Endless Legacy (DC Comics)

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Mercy finally gets to wake up and join the conversation.

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Lucien can’t believe he’s even considering it. And yet… something in him resonates with Clex’s offer all the same. He could do a lot with the position of CEO. He could do a lot with the resources of LexCorp at his disposal. Selfish? Maybe… but Lucien wasn’t a hero. He never had been.

Reaching out, he takes Clex’s hand, giving it another shake. His father’s clone grins in response, squeezing firmly for a moment before letting go and turning back to the console bank.

“Happy to have you on board, son. And don’t worry, it’s not like I’m going to throw you into the deep end or anything. We’ll have a transitionary period while I’m campaigning for President, and no matter what I’ll always be a call away.”

Man, he made it sound like it was already a done deal. But then, Lucien couldn’t really be surprised by that. Even if this was a clone of Lex Luthor who professed to have far more of a conscience than the original, he was clearly still just as confident and ambitious as ever. Still…

“Maybe focus on making sure we win today first before making plans that far into the future.”

Clex laughs at Lucien’s advice, not seeming to take it personally at least.

“Of course, of course. But I don’t think we have to worry there. We’re winning, after all.”

Looking at the monitors, all with live feeds showing the state of the invasion across the entire world, Lucien has to agree with Clex on that front. It does indeed look like they’re pushing Brainiac’s fleet back across the board. It’s the greatest show of unity and camaraderie that Earth has ever displayed, as far as Lucien is aware. Not just LexCorp drones and weapons systems holding the line, but also the different militaries of the world all rising to the occasion to fight side by side.

Clex’s inspiring words and actions have had an outstated effect on things. Where normally at least a few cities would be reduced to smoking ruins and urban warfare by this point while the Justice League scrambled to do damage control but couldn’t be everywhere at the same time… for once, Planet Earth was protecting itself to the absolute best of its ability.

In turn, this was allowing the Justice League to focus their efforts all the more tightly. While there were still heroes and heroines fighting in different airspaces across the globe, the main force of metahumans in spandex and tights were centered around the Watchtower… and from what the monitors were showing, they were even managing to push the fight to Brainiac’s Mothership.

“It’ll be over soon enough. Why don’t you go wake up Mercy and let her free, hm?”

Lucien blinks at that, a little surprised by the suggestion.

“… Are you sure?”

On the one hand, part of Lucien had been wanting to free Mercy and get her conscious again from the moment he’d walked into this laboratory. But on the other hand, there hadn’t seemed like a good time, especially not after he’d decided to believe in the clone’s good nature. At which point he’d been forced to acknowledge in the back of his head that his next conversation with Mercy was liable to be extremely awkward.

But Clex just gives him a knowing smirk.

“I’m sure. You won’t let her hurt me… and honestly, it might do good for her to see what happens next.”

Lucien frowns at that but finally nods, walking over to where Mercy Graves has been dangling from her restraints for some time. It doesn’t take him long to correctly intuit how to free her, catching her in his arms as she falls out of the floating shackles. As soon as she lands in his grasp however, the gorgeous femme fatale begins to wake up, her eyes fluttering open as she looks up at him in confusion.

“Lu… Lucien? Lucien!”

Ultimately, her body jerks and he’s forced to let her stand under her own power as she starts to panic.

“Lucien! The clone of your father, he’s from Brainiac!”

“He already knows, Mercy dear! At this point, the whole world knows about Brainiac!”

Lucien pinches the bridge of his nose as Clex immediately makes his presence known. The clone couldn’t give him even five seconds with Mercy? Meanwhile, Mercy stiffens, staring at Clex’s back for a moment before correctly deducing some of the situation.

“Lucien… what the hell is going on. Why is that clone still alive, let alone free and unfettered?”

Sighing, Lucien makes sure he’s ready if Mercy tries anything… unwise.

“He’s working for us now, Mercy. For Earth. He’s on our side.”

Furrowing her brow, Mercy purses her lips together, looking between Lucien and the clone’s back. Her hand flexes and he’s glad in that moment that she doesn’t have a gun, because otherwise he’s not sure what she might try and do. In the end, she has no choice but to demand further information.

“Explain.”

He wants to, he really does, but at the same time…

“How much do you already know exactly?”

Frowning, Mercy crosses her arms over her chest.

“I know Brainiac kidnapped Lex at some point. And I know he left that clone behind in Lex’s place. I called you as soon as I found out who the clone was reporting to, but then I got nabbed.”

“All according to plan my dear. I am sorry for all the subterfuge, but I must thank you for luring Lucien here for me! His assistance has been invaluable so far!”

