(-Unknown Area-)

Betty Grant is a person who wouldn't keep any form of secret from anyone. She isn't one to be capable of deceiving Bruce and Eric's most advanced surveillance satellite, Brother Eye, of her current location. It's not in her morality to be doing any of those things at all.

Unfortunately, it appears that she can accomplish such feats. But only through some unknown force that continuously influences her actions. And that same force has suddenly signaled Betty to leave Metropolis and arrive at the designated disclosed area to fulfill her manipulator's orders without question.

Not even with the item she carries within her grasp that Betty managed to acquire thanks to her open access to her adoptive son Aaron's Inner Sanctum. The item in question happens to be a silverish stone that may look ordinary to most people. In truth, it's much more than they realize, but only to those who know what it is. And how to use it properly.

"Have you acquired the Osmosium alloy?"

A calm but eerie voice speaks to Betty from behind as approaching footsteps can be heard echoing through the area. And because The disclosed room lacks any form of light, aside from the open window, the person remains to be unknown.

Surprisingly, Betty didn't look startled or alarmed by the person's sudden presence, no emotion or reactions at all. She just simply turns around to meet him head-on with dull-looking eyes behind her glasses.

"Yes, I have," Betty says in a monotone voice as she unquestionably hands the silver stone over to her telepathic manipulator.

"Excellent!" The anonymous individual exclaims as he gazes at the item now in his grasp. "You've done well."

Osmosium alloy. A virtually indestructible metal, that can absorb energy of any kind or form. The very metal that was part of the Gardian's effort to combat the Kryptonians hundreds of years ago. And importantly, the same metal that composites Omni-blade, the sword wielded by the Earth's new champion himself, The new Gardian king Aaron.

"Now," The figure suddenly commences, looking toward the brown-haired woman, who motionlessly stands in the sunlight before approaching her. "I have a new objective for you to do."

"What is that?" Betty exists as nothing to serve this person, unwillingly questions.

With that question, the approaching figure enters the light as well, revealing himself to be none other than the doctor himself, Derek Grey. Everything is going exactly as he planned. Derek had accomplished all of the necessary tasks that his incoming employer had requested him.

Now, there's just one last setup he must do to ensure that any opposition will deter the heroes, especially the world savior himself, Aaron, from success.

The light blonde-haired man lets out his everyday smile as he raises his hand to stroke Betty's cheek for a few seconds before speaking.

"Listen well…"

(-In Space Same Time-)

Everything happened so fast for Black Canary and Green Arrow in one day. They were engaging Grodd's lackeys in the society in Slaughter Swamp. Next, they were in Gorilla City, ready to confront Grodd himself to end his plans for world domination. And now, they are suddenly moved or rather teleported to a new location.

That location happens to be the Skull Ship itself.

"Ollie…?" Black Canary calls to her husband as she and Ollie look at their new surroundings.

"I…uh…I got nothing…" Green Arrow says in a similar tone. He is just as confused as Dinah about their predicament.

The married couple is completely baffled about where they're at. From what they can gather, the ship's inner exterior is much more bizarre than the outside. Wires everywhere, connecting to almost everything within the ship. The floor they are standing on has carvings of symbols that appear unrecognizable to any new guests.

"Your recent battle against Gorilla Grodd warrants further studies."

A distorted but ominous voice fills the room, alarming the heroic duo as they instantly prepare for any attack coming their way. And to their anticipation, something is coming their way when they see the floor in front of them split open.

What rose from it were more numerous tentacle-like wires wrapped together in a somewhat cocoon form, concealing someone or something within it. Soon enough, the wires begin to uncoil themselves to reveal the person beneath.

His entire physique was another matter. His bodysuit is comprised entirely of grey cybernetic metallic parts with purple accents, making him look almost cyborg-like. The only part that looks to have any organisms is the lime-skinned head that is almost humanoid-like. It is composed of cybernetic parts that look to be a helmet with numerous purplish circular platforms.

Once fully revealed, the humanoid being snapped his eyes open, revealing a blackish void color with a slight glow in his pupils.

"Green skin…" Green Arrow makes notes on the being in front of him while gesturing it to his wife. "Smart money's on alien."

"A Martian? Like J'onn J'onzz?" Black Canary similarly queries as she tries to approximate the resemblances of their green-skinned friend to this new one.

"My point of origin was a thousand light-years removed from Mars on the planet Colu." The cybernetic being elucidates as he gazes at the two perplexed heroes while extending his arms wide.

"I am…Brainiac."

Without warning, the being known as Brainiac attacks. Two metallic tentacles shoot out from his back and propel toward their targets. Dinah and Ollie couldn't react in time when the tentacles latch onto them. Green Arrow painfully exclaims when the tentacle harshly knocks his bow out of his hand before gripping his wrist, while Black Canary struggles against the tentacle, gripping her wrist as well.

Despite their best efforts against the onslaught, it would soon be pointless when the metallic tendrils performed a sudden strong tug.

Letting out a surprising shout, Dinah and Ollie are off their feet and painfully dragged across the room until forcefully being lifted off the ground to meet Brainiac face-to-face. In an act of distress to escape their predicament, Black Canary acted fast with her signature move.

