Collector of Worlds

An alert had been put out, all League members were to gather at the Fortress of Solitude. By the time Diana had arrived, most of the League, minus Green Lantern had arrived. The Amazon could pick up on strong emotions coming from Hawkgirl, the Thanagarian looking all the more fierce with her helm. Flash appeared not to be informed of what matters were, though he was keeping his distance from their winged comrade. J'onn appeared as unreadable as always, but there was enough off about him that even she could see something was on his mind.

Batman, she noted, was nowhere to be found. It was a little disappointing, but League matters had to come first.

"Has something happened?" Wonder Woman inquired, making herself known.

"The son of a bitch just left orbit is what's happening," Hawkgirl scowled.

The temper and heat in the Thanagarian's voice took even this warrior aback. "Which son of a bitch are we talking about?"

"Superman has left Earth, more than likely going ahead with the plan to seek out Brainiac," J'onn addressed her, stepping in before Hawkgirl could become more colorful with her language.

This caused the native of Themyscira to frown. "Had we not agreed to wait until Green Lantern returned before holding another vote?"

"Yeah, I mean, isn't it a bad thing to go looking for the bad guy here by yourself without any backup?" Flash asked.

"Apparently that wasn't about to stop the Man of Steel from trying to goddamn martyr himself," Hawkgirl growled, pacing angrily. "He didn't even tell anyone what he was up to. Just walked in and took off."

There was something there, something else that Hawkgirl wasn't saying. Call it intuition, but Wonder Woman felt that there was something the other warrior was not saying, instead covering it up with bluster to hide it. It would be something to look into later. Right now, they needed to decide what they were going to do about this.

"Is there any way we can contact Superman? Try and reason with him?" she asked, focusing all of her attention on J'onn. Of all of them, the Martian was more capable of keeping a cool head, a trait that the Amazon had been lectured about needing when she was but a girl.

"I have been trying to hail him, but so far all of my attempts have been ignored," the green skinned man answered without hesitation. "This has included both contact with the ship he is using and my telepathy. Soon he will be beyond even my range and the computer besides."

"So even if we wanted to, we wouldn't be able to reach Big Blue?" Flash nearly exclaimed, his head snapping about, looking at the rest of the League.

"What is he thinking?" Hawkgirl growled, not looking anyone in the eye.

"He's acting on his emotions."

She didn't jump, but she understood the tendency to. Finally emerging, Batman was taking center stage. When he had arrived, she couldn't say, but there was something calming about his presence.

"He's recently learned that a world, the one from which he was supposed to have lived in was destroyed deliberately and by a force foreign to it. Now that same threat is targeting his new home. He wants to protect it at all costs and does not want to involve the rest of us in what he considers 'his' fight. He chose a time when we were all spread out that by the time he learned what he had done, it would be too late," the dark vigilante continued, walking closer to them with each word. "Now, we can continue to talk circles around this and accomplish nothing, or we can do something like making sure we're ready should Superman fail and Brainiac comes to Earth."

"Whoa, hold on a sec. You think there's a chance Big Blue could lose?" Flash looked as if the thought had never crossed his mind.

"This isn't Despero who wanted to conquer us, killing only as many as it took to achieve victory," Batman retorted. "We're dealing with an enemy that we know is willing to destroy the very planet under our feet. The evidence we have so far does not point to conquest as a motivation for coming here. We don't know anything about Brainiac, other than what it has done on Krypton, and already it has deviated from that scheme." Now the vigilante was directly in the speedster's face, forcing the red-clad man to look only at him and him alone. "So what do you want to do, Flash? Continue whining about how Superman has rushed off into danger, or do you want to act as a member of the Justice League and do your duty of protecting the planet?"

Flash swallowed audibly. "I would like to protect the planet, Batman, sir."

Like a knife, the blank white lens on Batman's mask cut through the air until they reached her. Wonder Woman kept her footing, facing the look down like it was a worthy adversary. For some reason, it felt like it.

"What did you find out from A.R.G.U.S.?" It was a commanding tone, one that reminded the Amazon of Antiope, the mighty warrior and general who had seen to her combat training personally.

