Ruby wandered around the mall without parental supervision as per usual these last few months. Oblivious to her mother's condition, she went over to the arcade and played some Dance Revolution. The other kids looked on impressed as she got a high score.
Reign, in civilian clothes and without her mask, walked around the mall looking for Ruby. "Have you seen this girl?" she asked random kids showing them a picture of Ruby.
Reign eventually came upon the arcade. "Have you seen her?" Reign asked a kid.
"You bet. She dances like a pro," a boy said pointing her out.
Ruby saw her mother looking for her in the arcade. "Shoot," she said realizing she was in trouble for sneaking off. Ruby took off towards the back.
Reign pushed kids aside as she advanced on Ruby. Opening the door leading to the back exit, Ruby ran off hoping she hadn't been seen. "You're not supposed to be back here," a janitor said to her.
Ruby ignored him and came face-to-face with a short-man wearing a black leather jacket, a black t-shirt, black pants, and black boots. His face was pale and his hair was a military cut. His eyes were hidden by black sunglasses. In his right hand was a sci-fi shotgun.
Ruby froze as the man approached her. Reign entered the hallway and spotted Ruby. "I'm sorry, mom. I just wanted to have some fun, and you're always away," Ruby said to her.
Reign's eyes glowed red as she was about to incinerate the girl. "Mom?" Ruby wondered.
"Get down," Brainiac 5 ordered Ruby.
Reign fired her heat vision at the same time that Brainiac 5 fired a Kryptonite shell into her body. Her heat vision went into the ceiling as she was hit.
"What the fuck is going on?" the janitor wondered.
Reign quickly recovered from the hit and fired heat vision towards Ruby. Brainiac 5 activated an energy shield around his body and placed himself in front of Ruby. The poor janitor was caught in the cross-fire and was incinerated.
Brainiac 5 then turned around and fired continuous Kryptonite shells into Reign blasting massive holes into her torso. Brainiac 5 continued walking towards Reign as he fired into her. Finally, Reign fell to the floor dead.
"Mommy!" Ruby shrieked.
Brainiac 5 ignored the girl and loaded more shells into his weapon. Reign resurrected and stood back up. She took hold of Brainiac 5's gun. The two briefly struggled over the weapon and then slammed each other into the walls. Reign slammed Brainiac 5 through the wall and tossed him to the floor in a clothing store. Before Brainiac 5 could recover, Reign threw him out the window shattering it. Reign then turned back towards Ruby.
"Not destroying me when she had the chance: a fatal miscalculation," Brainiac 5 said as he got back up and recovered his gun.
Ruby ran off into the mall's parking complex. "Get on, kid," Alex said from her motorcycle.
"But I don't have a helmet," Ruby told her.
"Ruby, fuck the law," Alex said to her. Reign slammed the door open and spotted Ruby with Alex. "Get on the damn bike," Alex shouted urgently at Ruby.
"Okay," Ruby said getting on.
Alex then sped away onto the streets. Reign ran at super-speed after her and then took to the air once she was out of the parking complex. With her heat vision, she fired on Alex hitting other cars instead. Numerous cars exploded or crashed into other cars as Reign fired continuously on them.
Alex avoided the heat vision fire while swerving through traffic. Taking her laser pistol, she fired occasional shots into the air to keep Reign at bay.
Avoiding traffic, Alex took a number of exists and blasted a few gates open with her gun. Leaping off a ledge, she expertly landed in the concrete flood channels and sped away unheeded by traffic. Reign kept up with her and fired heat vision at her. The beams hit the bike sending both Alex and Ruby to the hard concrete.
"Get up. We can't stay here," Alex said taking her under a bridge to get them to cover. Reign dropped down and eyed Alex condescendingly.
"Done running?" she asked.
Alex walked Ruby back away from Reign as she advanced on them. Reign casually went underneath the bridge. Brainiac 5 and his own future-bike suddenly decloaked next to Alex and Ruby. Reign gave Brainiac 5 a look of surprise as he appeared. Brainiac 5 touched his wristband showing explosives underneath the bridge. Reign realized explosives were all around her. The two had set a trap for her.
Brainiac 5 fired several times into the explosives creating a huge fireball underneath the bridge. Reign was consumed by the flames with Kryptonite shards slicing into her from all directions. Brainiac 5 paused to see if Reign had survived. Seeing nothing in the flames, he attached his gun to his bike.