SCREEEEEEEEEEEECCCHHHH!!!

She desperately unleashes her Canary cry right in front of Brainiac. But the cybernetic Coluan quickly unleashes another tentacle that tightly wraps around Dinah's throat, abruptly halting her move and causing her to cough out due to being cut off of oxygen as well.

Seeing his wife strangled helplessly, a panicked Green Arrow desperately tries to reach her. "Stop, Please!" he pleads to Brainiac to stop.

Despite that, the green-skinned alien coldly disregards it. "Cause and effect." He merely states while gesturing it toward the suffocating woman. "Resistance begets violence." He then displays his statement by further tightening his hold on the bird-themed heroine's neck, which results in her painfully coughing further.

"Then we won't resist! Please, just stop!"

The anguish plead made by Green Arrow seems to have successfully assured Brainiac of no further conflict before he retracts his tentacle from Black Canary's throat.

Dinah lets out deep breathes and coughs while she and a relived Ollie continue to dangle in the air, helpless to do anything as their abductee brings them over to a window, giving them a full view of the deep void of space and their planet.

Despite the predicament, it didn't stop the Emerald Archer from speaking out. "You're the grave crisis we were warned about." Ollie proclaims as he recalls the warning given to him by Dr.Fate back in Gorilla City. "What do you want?"

Silently, Brainiac glances at the Green Arrow for a brief second before returning his gaze to Earth. From there, he now reveals his intentions.

"I seek the ones you call Aaron and Superman." As if having eyes in the back of his head, Brainiac can easily see his captives' surprised reaction when he mentions the two aliens. "For years, I believed I had destroyed the planets Gardia and Krypton and all their remnants of the Rao system. Both of their survival is an oversight I must correct."

Dinah has a concerned look for her Gardian friend but later scowls for the latter. "Superman's no friend of ours." If anything, Dinah couldn't care less for whatever happened to the Kryptonian after everything he did to her and the world.

"I am aware," Brainiac states, already aware of the recent history.

The Coluan was well informed of the contemporary history that occurred on Earth. Brainiac can recall his curiosity first piqued when he heard rumors that Superman, a Kryptonian survivor, was responsible for the destruction of the Green Lantern Corp.

More so that it compelled the Coluan to investigate the matter and uncover the haven of Krypton's survivor. Once he accomplished this, Brainiac made contact with Gorilla Grodd and others on Earth, and they revealed many more surprises to him.

One such is that the Gardian Aaron, another survivor from another planet he destroyed, has also taken refuge on Earth. And interestingly enough, he'd defeated Superman and liberated the planet from the Kryptonian's hold.

Hearing enough of these anecdotes compelled Brainiac to make his move to find the two aliens and study them.

"But your planet has also piqued my interest." Brainiac also states as he gazes at the floating globe in front of him with great curiosity. "Its many contradictions are fascinating."

The way their abductee was praising their home planet sent chills up their spines. But it didn't stop a determined Black Canary from making her declaration known. "We'll never serve you."

Hearing the beliefs made by his captives forms a somewhat disgusted look on Brainiac's face. "Serve? I am no pity despot." He firmly states. If anything, he sounds like he despises the very defined word of it.

"I collect worlds, preserving their essential knowledge to enhance my intellect…" The Cybernetic Coluan then helps clarify Dinah's assumption as he emotionlessly turns to look at her. "…and then I discard the remnants."

That was a statement the captured heroes didn't expect to hear. Stealing peoples' proficiency and resources and then demolishing their world. This was a whole new ballpark to them.

"Why?" Green Arrow demands to know the reason behind the method the Coluan set for himself.

Instead of answering right away, the Coluan's tentacles bring his captive in front of him to face them directly. "Your species values precious metals. Arbitrary symbols of status." He divulges to them.

Earth is truly an enigma to Brainiac. They are more divided than unified than most worlds he has collected and destroyed by comparison. As well as Earth's sudden metamorphoses of new expansions of resources, The inhabitants have different forms and philosophies, and even unnatural-like magic is a wonder to the Coluan. All the knowledge he could learn from this world would be fascinating.

"I value knowledge," Brainiac says as he forms a fist to assert his belief. He then turns to Ollie and Dinah. "And like your metal trinkets, knowledge is more valuable when it is rare."

Both Black Canary and Green Arrow didn't, or rather, couldn't say anything back after listening to this madman's sermon about his desires. This Brainiac was different from any adversary they ever fought against. He isn't here to take over their world. He's here to destroy it and leave no trace of anyone or anything standing. It secretly scares them to know that this being is even more of a threat than Superman is.

But that wasn't the worst of it. The worst is that they're now prisoners on this ship with no contact outside it. There is no way to reach Bruce, Eric, and even Aaron to warn them of this upcoming threat.

The only thing Dinah and Ollie can do is just hope that their friends will figure out a way to stop this Incursion. And save their world from being completely obliterated.

(-Metropolis-)

Aaron was relieved that the reception was finally over. Everyone present there had already left the Memorial Stadium and went back to their homes and workplaces. All of them are left with great ease and comfort, knowing that their champion is watching over them.

