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Betrayal From Within, chapter 2

Conner shivered as he lay in bed that night. He looked over at the empty cot and thought back to the discussion Max had with Dr. Mid-Nite.

"You've found a problem," Max said.

"Yes," Dr. Mid-Nite said grimly.

Conner had a feeling of dread.

"What is it?" Max asked, sounding detached.

"Your body is degenerating. I don't know the cause of it, but the effects are undeniable. Your body's systems are failing."

"I see."

"Is there anything you can do?" Conner asked.

"In other cases, I could transplant organs to stave off their failure, but there are only two Kryptonian-human hybrids that I know of. The effects are widespread enough that it couldn't do much. We can hook you up to life support to take the pressure off of your body, but that would only delay the inevitable. I'm sorry."

"Do you have an idea when I'll no longer be able to function?" Max asked.

"It's looking like a matter of weeks."

Conner felt tears run down his face. He wiped them away angrily. He wasn't going to give in to despair. He was going to find a way to save Max.
Barbara Gordon sighed. Superboy had made a request of her to locate several geneticists. Unfortunately, she had received the same list from Superman, and, earlier, Batman. The communications console beeped. If this was another request to find geneticists, she was going to scream.

Match's face appeared on the screen. "Oracle, is there anything I can do to assist you?"

"Shouldn't you be resting?" she asked, noting that he didn't look very healthy.

"I can still operate in support. I've been given permission to do that."

She glanced at another screen and verified that was true.

"I'm going to send you part of a list of individuals to find," she said. "I'll be working on the rest of it. If I find your work is unsatisfactory, then I'm going to revoke your permission."

Match nodded. "That's understandable."

Barbara sent him half the names on the list and started working on the other half.

Conner was a little disturbed at how well the Cadmus staff had gone into hiding. He had managed to find Serling through her mother. Or rather, Oracle did.

"Kon!" she said, hugging him. "It's been forever! How are you doing?"

"I've been okay," he replied. "I've got a problem that I hope you can help me with."

"You don't have a clone plague or anything, do you?" she asked, worriedly, looking him over for any signs of illness.

"It's not me. I've got another clone whose body is degenerating. I want you to see if there's anything you can do."

Serling frowned. "I'll try, but going over a completely unfamiliar person's DNA is going to take time."

"You're already familiar with this DNA."

"Huh? Where have I seen it before? It's not Guardian's, is it?"

"It's the same as mine. Match is dying."

Serling blinked. "Are you sure you want to save him? Isn't he...a bad guy?"

"He's not bad anymore! He's...changed. He's my brother."

Serling blinked and then gave him a calming smile. "I'll help in any way that I can."

Dabney Donovan smirked. "It appears that I'm of use to you."

Superman forced himself to be calm. He didn't like this rogue geneticist and thought that jail suited him quite well.

"There's a clone that needs your expertise," he said. "He needs you to save him."

"A clone? Really? Why not just make another? There's always room for one more, and even you won't be able to tell the difference."

Superman's eyes narrowed. "He's important to me. He's not someone who can be swapped out with another clone."

"So, what's his problem? Is he missing an arm or a leg and you want me to grow him another one? You hardly need someone of my caliber to do that."

"His body is degenerating."

"Oh dear, that's no good. So is it Superboy or Guardian who's falling apart? I didn't think Cadmus' warranty ran out so soon. Or is it a new Supergirl? I think it's been a week since there was a new one."

"It's neither of them. The person I want you to help is Match."

Donovan stared at him for a second before bursting out laughing. "Match? The clone of a clone? He can't be replaced? Oh, this is priceless."

"I know you're already familiar with the details of him creation."

"Yes, I've studied the Agenda's cloning techniques. It's not fully accurate to call him a copy of Superboy; it's more accurate to call him a cheap copy."

"Those were the only two you could find?" Batman asked.

"The rest have gone into hiding," Oracle said. "Given more time, I could find them."

"Those two will have to do."

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I originally wasn't going to do this as a story, but I thought there needed to be something between Tragedies of the Past and one I'm currently writing.

Any and all comments welcome!