A/N: Lo and behold, the second chapter! Now onto the reviews:
TorinoWint: Thank you for the kind words! I hope that you'll enjoy this one as well.
Sakara95: I know it feels forced, but the SI ended up in Gotham City. If it was say, Metropolis then he would've called for Superman. But he didn't so he tried to bait Batman and ended up succeeding by mistake. Also, I made Batman paranoid because he was the only one out of the five who is naturally suspicious.
ShortyMcCoy: To be fair, the first chapter was meant to act as a sort of prequel/how we got here. The rest of the chapters should be much better paced to your liking.
Ezeakel: Don't like the story, don't read the story. It's as simple as that. I did read The Spider, and I think it's highly overrated and poor writing. Other than that, I have nothing else to say.
Washington DC
July 4th 2010 13:30 EDT
So there I was outside of the Hall Of Justice. It really looked like it came straight from the comic: It was massive, about as tall as a five story building. The entrance and a glass dome was right under a marble arch with the words 'Hall Of Justice' written on said arc. There was a marble pillar to each side of the building, one to the left and one to the right of where the doors were, and two more at each end of the building. Hal was right next to me and smiled before going "So, what do you think?"
"I think that we arrived way too early. For god's sake, we beat Batman and Robin and I'd never thought that was possible!"
It's at this point I hear prepubesecent giggling before a short, roughly 5'6' figure falls down from the trees with Batman and shouts out while moving his arms dramatically "Or maybe that's what we wanted you to think!"
"We?"
"Alright fine, it was my idea." It's at this point said figure comes closer into the light and I see who it is: Robin. Wearing a red vest with an R in a black circle on the left side of his chest and a utility belt around his waist with three metal rectangles holding the vest shut. Black boots, gloves and leggings complete the ensemble with a cape that's black on the outside and yellow on the inside. He walks up to me and says "Hey there, I'm Robin." in a polite 'I-want-to-be-friends' way. Not wanting to appear rude, I go "I'm the Chimera." to which he smirks and asks curiously "A bit theatrical, don't you think?"
"We are superheroes, you know. Theatrics are practically a requirement for the job, as I'm sure you know."
It's at this point a much more disdainful voice speaks up with "Yeah, and I wish we'd stop with it. Who knows how effective we can be without making a show." I turn around and I see Speedy and Green Arrow. Speedy himself is 5'8", wearing a domino mask with a yellow version of Robin Hood's hat with a red feather over his red hair, a red quiver filled with red arrows (heh), a red shirt that goes down a bit past the waist with the quiver's yellow sash going around it, a utility belt yellow gloves, red pants and yellow boots completing the ensemble. Green Arrow himself is 5'11", also wearing a domino mask and has a much more dignified ensemble of a green hood, a green shirt with a hood over a light green vest with light green gloves. Black pants and dark green boots cover his legs and his quiver is green with a black sash. The most noteworthy feature is his beard and mustache that he has in both identities. How has he not been outed yet?
Before I can respond, I get glomped by M'gann who asks me "Hello Chimera, how have you been?"
"I've been pretty good. And you, Miss Martian?"
"Pretty fine. Being a superhero is hard work, but it's all worth it. Earth has treated me much better than Mars has." She looks distantly uncomfortable for a moment before going back to her normal smile. Martian Manhunter turns to M'gann and reminds her "M'gann, let's not look back to the past. Let's look to the future."
"Of course, Uncle J'onn."
While I get off of M'gann, Speedy looks at her with what I hope is rudely expressed curiosity and asks harshly "Who are you?"
"Oh, I'm Martian Manhunter's niece."
"And I never heard of you because?"
"I just arrived here on Earth two months ago and my public debut was two weeks ago. I spent three days with Chimera at his home prior to it."
"Righttttt."
It's at this point Green Arrow berates his partner with "Speedy, you're being a bit rude. Apologize."
Speedy growls "Fine. Sorry, Miss Martian. I was a bit paranoid, and that made me hostile towards you. Do you accept my apology?"
In the coldest tone I can possibly hear from M'gann, she replies coldly "Yes, but don't expect me to forget the reason for it." Wow, ice cold M'gann. Attempting to defuse the tension, I talk up and go "Well, let's not dwell on that. Today's the day! If anything, that's what we should dwell on." to which Robin, Speedy and Miss Martian go from various states of akwardness to immediate smiling. I then decide to go "If you told me 3 months ago that I would be standing in front of the Hall Of Justice with fellow superheroes as part of my first step to becoming a member of the Justice League, I'd be questioning your sanity."