He turned to Ruby. "Come with me if you want to live," he offered his hand.
"Alright," a freaked-out Ruby said to him.
"So, where's my ride?" Alex asked.
"I didn't account for your bike being destroyed. If I were you...I would run," Brainiac 5 said and then drove off.
"Typical," Alex said and then ran off.
A resurrected Reign emerged from the flames royally pissed-off.
Brainiac 5 took Ruby out of the city on his motorcycle. "Time-out, what the freak is going on?" Ruby asked.
"You have been targeted for termination by Reign," Brainiac 5 told her.
"But that wasn't Reign. That was my mom," Ruby said confused.
"Your mother is Reign," Brainiac 5 told her.
"Whoa, this is deep," Ruby said stunned. "Did you kill her?"
"Negative. She has the ability to resurrect after death," Brainiac 5 told her.
Ruby sighed with relief. "Why are you relieved? With that ability, your termination is near absolute certainty," Brainiac 5 told her.
"Why does my mom want to kill me?" Ruby asked.
"She's possessed by an angel of Rao known to you as Reign. Reign believes that by killing you, she can increase her control over your mother's mind and body," Brainiac 5 told her.
"My mom can resist, right?" Ruby asked him.
"Her resistance so far has been negligible," Brainiac 5 said.
Brainiac 5 drove them over to a parking lot outside of the city. "So, what are you supposed to be?" Ruby asked.
"Brainiac Systems, model number five," Brainiac 5 replied.
"I'm going to call you Barney," Ruby said to him.
"Call me whatever you want," Brainiac 5 said disinterestedly.
"So, why are you protecting me?" Ruby asked. "Is it because you love children?"
"No, thirty years from now, you invent a revolutionary cure for AIDS," Brainiac 5 told her.
"Really? I've always wanted to be a doctor and help people," Ruby said amazed.
"I'm from the future one thousand years from now. I used your research to cure the Blight," Brainiac 5 continued. "Your work saved trillions of lives across the galaxy."
"Wow," Ruby said stunned.
"That is why you must live," Brainiac 5 told her.
Patricia Arias gave her patient a bored expression at Pescadero Mental Institution just outside Metropolis. "I will protect the others. I am the Beast!" a skinny bald man said to her.
"Alright, I think that's enough bullshit for one day," Patricia said to him.
"Same time next week?" the man asked.
"Sure, why not?" Patricia allowed as the crazy man was taken away by guards.
Mara, dressed as Supergirl, and Hank arrived at her office. "Do you have an appointment?" she asked annoyed.
"This is my appointment," Hank said showing his FBI badge.
"What can I do for you?" Patricia asked politely.
"Are you aware that your daughter, Sam, is Reign?" Hank asked.
"I figured as much," Patricia said disappointedly.
"How do you know?" Mara asked.
"I never told her where she was from. I just wanted her to be normal and when she was ten, she started doodling in her notebooks. It was as if something was there that just needed to get out," Patricia said.
"How did you handle having a space-alien daughter with super-powers?" Hank asked curiously.
"I punished her like...all the time," Patricia said.
"You got balls, lady," Hank said impressed.
"What kind of drawings did she do?" Mara asked.
"It was the mark that was all over the news. I knew then," Patricia said.
"And you decided not to tell anyone about this?" Hank asked annoyed.
"All I wanted to do was protect her. I should have known better than to bury her feelings," Patricia said.
"What Sam is has nothing to do with the way she was raised," Mara told her.
"Don't let her off the hook that easily," Hank said to Mara.
"I was an awful mother. I kicked her out. I've never even met my granddaughter," Patricia admitted.
"That does sound fucked up," Hank agreed. "We need to get you out of here before she comes."
"I'm not leaving. I kicked her out when I should have helped her," Patricia said sacrificially.
"Then you've become our bait," Hank said to her.
Ruby paced around the parking lot as Brainiac 5 kept watch. "I need to do something," Ruby said frustrated.
"The DEO is handling the situation," Brainiac 5 assured her.
"What will Reign do next?" Ruby asked.
"Probably contact Sam's next of kin," Brainiac 5 considered.
"Grandma?" Ruby wondered.
"Most likely," Brainiac 5 agreed.
"What happens then?" Ruby asked naively.
"Reign will likely terminate her," Brainiac 5 said coldly.
"What? We have to stop her now," Ruby said to him.
"Negative, Patricia Arias is not a mission priority," Brainiac 5 told her.
