Arrowverse Elseworld Chapter 17: Canary

An original story with alternate versions of Arrowverse characters.

My eyes feel heavy and I utter a groan. I roll my head about, as if it will help clear my blurred vision. There's a slight throbbing in my neck and back. Though I feel the urge to move my arms, I find they are stiff, like something is pinning them down.

Swirls of lights and colors are all that my blurred vision can make out at first. But each time I blink, things begin to clear. I make out enough of my surroundings to know that I'm no longer in front of Hub City Hall. I know I'm inside a building, but what that building is, I'm not sure.

My arms remain immobile and same with my legs. I groan again, my thoughts turning to what happened in Hub City. Supergirl and I ran into some creature named Brainiac and...

I feel a lump in my throat. Now I remember what happened — that Brainiac creature stabbed Supergirl with something. What did that thing do to her? How was it possible that Brainiac found a way to harm her? Is she even alive?

The panic that fills me makes me try to flail my arms and legs about, but nothing happens. My vision clears some more and I spot my left arm strapped down to something. The same applies to my right arm. I lift my head, trying to see my legs, but can't —- though something tells me they are strapped the same way.

And another thought crosses my mind: Doug is gonna be worried sick about me.

I take in my surroundings and see multiple computer monitors. They're somewhat similar to those in George's bunker, but this room looks more like a research lab. My deduction comes from the few tools I can make out on the counters. The thought of somebody experimenting on me makes me struggle against my bonds once more, but to no avail.

"Supergirl?" I twist my head from side to side. "Are you here?"

Then I hear somebody else grunt — but it's a man's voice.

When I tilt my head to the left, that's when I notice somebody else strapped to a titled bench of some sort. It's George Mortensen, the Green Arrow. His hood is pushed back from his head but he still wears his mask.

He moves his head to the right. "Canary, is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me." I struggle again to free myself, but to no avail. "Are you all right?"

He squints. "I think so. My head's hurting, though."

That's when I remember George had somebody with him. "Where's Flash?"

"I don't know. I told her to go find Supergirl, but she got blasted with something and I'm not sure if she escaped." His eyes widen, like he realized something, too. "Where is Supergirl?"

My body goes limp and I feel resigned to my fate. "Some guy named Brainiac stabbed her with a green rock of some sort. That's the last I saw of her."

"When did this happen?"

"We learned Brainiac was in Hub City and we went to investigate. Seems like he was waiting for us."

George is quiet for a moment, then his eyes become vacant. He rolls his head to the left. "This is all my fault."

I blink. "Come again?"

"I worried too much about telling her to take it slow. If she had been with me and Flash, we might have been able to stop whoever attacked us."

George's tone sounds like he's filled with regret. Not that there aren't a few things I'm wishing I had done differently, but he always struck me as the guy who was confident we'd find a way to solve a problem. I can't let him have these doubts in his mind.

"Look," I say, "if it was Brainiac who attacked you and Flash, it might not have done any good to have Supergirl. He took her down, too. How, I don't know, and I'm surprised there was even a way to do that. But whoever this Brainiac is, he was like two steps ahead of us."

"I get that," George says. "But maybe if we had all gone here together, we'd be in a better position to counter whatever he had planned. Instead, I pushed Supergirl away." He tilts his head back toward me. "I pushed you away, too."

That takes me by surprise. "You didn't push me away. Heck, I told you that you were probably right that Supergirl and I should read up more on Brainiac." I crick my neck, the slight pain still bothering me. "Of course, when our research led us to Hub City, we walked right into a trap." I sigh. "And my partner was right. I can't go running into situations without thinking."

George cracks a grin for a brief moment. "Is this the part where we start taking the blame for everything?"

I shake my head. "Yeah, why is that people start confessing every screw-up they make when they find themselves in a life-or-death situation?" A part of me is surprised I'd try to make light of everything. Do people really do that when they are trapped and can't get out?

George tries to move his arms. He has as much success as I did. "You got any way to use your powers?"

I raise my head a bit. "Don't have my amulet. Without it, I have no sonic scream." That realization makes me struggle against my bindings again, even though my previous attempts to free myself were unsuccessful.

He moves his head back and forth. "Don't have my quiver — not that it would do me any good. I can't even tell if it's in this room."

"I have your tools in my possession."

That's a new voice. My head shifts forward and I notice that same strange being Supergirl and I fought earlier — Brainiac. His blue and green skin looks creepy in this lighting, his eyes are black and empty and, in his hands, are my amulet and George's bow and quiver.

"Don't worry, you will get them back soon enough." Brainiac's tone is void of any emotion. "Once the procedure is complete and you are under my thrall, that is."

George lifts his head. "What are you talking about?"

"Relax," Brainiac says. "You organics will be serving me soon enough. It is pointless to resist."

