The Flash in Action FanFic #23
Brainiac vs. the Flash
Brainiac opens fire repeatedly upon me. His aim is immaculate, go figure, he's obviously an android. The metal shell and the way he talks all but confirms that. I'm curious to see what other damage this thing's already done, or if I'm first on the list. I hate all these questions, especially since I don't have a lab full of equipment to help me answer them. I dodge the blasts with some effort, the problem is it's not like I can run off and come back. By the time I did that he'd start to hit the civilian population and if I didn't get back in time... I'm not even going to think it. Whatever Brainiac may be, he's after me and I won't allow him to endanger others while doing this.
"Your maneuvering skills are impressive Flash. It shows that your neural functions are moving at the same speeds as your physical prowess. Further study of your cerebral functions could enhance processor speeds exponentially." I see, he wants me to be his newest Intel chip.
"I think you've got the wrong idea, Brainiac. There's no way I'm just going to submit that easily."
"That was to be expected." He turns his attention away from me for a moment. He's seen how pointless this is going to be and is going to change tactics to increase difficulty for me. I stop on a dime and look at the person who's currently attracted the android's attention. What most people would see as another Joe Blow, I see as Chuck the coffee stand attendant. He must've been on his lunch break, and now he's about to get sizzled by that hunk of metal. I take off and grab him as the beam glows near to my face. I tell him to run as soon as I stop. He does so with no problems and as I turn my attention back, I know he's already multi-targeted several others. His interest in them in minimal, that's obvious. What he's trying to accomplish is to get me into these multiple saves in order to put in a direct pattern so that he can hit me. His problem is that he doesn't know I'm a scientist, which means I've already deduced his plan. My problem is that his blatant disregard for life coupled with my feeling of safeguarding it are putting me in that pattern anyway. What's worse? He's hovering above me which gives him another tactical advantage. I've got to get him to land, I might actually be able to throw a few superspeed punches his way. I truly have to get him out of the city or into the sewers. BOOMERANG! Oh, I'm going to hate myself tomorrow for this, here's hoping he's willing to chase me that far. As he starts to fire on the unsuspecting people I can see the blast building to it zenith. His blasts are emanated for his hands and eyes, so I've got to make it worth his time. I go to a construction site and grab a small piece of rebar and take off. As he sees me approach the beam lets loose and I have to rush to grab the targets. He's trying to triangulate where I'll be now. I don't grab the targets in precise order, but then his processors are likely built to deal with variation. I'm mean he's an android after all. As I start to run in chaotic patterns he tries to process it, which I can see that he's not capable of handling my full speed once I push myself a little. I wonder how much I'm going to have to push myself in order to bring this thing down?
As soon as the people are out of the way I toss the rebar towards him as fast as I can. I figure it'll pass through him like butter and if I'm correct about my trajectory it'll put the hunk of metal somewhere in the middle of where Keystone once stood. Not exactly super strength, but enough speed to send it through him and not hurt anyone else. The rebar hits him and it passes through him as I hoped it would. It's not long before he hits the ground, but he's still not knocked out. He turns his full attention back on me. "Who knew that a simple little hunk of metal could cause you so many problems?" The wound fizzles a bit, but it heals over as good as new. That's not something I was hoping to see, there's technology there that sealed the outside metal. There's no visible signs of heat conduction to indicate it melted into place, and unless he's part Terminator I'm rather sure that he's not liquid metal. So if I'm going to wreck him, it's going to have to be continuous. Still, I need to get him outside the city to do it.
"Observation: Your attempt, while damaging, was limited and futile. Best course of action would be to surrender before innocents come to harm."
"If I don't surrender, you're still without what you came for in the first place. I also have no guarantee you won't kill them anyway. I suppose that's the android in you."
"Query: By what manner have you concluded I am android in construction, do your optical nerves have some form of ionizing radiation capabilities?" Flash Fact: He just asked if I had X-Ray Vision.