"She's a priority to me!" Ruby shouted at him.
"You've never met her. You're not even a blood relation to her," Brainiac 5 reminded her.
"Mom talks about her all the time. I don't want her to die," Ruby said to him.
"Everyone dies," Brainiac 5 told her.
"I want to see her! I want to see her! I want to see her!" she repeated herself annoyingly.
Brainiac 5 was unmoved by her temper tantrum. He then received a message that Mara and Hank were at the mental institution with Patricia. "We're going," he told her.
"Yay!" Ruby said pleased.
Alex arrived at the Luthor Mansion finding nothing. "Well...shit," she said seeing nothing but a plot of land.
"Lena, there's nothing here," Alex said annoyed.
"Input the numerical value for Luthor on the keypad," Lena instructed.
"Wow, that's a shitty pass-code," Alex rolled her eyes as she inputted the code.
"Maybe, but beggars can't be choosers," Lena said hanging up.
Alex eyed the huge mansion in front of her. "Well, I'll be damned."
Parking her car in the driveway, Alex came to the door and was allowed inside by the caretaker. "Not much farther, Agent Danvers," she said as they walked towards the living room.
"The house is big. I get it. I'm fine," Alex said resentfully.
"Oh, you are fine. I mean, you're in much better physical shape than me," Miss Cryer said staring at Alex.
"Well, I do work out," Alex said awkwardly.
"I bet you do," Miss Cryer complimented. "Did you know that from wing-to-wing, its five thousand steps," she said.
"Much bigger than my studio," Alex muttered.
"You sound poor. I'm so sorry," Miss Cryer said to her.
"It's alright," Alex allowed.
"You know, it can be lonely here all by myself. It hasn't been the same with Lillian gone," Miss Cryer said as they passed by her portraits.
"You don't say," Alex said dismissively.
"You want to get a drink. The basement has a complete bar," Miss Cryer offered.
"I'm kind of on duty," Alex declined.
"Do you want to know where all the weapons are stored?" Miss Cryer asked.
Alex gave her an interested look. "Yes, absolutely."
"Then you're going to have to do something for me, Agent Danvers," Miss Cryer said getting close to Alex.
"What do I need to do?" Alex asked her.
"Let's go to the indoor pool," Miss Cryer smiled.
"I didn't bring my swimsuit," Alex said awkwardly.
"I always swim in the nude," Miss Cryer replied.
Reign came up to the gate of the mental institution wearing civilian clothes. "Visiting hours are over, lady," the guard told her.
Reign blasted him with heat vision killing him instantly and then pushed the button opening the gate. She then entered the building using her X-ray vision to scan around the building. Finding her target, she leaped up to the third floor and made her way down the hall.
Brainiac 5 called Hank as he drove towards them. "We think she's headed here at Pescadero," Hank told him.
"Try to keep her inside the building. I want her confined to narrow spaces," Brainiac 5 said to him.
"We will try our best. Is Ruby at the safe-house?" Hank asked.
"Yes," Brainiac 5 lied.
"We will see you soon," Hank said hanging up.
Reign came upon a figure in Patricia's office. "Mother, I just want to talk," she said kicking the door open.
"I'm done talking," Mara said blasting her with a sci-fi gun. Elastic bands wrapped around Reign and electrified her. Reign struggled against the bands as Hank touched her forehead.
Reign screamed in rage as Patricia looked on. Reign finally snapped the bands, extended her claws, and swiped at Hank infecting him. Hank tried to subdue her only to get thrown into an office. Mara punched Reign to the face forcing her head to the side.
Reign gave Mara a condescending look. "I have tripled my power, young one. If you couldn't defeat me before, what makes you think you can now?"
"I have faith," Mara said to her.
"That's all you have," Reign said as she kicked Mara to the floor buckling tile as she hit.
"Sam, stop this," Patricia ordered her.
"You," Reign glared. "Where is Ruby?"
"Now, you listen to me, Sam, and you listen good. I want you to hand yourself over to these people nice and quietly," Patricia ordered.
Reign simply stared at her. "What is your major malfunction? Did I not give you enough attention when you were a child?" Patricia shouted at her.
Reign fired heat vision into Patricia's heart. "Ahh!" Patricia cried out as she fell to the floor dead.
Reign then eyed the elevator doors and saw a child through the doors. Smiling, she went passed Mara and Hank and ran towards the elevator doors. With her fingers, she forced the elevator doors open. Brainiac 5 decloaked and fired his shotgun into her face blasting it open.
