Chapter 65: Breaking Brainiac
Outside Iron Heights, a black van pulled up to a side entrance. Once it stopped, Diggle and Roy climbed out, with Roy wearing one of his hoodies, the red mask, and carrying a bow and quiver of arrows, while Diggle wore a simple ski mask and carried a gun loaded with rubber bullets.
"Alright, Overwatch, we're on sight," Diggle reported. "How are things looking on the inside?"
"Just got into the security system. Inmates are running loose all over. Haven't been able to zero in on Oliver, yet."
"What about the Meta wing?"
"Still secure. No super-powered prisoners loose, just the regular ones."
"That's a point for us," Roy replied.
"Come on," Diggle gestured as they made their way inside.
…
Once they got inside the prison, Diggle and Roy quickly found themselves face-to-face with a group of escaping prisoners. Diggle shot first, rubber bullets nailing the prisoners and knocking them to the ground. Roy notched an arrow and fired it, only for it to whiz past one of the inmates.
"Oops," he let out as the inmate charged forward.
Roy thought fast, quickly kicking the inmate's legs out from under him and knocking him to the ground. He tried again with another arrow, this time nailing an inmate in the leg, causing him to keel over so Dig could punch him out.
"Thought you said your aim was alright," Dig remarked.
"So I missed a session," Roy replied as they went off.
…
Elsewhere in the prison, Oliver and Henry made their way through the hallways, doing their best to stay out of the way of any more angry prisoners.
"It looks safe down this way," Henry instructed.
"You know they'll come after you for helping me," Oliver warned.
"Don't worry about me. What's important is getting you to safety."
The two then rounded another corner, suddenly coming face to face with Roy and Diggle as Roy readied an arrow.
"Whoa! Easy!" Oliver let out.
"Oh, sorry," Roy replied, lowering his arrow.
"Friends of yours?" Henry asked.
"Yeah. How's everything?"
"Could be better," Diggle replied. "Prisoners are mostly scattered. Desperate to get out."
"And to kill me. We better get moving."
As the three started to move, Oliver noticed Henry heading in the opposite direction. "Where are you going?"
"Back to my cell," Henry replied. "I get the feeling these two can help you better than I can."
"You could still be in danger."
"Don't worry about me," Henry insisted before taking off.
"Wait!"
"Let him go," Dig insisted. "Best we can do is to stop this insanity."
"Right…" Oliver agreed, turning back to the others.
…
Back onboard the Watchtower, a Boom Tube opened up, allowing Flash and Cyborg to come through.
"You get to work on repairing the tower," Flash instructed. "I'll check on J'onn and Kari."
"Sounds good," Cyborg replied, heading off.
Flash instantly made his way toward the med bay, seeing J'onn sitting next to Kari.
"J'onn," Flash greeted. "How is she?"
"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Kari called weakly from the bed.
"Hey doc," Flash greeted, walking over. "How ya feeling?"
"Like I have severe electrical burns along my hand, along with a moderate concussion. Aside from that, I feel alright."
"Well rest up. Cyborg's gonna make sure Brainiac can't screw with our systems anymore."
"Good." She laid back down on the bed with a sigh. "I need a Motherbox… Cyborg's is so helpful."
"I don't think he has a spare. Sorry."
Kari pouted playfully as J'onn brushed the hair from her face, clearly relieved she was okay.
…
Inside the Bunker, Felicity continued working at her computer while Thea watched on.
"Looks like the guys found Oliver," Felicity reported.
"Good," Thea replied, letting out a sigh of relief.
She turned around, yelping in surprise to see Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman coming out of the elevator. Felicity turned around and saw the same, though with less shock.
"So… do these guys just waltz in whenever they feel like it?" Thea asked.
"Yeah, pretty much," Felicity confirmed. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Looking for Oliver," Wonder Woman answered. "We fear he is in danger."
"He is. He's in the middle of a riot at Iron Heights. Diggle and Roy are there now."
"So are we," Aquaman replied.
The three prepared to leave, Batman stopping and looking back.
"Where's Oliver's bike?"
…
Moments later, Wonder Woman was flying through the air while Aquaman performed massive leaps to keep pace. On the ground, Batman was riding Oliver's motorcycle, carrying a bag with Oliver's gear inside as he did.
…
At Lexcorp, Mercy was in her office going over some files when a secretary came in with a cup of coffee.
