Chapter Nine: No More Control

--

Morgan frowned as Richie brushed past her without a word for the fourth time that school day. It wasn't this action that made her worry though, it was the fact that when she tried to probe his mind to find out what was wrong, she could only go in so far before being kicked out. She could only watch as Richie walked away from her, not knowing what was wrong. At lunch she looked for Virgil, hoping the genius' best friend would know something.

"Is it me or is Richie being…weird?" Virgil asked when Morgan approached him.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing," She sat down, "Ever since we got back from the Watchtower he's been that way."

Virgil gazed at her, knowing that Richie's situation was the only thing bothering her.

"Lux still refuses to come back?" He asked.

"She likes it up there, who am I to deny her that?" Morgan lamented.

Lux had decided to stay with the Justice League a little longer, per Batman's request. He had wanted to learn a little more about the girls through research and Lux volunteered to be the test subject. Morgan wanted to object but a fierce and dangerous thought from Lux entered her mind…so she backed off.

"I hope she gets back soon though, I worry for her." The mentalist whispered.

"She'll be fine; I'm more concerned about Richie. Can't you look into his head and see what's wrong?" Virgil inquired.

"I've tried, but each time, when I reach a certain point I'm shut out." Morgan responded with a sigh.

She'd always been able to get into anyone's mind with no resistance. The only exception was Lux, and Morgan would rather stay out of her sister's head anyway. When she told this to Virgil he became confused.

"Maybe there's something in his head…?" Virgil tried and Morgan took this into great consideration.

She'd never understood mind control or anything of the like. Her style of hypnosis was just to render the person unconscious, never to control their actions.

"You mean like another entity?" Morgan asked and that's when it hit her as she recalled her conversation with Richie the night before.

"Backpack's been acting weird since we got back."

"Braniac!" She exclaimed.

Virgil's eyes widened when he realized what she was saying. Braniac had taken control of Richie. They had to get to the League!

--

"Where's Flash?" Lux asked as she walked into the main computer room.

"Out looking for your friend Gear, we think he may have taken Braniac with him." Batman informed her.

"What do you mean?" Her features changing from stoic to worry.

"A bunch of files were downloaded from the Watchtower's computer before Braniac was seemingly destroyed. We think the virus may have stowed itself away onto Gear's…backpack." Batman's explanation only increased Lux's worry.

"I need to get down there." She stated and was grateful when Batman nodded.

"We all do, it's been over an hour since Flash left. He should have found the kid by now." Green Lantern told them as he walked in, "The jet is ready."

"Let's go Nitrix." Lux hurried after them.

As they flew to Earth, Lux wondered if Morgan was okay. J'onn had just explained to her how Braniac could take over one's mind and control them. She feared the repercussions that would occur if Braniac got into Morgan's head. The entire nation would be compromised. It was Lux's responsibility to keep that from happening, it was her sole purpose and why she was created: to keep her sister from harm and keep the nation's military secrets…a secret.

Dr. Crane made that very clear years ago.

--

Morgan nearly cried as she watched Lux kicked repeatedly while the latter tried to defend herself from several mercenaries. The whole thing was simply a simulation but the pain was real, that Morgan knew. Lux knew this as well as she stood up, albeit slowly.

"You're pathetic girl!" One of the mercenaries yelled at the pyro.

Morgan rattled the bars of the cage she was trapped in, Lux was supposed to save her. Behind her, one of the men approached her. She turned and her eyes widened as he pulled out a switchblade and smirked at her.

"So what is it you keep in that pretty little head of yours?" He asked as he pulled Morgan out of the cage and put the blade to her throat.

"LUX!" Morgan's strangled scream rang out.

Then everything went black.

--

"Lux! Why are you back so soon?" Morgan asked as she hugged her sister.

"We've got a problem, it's Richie." Lux told her.

"We know, he's been taken over by Braniac, we've been trying to find him for the past couple hours." Morgan sighed.

"We can locate him, Flash was sent to find him and we can track him." Batman announced and the teens nodded.

"You two, go get dressed and we'll meet you at the Gas Station." Lux ordered her sister and Virgil, seeing as they were still in their civilian clothes.

Morgan was reluctant but took off towards her home anyway. When she got there she didn't even acknowledge her father as she raced upstairs. When she got there she stripped out of her civilian clothing and changed into her outfit as Matrix. She didn't hear her father come and stand in the doorway.

"I had a feeling it was you." His voice startled her.

She looked at him fear and sadness in her eyes, "I'm sorry Daddy, we should have told you. But we have to discuss this later, a friend of mine is in trouble."

He nodded and waved her off, "It's that Richie kid isn't it? I can tell, the fear in your eyes gives it away."