"No, I don't and in honesty I don't need to. Your actions and thoughts are too precise. You talk about enhancing processor speeds, which I can only conclude means that you want to upgrade yourself so that you can actually keep up with me."
"Observation: You gambled upon your belief. There is no true indication of my organic or inorganic state. Your throwing of the metal rod was the only evidence my nature was not humanoid and more machine."
"I've seen my share of the bizarre pal, you're actions were cold and sterile. Now I could've bought you being a cyborg, but I believe whatever was human in you died off a long time ago."
"Irrational thinking from an irrational being."
"Fine, a scientific explanation then. First off, you mentioned 'this unit'; that's not an organic term for a person. Your powers seem to be based off armored characteristics. Meaning that you've got external measure to mimic that energy blast you have. At the speed I'm going I can notice the gravitational distortion of whatever's causing your flight ability which is allowing you to keep up to some degree. Your targeting is based of pattern thinking, calculating the routes I would take to save those people. No wholly inorganic in thinking, the complex equations trying to figure out my speeds and almost succeeding in hitting me with that beam is nearly impossible by human standards unless I take into calculation that the person firing has superspeed. You've already said that you can't understand how I'm moving that fast, but it would be a boon to you to figure it out for increased processor speeds." He's stalling me. He's keeping me rambling so he can do something, I'm curious as to what.
"You will make quite a beneficial subject study. "
"I could say the same." Can't let him continue on with whatever he's got going. Need to give him something new to think about. Several new things if at all possible I plow through with every bit of speed I can muster and hit him with an impact that's a multitude of times harder than a hurricane which sends bits of him flying everywhere. I catch the shrapnel and I take another swiping past. The weird part of this is that most of the damage done is by force impact of the speed I'm building up; my fist acting more as a guide for an indirect wind. It almost mimics the strength of Superman himself.; however, it's only for application of fighting, I still can't lift a boat over my head. As I pass him again it's like he's hovering in mid air, in reality I sent him flying. The next punch lands and the damage is remarkable. The systems are so advanced that it's obvious to tell that he's not from this planet or at the very least LexCorp has some heavy hands in building this thing. I do a few more passes in all directions keeping him in one location and the android is wrecked. The heap drops to the ground as a big piece of scrap metal. That little bit took a great deal more out of me than I thought would be possible. It cracks the asphalt fiercely as the husk impacts. Good Lord, the circuitry is still active! This thing's outer shell took a beating to end all beatings and it's still not completely down for the count. I'm not sure sending this thing anywhere while it's still running is a good idea. It healed itself last time, and that could happen again. I just wish I understood where this thing came from. I start looking for anything that might indicate where an off switch might be when a bright beam hits and sends me hurdling backwards towards the ground. The remains rise into the air and I see the damage repair itself. How is he doing that? I've gotta get him into the sewers and find Boomerang quick. If I can damage him enough again then maybe I can gum up his works and disrupt his systems.
"Your attempted destruction of this unit is remarkable. However it is doomed to failure. Your body will slowly be absorbed and your memories possessed, submit and save yourself a painful death." I look at him with a bit of suspicion when I start to feel something grabbing at my mind. It burns so badly I could swear he set a raging inferno in my head. "Your speed will be an asset to my protocols."
"What did you do to me?" I'm on my knees, wincing in pain, and I don't feel like I can get up. The domineering figure stands above me looking down his eyes flashing between yellow and white as if he's downloading something.
"Your actions have resulted in your infection of microscopic technology designed for conversion and download. "
"Translation, you infected me with nanobots."
"A crude term, but effective. They are giving me knowledge of who you are and how your speed works. However, you have not fully comprehended that yourself."
"Then you won't mind me shaking off the infection."
"I give a 20.658% chance to your success." I look at him defiantly. I won't be beaten by him, I won't let him do whatever it is he's planning to do. I get up and he stares at me coldly, no expression graces his face. All he does is calculate my responses to he can learn to be effective the next time. So let him calculate this! I start to vibrating my body. He's trying to process it, but I'm moving so fast again that it's cutting his connection. I know I've always hated losing internet service. The faster I more clear I become, I'm becoming a phantom of myself. I can feel my very molecules and I can separate out the foreign matter. I can hear within the tiny sparks of the technology giving way to me separating myself. I can't physically see it as I reintegrate, but as I phase back in I look at the android.
