~I would just like to thank Jess906 and XxxRazorBladeRomanceXxx for being, well, the only people to review this story. You guys rock! Everyone else – I have seven reviews and over 200 hits. If that's not dropping a hint, I don't know what is :)
BTW, RazorBladeRomance (I'm shortening your name for time reasons, I hope you don't mind) there isn't going to be a romance between Superboy and Panthra – I was going to be going for a more brother/sister relationship. I'll explain the connection thing later after I touch base more on Faye's powers. I know I haven't explained those a lot, but I fully intend to explain that later when Zatarra comes for a visit to the cave without ZATANNA who will cause a few problems later on, just sayin' ;)
Anyway, enjoy the chapter! I devote it to my two faithful reviewers!
We decided to run back the way we came. I thought we'd catch an elevator and take it back up to the main level and fight our way out. "We are still forty-two levels below ground," Aqualad informed us. "We can make the elevator!" Just like I thought. At the end of the hall, the ape-like genomorphs we had first seen came into view, growling. We all skidded to a stop and looked to Aqualad for directions. We turned to see the round things on the wall glowing red, more cat-like genomorphs crawling out of them.
One of the ape-morphs bashed his fists into the ground. We jumped back in time to not be squashed. Superboy jumped at it, punching it repeatedly in the face. Of course, when he landed, one of them squashed him under its fist. Good thing he has Kryptonian strength. Knowing that there was no way we could take them on, the rest of us merely jumped on one ape-morph to the next until we were behind them all. The ape-morphs, seeing Superboy as the biggest threat, had all ganged up around him. "Superboy! The goal is to escape, not bury ourselves here!" Aqualad shouted to him as the walls around us shook.
"You want escape?" Superboy yelled fiercely He grabbed one ape-morph and flung him at two others, sending them all to the floor. "Come on!" Aqualad said, herding us to the elevators. "But what about Superboy?" I said, trying to look back.
"He'll be fine!" Aqualad said. "Go!"
We made our way to the elevator that Aqualad opened again, not bothering with trying to to damage them as he practically ripped them apart. Kid Flash shimmied along the edge. I saw Superboy join Aqualad as Robin pointed his grappling gun up and was pulled up the elevator shaft. I whipped out the claws in my gloves and boots, smashing them into the wall and climbing up. I looked down as Superboy, grabbing ahold of Aqualad, flew up towards me – and then fell. "No!" I whipped out one of my batarangs, letting it dig into the wall above them. Aqualad grabbed it and they hung there. I let out a sigh of relief and climbed back down to them as Robin slid back down. I stood on the ledge with them as Superboy said, "Thank you."
"Guys!" Robin's voice broke through to me as he shouted, "This level has to be our stop!"
I looked up to see the elevator quickly descending towards us. Superboy smashed the doors open and we all jumped through just as the elevator fell past us. We were in what looked more like a level for offices, but genomorphs don't really belong in an office. They came around the corners, like the ones that had poisoned me. We ran in the only direction they weren't coming from. I don't know if anyone really knew where we were going. Maybe Robin, but not many others.
Suddenly, Superboy said, "Go left!" We obeyed, thinking he knew this place since he was, er, created here. At the next corner, he shouted, "Right!"
When we came around the corner we were at a dead end, nothing but a ventilation shaft high on the wall. I grinned when I saw it. "Nice, Superboy!" He glanced at me, not sure why I was grinning. He didn't see the possibilities in a ventilation system like I did. I snapped out the claws on my hand and dug them into the wall, climbing up and ripping the vent off the wall. I let Robin climb in first then Aqualad and Kid Flash and Superboy before I finally went in last.
"At this rate, we'll never get out!" Kid Flash complained as we crawled through the cramped, musty vents. "Sh!" Superboy hissed, turning to look behind us. "Listen."
My eyes widened as I heard the snarling of the genomorphs closing in. "Go!" I hissed, pushing them towards the nearest vent. Aqualad kicked it open and we slid out. I dropped the ground and opened the purple holographic computer. I ignored KF as he hissed, "Dude, she has one too?" I scanned through the security information until I found what I wanted, grinning as I accessed it and changed a few things in the vents. I looked up at them. "I hacked the motion sensors."
"Sweet!" KF laughed.
"Still plenty of them between us and out," Robin pointed out as I stood up.
"But I've finally got room to move," Kid Flash pointed out, lowering the red goggles as he turned and pushed open a door, racing up the stairs behind it. We followed after him, Robin opening his computer this time as we raced up the stairs. I jumped through the genomorphs KF had knocked out, shaking my head. Always in a hurry, I quoted Freeze earlier that afternoon. It seemed like a lifetime ago. "Four behind us!" Robin called.
Superboy shoved me forward as he slammed his foot down on the stairs, breaking them apart. "A little warning next time," I said as we ran to catch up with the others. "Hey, next time I'll just let you be poisoned again," Superboy said when we were behind the others. "That's not – oh, never mind," I laughed. We exited the stairs, reaching level one. The hallway was blinking red with the lights on the walls as a warning siren went off. "We're cut off from the street," Aqualad said when we saw KF on the floor, rubbing his head.
