Chapter 63: The Great Luthor-Brainiac Team-Up

Disclaimer: All things Supergirl/Superman belong to DC. No infringement is intended.

The conflict began not with a big bang, but rather with innocuous, seemingly unconnected events.

A number of newspapers and news channels began to publish stories about how numerous government officials in America, Europe, and Asia had taken huge bribes that originated with Lexcorp and Lex Luthor. Many of those stories were actually true, though some were years, if not decades old and concerned officials that were long out of office or even dead by now.

A few weeks later there was a huge story in the Washington Times, revealing that a secret government project had acquired Lexcorp military technology for the express purpose of using it against Superwoman. That story was true, too, though details like the project having been discontinued years ago were relegated to the small print. Instead, connections were drawn to the infamous Cadmus Project, by now publically known to have created Supergirl. The implication that Supergirl was originally intended as a weapon to be used against Superwoman was easily read between the lines.

At roughly the same time, the Church of Hope and several other religious organizations that regarded Superwoman as a deity or at the very least an inspiration received huge donations from anonymous sources, enabling them to launch massive recruitment campaigns. Opinion columns and editorials condemning the government bureaucracy for plotting against the savior of the world were numerous and well-received by large parts of the public.

Batman was the first to notice a disturbing trend and informed the rest of the League.

"I have yet to find definitive proof," Batman told the others, "but it seems that someone is putting a significant effort into deitifying Superwoman…"

"You mean more than those churches already do," Green Arrow interjected, causing Kara to grumble under her breath about the idiocy of worshipping her as a goddess.

"While at the same time," Batman continued, "vilifying both established institutions in general and Lex Luthor in particular.

"Could Luthor himself be behind it?" Adam Strange asked. "Who would know better about all his dirty dealings than he?"

"Luthor might be an obvious suspect simply for being on the loose," Kara agreed, "but this isn't really his style. Even after he went to prison, he tried to paint himself as the valiant hero, the philantrope, who wants to protect humanity against the vile alien invader, me. I can't see him creating a new narrative with him as the villain. His ego wouldn't allow it."

"Kara is right," Diana said. "Whoever is doing this, it has to be someone who is intending the exact opposite of what Luthor has tried to accomplish in the past. If Batman is right, then that someone wants her to be regarded as an authority figure, possibly even a benevolent goddess."

Kara was a bit embarrassed that it took her so long to connect the dots. Luthor's mysterious escape from prison that could only have been accomplished using teleportation technology. Cadmus' mysterious technological benefactor. All the advancements made to Luthor's battle armor and Metallo in their recent clash. And now this concentrated effort at making Kara look like a saint and goddess while at the same time attacking established insituttions.

"Brainiac!" she growled.

"It would fit with his stated agenda of turning Earth into New Krypton," J'Onn mused. "With you as the planet's ruler."

"Well, we figured he would be back after Colu," Batman summarized. "It seems he is preparing some kind of big push. Which means we need to be ready to push back!"

Upon first meeting her hybrid daughter Kona, Kara had taken measures to ensure that the girl who had been born in a laboratory was not in any way compromised. The Martian Manhunter had read the girl's mind, making sure that she was telling the truth as she knew it and that there weren't any hidden personalities or triggers in her psyche. The Kryptonian scanners in Kara's polar fortress had not only mapped out the girl's genome to determine her parentage, but had also performed a deep scan for hidden objects, implants, the likes. This should have ensured that there were no surprises.

Of course it was Brainiac who had supplied Cadmus with the technology and necessary knowledge for creating a human-Kryptonian hybrid in the first place. Brainiac, who knew that Kara-El had a telepath on her team. Brainiac, who knew exactly what technological capabilities Kara-El had access to. Brainiac, who had not been idle in the years since Krypton's destruction and had assimilated technology from many different planets, quite of few of them unknown to the Kryptonians.

One such technology had been acquired on the planet Elia, capitol of the Dominion. The Dominators were an alien race that utilized plant-based technology, which was about as different from the crystal-based technology of Krypton as was possible. Brainiac had found it difficult to incorporate this alien technology into the vast arsenal it had access to. Difficult, but not impossible.

The Dominators, who regarded themselves as superior to all other races and civilizations, were huge advocates of subversion and operating behind the scenes. A common saying among galactic civilizations was that a Dominator would never fight openly if a dagger in the back would also do. As such it was hardly surprising that they developed appropriate technologies to support their ideology.