"So was that expected in the other 79.342% chance?"
"It will be factored in now." He raises his hand quickly to fire and I take off in a zigzag pattern to avoid the blasts. He follows behind me, pushing boundaries of his speed. I can see certain ripples in the metal trying to hold itself together and yet still nowhere near the speeds he'll need to catch me. I guess that's the real key to all this; if I expand my mind, my speed will follow. That mantra gives me enough boost now to toy with him, keep his systems busy with a full load of calculations. I just wonder where it is my limits are? I never had cause to think about it before and hope I don't have to find them out any time soon. I suppose that the real test of that will be with my enemies, but for now this one is enough to keep anyone busy.
I soon make it down the manhole and into the sewers where I start chasing after Boomerang. The good Captain's probably got about 15 to 20 minutes on me, but I don't think that's going to matter too much. One thing about Central is that we've got a complex maze of sewers around here, which will work to my advantage, because Barry Allen has had to come down here many of time to deal with some sort of crime scene. Many of them were nearly 70 years old by the time I came across them, it seems that we had some interesting characters in Central that abandoned Chicago, New York, and Gotham because there was too much bigger competition. Capones, Falcones, and other such nasties weren't to be outdone, so they went to Keystone City to set up shop. The problem with that is that when the 30s ended and the Flash came into town they had to find some place to scurry and Central City was really booming thanks to it's sister city. When these less than impressionable people started filter into construction businesses they made sure that they found ways to make the sewer systems a bit more complicated. Why? Because if the Flash were to cross the bridge into Central, then they'd have problems. Keystone was his home, so it might make it more difficult to track them in they constructed new tunnels and laid traps. Eventually the villains started filtering this way as well, and ran out most the mob interference. However, it never completely died out. The powered troublemakers would always find their way back to Keystone leaving the underground network to the devices of their original creators. Nowadays, most of the network remains unused and forgotten. Still, the Rogues have found them again and have put them into good use. As I look back, I see Brainiac's glowing white eyes. I start to vibrate through walls and he follows directly behind me by blasting through them. I keep weaving in and out, finding traps and old evidence that I'm going to have to remember to come back and get. He's not letting up however, which is good. I want him to stay close until I'm ready to make my move.
I finally starting to see things that I recognize, there's a couple little strewn gadgets that I broke and a serious of mirrors with it. Of course this isn't to say that I'll find Captain Cold's weapon or if I'll manage to even find Boomerang right around the corner. I do know that they'll have to find another place to hide out since they'll know I've been down here. I'd rather known where the rats were nesting so that I could bust 'em all at once. Would've saved me a lot of time later, but I guess the big psychotic robo-threat was enough reason to blow that. I'm going through room and hideout one after the other. There's some impressive stuff in here, tons of traps and long forgotten stolen merchandise. I'll be turning that into evidence just as soon as I can get rid of this thing. Finally I bust through and find a small Spartan type quarters where Boomerang is packing up a great deal of his things to get out of town. As he sees me, his eyes get wide. "Bloody hell!"
"I'd like to say I was here to bust you, but I'm more in need of these." I grab his rather hefty pouch of boomerangs.
"'ere now! What the deuce is going on here?" As I look back there's a crack forming on the wall. The times of these things never seem to amaze me.
"I'd like to talk to you about it, but I don't think either of us would be alive afterwards. Get out of here!"
"Don't have to tell me twice!" He bolts out the open door as the wall explodes forward. I vibrate so that the rubble passes harmlessly through me.
"Close quarters combat is ill-advised. Your maneuverability in such a small room limits your possibilities of movements."
