GET OUT OF MY HEAD AND TURN ME BACK TO NORMAL!" Alex yelled.

"And your temper is another problem, very well meat bag I will deactivate the armour for now."

Alex widened his eyes as the armour changed into a liquid substance. The liquid travelled off of the rest of his body and through his nostrils. He coughed, clutching his head as he felt information run through his mind. The AI that spoke to him controlled a ship that had crash-landed in Times Square. A previous wearer of the Sentry armour was a scientist researching a cure to a disease that was common on his planet. Walking out of the alleyway, Alex took a deep breath, trying to come to terms with the new information lingering in his mind.

"So let me get this straight, you're the AI for an armour designed by an ancient technorganic race, of which you have no further information on, you came to this planet to warn the people of an incoming threat that intends to wipe us off the face of existence, and you don't choose an actual hero to be your host? Forgive me if I don't see the logic in that," Alex explained, ignoring the looks people gave him as he walked along the street.

"Well you see meat bag had you properly examined the information I have implanted in your mind you would know that meat bag DNA is unknown to the armour, I did not want to risk causing an error by choosing an altered meat bag as a host, that and analysis of their minds indicated that they were not suitable to wear the armour, secondly the Korans are a race of warriors, not much is known about them, except for the fact that they believe themselves to be superior to all other races in the universe…just think of them as these "Nazis", people seeking the mass extermination of groups they feel they are superior to," The AI explained.

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO STAY OUT OF MY HEAD!" Alex yelled.

Again Alex ignored the looks people gave him as he called for a Taxi. Right now he couldn't be bothered to deal with this annoying voice in his head. If he was crazy it was something he would deal with after his parents social gathering. Giving the address of his parent's penthouse to the driver, Alex leant his head back and waited as the driver took him to the tower.

Lois Lane sighed as she looked at her watch. Here she was waiting at the car, dressed in her best red dress with her best makeup and her partner was late. She was a journalist for the famed Daily Planet. Her editor Perry White had ordered her and her partner to go to New York for a party hosted by the Winter's family. She was waiting at her apartment in New York for her partner. Suddenly he came running towards her, huffing and puffing.

"Clark Kent, what the hell took you so long?" Lois asked.

"Sorry Lois, I was at my apartment reading the paper and I guess I just lost track of the time," Clark said, combing his black hair.

Lois huffed, Clark was a good journalist but he could be embarrassing at times. He was tall, and probably had a good build underneath his tuxedo. But he was a farm boy and bookworm from Smallville; he wore glasses, didn't have a big grasp on technology and often clashed with others over his ideals. He was a good person, but a bit naïve.

"Forget it, lets just get there before it begins alright," Lois said.

Clark nodded his head and climbed into Lois's car.

Alex walked into his family's penthouse apartment just as the decorators were finishing their work. He admitted they did a good and fast job; they put up flowers and cloths travelling from one end of the room to the other. The caterers had also finished their work, setting out the buffets of exotic foods. Alex paid them a moment of attention before walking past his parents. He didn't resemble his parents all that much, his mother had a "supermodel" frame and blonde hair, while his father had brown hair, much like Alex's younger brother Dante. The Fourteen year old was a child genius, who had been pampered far too much by his parents. Already he had control over forty percent of their company.

"You're late Alex," His mother said.

"Are the guests here yet?" Alex asked.

"No!"

"Then I'm not late," Alex responded coldly.

"How was your day Master Alexander?" the family's butler Wesley asked.

"It was fine thank you Wesley, will there be anyone my age coming?" Alex asked.

"No sir, it'll all be grown ups I'm afraid."

Alex seemed to show no disappointment, as if he'd only asked the question as some form of courtesy. He walked past the bullet and made his way to his bedroom. The room was dull, bleak like the barracks of an army base. His suit was laid out on his bed, while his bathroom door had been left open. He stripped off and began cleaning his body, running the flannel across any part but his back. Afterwards he sat in the corner of his bedroom, taking a book and reading it.

"Hmmm, are all meat bag families like this?" the AI asked.

"No they aren't, but my situation isn't as bad as others, have any of your wearers been abused by their parents?" Alex asked.

"Actually this model of the Sentry armour has only been worn by one man, who is deceased but no his parents didn't abuse him in any physical or mental way."

"Then we're both lucky," Alex said, getting the information he needed, and then closing the book.