The Dominion-designed bio-chip that had been implanted into Kona's neck while she had still been growing inside her clone tank was completely invisible to Kryptonian and Earth-built technology. While inert, it appeared as just another piece of Kona's body, practically indistinguishable from the tissue around it. It could remain that way for years if need be, undiscovered.

Until it was activated by a specific transmission burst broadcast on a frequency only dogs and Kryptonians could hear.

Clark winced as a shrill noise made his ears ring. A few dozen dogs howled in the distance, clearly every bit as unhappy about the sound as he was. Looking around, his X-Ray vision showed him Martha and Jonathan in the farm's kitchen, entirely unaffected. Ultrasound then, he concluded. Painfully loud ultrasound.

He turned his head, looking for Kona, figuring that she would hear the sound as well. Maybe together they could triangulate the source of it, figure out where it was coming from. When he turned around, though, Kona was standing right behind him.

"Kona, do you...?" he began.

Had he been prepared, he might have had time to react. As it was, though, he needed roughly a second to realize that something was wrong. A second was an eternity to someone already moving at super speed.

Kona lacked the vision powers of full-blooded Kryptonians, but she was every bit as strong and fast as them. Her fist broke the sound barrier as it flew towards Clark's chin and when it made contact, her tactile telekinetic power flared, almost doubling the force of impact.

Clark went flying like a shell shot from a cannon, arcing through the air until gravity reestablished its hold and brought him down in the middle of a corn field miles away from the Kent farm, where he hit with the force of small meteor. Clark noticed none of this, of course, as he was thoroughly unconscious by that time.

By the time Martha and Jonathan came running out of the house to figure out what the ruckus was all about, neither Clark nor Kona were anywhere to be seen.

"What's the emergency?" J'Onn asked as he emerged from the teleporter tube.

"I just got here myself," Batman replied, checking out the computer. "It's Kara's code, but she's not here."

Batman looked around the conference chamber of the Watch Tower. Everyone was here in response to the signal. Adam Strange, Wonder Woman, the Hawks, the Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, himself. The entire League was present except for Kara. All of them gathered in one place, called by someone who wasn't here.

"We should leave," Batman said. "Something isn't right!"

Before anyone could move, though, the lights in the Watch Tower suddenly fizzled and died, plunging the entire room into utter darkness. Emergency lights came on a moment later, tinting everything a deep, bloody red.

"What happened?" Green Arrow asked.

"Everything but the emergency systems have failed," J'Onn replied, trying to get one of the consoles to work. "Teleporters are down, the Javelins are dead as well, and even if they weren't, the shuttle bay doors won't open."

"Meaning we are trapped up here," Diana said, looking grim. "And Kara is on her own."

Batman nodded. "Looks like Brainiac is making his move! We need to act fast!"

Kara was on her way home after half a day of K-Solutions paper work, which she couldn't really concentrate on. Brainiac was planning something, had already set something in motion, but with no clear idea what he would do next or even where he was, all they could do was wait. She had actually talked with Perry White during her lunch break, who agreed that the amount and tone of all those media stories indicated a coordinated effort to push a narrative, but there was little he could do about it. It wasn't like Kara could ask him to publish anti-Superwoman stories.

Something would happen soon, she was certain, something big. Brainiac was preparing some sort of endgame, but what? And how?

"Mom? Mom, can you hear me?"

Kara came to a stop in mid air, her super hearing picking up the distressed voice of her daughter, pitched high into the ultrasound range.

"Kona?" she whispered, looking around.

"Mom, I think I'm in trouble," she heard the voice again. It was coming from the general direction of Metropolis. Kara wasted no time and accelerated in that direction.

Lex Luthor looked out across the vista of Metropolis. Any elation he might have felt upon being back in the city he considered his home and property was overshadowed by the current situation. It was too soon. He was not ready. He had only just begun to decipher the technology of his captor, had only just begun to formulate plans to turn the situation to his advantage. Time was running out, though.

By now he was fairly certain what Brainiac intended for him. The machine might think him too primitive to understand what was happening, but Lex understood enough. He was the bad guy in this play that Brainiac was staging. The dastardly villain that was supposed to go down in flames against the heroic savior of the world.