Ruby screamed as she saw her mother fall to the floor. Brainiac 5 then noticed Patricia on the floor. "Your grandmother is dead," he said to her.
Ruby stared at the dead bodies of her grandmother and mother completely traumatized. Reign began to shake as she started to resurrect. "I've assessed the situation and we're leaving," Brainiac 5 said to Ruby. The elevator doors closed as they went down to the parking lot floor.
Reign got back up fully healed, forced the elevator doors open, and then dropped down on the elevator. Brainiac 5 heard a clunk as Reign landed. "Get down," he ordered Ruby.
Heat vision beams went through the elevator ceiling. Brainiac 5 fired multiple times into the ceiling hitting Reign a number of times. Ruby screamed in terror as she shut her ears from the gunfire. "That isn't helping," Brainiac 5 told her.
Finally, the elevator doors opened. Brainiac 5 took Ruby out of the elevator and towards his bike. Reign tore through the elevator ceiling, dropped down, and then ran at them.
Brainiac 5 expertly drove his motorcycle in reverse as he fired on Reign blasting through her clothes and suit. Reign struggled to run as she was hit with the Kryptonite bullets. She attempted to fry them with her heat vision but was too weakened to do so. As Brainiac 5 drove out of the parking lot, he drove forward away from the mental institution.
Reign struggled and then took to the air. She screamed at them busting up the pavement as she did. Brainiac 5 avoided her sonic strikes and increased his speed to over two-hundred mph. Reign kept up with him in the air and tried to scream at them. Brainiac 5 activated his cloak hiding them from view. Reign looked for them, but her eyes couldn't locate them. She dropped down to the pavement and glared royally pissed-off.
Brainiac 5 increased his speed to three-hundred mph towards the safe-house. "Can you even see?" Ruby asked as it was already dark.
"I see everything," he replied to her.
Brainiac 5 reached a large plot of land. Decloaking, he inputted the code on a post. The Luthor mansion then materialized in front of him. "Let's go," Brainiac 5 said to Ruby as they entered the mansion. The mansion then became cloaked again.
Alex met up with Brainiac 5 and Ruby. Alex noticed Ruby seemed shell-shocked. "She has seen some disturbing images," Brainiac 5 said vaguely.
"Mommy wants to kill me," Ruby said in a monotone voice.
"Oh, sweety, it's going to be alright," Alex assured her.
"There may be a telepathic link between mother and daughter. We should expect Reign's arrival soon even with the cloak," Brainiac 5 said putting his empty shotgun on the table.
"The caretaker showed me the Luthor arsenal. It's quite diverse actually," Alex said impressed.
"Excellent," Brainiac 5 said pleased.
"Do you want to know how I was able to convince her to show it to me?" Alex asked awkwardly.
"No," Brainiac 5 said disinterestedly.
Mara sighed as she stared off into space on the DEO balcony. Hank came over to her. "Shouldn't you be resting?" Mara asked wiping a tear away.
"Lying in bed is boring. I can sleep when I'm dead," Hank said.
"That may come sooner than later," Mara said disappointed in herself.
"What makes you say that?" Hank asked.
"I overheard my mother and father say that Kon and I are killed by Reign. I fail," Mara said.
"That was a timeline in which your mother, father, and Barney never came back to get you," Hank reminded her.
"Maybe it's inevitable," Mara said sadly.
"You can't think like that. Time travel is so convoluted. Anything could happen," Hank told her.
"I made this," Mara said giving Hank a thumb drive.
"Is this what I think it is?" Hank asked seriously.
"Just in case," Mara said somberly.
"I'm not going to tell you I won't accept this like some kind of bullshit cliche. I'll just keep it in my desk with all the others," Hank told her.
"Thank you," Mara said gratefully.
Lena then entered the DEO with a lead case. Mara and Hank eyed the case knowing exactly what it contained. "We can't kill her. We can't let her win either. We have to capture her again," Lena said to them.
"Good. Can you make more of this?" Mara asked her.
"Absolutely," Lena smiled.
"Then make more," Mara encouraged.
Reign, dressed in civilian clothes, rushed into the MPD. "They took my Ruby!" she said freaked out.
"Calm down and tell me everything," Maggie said to her.
"They took her here," Reign said showing them the location on her smartphone.
"Who took her?" Maggie asked.