He dried off the rest of his body, and put on his tuxedo. Tonight would be a difficult night, but he would at least try to cope. Lying down on his bed, Alex waited for nightfall and the start of the party. Of course it wasn't what he considered a party, rich middle-aged people were discussing subjects of business that Alex hadn't gained a firm understanding of yet. His parents were laughing as they spoke with several celebrities, they were either actors or singers, or the kind of people that were only celebrities because they had been on one of those Big Brother shows. Alex didn't really care for them, he just stood in the corner watching and waiting.

Lois whistled as she walked into the party, the place was full of famous faces, models and some of her favourite actors. Clark too was in wonder, more of the decorations than anything else. The two walked amongst the rich, Clark listened in one some conversations but didn't find anything that would warrant a story, or concern.

"Oh there they are, the Winters Family," Lois said.

Clark looked at the trio speaking with a few other rich people. Their son was wearing a white tuxedo.

"Don't they have another son?" Clark asked.

"No, where did you hear that from?" Lois asked.

"Our own paper Lois, Mr White wrote about an incident involving their older son…Alex I think his name was," Clark said.

"Damn, that's the first time I've ever heard that…oh wait there's Lex Luthor," Lois said.

Clark narrowed his eyes as a bald man wearing a black suit walked through the crowds. Everyone looked at the man with a mixture of respect and fear. Of course Luthor was one of the most intelligent and richest people on the planet. He walked towards the Winters family, shaking the man's hand and kissing the woman's cheeks.

"Dante, good to see you again, I've looked over the notes of your idea, I cant wait for your presentation…tell me where is Alexander?" Luthor asked.

Lois looked to Clark, surprised by his sudden change of attitude as soon as Luthor entered. She shrugged the surprise off, "Smallville" was probably wondering why Luthor was let out of prison again. Her attention then turned to a blonde haired man wearing a green business suit; his blonde beard was styled and cut perfectly and he had a rather attractive red haired woman with him.

"Oh my god Oliver Queen…he is so hot!" Lois sighed.

Clark blinked in confusion at the woman's attitude. But then the attention of every person turned to the helipad outside the party. A black helicopter landed on the pad, its doors opening to reveal a black haired man dressed in a fine black suit with a blue tie. He stepped off of the chopper, followed by a blonde haired woman, then an African American woman and then a Japanese woman. All three of them were beautiful and followed the man into the party as if he was their date. The rich people raised their glasses as the man entered.

"Bruce Wayne…always the one for a entrance," Clark said, shaking his head at the man's antics.

"Three of the best looking men in the world are here, god I don't know who to talk to first," Lois said.

"How about we talk to the Winters family?" Clark asked.

The two of them walked over towards Lex and the Winters family.

"Mr and Mrs Winters, I'm Lois Lane, I'm with the Daily Planet…I was wondering if we could ask you a few questions?" Lois asked.

"If it's about the project then wait after dinner, in fact why don't you join us, dinner's just about to be served," Mr Winters said.

Mr Winters clapped his hands together, signalling the guests to follow him into the dinning hall. Alex followed the other guests into the hall, intending to get a table to himself. For a while he was alone, until Bruce Wayne came over with his dates.

"These seats aren't taken are they?" Bruce asked.

"Go ahead!" Alex said.

"If they can sit with you then I suppose I can too."

Alex turned his head and frowned as Lex walked over, taking a seat next to him. He shifted slightly, his pose a lot more respectful than it had been with Bruce. It wasn't Lex's more clandestine reputation and the rumours surrounding him, just that Alex saw a lot more of Lex's scientific achievements that could be respected. Wayne though was the shallow image of a playboy billionaire, despite the fact he had no reason to be. A few seconds later a man wearing glasses nervously walked over to the table.

"I'm sorry, there doesn't appear to be any chairs, could I sit here please?" he asked.

Alex was about to say no until Lex interrupted him.

"Clark Kent, of course you can sit here…you are an old friend after all," Luthor said.

"Thank you Lex, you must be Alexander Winters, nice to meet you," Clark said, sitting beside Bruce.

"I know who you are, you're with the Daily Planet, you and your partner revealed the truth behind that murder that happened a few years ago," Alex said.

"Well yes Lois and I did write about that case but really it was Superman who did the important grunt work."

"Oh come now Clark, you and Lois did some important detective work, the evidence you managed to retrieve put the man away, Superman may have caught him but without evidence in a courtroom simply catching a criminal wont put him away," Lex explained.

