Chapter 7: The Brainiac War: Prologue
© Eldric 2014
Project Infinity Satellite
Bruce Wayne gazed at his monitor screens, watching the Lexettes. Despite his acknowledgement of Alexis’s capabilities, he fully trusted neither of them. They concerned him for different reasons; Lexie’s agenda eluded him, while Alexis had proved far more competent than he had any reason to expect.
He watched Lexie interfacing with her computer: an unreadable expression on her face. Then her expressions became more animated. Her screens reflected images of Amazon women who had inhabited Paradise Island. She began to sketch a costume: a bit risqué for Bruce’s taste, but acceptable for a woman with some level of invulnerability.
Lexie scowled as she exited her quarters. Bruce knew her schedule: evaluation and testing of her powers which was expected of all probationary Project Infinity team members. He knew that Alexis’s promotion would stick in her craw; that was a welcome after-effect. Bruce felt no real fondness towards the Luthor family and he had to stress the girls until he knew who they really were.
Alexis tended to defer to her older sister; that concerned Bruce. Alexis had always felt the outsider in her family. To what extremes would she go to fit in? And how would Lexie’s bruised ego complicate the situation?
Project Infinity Gym
Lexie slammed her fist into a punching bag, ripping it from its moorings.
“Good enough for you, little Miss Spider-Girl?” Lexie raged. “I’m super-strong, I should not have to keep proving it!” She stepped towards the retreating Spider-Girl.
“Lexie Luthor,” Mayday protested, “it’s just a test!”
“I’m an Amazon!” Lexie retorted, “I’ve been training in the Amazon ways since the day I was born! I don’t need strength testing and I don’t need remedial training!” She launched towards Mayday, who easily jumped out of the way, sticking to the wall high above Lexie.
“It’s not about power, Lexie,” Mayday cautioned. “It’s about control.”
“Control?” Lexie jumped, aiming towards Mayday once more. Mayday jumped even higher, staying out of Lexie’s way as the clone bounced against the floor. Lexie concentrated her force of will into telekinesis, flying towards the retreating Spider-Girl. “I’ll show you control!”
Mayday jumped as far as she could, clinging to the ceiling. Lexie’s anger increased her control over her clone powers, enabling her to stay aloft, targeting Mayday once more.
“Don’t make me do this,” Mayday warned.
Lexie snarled. She took aim with her fists, preparing to charge Mayday.
“You should have listened to me.” Lexie aimed towards Mayday with both fists ready to strike hard.
Mayday fired webbing into Lexie’s eyes before dropping to the floor. She hit hard, but recovered quickly, bouncing up another wall and clinging to it.
“You’re good,” Mayday exclaimed, “but you’re not an expert, yet.”
Lexie screamed with frustration as she struggled to remove Mayday’s reinforced webbing from around her eyes.
“Argh!” Lexie glared at Mayday, who had dropped to the floor, turning her back on Lexie.
“We’re done here,” Mayday exclaimed flatly as she walked towards the exit. Her spider sense tracked Lexie, but she suspected that Lexie would believe that Mayday felt safe enough to not bother watching the clone. That would rankle the clone, which was just what the Batman wanted.
RISING STARR
“Your assessment?” Bruce Wayne prompted Mayday as she stepped into his monitoring center.
“Barely controlled fury,” Mayday replied. “I’m not sure what motivates her; maybe it’s her innate superiority complex aggravated by her sister’s greater power levels. She’s getting stronger; pretty soon I won’t be able to train her any more. I can’t begin to figure out the ramifications of her technical abilities…but she doesn’t rely on them in a fight.”
“Someone we can use?”
“I don’t know how to answer that, Mr. Wayne,” she pulled off her mask. “Maybe, with more work, but at the moment, she’d be a better fit with the Phantom Zone criminals.” She glanced at the Batman’s screens. “The only way I can control her is by pressing her buttons…never the kind of relationship you want with a teammate.”
“At least you can control her,” Bruce observed.
“Don’t remind me,” Mayday shook her head, “if she had her sister’s power levels, I would be toast. But if Alexis had her sister’s ego, we’d all be toast.”
Bruce nodded before leaning back thoughtfully.
“Lexie reminds me very much of a younger Lex Luthor,” Bruce explained. “His business acumen combined with his rage built an empire. He would let nothing stop him. But he did not start out with powers.”
“What about Alexis?” Mayday pressed.
“I still don’t know everything I need to about Lexie’s younger sister,” Bruce frowned. “She does not have her sister’s superiority complex, but she is brilliant, powerful, and extremely observant. Myxyzptlk had something to do with her creation, which means there are things we don’t know about her yet.”
“Hidden powers of some type?” Mayday suggested.
“Potentially,” Bruce acknowledged. “Somewhere there is a set of tech capabilities…there must be.” He sighed. “Those abilities may be passive; they won’t activate until needed.”