"It sure does." I bolt out the door as quick as Boomerang did. Instead I take off in the other direction that he went. Brainiac is on the move again chasing after me. I've played a few video games like this, turn this maze and hope you don't run into something wanting to eat your flesh. Of course, I haven't run into any cannibals amongst the Rogues. I really hope I never do. I'm going to lead him towards Keystone and hope that I can beat him in an open field.
Now let's deal with the question on everyone's mind; why didn't I just run and vibrate through him leaving whatever explosive that was in the bag deposited in his core? Well there's a couple different reasons for that. For starters, I know that when I start going in for the next physical assault on him he's going to infect me again. He's going to have a rather large payload of nanobots that will start to do its conversion on me. Now the real trick of this is, the last time he did this he was obviously downloading information. I don't know what all he got or gleaned from his limited exposure to my mind. He might've deduced a way to deal with the vibrational frequency and adapted the tech to it. That's a slight risk, but one nonetheless. The next problem is that if he has adapted to it, I'm not getting a smaller amount, but going through the creature that created them in the first place. Which means instead of a few to deal with, I might be converted on the spot. Factoring that in, we have to assume that since he can covert human tissues into mechanical hardware that conversion of a boomerang would not be an issue for him. So what we have to do in order to make this work is to wreck most of the hardware as we can, making sure that he has to use his tech to repair the damage, and once we've done that we blow it sky high. We collect the remains and whatever is still active we have destroyed. I don't know how if it stands the barrage I have in mind, but I'll do whatever I have to! He's firing blasts towards the ground, causing obstacles. The problem is that being as fast as I am, that's only inconvenient, not really going to halt my progress. However, the destructive power at his fingertips does make the city look a lot larger in scope than it ever did before. In mere seconds we could be clearing it, but it'll seem like hours to us because we're not moving nearly as fast as we can. I wish I could, but I can't let him lose interest in me. If he turns his attention back to the public for a second I'm going to have some real issues. This fight's got on longer than I'd have liked anyway.
I hit the river separating the border into Kansas and I pour on the speed. He keeps gunning, now that he sees there's enough space for me to maneuver. I knew he'd get desperate. I'm curious though, why is an android that obviously isn't from Earth so susceptible? I wonder if he was a nanoconstruct to begin with? If that's the case, how did he get the nanobots here in order to do the task? So many different questions, no answers and I'm going to have to wreck him before I get the answers. It's a shame, because I'm tempted to take him apart piece by piece and actually study his inner workings more than destroy him outright. However, the dangers of that keep me from doing just that. I mean what could be unleashed if I couldn't contain it quickly enough? He pulls higher into the sky to the point I can no longer see him. I stop in the field of Kansas looking for any indication of what he's doing. Eventually I start to see the bombardments flying towards me. Great, now I've got to play the guessing game with him, luckily I'm still fast enough to deal with this, but I've got the potential of fires breaking out which means dealing with them as well as avoiding the blasts and them him when he comes back down. He's got me in the gauntlet for sure, he's testing my multi-tasking abilities to their fullest. Which means that he's going to find the number and then blast me at the last moment when I'm stretched too thin. The fields start to burn and I start filtering in water from the river towards it. He starts a solid blast to the water to making boil, which leaves two other sources of energy blasts available for him to keep up bursts towards the fields and one to target me. I'm hoping that he's got enough of a draw on his power source that he can't really do much in the way of keeping up all 3 for long. However, I don't know what's giving him power. If it's a nuclear source, then he could keep going for hours. Never thought of that... if he's nuclear and I detonate him here then he's going to take out a great deal of two states, probably more! I'm all of a sudden worried about how this will play out. He's cooking the water and fish start to float to the top, not to mention other water dwelling creatures. Now I wish I had Capt. Cold's gun on hand, but if I leave he'll follow and I have no idea if he's going to stop his barrage attack. I'm not spent yet, but he's not going to give up; neither am I! Let's play hard ball, the constant blast is the one we need to track. I start running in a huge circle surrounding the blast and the tornadic winds start to pick up. I've created a rather large vortex and while for the next minute the fire continues, it eventually stops. He's got to be caught up in the winds. I stop on a dime and the winds follow my lead which must be difficult, even for a being like him. He comes careening down to the ground in quick motion, as smacks several feet deep into the ground. I hear metal bending itself back into place which means he took some damage. I just wish I knew how severe the damage was. As he comes out of the hole, I'm hoping to see some sort of angered look. I know that he's an android, but I still sort of hope for some different reaction. The blank expression stands. "Your continued defiance will cost many their lives and destruction of much of this land. You will be responsible for what is to come."