"He means a lot to me…" Morgan started but stopped, did this mean that she liked Richie?

"Go then, and we'll talk later tonight. Good luck Matrix and tell your sister I say hi." James smiled as he disappeared downstairs as Matrix put her mask on and headed for the window.

Nitrix met up with her halfway to the gas station. When they got there, the place was deserted except for a message taped to the door.

Hey guys,

Meet me in the tech district downtown in warehouse 9

Richie

"Obviously a trap but we have to go anyway. You got an idea on how we're going to free him?" Nitrix asked.

"I was hoping we could wing it." Matrix shrugged.

"We'll go ahead and scope it out, see if it's safe. You three should come with a plan to get your friend out of Braniac's control because if you can't…" Batman didn't need to say more.

"You'll kill him?!" Morgan demanded having read the Dark Knight's mind.

"We've got no choice if it'll take care of Braniac, think of all the people that could be hurt or killed. One life in comparison to thousands, think about that." Batman reasoned.

"You are not killing him, not!" Matrix called after him as he and the rest of the League took their leave to find Richie.

"They can't kill him, they just can't." She whispered to herself.

She never thought that a situation like this would make her realize just how much she really cared for Richie. When Ebon had tried to kidnap all those months ago she had been worried and was so relieved when the shadow had left Richie behind. She had been so proud of Richie when he became Gear, she could spend more time with him as well. Now his life was jeopardy, again, and she had to save him. She had to!

"They won't kill him Morgan, not when we have this." Matrix waved a small device in her face.

"Backpack's remote!" Matrix exclaimed.

"Yep, now let's go find them." Matrix smiled, knowing that Richie's situation was taking a toll on Morgan.

He hoped the two would tell each how they felt soon.

As they flew over the tech district, Matrix strained to hear the thoughts of the rest of the League but heard nothing.

"I can't hear their thoughts, this is bad." She told her comrades and they grimaced.

A loud explosion turned their attention back to the warehouse and they all landed to avoid being hit by any flying debris. Hurrying inside they saw Richie and the League standing in a line, Richie towering over them.

"Nice of you to join us." Richie's voice was computerized, making Matrix's heart wrench.

"Richie…no Braniac, what have you done?" The mentalist questioned.

Braniac-Richie answered by snapping his fingers and three tiny probes flew towards the heroes. They attached themselves to the back of their necks, putting them under Braniac's control. Braniac-Richie's triumphant smiled when Matrix and Static glared at him.

"No one controls me but me." Matrix snapped.

"The same can't be said about your sister though, I'm afraid." Braniac-Richie laughed as he pointed at the pyro.

Matrix's eyes widened as she shielded herself from a fireball. Static did the same as Nitrix approached them, clearly under Brainiac-Richie's control.

"Kill them, then we'll initiate phase two of my plan." Brainiac-Richie ordered the rest of the League.

Matrix found herself under a lot of strain as she fought off the entire League and Nitrix. Static was having the same problem as he was knocked into a wall by Hawkgirl. Knowing the only way to get through this was turning Backpack off, Matrix thought of a plan. With a powerful wave of psychic energy she sent everyone but Nitrix flying backwards. Lux can keep them at bay, but I've got to break her free from Brainiac. I think I know how.

Static watched in horror as Matrix fell to the ground, screaming in pain. He tried to get to her but Hawkgirl and Green Lantern blocked his path.

"MORGAN!" He yelled to her.

Nitrix turned to see her sister's limp form as Wonder Woman picked her up. For a few seconds Matrix's eyes opened and she looked at the pyro. With everything she had she let out an ear piercing scream.

"LUX!" The scream ignited something within Nitrix; her sister was in grave danger and that was all that mattered at the moment. Her mind cleared up and she was no longer under Brainiac's control.

Wonder Woman hit the wall hard as Nitrix blasted her with a particularly powerful fireball. Matrix picked herself off the ground and smirked when her sister shook the living daylights out of her.

"Don't ever scare me like that again." Lux hissed.

"You're back to normal," Matrix smiled as Static managed to get to them, "I'm fine Virgil now here's the plan. You two keep the League away from me while I break the hold Brainiac has on Richie."

"And when Richie's free we shut off Backpack." Static added.

"Right, now let's get moving."

As they turned, Static and Nitrix immediately fended off the League while Matrix made her way towards Richie. I've only got one chance. Rushing to Richie she reached out with her hands and touched his forehead, entering his mind.

If I fail, it'll kill both of us…

--

It was dark within Richie's mind, Morgan blamed that on Brainiac. As she wandered through, she looked for any sign of light or something that she could use to help Richie.

"Morgan…please…help me."

