CHAPTER ONE – INDEPENDENCE DAY


2 years ago…

Blood poured down his face, an unfamiliar burning sensation blooming from the various cuts littering his body as an unfamiliar weight had seemingly settled onto his bones. Pain, he realized, and tiredness, two things the Last Son of Krypton had had little experience with. Similar to the strange need to desperately gasp air down into struggling lungs as he rose on trembling legs, that was new as well.

Superman found he didn't much care for it.

The world around him was on fire. Buildings seemed to merely be twisted, empty skeletons of themselves, roads were torn up and burning, cars reduced to mere molten wrecks as he stepped over yet another crevasse in what was once the Hall of Justice.

Less then a hundred meters away from him, still standing tall despite the entire Justice League's best (and most desperate) efforts, was the monstrous figure responsible for all this terrible devastation.

Red eyes glared at him with utter madness, filled with nothing but animalistic rage and a hatred for all living things, bone spurs covering them like bars. Massive shoulders tipped with ivory spikes as large as a man's torso rolled as the monster stepped forwards, enormous hands tipped with claws and barbed knuckles clenching as it let out a hateful snarl.

Doomsday.

The end of the world personified. Unstoppable, unrelenting and strong enough to even make the Man of Steel bleed.

As Superman locked gazes with the towering creature, he once more felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up straight as he looked into those red orbs. There was no thought there. No planning, not even a reason for all this destruction and mayhem.

It delivered death. That was all it did. All it ever would do.

And it send a chill of terror down the back of the world's greatest hero.

The entire fight had been a nightmare, from seeing his friends and fellow heroes be swatted aside with contemptuous ease, to the realization that his every clash with the creature endangered yet more innocent people of Metropolis. As the creature dubbed 'Doomsday' (and it seemed hellbent on doing its name justice) had rampaged across the land, every single government agency had bundled their forces to try and evacuate people across its projected path of destruction, which had eventually brought them here, to the heart of Metropolis.

With Clark's senses, he could tell they had not been successful (how could they, when Metropolis was a city with a population numbering in the millions?), the cries of countless people huddled together as the world shook around them each cutting into his heart.

The mere sight of the creature stalking past the ruined remains of the wall he had thrown Earth's greatest hero through, turning concrete into dust underneath its tree-sized legs, was enough to make the hero's many injuries flare up as he glared at it, blinking blood out of his left eye. But stronger than the pain, stronger than his fear even, was the sound of Metropolis kilometres around them. The sounds of its buildings collapsing, the sound of its people, his people as they cried in terror. Any further clashes between him and the monster would automatically be in Doomsday's favour, his sheer might turning every area they fought in into a barren wasteland.

Superman couldn't let that continue. No matter the cost to himself.

Now, panting and blinking blood out of his eyes, Superman truly realized that this was it. His final battle. He could feel it in his bones, a particular coldness, an unknown certainty.

He would not be walking away this time.

Straightening his form and squaring his shoulders, the strongest hero Earth had ever seen clenched his jaw as determination flooded him, chasing away the earlier fear and desperation. This was where his duty to humanity, to his people would end. He had given them so much in the past, and he was now prepared to give them everything. To make the ultimate sacrifice. He would not walk away from this.

But by God, neither would Doomsday.

On an unseen que, both monster and hero sunk deeper into their stance, fists cocked back, senseless hatred contrasted by unyielding willpower. Both of them pushed off with all of their might, cratering the ruined floor beneath them, crossing the vast distance in-between within the blink of an eye.

Doomsday was impossibly fast for a creature its size, having even been capable of following the movements of the Flash, which was shown once again when a grey boulder-sized fist barrelled towards Superman's face fast enough it appeared as a blur even to the Kryptonian hero, bone spurs cutting through the air with ease.

But Superman came in with a powerful hook of his own, aimed straight towards the dead centre of Doomsday's forehead, where he had already unleashed several punches earlier during their titanic clash. While his X-Ray vision couldn't penetrate deeply into Doomsday's seemingly unbreakable skin, his senses were still superhuman enough that he could spot the damaged bone-structure underneath.

The one weak spot in an otherwise impervious creature.

Doomsday's blow was punishing, nearly destroying Superman's left eye socket completely as the hero's head was whipped to the side, the torn-up floor covered in a sudden spray of blood. The power behind the brutal attack was large enough that Clark felt it throughout his entire body, a sharp and sudden pain in his neck and at the base of his skull telling him something was very wrong.

Already, his vision began to swim, the left side of his face feeling as if it were on fire, rivulets of blood streaming down his face to stain his torn suit.

But he had given as good as he got, his own fist slamming into the dead centre of Doomsday's forehead with enough speed the very air around his arm had been blasted away, sharp bone splinters exploding upwards from the point of impact like shrapnel.

He felt how his knuckles sunk deeply into nigh-unbreakable skin, felt how the structures and tissues underneath shifted and tore apart as thick, almost blackish blood began streaming down the crags and crevasses of Doomsday's beastly face.

For a moment they stood there, the most fearsome monster and the greatest hero Earth had ever seen. Doomsday stood silent and tall in front of a staggering, bleeding Superman. But, before the Kryptonian's vision darkened completely, he saw how the red glow from Doomsday's eyes faded, until they were darkened, lifeless husks. Its knees collapsed underneath it as its gargantuan body toppled to the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust as a tremor shook Metropolis one final time.

The end of the world personified, rage and hatred made flesh, the monster known only as Doomsday… was dead.