"If they're not too busy trying to play bureaucrat," Hawkgirl muttered.

Standing straighter, Diana reported "I was able to speak with Steve. He was much more forthcoming this time, and was more than willing to speak with me. A.R.G.U.S. has been unable to decipher the probe's code and was willing to give me a flashdrive, claiming it had that information on it."

"Most likely, it will possess the same code that ourselves are working on," J'onn surmised.

Wonder Woman nodded in agreement. "Steve gave no indication that A.R.G.U.S. knows about the probe we possess, and I did not inform him of it. However, there was one thing he mentioned that was concerning. Of the probes A.R.G.U.S. was able to recover, one has gone missing."

"They lost one?" Hawkgirl stated incredulously.

"Really? How does some super secret government agency lose something like those robots?" Flash wondered.

"They're not secretive. No one paid any attention when it was formed," Batman rebuffed. Then to the Amazon, "Was Trevor able to tell you when the probe went missing?"

"He did not; its loss was discovered after they did a headcount and that occurred after they transported each one to a location that was not mentioned," the dark-haired warrior answered. "Steve, though, was convinced that it was not simply misplaced but that it was stolen."

"Stolen? So are they trying to cover up incompetence?" the Thangarian remarked more than asked, her wings ruffling.

"But how would anyone know when to steal it?" Flash asked, making a good point. "I'm betting these government guys tried to keep this on the down low, you know? That way no one would walk off with in or whatever happened."

"Unless A.R.G.U.S was already compromised and there was an individual capable of moving quickly enough to snatch it during transit, when it would be most vulnerable," Batman pointed out. "All you would need to know is from what city a probe is leaving from, how they are transporting it, and who is involved. Any decent spy would be more than capable of finding that information out, and it would be more than easy to bribe a person who only earns enough to make ends meet."

"It sounds like you have experience with something like this," the Thanagarian said, giving the vigilante a wry look.

Batman didn't bother to confirm or deny that claim.

"It is very much concerning that there is another on Earth who has one of the probes," J'onn cut in. "They do not know what they are dealing with and the potential for disaster increases with every day. They could reactivate or initiate the self-destruct sequence and put many lives at risk."

"So we find it as quickly as possible and make A.R.G.U.S. look dumb while we're at it," Flash finished for the Martian.

For the first time since they were brought together this day, Hawkgirl's lips curved upwards, though the smile was anything but reassuring. "I think I can get behind that."

"I'll look into it. The rest of you continue with defenses," Batman interrupted. "No one can afford to become sidetracked. Wonder Woman, keep meeting with Trevor, see what else we can get out of him as well as what kind of asset A.R.G.U.S, could be. J'onn—"

"If I may interrupt," the Martian spoke up. "I did not have the chance earlier, but I would like to inform you of my progress on the probe. I have been developing various means to incapacitate or deactivate any more probes that may we encounter. I have finished designs and am in the process of having these countermeasures produced."

"So we're not going to be helpless if another batch shows up." Hawkgirl nodded her approval.

"This can include if Superman...is not successful with his mission," J'onn added.

"How long until you can finish?" Batman inquired, his interest captured but his control over his emotions good enough that he was able to hide it better than the others. That Wonder Woman was able to pick up on it seemed a testament to how close they had become before the sudden withdrawal.

"A few days, perhaps. Kryptonian technology may reduce that time, but I am unsure as to how much." They were all still getting used to this new resource and its capabilities, and that would need to change if they were to meet this latest challenge.

"Get started immediately." Making an abrupt turn, the Dark Knight's cape whipping about him as he began to slip off. "We don't know how much time we have, and we're only going to have one chance. Let's not mess this up."

Oa, fittingly enough, was a planet green in color. It was a sight that John Stewart was used to seeing, and compared to other planets he had been to, this was one that did not bring up feelings of dread or put him on edge.

Periodically, he would have to come here for various reasons. Regular reports on his sector, occasional maintenance on his ring, and sometimes just to decompress with other members of the Green Lantern Corps.