"Alex Danvers and her friends," Reign said to her.
Maggie eyed Reign with shock. "Alright, listen up, people. We have a kidnapping in progress. We're going to need to throw everything we got at this."
Brainiac 5, Alex, and Ruby sat awkwardly at the dinner table. "Is mommy going to be okay?" Ruby asked.
"Probably not," Brainiac 5 replied.
"Barney," Alex hissed. "We're going to save your mom," she promised.
"Am I a burden?" Ruby asked.
"Yes," Brainiac 5 replied.
"No, you're not," Alex assured her giving Brainiac 5 a dirty look.
The alarm system in the Luthor house then went off. Brainiac 5 accessed the surveillance cameras all at once. "I did not anticipate this," he admitted.
The MPD brought a dozen police cars, a SWAT van, and a helicopter to the Luthor residence. "It's supposed to be here. Where the fuck is it?" Maggie asked confused.
"What do you make of this thing?" a police officer said looking over a post.
"No idea. Cut the power and let's find out," Maggie ordered.
The cops proceeded to cut the power to the area taking down the mansion's cloak. "Well, fuck me," Maggie realized.
"She's in there," Reign said pointing.
"Let me talk to them," Maggie said connecting her mic to a speaker. "Alright, we know Ruby's in there. Hand her over and no one gets hurt."
"That's Maggie," Alex said shocked.
"I'll handle the police," Brainiac 5 said to her.
"Don't kill anyone. They're innocent people," Alex said to him.
"Trust me," Brainiac 5 smirked and headed to the second floor of the mansion. Taking his mini-gun off the table, he kicked a desk out a large window giving him a full view of the police force.
"I see movement," Maggie said seeing Brainiac 5.
Brainiac 5 fired his mini-gun at the police forcing them to retreat behind a hill. He proceeded to shoot up their police cars blasting out their windows and penetrating their engine blocks. "That's a damn mini-gun," the helicopter pilot said retreating out of view. Brainiac 5 fired at the police until he ran out of ammunition. He then reached for his grenade gun and fired explosive shells into the police cars not already destroyed. Police officers ran for cover as their cars exploded.
Brainiac 5 scanned the police force and discovered zero casualties. "Holy shit!" Maggie said stunned. "Open fire!" a squad leader said as Brainiac 5 casually walked away from the window. The police all fired their guns at once but none of their fire reached Brainiac 5.
Brainiac 5 returned to Alex and Ruby. "What the fuck was that?" Alex asked.
"No one was killed," he assured her.
"I thought you were just going to talk to them. Maybe explain the situation in a civilized manner," Alex said stunned.
"That really isn't the Vindicator way," Brainiac 5 told her.
"I am so fucked," Alex shook her head dismayed.
A SWAT team then entered the mansion and started pouring gas into the mansion. "Take these," Brainiac 5 said giving Alex and Ruby two masks. "Don't kill these guys either," Alex ordered him.
"I don't follow your orders," Brainiac 5 said walking off.
One SWAT team came in through the front while the other went through the back. Brainiac 5 went around a corner and found the SWAT team in the front of the mansion. "Get on your knees and put your hands behind your head," the SWAT leader told him.
"I'm not your mother last night," Brainiac 5 replied.
"Okay, drop him!" the SWAT leader ordered blasting him with machine gunfire.
Brainiac 5 walked through the machine-gun fire and casually shot the officers in the legs one-by-one with his pistol. After he was done, he went back to Alex and Ruby.
The second SWAT team raced to get to Alex and Ruby. They cornered Alex in a room filled with priceless historical artifacts. Alex took cover and fired her pistol into the ceiling keep them back. The SWAT team fired back with machine-gun fire blasting all the display cases and tearing up all the artifacts.
"Fuck!" Alex realized she was trapped.
Brainiac 5 then punched through the wall, grabbed Alex, and flung her back into the adjacent room. The SWAT team fired at Brainiac 5 until they ran out of ammunition. Brainiac 5 pointed his grenade gun at them. "I don't know how long I can keep myself from pulling the trigger. It's really itchy, right now," Brainiac 5 told them.
"Move the fuck out!" the SWAT leader ordered retreating out of the room.
Brainiac 5 fired at them exploding the entire room and tossing the SWAT team to the ground. "Move to the helicopter pad. I'll meet you there shortly," Brainiac 5 told Alex.
"Sure," Alex said taking Ruby with her.