“Which means we may not know until too late,” Mayday offered.
“Yes,” Bruce agreed. “The other problem is the family dynamic. As the younger sister, Alexis tends to let Lexie take the lead. She has been conditioned to that response. That worries me as well.”
“What do their parents think about that?”
“Alexis doesn’t make sense to either of them,” Bruce revealed. “Mercy is a warrior and Lex an empire builder. Alexis is neither.”
He gazed back at the monitor before turning back to Mayday.
“I know I’m asking a lot out of all of you, but I have to know how they perform under pressure. When push comes to shove, what will Lexie do? And will Alexis follow her?”
RISING STARR
Alexis occupied a workstation near the entrance to the observation deck. She manipulated a program that generated the image of a costume. As she worked, Mary Marvel stepped up behind her.
“Interesting design,” Mary complemented as she watched Alexis integrate the costume components.
“Thanks,” Alexis had created a black costume with a gold cape and black boots. The costume left her legs bare, but black boots protected her feet and lower legs. There was no obvious insignia. “I’m thinking ‘Onyx’ or ‘Raven’. I’d really rather not use my real name.”
“No insignia?” Mary asked.
“Not yet,” Alexis frowned. “I can’t call myself Supergirl; I’m not a member of the Kent family.” She scrunched her face. “I know I’m lucky even to exist. Lexie says I’m a computer-generated clone that didn’t come out right.”
“Alexis,” Mary leaned close, touching the clone’s shoulder, “it doesn’t matter where you came from. What matters is…”
“Thanks, Mary, I appreciate the thought,” Alexis replied with discomfort. “I just wish I could believe it.”
Mary considered Alexis’s words, and the young woman’s struggle to fit in, before responding. She sat down opposite Alexis and then, unexpectedly chuckled.
“Did I do something funny?” Alexis asked with concern.
“No,” Mary chuckled, “I think it’s the rest of us trying to figure you out and missing the obvious.”
“I don’t fit in?” Alexis questioned.
“Or me, or Mayday, or even Billy…” Mary smiled warmly. “We’re all part of a bigger family here, but every family is dysfunctional in some way, shape, or form. And, if you don’t mind me saying it, Bat-Daddy and your folks are all more than a bit different.”
“My father seems to think that I’m certainly different,” Alexis confided.
“Meh…” Mary retorted. “Hey, Mayday gets off in just a few minutes. We were going to fly down to Paris to watch a fashion show. Why don’t you come along? Since you’re working on a costume, you might get some ideas.”
Alexis grinned, glancing quickly at the costume on her screen before turning back to Mary.
“Thanks! I’d really like that!”
“Mayday will too,” Mary exclaimed. “She’s been dying to get a chance to talk to you, but she knows how much your sister dislikes her.”
“Lexie isn’t very fond of me, either,” Alexis conceded.
RISING STARR
“I’m Supergirl!” Lexie Luthor strode into the gym in her new costume. It strongly resembled Ellen’s costume as Brandy, but the shirt was white and the costume left a gap around her middle.
“Really?” Mayday Parker interrupted training with a new recruit, Jason Garrick. An industrial accident had left the young man with extraordinary speed, speed only seen in the Kryptonians and the deceased Barry Allen. “Did you ask before taking that name and that costume?”
“I take,” Lexie argued, “I don’t ask. Asking is for losers. When one is superior, one should never ask. It’s only logical. And I am nothing if not logical.”
“You’re also slow!” Jason Garrick ran past Lexie, snatching her cape, angering her.
“Give me back my cape or I will kill you!” Lexie raged as she chased after him.
Good move, Jason, Mayday watched him easily outmaneuver Lexie, keep her off balance…carefully.
RISING STARR
“Supergirl?” Ellen reacted to Bruce Wayne in his work room, gazing at the picture on the screen. “Seriously? Her sister, maybe. But Lexie?”
“Stay out of it,” Bruce warned. “If she thinks she can keep the name, she’ll have to earn it.”
“But she just isn’t…” Ellen took a deep breath. “I know Alexis went off to Paris with Mary and Mayday. What design did she come up with?”
“This costume,” Bruce showed an image of Alexis’s design. “She’s looking at two names, Onyx and Raven.”
“I feel complimented,” Ellen chuckled. “Not only is onyx the color of her hair, it’s a liquor, like Brandy.”
“There is that,” Bruce acknowledged as Ellen’s expression changed, becoming contemplative.
“I think I’m going to make a suggestion,” Ellen nodded, smiling, “the Midnight Angel.”
“Midnight Angel?” Bruce’s eyebrows rose. “Any particular reason?”