Then there were the times he needed to come to request reinforcements. It wasn't often that he did such a thing. He could count the number of times on one hand and still have a few fingers left over. Sometimes his requests would be granted, others turned down. The Green Lantern ring was a powerful weapon, and if used to its full potential, all you needed was one Lantern to handle a situation.

This time around, he was fishing for information, anything he could about Brainiac. As old as they were, the Guardians had to have heard or know of something. That was his reasoning, and hopefully it wasn't off the mark.

Entering the atmosphere wasn't anything special. Thanks to the power of his ring, he was shielded from any harmful effects, like catching on fire for one. G-forces and atmospheric pressures were others, the power of the ring protecting him until he was through and gliding through the air of Oa, heading down to the surface of the planet.

He had taken pains to angle himself so that he was heading directly towards the planet's capital, the place where he would find the Guardians themselves. In the distance, he could see a large structure, one similar to the green lantern he had hidden in his apartment back on Earth, only much larger in scale and brighter in color.

That there was the Source of the ring's power, of the entire corps' power. Close to it was what appeared to be a city, and that was John's destination. He wasn't the only one heading there, as there were other streaks of green light in the air, other Lanterns, leaving and entering the city in a regular flow of Corps traffic. It took a while to get used to it, especially when most travelling was up in the air.

Entering the city proper, John glided past buildings, various structures below him that took the form of streets, high-rise walkways, and vegetation like trees and plants. The buildings themselves held a futuristic appeal, at least to John's eyes they did. Curves, slants, and protrusions that could only be found in an architect's dreams were everywhere to be seen. Below, all sorts of life, alien naturally, populated this place, many of them in the black and green uniform that was standard of the Corps.

Military life had taught him to ignore such sights and to be on guard no matter where you found yourself, so John was able to push down any awe he may have felt and push through to the task at hand. He sped past many of the sights and countless other souls until he arrived at the complex that served as a headquarters of sorts. It was here that Lanterns gathered, either to be handed a mission or to report back to for debriefing. It also served as a transport station, one that led directly to the place where the Guardians themselves gathered.

Spotting the building, one that somehow blended in with the futuristic architecture yet stood out at the same time, John decreased his altitude until landing in front of his destination. Just in the front, there were other Lanterns mingling about, either catching up, briefing one another, or debating galactic rivalries and who was going to win the next...okay that word had no direct human translation—that was right, there was no word in any human language to translate it to—but it was basically a popular sport in the galaxy. Three dimensional soccer would be the best description with elements of rugby and hockey thrown in for good measure.

Yes, sports rivalries were alive and well in the rest of the galaxy. It was familiar and made the dark-skinned man feel more comfortable in this alien place.

His feet touched down on the pavement, and John was already on the move, heading towards the main entrance. The sooner he did this, the sooner he could return to Earth.

As he was passing a large Lantern, a hand suddenly slapped down on his shoulder and tightly gripped it. Through his mind, the Green Lantern went over dozens, if not hundreds of scenarios, each one involving some kind of evasive maneuver or self-defense.

Then he heard the lighthearted, deep voice. "John! When did you get planetside? Haven't seen you since that bit with the Bellatrix Bombers! How're you doing?"

Immediately, John relaxed and turned enough to face the large Lantern that had greeted him. "Just got here Kilowog. Sorry if I need to be brief, but I need to see the Guardians ASAP about something. I'll catch up later."

Kilowog was a memorable face, what with being pink skinned and a unique jaw that was very wide and flat. Under different circumstances, he could be a very intimidating man, but one look into eyes that seem to express kindness all the time, it didn't take long to recognize this Bolovax Viikian was a gentle soul at heart.

Then again, he was also very good at being a drill instructor, one of the hardest that John had ever been under, and he was a U.S. Marine. Practically every Lantern that gained a ring had to go through Kilowog first before they were ever allowed into field duty.

The training was effective, even if John grew to hate the word "Poozer."

"Oh? Something happening on Earth?" Kilowog was falling into step beside him, taking his hand off the shorter human's shoulder as he did so. "You always like to take care of things yourself, so this has gotta be big."