"Thanks. My head hadn't noticed," He said sarcastically. Superboy walked forward. He jammed him fingers in between the doors and pulled as Aqualad joined him. They pulled as hard as they could, but the door wouldn't budge. I looked back at Robin, who was on his computer, eyes flashing across the screen. "Can't hack this fast enough," he said, putting it away as we turned to see the ape-morphs coming after us. "This way," he said, kicking a door open and running through. A legion of genomorphs was on the other side, Guardian with them. We were surrounded.
The genomorph's horns began to glow red and I saw spots dance across my vision. I collapsed to the floor, passing out before I was on the ground.
When I woke up, my head hurt like heck, but I was okay. I stood up to find that the others had passed out as well. "I'll deal with Desmond," Guardian was saying.
"I think not!" Desmond stood behind the genomorphs, who parted to see him. He held a liquid in a test tube in one hand. "Project BLOCKBUSTER will give me the power to restore order to CADMUS," He said, drinking the blue liquid.
He began to spasm and fell to his knees, twitching. His skin began to bulge and stretch until it exploded off him, leaving behind a slate-grey body with red markings, huge and vicious. "Everyone, get back!" Guardian, now freed from the genomorph's mind control, ran at Desmond. Desmond merely lifted his arm and back-handed him, sending him flying. Oh, boy.
Superboy leaped at Desmond and punched him in the jaw. It phased Desmond, but only for a moment. He returned his own punch, and Superboy, growing angrier and angrier by the second, leapt into the air and performed a series of punches and kicks to his face. But Desmond reeled back a fist and planted it straight in Superboy's face, sending him flying backwards. Angrier than ever, Superboy jumped into the air, yelling, as he made a fist to punch Desmond. Before he could reach him, Desmond tackled Superboy in the air, sending them both flying through the ceiling.
We ran up to the hole, looking up. "Okay, that's one way to bust through the ceiling," Robin said, getting out his grappling gun.
"Do you think lab coat planned that?" Kid Flash asked.
"I doubt he's planning anything," Aqualad said grimly.
Robin nodded. I was getting ready to whip my claws out when Robin's arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me to his side. I looked up at his face, but he just grinned at me. "I could have climbed up the wall," I pointed out as we went up through the ceiling. "It would've taken too long," Robin grinned, setting me down at the top. I turned and gaped at the sight before me. Aqualad jumped through the ceiling with Kid Flash.
Superboy was thrown towards us. Robin, KF, and I ducked, but he was thrown right into Aqualad. They slid across the ground while we ran up to them. I went to Superboy and slipped his arm over my shoulder, helping him up. We all looked ahead at Desmond. What was he planning on doing? Killing us? Would he ever be able to go back to being normal?
We ran at him, Kid Flash speeding ahead. He dove between his legs, confusing him for a moment. Just the distraction Aqualad and Superboy needed to be able to get a combined punch straight to his face. As he was flailing backwards, KF got on his hands and knees, tripping Desmond. Standing up, KF grinned. "Learned that one in Kindergarten."
I jumped over KF's head, planting my feet on Desmond's face, forcing him back to the ground as he snarled. I flipped off his face as Superboy stood his ground in front of him. Desmond stood, grabbed Superboy, and rammed him into a pillar that dented and cracked with the force. Superboy tried to get a few punches in but Desmond sent another bone-crushing punch to his face. Aqualad quickly wrapped a water whip around his arm when he brought it back to punch Superboy again. Desmond grabbed the whip and pulled Aqualad towards him. The Atlantian jumped onto the pillar and his water whip changed to a spiked club that he swung down at Desmond's head.
But Desmond grabbed the club and threw Aqualad to the ground, cracking the floor. Or, in that case, the ceiling. Depended on which level you were on. Desmond threw Superboy into a new pillar. Flash ran at him to distract him again so Aqualad could get a hit in, but Desmond wasn't falling for this trick again. He threw Kid Flash at the Atlantian and they smacked into the wall. I scanned the area. There had to be something that could help us bring him down. If he was too strong for Superboy, then we obviously had an issue. With each hit on my teammates, the ceiling shook and dirt and dust fell down on us. An idea suddenly struck me.
Robin called KF to him while I went to start on one of the pillars. I attached one of Robin's explosives to it and jumped off, joining Robin who was drawing a chalk X on the ground. "Come on," He said, running towards Aqualad.
KF ran towards the X while Aqualad sprayed some water on it. KF slid to a stop inside of it. Desmond charged him, but Superboy sent an earth-shattering punch to the face, making him fall backwards right over the X. Aqualad generated some some lightning and then plunged it onto the water. The lightning traveled across the water to Desmond, shocking his body with God knows how many volts of electricity "Move!" Robin shouted.
The explosives began to beep, showing telling that they were about to blow. And then they did, and the pillars came crashing to the ground in clouds of dust, fire, and explosions.
