The Other Side Of Possibility
Chapter 2

There weren’t many options for a situation like this. The entrance to the wormhole had sealed itself and Brainy was being pulled to the unknown at the other end. He had no way of turning himself around or reopening the wormhole if he could even get to his point of origin. It was probably just as hopeless to try to stay in the wormhole by some miracle the others were able to find a way to pull him back before he reached the other end.

Brainy tried to bring his arm up so he could see the scan devices in his forearm. He wanted to get as much information about the wormhole as he could in case he needed to find his own way back.

As it turned out, moving had been a very bad idea. The moment Brainy started to move his arm it changed the direction his body was moving in. He was sent crashing into the side of the wormhole with the force of a speeding hover car. This only caused his direction to change again and he was thrown against the other side.

It was like hitting a moving wall that was going in the opposite direction that you were going in and gave off something kin to an electric shock that felt like you were being set on fire. Brainy imagined that he was experiencing something similar to that as the metal ball in a pinball game. Every hit against the wall only caused him to go faster and hit another part of the wall at another angle.

Each hit was making it harder for Brainy to breathe and during a particularly painful hit to his side his left arm went flying out and hit the wall on its own. The force may have just broken the arm of a normal person but with the technology throughout Brainy’s body it caused a chain reaction that force his arm to explode all the way up to his shoulder.

The only good thing about the explosion was that it forced Brainy’s body to move straight forward again and, possibly as another side affect, he landed on normal ground. He wasn’t sure if he had been forced out of the side of the wormhole or if he had reached the exit without noticing through his torture but he didn’t care.

Brainy was barely able to lift his head up off the soft ground, along this some of his upper body, before he was sick from the shock from the repeated abuse to his body. He retched up everything he had and dry heaved a few times before his stomach would let him be. He rolled onto his side away from it, exhausted.

With his other arm gone, Brainy had to activate the communicator on his ring with his chin.

“Hello anybody. Can anybody hear me?”

Silence was all that answered him. The communication device then faded out with a crackle, damaged in the wormhole. It had been a futile hope but Brainy would have given anything to hear any of their voices at that moment. His stomach threatened to make him sick again.

Brainy forced his eyes open and saw that he was laying on sand and he was facing the water of some ocean. He quickly noted that it was night time on whatever planet he was one and the waves were getting closer.

His entire body screamed with agony as Brainy tried to sit up. He forced his way up, ignoring the screams, and made it to his feet for about five seconds. His legs were unable to support him and he feel to his knees. He stayed like this for a long time, on his knees with his forehead resting on the sand. He was only able to force himself to try again when a splash of water hit the side of his face.

Making his way up to his feet again, Brainy was able to stay on them this time, admit a bit shakily. He looked around and quickly spotted some stairs that leaded to normal land. Even though he doubted he’d be able to make it up that far, he’d at least be able to get away from the water.

The seemingly short walk took an eternity. Every few steps Brainy would stumble and have to stand still a moment to catch his breath. He even tripped twice and it got harder and harder each time to get back up again.

By the time Brainy reached the stairs, the water had risen to his ankles. He fell after the first fleet of stairs and laid on the flat part in exhaustion. His eyes fluttered shut and concentrated on breathing. He felt like if he even considered moving again, he would die instantly.

The sound of rapid thumping reached Brainy’s ears and he forced his eyes open again. His vision was bleary and he could barely make out a figure running down the stairs toward him.

Please help me, thought Brainy before darkness overtook him.

When Brainy opened his eyes again his head felt heavier then it ever had before. He tried to close his eyes and will it away but the harder he tried the heavier it felt. Giving up he opened his eyes again to take in his surroundings.

The room was dark, light barely creeping in through closed curtains on the far side of the room, but Brainy felt immediately grateful that he wasn’t in some sort of lab. At least he landed in a place where he wasn’t going to be studied for being organic and mechanical. Then again, the person who found him might not have realized what Brainy actually was just yet.

His eyes adjusting to the dark, Brainy noted that the room didn’t look much different then any spare room he could have found on Earth. The room was basically bare, with an exception of the bed he was in, a desk and chair and a few boxes of storage in the corner. In the dark he couldn’t tell what material the furniture it was made off, but if he was in another dimension it was very possible he wouldn’t recognize what any of the material there was composed of.

Bringing his line of vision closer, Brainy looked at the bed he was in. It was much bigger then he was used to, possibly a bed meant for two people plus some space in between and he had been placed right in the middle. Then there were at least two thick blankets tucked securely around him, making it hard to move.

It took Brainy a moment but he wiggled his arms free, in the process realizing that his damaged arm had regenerated while he was asleep. He noted that his mind must not be completely functional that the moment if it took him that long to realize that he had use of both of his arms.