The sound of footsteps distract me from my thoughts and one glance at that distraction shows me Aquaman and Aqualad. Aquaman himself looks like the usual: A tall, 5'8" - 5'10" muscle bound blondehaired and blondebearded blue eyed Causcasian man wearing an orange scalemail tunic with dark green leggings as his uniform. On said uniform is a gold belt with a stylized A and golden gauntlets with dark green armor (which I would later know as greaves) on his legs. Aqualad himself is wearing a red and blue swimsuit with fins on the back of the calves and a similar A on his belt. On his back is what appears to be a metal backpack with two handles sticking out of it. The most outstanding parts of his appearance isn't even on the uniform, rather his body: black eel tattoos that run among his arms leading from his back and webbing on his hands and feet one expects to see on a frog, and gills on his neck. He looks at me and says "While I would not phrase it like that, I would have to agree with your statement Chimera." before holding his hand out and going "Apologies for my interruption and lack of introduction. I am Kaldur'ahm, but you may call me Kaldur or Aqualad depending on your preference."
"It's okay, Kaldur. I know the feeling. Now, onto more urgent matters: Where are the speedsters? We won't start without them." It's at this point Batman speaks up and informs us "As per usual, they are running late. If I had to estimate their ETA, it would be within a few minutes."
Aquaman speaks up and suggests "While we wait for them, I think that we wait outside the Hall."
We promptly move closer to the Hall, and Batman kicks things off with a "Today's the day." Martian Manhunter continues the introduction with "Your first step to becoming fullfledged members of the Justice League." before Green Arrow follows up with "Welcome to the Hall of Justice." with Aquaman finishing off with "Headquaters of the Justice League." Before anybody else can voice their thoughts, an "Aw man!" followed by two squeals of rubber ring out. Turning to look at the source, I see The Flash and Kid Flash joining us. "I knew we'd be the last ones here!"
Kid Flash himself had the most comics accurate uniform yet: yellow with red pants and gloves, red goggles, a red lightning bolt emblem on a white circle, and two extruding red lightning bolts where the ears should be. Flash himself is wearing a red bodysuit with yellow boots, a yellow lighting bolt emblem on a white circle, two extruding yellow lightning bolts where the ears should be, and lightning bolts doodled on his waist and wrists. With a smirk, Flash tells his partner "Calm down, Kid. It's not like the end of the world." to which Kid Flash yells annoyingly "Oh, for you it isn't!"
Batman, deciding to regain some semblance of control, growls out "Enough. Let's not waste any more time." Aquaman agrees with "We should get a move on."
Walking to the Hall with my fellow mentors and proteges, I hear indiscriminate speech from the public. One questions if it's Batman, another four arguing over Kid Flash's and Speedy's names, some photographer trying to get a shot of M'gann for 'reference' and getting stopped before he does anything, and a few more trying to get Batman say something.
While walking to the entrance, I hear Kid Flash ask me "So, what's the deal with you and Beautiful over there?" to which I respond semitruthfully with "I come from a different universe with a different history and laws of science. While there, I came into possession of the Omnitrix. I was flung to this universe because of an unknown rift in the fabric of reality. Said interactions between me and the rift gave me some general knowledge of the heroes of this universe, but none of the important stuff like the history of the universe. As for Miss Martian, the only thing I can tell you is that she's Martian Manhunter's niece."
"So, alternate universes exist?"
"Yes, but I can't access mine for some reason. I really want to go back home and tell my parents what happened to me, but it's been two months and I haven't gotten any results from S.T.A.R Labs."
"It must suck to know that your powers can't help you get the thing you want."
In a tiny pained voice, I whisper "Yeah, it does." After a few seconds, I stop brooding to make sure that I don't bring down the mood of the day with me.
After a few minutes, we reach the outside of the Hall. Green Arrow asks us "Ready to see the inner sanctum?" to which Speedy replies with "Born that way." and a minor glance towards his mentor.
Aqualad decides to converse with us fellow sidekicks by starting with "I'm glad we're all here." M'gann practically jumps up and yells excitedly "Me too. I always wanted to see what Earth was like." before continuing somewhat sadly with "It's nothing like I thought it would be, but that's OK." Before anybody else could respond, Kid Flash glances curiously at Robin and asks "Have all four-" M'gann and I glare at him immediately and he backtracks with "sorry, six sidekicks been at the same place at the same time?". As if the word 'sidekick' offended him, Speedy angrily replies with "Don't call us sidekicks. Not after today." With all the sincerity one can muster without being Superman, Kid Flash apologizes with "Sorry. First time at the Hall. I'm a little overwhelmed." Miss Martian enthusiastically yells "Not as much as me!" which I follow up with "Nor me."
