Chapter 17: Brainiac Strikes

When Jimmy saw Lucy, he almost failed to recognize her. After their coffee, they went to buy clothing, jewelry, and a hair dying kit for their disguises. When they had everything they needed, they went back to Lois's apartment to get changed. Jimmy was first to get changed into his disguise, and after looking at himself through the mirror, he did not know if he could pull this off; he still looked more like a nerd than a punk rocker. His fake lip ring and Goth disguise could only do so much to hide the truth.

However, Lucy was completely the opposite. When she came walking out of the bathroom, it all looked very natural to her personality. Thanks to some help of make-up, her face was as white as a ghost and her lips as black as death. She dyed her hair black and used enough gel to give herself a Mohawk, which she dyed hot pink. She had a fake nose ring which looked very convincing.

The time had come to put their disguises to the test. Jimmy's stomach was turning wildly. He had never done something like this in his life. He had done some crazy things with Lois to get some out-of-this-world, headline photographs, but this was beyond crazy. How did he allow her to talk him into something so reckless?

Trying to find the hangout proved to be challenging. They had to be careful about where they walked, because the police would most likely arrest them just because they look like members of the Intergang. They began by searching alleyways with a high concentration of graffiti. When that proved futile, they went to popular young adult hangouts. However, they came up empty once again. They had really underestimated how hard finding the hideout would be.

They were nearly at a lost when they found themselves in the middle of what appeared to be a war zone. Superman was in the middle of a fight with another man, who appeared to be just as strong. He had begun to feel guilty that he was missing what would certainly be tomorrow's front-page story. He was ready to tell Lucy that they should just give up on finding the base when Lucy pointed to a young goth girl sneaking out from a crowd of onlookers. After some heavy prodding, Jimmy reluctantly went with Lucy and stealthily followed the young adult.

The girl had joined two boys in an alleyway. It was an odd move for them to hide in a dead-end alleyway. However, things became clearer when they activated some remote, which created some kind of tunnel made of light. When the three walked through the tunnel, Jimmy found himself being pulled by Lucy down the alleyway and through the tunnel just before it had a chance to close.

They now found themselves in some strange abandoned warehouse that was transformed into a young adult's playground. There were skateboarding ramps, arcade games, air hockey and foosball tables, and even a half-sized basketball court. These kids were living it up.

Jimmy and Lucy walked among the kids, and most assumed that they were part of the gang. A few, however, were eyeing Jimmy suspiciously. When one swaggered towards his direction, his heart stopped. Was it all over for them, already?

"What's up wid you? You don't look like one of us?"

"I— uh…"

"Leave my brother alone, prick! He's new here," Lucy played the part perfectly, getting into the face of the punk kid.

The kid grinned, inspecting the girl in front of him. "You're hot. How 'bout the two of us have some fun?"

"Get lost, doosh bag, before I make ya!" Lucy curled her lip as she clenched her right hand and made sure that hesaw it.

"Your lost," the punk replied, trying to restore what was left of his pride. "But your brother bedda get some new clothes, or he'll be getting a lot of beat downs 'round here."

"You let me worry about that," Lucy scowled as he grabbed Jimmy by the arm and pulled him away.

When the punk kid returned to his friends, Jimmy sighed with relief. "That was close."

"As big as this place is, it doesn't seem to be as big on the inside as it is on the outside. There has to be a door to another section of this warehouse. Help me find it."

Jimmy and Lucy carefully made their way through this maze of entertainment. As they approached the far wall, their path became less cluttered, and began to resemble a more adult-like atmosphere. The kids were either less interested in this area, or knew better than to be caught there; Jimmy could not tell, which was the case.

As they ventured to the wall, they found a door hidden in the shadow. "This looks promising," Lucy whispered. She placed an ear on the door. "There's people inside. They sound like adults."

"Okay, we've found the hideout, let's go and tell Lieutenant Inspector Turpin and your sister."

"Are you kidding? They're hiding something back there! We've got to find out what."

"But…"

She already opened the door a crack and raised a finger to her lips. He had no choice to sneak into the other room with her, and make sure she did not do something even more foolish. The room was very large, fortunately for them. They were able prowl into the shadows without any of the people noticing them. With large crates scattered through the room, Lucy was able to get them close to the meeting, much to Jimmy's dismay. They hid behind a couple of them to listen in to what was going on.

"We now have both pieces of the weapon," Bruno said, looking down at the two pieces of Metallo on the table. Thanks to some solders and mechanics to repair some of the dents. The body was missing a chest plate, so they made a new one with a circular window over the Kryptonite heart.

"An android? All of dis fuss was over a stupid android?" Chains was ready to tear Bruno's head off of his shoulders.

"Not just any android. This android was constructed by Lexcorp. Made of the strongest metal on earth, Superman can't even bend this stuff. With a Kryptonite heart that is fully exposed, he'll never be able to get close to him and survive for very long."

"Impressive," The oriental woman replied.

"Once we unleash this android, he will seek out and destroy Superman. With him gone, the city is as good as ours!"

"So what are we waiting for?" Another crime lord asked. "Activate him, and let's be done with it."

Jimmy knew the android all too well. Bruno war wrong to think he could control him. This was all going to end bad, and they were now in grave danger just by being in the room. "Not good, we've got to get out of here now!" Jimmy whispered, knowing exactly what was about to happen.

"Wait," Lucy urged. "I have my cell dialed into my sister. If she's hearing this, then the authorities will be tracking my phone here. We've got to stay here until they arive."