Brainiac didn't want Superwoman (who was apparently called Kara-El, an interesting if useless piece of information) to leave Earth so she could build a new Krypton elsewhere. No, Lex was certain that Brainiac had already selected the world that was supposed to become New Krypton. This world. Lex' world. Brainiac wanted to take his world away from him and transform it into an alien paradise.

The Supergirl, that hybrid creature Cadmus had been used to create, was merely the start. Soon this world would be teeming with half-aliens, human DNA corrupted to recreate an extinct species. Real humans would soon become the endangered species, then vanish entirely within a few generations. Superwoman would rule his world like a goddess, something that simply could not be allowed. Lex was beginning to have doubts that Superwoman was actually in on Brainiac's plans, but in the end it didn't matter.

So here he stood, on top of his own building, the Lexcorp tower, awaiting his fate. According to Brainiac the enhanced battle armor he wore would put him on equal footing with the Kryptonian and Lex was supposed to defeat her in battle. How this was supposed to motivate Superwoman to leave Earth behind was unclear, but it was a lie anyway. Lex was fairly certain that he was being set up to die today. What other reason would there be for actually being in the armor in person instead of remote-controlling it again?

There was a wooshing sound behind him and Lex turned around, expecting to face Superwoman. He was surprised, though, to find Supergirl standing on the roof with him. Just standing there, staring straight ahead with empty eyes.

"Brainiac, what is this?" he asked.

"I have activated the hybrid's bio chip. She is now under my control. We will use her in your battle against Superwoman."

Lex had a dozen questions on his lips, but didn't ask any of them. Facts clicked together in his mind. He had long figured out that Brainiac was the source of Donovan's cloning technology. There had been no trace of a control chip in any of the plans Westfield had shown him in prison. Lex had noticed a peculiar organic growth in the girl's neck during Westfield's last 'consultation', but had dismissed it as unimportant. Details aside, the fact that Brainiac obviously had a method of controlling minds was terrifying. Lex himself had been unconscious when Brainiac had freed him from prison. Was there such a chip in his own neck now, too?

"How will we use her?" he asked instead, his voice perfectly smooth.

"The bio chip will not allow more than basic motor control, so she will be, as the human saying goes, the bait!"

Lex nodded, it was a good idea. Superwoman would undoubtedly come to the rescue of the girl she considered her daughter. It could easily be used to lure her into a trap. Like everything else, though, he doubted Brainiac was really telling him the truth about what was going on. Looking at the girl standing beside him, frozen in place and helpless, he almost felt something like pity for her. Today, it seemed, everyone was dancing to Brainiac's tune.

Kara was still a dozen miles away from Metropolis when her supervision showed her Lex Luthor standing on top of the Lexcorp Tower, once again wearing a bulky suit of battle armor. There was no way to be entirely certain, but she was reasonably sure it was really Luthor this time, not just a remote-controlled drone.

Far more worrying, though, was that Kona was standing next to him, still as a statue. Had Luthor done something to her? Or rather, Brainiac? By now she was fairly certain that Luthor did not have much say in this particular team-up. Brainiac was clearly using him. Didn't mean she wouldn't squash him if he dared to lay a finger on her daughter.

She was still too far away to be seen with the naked eye when Luthor turned towards her, his armor's scanners clearly having picked up her approach, and fired a barrage of missiles towards her. They barely made it halfway towards her before she vaporized them with her heat vision.

Kara did not slow down. She had no intention of giving Luthor or whoever might actually be at the helm of that armor any chance to act if she could help it. She was little more than a blur and planned to tear the armor apart before Luthor could even blink.

There was a noise like a bell and Kara ricocheted off a force field surrounding the armored form of her opponent. The impact didn't hurt, but the unexpectedness of it disoriented her for a moment. Long enough for Luthor to fire off some sort of energy beam. The beam hit her just as she was regaining her equilibrium and knocked her off course again. It hurt, too, in a rather familiar way.

"A little gift from your old friend, the Atomic Skull," Luthor announced. "Replicating his unique energy signature was not easy, but worth the effort, I would say."

Kara caught herself just in time to evade another energy beam and retaliated with a burst of heat vision. The twin red beams hit Luthor's force field and caused it to crackle, but it held.

"What do you hope to achieve here, Lex?" she asked, stopping for a moment to reassess her strategy. "Or am I talking directly to the puppeteer instead of the puppet, Brainiac?"