Good Lord. Even when he was ostensibly a ‘good guy’, his father simply couldn’t keep from boasting could he? Mercy scowls, but Lucien grabs her by the shoulders, focusing her back on him.

“Brainiac didn’t just take Lex, Mercy… he assimilated him. And then he decided he was going to conquer Earth to boot. The clone, or Clex as we’re calling him, has turn coated and joined our side… and without his help, we wouldn’t be doing nearly as well.”

Mercy grimaces some more, clearly not sure how to feel about that.

“… What exactly does assimilation mean? How do we get the real Lex Luthor back?”

Before Lucien can respond, Clex inserts himself into the conversation. Again.

“You don’t! In fact, it’s finally starting. You’re going to want to see this. Both of you.”

That first bit clearly incenses Mercy to no end, but the rest piques her curiosity enough to stay her hand for the moment. Admittedly, Lucien finds himself incredibly intrigued as well. Both he and Mercy walk back over to the bank of monitors, only for Clex to turn them all into one big screen that zooms in on Brainiac’s mothership. Somehow his father’s clone has managed to gain access to the cameras in the ship itself, allowing them to see into Brainiac’s Command Center.

“It’s over Brainiac! Your invasion has failed! Stand down your fleet and return Lex Luthor to us and we’ll allow you to retreat.”

As good-hearted as ever, Superman stands in the front, the rest of the Justice League’s heaviest hitters arrayed behind him. Sitting in a massive technological chair akin to a throne, the amalgamation of Brainiac and Lex Luthor scoffs.

“Over? It’s far from over. You may have won today, but I’ll be back, Superman. And next time around, I won’t settle for conquering this pathetic mudball. I gave you all a chance to submit and live under my rule. The next time around, I’ll be sure to cleanse Earth of such defiance, even if that means blasting the planet down to bedrock.”

Seeing his words aren’t really getting through to the alien warlord, Superman takes a step forward and tries a different tact.

“Lex! I know you’re still in there! The Lex Luthor I knew would never let an alien have control! He would never be so WEAK!”

Lucien blinks at Superman’s provocative words. He didn’t think the Man of Steel had it in him… but its obvious he’s just trying to speak Lex’s language, to try and cause division between Brainiac and whatever remains of Lucien’s father. Alas…

“You are a fool, Superman. I already told you, I am Lex Luthor. Brainiac bit off more than he could chew… I am in control now.”

Superman frowns at that, his hands clenched into fists at his sides as he shakes his head.

“… The real Lex would never talk about killing off humanity. For all his flaws, I know the real Lex Luthor wants humankind to prosper and thrive, no matter the cost!”

Brainiac Lex laughs at that, a booming sound even as a hundred alarms sounding out through the command room make it clear that things aren’t going well for him anywhere on the battlefield.

“Then you never knew the real Lex Luthor at all, Superman! If I can’t have Earth, nobody can! I will kill every single last stinking human being and rebuild the species from scratch before I let such defiance stand!”

There’s a pause as those words are digested by everyone, before Superman lets out a low sigh and begins to float forward.

“I’m taking you into custody, Brainiac. Hopefully there’s still enough of Lex Luthor left to separate the two of you and-!”

“IMBECILE! I AM ABOVE YOUR PALTRY LAWS!”

A sudden green glow fills the room, emanating from Brainiac Lex’s chest. Superman’s eyes widen as he’s forced backwards by what looks to Lucien to be Kryptonite. But that’s not all…

“I have learned much from this battle. One day, I will return… and on that day, Earth will BURN.”

There’s a brief pause before Green Lantern suddenly cries out.

“Energy build up! He’s blowing up the ship! Move!”

Lucien watches as the Justice League evacuates, Wonder Woman having to grab Superman and sling him over her shoulder even as the weakened Kryptonian makes one last ineffectual swipe at the air towards Brainiac Lex. And then, a flash of light fills the screen and the camera goes offline. It automatically switches with another camera up in space, revealing the debris where Brainiac’s Mothership was originally.

Silence fills the underground laboratory for a long moment before the sound of something shrieking causes all eyes to turn towards the desk. There, growing out of seemingly nothing, is a spiderweb of advanced circuitry and the like, like some sort of… technological virus.

“Lucien, destroy it quickly!”

At Clex’s barked command, Lucien moves almost without thinking. Summoning up ultraviolet energy in his hands, he flings it at the desk and doesn’t stop until the circuitry is a smoldering ruin. Only in the process of destroying the thing does he realize exactly what it was… the nanochip that had been in Clex’s head. He’d put it down at some point, probably to run tests on it later, but…

“Well now… I suppose I was wrong. It wasn’t just a kill switch after all. It had a secondary purpose… to transfer Brainiac’s consciousness into a new body in the event that he had to discard the old one."