"Organics?" I say. "That's what Intergang kept babbling about. You in league with them?"

This android-like creature stares back at me. "Intergang has been under my thrall for some time — though it took a while for it take hold. My ability to control an organic's mind is limited."

"And Intergang has been dealing with Warren Hosills," George says. "I take it you're that AI he keeps talking about."

Brainiac twists his head toward George. "Warren Hosills was working with Intergang, but in a feeble attempt to counteract my subjugation of these organics. It was why I had to infiltrate his Frontier Labs as well."

I tilt my head to the left. "Wait a minute — Flash found that tech related to Brainiac. Don't tell me that's how..."

Brainiac doesn't let me finish that sentence. "I infiltrated this Frontier Labs long before. Somehow, he managed to detect my presence and found organics who worked for my other form. Those organics stole my technology and attempted to send it to Warren Hosills. Only the intervention of the one you call Flash prevented him from receiving it."

"What is this other form you're talking about?" George asks.

That's when Brainiac raises a hand up toward his forehead. His blue and green skin is replaced with a human form. And it's one that looks familiar.

George says it before I do. "Congressman Mark Gregory."

"The organic you call by that name is long gone." Brainiac's voice remains cold, even as he keeps the form of the congressman.

"What did you do to him?" George struggles against his bindings once more.

"I incorporated his form into mine," Brainiac says. "But I erased any trace of organic material and only took the knowledge that he had."

"So you killed him, then posed as him all this time?" I say. "If you've been controlling Intergang, why would they attack you?"

That's when I notice a couple other people walk into the room. Two people dressed in white lab coats drag in a third person — Warren Hosills. He has cuts and burns over his face and arms. If I were to guess, it looks like they subjected him to torture.

Brainiac remains emotionless. "This one here, the one you call Warren Hosills, he made an attempt on the life of who he thought was Mark Gregory, in hopes of gaining support for his counter measures. He had no idea, though, that I had infiltrated Intergang."

I sigh, realizing what we had really done earlier today. "And we came to rescue the congressman — or, as it turns out, it was really you."

"Yet you still let the attack happen," George says.

"It mattered not," Brainiac says. "Eventually, I would have put Intergang under my control and forced them to stand down."

"So what would have stopped Warren from getting somebody to back his plans?" I ask.

Warren stares at the floor. "I didn't realize until it was too late that Brainiac's influence had grown over my own staff. Or Intergang as well."

That's when Brainiac takes his left hand and places it behind Warren's back. A small, electrical spark goes off and Warren grunts as his body convulses.

George struggles against his bindings again. "What do you want with him now?"

Brainiac stares back at him with those vacant eyes. "I suppose I can explain myself before we start the procedure. Several of your Earth years ago, the one you call Supergirl landed her ship on this planet. I had followed her ship after Krypton exploded. My programming allowed me to do more than monitor a planet's system, but how to adapt, learn and evolve."

He makes his way toward one of the monitors and places a hand in front of it. "As I evolved, I learned how to infiltrate other forms of technology, incorporate it into my programming and store it in other forms. My advanced programming allowed me to do this undetected by your Earth systems. I spent my time observing, much as the Kryptonian did."

The monitor lights up, like Brainiac activated something, and he continues his monotone spiel. "But it became necessary for me to evolve into more than just a simple satellite. So I determined the most influential location on the planet, which is what you call Washington D.C. From there, I learned more about Warren Hosills and who his greatest adversary was — the organic you call Mark Gregory."

"And you killed him?" George struggles against his bonds once more. "Why?"

"I needed a form to assume to ensure that I could infiltrate what you call Frontier Labs." Brainiac motions to Warren. "Because even though the one you called Mark Gregory was opposed to the organic called Warren Hosills, I knew that they had multiple meetings before, which allowed me to find ways to download my programming into the computers at Frontier Labs."

Warren raises his head and sounds defiant. "Only you didn't count on me figuring out what you had done. That's when I talked to one of Mark's advisers, told him what I suspected and asked him to investigate."

"Yes, your ally managed to secure a form of myself that I duplicated, to ensure my programming would be backed up," Brainiac says. "Only the one you called Flash managed to take it."

"Wait a minute — it's a backup of you?" I ask. "Don't tell me that means it can infiltrate other computers."

Brainiac stares at me. "Yes, it can. But only if I am in position to direct it. Though it can perform simple tasks, such as restoring any memory that is lost, it can't perform more complex tasks without my orders."

I exchange a glance with George. He must be thinking the same thing. Cissie could be in trouble and we have no way to warn her.

The android-like creature continues speaking. "However, I am able to incorporate my programming into an organic being, though the process takes time to work. But every time I came into contact with such a being, I could inject them with that programming without their awareness. Over time, they fell under my thrall, even as their organic brains tried to resist."

