Beckoning Lyght

The End of Days? Part 1

Chapter Eleven: The End of Days?

He didn't recall how long it had been since he escaped; it didn't matter to him. The most important thing on his mind was attempting to bring Brainiac back. No one but his personal physician knew that he was dying. After handling Kryptonite for so long, the rock that was deadly to Superman had given Lex Luthor terminal cancer.

He had no idea when his agenda to get rid of Superman cascaded into the rest of the Justice League. For the longest, his beef was only with the Man of Steel. Instead of questioning his recent actions, he let them fuel him. He had no idea that he was being manipulated and controlled by Brainiac until that fateful evening.

It made sense, he realized. His last checkup proved that he was cancer free, as if the infected cells were never there. He always kept himself in shape but noticed that he was stronger than before. Even his mind was sharper. Not once did Luthor want to question any of it. If anything, he felt rejuvenated. Brainiac had given him another chance at life... and he wanted him back.

He was running out of ideas as far as how to summon Brainiac back. Luthor nearly exhausted every possible way he knew of. Something came across his mind one night: he hadn't used telepathy. After his escape, Luthor gathered a few villains into a group in order to exact revenge on the Justice League all the while rebuilding his trust back with the human population. Gorilla Grodd was a part of the Legion of Doom, as well as the one who helped him escape prison. He was also the only one who was telepathic. Luthor only had to figure out how to manipulate him without him knowing.

Even he couldn't pull off a feat like that. However, he thought that if he could find something that resonated with his powers, Luthor could use that instead of the gorilla himself. Besides, he had a feeling that Grodd knew how to resurrect Brainiac; he did have a fragment of his android body. While Luthor knew that he couldn't manipulate Grodd, he could very well have him imprisoned! That move, along with his previous actions caused a sense of distrust with the other members. However, all Luthor had to offer was his word of a get rich quick plan; he knew that it would pacify most of the Legionnaires. The others he would have to deal with once Brainiac was reunited with him.

Luthor intended to use Grodd's mind-control helmet against him, forcing any information the gorilla had about Brainiac. He'd used mind-control devices before and thought nothing of it; the worst that could happen would be that Grodd's mind was strong enough to resist: he would get nothing. Luthor didn't expect to feel the tinge of pain that he did as soon as he fitted the helmet on his head. He groaned as a white light enveloped him if only for a second before the room came back into focus. Instead of looking at a smug Grodd, Luthor was looking at a man in a blue suit with golden gloves, cape and a helmet.

"Did it work...?"

"... What...?" Luthor tried to make sense of everything. Was Grodd's helmet so strong, it knocked him into a sort of third dimension?

"Did it work? Are you okay? Flash..."

"Flash? What?!" he looked down at himself. Sure enough, he was wearing the all too familiar red suit.

"Oh. This isn't good. You're... not Flash... are you...?"

"You don't say..." Luthor smiled at the man. It didn't take him long to figure out what happened: Grodd's helmet had somehow switched his mind with the Flash's. He had no time to question how it happened; now that someone realized that he wasn't the Flash, he needed a way to escape. Maybe he should've tried to play along...

Escaping the room was easy; maybe being stuck in the Flash's body wouldn't be so bad after all! Luthor dashed out of the room and down the hallway, before he realized another problem; he had no idea where he was! Using the Flash's speed, Luthor zipped through the corridors until he realized where he was: he stopped in front of a panoramic window and gazed into the depths of space, the Earth's atmosphere in slight view. He was on Watchtower.