Robin, apparently deciding to bastardize English, asks himself "You're all overwhelmed, Freeze was underwhelmed. Why isn't anybody just whelmed?" as we walk through the doors. We all stop and look at the massive bronze statues of the seven founders (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash II, Green Lantern II, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter) to which Robin reacts with a "Oh. Maybe that's why." At the base of the statues is a large door with 'AUTHORIZED PERSONEL ONLY'written on it. Sliding open, I see Red Tornado, a blue caped red human sized robot with black slots for eyes and mouths, a yellow arrow on his forehead and a yellow circle with a red T on his chest look at us and motions to an area where the cameras can see us. He voices his congratulations with "Robin, Chimera, Speedy, Miss Martian, Aqualad, Kid Flash. Welcome. You now have unlimited access to the gym, our fully stocked gallery, and of course, our library." As he says that, the door opens.
Kid Flash and Robin fist bumps, Miss Martian squeals with glee, and Aqualad and I smile. Looking inside, I see a blue carpeted floor with a stylized pattern on it, a black metallic desk, various brown couches scattered across the room, gold bookcases filled with books built into the walls, and a computer that looked like Jack Kirby designed it. Flash announces "Make yourselves at home!" and does a grand gesture and a smile to complement his announcement. Robin and Kid Flash jump into two right next to each other, Aqualad sits calmly into the one next to them, Miss Martian flies into one near them, and I decide to sit right next to her. Speedy however remains standing, looking at our mentors angrily. Oh god, this can't end well.
M'gann looks at me and sends a telepathic How so?
I don't know, but I have a feeling that this day has gone from great to bad. Also, please stop with the telepathy. I told you before to not use it on civilians and friends without permission unless not doing so would be dangerous to us.
M'gann looks sheepishly at me while she sends me a sorry telepathically. As we end our brief telepathic conversation, I hear Batman go "Quick debrief to discuss the coincidence of six ice villains attacking on the same day" to his fellow members of the League before turning to us and saying "We shouldn't be long". He turns to a door with 'JUSTICE LEAGUE MEMBERS ONLY' written on it. A camera that looks like it belongs on a webcam pops out from the top of said door on a pole. Said camera emits a yellow light that scans each member of the League present and the computerized voice that's the telltale sign of a Zeta tube robotically voices "Recognized: Batman-0-2, Aquaman-0-6, Flash-0-4, Green Arrow-0-8, Martian Manhunter-0-7, Red Tornado-1-6."
I turn to Robin and ask "What's with the designations? Aren't they supposed to be designation first then codename?" to which he whispers a response with "The Batcave Zeta-Tube is programmed differently than the other ones on the Zeta Network to protect his secrets." Should have expected that. My musings on Batman's paranoia is ended by an angry "That's it?!" from Speedy. This won't end well.
Speedy continues his rant with "You promised a real look inside, not a glorified backstage pass!", crossing his arms as he finishes voicing his thoughts, clearly furious about something. He should really calm down, we're in the League HQ.
Aquaman speaks up calmly with "It's a first step. You've been granted access few others get."
Speedy continues his rant with "Oh really?" before he gestures his arms to windows observing us from the roof. How did I not see that? My focus turns back to the current conversation with "Who cares which side of the glass we're on?"
Green Arrow tries to calm him down with "Roy, you just need to be patient." Ouch, civilian name. There's definitely something else going down here.
"What I need is respect." Speedy then turns to us quiet proteges who were listening and not responding, trying to get us on his side with "They're treating us like kids. Worse, like sidekicks!" I can sense that whatever's going on is riling him up with each passing second. "We deserve better than this!"
We all exchange looks at each other, still silent as to why he went from continually annoyed to Hulk levels of anger. As we finish looking at each other, we turn to Speedy, my arms crossed in a 'I'm-disapointed-in-you' way and Robin's eyes going wide beneath his mask. Roy's voice drops, and he asks "You're kidding, right?". Oh dear god, what he knows is something that offends him down to a personal level, almost as if his entire identity revolves around it. Any more analysis on his behavior is interrupted by him asking "You're playing their game?!" Upon seeing our lack of reactions, his anger erupts in one word: "Why?! Today was supposed to be the day, step one in being full fledged members of the League!"