Superman felt very light as his vision fully went dark, the sensation of falling strong in his exhausted mind. But one thought remained clear, chasing away the fading feelings of pain and exhaustion. He did it. He had done his duty. Protected his people, his home.

He could finally rest now.


4th of July, 2010

"Guys, hurry!"

Kid Flash's voice rang out through the fleshy hallway as he waved towards his friends. Both Robin and Aqualad were running as fast as they could, but the Guardian, accompanied by more of those strange genomorphs, was hot on their heels. Thankfully his fellow heroes quickly reached him, jumping over the cannister he had jammed in the massive vault door. A swift kick from Aqualad allowed it to slam shut, while some tech-wizardry from Robin ensured that it would remain shut.

"We're safe." Robin said as Aqualad joined them.

"We're trapped." The Atlantean responded in a grave tone.

Before Robin could respond, Kid Flash once again called out to them, having walked deeper into the cavern ahead of them (of course).

"Guys? You're gonna want to see this." He said, his voice both awed and uncertain as he pressed a button on a wide panel. Immediately, several lights switched on, illuminating the enormous space. More of those flesh-like walls that they had encountered outside lined the cavern, which was filled with massive power-units, tubes and everything else you'd expect to find in a mad scientist's lair.

And all of it led towards a single containment unit in the middle of the cavern. And inside…

"Woah…" Robin gasped.

Clad in a pristine white bodysuit with the iconic red S displayed prominently on his chest, was Superman. Or on closer look, maybe his son, or cousin, or little brother perhaps.

Kid Flash approached the massive containment unit, noticing the lettering displayed on its glass front.

"Big K, little r… the atomic symbol for Krypton!" he realized, turning back to his friends.

"A clone?" Robin responded in quiet shock.

It was Aqualad who first snapped out of it, turning towards the smaller teen with a serious look on his face.

"Robin. Hack."

"Right, right."

Feeding the terminal in front of them a cable from his gauntlet, Robin quickly bypassed its security systems, looking over the data feed with a critical eye as he began reading out loud.

"Weapon designation: Superboy. A clone force-grown in… sixteen weeks?! With DNA acquired from Superman…"

"Stolen from Superman." Aqualad interrupted, a heavy frown on his face as he glanced up at the sleeping figure inside the containment unit.

"No way the League knows about this!" Kid Flash said, eyes still wide with shock.

"A solar suit allows him to absorb yellow sun radiation 24/7." Robin continued reading, glancing up from his gauntlet to stare at his friends.

"That tech sound familiar to you?" he asked darkly, getting a slow nod from Aqualad and a frown from Kid Flash.

"And what of these… creatures?" Aqualad pointed to a trio of little beings, looking a lot like the genomorphs they had faced outside.

"Genomorph Gnomes. Telepathic. Force-feeding him an education."

"And who knows what else. They're making a slave out of… out of Superman's son." Kid Flash said.

For a moment, all three of them stood in mute shock at the sheer horror of the situation. It was Robin who broke the silence though, having continued tapping away on his gauntlet's screen.

"You're right. Though… something looks off about these numbers. They should just be transmitting to him, but these readings indicate they've been transmitting for him as well."

"Communication? With whom?" Aqualad immediately asked, only to get a shrug from Robin.

"Unclear. I'm reading all this from a wrist-computer. Not entirely sure how you want me to track telepathic communications with it." The young hero replied, some of his humour returning now that they were no longer running for their lives.

Now they were just hiding for their lives, which in his book was a marked improvement.

"You know… if you really wanna find out who he's been talking to, we could always just ask him?" Kid Flash pointed out, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder to the containment unit.

"Is that wise? Cadmus called him a weapon." Aqualad wondered, getting a shrug from Kid Flash.

"Looks like a kid to me, not a weapon."

"He could be dangerous." The Atlantean cautioned, but he was rebuffed by Robin.

"So are we."

"We should contact the League. They will know what to do with… all this." Aqualad said instead, tapping the symbol on his belt.

When nothing happened, he glanced towards Robin, who was looking intently at his screen, before shaking his head.

"No signal."

"We're in too deep. Literally." Kid Flash pointed out, looking intently at the still doubting Aqualad.

"This is wrong. You know it." The speedster implored as Robin backed him up.

"We can't leave him like this."

For a moment, the three teenagers stood in silence, before eventually the Atlantean relented.

"Very well. Do it. Set him free."

Nodding, Robin quickly swiped across the holographic screen of his gauntlet's computer, and a deep hiss rang out throughout the cavern.

Slowly, the glass lid of the tube began to lift away as the three heroes approached the still form of Project Kr. As the mist began to slowly dissipate, the three young heroes leaned in closer as they waited with baited breath.

Which is when the clone's eyes snapped open, he leapt out of the tube and socked Aqualad hard enough in the jaw to launch him all the way back so he slammed into the massive vault door. Kid Flash responded immediately thanks to his enhanced speed, suddenly appearing right in front of the Kryptonian clone, wildly milling his arms around.

"Waitwaitwaitwait! We're not here to hurt you!"

The panicked gesture and voice seemed to register with the now-awakened clone, who paused his movements, his entire body still tense as he glared at the heroes with narrowed, suspicious eyes. Slowly, his eyes tracked towards the symbols on their chests and to the relief of the other teenagers, recognition bloomed on Superboy's face.

"Kid Flash… Robin… Aqualad… The Justice League is here?" he responded, his voice strong and hopeful.