Those are the emotions the Gardian king had felt thanks to his empath ability. To know that his very presence made them feel safe. And being able to move ahead with their lives was rather touching for the young Gardian to feel.

Aaron can silently admit that he rather enjoyed these open praises of him. And he'll also admit that his friends were right and he was wrong about him being there to help assure the people.

Speaking of said friends, Eric and J'onn also made their separate leaves. The technopath genius was heading back to a S.T.A.R Labs division stationed in Metropolis as he wanted to put the finishing touches on his 'extraordinary' project as he describes it. And J'onn decided to head on over to Stryker's Island to pay a visit to an old 'friend' as he puts it before departing.

Aaron didn't need to guess who that person was. Which made it all the more reason for him to feel his Gardian blood boil over. Aaron can't believe that despite what Superman has done in the past, and he's behind bars, J'onn and Bruce still consider the Kryptonian to be their friend.

Aaron can't understand their logic on why they care that much about him. Superman forced them on the run under his rule and nearly tried to kill them. How can anyone consider that and still call them their friend? It doesn't make sense. It makes him even more angry even thinking about it.

Shaking his head, Aaron tries to shove those thoughts at the back of his head. He didn't need those distractions of what he was doing right now. That was pinpointing the whereabouts of his mother. And according to the coordinates provided to him by Eric, this looks to be the place where she was.

"The Ace of Clubs?" Aaron reads aloud the bluish neon sign above him after he jumps down from his hoverboard. "Why would she go here? She doesn't drink. It's odd..."

It's odd indeed. She doesn't answer his calls, makes sudden disappearances at random notices, and now she's drinking? What's going on with her? Well, whatever it is, He'll get his answer soon enough once he confronts her.

With that resolve, Aaron heads toward the drinking establishment.

He steps inside without haste and proceeds to take in his new surroundings.

The room is rather dim-looking due to the minimal number of lights stationed. Not to mention rather empty as well. Numerous frames of pictures and certificates can seen plastered on every single wall. The floor was rather messy, scattered everywhere with used napkins, bottles, and toppled-over chairs. And the only audible noise that fills the room is old music played by a jukebox.

The Ace of Clubs is something from the young Gardian's perspective. It's likely because he's never been in a bar before, so his expectation of this place is considerably low.

Regardless of that, however, Aaron needs to find his mother.

With his eyes closed, he tries to feel the energy signatures around him. For the next few seconds, the young warrior senses every living thing within the drinking establishment, trying to pinpoint the familiar energy of his mother somewhere around here.

But to his unfortunate distress, he can't find her at all. Meaning, she was never here to begin with. What's going on?

"Mom, where are you?" Aaron worriedly mutters to himself as he is about to make his leave out of the Ace of Clubs.

"Lose something…"

But only to stop dead on his track when he hears someone call out directly to him.

"Or rather…someone?"

Turning to the source of the voice, Aaron meets up with the person in question. Despite the dull environment, the person's appearance was visible enough for the young Gardian to see.

A shirtless man with unruly brown hair while only wearing baggy-style black pants and bare feet. But the most noticeable trait about this man is his numerous silver circular tattoos with unrecognizable symbols wrapped around them, integrated all over his upper body. Though the stranger's name is unknown to Aaron, Grodd knows him as one of the members of his Secret Society, Amir.

"Well, well, well…" The shirtless-tattooed man begins to say as he stands up from the bar counter seat before confronting the young Gardian. "If it ain't the big hero himself, come to show his great presence in a bar of all places."

Aaron doesn't immediately speak back to him as he simply believes the man to be drunk from the alcohol he smells on his breath. And weirdly enough, He notices the tattooed man starting to walk around him as if looking him over for some odd reason.

"I was just here looking for someone." The young Gardian king firmly explains as he again proceeds to leave.

But only to be abruptly blocked by an outstretched arm of Amir, who proceeds to have a smug look on his face. "What's the rush, kid? It's not like whoever you're looking for is still in this city."

Aaron then narrows his eyes at the man suspiciously. He would've questioned what he meant by that, but only to shrug it off due to the current state of the man's condition.

"Sir, you're drunk," He informally states as the Gardian moves the shirtless man's arm out of his way before making his departure. "You should call a cab and go home."

Amir watches the back of the young warrior make his leave for the exit door for a second before mockingly laughing aloud, which results in regaining the spiky-haired boy's attention.

"And here I thought you were supposed to be different from everyone on this planet." He jeers out to the Gardian king as he turns around. "So much better than the heroes of before now. And yet you try to follow their rules, giving them the false belief they're in charge again, like a spineless coward."

As Amir said that, the tension of silence fills the Bar room. Even the Jukebox suddenly ceases the ongoing music as all eyes focus on the two individuals. Everyone, including the bartender, watches as the comment made by the man angers Aaron before quickly maintaining his composure.

"I'm not afraid of anything." The young Gardian firmly rebuffs the accusation made against him.

"Oh, no?" Hearing this, the continuing smug-looking Amir decides to stoke the rising embers within the boy even further. "Not even for that special lady in your life who's about to die for our cause?"