Kid Flash speaks up, voicing our thoughts with "Well sure, but I thought step one was the tour of the HQ." while he sits up straight.
"Except the Hall isn't the League's real HQ." Green Arrow looks surprised in a 'You-betrayed-my-trust-in-you' way, while Aquaman's eyes just expand in shock. Martian Manhunter's face shows how ashamed he is, as if he felt that the secret was best kept from his niece. Green Lantern looks almost apologetic at me, to which I respond with a hurt glare. Miss Martian responds to this revelation with a broken glance, as if the one person she trusted the most betrayed her feelings, and the three other boys here-Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash have their mouths drop in varying emotions of shock.
Seeing this as his cue to continue, Speedy-no, Red Arrow if this ends up where I think it will- "I bet they never told you it's just a false front for tourists and a pit stop for catching Zeta-Beam teleporter tubes to the real thing: An orbiting satellite called the Watchtower." I feel a small twinge of anger build up. Why did they lie to me? I told the founders about the Watchtower in one of my meetings with them, and when I asked if they had one here, they responded that they didn't.
Green Arrow looks at Batman, who is currently giving the father of all death glares and says "I know, I know, but I thought we could make an exception." The only response he is given is an even more deadlier death glare from Batman, to which he responds with a quiet "Or not."
Martian Manhunter's eyes glow red, and he says "We do have our reasons for not showing the Watchtower. Now, I would highly recommend we all calm down before we continue this conversation."
"Some of us have been proteges for years and you don't trust them to keep the Watchtower a secret?"
Aquaman, trying to reign in Red Arrow, points out to him "You're not helping your cause here son. Stand down, or-"
"Or what?! You'll send me to my room? And I'm not your son!" his mood shifts from angry to sad, locking his eyes with Green Arrow's, "I'm not even his. I thought I was his partner, but not anymore." With a flourish, he takes off his hat and throws it to the ground, to the shock of Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash. As he starts to walk out of the room, he shuts us down by saying "Guess they were right about you five. You're not ready yet." With those words, he leaves the room, apparently about to start his career as Red Arrow.
Before we can muse on Red Arrow's words, a beep comes from the computer and Superman appears on the monitor. He prefaces his call with "Superman to Justice League. There has been an explosion at Cadmus. It's on fire."
As the Leaguers step up to the computer, Batman mentions "I've had my suspicions of Cadmus, and some intel I acquired confirmed them. This may pres-" only to get cut off by another beep from the computer. I see a middle aged man with green eyes and a prominent moustache wearing a top hat. What's odd is that I don't know who it is until I hear "Zatara to Justice League. The sorcerer Wotan is using the Amulet of Attan to block out the sun. Requesting full League response." Ah, so that's who it is. Given the last name of Zatara, I assume he's Zatanna's dad who's still alive due to an unknown factor. Note to self: check on Constantine and Zatanna.
Batman, clearly conflicted, asks "Superman?"
"It's a small fire. The local authorities have it under control."
"Then Cadmus can wait." Pressing a button on the admittedly large keyboard, Batman speaks up into what I presume is an invisible mic and announces "All Leaguers rendezvous at Zatara's coordinates. Batman out."
Feeling a need to work out my anger and disappointment on something, I decide to stand up along with my fellow proteges only for Batman to go "Stay put." without even bothering to look at us, causing anger to rise on our faces.
Robin, whose betrayal is presumably the most personal, asks "What? Why?"
Aquaman, deciding to butt in, rebukes us "This is a League mission." with Flash continuing with "You're not trained."
Almost immediately after the words leave Flash's mouth, Kid Flash questions "Since when?"
Flash clarifies his earlier comment with "I meant you're not trained to work as a part of this team." and moves his arms around the five other mentors and the monitor to help his point.
Martian Manhunter then supports Flash's argument with "If we were to bring you into this mission now, there will be a high chance of you dying. And we cannot afford to lose you."
Aquaman continues the discussion with "There will be more missions, when you're ready."
Batman decides to end the conversation with "But for now, stay put." with Green Lantern butting in with "And don't you dare sneak out of the Hall to help us take down Wotan. It's very risky, and your deaths could cripple the League."
