2658/Anti-Mind over Anti-Matter Part 2: In the Clutches of the Wraith

Anti-Mind over Anti-Matter Part 2: In the Clutches of the Wraith
Date of Scene:	01 October 2017
Location:	Warworld
Synopsis:	Rescuing Brainiac 5 hits a glitch. Continued from Anti-Mind over Anti-Matter.
Cast of Characters:	Brainiac 5, Invisible Kid
Tinyplot:	Mirror, Mirror

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Brainiac 5 has posed:
When last we left off:
…His name is Lyle Norg.  He is the galaxy's most notorious spy, saboteur, and assassin, an artist of death.  He is the greatest killer who has ever been born.  They call him… Wraith.

        He keeps the plasma pistol in his hand trained on Invisible Kid, gesturing to the insensate body of Brainiac 5, laying on a slab nearby.  "You came here for him, didn't you?  It was only a matter of time until the Legion mounted a rescue mission, I suppose.  Though I was expecting… more.  Something bigger, flashier.  I suppose I'm a little mollified that they sent their best—"

Invisible Kid has posed:
        Regardless of the temptation—and Lyle would very much like to get inside Wraith's head—Invisible Kid is not inclined to engage with his opposite number.  Not only would it be too easy and too fascinating, it would be too distracting.  He had hoped that he might be able to get in and get out again without this encounter, but he's obviously not that lucky.
        The hard part is keeping a tight lid on his emotions.  He knows perfectly well that had he stayed in EarthGov Intelligence, he could have been Wraith himself.
        That makes it a little easier.  This is a part of himself he's never liked.  So rather than reply, the only response he gives is to flick Brainy's force shield on and dive full speed for his evil twin.  Although he'd been hoping to avoid Wraith, he knew he had to plan for it, and he did.
        All he needs to do is to get close enough to toss what looks like a standard transuit pod onto Wraith.  The modification he made—reformulating the suit material so it goes completely rigid on expansion—will do the rest.  The unexpected action in the face of a plasma weapon should give him just that opening.
        He hopes.
        Lyle would never claim to be the Legion's best—but he's pretty sure he's good enough.  Time to find out.

Brainiac 5 has posed:
        Wraith has time to say, "Oh, good move—" And try to juke out of the way.  Just before the Transuit envelops him, he lets out an ear-piercing whistle.
        A moment later, there's gibbering over Lyle's head… and something thick and orange oozes out of the ventilation system.  It rears up over Lyle in a hideous wave of bright orange protomatter, full of black, hateful eyes and gnashing mouths.

Invisible Kid has posed:
        Lyle drops back, pulls the dart gun he'd prepared, and fires three times.  He's not taking chances on a miss.  Hope it's as fast acting as he calculated it should be.  Only then does he toss a second altered transuit pod at what he has to remind himself is definitely not his old friend Reep.

Brainiac 5 has posed:
        The darts penetrate that orange flesh, and the creature makes a god-awful noise, like bagpipes being stomped on run through a distorter, and roils in on itself.  The transuit-trap wraps around it… and it almost immediately begins to punch through it.  But there is an opening—a chance to escape.  Only a few seconds, though.
        Less than a second between life and death.

Invisible Kid has posed:
        Lyle's relieved he didn't need to use the other countermeasures he'd prepared; he'll take a hasty retreat.  Gathering up Brainy's implaints, then Brainy himself in a sort of fireman's carry, he takes to the air and makes for the door.
        Fact: Lyle can make others invisible with him, although it's an effort.
        Needless to say, he makes the effort.  Were Querl awake, he'd feel Lyle tense with the strain, but he does it.
        The only thing Lyle will stop for on the way back to the shuttle is a terminal to try to seal off the area Wraith and not-Reep are.
        If he has a second to be creative, he might even put in a 'Warning - chemical release - do not enter' alert onto it.

Brainiac 5 has posed:
        "No, don't go after them, let me out, you idiot—" Lyle can hear Wraith calling after him.
        There are klaxons, now.  An intruder alert has been activated—and when he gets to the docking bay… it's full of black-suited, heavily armed Sci-Troopers.
        And a solitary figure leaning against the side of the shuttle.
        Rokk Krinn, Cosmic Lord, supreme leader of the Consortium, looks… annoyed.  And he looks so very, very much like Cosmic Boy, including the black and blue costume… except for the way his eyes flash with a liquid, arrogant malice.
        "Stop."
        Nearby, a woman in a black costume, thigh-high boots, with a golden lasso hanging by her side, and an 'S' brooch on a chain holding a long cape in place, is watching.
        Everything about her screams 'danger'.
        Superwoman, one of the three leaders of the Crime Syndicate, a twisted reflection of Wonder Woman and Lois Lane.

Invisible Kid has posed:
        If it were just Cosmic Lord and his troops, Lyle would take the chance on speed and Brainy's force shield to get into the shuttle and… oh, who knows.  Wing it.
        Her presence changes the calculation a lot.
        He is obliged to at least try.  And he promises himself that if they make it back home, he's going to modify his invisibility serum because he's sprocking sick and tired of getting spotted when he shouldn't be.
        He reaches into a pouch and slips Brainy's flight ring on.  Maybe two of them in operation will give him the extra speed and agility he's going to need.

