Y/N and Bruce stood by the computer, watching the headlines in awe and horror. The entire city of Metropolis had just been absorbed into Brainiac's ship. Now, nowhere appeared truly safe. How could they match such power?

Y/N: Oh, my God.

Bruce: There was nothing we could have done.

Y/N: I know, but...

The two continued looking at the recently formed crater from where the city once stood. Water from the river was flowing in uncontrollably, filling it in. Everyone was in a panic, afraid their city would be next.

Y/N shook his head. He turned around to walk away from the screen. As he stepped away from the computers, a new image caught his attention. Standing right in front of him was a man in a bright blue suit and red cape. Y/N's face lit up upon seeing the man of steel.

Y/N: Oh, my...

Clark tried to offer a kind yet professional smile. He offered his hand out to the scarlet speedster.

Clark: Hello, Flash. It's nice to meet you.

Y/N: N... Nice to meet you, too, Superman.

Y/N brought out his hand, shaking with excitement. Clark remained composed, taking his hand with a firm but gentle shake.

Clark: Please, call me Clark.

Y/N: Sure. I'm the Flash, but people call me Y/N L/N. Oh, shoot. 

Y/N mentally kicked himself realizing he'd just said the opposite of what he'd intended. Clark gave a soft chuckle at the young man. His attention then drifted over to the screens. Y/N looked back over at them. His excitement drained and he looked back at Clark with a sympathetic look.

Y/N: I'm sorry.

Clark: Thank you.

Clark made his way over to the screens, starting a conversation with Bruce about what just occurred. Y/N turned his head and saw Victor sat on a bench in the corner. The cyborg had his head down, not having said a word for hours. Y/N exhaled and walked over to him.

Victor sat with his head hung down. He was listening to the voice memos his father had recorded. He'd already listened to them before, but he wasn't quite sure why he was listening to them now. Maybe there was something he missed in them?

Silas: Victor, in the world of ones and zeroes, you are the absolute master. No firewall can stop you. No encryption can defy you. We're all at your mercy, Vic. From satellite images to our power grids to our online communication networks, everyone's lives are dictated by a set of complex, digital networks that will bend to your will. The fate of the world will literally rest in your hands. The question, no, the challenge won't be doing it. It will be not doing, not seeing. It is the burden of this responsibility that will define you and who you choose to be.

As Victor listened to the recordings, he retreated into his digital mind. Here, his body actually appeared human as it once did. As the voice of his father continued to ring through his head, Victor was focused on one display in front of him he had stumbled upon. He watched security footage of a struggling, single mother trying to take care of her daughter. They were low on funds and had just been evicted.

Victor stared at them, thinking. He wasn't quite sure what to do. He was pulled out of his concentration when he noticed Y/N walk over to him. The speedster slowly approached and sat down next to the metal man.

Y/N: Hey.

Victor: Hey.

Y/N: If you don't mind me asking, what are you listening to?

Victor: Some recordings from my father. His notes on me. He documented everything like I was some specimen to be studied. 

Y/N: May I ask why you are listening to them?

Victor: To find answers to my questions.

Y/N: Such as...?

Victor: As to why Brainiac's tech won't allow me full access. I'm supposed to be able to get past any encryption network. Any system, I can access with a thought. My software should grant me access to the information I require.

Y/N: Maybe it isn't software that's the problem. Maybe it's hardware.

Victor looked at questioningly.

Y/N: You're allowed access to Brainiac's system's, but it still detects you as an organic being. For as little of you that is left, you're still registered as human. And that the system may detect as an outsider.

Victor sighed, exhaling deeply.

Victor: I don't know what I am. I don't dare to go out on the streets because I know people will take one look at me and flee because they see me as a freak. Machines are the only company I can accept without being judged by who I am. But now it seems that even some of them won't allow me. 

Y/N shook his head, putting it down to match Victor's.

Victor: I'm an outsider forced to live a life I didn't want.

Y/N sighed. He felt sorry for the cyborg. But, in a strange way, he found he could somewhat relate to him.

Y/N: I'm the same way.

Victor looked at him, his brow raised judgingly. Y/N caught his gaze and tried to correct himself.

Y/N: I mean, not like you. I'm not a cyborg made of metal and can access all of human history and technology. But I know what it feels like to feel isolated from society.

Victor still wasn't entirely sure what he was on about.

Y/N: Two years ago, I had a normal life, like you. But when I was struck by that bolt of lightning, everything changed. I wake up to find that not only am I a fugitive, but I can move at incredible speeds. Speeds that defy expectation. And after that, there was no going back. Since then, I've never been normal. I may be fast, but for me, things can be incredibly slow. Sometimes I need to anchor myself down to stop from going off.