"That's the problem; I don't know if it is something big," John admitted, taking large strides to match the larger Lantern's, who in turn shortened his. "I'm hoping the Guardians can shed some light on it. You wouldn't happen to know if they're here?"

Depending on what noise the pink-skinned alien made next would determine what happened next. It was a soft chuckle, which meant good news. "They just got together about a degree ago. Guardian stuff, whatever it is this time. Did they call you to show up?"

"No. I was hoping to catch at least one of them."

"Then you're in luck. I haven't heard about anything big happening, so they might let you walk in if what you've got is important enough. It's not as if we're talking about another Corps thinking of getting frisky and trying invade another planet, right?" The large alien gave a shrug of his shoulders.

John nodded his head. "Won't know until I ask. Thanks."

The pair parted ways as the human entered the complex. A large lobby, one full of mingling Lanterns laid on the other side of the entrance, and John slipped his way through them, giving nods of greeting to the ones he knew or who greeted him first. There was an air of levity about the place, a sign that so far there was nothing happening or that what the Guardians were meeting about wasn't a threat on a galactic level. That was good; it made the chances of getting an audience with them all the more likely.

Entering a hallway, he made his way deeper and deeper until he reached the first of many intersections. Straight on he continued, passing by other intersecting hallways until taking a right at the first T-intersection. The first left also warranted a turn, followed by one more right until he reached a small teleportation platform.

This would be the moment of truth; the Guardians liked to meet in privacy, far from the ears of the other Lanterns. However, unless you entered the planet at the right angle, this was one of the faster ways to reach them. He didn't go to Oa often, so he hadn't yet memorized the exact location where the Guardians currently were, though the general area was known.

This pad was the fastest way for the dark-skinned man, and whether it was activated or not would prove if he could get an audience.

A flash of light was his answer, and finding himself in a new location raised his hopes up. John was outside again, only nowhere close to any city. The altitude was much greater, and the sky was clear with nothing but stars over head. Even the light from the sun couldn't block this out. Perhaps it was a sign of the Guardians' true power that they themselves could stop or redirect light itself with nothing but their will.

Regardless, he was in, and up ahead was a set of stairs. These stairs led up to a platform, one that had smaller, higher platforms circling it, each one with a short, blue skinned lifeform, each with varying degrees of white hair sprouting from their heads. Each one wore robes, red and white in color with the former streaking down on the sides while the latter faced boldly up front. The symbol of the Corps were embedded right on the white, situated over the chests.

None of them had directed any of their attention John's way, which was normal. They wouldn't acknowledge him unless he brought recognition his way. To do that started with walking up those stairs, taking each step one at a time until he reach the wide, circular platform up top. If there was any discussion that was happening, it ended soon enough, the sounds of John's footsteps the only thing breaking the silence.

"Ah, John Stewart of Earth, it is a pleasant surprise to see you," one of the Guardians greeted, one whose white hair was in a state of thinning yet still covered much of his head. That was Ganthet, one of the Guardians who held an interest in Earth if only out of curiosity's sake.

"What tidings do you bring?" another Guardian spoke, this one with hair the curved on either side of his head, giving the impression of small wings. That was Appa Ali Apsa, one of the Guardians with one of the longer names. He had heard a joke once that his name was longer than his height, and it was one that was kept as far from the Guardian in question. If John recalled correctly, Appa knew of the joke; he just didn't care.

Squaring his shoulders, the Green Lantern stood tall and professionally before the group, these individuals some of the most powerful in the universe. "There was an incursion on Earth about a week ago, Earth time. They consisted of multiple robots and each attacked the planet's cyber infrastructure. When confronted, these robots became hostile; a scan from my ring said they were made from Promethium. These things were some of the most advanced technology I have ever seen, and that's comparing it to what we have here on Oa."

The Guardians shared a look amongst each other. Not quite the response John was hoping for but then again, how these little blue men operated sometimes left him in the dark.