"Here you are, Ms. Graves," the secretary replied, setting the cup down. "Will there be anything else?"
"That'll be all, Miss Tessmacher," Mercy replied.
Miss Tessmacher nodded before heading toward the door. As she opened it though, she gasped in surprise.
"Uh… Ms. Graves."
"What?" Mercy asked, looking up.
She was surprised too to see Superman walking into the room past Miss Tessmacher, followed by Flash, Green Lantern, and Cyborg.
"Hey," Cyborg greeted, prompting Miss Tessmacher to exit the room.
"Where's Luthor?" Superman demanded, walking up to Mercy.
"... I don't know what you're talking about," Mercy replied.
"Don't try and play dumb," GL insisted, crossing his arms. "It doesn't suit you."
"Our team was attacked on multiple fronts," Flash pressed. "Attacks brought on by an alien computer named Brainiac."
"And that has what to do with me?" Mercy replied, taking a sip of her coffee while turning away in her chair.
"Brainiac was destroyed," Superman continued. "And only Luthor has the skills to bring him back online. Tell us where we can find him and we'll be on our way."
"Better idea. You four get out now before I call security and-"
Just then, the door was blown open, causing the heroes and Mercy to turn in surprise. Coming out of the smoke was a modified Wayne-Lex bot armed with various missile launchers and a flashing red eye.
"Please tell me that's not security," Cyborg commented.
The robot responded by firing a blast from its laser eye, prompting the heroes to scatter. GL flew up and fired a laser at one of its legs, only for an energy field to block the attack.
"What is it with bad guys and force fields today?" he commented before flying out of the way of another blast.
Flash sped forward, spinning around it in hopes of lifting it off the ground. The robot retaliated by blasting at the ground beneath him, causing Flash to fall through the hole and to the floor below, crashing into several cubicles and surprising the workers as a result.
"Uh… sorry," Flash replied before speeding to the stairs.
Back upstairs, Cyborg ran toward the robot, slamming against the forcefield as hard as he could, but doing very little damage. The robot fired several missiles at Cyborg, prompting him to leap out of the way as they flew across the room. One of the missiles was heading right toward Mercy. Seeing this, Superman flew forward, taking the brunt of the missile before it could hit her.
"You alright?" Superman asked.
"Fine… now scrap that thing!"
Superman nodded before flying back into the battle.
…
Back in his lab, Lex was watching the events of the battle upstairs, growing enraged by what was unfolding.
"You came a little close to killing my aid," Luthor noted.
"A necessary risk to destroy the Justice League," Brainiac replied.
"Killing my people wasn't part of our deal," Luthor replied, turning back to the Brainiac chip.
"Your human partners are inconsequential. Now return to your work on my new body per our agreement."
"Right. About that…"
Lex reached into his pocket and pulled out a remote. He then pressed a button on it, causing the body to explode.
"What?" Brainiac let out. "What are you doing?"
"Protecting my assets. Goodbye, Brainiac."
Lex pressed another button, causing the chip to explode into pieces. Lex smirked as he straightened out his coat, about to walk off.
"Do not think it will be so easy, Lex Luthor," Brainiac's voice threatened.
Luthor was instantly surprised, looking around for the source of the voice. Suddenly, a panel opened up on the ground, allowing a newly completed Brainiac body to rise, leering at Lex.
"I calculated the possibility you would turn against me, Luthor," Brainiac spoke as Luthor stepped back in horror. "So I utilized your resources to construct my own body in secret. Now it is I who has no further use for you."
Luthor instantly turned around and made a break for it, prompting Brainiac to raise his hand as energy coursed through it.
"Goodbye, Lex Luthor."
Brainiac then fired a laser from his hand, nailing Lex in the back and causing him to hit the ground hard.
…
Back at Iron Heights, Oliver, Diggle, and Roy continued making their way through the prison.
"So, what's the plan?" Roy asked.
"Can Felicity hack the prison controls to initiate a lockdown?" Oliver asked.
"Felicity?" Diggle asked.
"I've been trying. But something's locking me out of the system. You'll have to do it manually."
"Then we need to get to the security office."
"Just have to fight through every lowlife the Green Arrow's put away to get there," Roy commented.
"While protecting my secret identity," Oliver added. "This is gonna be fun."
"Roy and I will cover you," Diggle told him, handing him an earpiece. "You just get this place under control."
