Chapter 11

Brainy hitched up his bag as he wound his way in the streets of New Metropolis. It felt strange being here again. Nobody paid any attention to him but he still felt like an outsider. The last time he had been here, he had not stayed long, and then he had never returned – until today.

And the Legion. How would they react when he appeared? Would they resent him for everything that had happened? But, he reasoned silently, they called me. They want me back.

Sighing, he paused for a minute as the large white structure that was Legion HQ came into view. A lump rose in his throat as he realized that all his friends were in there, and it had been five months since he had last seen any one of them. Then he quickly swallowed the lump. Curse human emotions! Would he ever get used to them?

He made his way slowly, purposefully. About twenty feet away from the entrance he noticed Saturn Girl.

"Brainy!" she exclaimed when she saw him. She rushed toward him and hugged him tightly. "It's so good to see you again!"

Feeling awkward and confused, Brainy grappled with his emotions for a while before giving it up and returning the hug. "I've missed you too, Saturn Girl."

"Come on, Cosmic Boy's getting impatient." Saturn Girl led him to the room where everyone was gathered.

Brainy was not prepared for what he saw in the room. Not only was everyone from the Legion – including Superman and Kell-el – and the Substitute Heroes there, but they were all beaming, expressions of joy and glee on their faces. To Brainy, Shrinking Violet's huge smile was the widest, though she was on a digital screen. Even Cosmic Boy's face, which had beheld impatience so soon before, now showed nothing but pleasure.

"Welcome back, Brainy", everyone chorused at almost the same time.

Brainy honestly didn't know what to say. For the first time in his life, he was at a loss for words – he, Brainiac 5, twelfth-level intellect from the planet Colu. "Um…hi", he said finally.

"Good to have you back too, Brainy. Come sit down. The meeting's about to begin", said Lightning Lad, relieving the Coluan of the need to say anything else.

"Okay…ahem." Cosmic Boy cleared his throat, attracting everyone's attention. The Legionnaires fell silent, turning their focus to their leader.

"As most of you already know, Brainiac 1.0 has somehow returned from the dead", began Cosmic Boy. "He's got the Fatal Five and the Legion of Supervillains on his side, and probably hundreds of robots. We need all the information we can get about him, his allies, and what he's planning if we're going to bring him down for good this time. He's been menacing the universe long enough." Murmurs of general assent rippled through the room and from the digital images.

"Cham", said Cosmic Boy, "Make your report."

Chameleon Boy stood up and announced, "I've alerted my dad – I mean, R.J. Brande – to the situation. He's asked me to tell you that he'll back us and that he'd be happy to help out in any way he can."

Cosmic Boy nodded. "Anybody else got any news?"

"If Brainiac 5 can create a device that can amplify my powers", said Dawnstar from her screen, "I might be able to track Brainiac 1.0. So far, I haven't found anything because I can't detect anything that could lead to his whereabouts, probably because they're too minute."

"Brainy…" said Cosmic Boy.

"I'll see what I can do", Brainy replied.

"These attacks by the Fatal Five and the LSV are diversions", said Saturn Girl. "They're distracting us from focusing on the real issue, and Brainiac knows this. It might be a good idea to have a team who can deal them while the rest of us focus on finding out more about Brainiac 1.0."

"That is a good idea", Cosmic Boy agreed. "Subs, you think you can handle it if I put a few Legionnaires with you?"

"Yes, sir!" said Porcupine Pete enthusiastically.

"All right, Colossal Boy and Chameleon Boy, you're with the Subs. Karate Kid, Nemesis Kid, it would be good if you could come back to Earth to help them out too. And er, Kell-el…"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll keep an eye on them", Kell-el said.

"Thank you. Does anybody else have anything to say?" Cosmic Boy looked around. No one spoke up. "All right, then let's start planning a course of action."

"I will work on an amplifying device for Dawnstar and anything else that might help", said Brainy.

"Lightning Lad, Superman, Phantom Girl, Dream Girl and I can scout out the city daily for any clues", offered Saturn Girl.