Flash tries to encourage us with "Look, we're sorry about this whole mess, but we felt that the Watchtower would be best kept as a surprise for later. Now stay here, and we'll be back in a flash!" The entirety of the half-hearted apology is met with various groans, as we ponder why we aren't trusted by the people we worked with.
As the mentors and Red Tornado walk away, our sadness falls away and becomes anger, except for M'gann, who's still sad. Kid Flash scoffs and begins a conversation with "When we're ready? How are we supposed to be ready when they treat us like-," before pausing as if the next words hurt to say "like sidekicks"
Aqualad continues the discussion of betrayed trust with "My mentor, my King, I thought he trusted me." with M'gann adding "I thought my uncle trusted me as well. Can't believe he's just like all of the rest of the-" before pausing to make sure her secret doesn't get out.
"Trust?" Kid Flash begins sarcastically, "They don't even trust us with the basics! They've got a secret HQ in space!"
Robin sighs and asks "Why didn't we leave with Speedy?" to which I respond with "Maybe it's because he's such a jerk?"
"Dude!"
"What did you expect me to say? It's my first time meeting him, y'know?"
"Yeah, well…"
It's at this point Aqualad cuts us off and asks "What is Project Cadmus?"
Robin, hearing this, goes "Don't know, but I can find out." before he types some things into the computer, and 'Access Denied' appears on the computer with a buzz. This doesn't seem to deter him, in fact he laughs and says "Wanna bet?" before typing some more.
As Robin hacks the League computer, Kid Flash stops to look and asks Robin in awe "Whoa. How are you doing that?"
"Same system as the Batcave!"
Just as Robin finishes hacking, 'Access Granted' pops up on the monitor and an image of a two story office building and a few sentences shows us what the League knows about Cadmus: not a lot. Seeing this information, I comment "Hmph. If Batman's suspicious about Cadmus, then we should investigate. Who knows what mad science is in there?"
Miss Martian looks at me oddly and asks "Aren't you being a bit paranoid, Chimera?"
"M'gann, when you're a superhero, paranoia is practically a requirement. A genetics laboratory that Batman is interested in and doesn't know much about is essentially a sign saying 'Please Investigate Me!'Am I right or am I right?"
Robin turns to look at me before going "Yeah, you're right."
Miss Martian then asks us "So, are we investigating or not?"
"Anything for you, babe."/ "As long as you can stay whelmed."/"It would be poetic justice."/"Somebody has to keep you all in check."
Pondering on our reactions, Aqualad wonders "So, just like that we're a team on a mission?"
Our smiles die down, but the Boy Wonder smirks and reminds Kaldur "We didn't come here for a playdate."
Kid Flash, clearly impatient, asks "How long from here to Cadmus? 'Cause I wanna race Chimera as Fastcat!"
Robin, checking the info, informs us "About sixteen minutes by car."
"Alright, let's go!"
I decide to put my foot down and prevent any cheating by telling Kid Flash "Hold on a minute, I need to change for a minute."
"Sure, go ahead."
I activate the Omnitrix, lock in Fastcat, and push the dial down. Within a second, I turn into Fastcat, now wearing a X-shaped green harness on the chest with the Omnitrix itself positioned in the middle of said harness.
While Kid Flash and I get into a sprinter's starting position, I turn to my speedster friend and ask him "Are you ready to bite my dust?"
"Oh, you're going to be biting my dust."
I hear M'gann tell me "You can do it, Chimera!". Aqualad, deciding to be the referee, announces in his voice "This shall be a race to Project Cadmus. The rules are simple: no cheating. On the count of three, you shall race. Ready?"
I respond with "As ready as I can ever be." while Kid Flash responds with "Obviously!"
Seeing the looks on our faces, Aqualad kicks off the race with "Well then, one, two, three!"
We rush to Cadmus, Kid Flash in a blur of yellow and red and I in a blur of blue, black and green. Upon arriving at Cadmus (a full three and a half minutes earlier than KF, I might add), I see two men in lab coats in front of a window who can't get to safety due to the fire. Without further prompting, I run up the walls, grab the scientists and run back down to place them on the ground all in one fell swoop. One of the firefighters sees me (or more specifically, the Omnitrix) and yells out "Hey look, it's Chimera!" and upon the arrival of Kid Flash in front of Cadmus "and whatshisname, Flashboy!" to which an indignant KF replies with "Kid Flash! Why is that so hard to remember?"
"Because it doesn't roll off the tongue as well?"
"Neither does Chimera!"