Aaron's eyes widened in shock and horror the moment his ears absorbed that information. And his empathic ability to read someone's emotions makes it worse. There was no lie or falsehood in the man's entire being or anything at all. It means that Aaron's previous waryness about this person is confirmed. This person has kidnapped his mother.

With that realization, the dual expression on his face instantly shifts to anger as the Gardian turns to confront the shirtless man. "Where is she?!" Aaron intensely snarls as his eyes flash green for a second.

"Oh, sorry, that information's classified at the moment."

But instead of being intimated by the heated glare down by the Gardian, Amir's complacent expression remains unchanged before he gets close to Aaron's face.

"But do you wanna know something else I learned about her?" Amir proposes. The young hero doesn't respond to his request, prompting him to reveal his secret knowledge to the boy. "I didn't know she was such a screamer when we plucked her little head out while her big hero wasn't even looking."

With those last words have been said, Aaron's composure finally breaks.

With one move, Aaron drives a strong punch right at Amir's face, which sends him crashing to the ground. "You should've kept your mouth shut when you had the chance." He growls while he glares down at the silver-tattooed person. Fortunately, the Gardian held much of his strength back to not kill the man as he needed him conscious to interrogate him.

"No…no…no,"

Aaron picks up on Amir's distorted mumbling to himself for some reason while slowly standing back up to his feet. Scowling at the man in front of him, Aaron approaches him with his arm reaching out.

"No…no," Amir continues with his self muttering before looking at the spiky-haired warrior. His smug expression shifts to a look of disdain as if the person in front of him didn't meet his expectations.

"Fine then…"

To Aaron's complete surprise, his outreach arm is snared by the tattooed man's own. And the grip was surprisingly well strong.

"My turn."

"Wait, what are you—" Aaron tried to say.

Without any warning, Amir delivers a swift uppercut directly in Aaron's chest.

Boom

The blow lifts the startled Gardian off the ground before propelling him through one of the walls of the Ace of Clubs to the outside world of Metropolis. Continuing soaring through the air, Aaron tries to brace himself when he crashes through one of the street bridges before flying through a building rooftop until finally tumbling towards the street.

The citizens within the said street area were greatly startled by the sudden trench made by their young Gardian warrior. Multiple thoughts came through many of their heads, questioning who or what could've caused their world savior to the ground like this.

Like them, the spiky-haired teen also has similar thoughts while he struggles to raise himself from the ground. "What the hell was that?" He groans before he finally manages to firm his footing on the ground.

Boom

The Gardian king's enhanced hearing suddenly picks up a thundering noise from above him, forcing him to face up to see a fast-moving blur bullet-diving straight for him with unrelenting speed. With his great instinctual reaction, Aaron jumps backward to avoid the incoming collision.

Crash

The ground impact causes a strong shockwave that sends a tremor, blowing away most of the surrounding objects until dust of smoke envelops the area. Seeing this, the bystander's instinctual trait for potential danger immediately kicks in. Before long, panic instantly erupts from the crowd as they follow their instinct to vacate the area, leaving behind Aaron and the unknown threat to occupy the area.

"Well, talk about incredibly disappointing." A familiar voice within the disappearing dust of smoke openly declares. The smoke fully evaporates and reveals to be none other than Amir himself.

Aaron lets out a deep snarl as he glares at the sight of the tattooed person who sucker-punched him. And in simple response, the young Gardian king stands tall, tearing off his remaining sleeveless shirt, with both hands forming into fists.

Listening to this guy talk about his mother and endangering the lives of innocent people around them, Aaron is not letting him get away with this. He'll want to beat him with an inch of life until everyone around him is safe and saves Betty from even more harm.

Soon enough, his normal black eyes shift to a familiar green light, and his body similarly follows. With a sharp grunt, an aura of green energy erupts from Aaron's body. The energy-intense eruption pushes the surrounding concrete dust away from the Gardian. His muscles slightly expand beyond their capacities while his spiked hair flows with his energy continuously flaring out.

Despite witnessing this display of power in front of him, Amir wasn't the least intimidated, let alone moved at all by this. Rather, he looks intrigued for some reason. It's as if the shirtless man believes he'll probably get something out of this fight. Not to mention the assignment handed to him by Grodd. And that's to keep the Gardian occupied from interfering in his plans.

"Well…." Amir starts declaring as he performs a 'bring it on' gesture toward the powered-up Gardian. "Come on, then."

"I intend to." Aaron angrily declares before he puts out more of his energy, resulting in his green aura flaring out even more than before.

And without anymore delay, both combatants charge at each other at high bursts of speed, commencing their battle.

As this happens, a big surprise will soon transpire within the City.

(-Metropolis S.T.A.R Labs-)

Eric appears to be in his private laboratory in Metropolis's S.T.A.R Labs, looking at a holographic round object projected by his R.I.G. in front of him with an analytic expression.

"Module output to hold one concentrated radiation shot." The technopath genius states as he mentally uploads the necessary data to the holographic schematic. "Yeah, that'll do for now."

