The laser was finished, and it was huge. Kel-el thought about flying up and taking it apart, but Saturn Girl shook her head. "I know what you're thinking, but we can't risk it. If the laser fires before you can destroy it…"

"I know." He clenched his fist. "C.O.M.P.U.T.O, where's Brainiac?!"

"Preparing for phase two of Brainiac 5's transformation. You will not be dealing with him."

"You will be dealing with me."

They turned as Imperiex floated towards them, swords at the ready. "You had your chance for a true battle, Kel-el. Now you all face the edge of my swords. So, who's first?"

XS cracked her fingers. "Dibs." She ran round and round Imperiex. "Slice me if you can, bozo!"

Imperiex smirked. "C.O.M.P.U.T.O."

C.O.M.P.U.T.O aimed its hand at them, and from it shot out a shockwave that hit XS, slowing her to a halt. "Whoa," she rubbed her eyes, "I'm so…sleepy…nap time." She fell to the ground and started snoring.

"I may be proud of my power," Imperiex gently placed a sword next to her neck, "but I've wasted enough time with such nonsense."

Saturn Girl hit him back with a small mind blast, but C.O.M.P.U.T.O reached down and grabbed XS before they could reach her. It placed her inside an empty glass case and shut her inside. "And then there were three."

The three legionnaires stood side by side as Imperiex and C.O.M.P.U.T.O faced them. Kel-el brought his yellow knuckle shields out again. "If we're going to stop the laser, we need to bring them both down."

"Too many years have you given your life to these pests," Brainiac 6 had seen enough on the screens to know the outcome, "you should be thanking me for saving you from such a terrible fate."

Querl was growing impatient. "I've seen enough."

"Have I convinced you of their incompetence?"

He looked his ancestor straight in the eyes. "Not theirs."

The doors to the room opened, and he was shocked to see Supergirl float in, gazing around the new area. "Man, this place is bigger than I had thought…Brainiac 5, you're okay!"

"Supergirl, you shouldn't be here!"

She locked eyes with Brainiac 6. "…You…must be Brainiac, then?"

"And you are lost, Kara Zor-el. You should have stayed inside the city I collected from your dying planet all these centuries ago."

"…This is it?" She groaned, rolling her eyes. "I can't believe, after all these years, I've been so afraid of…of…a toaster on legs!"

"Kara-"

"Are you kidding me?" She gestured to him before glancing Querl's direction. "He's nothing without his skull ship. Look how tiny he is!"

Brainiac 6 gave her a moment to catch up. Then he shifted his body, expanding until he was twice her height and ten times bulkier.

"…I liked tiny."

"For all the times you placed errors in my plans," Brainiac 6 stepped towards her, "I must repay you, Kryptonian."

Querl felt his throne flatten out under him until he was laying across it, a metal clamp holding his neck down. Needles and lasers popped out of the metal, all aimed at his body. "Your technological metamorphosis can wait no longer. I will deal with the intruder while you are reconstructed."

"I don't mean to pressure you," Querl turned his head away from the needles, "but I'd rather not be tinkered with!"

Brainiac 6's arm stretched out, slamming Supergirl into the wall. She countered by grabbing it and racing out into the corridor, dragging him out of the room behind her. Querl heard whirling from inside the flat throne, and the needles started moving over him. He tried squirming but the metal cuffs only clamped down tighter. "Can I get a second opinion before this operation?!"

"I've got one," a small voice came from under the throne, "how about we hold off until further assessments?" Shrinking Violet flipped up onto the metal beside his head, smiling. "Unless you'd rather wait for a real doctor?"

"At this moment, you're better than any doctor in the world."

She snorted before shrinking down and jumping into the throne. The needles were an inch off his skin before something ripped them off. A hand phased into existence and gave him a thumbs up as his metal cuffs clicked open, letting him sit up. He rubbed his wrists as Invisible Kid and Violet joined him off the throne. "Looks like I've dragged the galaxy right back into my family problems."

Invisible Kid shrugged. "We've all got our quirks."

"An interesting discussion for after we save the world…hopefully. You can turn invisible?"

"Hence being called Invisible Kid."

"Follow Supergirl and make sure Brainiac 6 doesn't destroy her. Shrinking Violet, you and I are going to a bit of hacking."

Invisible Kid hid from their sight before leaving the room. Querl ran over to the main console to find the legionnaires on the screen fighting a losing battle. "Kel-el, Saturn Girl and Blok aren't going to be able to hold on against Imperiex and C.O.M.P.U.T.O for much longer. Not on their own."

"Good thing they aren't on their own," Violet stood beside him, "they have us."

"If we can hack into my ancestor's files and override the corruption on C.O.M.P.U.T.O, we should be able to free the rest of the Legion from its mind control. Can you locate its firewalls and reroute them?"

"You even need to ask?" She shrunk down and disappeared in between the buttons as he began searching through the ship's database.

"Commencing laser preparations for emergency use," C.O.M.P.U.T.O spoke through the speakers, "please place required code into system to activate."

"I've got a code for you," Querl typed into the computer, "but it won't be ending with any activation."

The screens flickered as C.O.M.P.U.T.O's voice was thrown off balance. "WhErE sHaLl We SiNg By ThE mOoNlIgHt, WhEn ThE dAy Is DoNe?"

"Sorry, old friend," he pressed the flashing red button, "but the Legion comes first."

The screens went blank. "Let's just hope this works…for all our sakes."

C.O.M.P.U.T.O has always been a cool concept to me. A program that knows everything about the Legion, and only years after it's formed does someone thing "hey, what if I, you know, took all that important intel for myself, thus learning everyone's weaknesses?" Sorry, Emerald Empress, finders keepers when it comes to the defeat of the Legion. Now let's just hope Brainy knows what he's doing. Three years of travel can really mess with you...

Until the next chapter!