"Don't move!"

I didn't listen and spun around. Standing in the door was Guardian. All around him were snarling genomorphs, their beady reds eyes fixed on us. "Wait. Robin? Panthra? Aqualad? Kid Flash?"

"At least he got your name right," Robin snickered before turning back to the computer. But then he stopped again and looked back at Guardian, his face suddenly losing the joking smirk and instead turning a deadly suspicious. "I know you," said Aqualad, looking at the man. "Guardian. A hero."

Guardian's golden helmet gleamed in the flickering blue light coming from the pointy creatures. "I do my best."

Kid Flash spoke up, looking at him in suspicious confusion. "Then what're you doing here?"

"I think that's my question, boys. Er, and girl." The creatures flicked their long, powerful tails, looking at us though they wanted nothing more than to rip us to shreds. Like they were waiting for their command to pounce on us. I saw a smaller version sitting on his shoulder. Its horns were glowing red. I realized what was going on and my eyes began to scan the room, looking for an escape exit.

"I'm chief of security," Guardian continued. "You're trespassing." I glanced at Robin. He was piecing it together, too. "But we can call the Justice League. Figure this out."

"You think the League's going to approve of you breeding weapons?" KF demanded, feeling a little nervous about having the League called down on us. Plus, who was he to say that we were in trouble? He's helping CADMUS breed weapons!

"What? Weapons? What are you talk—" He was cut off as the genomorph turned its head to look at him, it's eyes and horns glowing brighter. He groaned and placed a hand to his temple. "Ugh – my head!" His face froze and then set in a fierce expression, growling, "Take them down hard! No mercy!"

And the creatures pounced. When they were a few feet from us, Robin threw down a gas ball, smoke exploding and clouding around us. I heard Robin's grappling gun and groaned as it disappeared. Great. He'd left already. One of the snarling creatures jumped out of the smoke and ran towards me. I swung my leg out to smack into its jaw, running past it. I saw Flash dive off a wall and take out two of the genomorphs. I yelled when one of the jumped on my back, it's claws going down my back. I screamed and reached backwards, throwing it off me and into the wall. "Panthra!"

"Panthra, come on!"

I looked around the smoke and ran towards their voices, my back stinging were the genomorphs claws had touched my back. I ran around a corner to see Robin glaring lividly at Kid Flash and Aqualad. "What do you mean, you lost her!"

"It's not just our fault, you know! You left us back there to deal with a legion of demon experiments!" Kid Flash said.

"Shut it!" I shouted, running them. "Get through that freaking door because they're right behind me!"

Robin got the door open and Kid Flash and Aqualad got through the door, Robin's hand hovering over the door's close button. I jumped through and the doors slammed in the faces of the genomorphs. I laid on the ground for a moment, catching my breath before I stood up and fought down the sick feeling in my stomach. The marks on my back felt ice cold and stung around the edges. "Panthra?"

I looked up. Kid Flash was looking at the ground where I had been moments before. Blood was on the floor. I stood up straight and felt a presence at my back, knowing it was Robin. He brushed my hair out of the way and held the shredded cape to one side, inspected my back. I felt one of his gloves softly touch my back and I flinched, not letting the whimper escape my throat. "I'm fine," I said. "Just a scratch."

"Panthra," Aqualad said. "Maybe you should wait here."

"What?" I looked at him in horror. "No! I'm fine, seriously!" I moved away from Robin, looking at the floor number at the top of the elevator. "I take it we're going to sub-level fifty-two?"

"What?" KF looked up. "Dude, the way out is up!"

"Excuse me? Project Kr? It's down, on sub-level fifty-two!" Robin said.

"This is out of control," Aqualad said, putting his hand on the back of his neck. "Panthra's hurt, and please stop saying you're not," He said, looking at me. I shut my mouth. "Perhaps . . . Perhaps we should contact the League."

We stood in the elevator, thinking it through. No, I didn't want the League to find out. Not yet. Not until we'd done something of importance. I looked at the doors. Project Kr. What was it?

Doors slid open and I peered around the corner. Oh, holy crap.

No way, I thought as I looked around. Not possible.

This place looked like some kind of living thing that we were inside. Like we were in the belly of the beast, literally. The walls looked like they had little red speed balls on them with a few purple ones mixed in on random places. Robin ran out of the elevator and I followed, wincing as the skin on my back continued to shift. The ground kind of squished beneath our feet as we ran. I noticed the occasional few cans of something as we ran, but I never stopped long enough to look at the labels. We ran until we came to a fork in the hallway. We crouched down behind some metal boxes. I looked down the fairly identical hallways, possibilities running through my mind. I felt the slashes on my back twitch, like they had a pulse. Ignore it, I thought to myself, clenching my teeth. Don't draw attention to yourself. You're the only girl here – Don't be weak!

"Which way?" Aqualad asked, looking to Robin.

"Yeah," scoffed Robin, glancing at me. "Bizarre looking hallway one or bizarre looking hallway two?"

"Halt!"