"Lex Luthor is no one's puppet," Lex announced, firing off another energy beam. This time she easily evaded it. "It's time to remove the alien influence from this world, Superwoman! Starting with you!"

There was a weird echo to Luthor's words and after evading yet another energy beam, Kara saw what caused it. Luthor and herself were on every TV screen in Metropolis. Extending her supervision, she saw that it was not just a city-wide broadcast, either. Narrowing her eyes, she spotted more than a dozen miniature drones that were filming them from every conceivable angle and broadcasting live across the world.

Brainiac wanted an audience, it seemed, for whatever he had planned.

Okay, first thing first. Before she finished this charade Brainiac was producing here, she would bring her daughter to safety. Moving at super speed once again, she zoomed towards her daughter, intending to grab her and remove her from the scene. The moment she touched Kona, though, a burst of telekinesis hit her like a sledge hammer and sent her skidding across the roof of the tower.

"No one is leaving until I say so," Luthor announced, stepping closer. When Kara was back on her feet, still a bit shaky from the impact, she saw that he had removed something from a compartment of the armor. A glowing green rock.

"Lexonite again, Lex?" Kara asked, getting back to her feet. "Really?"

Knowing that Brainiac had access to Kryptonite (he probably mined it directly from the debris field of Krypton), she had made sure she was prepared for it. The rad-shield she had built into her uniform wasn't perfect, but it would shield her from the worst of the radiation for a few minutes at least.

"You created a counter measure," Lex gave her a nod. "Impressive. But it's not really meant for you!"

With a casual gesture, he flipped the rock towards the immobile form of Kona, where it came to rest at her feet. A moment later the girl, who had no rad-shield to protect her, started to convulse in pain and dropped to her knees. The empty look vanished from her eyes, replaced by panic and pain.

"Mom?" she cried out. "I couldn't move! I hurt Clark! I... it hurts!"

"KONA!"

Kara was on her feet and moving, but despite the rad-shield the Kryptonite radiation still slowed her down. A double burst of energy from Luthor's gauntlets tagged her before she was halfway across the roof and she had to dig her fingers into the concrete to prevent from being blasted right off of it. Her muscles spasmed, the Skull's radiation combined with what Kryptonite radiation made it through the shield hurting a lot. All the while Kona was still fully exposed to the Kryptonite.

Luthor's armored form now stood directly above her daughter and Kara watched in horror as the blade he had tried to use on her during their last encounter slid out of his gauntlet.

It was a completely irrational decision, Lex would later admit. Oh, not the turning against Brainiac. He had been certain about doing that almost from the start, it had only been a question of when and how. The irrational part was in the timing. He had prepared, yes, but he was not ready. He should have waited a bit longer in order to maximize his chance of success.

Lex Luthor had never been an irrational man, not even when he had been a teenager. The decision to arrange an accident for his parents hadn't been an emotional one. Sure, his parents had been useless, abusive scum and seeing them dead had been emotionally satisfying, but the real reason to get rid of them had been the life insurance. The payout had enabled him to lay the groundwork for what would later become Lexcorp. He had killed quite a few people in his life, but never out of anger or any other emotion, always for logical reasons. Even his vendetta against Superwoman was entirely based on logic, as a being with powers such as hers could not be trusted on his planet, simple as that.

Today, though, for the first time in his life, Lex Luthor acted against his own better knowledge, acted out of emotion rather than logic. It was triggered when Brainiac spoke the following:

"The hybrid has outlived her usefulness. Eliminate her!"

Lex Luthor would, later in life, oftentimes remember this moment, trying to figure out why reason had abandoned him in such a way. He would rationalize it, asserting that he had figured out that Brainiac's plan was for him to kill Supergirl, which would in turn cause Superwoman to kill him in a frenzy of rage. Right now, though, seeing the helpless girl before him, the cold machine voice ringing in his ear, there was no logical thought, no weighing of options, no figuring out. There was only a gut reaction.

"No!"

End Chapter 63

Author's Note: To be honest I had very little idea how this chapter would go as I started writing it. I had "Luthor and Brainiac team up against the Super Family" for the beginning and "Luthor turns against Brainiac" for the end, that was it. Everything else pretty much came from the characters themselves.

For reference, the Church of Hope was first mentioned in chapter 26. Kona escaped from Project Cadmus in chapter 38 and the Project was shut down by the Justice League in chapter 45. Brainiac abducted Luthor from prison in chapter 49.