"Go on, John Stewart. What else can you tell us about these robots?" Ganthet prompted, the Guardian's face soft yet stoic.

"Their fighting capabilities allow them to break constructs easily, and because of the Promethium, they can take a hit," the dark-skinned human continued. The first part of that statement caught some of the Guardians by surprise, their eyebrows rising. A construct formed by the ring was indestructible, so long as it remained powered by will. "It took the full might of the Justice League to quell them, and even then, some self-destructed before we could reach them. We were able to retrieve one of the robots and have it analyzed. We learned that it had some history with Krypton."

"Krypton?" That was Quaros, one who still had a head full of hair, though it was long and stringy in appearance. "How is it possible that a relic from Krypton makes its existence known now?"

"Let the Lantern continue," another Guardian cut in, this one entirely bald. It took John a second to recall this one was named Sayd.

"Because it was so advanced, we fell back to a computer of Kryptonian make. I've reported that Superman is Kryptonian before. The computer recognized the robot's programming and a file appeared, one made by Superman's father, Jor-El," he continued. "According to this file, there was this artificial intelligence that Krypton used, one that Jor-El claimed deliberately destabilized the planet's core before escaping. It called itself Brainiac."

John found himself stopping, mainly because he felt a change amongst the Guardians. Now they were all sharing looks, but they were rapid, and they were speaking, muttering more like but he was able to pick out the name Brainiac several times. Did this mean they knew the name?

Narrowing his eyes, John said coolly, "You know this name?"

By the act of talking, the Guardians stopped, the looks they were sharing slowing down until all of their attention was back on him.

"You are sure that the name you heard was Brainiac?" Ganthet asked, his tone cautious.

"That's the one," the human Lantern confirmed, nodding his head in the affirmative.

As one the Guardians turned their heads to one specific Guardian, one with who stood out due to a gold plate that covered half his head, red, circular protrusions decorating it, while the other half was white hair that was pulled back into a pony tail. In contrast to most of the Guardians, this one had facial hair growing from his chin, hair that was braided and held with gold rings. Starling enough, where all the other Guardians had eyes of green color with white sclera, this one only had one eye like that while the other had a black sclera.

There was no mistaking who this was. He was Rami, the Guardian responsible for forging the ring that all Green Lanterns wore. He was also the eldest, though he was not the leader. You couldn't say who was the leader of this group of blue aliens, especially when they all were equal in their positions.

Rami seemed to know what was being asked of him, and his wrinkle of a mouth curved wryly. "It seems that you have come across an infamous criminal, John Stewart, one that we the Guardians have been pursuing for nearly...how long has it been?"

"Approximately...five hundred Earth years," Ganthet spoke up, doing a quick translation for the human.

That didn't stop John from widening his eyes. Five hundred years? And the Guardians hadn't been able to apprehend this thing?

"What is Brainiac?" he demanded, tired of waiting for an answer. He had come all this way for one, and he refused to wait any longer.

"Whom is the question you should be asking," Rami corrected, though he bore no ill will towards the dark-skinned man's interruption. "We know him as the Collector of Worlds. The one known as Brainiac is a Coluan, native of the planet Colu, a race that evolved from plants, peculiarly. We know little else of Brainiac's origin, due to how secretive and...independent minded Coluans are. They have refused any assistance from the Corps, up to and including allowing us to assign a Lantern to patrol their sector of space.

"What we do know, is that Brainiac once bore the name Vril Dox, and was a highly respected and intelligent scientist. Perhaps the greatest intellectual Colu has ever had. To this day, we do not know the details, but Dox committed an act, one so heinous that he was stripped of all titles and prestige, and imprisoned. Dox was able to escape, the Colu was content for leaving him an exile, that is until he returned and attacked the capital city."

Recalling the message from Jor-El, John hardened his gaze. "He destroyed it."

"By all appearances," Ganthet agreed, "except that he didn't. Should you go there now, you will find nothing but a hole in the ground where that city once stood. But he did not destroy it."

"He didn't?" This was completely unexpected. At the same time, it didn't make sense to him. This Vril Dox attacked a city from his home planet, but didn't destroy it? Then what did he do with it?