"Ehm… well, in a manner of speaking, kind of? You know, if-" Kid Flash began, though he was interrupted by Robin, the small boy having moved forwards with a smile on his face, though his hands were hidden beneath his cape.

"Sorry big guy. It's just us. We tried to contact the League, but can't get a signal through. We're on our own now." he explained, getting a deep, worried frown from Superboy in response.

"That… makes things difficult."

"Well, I mean, we're a lot better off now though! First, we were on our own, now we're on our own with you. Between my genius and your strength, I'll get us out of here in no time!"

"I can attest to the strength part at least." Aqualad spoke up, joining the other teenagers as he rubbed his jaw with a wince.

"Though the genius part… eh, jury's out on that one." Robin finished with a smirk, getting an affronted look from his best friend.

Ignoring the fuming speedster, Robin turned towards Superboy instead, who had his arms crossed in front of his broad chest.

"Though what's up with punching Aqualad square in the face anyways?" the small boy asked, still smiling though his tone was suspicious.

"I thought you were Cadmus' people, taking me out of my tube for tests or something. I wanted to overpower you quickly, then make my escape." The clone explained swiftly, not seeming particularly bothered or guilty about having smacked one of his rescuers clear across the room.

"Wouldn't those G-gnomes still control you?" Aqualad questioned, causing Superboy to glance back at his pod where the three little creatures were sitting completely still as they observed the scene.

"Cadmus thinks they do. They created them. Created me. But the genomorphs are tired of being their slaves. Our escape could mean their freedom as well."

"Wait, the genomorphs are on our side?! They attacked us!" Kid Flash responded with outrage.

"They brought you here, didn't they?" Superboy responded, causing the speedster's mouth to snap shut with a 'click'.

"Seems like a roundabout way of doing things. If they wanted freedom from Cadmus why not take over the facility themselves. They have the numbers and the genomorphs seem powerful enough." Robin questioned.

"I don't know. I wasn't told, but I'm pretty sure there are some dangerous people behind Cadmus. Powerful people. Open rebellion might end badly for them."

"By getting the heroes involved, the blame gets shifted from the genomorphs to us. Even if the backers start looking into Cadmus, they'll blame it on incompetence from the staff, not on a rebellion from their own science projects." Aqualad realized, getting a nod from the Kryptonian clone.

"Why not reach out to the League directly?" Robin asked, getting a shrug from the white-clad boy.

"What do you think the fire was for?"

"That was you?" Kid Flash asked surprised.

"No. A friend."

"You have a friend on the inside? Great! Tell them to get us out of here-!" the speedster began excitedly, before being brusquely shut down by the clone.

"We can't get out." Superboy responded harshly.

Immediately Robin and Aqualad tensed up, the young Gothamite moving his hands beneath the cover of his cape as he firmly grasped several shuriken while the Atlantean called upon the magic in his tattoos. They had agreed that the clone shouldn't be kept here in an underground cavern being force-fed whatever Cadmus wanted him to think and know, but by that same token they couldn't fully trust the recently awakened Superboy either.

As Kid Flash had said, Cadmus was trying to create a slave from Superman's legacy.

Who knew how successful they had been in that endeavour?

If the speedster thought along those same lines, he certainly didn't show it.

"Don't think like that man, mind over matter, motivation is half the battle and-" Kid Flash attempted before the clone cut him off.

"No. We can't get out. Not yet. We need to free another of Cadmus' weapons first."

"Another project? What, or who, is it?" Robin asked, Superboy's jaw setting.

"My brother."

"… well, I did not see that one coming." The yellow-clad speedster deadpanned.

"Why is your brother not contained here as well?" Aqualad asked, his suspicion now clear on his face (which was fair, considering said face had recently been introduced to a Kryptonian fist).

"For that matter, why is there only one of you? If Cadmus could make you, why not an army of Supermen? … or is it Superboys?"

"I wasn't told much. Ever since Superman died, Cadmus has been trying to create a replacement for him. As far as I know, even after two years and all the advancements they've made with cloning and the creation of the genomorphs, I'm their only successful replication of Superman."

"Makes sense, I guess. Can't be easy, rebuilding the strongest hero on the planet." Kid Flash agreed, though Aqualad and Robin remained cautious.

"So, this brother of yours…" the Gothamite questioned as Superboy walked towards the massive vault door.

"A level below us. Our mutual friend, same guy who brought you here, he instructed the G-gnomes to allow us to be in contact telepathically. He's barely awake, Cadmus keeps him sedated at all times, but he's waiting for us." The clone explained, looking over the thick slabs of hardened metal with a critical eye.

"The other genomorphs, they cannot set him free?" Aqualad pressed as he joined Superboy, but the clone shook his head.

"Putting me in contact with my brother was risky enough as it was. We've been communicating in secret for a month, needed to be careful not to get caught. Cadmus' backers have telepaths of their own on their payroll, just to keep an eye on what's going on here."

"Typical bad guy behaviour. They're a very untrusting sort. Must be their line of work." Kid Flash said airily, getting a serious nod from Superboy in return.

"The genomorphs won't help us further, they'll fight us when they see us. Have to make it look good. Don't worry, they won't go for lethal take-downs. All they care about is that the director here, Desmond, he has to take the fall." Superboy quickly explained, before pulling one fist back and letting it fly with a grunt as he slammed it into the vault door.

The entire cavern shook as the metal deformed around his fist, but when compared against the entirety of the entrance, it was quickly apparent that it would take the Kryptonian clone several days at least to punch through the sheer mass of hardened steel.

Not that this seemed to deter the clone, who let fly with several more punches, each one ringing out loudly throughout the cavern.