Oliver nodded, heading off down a hallway. Meanwhile, Diggle and Roy went down another, rushing forward to another swarm of inmates trying to escape. Diggle fired several shots to take out some prisoners while Roy dropped to his knees and slid on the ground, using his bow to sweet an inmate's legs out from under him. He then fired an arrow at a prisoner, nailing him in the shoulder and taking him out. As he got to his feet, two inmates grabbed him from behind as a third approached. Reacting quickly, Roy lifted his legs into the air and kicked the prisoner away before swinging his head and nailing one of the prisoners holding him from behind. Once his arm was free, Roy punched out the other guard holding him, allowing him to flip him onto the ground.
…
Meanwhile, Oliver ran through the prison in hopes of reaching the security office. He encountered little resistance, no doubt due to Diggle and Roy engaging most of the prison population.
"Felicity, how much further?" Oliver asked.
"Down the hall, and around the next corner. Once there, you can initiate lockdown. There's also an emergency protocol to flood the prison with knock-out gas, but the command hasn't gone out yet."
"Because these guys can't kill me if they're all knocked out."
"Yeah, pretty much. There should be a manual override in the office. I'll let Dig and Roy know to be ready."
"Got it."
Oliver quickly rounded the corner and found the door to the security office. He didn't waste a second before throwing the door open, only to find several inmates inside, one of them all too familiar to Oliver.
"Well, well," he let out, walking forward with his hands behind his back. "This is unexpected."
"Count Vertigo…" Oliver recognized, taking a step back.
"It would seem my reputation precedes me. I of course know of you, Oliver Queen."
…
Back at Lexcorp, the heroes present continued fighting against the robot, their attacks seeming to get stopped at every turn.
"Cyborg, can you get a scan of this thing?" Superman requested.
"Once sec," Cyborg replied.
Cyborg scanned over the robot, noting the force field generator built into it.
"One upside about this thing, it's Earth-Tech."
"So?" GL asked.
"So, it has limitations that an alien robot wouldn't. Like that force field. Can hold off one attack, but several at once…"
It instantly clicked for Superman. "Pour it on! Don't let up!"
He blasted his heat vision at the robot, GL doing the same with his ring at the same spot, prompting Cyborg to follow suit with his sonic cannon. The three heroes kept firing at the same spot, which was visibly disrupting the force field surrounding the robot. After a bit of continuous fire, the robot's forcefield burnt out, leaving the robot stunned and vulnerable.
Meanwhile, Flash made his way up the stairs toward the office, quickly snagging a crowbar from a worker's toolbox as he was repairing some railing on a stairwell. He then ran up the rest of the stairs, sped into the office, saw the bot was down, and stabbed the crowbar into the robot's head, causing it to spark before falling to the ground.
"They just don't make killer robots like they used to," GL remarked.
Once the robot was down, Superman walked over to Mercy, who was hiding behind her desk.
"Perhaps you'd be more willing to cooperate with us now?" He suggested.
Mercy looked away for a moment, before turning back and nodding.
…
As Diggle punched out another prisoner, Roy did his best to dodge and evade a larger prisoner's attacks. He quickly rolled out of the way of a punch before getting back to his feet, only for the prisoner to knock the bow out of his hand. Thinking fast, Roy blocked the prisoner's next strike before hitting him in movements similar to the ones he performed on the training dummy before, allowing him to knock the criminal back before kicking him in the face, knocking him out.
"Huh, precision… who knew?"
As they continued to fight, one of the prisoners drew a gun he managed to steal off a guard, aiming it at them. Before he could fire, however, part of the ceiling split open, allowing Wonder Woman to drop down and use her bracelets to deflect the bullets before drawing her lasso and whipping the gun out of his hand. He tried to make a break for it, but Aquaman landed in front of him, backhanding him and knocking him out easily.
"You guys sure took your time," Roy remarked.
"Been a little busy kid," Aquaman retorted as Batman landed.
"Where's Oliver?" he demanded.
"Heading to the security office to stop this madness," Diggle explained.
"I'll meet up with him. The rest of you focus on wrapping things up here."
The others nodded as Batman rushed off, hoping to end this chaos and soon.
…
Oliver barely had a chance to react before two of the prisoners under Vertigo's command grabbed him and pulled him inside, forcing him to his knees.
"Killing me…" Oliver spoke. "Will end badly for you."