He looked over at Victor. He could tell that he was still confused.

Y/N: Think of it like riding a train. When you stand up, you can feel the entire world around you moving, the floor, the walls, the items in your hand. You try to walk and it feels like you're gliding on air. So you need to concentrate on where you are, less you go off with the train. That's how my life is every day. I can feel speed going around me, the urge to move quickly. I can easily move with it. But at the same time, doing so would distance me from others. I need to hold myself down, stop myself from moving fast and take each moment slowly, one at a time. I need to be in the moment so that I don't fly off with the rest of the train and leave everything else behind.

Victor nodded, now understanding what the speedster was getting at. Both sat there for a moment, taking everything in. After a bit, Victor asked him a question.

Victor: How do you do it? How do you hold yourself down? How did you move past what you've become and what you lost?

Y/N: I focused on what I hadn't lost. The things that were still the same and those I cared about. And I also focused on what I could gain. New friends, new opportunities. Doing that not only slowed things down for me, it allowed me to feel whole. I felt alive. It's all about who you choose to be. I didn't become the Flash because I had to, but because I chose to.

Victor nodded. His mind started to process things. Not digital displays or data processors, but the things his organic mind could still remember. He thought about what was still with him and who really mattered to him.

Victor thought long and hard about his current position. He looked down at his metal hands. This wasn't the life he'd asked for, nor expected. But he had to admit, through everything that happened, through everything that should have happened during and after that accident, he was still living.

Y/N eventually stood back up and walked over to the others. Bruce and Clark were talking about Brainiac's plan and what each of them knew.

Clark: My father once collected data on Brainiac. He feared what may happen to Krypton if he ever were to arrive. Unfortunately, the fear of tech from others blinded my people from the threat of their own technology which led to their downfall.

Bruce: From what you've stated, Brainiac may not be as formidable and planned out as he had thought.

Clark: How do you mean?

Bruce clicked on the computer screen, bringing up a few images and files on what he had downloaded along with what Victor had already told them. Y/N looked at some of the files, realizing they were ones Victor had access to but never got around to telling them.

Y/N: How did you...?

Bruce: I put an encryption chip on him the moment we met. It's been downloading all the files we've needed.

Both Clark and Y/N looked at Bruce, both with scowls of disapproval. They condemned him in muttered voices so as not to disturb Victor.

Clark: For a man who reaches out to others, you don't seem to have much trust in your friends.

Bruce: I consider them acquaintances, not friends.

Clark: And you go behind our backs when it best suits you.

Bruce: I need to know that I can fully trust someone before lending them my experience. I've seen a lot of people turn their back on so called "friends" when they are finished with the mission.

Clark: And yet you don't seem to see the hypocritical relationship you exhibit as those you deem unjust. If you are so willing to look into others' lives then why not let us look into your own?

Y/N: He's got a point, Bruce.

Bruce turned around in his chair, eyeing the man of steel.

Bruce: Do you really think you can relate to what I've gone through? Either of you? What I've seen and what I've had to do to clean up this city? Don't try to win me over with one of your boy scout speeches. You two stand as beacons of hope and pure power while I have to plunge myself into the very darkness I fight in order to conquer it.

Clark: So that gives you the excuse to preplan your actions by invading others?

Bruce: Look around you. In this very room, we have a man who can move at speeds fast enough that he can generate lightning, with reaction times quick enough that he can snap your neck before you've even registered he's moved. An alien being who has grown up with unimaginable strength and the only thing standing between him and humanity's extinction is the mere fact that he was told he was 'special' growing up and sent for a 'greater moral purpose'. And now we have a teenager who has been given unlimited access to every nuclear warhead, every government file collected by the CIA, every covert mission covered up from the general public. And all of that is without mentioning the super powered nutjobs who have terrorized our three cities alone. So, yes. If I am to go out there with nothing but the tools on my belt and the sweat on my back, then yes, I am entitled to know what to expect so that I can stop it before it gets out of hand.

Both Y/N and Clark remained silent. Clark and Bruce continued to eye one another. After a moment, Clark exhaled, rolling his eyes and getting back to the topic at hand. 

Clark: Why is it you think Brainiac is ill prepared?

Bruce: According to most accounts, Brainiac shrinks an entire planet at once and adds it to his collection. 

Y/N: So why did he just shrink Metropolis? Why there specifically?

Bruce: I would guess that it was not his original, ideal location to start with. But recent events involving blue boy over here with his toys have left him a bit irritated.

Clark: He's lashing out as revenge. He's acting emotional. He may not be as rationally focused as he claims to be.

Bruce nodded.

Bruce: Metropolis was just the start. His ship requires a connecting point in order to make the full transfer. Something that would have the exact readout and measurements of the planet needed for calibration.