"Count me out of that", said Phantom Girl. "I'll be heading to the United Planets Official Library. A threat that's been around as long as Brainiac 1.0 has must be described in some records. Maybe I'll find something."

"We'll keep the Fatal Five and the Legion of Supervillains out of your way", Pete said confidently.

"Right", agreed Cosmic Boy. "The rest of you, keep a lookout in space. If you see anything suspicious, let me know immediately. Until we find something, we can't do much more." He looked around, but nobody said anything to contradict him, so he declared the meeting over, and most of the Legionnaires on the digital screens vanished. Shrinking Violet, however, remained present for a while.

"It's nice to see you again, Brainy", she said shyly before closing her screen.

There was a hoot of laughter from Chameleon Boy. Brainy felt a hot flush creeping up his cheeks and he valiantly ignored both it and Chameleon Boy.

"All right, Tinya, what is it this time? You've been coming here for the past two days in a row." Winema Wazzo stood next to the bookshelf in the Official Library of the United Planets, tapping her fingers on her crossed arms.

"I'm just checking out some books, Mom", Phantom Girl said innocently.

Winema held up a hand. "Please, Tinya, don't insult my intelligence. You never come to the Official Library. What are you up to?"

"It's for the Legion", Phantom Girl admitted.

"And?"

Phantom Girl sighed. "I'm looking for information about Brainiac 1.0."

"Are you expecting to find anything? And why in heaven's name are you checking the background of your friend?"

"Brainiac 1.0, Mom, not Brainiac 5."

"What are you mixed up in this time, Tinya?"

"It's nothing for you to worry about."

"Tinya Wazzo, it's everything for me to worry about. My daughter's in the Legion of Superheroes and she's suddenly coming to the Official Library of the United Planets in order to look for information on someone when she's never done that before. Now in my opinion, I think that counts as something to worry about. Also, as President of the United Planets, I have a right to know if there's anything threatening the peace and security of the galaxy."

Phantom Girl sighed again. "Okay, fine. There's a big threat to the peace and security of the galaxy, and its name is Brainiac 1.0. The guy's been around since the 21st century, and just recently he brought himself back to life after the Legion destroyed him. He's a big problem, and I'm here to find out if there's anything that might help defeat him."

There was a pause, during which Phantom Girl wondered how her mother would react.

"Check the historical section", Winema suggested. "If this villain's been around as long as you say, there must be something there about him."

"Thanks, Mom", said Phantom Girl, heading away.

"Tinya…"

"Yes?" asked Phantom Girl.

"Be careful."

Phantom Girl rubbed her eyes tiredly before staring down at the dusty old book again. She'd been through about a quarter of the historical section, skimming through old records and documents for any mention of a Brainiac and passing over any that did not deal with anything of the sort. So far, however, she hadn't found anything useful – just several descriptions of battles between Superman and Brainiac, a couple of old stories that had been passed down for generations, a record of Brainiac's lineage, and many other various pieces of inconsequential information. Phantom Girl checked her watch – it was close to midnight. She decided she'd look through a few more books before stopping for the night.

She closed the heavy volume she'd been reading. There was nothing helpful in there. She was just on the point of going to bed then when about a dozen scrolls of frayed, yellow parchment that were wedged into a corner of the bookshelf caught her eye. Pulling them out, she saw that they were prophecies. Most people scoffed at such things and didn't think much about them, saying that they were gibberish and that no one could predict the future (as if! Dream Girl can and does do the exact same thing). After debating with herself for some time, Phantom Girl decided she'd take a short look at them. She wasn't in a position to be picky.

The first two scrolls had nothing of importance to say – just a few paragraphs about a "Protector of the Universe". Phantom Girl was on the verge of putting the prophecies back where they came from when, halfway through the third scroll, she came across a phrase that held her attention. Quickly reading through the rest of the scroll, as well as the one that picked up where it left off, Phantom Girl couldn't believe her eyes.

"No way."

A/N: Again, thank you to all who reviewed!

...And again, I don't own Legion of Superheroes. In case you didn't notice, that was the disclaimer. Bye!