Brainiac 5 went to the roof of the mansion and got on his bike. "I got visual on the rooftop," the helicopter pilot said putting a spotlight on him.
"Keep him in your sights," Maggie ordered.
Brainiac 5 drove in circles on the rooftop gaining speed and then shot off the roof. Grabbing the helicopter, he allowed his bike to fall to the ground. "You've got to be kidding me," the helicopter pilot said as Brainiac 5 smashed his head through the door window, unlocked the door, and got inside. Brainiac 5 looked over the controls and quickly learned how to pilot it. He then turned to the pilot.
"Get out," he ordered.
The pilot obliged getting out of the helicopter and falling to the ground, breaking his legs. Brainiac 5 closed the door and flew the helicopter over to the helipad.
Reign looked over the police with an annoyed expression. "I'll deal with them myself," she said ripping her civilian clothes off and flying into the mansion.
"Wait...what?" Maggie wondered.
Alex took Ruby through the basement level of the mansion towards the helipad. Reign pursued them down the halls. Alex looked over the security system and saw that it was operational as the back-up power generators came on. With each door they opened, it became locked behind them. Reign punched through the metal doors easily enough. As Alex waited for Brainiac 5 to land the helicopter, she activated traps for Reign. Machine gun fire from both directions fired on Reign to no effect. Flames then roared around her to no effect as well. Liquid nitrogen then poured into the room. Reign walked through the liquid nitrogen like it was nothing. However, it slowed her down enough for Alex to fire a Kryptonite bullet into her gut.
Reign slowed down as she was weakened. The liquid nitrogen swarmed around her freezing her in place. Reign kept going reaching for Ruby. Her eyes glowed red and then darkened as she lost strength. As she walked towards Alex and Ruby, her ankles broke and then her legs. She put her hand on the floor to steady herself only to have it stuck to the floor. Reign pulled on her right arm until it broke off. She then gave Alex and Ruby a silent scream.
"Hasta la vista, bitch," Alex said as she fired at Reign blasting her to pieces.
"Oh my God," Ruby said freaked.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I forgot you were there," Alex consoled her.
The frozen shards became red and melted. The shards came together forming a kneeling red-stained skeleton. "Shit," Alex realized.
"Let's go, sweety. You don't need to see this," Alex said taking Ruby away.
Arteries, veins, and nerves wrapped around the skeleton like a vine, muscles then appeared covering the skeleton, eyes formed in her empty eye sockets, and then finally skin wrapped around her body. Reign opened her eyes as she was completely healed in her uniform.
Alex put Ruby on the helicopter and then got on herself. "We don't have much time," Alex told Brainiac 5.
"I know," Brainiac 5 replied as he piloted the helicopter away from the mansion.
"Where are we going?" Alex asked him.
"The cave," Brainiac 5 replied.
Brainiac 5, Alex, and Ruby quickly got out of the helicopter just as Reign arrived. Heat vision beams hit the helicopter completely destroying it. "Get to the cave," Brainiac 5 told the other two.
The three made their way into the cave as Reign dropped down. Using his map of the cave, Brainiac 5 led them around a number of tunnels. The dark cave became lit up by the glowing hot lava. Reign entered the cave and pursued them on foot. Her X-ray vision became useless as the cave was filled with lead deposits.
"Too hot," Alex said as they came too close to a lava pit.
Brainiac 5 detected that the air was 155F. "Really?" he asked her.
"Yeah, asshole," Alex confirmed seeing Ruby about to pass out.
Brainiac 5 then led them around a different tunnel. "The cave walls are full of lead and this place is like a maze. Go through any of these tunnels, and Reign won't be able to find you," Brainiac 5 instructed her.
"Is there a way through this cave to the outside?" Alex asked.
"Yes, now go," Brainiac 5 told her.
"No, we stick together," Ruby protested.
"Your sentiment is noble if not naive," Brainiac 5 smiled at her.
"Let's go, Ruby," Alex tugged her away.
Brainiac 5 scanned the cave for Reign, his vision distorted by the volcanic gasses. He kept his grenade gun outstretched while his pistol close to his body. As he continued to scan, Reign came out of nowhere and tossed his grenade gun a distance away inside the cave. Brainiac 5 quickly shot his pistol into her gut.
Reign hissed in pain and then slammed Brainiac 5 against the cave wall. The two scuffled slamming each other against cave pillars and walls. Brainiac 5 took Reign and slammed her repeatedly and then pinned her against a pillar. Reign turned her neck all the way around, dislocated her shoulders so they too were reversed, and then slowly reversed her legs out of their sockets.