"My dear boy," Vertigo replied, chuckling a little. "Whoever said I wanted to kill you? Quite the opposite. With you as my hostage, my freedom from this barbaric prison is assured."
As Vertigo spoke, he noticed a familiar shadow retreating from the doorway, causing him to smirk.
"I doubt Green Arrow will let you get far," Oliver retorted.
Vertigo winced at that name. "Trust me. He is my first target. He will pay for what he has done do-"
Just then, an arrow whizzed by his face, embedding itself in the wall next to him.
"He's here…" one of the inmates dreaded.
"Do not lose your nerve," Vertigo demanded. "Find him!"
Two of the prisoners went out to look for who they thought was Green Arrow, only for one of them to get pulled away by a line. The other one shot around, hoping to nail him. The result was an arrow knocking the gun out of his hand before another arrow sailed by and hit the lights, drowning the room in darkness. This was enough cover for the figure to swoop in and grab Oliver before retreating into the vents above. Oliver looked up to see Batman with a bag over his shoulder.
"You alright?" Batman asked.
"Not the worst time I've been held captive," Oliver remarked. "I assume that's for me."
Batman nodded as he handed him the bag. Oliver opened it, revealing the Green Arrow suit and gear inside.
…
Meanwhile, Mercy led the other heroes to an off-the-books research lab. Superman and GL touched down first, the former setting Mercy on the ground as Flash ran up carrying Cyborg, who was heaving in response to the speed.
"Every time…" Cyborg commented, holding his knees.
"Sorry, man," Flash apologized.
"Enough," Mercy spoke up, heading to the door. "No way Lex would allow me to be in the crossfire of that robot. Something must've gone wrong."
"You sure Lex doesn't consider you expendable?" GL remarked.
"Of course not! Lex recognizes my loyalty and has never once abandoned me, not even when the rest of the world did."
"What are you talking about?" Superman asked.
Mercy paused for a moment, silently swiping her security card before responding. "I grew up on the streets, stealing what I needed to survive. One day I tried stealing Luthor's briefcase. Would've gotten away with it too if I had scaled that fence. I expected him to have me thrown in jail… or worse. Instead, he said he was impressed by my skill. He offered me a job as his personal bodyguard." She smiled slightly. "It was the first piece of kindness I had been shown in my entire life."
"So that's it," Flash realized. "He gave you a chance and you feel like you owe him."
"Because I do."
"You may be loyal to him, but it's not a two-way street," Superman insisted. "Trust me."
Mercy just glanced back at Superman, a knowing look in her eyes. "You don't know Lex as well as you think you do, Superman."
The scanner then buzzed, declining her card.
"What?" she let out.
"Allow me," GL offered.
Green Lantern then blasted the door off its hinges, allowing the group to walk inside. As they walked in, Mercy gasped, seeing Lex out cold on the floor.
"Lex!" she let out, running over to him.
Just then, the hole in the ground opened up, allowing Brainiac to rise up, much to the horror of the heroes.
"Greetings, Justice League," Brainiac greeted.
"Well look who pulled himself together," Cyborg remarked.
"What did you do to Lex?" Mercy demanded, drawing her gun.
Brainiac didn't even acknowledge her, his focus solely on the heroes. "I am amazed you have managed to survive this long, but I can assure you, your end is near.
"Tough talk, pal," GL remarked. "If memory serves, we kicked your tin butt last time we tangoed."
"I am well aware of what transpired in our last encounter. Which is why I designed some improvements."
Brainiac then flexed his hands, sending surges of energy to the technology spread across the room. Just then, every robot, mech suit, missile launcher, and weapon in the building sprang to life at the command of Brainiac and turned their attention to the League.
"You just had to say something, didn't you?" Flash responded.
…
Back at Iron Heights, the inmates started searching around for any sign of Green Arrow, only managing to scare themselves as a result.
"Where is he?" one of them let out. "Where the hell is he?!"
"Keep calm!" another one insisted. "He's gotta be here somewhere!"
"He had better be," Vertigo threatened. "For your sake."
Just then, an arrow shot out, releasing a cable that wrapped around one of the inmates, causing him to fall to the ground as he struggled to free himself. As the other inmates turned to where the arrow came from, another arrow shot out, clogging itself in the barrel of one of the inmate's guns and causing a green foam to release, encasing the inmate instantly. This time, it was Batman's turn to take down an inmate, a grappling line wrapping around the final inmate's legs and pulling him off into the darkness as Vertigo was left to fend for himself.