We ran as far as we could, but we were injured and tired. When the ceiling began to fall down on us Superboy tackled me to the ground, wrapping his arms around me and holding me to his chest to protect from the falling debris. I felt weight and pressure all around me and suddenly I felt very claustrophobic. I felt Superboy dislodge one of his hands to burst out of the prison of rubble. He lifted a large slab of stone off us and helped me stand. He was busy looking ahead as I looked down at myself and the others. Our clothes were ripped, torn, and the revealed skin was scathed and bruised. I knew that my cheek was no doubt purple/black from where Superboy had punched me and my back was probably a mess. My leggings were shredded to barely cover hardly any of my legs.
Panting, Aqualad looked at us. "We. . . . Did it!" He sounded so surprised I laughed, but winced when I felt something shift painfully in my chest, the claw marks on my back twisting in a fresh wave of pain. I looked at Robin, who panted, "Was there. . . Ever any doubt?" He and Kid Flash high fived, but immediately clutched their arms and sides in pain. I saw Desmond lying unconscious under a pile of rubble not far from where we were. I went over to stand by him. I elbowed him in the ribs. "See? That's the moon. And it's a full moon tonight, too – you're lucky."
Superboy stared up at it in wonder, his eyes flickering between each and every star like he was trying to count them all. Then they fixed back on the purity of the shining moon. A black shape appeared on it, though, coming closer and closer at a very fast rate. I gulped. Uh-oh. Superman.
"Oh, and Superman! Do we keep our promises or what?" KF asked, coming to stand at his left. He crossed his arms and smiled up at the Man of Steel, even though I knew that inside he was feeling nervous. Superboy's eyes widened as he looked at – for lack of a better word – his father for the first time.
With Superman came Red Tornado, Zatarra, Captain Marvel, Martian Manhunter, Captain Atom, Hawk-Man, Wonder Woman, Hawk-Girl, and Green Lantern. Those who couldn't fly came down on a green platform courtesy of Green Lantern. On that was Black Canary, Green Arrow, Aquaman, and Batman. Flash ran down to stand by Green Arrow. I gulped as I looked at Batman. He looked none too thrilled. He walked forward to stand behind Superman. We were surrounded by superheroes. But that wasn't the scariest part. We were surrounded by superheroes with seriously disappointed faces. Yeah, imagine that look you get from your parent's times fifteen. Then add on one thousand because they're superheroes.
Superboy walked forward to stand in front of us. Superman narrowed his eyes at him. Superboy hesitated before lifting up the torn material of his radiation suit to reveal the red S on his chest. Superman's face changed to outraged shock. And in that instant, Superboy's face was open with a small smile on his lips. He wanted Superman to like him. Superman was, in all it's ways, his idol. But Superman's face didn't morph into delight or acceptance.
His face changed into a kind of anger and confusion that left Superboy stunned for a moment. But then he dropped the tattered piece of his suit and let his face slip back into hardness. "Is that what I think it is?" Batman asked.
"He doesn't like being called an 'it'," I said, walking up to stand with Superboy. "I'm Superman's clone!" He burst out, angry at Superman for not accepting him. For not even trying to. The other League members around us all exchanged surprised looks of shock at each other. We waited for someone to say something – anything. Batman finally broke the tense silence. "Start talking."
Later, after we had told the League about everything that we'd done and seen, most of them left with Desmond. A few of them, including Superman, stayed behind to converse in a small circle. One group of people included all of our mentors. And one other small group was Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, and Superman. Finally, Superman began to walk over towards Superboy. I didn't want to snoop so I turned away to look at Batman instead. My thoughts flashed back to this morning. How he hadn't trusted me or Robin with the League's real HQ. Had it been a security measure or was it really because they didn't trust us? That they didn't think we were ready? Whatever it was, I wanted to know. But I knew that asking too many questions would get me no where. Batman walked towards us and I stood up straighter, not wanting to show just how much pain I was in.
"CADMUS will be investigated," Batman said. "All fifty-two levels. But let's make one thing clear—"
"You should have called," said Flash, crossing his arms and sounding very peeved off. Batman glared at him.
"End results aside, we are not happy," Batman continued, his words a punch in the gut. "You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders, and endangered lives. You will not be doing this again."
Aqualad looked at us, and the choice was clear in all of our eyes as we looked at our unspoken leader. He looked at Batman. "I am sorry. But we will."
"Aqualad, stand down," Aquaman commanded.
"No, my king," said the Atlantian. "My apologies. We did good work here tonight. The work you trained us to do. Together. On our own we forged something powerful. Important."
"If this is about your treatment at the hall, the four of you—" Flash began to say.
"Five," KF corrected. "The five of us."
"And it's not," I said, crossing my arms, even though my eyes said slightly otherwise.
"Batman, we're ready to use what you taught us," Robin said, coming to stand by my side. "Or why teach us at all?"
Silence was what we were given by our mentors. Superboy broke the silence. Arms crossed, he scoffed, "Why let them tell us what to do? It's simple." He walked forward. "Get on board, or get out of the way."