Beyond the Limit (DC)

The Team regrouped, following Joseph as he led them toward the Brain's base. Conner trailed behind, accompanied by a large white wolf. The animal moved with an unnerving intelligence, but since it seemed calm and obedient, no one said anything.

In the distance, Joseph spotted the pylons that had somehow disabled Captain Marvel. That fact alone told him they were dangerous, and he wasn't about to take chances.

[I'll fly over,] M'gann offered through the psychic link.

[Negatory,] Robin replied. [There's a dome-like energy field over the entire compound. The pylons are insulated, but one solid hit should cause a momentary gap.]

[I see a target,] Artemis cut in.

[I'll go down there and create an opening with my electric powers. Be ready to move in,] Kaldur said.

[I can just teleport you inside,] Rachel's calm voice added.

The link went silent for a beat.

[You never said you could do that,] Kori said.

[I can do a lot with my magic. You just never asked,] Rachel mumbled, shrinking under the attention.

[Then please—make a portal,] Kori instructed.

With a casual gesture, Raven conjured two violet-glowing portals—one beside the group and another inside the dome beyond the pylons. Artemis stepped through first, firing an arrow into a control panel that disabled the force field. The rest of the Team followed without hesitation.

Joseph immediately sensed multiple life signatures clustered on the base's roof. Engaging his anti-gravity field, he lifted into the air, landing silently among a group of enhanced macaques. He knocked them out telepathically, but alarms began blaring regardless.

Stealth was pointless now. Canceling his anti-gravity field, Joseph engaged the Strength Force, overloading his mass and slamming through the ceiling like a meteor.

Inside, he found them: the disembodied Brain in his mechanical dome, and the large black gorilla—wearing a red beret, surgical gown, and mask—standing beside a restrained Captain Marvel. The hero was strapped to an operating table, an inhibitor collar around his neck.

The absurdity of the scene didn't slow Joseph. He struck instantly, knocking out both the Brain and the gorilla with a psychic blast. For all his technological enhancements, the Brain had never rid himself of the vulnerability that defined humanity—his mind. One decisive mental strike and he was down.

Joseph strode to Captain Marvel's table. Nanites flowed from his fingertips into the inhibitor collar, unlocking it with a sharp click.

"Thanks," Marvel said, rolling his shoulders. "And now for you, Mr. Tawny." He said, breaking the collar on a nearby tiger.

The door suddenly burst inward—shattered by the white wolf—followed by a dark blur as Kid Flash skidded to a stop, the rest of the Team close behind.

"Seems everything's done," Conner remarked, almost disappointed.

"Oooh, sweet. Souvenir," Wally grinned, snatching the gorilla's red beret before glancing at the Brain. "No way… That's the Brain?"

"I can see it's a brain," Artemis said dryly.

"Not a brain. The Brain," Wally insisted.

"In the flesh—so to speak," Joseph confirmed. "He's behind everything: capturing animals, injecting them with Kobra Venom, then controlling them with inhibitor collars."

"Yeah," Marvel added, petting Mr. Tawny's fur, "he even planned to surgically remove my brain while I was still alive. Pretty scary."

"I wonder why," Kaldur mused.

Joseph had a way to find the answer to that question. Entering his Speed State to think faster, he applied Py'tar's mental techniques, diving into the Brain's unconscious mind. He bypassed irrelevant memories, searching for anything tied to the organization known as the Light.

What he found painted a clear picture.

The Brain was a scientist of the highest caliber, brilliant enough to reverse-engineer the sliver of Kobra-Venom the Light had managed to obtain and adapt it to Indian fauna, drastically increasing their strength.

But his genius came with a streak of cruelty—most evident in his attempt to surgically extract Captain Marvel's brain while the hero still lived. It seemed he only held affection for his gun-toting guerrilla gorilla dubbed Monsieur Mallah.

His mind carried its own peculiar rhythm: he despised speaking English, so he laced his sentences with French words, his heavy accent twisting every syllable. Another reason to hate the man.

Beyond the man himself lay the greater design. The Light had formed sometime between 2006 and 2007, shortly after the Justice League's public debut. Their purpose: to counter the League's protection of what they called humanity's "calcified status quo." Savage, their leader, believed disaster and tragedy were necessary for human evolution. He gathered Ra's al Ghul, Lex Luthor, Queen Bee, Ocean-Master, the Brain, and Klarion—each controlling a different sphere of influence: the underworld, politics, business, the seas, science, and magic.

They built vast networks of operatives, placed agents in key positions, and pushed the limits of every frontier—genetic engineering, robotics, techno-sorcery, nanotech, biochemical enhancement, and all conceivable forms of mind control. Their ultimate goal was a resurgent Earth, ruling the cosmos from its center.

The Light's operations were global, with individual bases and a central headquarters in Khüiten Peak, Mongolia.

Notable actions included:

An alliance with Darkseid to conquer the galaxy, with the understanding their worlds would eventually clash once all others had fallen. Darkseid supplied Apokoliptan tech like Fatherboxes and weapons; the Light supplied meta-teens.

Funding terrorist groups like Intergang and Leviathan, run by Talia al Ghul, and arming them with alien weapons to distract spy agencies from their agenda.

Providing test subjects for alien empires such as the Citadel and Reach through these terrorist groups.

Developing the same experimental nanites Joseph had been exposed to as a child.

Capturing Speedy, replacing him with a clone sleeper agent.

Creating genomorphs at Cadmus, including Superboy and the failed clone "Match."

Staging four simultaneous ice-villain attacks to orchestrate a Belle Reve prison break—foiled by Conner and M'gann.

Enabling Kobra's takeover of Santa Prisca and synthesizing Kobra-Venom.

Kidnapping Dr. Serling Roquette and using the Fog to steal from S.T.A.R. Labs and WayneTech.

Klarion's attempt to steal the Helmet of Fate.

Silver Swan's attack on Starfire.

Stealing an echinoderm from Poseidonis.

Psimon's study of an alien Sphere in Bialya and his attempt to capture Superboy.

Lex Luthor and Ra's al Ghul's manipulation of Rhelasia into unification under LexCorp's control.

Breaking Riddler out of Belle Reve.

Enhancing their agents and a legion of Ra's al Ghul's League of Shadow assassins with the improved version of the nanites used on Silver Swan.

The Brain's own experiments—testing the reverse-engineered Kobra Venom on animals here in northern India.

And their future plans were just as dangerous:

Using the "Injustice League" composed of notorious villains for a global attack, partly as a Kobra-Venom plant test and partly as a smokescreen to keep the Light's members in the shadows. They had suspicions but were unaware Joseph had already found out their identities.

Putting the entire Justice League under mind control and sending them to attack Rimbor—drawing galactic attention to Earth as part of their plan to "evolve" humanity through interstellar conflict.

Forming alliances with the Kroloteans and Reach to bring hostile alien races to Earth, forcing humanity to unite for survival while both distracting and weakening the League.

Acquiring alien superweapons, including Mongul's Warworld.

Hiring the notorious space mercenary Hahn Sho Lobo for one very specific job: killing Nova—Joseph himself.

Pulling back from the Brain's mind, Joseph pieced it together. They had good reason to want him gone. Between his abilities and his interference in their operations, he'd disrupted too many of their schemes.

The feeling was mutual.