"Show yourself, coward!" he demanded.
"All you had to do was ask."
Vertigo spun around, seeing Green Arrow standing in front of him.
"Once again, my ambitions are thwarted because of you."
"Maybe your problem is you aim too high."
Vertigo lunged forward in a rage, only for Green Arrow to use his bow to strike him down.
"Sleep it off," GA remarked, pressing the lockdown button and the override for the knock-out gas.
…
Throughout the rest of the prison, knockout gas was being pumped out, causing the prisoners to start to succumb to its effects. Seeing what was transpiring, Wonder Woman grabbed Diggle and Roy and flew them out of the building, with Aquaman following close behind. Batman and Green Arrow quickly followed close behind as they made their own exit. Everyone reconvened outside where Arrow made a call to Felicity.
"Overwatch, contact SCPD and tell them they have some cleanup waiting for them."
"Already on it."
"In the meantime," Aquaman spoke up. "We got some more work to do."
…
Back at the Lexcorp lab, Brainiac ordered his machines to attack the Justice League. GL shielded himself as the other heroes scattered about. Superman used his heat vision to cut through several upcoming robots, tearing them apart easily. Flash meanwhile managed to run toward a missile being fired at him, grab it and throw it back at super speed, destroying the missile launcher instantly. At that time, Cyborg ran forward, firing his sonic blaster at several robot prototypes until he came across a prototype Lexo-Suit. The giant suit tried to bring a hand down on him, prompting him to stop it with his hands, skidding back as a result.
Meanwhile, Mercy made her way over to Lex, pulling him out of the situation and setting him somewhere safe.
"You alright?" she asked.
"Stop that thing," he told her. "Now…"
Mercy nodded as she drew her gun again, firing several shots at Brainiac. These proved to do little more than annoy the robot.. He turned toward her and raised his fist, firing a laser at her. She quickly dove out of the way, narrowly avoiding the shot.. Meanwhile, Cyborg continued to press against the massive hand that was trying to crush him. Thinking fast, he got out of the way of the hand, causing the suit to fall forward and collapse, allowing Cyborg to blast at it, shattering it to pieces. As he did this, a small group of defense robots made its way toward him from behind. Before they could attack, a large green boot slammed down on them, crushing them. Cyborg turned around to see GL retracting his boot construct before forming several buzz saws and launching them at several oncoming robots, cutting them down to size.
Flash continued punching out robots at super speed, taking out as many as he could as he continued moving, a missile launcher started to lock onto his speed. Once it had a lock, it fired at Flash. The missile hit right next to his feet, causing him to fly through the air. He hit the ground hard, slowly picking himself up as the missile launcher took aim at him again. Before Flash could respond he was suddenly moved out of the way, dropped on the ground, and left to watch as the missile launcher was destroyed instantly. Confused, he looked around, catching sight of, of all people, the Reverse Flash. He stared down at the Flash before suddenly taking off, much to Flash's confusion.
"What the heck?"
He shook it off, rushing back into the battle. Cyborg meanwhile continued blasting at robots and weapons when he got a call on comms.
"Cyborg," Batman called. "Where are you?"
"At a Lexcorp lab fighting Brainiac. Could use an assist."
Cyborg then locked onto Batman's comm signal and opened a Boom Tube. The second it opened up, Batman and Green Arrow came riding through on Arrow's bike. Arrow himself leaped off and fired an arrow at Brainiac. The robot easily grabbed the robot, reducing it to ash. Wonder Woman flew through next, plowing right into Brainiac and slamming him into a wall.
"You have menaced this world long enough, machine," she swore.
"Quite right," Brainiac agreed, grabbing her arms and charging her with energy. "It is time I put you and this world out of your collective misery.
He then forced her off and blasted her in the chest, knocking her back. Aquaman was the last through the Boom Tube, throwing his trident at Brainiac. He easily hovered into the air to avoid it, blasting at Aquaman and forcing him to dive for cover.
"Do not presume you have the ability to win, Justice League," Brainiac boasted as he lowered himself to the ground. "I have calculated every strategy and attack you can surmise. There is nothing you can do that I cannot-"
Just then, Mercy drove up in a forklift, plowing right into him and running him through as she drove the forklift into a wall.