One Guardian explained, "Coluans are very technologically advanced, even for space-faring races. One of their greatest inventions is that of a device capable of shrinking matter while retaining its form."

A shrink ray. That was what his own mind supplied him with.

"He shrank the city, and stored it away before leaving Colu. Colu was furious, but they were unable to fully pursue him as he had destroyed much of their own spacecraft, or anything capable enough to give chase. Our involvement began with Bryak. Since Bryak was a sector the Corps covered, a Lantern faced with incursion fought against the Collector of Worlds. But he failed and the Bryak were destroyed. When his ring returned that began our pursuit, one that has become increasingly difficult as Brainiac incorporates the technological prowess of those he collects, further refining his. Stealth, forcefields, drones, probes, and even the capture of a Lantern...it has all allowed him to remain ahead and out of reach."

Rami's eyes had closed, his head tilted downward. Many other Guardians shared the same expression. It was one that John recognized, that of unending failure, especially when done in the face of something that no matter how hard you tried, you were never able to ever beat. This had been a war of attrition, one that had taken more of a toll from their side.

"We have not been able to discern any pattern that Brainiac uses to select the planets he attacks," Appa Ali Apsa confessed. "It is one of the reasons we still chase him, even though we always arrive too late. As cycles pass, the rate of planets he attacks increase. He becomes more efficient; sometimes so quick in his strikes that we are unaware of his involvement until much, much later."

"Until now," Ganthet stated, grim but also determined. "For the first time, we know of a planet that Brainiac intends to collect prior to his arrival. This gives us the opportunity to prevent another tragedy before it happens, and for that, we must thank you John Stewart."

This was a lot of information to take hold of, but as a man of action, this Green Lantern zeroed in on what was last said. "So what's the plan?"

"Earth is considered to be under immediate threat," Quaros declared. "Considering the source of the threat, an appropriate response is required, is it not?"

"Indeed," Ganthet agreed.

"And what would be an appropriate response for this?" John interjected. He was feeling a nervous energy running through him, wondering where this was going. He had heard the stories before of how a Lantern would go before the Guardians, requesting help, and be told that they were more than enough by themselves. More often than not, the Guardians were right, though there were some close calls. A part of the human dreaded the answer, another part had...expectations.

"We will call out to the Corps. All available Lanterns are to report to Sector 2814, Planet Earth," Ganthet announced to all in attendance, receiving no objections. "Any who are indisposed will be exempt, but those who are not will answer. This may be our only opportunity to bring an end of the Collector of World's reign of terror. We cannot ignore it for what it is."

When he had left the Guardians, returning to the hub city that was Oa's capital, there was a noticeable change. For one thing, there were less Lanterns seen milling about. Of those John was able to see, only green slipstreams were what gave them away, these Lanterns heading towards the same destination.

That was the large Lantern structure, the very source of their Rings' power. It was an unofficial gathering place, one for large scale operations that also served to recharge any and all rings before going into action. Flying there, the Earth native was successful at keeping his surprise to himself at the large, no, enormous gathering of Green Lanterns that he had ever seen.

The last time had been quite some time, and it had involved a fight with the Sinestro Corps. This was a sign of how big this was.

There was an opening in the crowd, one circular in nature and most likely the center of attention. As he flew closer, he could pick out a small red blob in a sea of black and green. Had to be one of the Guardians rallying the troops. Inexplicably, John felt a pair of eyes on him, a feeling that he tended to get whenever he was around a Guardian. Whereas most of the Corps didn't know he was there, this Guardian did and the fact he was looking up at him meant that the Lantern was wanted.

So he began his descent, landing next to Ganthet. It seemed appropriate; out of all of the Guardians, Ganthet was the one who held a curious interest in Earth. By all accounts, it was just that, curiosity, like one would have with some unusual or new object or a show on television.

"John Stewart," the Guardian greeted. "We have a good gathering. Others will join you as you journey back to your sector. Take the time to charge your ring and remember, do not hold back. The battle you go to has been in the making for a long time, and the fate of your home rests in the balance. Good luck."