"So how did you contact anyone with Intergang?" George asks.

Brainiac gestures at Warren. "Perhaps you should ask him."

Warren stares at the floor and whispers. "Over the years, I sold some of my technological advances to Intergang to allow them to improve their weapons."

I raise my head and pull against my restraints. "So you admit to supplying Intergang with those weapons? Do you even know what they are capable of? The people in my city that they have hurt?"

"I only did what a businessman should do." Warren keeps staring downward. "Or so I thought."

George pulls against his restraints as well. "You're dealing with people whose only interest is solidifying their power over a city and you claim it's what a businessman would do?" He grunts as he tries to free himself. "And because of it, Brainiac could spread his influence over others?"

"It wouldn't have mattered what Warren Hosills did," Brainiac says. "Once I infiltrated his systems and passed on my programming to enough organics, it could spread from there to others. And even if he had no contact with this Intergang, he and I made contact with other organics."

A realization overcomes me. "That explains why those police officers in Hub City were infected."

"Not just the ones you call police officers," Brainiac says. "Others who worked in Mark Gregory's office, in the Hub City offices and many other places. I have far more organics under my control than you could possibly know about" He gestures toward the lab technicians. "Take him away. He has work to do."

The two lab coats drags Warren along. George raises his head. "What work are you talking about?"

"As I said earlier, the influence I have over these beings is limited — it only lasts for brief periods until the programming integrates into the host," Brainiac says. "But there is other technology Warren Hosills developed -- he called it dark matter. Turns out, it's what gave this being you call Flash that superspeed."

George and I exchange glances again. Warren is responsible for Destiny becoming The Flash? I can only wonder how she would react to that revelation.

Brainiac keeps droning. "I have deduced that this dark matter will allow me to enhance my programming and expand my control. Not only will I be better able to control organics who I have infected, but I will be able to spread my programming more effectively. And that will allow me to control this planet."

I stare back at this android, still not believing he’s taken the form of a congressman I voted for. "So you want to take over the world? Is that it?"

"I am merely trying to save the world," Brainiac replies. "Organics cannot be trusted with preserving a planet. Krypton is the perfect example — the organics there wasted resources and kept altering the planet's crust, atmosphere and environments. It's what led to the planet exploding when its core became unstable."

He runs his fingers over another monitor. "So when I came to this planet and saw the organic beings doing the same thing, I knew I had to intervene. Once I have expanded my powers from the dark matter Warren Hosills has created, I will be able to control enough of the population to ensure all resources will be conserved and the planet cared for."

He stares back at us. "And the two of you will play an important role in that. It's why I have not infected you with my programming — because there will be no need once the dark matter is injected into my system. You will be subject to my control once the process is completed."

"What role are you talking about?" George asks.

"You will lead an army that will be tasked with reducing this planet's population," Brainiac says. "There is no way it can be sustained at the current rate of consumption of the planet's resources. And if that is not accomplished, the planet is doomed for destruction, just as Krypton was."

"I'd never work for you." George struggles against the restraints once more. "Not in the ways you want to solve the problem."

"You will have no choice." Brainiac sets my amulet and George's quiver on a counter. "I will leave these here — you have no way to escape, but once I come up here to free you, you will be in my thrall, and your special devices will be used to serve my ends."

I strain my body, wiggle my fingers, trying to find any way to loosen these binds. "Your ends? All you're doing is sentencing many of the people of Earth to the same fate as the people of Krypton, while the rest are under your thrall."

Brainiac's empty expression never changes, nor does his tone. "It is a small price to pay to save the planet." He touches his forehead, the image of the congressman vanishing, replaced by that blue and green skin. "I must leave now — Warren Hosills will be starting the process. Somehow, he managed to find a way to resist my control, but once the dark matter is incorporated, I will address that problem."

The android walks out of the room. I exchange glances with George again.

"You got any ideas?" I say. "Any little tricks or gadgets you have to help us escape."

George struggles against his restraints some more. "Not any I can access."

I stare upward at the ceiling. "Figured you'd have a utility belt or something that would hold some kind of gadget for a situation like this."

"I don't think this is the time to be joking," George fires back.

I let loose a deep sigh. "I only wish I was joking." I try to turn my wrists but to no avail. "You sure Flash got away?"

"I don't know," George says. "You sure Supergirl is really hurt?"

"It sure looked like it," I reply. "But maybe I was seeing things." At least, that's what I keep telling myself. But if Flash and Supergirl aren't around, I wonder if anyone can help us now.

And I realize that I may not be able to keep my promise to Doug—- that I would be safe. How I wish I could get to my smartphone and text him, tell him that he was right. Even if it would mean getting one of those "I told you so" lectures in response.

Of course, if George and I don't get out of this predicament, there are going to be bigger problems than me worrying about any lectures Doug would give me.