"Didn't figure on that, did ya?" Mercy remarked as she got off the machine.
"He always underestimates humans," Batman said with what could almost be considered a smirk.
Brainiac glitched for a moment, before tearing off the prong that impaled him and tore it out. He then turned to mercy, his optics narrowing.
"Perhaps I do… but not anymore!"
He tried firing another laser at Mercy, but Batman quickly tackled her out of the way before the attack could land. Superman flew forward and punched Brainiac, knocking him back before firing another laser at Superman. It nailed him, knocking him out of the air as Green Lantern flew up, firing his own energy blast at him. Brainiac countered, the two beams matching each other equally as Aquaman took a position from behind, trying to blast at him there. Brainiac simply spun his head around, raising his other arm, and fired a blast to counter it. Brainiac maintained his combat of the two energy beams as his combatants poured on the power. Down on the ground, Flash, Green Arrow, and Cyborg watched on.
"Any ideas on how to take this thing down?" Green Arrow asked.
"Vic, you said the robot was based on Earth tech, right?" Flash asked.
"Yeah, whatcha thinking?"
"That Brainiac might be the same way. And we can take him down like any other piece of rogue technology."
"Oh, I get it. An electromagnetic pulse. We just need to make one."
"How?" Green Arrow asked. "I don't exactly have an EMP arrow in my quiver."
"No, but we can make one," Cyborg replied, pointing to something. "With that."
The two turned, seeing a giant magnet off to the side.
"That can work," Flash remarked before turning to Arrow. "Got a taser arrow in that quiver at least?"
"Oh yeah," Arrow replied.
"Get into position," Cyborg instructed. "We'll set him up."
Green Arrow nodded, heading off as Flash and Cyborg ran toward Brainiac. Cyborg opened fire on Brainiac, but the rogue AI countered, spinning his head around again and firing lasers from his eyes that nailed him in the chest. All the while, Flash ran past Brainiac, running up the wall and launching himself up, ramming right into Brainiac and knocking him out of the air. The two slammed onto the ground, Flash barely able to pull himself off and move back toward the others.
"We have a plan," Flash reported. "Get it toward that magnet."
Everyone nodded, catching on quickly. Superman was the first to rush forward, punching Brainiac in the face and knocking him back. Brainiac skidded across the ground as Batman fired a grappling line up at the ceiling, zipping upward and throwing several explosive Batarangs at Brainiac that caused him to flinch. Brainiac tried to blast him with laser eyes, but Wonder Woman flew up just in time to block the blast with her bracelets, drawing her sword and hurling it at Brainiac, nailing him in the shoulder. Aquaman took this chance to run up and grab the sword by the handle and swing Brainiac around, tearing his arm off as he sent him flying through the air. As he landed on the ground near the magnet, Cyborg went over and started manning the controls, all the while, Green Arrow took position on top of a shelf of weapons, notching a taser arrow as he did.
Green Lantern quickly formed a clamp that wrapped around Brainiac, sending him careening toward the magnet. He collided with the magnet hard, signaling Green Arrow he was ready. He let loose the arrow, sending it flying right at Brainiac. Unfortunately, some of the wiring from where his arm was severed shot out, grabbing the arrow before it hit.
"You made a valiant effort, Justice League," Brainiac mused. "But all for nothing."
"Don't be too sure," Green Arrow replied, smirking as he pressed a button on his bow.
The arrow suddenly started surging with electricity, causing the magnet to react in kind as the electromagnetic surge overwhelmed Brainiac. His circuity was severely fried, and he crashed down to the ground, hitting a nearby shelf of weapons. The resulting electricity struck the weapons on the shelf, causing them to explode one after another.
"Those things are gonna light this whole place up," GL realized. "Time to bail!"
The heroes quickly made their way toward the exit, while Mercy helped Lex to his feet. As the two of them moved to make their getaway. A piece of debris from one of the weapons collided with a nearby shelf, causing it to fall toward Lex and Mercy. Looking up and seeing this, Mercy quickly shoved Lex out of the way as the metal shelf crashed down on top of her. Lex hit the ground hard, looking back and seeing Mercy pinned under the shelf, her arm visibly crushed under the debris.
"Lex…" she let out. "Help me…"
Lex paused for a moment, before turning around and running off, much to Mercy's shock. Superman landed next to her, seeing what had happened.