“I see something,” Ellen exclaimed, “I can’t explain it, but I see something.” She tapped her fingers against her cheek. “I can do something with that costume…let’s see what she thinks. Of course, Lex will probably consider killing me after this.”
“On the other hand,” Bruce quipped, “what drives Lex to anger makes my day!”
RISING STARR
“I really don’t see the value of any of this,” Lexie groused as she and Alexis followed Mary Marvel into a military training facility. She wore her Supergirl costume while Alexis wore a simple black outfit. “I know Amazon military strategy; I was taught by an expert.”
Alexis said nothing, following the other two into the facility.
“Mary Marvel plus two,” Mary greeted a pair of male guards.
“Yes Ma’am,” one of the guards greeted. “Down that hall and the last room on the left. Colonel Craddock will be leading the instruction. General Raines may stop by a little bit later.”
“Thank you,” Mary nodded as Lexie marched down the hall and Alexis smiled at the guards before following.
The three women walked down the hall as the guards whispered to each other.
“Supergirl, huh?” The first guard spoke. “I bet she’s got freeze breath. She doesn’t even need to use it to drop the temperature around her fifty degrees.”
RISING STARR
“…a little bit about military strategy and why we do what we do,” Col Jill Craddock began her lecture. Mary Marvel had departed, leaving the two clones with the military staff.
“I know Amazon Strategy,” Lexie exclaimed. “Except for dealing with your larger armies, I don’t think your strategy is going to offer much to me. In fact, Amazon strategy is superior because we’ve had a long time to get it right.”
“I think we’ll surprise you,” Jill Craddock replied. “There are a lot of moving pieces and so many different types of troops and technologies.”
“But how does that benefit me?” Lexie contested Jill’s assertion. “I need to learn to survive against real threats, not learn to coordinate with the military.”
“Lexie,” Alexis interrupted, gazing at her sister, “if I recall, the Rebels were able to take out half of the Zoners. We need to learn to be able to work with them and their counterparts.”
“But we wouldn’t have reason to take the Rebels on,” Lexie countered, “nor would we make the same mistakes even if we did.”
“Think of what the Zoners did to this world, Lexie!” Alexis emphasized. “How many people died? They almost killed us. We watched Lex Jr. die; you have a much clearer memory of that than I do. Then we spent almost our entire lives in exile.” She glared at her sister. “Lexie, how could we even think about following in the Zoners’s footsteps?”
Lexie quieted, seemingly drawing into herself, lost in her memories.
“Lex Jr, big brother,” she mumbled repeatedly, lost in thought.
RISING STARR
“…of course,” Col Craddock explained, “we’ve had to turn from resisting the Phantom Zoners to building our forces to protect the North American continent and help restore order.”
“How do you coordinate with the other militaries?” Alexis asked. “The best war is the one that never has to be fought…misunderstandings worked out before an unnecessary action takes place…and that means understanding the true scope of alliances and how to communicate with those allies.”
“Alexis, this is a complete waste of time,” Lexie roused from her introspection. “Diplomacy only delays the inevitable. Victory on the battlefield is the only real solution,” she responded flatly.
“Lexie, once you’ve won,” Alexis challenged, “then what? It may be hard to take a position, but even harder to hold if you’re in enemy territory. Let us not forget, Faora Hu-Ul died by the hands of Raines’s Rebels because she failed to understand their resolve.”
“If she had been more insightful about the capabilities of the Rebels,” Lexie countered, “Faora would still be alive.”
“But she wasn’t, Lexie.” Alexis emphasized. “She was too blinded by her anger to see anything but her own immediate needs. And the consequences of that anger are the only reason this world is recovering from the onslaught. Otherwise, the Zoners would still be in control and we’d still be on the island.”
“The island was not a bad place,” Lexie added blankly, “but the technology is better here. I wish we could have taken Lex Jr. to the Island.”
“So do I, Lexie,” Alexis responded warily while Jill watched with concern. “But Momma’s tried to explain why that couldn’t have happened.”
“But it should have!” Lexie protested. “Why can’t we go back in time and rescue our brother? There must be a way!”
“Lexie, I’m sorry, but you can’t alter the past without eliminating the present,” Alexis tried to explain.
“Is that such a bad thing?” Lexie asked. “We would have Lex Jr. returned to us! I shouldn’t be the oldest child. Our brother was supposed to be, so that we could follow him. You would feel happier doing what you’re supposed to do.”
As Jill watched an incredible sadness cross Alexis’s features, she began to understand the gulf that would always exist between the two sisters. She realized then that Buddy Raines had set her up to witness just such a display. Jill wasn’t normally an instructor…but Buddy considered her an excellent observer.
“I wish…I wish it were that simple,” Alexis spoke sadly. “I wish I could go back and save our brother, but I can’t. Even if I could, I’m not sure I should.”
“Why not?” Lexie prodded.