Yes, boilerplate speech aside, John knew with certainty what this meant. Based on what he had learned recently, the fate of Earth did hang in the balance. It was too bad that he was too far, otherwise he'd try and contact the League to let them know what they were up against. Even if he used his ring to boost the signal from his communicator, Oa was still too far away to guarantee contact.

There were some things even will had problems with.

Turning away from Ganthet, he gazed over at the crowd of Lanterns. He spotted many familiar faces, from Kilowog, to Tomar-Re, Galius Zed to Laira, and even a rare appearance from Katma Tui. At least he had some trusted comrades here, not that the rest of the Corps were untrustworthy. They were, but even in an organization like this, people tended to form their own social networks.

"Anytime you're ready," Ganthet stated, giving him an unspoken prompt.

Yeah, there was one last thing to do before kicking off this operation. It wasn't necessary, but it was tradition. Like a hoo-rah in the army, it was a morale boost, and it wouldn't feel right to launch this force of Lanterns without it. There was a reason why the Lanterns were now looking to him, some with balled up fists that featured their green rings prominently.

You could practically feel it in the air, an anticipation. It was one that longed to broken, and only he was allowed to do it.

So he did.

Closing his eyes, he called up the words he knew by heart, then raised his head up high and snapped his eyes open, their green color clear.

"In Brightest Day, in Blackest Night," he called out over the assembly of Lanterns, raising up his right arm where his ring was worn, holding it high above his head, "No evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power—"

Then as one, the rest of the assembled Corp roared, raising their rings up into the air much like the Earthling.

"GREEN LANTERN'S LIGHT!"

Green auras flared, and en masse the Corps rose into the air, rocketing up into the atmosphere and into Outer Space itself, their destination being a small planet in Sector 2814. The small details would be disseminated throughout the long journey, but all knew there was a colossal threat on its way to hurt people, and that was more than enough for them to intervene.

John hadn't expected all this when he had come to Oa, but right now he felt more than confident that Earth was in safe hands. Let Brainiac come; he was going to face off with the full strength of the Justice League and the Green Lantern Corps.

It had been days since he had left Earth. Thanks to the design of the small spacecraft, problems such as nutrition and isolation were negated thanks to the stasis mechanism that was part of the ship's design. It had been what was used to protect him when his father had first launched the ship away from Krypton decades ago.

Now the last son of a dead world was using it to help in finding the one responsible for that world's destruction. There was something poetic about that. Thanks to stasis, his body was preserved, almost slowed down to the point where he did not need to be active enough to consume anything or eliminate. Most of his time was spent in long bouts of sleep while the various files he had downloaded into the ship from the Fortress' computer, all files related to Brainiac in one way or another, played subliminally. There was a focus on the one file that his father had made, warning him to run.

While it hadn't been Jor-El's intention, Kal-El had chosen to run to the danger, to face it once and for all and stop it from hurting anymore people.

Space was a very large place, though, even if he had a general area along with a program that continued to hone in on wherever Brainiac was hiding, and arriving at his final destination was going to take time. The Kryptonian had to trust in the ship and his own preparation to see him through this leg of his journey.

He had been in space long enough to know how long travel took in it, and the sight of endless stars, which had once captivated him, had become more and more mundane with each trip he took. At times it became backdrop, something that was completely overlooked or ignored, but that was usually because there was a fight.

There wasn't a fight now, so that meant sitting and resting and listening and relistening to the audio files he had stored on the mainframe. Endless loops of how integral Brainiac had become to Krypton, meetings on various proposed upgrades to the AI, meetings and conventions that were pretty much nothing but praise for it, and all were interrupted by Jor-El's final message of deceit and betrayal. There was only one other file that appeared, one that had had the AI in attendance and involved the mysterious attack of an unidentified flying object, one that had attacked Kandor and vaporized it.

It was one of the few files in which the AI had any participation, and the Kryptonian wanted to know the voice of his enemy. If all went well, he would be finding the program soon, though how long that was was anyone's guess.