Whatever project Eric's working on seems to be going well. Now, all he needs to do is send it to his separate quarter.

"Transmit newly developed data through the Kiosk chamber." With that command, the lighted blue segment bars on Eric's R.I.G quickly flash out.

The Kiosk chamber is another of the S.T.A.R Lab director's most prominent inventions besides Brother Eye. A self-developing system that can construct any known device that Eric instructs it to, no matter how difficult the requirement is, just like it did with his new advanced armored suit, which he calls the Mark Three. And with the latest schematics sent over, it'll automatically commence construction in a couple of hours.

"Alright…" Eric exclaims, clasping his hands together in preparation for his next task as he switches to another holographic screen. "Let's see what's this troubling news Bruce has for me to look at."

It became a deep concern for the young technopath director when Bruce informed him that the files Robin collected from his mission came from S.T.A.R Lab employees who worked for him. Mind-controlled or not, the thought of someone from his division was working with the enemy, and he never noticed.

"The file's still heavily encrypted." The technopath expresses as he takes notice of the unique codes placed together to keep anyone from looking over it. Nothing that Brother Eye can decrypt in a few hours. "But still, what is it that they were they sending overseas towards?"

But more importantly, who was it they were sending it towards?

Boom

Eric's pondering thoughts abruptly halt when he feels a sudden rumbling arise out of nowhere, violently shaking everything around the taken-off-guard tech genius.

"What the hell!" He manages to exclaim as he stabilizes himself by holding onto his desk. And his proclamation would be accurate again when another rumbling occurs. "Ok, unexpected tremblings usually mean a bad thing is coming."

Turning to his open-view window, Eric can see the source of the commotion. And he is in for the greatest shock of his life.

What he sees in front of him is not what he expected. Meteorites, dozens of them, come crashing down directly in the very streets of Metropolis, causing sheer panic to form among the residents. But it wasn't just the falling projectiles that panicked them. It's what emerges from within it.

An army of tall humanoid skull-shaped robots with advanced exoskeleton armor arises from the craters, and they immediately proceed to attack the terrified residents. They showed no remorse for those that they grappled their victim's head with their tendrils sprouted from their palms while disintegrating the rest from their eye laser beams.

Eric is horrified by what he is witnessing in front of him. This is bad. This is indeed bad. This is an unexpected attack. Nobody could've been warned of this to happen. Nobody, except for one entity.

"Brother Eye, Brother Eye, come in!" Eric calls out to the advanced satellite that was supposed to warn them of any upcoming danger. But to his dismay, all he's met with is an unexpected wall. "What, I'm being blocked?"

But that's impossible. He's connected to Brother Eye through his R.I.G, and in turn, directly connected to his mind. There's no way anyone besides him can obstruct his access.

"Come on, come on, push through!" The technopath genius grunts, mentally trying to break down the wall to regain access to the satellite.

"A futile attempt, Eric Jones." An unfamiliar voice suddenly speaks to Eric, whose eyes widen in deep shock when it speaks through him in his mind. It knew his name.

"What the hell?"

BZZZT

Then Eric is abruptly met with a powerful telepathic blast, causing him to scream out in sheer agony. It's the most painful thing he's ever felt in his life, so painful that his mind was ready to fall apart at any second.

Regardless, Eric still attempts to fight back against the force despite his R.I.G. advising him not to.

"Despite having your physical and mental enhancements, You cannot force me out so easily, human."

Another strong mental blast sends Eric back to pain, forcing him down to his knees while holding his head upward. Blood soon leaks from his nose from the sheer intense focus he has on trying to fight back.

"Who…are you?" Eric manages to grunt out as his holographic screens appear. What the screen displays is a close-up view of a green-skinned head staring back at him with a cold-calculated expression along with a set of blackish eyes.

"Who am I? I am the superior with an intellect beyond your own, beyond equal. I am Brainiac."

With that said, Brainiac sends out one final blast at Eric. This final blast would cause the technopath's entire body to stiffen for a second. His arms fall, motionlessly hanging between his sides, and the blue flashing segment bars of his R.I.G. slowly drop down until turning yellow and blinking red. Soon enough, his whole began shutting down.

This shouldn't be happening but it is. He should've seen this coming. He needs to get his armor to save him. He needs to warn Bruce about Brainiac. They need to stop him.

All those thoughts continue to repeat through the genius's mind until he finally falls to the ground. And darkness soon takes over his sight.

(-Batcave-)

Meanwhile, back in Gotham, Bruce Wayne continued to utilize Brother Eye monitoring systems after he finished making his public appearance to assure the public's fear and paranoia. And now, he wishes to check in on the team's progress in the enemy's territory.

"Brother Eye, give me an update on the team in Gorilla City." The billionaire man commands the advanced spy Satellite.

"I cannot do that, Bruce Wayne of Earth." Brother Eye replies in its usual robotic AI voice.

The response from the AI dumfounds Bruce for a second before becoming suspicious.

"Why not?" He wearily questions.

And Brother Eye immediately responds again.

"Because I'm not Brother Eye."

But this time, the voice was not Brother Eye but someone else.