“If I did that,” Alexis offered, “what else changes?”
“If you went back in time, you could kill off all the Zoners and everyone would be better off.” Lexie stated.
“I wish it were that easy,” Alexis explained, sadly shaking her head. “But I can’t just do something like that without understanding the consequences.”
“Coward,” Lexie replied.
“Maybe so…”
“There has to be a way to rescue our brother,” Lexie stood up, “and I am going to find it.” She aimed her telekinetic powers towards a window, opening it. “I’ll show you!” She flew out of the window, landing and running away at super speed.
RISING STARR
Col Craddock entered General Raines’ office to report back on the day’s events.
“Strange pair,” she commented. “That new Supergirl is a disaster waiting to happen. She seems disconnected from reality. She really wasn’t interested in anything I had to say.”
“In a different way than the Marvels?” Buddy suggested as he exhaled cigar smoke.
“They were interested,” Col Craddock explained, “they just didn’t have the background to make sense of what I had to say. They were willing to listen and try to learn the basics.”
“So just what did our new Supergirl do?” Buddy asked as he stared at his cigar.
“She started out being somewhat belligerent,” Jill explained, frowning. “Then she seemed to withdraw into herself. She got into an argument with her sister, who more than held her own. But listening to the argument, I have to wonder if the Supergirl lives in a different reality than the rest of us.”
“What happened next?” Buddy inquired.
“Eventually, the Supergirl tired of the argument and departed,” Jill recounted, “She seems determined to raise their deceased brother from the dead.”
“Better for us than trying to take over the world, I suppose.” Buddy observed, tapping his cigar ash. “Did you end the presentation at that point?”
“Oh no,” Jill replied, “Alexis seemed quite curious about us and how we operate. I was quite frankly impressed by the sheer scope of her knowledge. While she was curious about our operations in general, she was very interested in how some of our more delicate operations proceed. The Amazons were well aware of the Trojan horse and she was curious about more modern implementations.”
Buddy nodded again, considering Jill’s words as she continued.
“It’s a shame we couldn’t have gained more cooperation from the Supergirl.”
“I’m sure the Batman will be as surprised as I am that she lasted as long as she did,” Buddy expressed. “No matter, either way. As I’m sure you’ve guessed, we needed to see how the two of them would act together.”
“I gathered that this was a test for the two of them,” Jill related. “You feared the Supergirl’s influence over her sister. Alexis held her own; Lexie never really had the upper hand. Good thing, too. Lexie was trying to convince her to try to change the past.”
Buddy exhaled sharply.
“She didn’t think it could be done? Or had other reasons?”
“Alexis did not believe it was possible to do,” Jill explained, “but she also didn’t think she had the right to make that decision. That second statement led Lexie to depart.”
“Sounds like Project Infinity needs to keep a tight rein on Supergirl,” Buddy surmised. “Batman has a problem on his hands.”
RISING STARR
Her work completed for the day, Alexis flew through the atmosphere towards the Project Infinity satellite. She took her time; she treasured the solitude the trip brought her. She needed time to reflect on everything she learned.
Alexis hated fighting with her sister, but then Lexie was used to being top dog; she had always felt that Lexie had been their mother’s favorite while Alexis had struggled to fit in. The relationship with their father had been no different. Lex frequently remarked that Lexie reminded him of himself.
Alexis knew that the rest of her family missed Lex Junior, even if she, herself, barely remembered him. She remembered little before Paradise Island. Men confused her; her new-found friends tried to help her to understand the opposite sex, but she still had problems with understanding the concept of beauty and what it meant. Hearing that she was beautiful stroked her ego, but she wasn’t quite sure why.
She longed to return to the island, to her hideaways and the animals who had befriended her over time. She had taken several trips home, but soon realized that she had changed too much, too quickly, to ever stay on the island.
When they were rescued, Alexis had taken for granted that she could simply stand in her sister’s shadow, letting Lexie take the lime-light. She could take her time, finding a place where she could somehow contribute.
But destiny would not be so kind. Freedom from the Island had meant that her long-dormant powers activated in full; it had been such a struggle to control them all: super sight, super hearing, heat vision, super strength were just the start.
She knew about Mxyzptlk and what he had done to her. The kitchen was not a well-shielded part of the Fortress of Solitude and she had been curious enough to listen in to the conversation between Ellen Starr and the imp. She knew she had yet another set of powers that had not already manifested, courtesy of the imp who had been responsible for her DNA.
Solitude…with ease, she stripped off her clothing and jumped into hyperspace, dropping out just a few miles from the sun. She settled into the embrace of the solar furnace, allowing herself just a few minutes of peace before resuming a life which just seemed to get stranger with every passing moment.