Y/N: Like a reactant. Something to latch onto and start the process so it can be consumed in one instant.

Victor perked his head up. Despite their best efforts, he had heard everything. However, the last thing they mentioned had him thinking. He came to a sudden realization.

Brainiac needed a reactant to shrink all of Earth, meaning he would need to do that with all the planets he collects. If that were to be true, then it would have to be a common item associated with him. Something he left behind.

Victor's eyes went wide. The pod was more than an alert to send out to its master. It was the reactant, collecting data on Earth for centuries. But if that were the case, then Brainiac would need it, and there was one place it currently resided.

Victor: Dad...

He spoke softly but with realization and fear. The robotic man stood up and began to walk away. As he walked, he stopped for a moment, catching the eye of the man in blue.

Superman had turned his head around, looking at Victor. They had both come to the realization at the same time. However, seeing the fear in Victor's eyes, Clark knew there was no time. He simply nodded to the cyborg.

Victor nodded back before turning around and running off. He quickly activated his thrusters and flew out of the cave. He crashed through the waterfall and soared to the sky, giving all he had in his boosters to make it to Central City. 

Victor soared towards Mercury Labs. Looking up at the sky, the thing he was dreading revealed itself amongst the clouds. Brainiac's ship was hovering over Central City. The angry skull peeked down almost with a sinister grin on the inhabitants below.

Victor landed and rushed into the facility, breaking open the front doors. The entire building had already been evacuated. Alarms were blaring, coating the walls in a dull, red light. 

Forcing the elevator doors open, Victor flew up the dark shaft and exited on one of the top floors. He quickly made his way towards his father's lab. It was then that he noticed a new presence. Someone else was in the lab as well. Victor crouched down and crept behind a set of large crates. Peering over them, a saw two figures before him and silently gasped.

In his lab stood Silas Stone. He had his arms stretched out and was slowly backing up. The glowing purple core was placed behind him. Directly in front of him stood the tall form of Brainiac himself.

The green skinned alien stood tall and proud with his hands folded behind his back. Pairs of nodes dotted his head, giving off a vibrant, purple light. He wore a metal suit that encapsulated his body. Springing from the back of the suit, metal cables and claws attached themselves to the walls and ceiling, holding up the tyrannical collector so that he was higher up than others.

Brainiac glared at Silas with a firm look. It showed no emotion, no fear, no pity, no desire. Just business. 

Brainiac: Relinquish what is rightfully mine, human. Your world will be better off under my protection.

Silas: How? What does a madman such as yourself know about protection?

Brainiac: In my arms, your planet will be preserved. Free from the terrors that exist beyond your reach or understanding. Free from its own self destructive tendencies.

Silas: You're forgetting yourself. You told me you were a collector, but this isn't preservation. It's kidnapping. It's imprisonment.

Brainiac: All beings are destined to die off. It is the nature of life and evolution. Is it not better to be held by a being who cherishes all life?

Silas: You don't cherish anything besides your own head. 

Brainiac stood there. He eventually sighed, for once showing a hint of annoyance.

Brainiac: I tire of your persistence, mortal. Give me the core so that I may save your planet from itself.

Silas: I'll die before I do such a thing.

Brainiac: I was hoping it wouldn't have to come to this.

Brainiac motioned to one of his metal tendrils. The end of the cable extended, emitting a green light as it charged up in power. Silas looked at the cable, his eyes mesmerized by the green light. He could feel his mind contorting, bending to Brainiac's will. He tried to fight it. The old doctor fell down on his knees, shouting in pain.

Victor: No!

Brainiac turned, hearing the new disturbance. Victor leaped out from behind the pile of crates. He brought up his arm and formed a rocket launcher out of it. He aimed and fired directly at the green alien.

The missile soared through the air. Just before it could reach Brainiac, it stopped dead in its tracks. A purple light surrounded it, held in place by Brainiac. The green conqueror examined the missile and looked over at Victor, his face showing interest and intrigue. 

Brainiac: Fascinating subject, aren't you?

The missile dropped to the floor with a pathetic clang. Brainiac motioned to his arms again. The metal claws now extended and reached towards Victor.

The cyborg tried to fight them off, holding back the metal coils. A small, third arm on his back appeared, grabbing one of the smaller tendrils. However, one of the tentacles shot out a green flash of electricity, tasing the robotic man. 

Victor eventually stumbled. The metal arms took the opportunity to grab him, wrapping themselves around him. They pulled him over to Brainiac. The tall, broad alien continued to look at the half man, half machine with interest.

Brainiac: I recognize the works of my machines. They tried to fix you, didn't they? And yet, you remain so... broken. I can fix you. You have the opportunity to be so much more, but it's that other half that