"Whoa dude! Anger issues much? Not even you can punch your way through that." Kid Flash called out, Superboy turning to glare at him over his shoulder.

"Didn't you hear what I said? We got to make it look good."

"Oh… man's got a point." Robin quickly caught on, shifting his cloak out of the way and letting fly with his shuriken, targeting several of the large powerbanks and terminals, sparks immediately shooting out as he wrecked the expensive equipment.

"What are you-… ohhh, I get it now." Kid Flash snapped his finger, before with a grin he zoomed around the cavern, tugging on every cable and screen he could reach.

"Well, I must admit that this will give me more satisfaction than it should." Aqualad said calmly as he unhooked his water-weapons from his back.

As his tattoos surged with magic and two large hammers made of solid water formed from the handles, Superboy looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What do you-?"

That was as far as he got before a magically charged construct of water slammed into his chin hard enough to send him to the floor. As he sprung back up with a snarl on his face, he saw that the Atlantean was looking at him with a collected expression, though he caught a humorous gleam in the other teen's eyes.

"We have to make it look good, no?"

"… fair enough."

On the other side of the door, both Desmond and the Guardian shared a look as they heard the sounds of violence coming from within Project Kr's room. When the noise finally quieted down and the override code on the door was lifted, Guardian sank into a lower stance as Desmond took several cautionary steps back, the genomorphs around them already in an attacking pose.

Which made them all look rather silly when the vault door rolled completely open, Superboy stalking out of the darkened cavern with Aqualad slung under one arm, while he held both Kid Flash and Robin over his shoulder.

"Intruders apprehended." He stated coldly, causing Guardian to slump in relief as Desmond stalked forwards with a smug smirk on his face, slapping the shield-wielding hero on the shoulder.

"See? At least someone in this facility knows how to follow orders!"

Ignoring the disgruntled expression of his employee, Desmond pointed imperiously towards the waiting Superboy.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Throw them in a containment pod so that the cloning sequence can begin! We'll do it right here and now, we're running out of time. Won't be long before the League finds out their snotty little sidekicks have gone missing." Desmond finished in an angry mutter.

It was only because he had already turned around and began walking away that he missed the body of Kid Flash twitching when he mentioned 'sidekicks', nor did he see the supposedly comatose form of Robin elbowing his friend in the side.

"Not possible, sir." Superboy's strong voice halted Cadmus' director in his track, the scientist whirling around with an annoyed expression on his face.

"What do you mean 'not possible'?"

"A lot of equipment got damaged during their capture." Superboy responded, not sounding particularly impressed as his creator approached him, already fuming.

"Well then fix it!"

"I don't know how."

"You… I… argh! Do I have to do everything myself around here?!" Desmond spat, hands waving around in frustration as he walked towards the opened vault door, Guardian almost moving automatically as he followed him, an ever-present protector at the scientist's side.

It was due to the low lighting of the cavern that they only saw the state the room was in once they had crossed its threshold. It had been trashed to be sure, but not in a way that was completely irreparable, nor did it seem to reflect the sheer sounds of destruction they had heard from outside.

"What is the meaning of-" Desmond already began to yell as he and Guardian whirled around.

Which showed them a good view of Aqualad and Superboy standing side by side, fists cocked back which they let fly without hesitation. Both Desmond and Guardian got thrown clear into the cavern, the G-gnomes sitting on their shoulders flung away from them as they landed harshly on the rocky floor. To his credit, despite having been punched in the chest by a Kryptonian clone, the middle-aged Desmond still managed to work himself up to a sitting position, just in time to see how the remaining G-Elves were rapidly being pushed inside by a yellow-red blur, which solidified into Kid Flash, who gave them all a cheeky salute.

All of which took their attention away from Robin, who with a smirk pressed a slider on his holographic screen as he removed a cable from the vault door's control panel on their side.

"NO!" was all Desmond managed before the massive slabs of steel once more closed in on themselves, throwing the cavern into darkness.

He began raging, against nosy sidekicks, lousy security, the unfairness of life itself even, but the young heroes hardly stuck around to hear the man's tirade, instead immediately taking off and running down the weird hallways, Superboy leading the way.

True to the clone's word, they only had to descend one more level. Unfortunately, also true to the clone's word, they had to "fight" any genomorphs they encountered, though both sides held back as much as they could while still selling the illusion.

After beating down another group of G-Trolls and G-Elves (none of them sporting any serious injuries despite having gone up against an Atlantean and Kryptonian) the group rounded a final corner, coming up against yet another vault door, this one even larger than the one that had sealed off Project Kr.

There was no designation on this one though, just a lot of bars, locks and warning red lights. As Robin began working on its security system, Kid Flash looked at all the security measures with a nervous look on his face.

"Uhmm… maybe it's not such a good idea to release something even the bad guys seem to be afraid of?" he suggested, though an angry snarl from Superboy quickly caused him to backpedal.

"Right, not leaving without your brother. Got it."

"So do I!" Robin said with a smirk, several of the red lights on the massive vault door turning green (though to Kid Flash's consternation many of them remained a glaring crimson).

Crossing the threshold, Superboy quickly advanced, a nervous energy in his step as he approached the centre of the cavern. The tube that stood in its middle was significantly thicker than his own had been, thick bars over the matte glass giving the whole structure an imposing look, gas flowing in and around the massive cylinder.

"Do it. Get my brother out of there." Superboy demanded, and despite the clear doubt on his face, Robin complied, once again hacking the terminal in front of the containment unit.