RISING STARR
Lexie paced the floor of her quarters at LexCorp. While she trained with Project Infinity, she had favored her quarters at LexCorp, near her mother’s, especially after her sister’s unexpected promotion to full Project Infinity team membership.
“Mother, none of it makes sense!” Lexie protested to her mother’s bemusement. “They should have acknowledged the superiority of Amazon strategy. And no one seemed to care about Lex Jr. Alexis mentioned him casually, as if he was just another victim of the Zoners. But he wasn’t! He was my brother! And we haven’t made those other people understand how important he is!”
“I’m sorry, Lexie,” Mercy consoled her older daughter. “But I’ve tried to explain that most people didn’t know your brother.”
“That’s because they just do not care enough to,” Lexie retorted. “And why doesn’t Alexis understand how important our brother is? She just doesn’t.”
“Lexie, it’s all right,” Mercy exclaimed. “Would you like us to go back to the island for a few hours? You might feel better there.”
“No,” Lexie replied, “I’d like to go to the labs. I like being around the technology.”
“All right,” Mercy agreed, “I’ll let your father know you’re coming.”
RISING STARR
“Thanks, Lex,” Mercy ended the communication. Lex would intercept Lexie and let her talk herself out. She turned back to her console just before receiving a signal from the Batman. Not her favorite person, but she would take advantage of the conversation to chew him out for upsetting Lexie.
“I’ll be blunt,” Bruce began. “When we found you and your daughters, you led us to believe that Lexie was the best thing since sliced bread and her sister was merely competent. Instead, we’ve found Lexie to be almost uncontrollable and dangerous as an operative. What were you thinking?”
“I think that if you were more sensitive to Lexie’s needs, we wouldn’t be having this conversation!” Mercy argued. “You people have done nothing but try to make her anxious and uncomfortable! How dare you! She needs a well-structured environment where she is treated well.”
“Ms. Graves,” Bruce continued, “Project Infinity oversees the most powerful sentient beings on this planet. We team them together to work for the survival of this world. But Lexie can’t control herself: much less contribute to any team.”
“Just because Lexie has special needs does not make her a bad person,” Mercy countered, “and you can’t punish her, just for being different.”
As the final pieces of the puzzle fell in place in his mind, Bruce bided his time before answering.
“You alone have borne the burden of two very different children for over a decade,” he replied gently. “Lexie’s care has consumed most of that time, which, I’m sure, did not leave you the time you wanted to spend with Alexis.”
“No,” Mercy slowly began to lower her guard, “it didn’t.”
“Fortunately, Alexis is far more adaptable,” Bruce added. “She’s brilliant and she is ethically grounded. While she has her issues, she is fitting in well with Project Infinity and is making friends. We will continue to guide her as she comes to grips with her power and the responsibility that comes with it.”
He watched the visible relief in Mercy’s eyes, her guilt slightly diminishing.
“That’s what I’ve always hoped for her.” Mercy relaxed, ready to listen.
“While Lexie is not ready for the front lines, she is still extremely powerful,” Bruce explained. “She remains our joint responsibility, and we are ready to help, if you’ll let us.”
“What do you suggest?” Mercy leaned towards the screen.
“We will change our training session focus to something that works for her: something that will not stress her emotionally. At the same time, we can bring in the best therapists in the world to work with her; they can help us to reach her and to team with her in ways that work for her.”
He let his words sink in before speaking again.
“I came back to this business to help raise the next generation, to help the most powerful members be all that they can be. Sometimes, what works best is simply to help someone to live a life that works for them. That may be the case for Lexie.”
“Let me talk to Lex,” Mercy replied. “I want him to agree with me on this approach. I think he will, but we both need to come to terms with this.”
“I understand,” Bruce answered civilly.
“And thank you for everything you are doing for Alexis,” Mercy added.
RISING STARR
Children, Lex mused to himself as he searched for his elder daughter. Well, I can certainly understand Lexie’s feelings. Mercy seemed more concerned about her than usual, though.
He took the elevator down to the cloning labs; Lexie’s comms badge indicated her presence there.
He still had no idea how powerful Lexie would ultimately become. Superman’s powers had taken years to fully manifest. While Lexie was old enough to have them, she needed to absorb sunlight long enough to fully power them. Mercy’s testing had shown the powers were growing exponentially. Would she be mature enough to handle them once she had them? That thought grew more troubling.
He spotted Lexie in an alcove, expressionless. A computer screen flashed so quickly before him that he could not read it. Was she tapping the keyboard at super-speed? Or did her quirky technology powers allow her to bypass the need for a keyboard?
Finally, she acknowledged his presence.
“Greetings, father,” she spoke without emotion, staring at him blankly.
“Hello, Lexie,” he greeted in return. “Your mother spoke to me about your time with Buddy Raines’s team today.”
“Did she?” Lexie responded flatly. “They made me realize how much I miss Lex Jr.”