Lucien swallows thickly at that. That... had been close. What feels like half a dozen choices suddenly flit through his head. What if he’d refused to accept Clex’s original handshake? Or simply killed the clone like he originally intended to before leaving this lab behind? What if he hadn’t been down here to destroy whatever was building itself up out of the nanochip from seemingly nothing? What if he’d gone up top with Blackfire and Supergirl to fight as a hero?

… They’d come exceptionally close to catastrophe, but the question Lucien can’t help but asking has nothing to do with his own choices.

“What… what does that mean for Brainiac that we stopped it? Does that mean he’s permanently dead?”

Clex blinks, considering the smoldering ruin of a desk for a long moment before finally grunting and shaking his head in the negative.

“No, I doubt it. Someone like Brainiac has backups within backups. I might have been his Plan B, but I don’t believe for a single second that he didn’t also have a Plan C, Plan D, Plan E… and so on. He’s out there still somewhere, I’m sure of it. And he has a grudge against Earth as well.”

Clex smirks though at that, straightening his back and holding his head high.

“It doesn’t matter though, in the end. When Brainiac returns… we’ll be ready for him. We’ll be ready for all of the greater powers of the universe who would seek to turn Earth into a battlefield.”

Lucien slowly nods, even as he stares at where the nanochip had once been for a moment. Clex, meanwhile, looks to Mercy curiously.

“And what about you, Mercy dear? Still want to do unspeakable things to me?”

That gets Lucien to look over at his father’s bodyguard and right hand woman as well. Mercy Graves stands there, still as can be. Her eyes are actually still on the large screen where they’d seen Brainiac Lex’s final stand. She hadn’t even paid any mind to the incident with the nanochip. Lucien is both surprised and not when he sees a single tear running down Mercy’s cheek.

“That… that wasn’t Lex. Lex wouldn’t say those things. And that means… that means he’s really gone. Taken and I didn’t even realize it. Turned into a shadow of his former self by some alien monster. I should have been there. I should have stopped it. But I didn’t. And now Lex Luthor is dead.”

Lucien doesn’t know what to say. He swallows hard as Mercy stands there a broken woman. Of course…

“Well, I’m still here you know.”

Finally, Mercy’s gaze snaps from the screen to Clex’s face. She snarls and again, Lucien gets the impression that if she were still armed, she would at least pull the gun on his father’s clone, if not unload it into his face outright.

“You’re not him.”

At least Clex has the good grace not to smile.

“No, I suppose I’m not. But I am A Lex… in fact, I’ve been thinking I might just go by that. Alex instead of Clex. Sounds more… human.”

That last part is directed at Lucien, who blinks but nods. He was right. Alex did sound better than Clex and it wasn’t like Clex had been set in stone or anything like that.

“Still, I understand my very existence harms you emotionally. I would not expect you to continue to work for me willingly Ms. Graves. You do not deserve to be stuck with what you consider to be the inferior product and I do not deserve to have a second in command whose loyalty will forever be in question.”

Mercy stiffens at that, causing Alex to adopt a light smirk again.

“That is why I thought to reassign you… to my son here. Lucien is destined for great things irrespective of his last name or blood relation to me. And he deserves all the help he can get.”

There’s a pause as Alex’s offer hangs in the air. Lucien wonders if he should say something, given this all involves him. But before he can decide, Mercy suddenly snorts derisively.

“Getting a little ahead of yourself, aren’t you? Is it really me you have to worry about ‘A Lex’?”

When Alex furrows his brow in confusion, Mercy just gestures behind him to the monitors. The larger portion of the monitor bank is still showing the space debris left behind by the self-destructed mothership, but some of the smaller monitors have switched over to showing different camera feeds. Most of which are far closer to home.

Lucien watches Alex’s jaw clench as Supergirl leads Superman and the rest of the Justice League back down the passage he’d opened up towards the secret laboratory they’re all currently standing in. After a moment, the clone plasters a broad grin across his face.

“Well now… it seems we’re about to have guests.”

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The Vote:

[ ] Stick with Lucien's POV - 19%

[ ] Switch to Clex/Alex's POV - 13%

[ ] Switch to Mercy's POV - 12%

[X] Switch to Supergirl's POV - 56%

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​A/N: Please check out my newest daily updating project The Age of Chaos (Original Fantasy) if you have a moment!

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