"Tried to warn you," Superman replied about to move the shelf off.
Just then, a piece of metal hit the ground next to him, causing Superman to turn and see Lex standing next to him, using the piece of metal to lift the shelf off of Mercy.
"Well?!" Lex let out, looking at Superman.
Superman snapped back, pulling Mercy out from under the shelf just as Lex let it fall. Superman picked her up and flew her out of the building while Lex made his own escape. The other Leaguers made their own escapes as the building exploded, reducing what was left of Brainiac to ash and ruin.
Lex meanwhile made his way down the road, hiding behind another building to see the League was otherwise occupied. He smiled, about to move on when something grabbed him and slammed him into the wall. He looked up, seeing it was the Reverse Flash himself.
"I warned you not to harm the Flash," he told him.
"In my defense, that was Brainiac," Luthor defended.
"You were a fool to use him!"
"Why do you care so much? What's the Flash to you?"
"My goals are beyond your understanding."
"Oh, I don't know. I can understand quite a bit. You need him alive for something. Something important. One has to wonder what?"
Reverse Flash paused for a moment before tossing Lex aside.
"Harm the Flash again, and I will not be so merciful," Reverse Flash threatened before running off.
Lex picked himself up, dusting his shirt off as he looked on. "And I'm guessing you need me alive too."
…
In the aftermath of the battle, Director Faraday was overseeing the clean-up of the Brainiac wreckage.
"Make sure you're thorough," he ordered his agents. "I want these remains with Professor Hamilton within the hour."
"That won't be necessary."
Faraday turned to see Mercy, her arm in a severe cast and sling, walking toward him.
"Lexcorp will be taking what's left."
"Not gonna happen. Brainiac was built around stolen DEO technology-"
"You mean this?" She held up a bag containing the shattered remains of the Brainiac chip. "It's all yours," she tossed the bag to him. "Everything else was constructed from Lexcorp property, so it'll be Lexcorp who will be collecting the remains."
"You can't be serious…"
"I can, and I am," she insisted, walking to a limo. "Got a problem with it, take it up with my lawyers."
She quickly got inside the limo, allowing it to drive off.
"You never cease to impress me Mercy," Lex commented, sitting across from her. "Taking ownership of Brainiac's carcass for the lab techs to dissect? Right out from under the DEO's nose no less. I'm impressed."
"Thanks," Mercy replied. "I learned from the best. Gotta admit though, for a moment back there… I thought…"
"That I was going to leave you to die? Perish the thought. I've never been what some would call sentimental, but I put a lot of time and effort into you, and you've not failed me yet."
"I fear that while unintentional, my body has chosen to fail." Mercy looked at her arm. "Severe nerve damaged, shredded tissue, and the bone was all but pulverized. The doctors said that it is unlikely I will ever regain full mobility."
"I thought as much," Lex replied, grabbing a briefcase from the floor and handing it to Mercy. "So I came up with this."
Mercy opened the case, surprised to see a metal arm inside. It looked incredibly high-tech but was also perfectly proportioned to Mercy's arm. It was even painted to match her skin tone.
"I believe that this should more than suffice," Lex commented. "Wouldn't you?"
Mercy smiled at the arm, nodding before closing the case. "Completely. I look forward to seeing how it works."
…
Up in the Watchtower, Kari was helping J'onn and Cyborg repair the Watchtower systems so the base was operational.
"I got the programming set," Cyborg replied. "Even adding a few sub-protocols so guys like Brainiac can't play around in here again."
"Excellent," J'onn replied.
"Should be ready to go in just a sec…" Kari replied, typing away at the computer. "Almost… done."
With one last keystroke, the tower's systems started coming back online. The three smiled in response as the lights came on and the computers powered back on.
"Looks like League HQ is at one hundred percent again," Cyborg replied. "Thanks for the helo, doc."
"Happy to help," Kari replied.
"You have done much more than that," J'onn reassured, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It is because of you that we survived this ordeal."
"Meh, simple logic. You can't infect a system if there's no system."
"Still, we owe you one," Cyborg reassured. "Maybe we can make you an honorary member of the team."
"Thanks, but science is more than enough excitement. I'll leave the heroics to you guys. Besides, don't let my previous actions fool you. I'm no fighter."
Cyborg snorted at that. "Might not wanna tell that to Eiling and Hardcastle."