How…odd…Lex considered.
“Do you know where my brother is buried?” Lexie asked with the same lack of emotion. “His burial location is not recorded in the data banks.”
“He hasn’t actually been buried,” Lex explained. “I stored his remains until I could devise a final resting place for him.”
“Will you take me to him?” Lexie asked coolly.
“Certainly,” Lex conceded graciously. “There really isn’t much to see. He’s kept in one of the better shielded areas of the facility.”
“Show me.”
RISING STARR
Lex escorted Lexie into one of the deeper levels of the complex. He stepped towards a cryogenic tank, closing his eyes for a moment before speaking.
“He was dead before I got him here…he was torn limb from limb. But his remains are here. I haven’t had the heart to thaw him out and bury him.”
Lexie gazed at the cryogenic chamber, touching the controls before stepping over to the chamber and bowing her head.
“May I have a few minutes alone with my brother, please?”
“Yes, certainly.” Lex agreed. “I’ll head back to my workroom; you can join me there when you are ready.”
RISING STARR
“Lex, where is Lexie?” Mercy approached Lex in his workroom. “I thought she would be here with you.”
“I left her standing next to Lex Jr.’s remains,” Lex admitted. “She had asked to see them.”
“You didn’t…” Mercy cautioned. “Lexie obsesses about Lex Jr. And with all of LEXCORP’s capabilities at her disposal, I fear she might do something. We need to find her.”
RISING STARR
“I have to admit I got lucky,” Mary Marvel sat with Alexis in a quiet corner of one of the satellite cafeterias. “My brother and I are different people, but we share a lot of core values and we look out for each other. Most of our spats are about stupid things.”
“I envy you that,” Alexis admitted as she sipped a cup of tea. “My big sister is pretty much impossible.”
“There she is!” Mayday Parker’s voice called from behind them. They turned to see her followed by Ellen Starr, who carried a box.
“Lead lined,” Alexis muttered to Mary.
“Must mean it’s for you!” Mary grinned.
“You set me up, Dear,” Alexis challenged, smiling wisely. “This better be a good present.”
“Oh, yes,” Mary replied mischievously.
“A gift for you,” Ellen teased, “courtesy of the now-naked Phantom Zone prisoners.”
“Great Scott, now I won’t be able to get that image out of my mind,” Alexis stuck her tongue out, as she read the label on the box. “Midnight Angel: what’s a midnight angel?”
“You are!” Mayday chirped as Ellen handed the box to Alexis.
“Enjoy!” Ellen encouraged as Alexis opened the box. “I based it on your design, but I couldn’t resist making a few changes.”
Alexis opened the box, gazing at the costume inside, pulling the leotard, cape and belt out, leaving the boots and gloves in the box. Her eyes widened as she gazed at it, swallowing. It was based on her designs, but there were some modifications, including a red and white version of the superman symbol on the leotard and the cape.
“This is beautiful,” Alexis exclaimed with admiration. “This is absolutely beautiful. But it has Superman’s symbol. Are you sure it’s for me?”
“Try it on,” Ellen encouraged as Alexis grinned at the box. Then, one burst of super-speed later, Alexis was wearing the costume, including the boots and gloves. Ellen admired as Alexis showed off the costume. “I am absolutely sure it’s for you; no one else could pull it off.”
Alexis’s pitch-black hair rested on the white cape which nestled on her shoulders. The contrasts of the costume augmented her natural coloring perfectly. She flew to the nearest mirror, admiring the appearance of her costume.
“I’m the Midnight Angel!” She twirled in front of the mirror. “Whee!!!!”
RISING STARR
“Lexie?” Lex activated his communications device, “Lexie, where are you?” He turned to Mercy. “She’s not answering. There’s no sign of her in her room.”
“You need to take me to where you left her,” Mercy informed Lex.
“You don’t want to go down there,” Lex warned her. “There really isn’t anything to see.”
“Don’t protect me,” Mercy argued. “I am an Amazon. We are a warrior people. Anything I could possibly see can be no worse than what I’ve already seen.”
“But Lex Jr. is your son…”
“Yours, too.”
RISING STARR
Mercy followed Lex into the chamber where Lex Jr.’s body had been stored. He pointed to the empty spot where the container had rested.
“Lexie took it,” Lex’s eyes shone with horror. “Why would she do that?”
“You flash-froze him?” Mercy recoiled as she realized the purpose of the chamber. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I just couldn’t let him rot,” Lex had closed his eyes. “I had to do something…his remains were all I had of any of you…”
She glared at him before realization dawned. She, at least, had had the girls. They gave her life meaning. For far too long, he had less than nothing.
“I am sorry, Lex,” she placed a hand on his shoulder. “I understand why you did what you did. I am not angry.”
He nodded slowly, opening his eyes.