From one of the hallways came a man – except it wasn't a man. It kind of looked like a genomorph, but everything about it looked human. Its skin was blue, but it looked longer and thinner than a person. It's head looked like a mix of human and genomorph. Long horns curved up out of its forehead. He lifted his hand and the horns began to glow red. The cans lifted into the air by themselves and then flew at us. Robin and I ducked behind the metal boxes while the metal cans flew at KF and Aqualad. They ducked and the cans flew it into the wall, exploding on impact. Robin threw one of his circular Batarangs at his head, but it stopped before reaching his head, dropping harmlessly to the ground. A telepath, I thought, remembering one of the powers on the statistics list.

More of the cans lifted into the air, but we all ran down the other hallway. I turned to look over my shoulder to see them soaring towards us. They exploded right behind our heels in a burst of heat and a very rank smell. KF ran ahead of us, probably to scout it out again. "Robin," I said as we ran. "What?" I looked over my shoulder at him. "I don't think this is going to be a very asterous mission."

He barked out a laugh and ran faster. We turned the corner to see an African American woman on the ground, KF jamming a slowly closing door open with a cylinder of the explosive liquid. "Hurry," he said, waving us into the room. Aqualad jumped through and kicked the cylinder out of the door. I looked at the now red symbol on the door – Project Kr. Robin was already on his holographic computer, doing something or other.

"I disabled the door," Robin said, turning to look at us. "We're safe."

"We're trapped," Aqualad corrected him grimly.

"Uh, guys?" We turned to see KF standing in front of a large control panel. "You'll want to see this." He pressed a button and lights began to turn on in a tall chamber in front of him. I walked forward, standing behind his shoulder. The lights revealed a handsome boy who looked about sixteen years old. His hair was black as midnight and as I looked at his face, something about him seemed far too familiar. "Whoa," Robin said, eyes wide.

I walked up to stand in front of the chamber with KF, placing my hand on the glass as he said, "Big K little r – the atomic sign for Krypton!" I noticed three genomorphs in glass tubes above him on the board he was resting on. I peered at him closer, trying to remember where I'd seen him before. "Clone?" I vaguely heard Kid Flash ask. "Robin. Hack." I heard Aqualad say to Robin.

"Oh – right, right. . . ."

They stood behind me, talking about something or other. I wasn't paying attention. This boy. It wasn't just a resemblance that I was trying to piece together, more like I was trying to remember him specifically. I felt a sort of connection to him, something that I couldn't understand. It didn't feel like the connection I had with Robin or Bruce. It felt deeper than that. Like I was linked to him. I briefly hesitated before closing my eyes, emptying my mind and searching. Searching for him.

I found him – his energy was a long cord of black smoke in the midst of my mind. I latched onto it and felt the rush as I was pulled into his dreams.

There wasn't much to see. It was mostly black, but I saw the boy standing a few feet away. He wore the white radiation suit and was staring out into the blank nothingness. I cautiously stepped towards him until I was standing beside him. "Hello?"

He turned to look at me and blinked in surprise. "You don't look like the others."

I frowned. "The others?"

"Yeah. Who are you?"

"I'm—"

I clutched my head as pain ripped through my skull. The dream around me shattered into pieces and I fell.

I opened my eyes. Robin was calling to me, "Get back, Panthra, I'm letting him out!"

I scrambled back to them, trying to piece together what I'd seen. No dream I'd ever been in had been that blank before. It was so dark, pointless. The chamber hissed open, steam puffing out as the sides pulled themselves apart, revealing the boy. I waited, not breathing. He was awake. His fingers flexed before curling into a tight fist. I stepped away from the others and moved towards him again. I stood beside him and looked up at his face. I didn't notice the genomorph's horns glowing before it was too late.

The boys eyes snapped open – a brilliant blue – and moved down to look at me. Before I could blink, his fist had sailed into my cheek, sending me flying across the room to slam against the wall. I fell to the ground, feeling like I'd been smashed in the face with a wrecking ball. I looked through hooded eyes to see the boy with his foot planted on Robin's chest before black spots swam in front of my eyes and I crumbled over sideways and my vision went black.

~ Superboy ~

I picked up the dark-skinned boy and dragged him back into the other room where the others lay. I hooked my fingers onto the boys' collars, dragging all three with one hand. I looked around. There'd been a girl somewhere. I saw her laying on the ground by a wall and walked over to her. She was on her stomach with her head turned towards me, her face covered in her dark hair. I knelt down and flipped her hair off her face but stopped.

She looked so familiar – like I'd seen her in a dream or something. Her full lips were parted, a bit of blood on her lower lip. I noticed a large red mark on her face from where I'd punched her. Claw marks ran down her back. Carefully, I lifted her in my other arm, kind of cradling her. I didn't want to hurt this one. She seemed too . . . I didn't have a word for it. But she was just so familiar looking that I couldn't help but wonder where I'd seen her.

~ Panthra ~

'Time runs short. You must awaken. You must awaken now!"