That elicited a laugh from the group. Even J'onn let out a chuckle, smiling as his terrestrial friend.
…
Meanwhile, at Iron Heights, Moira returned to the visitor area, expecting to see Oliver again. However, she was surprised to see that he wasn't alone this time. With him was Thea. They both took their seats, taking their respective phones so they could speak with her.
"... hey," Thea weakly spoke up.
"Hi," Moira replied, happy that she was there. "I… thank you. For coming."
"Of course, I… I heard about what happened here. With Oliver."
"I'm fine, Speedy," Oliver reassured.
"I know I just…" she sighed. "It… got me thinking," she turned back to Moira. "I don't… want to stay mad at you… that our last moments together are ones of… anger and resentment. I wanted to stay mad at you… but I just couldn't."
Moira couldn't help but smile, placing a hand on the glass dividing them.
"Sweetheart," she spoke. "However long I am in this place… you have freed me."
Thea sniffled, tears in her eyes as she put her hand on the glass where Moira's was.. Oliver just watched on, smiling at the reconciliation the two had found. Silently, he slipped away to give the two some privacy, all the while, going to reach out to someone else on the inside.
…
Later, Oliver managed to get an audience with Henry, much to his surprise.
"Wasn't expecting to see you again," Henry commented.
"Never got the chance to thank you for saving my life."
"You don't have to. It… felt right to help people again. Even in a small way."
"How'd you end up in here?"
"My wife was murdered… everyone thought I was to blame. No one believed me… except for my son." He looked up at Oliver with a smile. "You standing by your mother's side despite everything… it reminded me of him." he smiled a little. "I think you and him would be good friends."
Oliver smiled in response. "Yeah, I think we would."
…
At S.T.A.R. Labs, Cisco slowly groaned in pain as he woke up, surrounded by Barry, and the rest of the S.T.A.R. crew.
"Welcome back, Mr. Ramone," Barry greeted.
"Hey man… you save the day again?"
"Yes," Silas confirmed. "The Particle Accelerator was contained to the building and no one's showing signs of residual effects."
"That's good," Cisco responded, groaning a little. "Oh man, I have the worst headache."
"I'll see if I can find some aspirin," Caitlin told him.
"I'll help," Ronnie volunteered, following after her.
"Barry," Dr. Wells spoke up. "A moment?"
"Uh, yeah, sure," Barry replied, following him.
The two went out into the hall to get some privacy as Wells turned his chair around to face him.
"If it seems I was overly insistent today… it's only because I didn't want to risk losing you. The work you do it's… invaluable to the city… and those in it."
"I know, Dr. Wells, but if the city's ever gonna be put in danger, I'm gonna do whatever it takes to save it. Even if it means I don't walk away."
"I'm aware. I suppose in the time we've spent together I've… grown fond of you. I'd hate to lose you."
Barry smiled warmly at Wells. "You won't lose me, Dr. Wells. Not anytime soon."
Wells chuckled in response. "For the sake of the future, I hope so."
Barry nodded, then his face fell. "There is one thing that's bugging me… the Reverse Flash. He… saved me…"
Wells raised an eyebrow at that. "Really?"
"Yeah. I was about to get hit by this missile launcher but then… he was there. He saved me. I don't know why."
"Perhaps he wishes to finish you personally… or barring that, he needs you for something. Though, neither reason is comforting."
Barry let out a breath. "Just another mystery then, huh?"
"Indeed."
…
Meanwhile, Caitlin managed to find some aspirin in a medical box as Ronnie walked up.
"So… we never got the chance to finish our conversation from before," he commented.
"Right…"
"I meant what I said before," he insisted, taking her hand. "Crazy or not, I'll take any life I can with you."
"I would too," she replied. "It's just… before I would've just been marrying Ronnie Raymond. But now… I'd be marrying Firestorm too."
"Yeah… I guess that's true."
"And I've seen the dangers heroes like Flash have to face…" she turned away for a moment. "The last time you were a hero, I nearly fell apart. I just… I don't know if I can go through that again."
He took her chin in his hand, turning her back to him. "I'm not gonna lie… you're right about the danger. But I'm not gonna leave you again."
"You know you can't promise that… not really."
"I'm gonna do my damndest to try."
He then leaned in and kissed her, prompting her to return the gesture in kind. She moved a hand that was resting on the table to take his, unaware of a thin sheet of ice that was left where her hand was.