"It won't happen Brainiac, I won't give up."
"And yet my calculations indicate that a second attempt at the same patterned attack over Central City would assure that you would not employ the same tactics. You think us in a stalemate, but you are in check. There is no further movement you can make without causing innocents to die in the wake of our battle."
"I wouldn't allow it to happen."
"But you have. There is devastation all around, and you helped to create it as much as I. Submission is the only way to end this."
"Submit this!" An emerald blast hits Brainiac sending him face forward into the ground once more. I look up stunned and see a gold cabled man flying in with all due speeds. He lands and I immediately recognize him from his FBI/DEO wanted poster; it's Conduit! I think he's looking at me, it feels like he's looking at me through that face plate. Brainiac turns to meet the steely gaze of his latest attacker. "You think I was gonna let you get away with this? You think all that you've done to me is going to be forgotten?"
"I have done nothing Kenny Braverman. Your irrational actions are lead by emotions which have put you in a rather auspicious situation." I see him raise his hand in slow motion and I toss one of the boomerangs toward it. The cold steel created construct enters his hand and explodes causing his hand to blow up into a shower of sparks. Once I see that it's worked I start to toss the rest of them at him, which being as close to him as I am, I don't miss a single one. They stick in him like pins in a cushion, blowing up left and right, some into glue bombs others into explosive or electrical charges. Conduit pours on the energy, but the problem is that I'm still not sure about the power source!
"Stop, Braverman! Do you have any clue how he's powering himself?!"
"Yeah, he's drawing from the electromagnetic field and converting it into the correct energy necessary to do what he's got to. It's a back up since he doesn't have K-Metal to fall back on!"
"Then anything and everything can power him! If you blow him up, we don't know how big the resulting explosion will be!"
"I do!" He keeps pumping energy into him. I finally sucker punch him. He lands on the ground and looks back at me. "Are you stupid? He'll repair himself and come back after us! Hell, he's not the only one left to deal with!"
"There's more of these things? Why doesn't anyone know about it?"
"He's a com-pu-ter, he's got ways to block media coverage! There's a world wide blackout of media having to do with his attacks. The pentagon is having it's own field day trying to deal with this thing because they can't get their own damned computers under control. He's got us in a death-grip and the public doesn't even know it!"
"And while all that is true, we can't just blow him up. How much of the states will it take out in the process?"
"How much of the world will he take out if we don't? You're left with a choice hero, do the deed or let the world go down in a fire pit." I process what he's saying, and none of it sounds appealing to me. It's a dangerous game we play. Right now he's frozen in position as his body tries to find a way to adjust to the power intake, which I'm figuring he's pouring into powering nanobots for repairs. The rest he'll replenish the store he used trying to stop me, then he'll expel the rest back at us. Conduit's got a point about having to deal with him, but I won't compromise my principles on this.
"Alright, fire on him. When I need you to stop, you better do it! I'm going to try something that I'm rather sure will work, but it might kill me in the process."
He looks at me with his head cocked to one side, slightly turned as if he's squinting trying to figure my end game. "Alright, deal."