BZZZT

Bruce jumps out of his chair in sheer surprise as he sees the computer monitor screens glitch in and out for the next few seconds. There was nothing Bruce could do but watch the sudden outcome foretell until the glitching screens began to reveal the close-up view of the green-skinned coluan himself.

"I am Brainiac." The cybernetic alien introduces himself to the protector of Gotham.

At the same time, Robin enters the Batcave and is surprised to see what's transpiring in front of him. "Whoa," the twelve-year-old boy exclaims before turning to his father. "Uh, Dad?" But only to be met with a side glance look that tells him to remain silent.

Instead of questioning the being on the screens, Bruce attempts to regain control of Brother Eye while trying to contact Eric so he can fight the intruder.

"You cannot regain control." Brainiac bluntly informs the human's futile attempts before he continues speaking. "Over the past days, I have secretly absorbed Brother Eye into my neural network. It is now an extension of my mind."

Bruce hits the keyboard in frustration. He tries to contact Eric again. But only to be met with no response once again.

"I have also disposed of Eric Jones out of the system to prevent any interference of my control. His fate now hangs in the balance of near death." The Coluan further notifies in his emotionless tone, shocking the two Waynes of their technopath friend's fate. "But you, a fragile human, have allied yourself with a nearly developed adolescent male Gardian to capture and imprison a fully developed male Kryptonian."

Bruces halts his typing to glare at the screen in front of him. "Maybe I'm not so fragile." He firmly counters.

At the same, as he says this, his mind recalls a memory during his time fighting the regime. It regards an event when he aided Aaron in finding his home in the Amazon Rainforest.

Where there, he recalls the information of an unknown assailant who attacked the planets Gardia and Krypton and effortlessly destroyed them, leaving them both in utter ruin. And the maniac was never identified as well.

But now, the said maniac has revealed himself before him.

"To prevail, you harnessed advanced science, nano-technology, satellite communication, inter-dimensional travel transit." Brainiac lists the many achievements that the Earth has accomplished over the years. "I am taking these tools from you."

"Why?" The Billionaire Wayne demands to know. What would this individual gain by having all that knowledge in his grasp? It's confusing to him.

To which the Coluan unhesitantly makes his intentions known with another emotionless statement.

"The Gardian and the Kryptonian belong to me. And soon, so will your planet."

And with that said, Brainiac dispatches from the screen.

Robin, who remained silent throughout the whole intense conversation, finally speaks. "Eric…" his voice sounds in deep concern. "Dad, is he–"

"He's not dead, Henry," Bruce firmly says to assure his son of their friend's well-being.

However, unfortunately, there's an obvious issue that needs focusing on at the moment.

This man, this Brainiac, is an enigma. He came out of nowhere, declaring his dominance over their world. He wants to seize their resources, technology, and it's people. And Brother Eye, the one thing that was supposed to warn them of this incoming danger, is now within his grasp. The world will be in chaos with this threat hovering over them.

Bruce needs to act to stop this invasion before it's too late. But to do that, he needs to understand more about the adversary. Aaron would've been Bruce's first choice, but he doubts the Gardian can provide much information. Not to mention that Aaron is currently engaging the threat as he thinks.

It means Bruce has no choice but to resort to his second option. The option that will force him to swallow his pride for even thinking about it. He has to meet the one person who may have the answers he needs to try and combat the alien menace.

So without wasting more time, Bruce acts now.

Robin sees his father step away from Brother Eye's console before the man turns his sight over to him. The twelve-year-old boy recognizes that determined expression. He saw it enough times to know what his father was thinking about.

"Robin, prepare the Batwing." Bruce gives his son the order that confirms Robin's assumption.

The world needs the Batman.

(-With Aaron-)

The intensity of the battle between Aaron and Amir continues to increase. Every second that their fight continues has left the surrounding area with ground craters, numerous vehicles flipped over or smashed, and cuts and bruises on their bodies.

But despite their sustained injuries, the two combatants have the sheer resolve to continue their onslaught against each other no matter what.

And that is what the green-energized Gardian does when he delivers several quick punches across Amir's face before the shirtless man blocks the next incoming fist with his arm.

"Weak." The silver tattooed man exclaims before quickly counter-punching Aaron, knocking him back across the street from him.

But not letting up, Amir dashes toward the distorted young Gardian with startling speed and nails him with a direct kick to his abdomen, causing him to fall back a bit to one knee.

The shirtless man sprints toward Aaron again. Like a battle ram, Amir rams his opponent in the chest before applying a substantial uppercut strike, effectively lifting Aaron off the ground and into the air.

And without waste, Amir potently leaps toward the distorted Gardian, grabbing him by his upper body as the shirtless man propels them both from the streets. With the high momentum they have, the two combatants are unable to contrast the excess pain when they crash through the recently built buildings of Metropolis.

After crashing through the last building, their velocity commences to decelerate. They soon both crash land on an unoccupied rooftop with Amir on top of Aaron with his hands around the Gardian's neck.

"Come on, is that all you got?" The silver-tattooed man questions Aaron with a bored expression while tightening his grip around his neck. This results in said person coughing out from his oxygen cut-off.