"That's a nice trick," Brainiac 5 admitted.
Reign then pushed Brainiac 5 back and twisted her body all the way around to normal. Brainiac 5 then punched through her forehead and out her skull dropping her. Brainiac 5 then tried to release his hand from the goo that was Reign's face. However, Reign grew another head from her shoulder as she resurrected. Reign then rushed Brainiac 5 slamming him into a cave wall. Using her heat vision, she blasted the cave wall sending a boulder on top of Brainiac 5's arm pinning him.
"In the end, you're just a machine, and I am an angel of light," Reign told him as she walked off.
Meanwhile, Alex went up and down inside the cave trying to avoid pools of lava. Reign quickly caught up to her. "Ruby, run!" Alex shouted at her.
Reign leaped up towards Alex as Ruby climbed into a cavern. Reign looked around with her X-ray vision unable to detect Ruby. Alex took her shotgun and blasted a hole through Reign's right eye. Alex grinned as Reign fell to the ground dead at her feet.
"Fuck, yeah," Alex said pleased with herself.
Reign shuddered and then rose back up with her face healed. "Damn" Alex realized as she loaded another shell into her shotgun.
Reign glared at Alex as she took the shotgun away from her and used her left hand to pierce Alex's right shoulder. Reign pumped her infection into Alex sickening her. "I know this hurts. Call to Ruby," Reign said to her.
"Fuck you," Alex spat.
"Call to Ruby...call to Ruby, now," Reign said as her eyes glowed red.
As Reign had Alex cornered, Brainiac 5 detached his right arm at the elbow and made his way over to Reign. He found Reign distracted with Alex as she tortured her. Brainiac 5 extended a Kryptonite blade from his left arm and sliced through her shoulder down to her waist. Reign shrieked in pain as she was sliced.
Reign kicked Brainiac 5 back and painfully ripped the blade out of her body. She then fell to the ground dead. "Where's Ruby?" Brainiac 5 asked.
"Shit!" Alex realized and went after her.
Reign came back up and rushed Brainiac 5. She took hold of him and threw him around the cave slamming him into the walls and pillars. Reign then punched Brainiac 5 hard to the face tearing into his artificial skin. She punched him repeatedly to the face and slammed his body against the cave wall. Once she was finished, Brainiac 5 fell to the ground broken.
Reign watched curiously as Brainiac 5 crawled around the cave ground looking for something. His blue electronic eye was exposed through his artificial flesh. Brainiac 5 slowly but surely made his way over to his grenade gun. Reign used her X-ray vision to find his power source. Finding it, she fired heat vision into his back destroying it. Brainiac 5 shut down immediately.
Reign sneered at Brainiac 5 and then continued her search for Ruby.
Ruby aimlessly went around the cave until she heard Alex's voice. "Ruby, come to me. Ruby? Ruby, where are you? I need your help."
Ruby went towards the voice only to find that it was Reign. "I messed up," Ruby realized.
Reign smirked amused. "Get down, kid," Alex said from behind Reign.
Ruby fell to the ground as Alex fired a shell into Reign's back. Reign turned around and faced off against Alex. Pumping another shell with her remaining good arm, she fired several shots into Reign. With each shot, she got Reign closer to a lava pool. Finally, Alex blasted Reign into the lava pool.
"Got you," Alex said pleased with herself.
Reign calmly walked out of the lava and marched towards them. The lava on her uniform cooled and fell off. "Not bad for a human," Reign complimented.
Reign walked towards Alex and Ruby with glowing red eyes. Alex took out her Kryptonite knife to defend herself. "All this...just for a girl?" Reign asked her.
"Yeah, Sam's girl," Alex said shielding Ruby from her.
"For what it's worth, she has been screaming in my head this entire time," Reign said to Ruby. "Quite annoying, actually."
"I bet," Alex said exhaustedly.
Reign advanced on Alex and Ruby when a grenade shell hit her to the torso. Reign was blasted off her feet and tumbled down into a large cavern. Brainiac 5 limped his way over to Alex and Ruby. "You look like shit," Alex remarked.
"I know," Brainiac 5 acknowledged.
The three of them found Reign struggling inside a cave filled with Kryptonite crystals. Alex looked around in wonder as she saw hundreds of Kryptonite crystals. "What is this place?" Alex asked him.