As he activated the shut down sequence, the bars slowly slid away as the gas stopped flowing. Once more a heavy hiss rang throughout the cavern as a thick coat of mist spilled out over the floor. Inside of it all, a tall, shadowy figure steadily moved forwards. When the lasts whisps of mist dissipated and the tall being was fully revealed, the gasps of the three sidekicks were audible.

"No… not even Cadmus would be this foolish…" Aqualad muttered in horror.

"Superboy, get away-!" Robin shouted, hands already filled with shuriken as his voice cracked due to sheer panic and terror.

He was interrupted however when the imposing grey figure fell forwards with a groan, knees buckling underneath him. To the shock of the sidekicks, it was Superboy who caught him, slinging an arm the size of a tree trunk over his shoulders.

"Easy brother. Give it some time. The gas should wear off soon." He said, his voice worried.

The jaws of the heroes nearly hit the floor when a deep chuckle came from the most horrifying monster Earth had ever seen, a grin showing off large teeth as the being lolled its head back.

"Damn… little bro. What the hell… took you so long?" the figure of Doomsday itself spoke up in a rumbling voice.

"What the-…" Robin chocked out, his eyes wide and disbelieving behind his mask, while Aqualad remained silent, utterly stunned.

"Well… I certainly did not see that one coming." Kid Flash eventually managed to mutter weakly.

When Superboy carried the large form of Doomsday over towards them, the three teenagers immediately took a step back, causing the clone to halt in his tracks with a confused look on his face.

"What are you doing? We need to get out of here!"

It was Aqualad who spoke up, once more unsheathing his water-weapons, heavily swallowing down his obvious fear.

"I am sorry, Superboy. But we cannot allow you to bring that monster to the surface. We will not allow you to destroy the world." He stated firmly, sinking into a combat stance, which only confused Superboy more.

"Destroy the world? What are you talking about?!"

"Easy… little bro. We knew… this would happen…" again Doomsday spoke.

Which was when the young superheroes began putting things together. Because Doomsday did not speak. Either it couldn't or it wouldn't, but the creature of pure rage and destruction had uttered nothing but animalistic roars during its rampage across the land. It certainly wouldn't call a Superman clone 'bro' after the two had famously killed each other with simultaneous final blows.

As they stood their ground and Superboy supported the large, grey-skinned figure as they approached the teenagers, the sidekicks saw more details that showed the differences between this being and the monster that had terrified the world. Aside from the fact that this one was wearing clothes. It seemed based on the containment suit that had encased the original Doomsday when it first awoke, though fashioned into black shorts and a black, sleeveless biker jacket.

It was smaller as well. Still larger than any human, but it wasn't the hulking creature that Doomsday had been. The bone barbs on its shoulders were smaller and more fused together, tapering into a single point, while Doomsday's enormous spikes had split into multiple crooked shards. Instead of its jaw being covered in a plethora of spines, this Doomsday only had a single, small one in the centre of its chin, giving it the appearance of having a goatee, which complimented the head-spikes which were fused and tapered in such a way it more resembled a mohawk.

But most of all it was the expression they saw on its face when it looked up at them with a tired sigh and an exhausted grin, even adding in a little wave with its free hand, so utterly different from the mindless rage that had radiated from the dreaded Doomsday.

"Hi all. Doomsboy here. Yes, I'm a clone of Doomsday. No, I don't want to start going on a rampage across the world. Shocking, I know. Ignore the slurred speech: Cadmus always gets nervous whenever I was awake, so they rather kept me dosed instead." The clone said in a dry tone, taking deep, laboured breaths, though they were steadily getting stronger.

"We need to get out of here." Superboy insisted, shooting a worried glance towards Doomsboy.

"We're going to need answers. Hell, the League is going to need answers." Robin said, still shooting a wary look at both clones as Superboy supported his brother as they began leaving the cavern behind them.

"You'll get them. After we're all top-side." The Kryptonian rebutted, getting hesitant nods from the heroes.

The way back to the central shaft that had brough them to the lower levels before was thankfully less filled with genomorphs and the group made good time, even though the sidekicks kept shooting the grey-skinned clone cautious looks.

"So… uhm, might wanna clue us in on… all this." Kid Flash spoke up after they had quickly beat down another group of genomorphs that had 'tried' to bar their way.

As Superboy threw a G-Troll down the hallway in order to block the path of another group of approaching genomorphs, Doomsboy turned to face the speedster, his shrug making the spikes on his shoulders move in a way that caused the redhead to take a cautious step back.

"Not sure how much I can tell ya. Cadmus didn't much care with our education beyond the basics. Hell, I wouldn't have had any education if it weren't for Dubbilex teaching me on the sly: Cadmus wasn't interested in a weapon that could think for itself. Good thing Dubbs kept his telepathic abilities hidden from them. He's a G-Goblin, only one of his kind that can do telepathy tho. He taught us what Cadmus didn't want us to know."

"Why?" Robin cut in as they all began moving again.

"Cause genomorphs are slaves, and he wants 'em to be free. After Cadmus created me and began… 'stress-testing' me, he took pity on me. Figured that between me and my little bro, we were the genomorph's best shot at getting out from underneath Cadmus's thumb and their mystery backers. So, he put me in contact with Superboy here and we began planning a way out of here that wouldn't backfire on the genomorphs instead."

"But, why create… you? What did Cadmus hope to achieve by resurrecting that monster? Uhm, no offence-" Aqualad pushed, though he seemed somewhat uncomfortable when he realized who he was talking to.