"Leave the phone here, and let's go," Jimmy insisted. "We don't want to be here when that android is activated."

"We'll be fine as long as we stay in the shadows."

Bruno took Metallo's head into his hands and looked into the half-human face. This face of evil was about to bring Metropolis to its knees. He brought the head to the neck and snapped it into place. The Kryptonite heart began to shine brighter, as the android's human and robotic eyes glowed red. When his human eye began to blink, it became clear that he could already process thoughts. Metallo was alive once again.

The android sat up on the table and looked around his surroundings. The memories of his final moments were coming back to him. He remembered killing Luthor and wrestling with Superman in the pool when his head was separated, causing him to power down. Now, he found himself in a strange, abandoned warehouse with people staring at him, as if he was their greatest invention ever. By the way these people dressed, he knew that these were probably crime lords. However, he could instantly tell that they were incompetent. They obviously did not know that they were being spied upon by two young kids. He recognized one of them as Jimmy Olson, the photographer from the Daily Planet.

"Who are you?" Metallo asked, looking at the man he assumed to be the leader of this pathetic group of underworld criminals.

"We are the Intergang. We have reactivated you so you can unleash your fury upon the man who put you on ice: Superman."

"How thoughtful of you," Metallo replied, swinging his legs over the table. "So, am I to assume that I am to do as you command?"

"I— uh…" Bruno did not know what to say; something inside of him was warning him of danger. This android was unlike anything he had ever expected. He expected a brainless automaton that followed orders. Metallo was anything but mindless.

Metallo's arm sprung up, and his hand clasped onto his throat. "I will kill Superman, but I'll do it when I want, not because anyone tells me to." With a flick of a wrist, he broke his neck with a sickening snap. He threw the lifeless body of Bruno to the ground and stood from the table. His gaze geared towards the other members of the gang.

"Aw, damn!" Chains muttered, pulling out his gun. "I knew dis' was a bad idea!"

"I have seen enough," a new voice came from the shadows. Entering the fray was another android, but this one looked much more alien.

"What is that?" Jimmy whispered to himself from behind the crate. "I've never seen that android before."

"Aw Man, Bruno said notin' about a second robot!" Chains said angrily.

Metallo turned to face the new android, not completely sure what he was seeing. "What's this, an upgraded model?"

"Believe me when I say, you are not even close to being significant next to me. Lord Darkseid, the one that has given you your 'super weapons' has sent me to take control of this pathetic crime syndicate, you call the Intergang. I am now the master. You may refer to me as Brainiac."

Metallo clenched his fists, angered by the disrespect being shown towards him by this lifeless android. "Me, not significant? I had Superman on his knees. I am made of the strongest metal on the planet; it's a metal that not even Superman can destroy."

Metallo charged at Brainiac and lunged at him with punch to the face. Without flinching, Brainiac caught the first in the palm of his right hand. "I am clearly not Superman."

Brainiac squeezed the fist with strength that Metallo had not expected. The pain he was feeling brought him down to his knees, screaming. With one final squeeze, sparks flew and there was his entire fist was flattened. When Brainiac finally let go, Metallo jumped to his feet and stepped away. He looked down at what remained of his hand; it was nothing more than scrap metal and circuitry. "Impossible!"

Metallo could not let this go unanswered. Breathing heavily, his Kryptonite heart began to glow brighter. An intense green beam fired from his chest window right at Brainiac. The beam hit the android in the chest, but did not even cause him to lose his balance. Metallo quickly ended the futile attack, stunned to be confronting something that was proving to be stronger than him. It was impossible to believe that he could nearly kill Superman without much effort, but he could not handle this new android.

"It is beyond illogical that these people could think that you would prove to be a threat to Kal-El. I calculate that you have zero percent chance of victory against me." Brainiac suddenly launched bright yellow beams from his eye sockets which quickly overwhelmed Metallo. He fell to his knees, screaming in sheer agony. Flames engulfed him until all his flesh evaporated; even his metal was beginning to melt. When Brainiac ceased the attack, all of Metallo's humanity had been burnt away.

Yet, that was not going to stop him from fighting. If for no other reason, he had to show that he could still stand and fight.

"Hell wid dis'!" Chains turned and ran for the door, no longer caring who won this battle. With any luck, they would destroy each other.

"From this point forward, the Intergang is no more!" Brainiac fired his beams at the heavy-set crime lord. His scream only lasted for a split second, because after that, there was nothing left of him except his skeletal corpse. His entire body, including his internal organs, had all evaporated in the blink of an eye.

Hoping to catch him off guard, Metallo lunged for Brainiac with everything he had. Again, the alien android swatted his attack effortlessly, and used his right arm and hand as a spear to pierce him through the stomach.

His power was draining from his body and his strength was nearly gone. Somehow, this new android could ram his hand completely through his body to the other side, without any resistance from this super strength metal that he was supposed to be made of.

Brainiac pulled his arm out and shot it right for the Kryptonite heart. His hand shattered the glass shield on his chest and wrapped around tightly against the glowing green rock. "Your part in this story, is over." He crushed the Kryptonite heart until it was nothing left but dust.

The red glow in Metallo's eyes dimmed as his mechanical body collapsed to the ground. Brainiac stepped closer to the deactivated android. He raised his left foot and stomped on the head, resulting in it shattering into millions of small pieces. With this threat taken care of, his focus returned to the petrified leaders of the Intergang. "It is time to clean house, as you earthlings put it."