"True, we've seen too many of those kinds of cases in Gotham, the GCPD cant come up with the right evidence so people just walk away," Bruce added.

"That's not true."

The three men looked at Alex, who cursed himself for speaking out.

"What are your thoughts Alexander, go on," Lex said.

"It's nothing important, just speculation that's all."

"No Alex share it with us, you never know your theory might end up being a fact," Bruce said.

"Well, the way I read it in the papers is that…the GCPD is corrupt sir, I have no intention of offending you but Gotham City is a place where corruption flourishes, unlike metropolis the city has been wrought with poverty, rich people standby and do nothing while dealers and pimps and all the other scum flood the night, if they're not accepting deals with mob bosses so their families can get through the day they're calling for help from a masked vigilante…the police need to be able to do their own work without the intervention of an outside party, in Metropolis the police often have the evidence necessary to put a criminal away gathered before Superman brings them in, can any of you see my point?" Alex asked.

"In order to be strong, people need to learn to depend on themselves," Luthor said.

Alex nodded his head, agreeing with the man's logic somewhat. But Bruce and Clark didn't look convinced. They kept quiet as Dante walked onto a stage, holding a remote for the screen behind him.

"Thank you all for coming here tonight, this was an idea I thought up some time ago…as you know alien life does exist out there, but there are planets like Krypton that faced destruction, but the inhabitants of that planet could not flee, where would their entire race have gone? Well I answer the question for our planet, Mars!" Dante explained, bringing up an image of the planet.

"I believe that with my Terra-genesis project we can successfully terraform the planet, making it inhabitable for our kind, by planting the genetically engineered Terra plant on the planet's surface and giving those plants care down the line the plants would have produced enough Oxygen to make the planet inhabitable, but as you should all know a plan like this requires dedication."

'Dedication translating to money,' Alex thought with his arms crossed.

"You don't like your Brother?" the AI asked.

'Oh wait, of course you can read my thoughts.'

"Funding from Nasa alone will not be enough, we need your help, I promise that with the money you donate to us your names will be remembered as the people who helped us create our new home."

The Inhabitants of the room were just about to give the boy a round of applause until an explosion shook the room. Suddenly, a section of the wall was blown off, causing the inhabitants to shriek as metallic footsteps echoed through the hall. A man with half his face made of metal walked into the room, grinning as he looked at the plant on the table beside Dante. Alex recognised the man as Metallo, a villain from Metropolis.

"All right people, don't move a muscle…just stay in your seats and no one will be hurt," Metallo said.

The Security guards drew their pistols, shooting at the metal man. He merely laughed as the bullets bounced off of his armour. With mere sweeps of his arms, he sent each guard flying into the walls as he walked towards Dante. Alex grinded his teeth together, looking behind him.

'Where the hell is Kent…and for that matter where's Wayne?' Alex wondered.

"So this is one of your planet's "super-villains" he doesn't look very impressive," the AI said.

'He may look like a reject design from a Terminator movie but trust me, he's been able to hurt Superman in the past,' Alex thought.

Metallo looked down at Dante, smiling as the boy stepped back in fear. Then he looked to the Terra plant, it had been put in a glass container so that other people could see it. It was a simple flower with a purple bud, Alex wasn't sure of the details but he did know that it had been genetically designed in one of his family's labs.

"Thank you for your cooperation, have a nice day," Metallo said as his hand moved towards the plant.

Suddenly, the android was thrown off the stage and into the wall. Luthor glared at the man who now stood beside Dante. He was Earth's greatest hero, dressed in his signature blue suit with a red belt and boots and a red cape attached to the iconic red and gold S shield on his chest.

"Everyone, please make your way calmly to the exits, I'll try to draw him out," Superman said as he flew at Metallo.

He delivered a devastating uppercut to the man's jaw, sending him flying through the ceiling. Superman flew after Metallo at speeds the naked human eye couldn't measure. They flew across the city, trading punches with one another.

"Why are you here Metallo?" Superman asked.

"Isn't it obvious, that plant is worth Billions, selling it to a country like Korea would not only give that country an advantage over America but also make me a whole lot richer," Metallo said, delivering a punch to Superman's face.

The Kryptonian was sent flying backwards by a few feet. But he quickly recovered and flew after Metallo. As the people began to make their way out of the hall, Alex looked towards the stage. His parents were helping Dante up off the floor. Suddenly vines began bursting out of the ground, wrapping themselves around some of the people trying to escape.