“Why did she do it? What is Lexie thinking?”
“Does she think she can bring him back to life?” Mercy questioned, horrified. “Does she think she can use some kind of micro-tech?”
Lex pondered her words.
“I could not bring myself to try. I just couldn’t. But she travels a different road.”
“A very different road,” Mercy confirmed.
RISING STARR
“There,” Mercy pointed to the security camera monitors within one of Lex’s command bunkers. “She’s moving very quickly, but this is one camera she didn’t take out. She’s headed out the exit, flying out with the container. There…she finally spotted the camera and took it out.”
“She could be anywhere,” Lex considered, reinitializing the cameras that had been taken off line where he could. “We have more than a few shielded facilities that I’ve never brought back on-line. She could be in any one of them.”
“Should we notify Project Infinity? Or at least Alexis?”
“Not yet…” Lex replied. “I’d like to see just what we can turn up first.”
RISING STARR
“Thanks for letting me use the Fortress Computer system,” Alexis worked at a monitor, reading as the Kryptonian language screens flashed past.
“Certainly,” Ellen Starr watched from a dozen feet away. “Anything for a Midnight Angel.”
Alexis smiled warmly.
“It’s a beautiful costume and a wonderful name. And I do thank you.”
“You’re very welcome.” Ellen nodded her head. “What are you looking for?”
“Me, I think,” Alexis explained. “I’m accessing the Kryptonian data banks for Jor-El and Lara’s DNA and mixing it with yours. That’s going to get me as close as I can to the original Superman from the original universe…with one obvious exception.”
“And that would be?”
“Sex-linked…Jor-El’s equivalent of an ‘X’ chromosome.”
“Very good,” they heard a male voice as Mxyzptlk appeared behind them. “I knew you would figure it out.”
“Myxy…” Ellen warned.
“Kayla Jor-El,” Mxyzptlk prompted, “had you been born on Krypton. It might be Kayla Kal-El. Since Ellen rules the House of El, she’ll have to sort it out.”
“Kayla Jor-El is fine,” Alexis stated her preference.
“Done.” Ellen accepted as she eyed the imp. “Welcome to the House of El. A strange place, but some of us like it.”
“You have some other tweaks, strangely similar to Ellen’s,” he admitted. “I knew of an expert in Xeno genetics. He had wondered what it would take to optimize Kryptonian DNA. Your powers aren’t quite the same, but close enough.”
“You won’t tell me what else you’ve done to me?” Alexis prodded.
“The walls might have ears,” the imp retorted, “even here.”
“Then tell me at least this,” Alexis prodded. “Do I have free will, or am I under your sway?”
“My child,” the imp responded with an unusual kindness in his voice. “I am guilty of many things. I have done horrible things and allowed horrible things to have happened to you. If there is only one thing I can do for you today, let it be this.” He reached out to her, touching her shoulder. Although uncomfortable, she allowed the touch. “I promise to you that your life, your thoughts, your heart are your own. I have never and will never cast any form of glamour over you. On that you have my word.”
Alexis breathed a sigh of relief, smiling.
“I still have my issues with you, imp,” she announced, “but that was the one thing I needed to know.
RISING STARR
Alexis had long since departed. Ellen took advantage of the quiet time to sort through Project Infinity paperwork. But her quiet time ended suddenly as Mxyzptlk reappeared.
“I hope what you told her about her freedom of action is true.” Ellen apprised the imp.
“It is,” he assured her. “It has to be. It’s the ultimate fail-safe.”
“How so?” Ellen reacted.
“I don’t entirely trust my own judgment,” he admitted. “If I tried to control her, think of the damage I would be likely to do.”
“There is that…” Ellen agreed. “I’m certainly not going to give you credit for your parenting skills.”
“Too true.”
“Myxy,” Ellen mused. “You are the ultimate cowbird. You dumped a Superman-equivalent in his worst enemy’s nest and let him try to raise her. I guess the genius is that had she made it to adulthood before the Zoners found her, she would have had the power to take out the Phantom Zoners all by herself.”
“And no one would have been any wiser,” he nodded sagely.
“You know I don’t believe you and your associates happened to create Kayla Jor-El,” Ellen warned. “So, who was she really?”
“As Alexis knew instinctively,” the imp replied, “her DNA is derived from a Kryptonian from another probability, Kayla Jor-El, or Kayla-El. In that probability, she was a younger cousin to Zarl-El, the blonde Superman of that universe. She and Zarl-El, who was a teenager at the time, were sent in the same rocket to Earth by his father, Kor-El.”
“That’s a twist,” Ellen offered.