My eyes flew open and I gasped, sucking air into my lungs. I became aware of how much my face hurt and winced. I felt my back stinging, sharper than before, and groaned, letting my head hang as I fought of the pain. It felt like it was being ripped apart all over again as icy needles stabbed all over my back. I was in some sort of containment chamber like the one the boy had been in. But now my hands were strapped above me so I was spread eagle. I looked up to see the boy standing in front of us, his eyes hard and his face kind of angry looking.

"What?" I heard Kid Flash ask somewhere to my left. I looked to see them in similar chambers. Robin, then Kid Flash, then Aqualad. "What do you want?"

The boy's face shifted but he didn't say anything.

"Quit staring, you're creeping me out!" Kid Flash shouted.

"Uh, KF," said Robin, glancing at the boy. "How about we not tick off the guy who can fry us with a look?"

"We only sought to help you," I heard Aqualad's calming voice say.

"Yeah, then you turn on us!" said KF, his voice still livid. "How's that for gra—"

"Kid, please," Aqualad interrupted him, silencing him. "Be quiet now." He looked back at the boy. "I don't believe our friend has full control of his actions."

I heard a small snapping sound and glanced at Robin. A lock pick had extended from the tip of one of his fingers and he was carefully picking at his restraints. The boy groaned and I looked back at him. "What? What have I. . . ?" He trailed off for a moment before looking back up. "What if I wasn't?"

"He can talk?" Kid Flash said in surprise. The boy's fist clenched, and he said, "Yes, he can." Okay, now he sounded ticked off.

"It's not like I said 'it'," Kid Flash grumbled.

I felt a fresh slice of pain up my back and shuddered, my restraints shifting slightly. I felt weak – kinda like jelly. I felt limp and let myself hang, my hair covering my face. I wove in and out of consciousness for awhile, only picking up pieces of conversation.

I woke up again to hear someone say, "Begin the cloning process."

"Pass! Batcave's crowded enough," Robin spoke up. I winced as a chuckle escaped my throat. That got Robin's attention. "Panthra? What's wrong?"

The man's voice spoke up. "She appears to have been attacked by a genomorph. He must have scratched her hard enough to bleed. Poor girl. The poison's probably already half way through her system."

I lifted my head to turn it and look at Robin. His eyes were quickly scanning my face and I felt nervous suddenly. Poison? Would this poison kill me? Turn me into a genomorph?. "Well, we can't clone her in that condition – she'd die before we got enough DNA. I suppose we could use her," said the man. "The poison usually has killed a person by now. She must be very strong. I can't imagine how much pain she's put up with tonight, though. And we could always use more clones. Fine. Give her an antidote to hold off the poison for awhile."

I felt a needle stab into the small of my back and I arched as it injected me with what I hoped was an antidote. Thank goodness, though, it was, and I began to feel a lot better. But I still felt drained and I fell forward, supported only by the next thing I knew, more needles were injected into my chest. They began to shock me, and I felt blood leave my body. I groaned and strained against the bands on my wrists and ankles. "I don't know your name," I hissed through my clenched teeth. "But please listen. You live. That gives you the right to make your own future. A weapon or a person. It's your choice. But ask yourself this – what would Superman do?" I broke off in a yell as a fresh wave of volts wracked my body.

I don't know how long they drew blood, but eventually, it stopped. The needles didn't leave, but I couldn't feel them drawing blood anymore. I looked up when I heard the man say, "Superboy? What're you doing? I told you to get back to your pod!"

The boy punched him in the jaw, sending him to the floor. "Don't give me orders," he growled.

"You here to help us or fry us?" KF asked, joking but also serious.

Superboy's eyes narrowed. However, he stopped after a moment. "Huh. I don't seem to have heat vision so I suppose helping is my only option." I blinked. What would he have done if he did have heat vision? Robin finally picked his locks and his chamber opened with a hiss. He dropped to the ground, rubbing his wrists. "Finally!"

"Lucky Batman isn't here," I said with a weak grin. "He'd have your head for taking so long."

"Hey, I didn't see you picking yourself free."

"Well excuse me, I was dieing from genomorph poison. I think I have a more legit excuse than you."

"Seriously?" We looked at KF, who had interrupted "That's what you're worried about? The whole League's gonna have our heads after tonight, dude!"

Robin pressed a button on the control panel and the needles left our chests and the glass doors slid open. The restraints on our wrists stayed in place. "Free Aqualad," Robin said, looking at Superboy. "I'll get Kid Mouth and then Panthra."

"Don't you give me orders either," Superboy growled and leapt at me. He ripped off my restraints and I fell forward against his chest weakly. I looked up at him, smiling. "Thank you." He nodded down at me, his eyes thanking me. Robin freed Aqualad and Kid Flash, shooting suspicious looks in Superboy and my direction. "Come on, hurry up." He snapped, running past us with Kid Flash and Aqualad. I shrugged and ran after them.

"You'll. . . You'll never get out of here!" I heard the man say behind me. "I'll have you back in pods before morning!"

"That guy is not whelmed," Robin said, stopping at the door. "Not whelmed at all." He threw four exploding batarangs and continued after us. I heard some explosions behind and grinned – no multiple Robins running around. Or Kid Flash. I shuddered at the thought of a million of him. Or two. Two would probably be bad enough.