"This situation may endanger us…sorry Meat bag but you're on your own" The AI said.

Alex expected something to happen, but nothing did.

"Puzzling…it seems there is an error."

'What do you mean?' Alex asked.

"Sentry armour has never fused with human DNA before, it appears your DNA is different from other aliens, I am incapable of exiting your body," the AI explained.

More and more vines began to burst out of the ground before a gigantic plant crashed through the floor, grabbing the Terra plant with its vines. The bud of the mutated plant opened, revealing an incredibly beautiful red haired woman, her skin was green and her skimpy clothing consisted of an assortment of leaves and vines. Her mutated plant gently put the Terraform plant in her hands. She cradled the plant like a child, deeply disturbing Alex and the AI.

"Oh baby, don't worry they wont put you on the lonely dead planet," she said, talking to the plant like a newborn child.

"It seems this plant bag is suffering some kind of illness," the AI pointed out. "Has humanity not yet confirmed the obvious fact that plants, though living creatures capable of growth, possess no brain, thus no capacity to feel pain or emotions?"

'It's called insanity, she's Poison Ivy a psychotic terrorist from Gotham City,' Alex thought.

"And these are the ones who mistreated you…don't worry baby Ivy wont let them hurt you again," Poison Ivy said.

Alex widened his eyes as vines began to wrap around his family members. A pod of some kind crept towards the three people, opening to reveal a set of razor sharp teeth.

"Judging from its behaviour I would say that the plant wants to consume the three meat bags."

'They raised me, I owe them, I just cant stand back and watch them die, cover me in the armour.'

"Negative meat bag, I did not come here for fights."

Alex grinded his teeth together, watching hopelessly as the flytrap moved towards his family. As it opened its mouth, something flew out of the shadows, cutting the vine that bound Alex's family. Alex looked to the shadows as a flurry of blades flew at the flytrap, piercing it.

"NO!" Poison Ivy yelled as the trap howled in pain.

Alex had only heard of this man in the papers, but as he flew out of the shadows and kicked Ivy off of her tree he saw why the scum of Gotham feared him. His incredibly sharp cape was styled after a pair of bat wings as he jumped off of the tree. On the chest of his grey armoured suit was a small black bat symbol. His fierce expression was visible even with the black, pointy-eared cowl he wore. Around his waist was a utility belt filled with the right gadgets for the right situations, and his gloves had gauntlets with three sharp blades sticking out of them. He was Batman, the Dark Knight of Gotham.

"YOU MURDERER!" Ivy yelled.

As vines began to surround Batman he span around, throwing batarangs at the places where every single vine had popped out from. Then he readied another one as his sharp hearing warned him of someone trying to break through the door. The door swung open, revealing a well-dressed puppet, walking on its own. Alex recognised this villain as another Metropolis thief, Toyman.

"So many people are coming to play with us, oh goody!" Toyman said.

"Great, another ill meat bag," the AI said.

'Wait a second, what did he mean by we?' Alex wondered.

The wall was suddenly knocked down as a gigantic yellow mecha walked behind Toyman. To Alex it looked like something from a Japanese cartoon, drawing a gigantic cannon from its hip. Toyman aimed the gun at Batman, who showed no fear as the mecha prepared to fire.

"We need to intervene!" Alex said.

"Weren't you the one that said people needed to learn to depend on themselves?" The AI asked.

Alex shook his head; he didn't have time for the AI's curiosity. His parents and Dante had fainted from the sight of the huge mecha so he was safe revealing his secret. Running from his hiding place, Alex spread his arms out as Toyman fired the cannon.

"Projectile approaching! Engaging Sentry Defence mode!"

The brown and grey armour suddenly covered Alex's body and a pair of shields appeared in his hands. They generated an energy shield that deflected the cannon blast up towards the ceiling. The blast flew in between Superman and Metallo drawing their attention away from their battle for the moment. Batman, Poison Ivy and Toyman stared at the armoured warrior standing before them. Alex sighed; the AI would act in self-defence.

"The best way to keep ourselves safe at this point is to engage the meat bags pathetic robot, activating Sentry attack mode!"

A pair of energy blades replaced the energy shields. Rubbing them together and sending sparks flying across the floor Alex smiled. He could finally defend himself, without speaking any words he ran into the battle.

Next Chapter 3: "Pathetic excuse for a mecha!"

Next up Alex's first fight