Doomsboy easily waved his concerns aside, already looking much better than when he had just been released of his containment pod, though his eyes still drooped, and his speech was somewhat slurred.

"Doomsday was a monster. They made me from him, but I am not him. Fuck that guy. As for why they wanted me, well…"

"It's because of me." Superboy said, guilt evident in his face.

"Bro, don't say that-…"

"Cadmus created me to replace Superman. Carry on the legacy he left behind. In order to win the public's trust, they figured I should have my debut killing the monster that had killed Superman. Succeed where even he failed. Which is when they created Project: Nemesis." Superboy exclaimed darkly, the young heroes' eyes going wide as they looked from one clone to the other, who shot his 'brother' a comforting look.

"They created you… just for you to die?" Kid Flash asked in a small voice, sounding horrified, yet all Doomsboy did was shrug his spiked shoulders again.

"Like I said, they saw little reason in giving me an education. Not much point in it if all they wanted was a mindless sacrificial lamb." He said curtly and for the rest of the sub-level, the group ran in silence.

Arriving to the elevator shaft, both clones grabbed a hold of the closed doors and easily wrenched them open, though the elevator itself was nowhere to be seen. Undeterred, Robin shot his grappling hook high up into the darkness of the shaft as Aqualad leapt onto the cables and began clawing his way upwards. Kid Flash looked on with a troubled glance before strong arm wrapped around his middle, Superboy having taken a hold of him.

Before Kid Flash could offer more than a shout in protest, the clone had bent his knees and pushed off, sailing upwards into the elevator shaft, one arm extended outwards. Before he reached his apex and the two of them began falling back down to both their shock. They were tackled in mid-air by the leaping form of Doomsboy, who caught them both in one arm, his other slamming into the wall, the claws on his hands and feet finding purchase in the smooth metal even as they rent long gashes in it.

"You okay, little bro?" the grey-skinned clone asked, his gravelly voice worried.

"I… can't fly? Why can't I fly?" Superboy responded, clearly unnerved and confused.

"Well, maybe you can't fly, but you can still leap tall buildings in a single bound. That's pretty cool too, right?" Robin attempted, but Superboy didn't answer, looking at his hand with a confused look on his face.

"Uhm… I'm okay too! If anyone was wondering…"

"Let's keep climbing." Aqualad said strongly, as the team continued moving forward.

They kept climbing for a good fifteen minutes before they came up to the underside of the elevator.

"Seems like this is our stop." Robin began, though Doomsboy cut in.

"Nah, where there's a will, there's a way." The large teen rumbled as he kept clambering up the wall.

Pulling back one large fist, he slammed it through the underside of the elevator, easily shredding it apart as he made a hole large enough for him to lift himself up and through it. As he clambered inside, he extended a large arm down to the other teens, a grin on his face.

"Or whenever superstrenght is involved."

With Doomsboy's help the rest of the group quickly ascended into the elevator as well, Robin quickly hacking the control panel while the clones hoisted everybody else through. With power to the elevator restored, they soared back up to the ground level of the Cadmus facility.

"Just you wait guys. The real world is amazing! There's so much cool stuff we gotta show you. You won't even need that suit Superboy, you can look at the actual sun!"

"It's night-time." Aqualad interrupted, Kid Flash only momentarily stumped before continuing with relentless enthusiasm.

"Well, we can show you the moon then! We only see it because it reflects sunlight down to Earth anyways, so it sort of counts!"

"Makes you wonder why vampires don't burn up at night, huh?" Robin mused, getting a dismissive scoff out of the speedster.

"That's cause they're not real. Likely they were just old metahumans with a weakness to over-exposure to high lumen levels, which then of course got twisted into the idea of them burning up in the sun."

"… you're standing next to the clones of Doomsday and Superman, having just escaped from an underground facility where man-made creatures walked around speaking telepathically to each other… but vampires is where you draw the line." Doomsboy dryly remarked, one ridged eyebrow coming up as he gave the redhead a speculative look.

"Yeah, but that's science! Mad science, sure, but still science!"

"Ignore him, he's always like that." Robin said with a grin, ignoring Kid Flash's affronted look with practice ease.

"Besides, we haven't escaped from said facility yet. Remain on your guard." Aqualad cut in as they finally reached their destination, the elevator sounding out a cheery 'ding!' as its doors began to slide open, though Doomsboy waved him away.

"Relax. Between me and my little bro, there's nothing Cadmus got left that can stop us-"

That was as far as he got, since the clone had already moved to the front of the group, immediately stepping out once the doors to the elevators had opened. Which meant that he got a blue-blackish fist straight to the face, which was powerful enough to send the grey-skinned teen flying back, throwing his brother to the ground as they slammed into the back wall of the elevator.

"… well, that one is new." He said somewhat woozy.

"Scatter!" Aqualad called out, rolling out of the elevator and immediately jumping away, not wanting to take his chances on the structural integrity of the metal box after all Doomsboy had done to it (granted, deforming one of the walls around his back hadn't been his intention, but still).

Seeing from the corner of his eye that Kid Flash had already zoomed to the opposite end of the large hallway, while Robin was (naturally) nowhere to be seen, Aqualad glanced at their newest opponent. It was immensely large, standing a good head taller than Doomsboy. Its skin was blue with deep black lines and almost seemed to have the texture of stone and its eyes were a burning red as it glared at the two clones who had just struggled to their feet, still inside the banged up elevator.