Morgan' s head snapped towards the direction of Richie's voice.

"Richie?" She called out, "Richie!"

It was silent but Morgan knew that Richie was there, trying to fight off Brainiac. Not wasting anytime she took off running in the direction of the voice. As she ran, she passed numerous memories. She saw some in black and white, and others in color.

A memory of Richie's father scolding him passed by in black and white. As more like these passed, Morgan figured out that memories Richie didn't like, had no color. A few color memories passed by as well, they almost always included Virgil and some even included Lux and Morgan. Maybe I could use these to my advantage, Morgan mused as she kept sprinting towards the sound of Richie's voice. It was growing fainter by the second.

"No Richie, you have to stay with me. If not, you'll die and Brainiac will have complete control." She told him.

She'd die too but Richie's life was more important to her. She had to save him. Leaving the memories behind, she made it to the point where she was always forced out. Not this time, she thought as she walked up to a large door. She knew Richie lay on the other side of it and she had to free him.

Closing her eyes and centering her focus, she recalled all the memories she had seen earlier and they swirled around her until they became a rainbow of energy. She focused that energy onto the door, unlocking it as she did so. Slowly the door began to open and Morgan hurried through it.

When she got inside she was surprised to see Richie standing there, gazing at her.

"Richie," She grinned.

He stood up and walked towards her, smiling as well. Morgan was surprised when he wrapped his arms around her and put his forehead against hers. She was even more surprised when he kissed her, fully and passionately. When he pulled away he brought his lips to her ear.

"Morgan, there's so much I want to tell you." He breathed.

"We can do that later, right now, you've got to get Brainiac out of your head." Morgan told him as she reluctantly pulled away, remembering why she was there in the first place.

Richie nodded as the room around him became ablaze with light. Morgan gasped as she came face to face with Brainiac. He grinned evilly as he looked down at her.

"Get out of his head, now!" She ordered, her voice dripping with venom.

"So you are the object of this human's affections. I find that I have no use of such sentimentalities." The virus spoke.

Morgan looked at Richie, whose face was now blank, and willed him to snap out of it. He couldn't let Brainiac control him.

"Richie, please, if you can hear me you have to fight off Brainiac. You have to so that we can be together. Isn't that what you want? Isn't it?" Morgan asked.

"It…is." Richie strained as he blinked a few times. Morgan was breaking through.

"If it's what you want then break free, break free and come to me." She held out her arms to him.

Straining, Richie took one step towards her and Brainiac roared. Morgan simply kept her arms out, urging Richie to keep going. He did and soon it was becoming easier and easier for him to move. No longer was he walking then, he was sprinting. As he reached Morgan, his arms wrapped around her in a tight hug, Morgan could feel him shaking.

"You're fine Richie, you're alright. Now it's time to wake up. Open your eyes Richie." She whispered to him.

"RICHIE! OPEN YOUR EYES!"

--

Richie's eyes flew open just in time for him to move out of the way of a flying Batman.

"You're awake!" Nitrix yelled to him.

He nodded as heard an inhuman roar.

"Guys, we need to shut Backpack off!" Richie turned to see Matrix standing a few feet behind him.

"Where's the remote?" Richie asked.

"There!" Matrix yelled as Static tossed the remote to them.

Richie grabbed, turned towards Backpack which Matrix had detached from him, and pressed a button on the remote. Immediately Backpack shut off and Brainiac roared as he lost his power source. The teens watched as he faded away before turning to the League.

"You guys okay?" Static asked sheepishly.

"Thanks to you we are." Green Lantern replied, placing a hand on Matrix's shoulder.

"Brainiac's gone…this time for good." Nitrix announced as she tossed Backpack to Richie.

"Let's all hope so," Matrix sighed in relief as she watched Richie tinker with Backpack.

His eyes left Backpack when he felt her gaze and he looked up at her. She smiled warmly before turning to talk to Wonder Woman. He blushed as he smiled and looked back at Backpack. You did what I couldn't do, he mused.

"Can we go home now?!"

Richie smiled, he guessed Lux wasn't going back to the Watchtower this time. He watched as Nitrix practically dragged her sister out of the warehouse, the mentalist struggling to get loose. When her eyes landed on Richie she blushed.

"Call me later!" She called to him.

Richie smiled, he was so going to call her.

--

Longest one so far, yes I am aware that I skipped the first part. The thing is, I started to write it, got over halfway through it, forgot to save it and it was gone forever. So I became lazy, did this chapter (which was much easier to write btw) and it is the new chapter nine. I hope you guys can forgive me for my laziness and I'll continue to bring you amazing chapters of this story. Thanks.

Another thing, don't just favorite the story and subscribe to it. I love reviews! Give me some!