Brainiac 5 has posed:
        Electromagnetic senses.
        …And Cosmic Lord gestures, lazily, and Invisible Kid is brought to a halt in mid-air.  "I said—stop.  You might as well make yourself visible."
        Which is when an extremely angry Wraith storms into the hangar bay.  He's switched to an extremely nasty-looking energy rifle.  "YOU—"
        "Lyle."
        Wraith stops short, and his face turns the color of ashes.  "He's—the prisoner—"
        "I know exactly what you did to the Coluan… you've had your fun."  He shrugs one shoulder, and then Cosmic Lord looks to where Invisible Kid is, or isn't.  "Today is your lucky day.  I'm about to let you go.  Your Querl is worthless to you now.  Stargrave will have already set the plans in motion to open the doorway that will let us bring Warworld through into your universe, and when that happens, you'll get the ability to experience total powerlessness as the Consortium, backed by this battle station, picks your universe's Earth clean.  That we'll be denying the Legion their future is… an added bonus."
        Then, with a flick of his wrist, he lets Invisible Kid free, the electromagnetic grip breaking with an audible snap.
        "You can't—"  Wraith's indignance is palpable.
        "Quiet."  Cosmic Lord steps aside.  "You're free to go.  Take your ruined Coluan and leave.  Make whatever preparations you need to, because I relish the challenge.  And I always win."

Invisible Kid has posed:
        Lyle does make himself visible once he's grabbed.  Oh well, it was a good try, and a good run while it lasted.
        As Cosmic Lord speaks, and even though his face betrays nothing, he feels a growing astonishment—this is the very last thing he expected to hear.  He was already reconciled to hearing an order of summary execution, and even though it's hardly a commutation of sentence on grounds of mercy, he's obviously happier to be released to go home than to being shot on the spot.
        Maintaining a level voice, he says, "I… thank you.  And if you really desire a challenge, we will certainly oblige you."  Politeness never cost anyone anything.
        To Wraith… he can't resist.  He gives Wraith a smug look worthy of the unconscious man still slung over his shoulder.  "And for the record, I'm not the Legion's best.  I'm just cleverer than you."
        He walks briskly—he does not run, he has the Legion's dignity to uphold—into the shuttle, secures Brainy, and makes ready for take off.

Brainiac 5 has posed:
        Wraith meets Lyle's gaze, before he boards the ship.
        "After what I did to him, whenever he looks at you, he'll see me, Lyle.  And you'll see it in his face."
        "When you experience that moment and see what I took from you, you tell me who the clever one is."
        The door to the shuttle hisses shut.
        Cosmic Lord turns to Superwoman, who has been watching the entire affair.
        "You shouldn't have left him alive," Superwoman says.
        "Probably not, no," Cosmic King replies.  "But it's the challenge of the thing, really.  New frontiers, new enemies to crush—I admit, I'm excited.  And the Consortium will soon be out of the Crime Syndicate's hair, as good as our word."
        Superwoman grunts.  "Hnh.  We have plans of our own, Krinn—"
        Wraith lowers his energy rifle, shaking with fury.  "…This isn't over."

Invisible Kid has posed:
        Lyle did not give Wraith the satisfaction of a reaction.
        That waits until he's clear of Warworld and heading for a space to safely trigger the gate back to his own universe.  A violent, body-twisting shudder.  Jaw tightened so as to not make a sound.
        He takes a deep breath.  The shuttle can autopilot for a minute or two.
        He goes back to where Brainy's still lying non-responsive, and very carefully slides his flight ring back on, his own hands shaking.  "There.  You still haven't lost your ring," he says quietly.
        Finally, he returns to the controls and scans local space intently.  He's not triggering the gate until he's satisfied they're not trying to send something across with him.

Brainiac 5 has posed:
        There is nothing.  Nothing except the looming menace of Warworld behind him, and near the moon, the sinister blinking lights of the Panopticon.
        Just that, and the backward stars, and the backward Earth, where friends are monsters and your mirror image is… is…

Invisible Kid has posed:
        Lyle triggers the gate, rides out the sound of colors and taste of noise and looks nervously back towards Querl.  It's a little late to worry about what the sensory jumble is going to do to him in his state, but it was unavoidable.
        He would love to just sit and look at the proper Earth with the proper continents in their proper locations, and the stars all where they're supposed to be, and just savor their narrow escape, but there's still much more work to do.  He's on the communicator almost as soon as the transition ends.  "Invisible Kid to Legion Cruiser, priority one communication—scan this shuttle now and blast anything that comes off of it!  Send a second shuttle to pick us up."  Yes, he said 'us'.  "We'll transfer to it, then blast this shuttle into atoms.  I'll explain when we're aboard ship.  Prep medical for an emergency.  Message repeats."  Recorded, he sets it to loop until a response is received.  Nothing to do now but wait.