It was so utterly bizarre hearing those words come out of Brainy's mouth that Lyle entertained for a moment the wild fantasy that this Brainy just happened to be from an alternate universe where Gim was still alive and in charge and Lyle actually wanted to lead the whole team, and all of them were evil. It'd almost be funny listening to Brainy talk about this world in terms of their teammates, if it wasn't so sick. Gladiatorial combat? With children?!

None of this showed on Lyle's face of course. Not until he digested it properly. Then he smiles and raises an eyebrow.

"Did you tell them anything about me, or do I get to surprise them?" he asked, like this was a totally normal conversation they were having.