This thought process continued when Brainy noticed that his Legion ring was gone and that someone had changed his clothes. He was partly impressed that someone had figured out how to get his clothes off, but mostly horrified that someone had done it. Now he was just wearing a long light blue night shirt of some kind.

First thing was first, Brainy needed his Legion ring. If his fellow legionnaires managed to come after him he would need the ring to get contacted by them with. The ring had been damaged and needed repairs. Then he needed his clothes back.

Brainy debated with himself for a long time whether or not he should try calling for someone. His throat felt sore so it was possible he wouldn’t be able to make the sound required to get anyone’s attention. Then there was the possibility that he didn’t want to get anyone’s attention. It might be better to sneak out and retrieve his things before anyone noticed he was conscious.

Trying to sit up, Brainy realized there was no way he could try to sneak out even if he wanted to. Though not in nearly as bad as condition as when he arrived, his body protested the movement and his head began to swim in dizziness. He was immediately forced to lay back down.

Brainy began to access the damage done to himself. Nearly everything was bandaged in a material he couldn’t recognize by touch. It almost felt like metal integrated into clothe much like his own clothes, but still as soft as regular clothe. The material was on his legs, around his entire torso, his arm that hadn’t exploded and his forehead. The only noticeable parts of him that weren’t covered in the bandages were his face, and hands.

Part of Brainy’s mind was urging him to return to sleep, but he couldn’t stand the thought without knowing more about what had happened. Where was he? Possibly, when was he? Did the person who found him realize he was from a different plain of existence?

Just as Brainy’s eyes began to drift closed against his will, the door began to creek open and he had to shut his eyes to block out the light from the hallway.

“Be careful with that, dear,” said a woman’s voice.

“Yes Mom,” replied a younger male.

The voice had sounded familiar but there was something wrong with it, or possibly what they had said. But what could be wrong with those two words?

The door was shut again so only a very small amount of light entered the room and Brainy was able to open his eyes again. He couldn’t fully see the figure approaching him with some tray in his arms.

“H-hello,” Brainy choked out. His voice was dry and scratchy.

The other boy nearly dropped his tray.

“You’re awake!” He hesitated. “Are you fully awake this time?”

“This.” Breaths in deeply. “Time?”

“You’ve fallen in and out of consciousness about four times this cycle and you’ve been pretty out of it each time. Hold on a moment.”

As the boy walked back to the door, Brainy considered the boy’s words. Cycle? Was that their word for month? Had he really been sleeping for a month? Gone from his friends for a month?

The boy put down the tray on the desk and rushed back out of the room. Brainy could hear him say something to his mother, probably that Brainy was awake, before returning with a glass of water. He offered it to Brainy.

Taking it, Brainy drank the entire glass before handing it back and saying his thanks in his normal voice.

“Don’t mention it. My Mom is going to get you something to eat,” said the boy, setting the glass down on the desk. “Can you lean forward? I’m going to change the bandages around your head.”

Brainy tried to sit up again, but his sides protested and he groaned in agony, but didn’t allow himself to fall back onto the bed.

“Careful,” exclaimed the boy, reaching out to steady Brainy.

With some help from the boy, Brainy was able to sit up and move closer to the end of the bed to allow the boy better access. With everything the boy said, and with every touch the boy seemed more and more familiar to Brainy. He already felt safe around him, probably why he hadn’t questioned the contents of the glass, like he knew him.

Removing the bandages, the boy gently touched the back of Brainy’s head.

“It seems the bump has gone down. You probably don’t need a re-wrap.”

“How can you tell with the lights off?” questioned the woman from earlier in the doorway. She turned on the lights by waving her hand over a panel.

Brainy blinked at the boy, feeling whatever comfort he was getting from the boy’s familiarity ran away from him with wild abandon.

“Clark?”

Standing before him was Clark, only not Clark. He looked the same age as when Brainy last saw him, if not slightly older, but he wasn’t wearing his fake glasses, jeans or sweater vest. He was wearing Kryptonian clothing.

“He’s still calling you that Earth name?” asked the woman’s voice, but Brainy was unable to pull his gaze away from the Clark double.

“Before I thought it was because he was delirious, but I must look like this Clark human,” said the boy.

“Clark is a nice name, though. Perhaps I should put it on the list,” said the woman, causing Brainy to look at her. It was Clark’s biological mother, he recognized her from Brainiac’s memories, with her long black hair, the blue eyes she passed down to her son along with the curl of her bangs. She hadn’t aged much in comparison to Brainiac’s last image of her. The main difference was her round belly.

The last son of Krypton was going to be a big brother.