Seeing this has Amir chuckling. "And here I thought you would pose such a heavy threat to us." He openly disparages the young Gardian. "But I guess being raised by a pitifully weak human woman would do that to someone like you."

Hearing this man insulting his mother causes Aaron's gagging noises to turn soon to snarl before more green energy envelopes him.

"Shut up!" He angrily exclaims before using his newly increased strength to get the man off of him. Gripping his head, Aaron proceeds to slam Amir's face to the floor hard, putting himself on top of his opponent's position previously.

Without hesitation, the enraged Gardian king unleashes a barrage of enhanced punches against his opponent's face. Each of Aaron's well-delivered strikes leaves bloody smears across Amir's face, and some of his teeth get punched out of his mouth. All while each punch further deepens the cracked floor beneath them.

"WHERE!" The infuriated Aaron exclaims while throwing another punch. "IS!" He delivers another punch before raising both arms above his head. "SHE?!"

Crash

Slamming both arms at his opponent causes the floor beneath them to crumple, resulting in both Aaron and Amir falling inside the building with a gaping hole above them.

Aaron is unbothered by the fallen debris on top of him when he stands up from it. He glares down at the shirtless man beneath him before he reaches for the man.

Boom

But only to halt his action when his enhanced hearing suddenly picks up a loud explosion from behind. And it's soon followed by a pack of screams as well.

"Huh…" The Gardian confusedly expresses from the unknown commotion he hears outside the building. And his empath senses a lot of fear and terror enveloping the people around him.

What in the world is going on out there?

"Struck a nerve did I?"

Aaron is, once again, caught off guard when two silver tattooed-like arms suddenly wrap around his waist. Before the young Gardian realizes it, Amir lifts Aaron from the ground in a suplex-like move before slamming him back down hard. And Amir quickly follows it up with a direct kick to Aaron's chest.

But because of Amir's surprising feats, his kick was substantial enough to thrust Aaron out of the building and crash land back on the concrete street.

Amir spits blood and loose teeth out of his mouth before chuckling at his opponent's struggle before he leaps from the building and lands on street level. And right behind Aaron, who uses a nearby vehicle to stand up. And as he does, his natural fast healing ability soon commences to heal most of his injuries.

"Heh, it looks like things are going as Grodd predicted they would." The shirtless man says from the commotion around him.

"Grodd? So you guys are behind this?" Aaron demands to know when he heard what the man said behind before side glaring at him.

And once he does, Aaron is in for a surprise. The injuries that Amir sustained from his strong blows also began to close, healing themselves at a rate that looked almost instantly. Even his missing teeth started to grow back in place as well.

"Well, not me, technically," Amir answers, waving off the accusation made toward him. "Like I care what that talking ape has cooked up with his so-called client in his skull ship."

Aaron listens to the man's basis of his group's plan with a look of shock. A realization crosses his mind. If Grodd and his band of villains are associated with this attack on Metropolis, then something terrible must've happened to Batman's team in Gorilla City.

The unknowing fates of Black Canary, Green Arrow, and Harley Quinn are a deep concern to the young Gardian. He hopes they're still alive and well.

But despite that unfortunate realization, something else in Amir's last statement caught Aaron's attention. Something that had made him cease further movement.

"Ww-what did you just say?"

But instead of Amir answering with words, it's revealed to him.

Aaron's ears pick up numerous footsteps nearby, approaching his location. He traces the source by raising his spiky-haired head to see who or what awaits him. And that source appears in a horde of humanoid robots, with their skull-shaped heads and lifeless eyes dead set on him.

The skull-shaped heads.

Aaron's heart suddenly skips a beat when he first gazes at them. "Those skulls…" The young Gardian barely mutters out. "I-it…can't be."

Amir raises an eyebrow, taking notice of his opponent's sudden shift in his voice before coming to a realization. "What's the matter, big hero, scared?"

Aaron doesn't immediately respond to the tattooed man's question. Because everything around him is cut off. He couldn't hear anything or feel anything, nothing.

All but two things. The first, Aaron hears the familiar sounds of a baby crying in deep anguish, echoing in his ears. He knows this sentiment because those cries were his when he was a baby. And along with that, the emotions.

The hatred, sadness, fear, and rage, he feels them all swirling within him. It's so much that even his necklace slowly commences to glow green in response to its owner leak.

All because of these skull-headed robots being her, surrounding him with their raised hands aimed at him? No, it's what they serve that put him like this.

The Skull Ship. The thing responsible for his home, the planet Gardia, destroyed and murdered both his parents all those years ago. And now it's here to do the same thing to this planet, his home.

"No…" Aaron whispers out as his distraught tone soon turns to a new form of uncontrolled vexation. "No," in response to his emotional state, His body suddenly flickers out numerous sparks of green energy. "Never,"

The skull-headed humanoid robots' sensors detect the sudden energy building up within Aaron. They immediately portray that as a sign of resistance. So they waste no time engaging the threat by readying to fire their metallic tendril.

But their target does not attempt to move out of the way, not at all. Because he's waiting on something.