"But Chimera sounds much more memorable!
"Point made."
We see Robin, Miss Martian and Aqualad come up to us, having clearly ran or in the case of Miss Martian, flew here. Aqualad voices his displeasure at us with "While I do enjoy a bit of friendly banter, now is not the time. We are here to rescue lives and investigate Cadmus."
I respond with a salute and go "Right. Sorry. Won't happen again, Kaldur." and Kid Flash responds with "Sorry, Kaldur."
Aqualad smiles and apologizes to us with "I understand, but right now banter should be done while saving lives, which is our top priority at the moment. Speaking of doing so, are you in possession of a form capable of extinguishing fire, Chimera?"
I go "Yep!" and hit the Omnitrix. I become a 8 '0'' red crab based humanoid being known as a Cascan. My arms are merely pressurized water faucets with claws for fingers, and my head is merely a mollusk looking Vaderesque helmet with four glowing green linelike eyes and an unmoving grey mouth. Above my head is a hood made out of the same bonelike material the rest of my body is made of. Two tubes filled with water connect my arms to my back. Out of the top of my lungs, I shout out "Oceania!" and promptly turn all of the evaporated water present in Cadmus from smoke to liquid.
I turn to everybody else besides me and ask "So, what do you think?"
One of the two firefighters go "Well, you could have destabilized the building, but that's a risk we had to take."
"In fairness, I don't have any sort of firefighting training whatsoever beyond blast water or fire extinguishers at it." A quick look around the area shows that my fellow proteges have vanished, presumably inside the building. I turn to the two firefighters and go "Apologies, but I better be going now. I was supposed to be investigating Cadmus with friends, and it seems they went ahead and already entered. Perhaps we'll talk about this situation later."
Without a second's hesitation, I blast some water onto the ground, and I fly to a window on the second floor of our mysterious mad science laboratory. I detransform and enter said window to see the rest of the soon to be founding members of the Titans surrounding a computer that Robin hacked with what appears to be a wrist mounted computer. The office itself doesn't seem to look like what you'd expect from a mad scientist's office, merely a normal one: A computer, some science textbooks, a board with sticky notes, you name it, it's all there.
I get pulled from my thoughts by Aqualad going "There was something in the elevator!" followed by Miss Martian going "Whatever it was, it had some serious telepathic potential." I hear myself tell Robin "Do you have the specs for that elevator?" to which he replies in the affirmative and pulls them up on his wrist computer. I see the words 'Silver Slip Express Elevator' followed by some statistics for an elevator that would be a waste of money if it belonged in an actual two story building, which I'm highly suspecting Cadmus isn't. Robin seems to have the same thought, as he explains "This is a high-speed express elevator. It doesn't belong in a two-story building." to which Aqualad responds with "Neither does what I saw." Miss Martian, curious as ever, asks "What did you see, Aqualad?"
"I saw a humanoid being with elf-like ears, ribbons of flesh and horns that belonged on a bull."
Deciding to take charge, I tell everybody "We can ponder what Aqualad saw later. Right now, we need to investigate Cadmus. Miss Martian, are there any minds below us?"
"About a few thousand, though only a few hundred of those resemble human minds. The rest are unlike anything I ever felt."
"Interesting. Aqualad, can you open the doors to the elevator?"
Aqualad responds with "Of course Chimera, though is it okay if I can ask why aren't you opening the doors?" before he opens the doors to the elevators.
"I currently have a 15 minute time limit on my forms, with a five minute recharge time in between. If I were to switch between forms, I cut my transformation time by a minute, though if I were to turn back early I would have a shorter recharge time."
"I see. Now shall we go down to the real Cadmus?"
"Yep!"
We go down the elevator shaft, Robin using his grappling hook to go down several stories and the rest of us boys holding onto the rope to follow him down the shaft with Miss Martian flying down. I hear "I'm at the end of my rope" and immediately we all decide to jump to the side on a very small ledge. In big letters, the words 'SL 26' are written on the walls and door on this floor. Robin informs us "Bypassing security" and electronic giggling fills the shaft. Once the giggling stops, he announces "There. Go." and Aqualad pushes open the doors.
Once inside, I see a long hallway with these little cubicles that appear to be accessed through the use of black panels in front of them and the hallway itself is filled with a dim red light. Without any prompting from us, Kid Flash bolts to the end of the hallway. I hear Aqualad cry out "Kid, wait!" and Miss Martian informs us "I'm sensing some sort of mental presence marching in a straight line at the end of the hallway."