He starts to hit Brainiac again with enough power that all of a sudden all metal ceases to be repaired and starts to recede again. The green glow starts to infect the wiring more and more. It gets to the point where more and more of his technology can't keep up with the damage being done. "STOP!" I scream at him, and he responds. I vibrate my self through his chest cavity now that I can see it and start to disassemble him piece by piece. I'm basically speed learning how his processors and power core works. Sudden burst of energy filter out of him as I start to detach things. I see the bigger connector wire that'll send all the stored energy into one massive explosion, so I avoid it, trying to bleed him slowly of it. I take parts of him off bits at a time and as the fall harmlessly away, Conduit blasts them into oblivion. For the best anyway. The nanotech seized up, but after a time it would start again and it would cause this thing's return. The prospect is far too dangerous to even consider. The energy is losing its potency, and the nanobots are scattering trying to hold on to whatever energy they can to repair what damage I'm doing, but I can feel the microscopic explosions happening as the destruct upon my hands. Finally comes the capacitor itself. This is going to be the tough one because as much energy is pouring out now, it's not going to stop any time soon and will likely cause it to blow up at any time. It's strange, the more and more I do I start to notice that there's some sort of flash of something. Like some mirage, something's fading in and out. I have to shake the image right now, anything happening at this point will only be detrimental to Central. I slow my hands down and stop vibrating, and start running in a tight circle around the downed villain. As the vortex catches him, reach out and rip the power core connector, letting it go as quickly as I can. The brilliant flash of emerald and sapphire energies is beyond amazing. It swirls in the vortex, and I have to move faster I keep it up as the energy is completely caught up in the kinetic force that I've caused. A great lightning storm comes crashing around. As I hit the brakes, I see the vestige of the energy go into the clouds and a lighting bolt fires cross the sky. More powerful than anything I've every seen. It's frighteningly beautiful in it's brilliance. I see Conduit hovering well away from the site. He covers what I can assume to be his eyes as the final bolt crashes to earth. As I look at it, trying to avoid being struck twice, I see the mirage light up as a huge ghost of a city becomes very clear. As the clouds dissipate the image disappears. My God, I just looked into Keystone City! It still exists! I try to figure out how to make it reappear when the golden figure comes toward me. "Did you see it? Keystone City still exists! I've got to find a way to bring it back!"
"Yeah, that's great. We don't have time to worry about it!"
"How can you say that?" I turn to meet him face to face and realize who I'm talking to. "Never mind, your type doesn't usually care about that sort of thing." His mask peels back and I see the face of a sandy haired man that can't be any older than I am. His eyes flare with anger, they're emerald green. Kryptonite green if the studies have been accurate.
"My type? What do you think you know about me anyway zippy? What you do know is that my type just saved your ass! My type told you exactly what had to happen and you followed it. My type is telling you that some old city isn't going to matter if this planet ain't around to enjoy it!"
"Look, I'm grateful for the assist, but I would've stopped him. Don't act like you've saved the day and it's going to pardon you for the wanton destruction, violence, and death you caused. This isn't about me needing you as it is you came to get revenge on Brainiac. "
"It doesn't matter what brought me here to stop Brainiac! Those damn things are everywhere, and it's gonna need people like you 'n me to save the world!"
"You and me? You think I'm going to work with a man that tried to kill Superman?"
"I honestly don't care if you want to help me or not, figured you'd wanna pull the big save. The guy your patterned after certainly would want to. As for killing Supes, yeah, I tried. Guess what? I don't like the flyboy! I recently found out that might not be my doing! It might be Brainiac's fault!"
"How can it be his fault? He just arrived."
"Shows what you know, track star. Superman came to Earth all those years back and trailed some stuff behind him. Nanotech, you know the stuff. Ya see, what you don't know is that Brainiac was created on Krypton. Yeah, I know that stuff because the nanotech that made that little 'droid so damned tough made me the man I am today. Brainiac's programming was turning me into a cyborg, just like he was trying to do to you. The problem is that the final upgrades he did, they didn't work so good. I know the locations I can find his other avatars, seems I got some sort of tracking device stuck in my head. I'm also in the know as to where he came from and what's he's been up to. The only thing I don't have is the full store of knowledge at his fingertips. The problem he's got is that he's underestimated me. I was in Black Ops for years doing nasty, underhanded, and horrifying things. He's a machine and doesn't have a clue what a truly creative human can do."
"He was able to put me in a bad position!"