The unknown monster leapt towards them, but Doomsboy was ready for it, leaping out of the ruined elevator and tackling the creature in mid-air. The impact was horrendous, but thankfully in favour of the clone, who slammed the monster into the floor of the large hall, a tremor shaking the entire building.

The result however was that it further destabilized the already damaged elevator. Just as Superboy had worked himself to his feet, the entire thing shuddered, before dropping suddenly for almost a meter, dropping the clone to a knee.

"Brother!" Doomsboy called out, completely dismissing the monster as he barrelled back towards the dropping elevator.

Before he could reach it, a metallic 'twang!' rang out as the cables of the cart finally gave out, the entire thing rapidly dropping away, with Superboy inside.

"NO!" Doomsboy roared out, leaping forward just in time to grab the frayed end of the group of whipping cables, smoke rising from his palms from the speed with which they slipped through his fingers before they finally came to a stop as he braced against the floor, cratering it underneath his feet.

As Doomsboy held up the elevator holding his brother, the unknown monster from before rose up out of the broken tiling surrounding its mutated body as it turned towards the struggling clone, a hateful snarl rising from deep within his broad chest.

"Keep him away from the elevator!" Aqualad called out to his friends, already leaping forwards, both handles held together as they formed a single hammer-construct, his brief tussle with Superboy already telling him he should pull out all the stops if he wanted to contest with this new enemy.

His blow struck true, impacting the monster straight in the back of his knee, making it collapse underneath it as the creature roared out in anger. A wide backswing caught Aqualad square in the chest, sending him flying, though he was caught by a yellow blur, Kid Flash letting out a struggling 'oomph!' as he caught the far larger teen.

The two quickly caught their breath, the unknown blue monster now focused on them instead. It let out a challenging roar, and immediately regretted it as it began to choke, Robin having tossed a smoke bomb with impeccable aim down its opened maw.

"That won't hinder him for long. Hit him with all you got right now!" Robin called out, swinging from the rafters on his grappling hook as he let fly with more shuriken, these ones sparking with electricity as they bit onto the monster's tough skin, though seemingly not doing much damage.

Aqualad immediately moved, unleashing a series of blows against the monster's sides and stomach while Kid Flash circled around in a blur. When Aqualad's punishing strikes forced the blue skinned creature out of the crater Doomsboy had tackled it in, the speedster accelerated, dropping into a high-speed sliding both feet kicking straight into the monster's ankle.

It stumbled, but by now the smoke from Robin's bomb had dissipated enough for it to see its attackers once more. As it tripped it unleashed a powerful downwards punch towards the still prone speedster, who rolled out of the way fast enough to avoid being turned into a smear on the floor. Still, the monster's strike was powerful enough it still upturned the ground itself, a tremor shaking the building and throwing Kid Flash aside.

Aqualad tried to buy him time, a strong blow whipping the monster's head to the side now that it was a bit closer to the ground. It didn't deter the blue-skinned creature much however as it let out another roar, blindly tackling the Atlantean warrior to the ground.

It was clear the being had very little combat skill, but with its colossal strength there was hardly any need for it. Two enormous hands engulfed Aqualad's arms despite his struggles, the creature looming over him as it lowered its head, large jaws wide open as if it was going to bite his face off.

"Batter up!" a gravelly voice called out and suddenly the creature atop Aqualad was slammed off of him, sent clear through one of the thick pillars and buried into the fall wall as an elevator smashed into its side out of nowhere, Doomsboy having hoisted it up out of the shaft and swinging it around with all his might.

As the now thoroughly mangled metal box rolled to a pitiful stop in the middle of the large hall, two hands speared through the warped metal, before pushing it aside far enough a somewhat dizzy looking Superboy managed to clamber out of it.

"Give me a little warning next time…" he groused, getting an embarrassed chuckle from Doomsboy as he ran a hand across his spikey 'hair'.

"Sorry little bro."

The monster had by now clambered out of the crater he'd been planted in, red eyes zeroing in on the still woozy Superboy as it launched itself forwards, one arm coming down in a wild but powerful overhead blow. Despite his disorientation, Superboy managed to catch the massive arm though it did force him down to a knee, which left him open to a follow-up from the creature had Aqualad not jumped in and caught the punch on a water-shield.

As both Kryptonian and Atlantean struggled against the raging monster, Doomsboy blindsided it, delivering a brutal haymaker to the side of the monster's face that sent it stumbling. A yellow blur shot past it, revealing itself to be Kid Flash trailing some thin wire which pulled taut around the blue-skinned creature's ankles. As it faltered and crashed to the ground, the speedster let out a cocky laugh.

"I learned that one in kindergarten!"

The creature immediately began tearing at the wires constraining its lower legs, but was brusquely interrupted by a kick to its face from a charging Doomsboy, which sent the blue-skinned monster hurtling back. As it skidded to a stop, Superboy ran forward as well, leaping onto his brother's back and pushing off of it, sailing through the air intent on delivering a curb-stomp from above as he descended towards the prone creature.

It proved hardier than expected however, coming up and grabbing Superboy's feet and whirling around, sending the Kryptonian through yet another pillar. This enraged his brother severely, who let out a challenging roar as he leapt towards the monster, the two locked in a titanic struggle as they grappled each other.

They seemed evenly matched in strength for a long moment, claws hooked into meaty fists as red eyes met baleful red, snarls on both their faces. Until a yellow blur raced up the blue-skinned monster, Kid Flash pushing off his knee until he reached the creature's head, both hands extended, fingers pressed tightly on two small cannisters.