Whoosh

That something happens to be his hoverboard, arriving just in the nick of time at his location. With the high built-up combination of both altitude and momentum, the flying board became almost impossible for anyone to see its arrival.

Without warning, the board directly fires a silver metallic orb from within, heading straight for the young Gardian awaiting hand. Once within his grasp, he envelopes the orb with his energy, giving it a greenish-glowing impression for only a second until something happens next.

Boom

The sphere explodes in a flash of green light, enveloping everything around it. The strong shockwave of the burst is strong enough to blow the incursion robots off the ground, virtually destroying them in the process.

Though the blast caught him off guard, Amir managed to endure the robust tide. His feet held firm to the ground to keep him in place while his crossed arms helped shield himself from the blast that knocked everything else aside.

"This kid…" The shirtless man grunts, openly expressing his thoughts on the outcome. He never expected the young Gardian to have some backup plan in case things became too intense for him to handle.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr…"

A beast-like growling erupts from the center source of the shockwave explosion, bringing Amir's thought process to a halt to witness something emerging from the diminishing light crater.

Gone are his civilian attires. Aaron now dawns on his sleeveless black battle armor with gold accents. Along with that, black armed wristbands, form-fitting pants, and gold-tipped boots. But two traits represent themselves that make Aaron differ from the others.

One of them lies within his gripping hand is his large great sword, the Omni-blade. A weapon of silver and gold theme with double-straight blade edges with curved guards. But what makes this sword unique is its unbreakable metallic composition that endlessly hungers for energy, the Osmosian Alloy.

The next is the golden sun insignia embedded in his left-sided chest. Though it represents itself as a member of Aaron's deceased family from Planet Gardia, the people of this planet see it as a symbol that gives them the courage to stand up, fight back, and give in to despair.

Aaron, the warrior who toppled Superman and his One Earth Regime, Earth's new champion, slowly rises to full height. His posture is firm, exhibiting no unsettling doubts and fear, but it's opposites. Which is both having the determination to engage this opponent head-on. And the bold courage to see it through to the end.

He will not let this incursion, the same one that took everything from him from Gardia, do the same to this planet, a place he calls home.

Aaron's body suddenly envelopes a sharp green aura of energy, drastically increasing his capacities to newer levels of strength and power. His Omni-blade similarly responds to the firm decree as the silver blade edges ignite in a green glowing ambiance from the energy it absorbed from its owner.

His now glaring green eyes make their way toward Amir as he recalls the question asked of him. And he answered it without a shred of hesitance.

"Never, never again." He's not scared. He'll never let fear get the best of him again.

Amir looks at the green-energized boy, not intimidated by the display he just witnessed in front of him. It's like it didn't matter to him. Or more like, he couldn't feel afraid at all. But regardless, he still had his assignment.

"Alright, kid," The tattooed man begins saying while he readies himself for another confrontation as more groups of humanoid robots soon arrive to surround their target. "Let's see what you're made of now when not holding back."

Aaron lets out another beast-like roar before he makes a sharp dash toward the detestable group with his energized sword raised with the intent to put them down. And once he does, he will find and rescue his mother from their clutches and stop this incursion.

(-Kahndaq-)

At the same time when Brainiac had commenced his invasion, Kahndaq was one of the first to take notice of this.

Within the castle, Wonder Woman and Black Adam continue to witness the ongoing attacks through a magical glass orb in Adam's throne room.

"Great Hera," Wonder Woman says, openly expressing her shock at what she sees in front of her. "Where else besides Metropolis?"

Which Black Adam similarly voices as well. "Gotham, Beijing, Moscow. So many cities, all at once…"

It's a deep concern to both of them. This unanticipated invasion has put a dent in their plans to free their imprisoned leader. It was happening fast, too fast. They couldn't even predict what the attacker would employ next in his ongoing pursuit.

"It's him…"

Diana and Adam ceased their gaze from the glass orb when a familiar voice from behind spoke out. Turning to the source, they see it was Supergirl, similarly watching from afar. But with a combination of great shock and dread on her face. And also a face of recognition.

Wonder Woman is the first to see the girl's multiple expressions and proceeds to walk up to her. "Who, Kara? Who is it?"

Looking away from the Amazon, Kara doesn't say a word at first due to the horror of knowing that the being that destroyed her home world is here. And she couldn't handle the thought of this world suffering the same fate.

Not unless they can stop it now.

Turning back to face Diana, Kara desperately musters her will to finally utter her sentence.

"We need to get Kal. Now!"

There was no longer the time to plan. They need to break Superman out right now.

To be continued…

Chapter Complete!

Well, it's finally here. Brainiac has come to invade Earth.

Everything's happened so fast that it's hard to know what is going on. Everyone was completely caught off guard by Brainaic's sudden attack on Metropolis and other cities. And the Heroes are in disarray or incapacitated to do anything to combat this rising threat.

Can they rise to beat the occasion or will they falter in defeat?

Find out in the next chapter.

Also, once again, I do not own anything, and I mean ANYTHING, related to the DC universe and its Characters. Only the OCs are mine, nothing more.

Goodbye, for now.