"Yeah, because you do things like it was out of a textbook. There's no freedom to your run, track star. You're more boy scout than Superman, and that's saying something! You've got all this clinical and by-the-book thinking, and it lacks all imagination to it! You need a go between on that department. People like you and Supes make me sick! You've got smarts enough to put on your long underwear and fight the good fight, but other than wanting to do it for the greater good, you're completely cardboard heroes."
"If you truly believe that, then you don't know either of us at all, and you'll never succeed in anything other than being the hired super thug." My bravado shocks even me, I'm still processing the fact that Brainiac's Kryptonian! That makes me wonder what's happened to Superman? It also makes me wonder if he knew about this from the beginning? The rational man in me doesn't think he does. He didn't seem the type, but then the police officer in me sees where it's entirely possible.
"Super thug… Yeah, that's all that I am to you costume types aren't I? Well, let me tell you about Superman, okay? The guy's a prince amongst princes. Always has been. He's always acted like this big brother, ever since I met him years before he became the big 'hero.' His perfect attitude and the way he'd always go about being perfect without even realizing it. Making people feel like they were second fiddle, and it made me sick! I was turned into this thing! Sick all my damned life with radiation poisoning and he was soaking up all that golden sun. I hated him for being that guy! I hate you for being just like that! You, I can see your some book smart nerd. Card carrying scout, and probably go out of your way to help anyone at the exclusion of your own happiness. You became a freak, if you weren't born that way and took up that costume because Superman and your obvious idol made it seem like the right thing to do. You make me sick too, but you know what? At least if I stop these Brainiac avatars, maybe tackle the big man himself when he finally arrives, I'll be able to puke in the knowledge that I'll live where thousands of planets haven't. Or know fully well that I wasn't converted into another data world like another distant planet Brainiac's visited. Yeah, track star, the world's on its way to two ends; either being stripped of its information and getting wiped out in the process or be turned into a huge hard drive that'll store part of Brainiac's consciousness. How do you feel about that? Eh? How does it feel knowing the super thug is right about putting aside everything? Piss you off enough to do something?"
"It sounds like our best option is to split up and find the heroes that'll help the most."
"Split up? And are you gonna beat the next avatar that shows up? You that good now without my help?"
"Maybe not, but if we're going to do this we're gonna have to cover a lot of ground quickly. That's where I excel, and if I can find the other heroes in question, then maybe we can meet in the middle and go after the source Brainiac when he gets here."
"Fine, then your next three choices of locations are Coast City, CA, New York, NY, or Gotham City, NJ."
"Not Metropolis?"
"Brainiac tried to neutralize Superman in Antarctica. He's down for the count right now. I'm sure eventually once big blue shows his face again there'll be another avatar or the real deal that'll go there to prove a point."
"How do I know I can trust you?"
"Run to Antarctica and find out if you want, but you're wasting you time on sleeping beauty. He's gonna need to recover and holding his hand ain't gonna make it go any faster. We need heroes and we need 'em now!"
"Fine. The furthest destination out is Coast City, which is best for me to head to since I'm the fastest of the two of us. You head to Gotham and New York, but know this Conduit; once we're done with this, I'm hauling you in."
"You can try, track star." He gives me an evil smile and takes off into the air. I hate to admit that we're going to need all the help we can muster. This isn't right, it can't be right to do. Every fiber of my being wants to take him to the DEO and have him put into a chamber where he can be locked up for a very long time. No time to dwell on it now, though. I've got to go get the hero from Coast City; Green Lantern, I believe. Another legacy hero, which suits me just fine. Maybe he'd be interested in helping me find some way to bring Keystone back from wherever it is! That's gonna bug me, it's right there in front of my face, and has been the whole time. Now that I know it's there, I can't do a blessed thing about it because of Brainiac. I want to verify Conduit's story about Superman, but whether or not he's telling the truth or not, I can say for certain I'll need another person to help me stop whatever it is coming. Something in Conduit's voice tells me that this threat is real. God help us all, we're gonna need it.