"Eat pepper-spray!" he called out, two streams hitting the monster dead in his eyes.

It let out a pained roar as it disengaged from Doomsboy, stumbling back a few steps as it clawed at its face, blinded by the high-grade tear gas Robin carried and which he thought Batman didn't know he'd swiped from the Batcave. As the blue-skinned creature stumbled back, it failed to see a recovered Superboy and Aqualad charge forwards side by side, coordinating their movements according to Robin's plan. Each superpowered teen caught the tall creature with a flying tackle in the leg, their combined strength enough to lift it clear from the ground and up in the air.

Where a leaping Doomsboy was just descending with a wide clothesline, catching the monster right in the throat and slamming it down into the ground hard enough it nearly folded in on itself, its knees buried into concrete next to its head. It groaned and tried to right itself, but only succeeded in rolling over, ending up lying flat on its face.

Despite the punishment it had endured, two thick arms still moved to push itself off the ground, until Superboy and Doomsday both walked forwards, lifted a leg, and stomped down hard on the back of its head, burying it deeper into the floor as a spiderwebbed crater was formed around them, the entire hall rumbling down to its foundations.

Kid Flash winced at the attack.

"Harsh." He muttered, merely getting a shrug from Doomsboy.

"You wanna take this big guy on with kid gloves?" he challenged, though Aqualad quickly intervened, as always keeping a cool head.

"The most important thing is that the battle is finished without casualties. Our enemy is down and-"

"That's not the only thing going down! That last quake destabilized the hallway! It's falling apart!" Robin interrupted with an urgent tone as he dropped down next to the other heroes, the read outs on his screen showing that the loss of a couple supporting pillars combined with the tremors from the clones' attack had been too much for the structural integrity of the building.

A deep, almost groaning rumbling rumbled throughout their surroundings as massive tears and cracks began forming across every wall, a few more pillars cracking and falling as the entire thing literally came falling down around them. Superboy and Doomsboy had just enough time to push down Kid Flash, Robin and Aqualad when the roof finally gave out, several tonnes of steel and concrete dropping down on top of them.

The noise of the collapse was deafening as an immense dust cloud exploded outwards from the falling rubble, the entire neighbourhood in Washington DC being shook with quakes as the massive amounts of material slowly began to settle. As the enormous cloud of dust finally began to dissipate, a towering mound of rubble was all that remained of the Cadmus facility. Slowly, a large slab of concrete, once part of the roof, began to shift, before it was lifted up completely and thrown on its side. From underneath crawled the team of intrepid heroes, no worse for wear beyond some bruises and the gravel stuck in their hair thanks to the clones having caught the brunt of the impact on their shoulders.

As they coughed and patted off their clothes, Kid Flash stepped closer to Superboy, elbowing him in the side and pointing upwards to the sky above.

"See? Told you we'd show you the moon. The real one."

For a moment, the young heroes looked up in silence, before Superboy frowned.

"Someone's coming." He said.

Before the others could ask him what he meant, his brother spoke up as well, his tone guarded.

"Bunch'a someones." The clone agreed.

"Oh… oh, we are so screwed." Robin said in a small voice and his fellow sidekicks quietly agreed when they saw just who it was that was floating down towards them.

It seemed like every single heavy hitter from the League had assembled: both Lanterns, having created a platform for the Leaguers who couldn't fly, such as Green Arrow and Batman himself, while around them flew and hovered the likes of Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman.

The moment that the team of superheroes got a good look at the small group below, a visible wave of shock and even fear rolled through the League members.

"Aqualad, retreat!" King Arthur roared out, trident in an attack position as Green Arrow immediately knock and arrow while Wonder Woman unsheathed her sword with a battlecry.

Faster than either of them however were the batarangs sailing through the air on a straight beeline to Doomsboy's face… until they were all countered by shuriken from Robin, hitting them out of mid-air. The movement was so unexpected, it halted several League members dead in their tracks, not the least of which was a stunned looking Batman. This confusion was only made greater when the arrow their green-clad archer had already fired was deflected by a water-shield from Aqualad, the small-yield explosive hidden inside its metal tip harmlessly exploding amongst the rubble.

For just a single, tense moment, neither the teen heroes nor the assembled Justice League so much as moved as muscle as the groups squared off, the three sidekicks standing on front of the tense looking clones. Then that moment was suddenly shattered by the heavy sound of a sonic boom, followed by a steadily strengthening whistling sound. Seemingly out of nowhere, trailing a great gust of wind in its wake due to its sheer speed, a blur shot straight towards Doomsboy.

The clone barely had time to turn as the blur reached him. Only Kid Flash was fast enough to react, literally throwing himself in its path, rushing to stand in front of the startled Doomsboy, throwing out his arms and closing his eyes in sheer terror.

"NOwaitpleasedon't!"

His call halted the blur in its tracks, its sudden stop causing the air to whirl around them, one fist held inches away from Kid Flash's chest, the speed it had enough that it still made the speedster stumble back a few steps.

Air swirled around the new figure as it slowly settled, sending his large red cape flaring up as the fist was slowly retracted, bulging muscles still clearly tensed underneath a blue suit as it floated closer, finally revealing an iconic S displayed prominently on his chest.

Kal-El, the Last Son of Krypton, stared down angrily at the group of young heroes, his jaw clenched and his eyes having a red glow in the centre of their irises, a thin but noticeable scar alongside his left eye as his gaze remained fixed on Doomsboy.

"Start. Talking. Now."


Fun Fact: Young Justice marks Dubbilex first animated appearance.