“Yes,” the imp agreed. “Zarl-El dumped the baby off at an orphanage and set off to live his new life as Superman. Kayla had no memory of Krypton or Zarl and was happy to live life as an ordinary Earthling, as Zarl-El came to demand. She was a popular young woman, and, thanks to her adopted parents, well able to hide her alien heritage. But, as you can guess,” he smiled wryly, “destiny would not let Kayla be. Brainiac captured her as a warning to Zarl-El. As you probably suspect by my lack of enthusiasm towards Zarl-El, he made no attempt to rescue his unwanted cousin.”
“Oh my,” Ellen recoiled.
“Brainiac thought he had complete control of her,” mischief shone in the imp’s eyes. “He could not resist experimenting on the young woman, optimizing her DNA just to see what would happen. But once Kayla realized that no rescue was forthcoming, she simply waited Brainiac out and deactivated him, using his own technology.”
“Zarl-El does not sound like the best of Supermen.” Ellen eyed the imp. “I take it that Kayla did not take after him.”
“Not at all,” the imp confirmed. “Someday I’ll tell you more of her story. I obtained a copy of her genetic code on a whim, not realizing that I would someday make use of it. But I’m glad I did.”
He gazed at Ellen sternly.
“Those optimizations will prove useful. I won’t say anything more about them, but she’ll know what to do when the time comes.”
“But if a Brainiac created the original,” Ellen warned, “another Brainiac can uncreate her.”
“Perhaps,” the imp replied, “but perhaps not,” he grinned unpleasantly before vanishing.
Deep Space: The Darkstar ship Vengeance
“Mr. Olsen, you have a visitor,” a Darkstar that Jimmy Olsen did not know well interrupted his thoughts. He backed away from the workstation where he had been sitting.
“Anyone I know?” He gazed up at the Darkstar, a tall red-skinned female humanoid. From Korugar?
“Someone who wanted to meet you,” the Darkstar explained. “I understand she is from your home world.”
“From my home world?” Jimmy rose, now curious. “Someone has come a long way. Where is she?”
“Out there,” the Korugand pointed out a portal to a young woman floating in space wearing a black costume with a white cape and an ‘S’ in a five-sided Pentagram.
RISING STARR
“So, that’s my story,” Alexis explained to Jimmy, “tangled and convoluted as it is. I’m trying to catch up to a universe I don’t know as quickly as I can. Ellen said that you were close to Superman and you could tell me about his off-planet adversaries and which where the most dangerous.”
“Trust me, Ellen said,” Jimmy grinned. “That’s how I wound up here! I guess I can’t do much worse. Let’s start with Brainiac.”
“There is almost nothing about him in any of the Fortress files.”
“There’s a reason. Please take your comms device off. I’m going to take you to a more heavily shielded room on this ship and we’ll talk.”
Lexie Luthor’s Lab
Microbots…nanobots, all tools to be used by Lexie Luthor on her latest project: raising the dead. Lexie concentrated as she gazed at her brother’s corpse, making use of all of Lex Luthor’s technology and some of her own creation. In her view, living cells were nothing more than biological machines that could be rebuilt or restarted, as long as they had not degraded too much.
Operating at a speed her father would not have suspected, Lexie slowly thawed out the pieces of her brother’s corpse, repairing, replacing components of his body, his brain. Her work would bring him back to life, but a life under her control, just as her life was under the control of another.
It would be simple, oh so simple. Lexie had always been good at following explicit directions. And now the instructions seemed to flow into her mind just when she needed them.
RISING STARR
“Brilliant misdirection!” Lex Luthor cursed as an unexpected spike in energy readings told him where Lexie’s workshop had to be.
“You found her?” Mercy stepped towards Lex. “I have the Kryptonite if we need it.”
“She’s in the lowest of the basement levels,” he nodded his head approvingly. “As soon as she left the facility, she came right back, bringing her own power sources. She didn’t need to draw lab power until just now. So she must have done something. I just hope it is not something we regret.”
“I fear that it is,” Mercy stated.
RISING STARR
Lex and Mercy exited the lower-level emergency elevator. They entered a pitch-black hallway; Mercy shone a light down the hallway.
“That way,” Lex indicated as he followed Mercy, “should be the last door on the right.”
“All right,” her Amazon-trained senses strained to hear any sound, but none was forthcoming.
As they approached the doorway, Lex waved a transponder at it. The door opened without a sound. Mercy stepped inside first.
“Lex? Lex Junior? Is that you?” Mercy asked.
Lex stepped in beside her. He saw Lexie standing next to something that bore a superficial resemblance to his son. But too much of the young man had been destroyed. Most of his lower face had been replaced by metal. One side of his face was recognizable, while the other manifested technological replacements. One hand appeared to be real, but neither foot did. As Lexie had put clothes on the cyborg, Lex could not tell how much of his trunk was biological or mechanical.
“What is the matter, father?” A voice without emotion spoke. “Do you not recognize me?”
End—Brainiac War: Prologue