On day five of his travels, he had pulled out a small mirror and used it to fire his heat vision into it, sending the beam back at his face, and in particular his facial hair. It was a favorite way of his to shave, and it saved a lot when it came to razor blades. There was a need to be clean-shaven for this, though. Maybe that was a result of being raised by Pa and Ma, to always look your best for any and all occasions. The Kents had left their mark on him, much like Brainiac had decades ago.

On day six, that was when the ship alerted him.

Ending stasis, Superman peered through the transparent shield that served as a window, looking out into space. Initially, he saw nothing, just stars and blackness as far as the Kryptonian eye could see. Then he looked down at the controls and hit a few buttons. A holographic imaged appeared on the windshield—for a lack of a better word—answering the inquiry he had put in.

According to the ship, they were close to the destination of the Brainiac probe's transmission. Whatever had received it was close by, as relative as that was. Quickly, the dark-haired Kryptonian inputted a command to do a scan, one searching for any object that might be nearby or at least in traveling distance. There was no sense in accidentally heading to another star system just by putting in the wrong command.

Despite the earlier alert, the scan came back negative, not finding anything. What was this? Why alert him that Brainiac was close by and then say there was nothing around? Was there something wrong with the ship? A bug? A glitch? Had he come all the way out here for nothing?

Inputting another scan, Superman tried to use his eyes to see if he could find anything. His heart was starting to speed up a bit, anticipation and anxiety warring for dominance. He tried different visions, from x-ray to heat, but still found nothing. The scan came back, again negative, and the Man of Steel slumped back into his seat.

He didn't understand this. It made no sense whatsoever. With the exception of Hawkgirl and Green Lantern, he had one of the most extensive experiences in space; he knew how to navigate it. None of this was making sense.

Then the ship shuddered, an alert blaring out that something was attacking. Muscles tensed up, the Kryptonian bracing himself for an impact that did not follow up the initial shudder. All the while, the ship's computer continued to scream of danger.

But where? Where was it coming from? What—

And suddenly the holographic screen cut out, leaving only the sight of space in its place. Immediately, Superman went to work, trying to bring the display back up but finding that none of the buttons he pressed or the switches he flicked had any effect. It was as if everything was shutting down.

There was another shudder, only this time the stars outside began to move in a way that was not normal for forward propulsion. It was as if he was being pulled to a side and lowered.

Then rising from below, the hull of something big came into view. As more and more of it came into sight, Superman pulled back into his seat, taking in the sight of what looked like a skull only in metal form. The very color of it allowed this ship to blend in with its black surroundings, and suddenly the limitation of only being allowed to see straight ahead occurred to the Kryptonian.

That, and the reminder that in space it was all three-dimensions; up and down were viable directions. It was like that one space movie he had only caught the last half of once.

As his ship continued to be lowered, another feature of the skull ship was discovered. Long, metal tentacles seemed to stretch out from underneath it, one of which extended out and under—it was one of those things that was latching on to his ship.

This was less of an attack and more of a capture.

Superman could have attempted to fight this. Instead, he relaxed in his seat. If this was where the probe's transmission had gone, then he had indeed arrived.

He had found where Brainiac was hiding.

Far be it from him to reject the offer of being invited in.

FlackAttack: Recall, at this point in time, Cyborg isn't a member of the Regime, especially since the Regime has yet to exist yet. Plus, as far as anyone knows, the technology making up Cyborg's body is Earth-based, and when trying to find information about something from space, you go to someone who knows a thing or two about it. For Batman, it's an alien that seems to have gone under the Justice League's radar. No matter what, Batman's need for secrecy is nearly all-consuming.

To answer your question about the Titans, Starfire seems to see Batman as an Important Figure in the life of a comrade of hers, thus he is to be given respect until proven otherwise. Cassie is one of those people who like to buck off authority or any kind, but after The Eleventh Hour, he's the one guy you don't piss off and keep your head down when he's around. Needless to say, he left an impression. Lastly, Raven doesn't care. She has more important concerns, and Batman is not one of them.