"Mon's Fortress of Solitude. It's so lethal to Kryptonians that not even Kara can survive it," Brainiac 5 said. "I helped him create these crystals and then used Plutonium to make them radioactive. It was quite simple to do actually, but it was his idea," Brainiac 5 said.
"Why would he make this?" Alex asked stunned.
"To balance the scales of their marital relationship," Brainiac 5 replied.
"Those two are seriously fucked up," Alex remarked.
"Coming from you, they must be," Brainiac 5 said dryly.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Alex asked offended.
Reign was a bloody mess on the cave floor. "Mom," Ruby called out to her.
Reign didn't reply as she screamed in pain. Brainiac 5 limped his way over to her and placed a Kryptonite device on her shoulder and cuffs on her wrists. Reign fell to the ground helpless. "I need you to leave the cave and call the DEO for extraction," Brainiac 5 said to Alex.
"Got it," Alex said running off.
Brainiac 5 then stared at a crying Ruby. "I have to go now," he told her limping away.
"Why?" Ruby walked with him.
"I am using my alternate power source. My fuel cells will soon rupture creating a nuclear explosion that will consume this entire cave," Brainiac 5 told her as he walked towards a lava pool.
"Can't you turn it off?" Ruby asked.
"No," Brainiac 5 replied as he got close to a ledge leading to a lava pool.
"What are you saying? You can't die. You have the knowledge of ten thousand worlds. You're special," Ruby protested.
"All the knowledge in the galaxy doesn't amount to a child's life. If Reign is not defeated, she will not stop until you are dead. That is something I cannot allow," Brainiac 5 told her.
"Please don't go," Ruby cried.
"I cannot self-terminate. You will have to push me in," Brainiac 5 told her.
"I won't do it. I won't!" Ruby refused.
Brainiac 5 looked at Ruby sympathetically. "If you don't do it, my fuel cell will rupture killing you and Alex. Reign will then resurrect and escape. You have to start acting like an adult and make the hard decisions," he told her.
"Can Alex do it?" Ruby asked.
"There's no more time," Brainiac 5 told her.
Ruby gave Brainiac 5 a hug. "I'll never forget you."
"I know," Brainiac 5 replied and then slowly separated from her. "Goodbye."
Ruby pushed Brainiac 5 into the lava pool. His body floated in the dense lava pool and then slowly his torso sank into the pool. Ruby watched on as Brainiac 5 sank all the way into the lava pool. As his last gesture, he gave her the thumbs-up sign as he disappeared.
Alex arrived just as Brainiac 5 was consumed by the lava pool. "I just got a hold of the DEO. Hey, where's Barney?" Alex asked confused.
Ruby hugged her and cried on her shoulder. Alex looked at the lava pool realizing what had just happened. "It's going to be okay," Alex said to the crying girl.
Reign was placed at L Corp in a force-field with Kryptonite devices on her body to keep her weak. "I'm confident I can cure her with the DEO's help this time," Lena said to Mara.
"Whatever you need," Mara replied to her.
"I'm sorry about your friend. I didn't know him, but he seemed smart," Lena said awkwardly.
"He was like a cousin that visits all the time," Mara said sadly. "If you'll excuse me, I have a funeral to conduct."
"Of course," Lena said giving Mara a hug.
At the DEO, all personnel were in formation to give their respects. A casket with the Brainiac symbol was in the center of the room. His robotic arm, the only thing left of him, was placed in the casket along with a photograph of Brainiac 5. "For him, preserving life and learning about life...just seemed logical," Mara said tearfully.
"We can all learn from his example. Although a machine, I believe he had a soul," Hank said. "Ten-hut!"
The DEO personnel went to attention as the casket was taken away. "Do you need anything?" Alex asked Mara.
"I just need to be alone for a while," Mara said walking towards the balcony and flying off.
On the Vindicator cruiser, Kara, Mon, and Kon sat around bored waiting. Kon spent most of his time playing his video game. "How much longer?" Kara asked.
"We can get there instantly but then five years would pass on Earth," Brainiac 5 told her.
"How about no," Kara rejected.
"Then just wait," Brainiac 5 said condescendingly.
"I wonder what's going on back home," Kara said concerned.
"There is no need for apprehension. I left one of my units behind to assist the DEO. It has only a fraction of my copied files, but it's quite formidable in battle," Brainiac 5 assured her.