Heavy footsteps fill the hallway, and we see massive grey creatures as tall as the room with elephant legs and human arms decorated with strange red markings walk in a single file line. Three bonelike spikes grown out of their shoulders and gilllike markings on their chests and necks distract me from the most interesting aspect of them all: a head as big as an inflated football with two red eyes, red marks on the forehead, with four horns extruding from the sides, two on each side. Their mouths are open and two fangs seem to come out of them. At a mere look of one of these creatures, Kid Flash skids to a stop and falls in the path of one of the creatures. Barely dodging the hands of one of the creatures, Kid Flash gets up and walks towards us. With the most sarcastic tone I can ever hear from Aqualad, he voices his thoughts with "Noooooo. Nothing strange going on here."
Miss Martian, in a worried voice, informs us "Umm, guys? I felt a telepathic presence from the top of one of the monsters. Whatever we came here to do, I think we should do it now."
I process this information and tell M'gann "Alright. If you feel anything that has a similar telepathic presence to one of these monsters, take them out hard. We can't risk anything happening to us that could turn this mission sideways." Aqualad agrees with me by saying "Indeed. I had the same thought as well, Chimera. It would be unwise to not utilize Miss Martian's telepathic abilities to ensure success."
We reach the end of the hallway and see a massive door with a circular red center made of electronic lights. Robin pulls out a wire from his wrist computer and hooks it up to the terminal, Kid Flash looks over to see his hacking progress, Aqualad moves over to watch out six, and Miss Martian and I sit right next to each other with our backs against the walls. I feel a familiar telepathic signature in my mind and I 'hear' Miss Martian go Hey Chimera, mind if we have a telepathic conversation?
Sure.
So, how are you feeling?
Not gonna lie, this day has been mixed so far. While I'm glad I get to go on an unofficial mission with my friends-or at the very least, coworkers in a sense-I'm a bit angry at the fact that my mentor decided to lie to me about the headquarters of the League and the trust he put into me. You?
I'm furious that Uncle J'onn lied to me! He was the second Green Martian, the first being my mother, to accept me for who I am, not for the color of my skin. Not even my Green siblings cared much for me when we were outside of our home. And to see him lie to me because he didn't trust me enough infuriates me! Do you know how that feels?!
I don't know, but I have to say it hurts a lot.
It does! I did my best to not get into the business of the Greens unless it was in self-defense, because I knew that I would be outnumbered, overpowered and betrayed by the courts if I were to fight back! And to see my uncle act like that angers me. He'd better have a good explanation for this, or else I'll-
M'gann's telepathic venting at me ends when we hear a hiss and see the doors open to a massive room filled with tubes containing buglike beings generating electricity to a generator built into the top part of a wall in front of us. Robin, awed at this sight of biotechnology, mutters "OK, I'm officially whelmed." as we take in the beauty and cruelty in front of us. Kid Flash walks and points out to us, somewhat excitingly "This is how they hide this massive underground facility from the world! The real Cadmus isn't on the grid. It generates its own power with these...things." All excitement is replaced with sadness when he says "Must be what they're bred for."
Aqualad agrees with Kid Flash by pointing out "Even the name is a clue. The Cadmus of myth created a new race by sowing Dragon's teeth into the earth."
Robin continues the chain of deduction by going "And this Cadmus creates new life too." He heads to a nearby computer terminal and attaches one of the wires from his wrist computer into the terminal. Faint beeping reaches our ears and Robin informs us "They call them Genomorphs." That name, for some reason, catches everybody's attention. "Whoa! Look at the stats on these things- super-strength, telepathy, razor claws. These are living weapons."
In a questioning tone, Kid Flash wonders "They're engineering an army. But for who?"
Something appears to catch Robin's eye and he switches to said eye catcher, while Aqualad moves closer to our resident hacker. "Wait, there's something else. Project Kr." He tries hacking into the file only to hit a dead end and voices his frustration with "Ugh! The file's triple encrypted. I-I can't-" before getting interrupted with a harsh "Don't move!" and the sounds of growls and slurps.
We turn and see a tall Causcasian man in an armored blue jumpsuit and gold helmet equipped with a golden heater shield on his right hand, and one of the beings Cadmus called G-Gnomes on his left shoulder surrounded by seven G-Elves as the files helpfully called them: longer, skinner, tall beings that are as small as a human child yet have four claws on their hands and three on their feet. The G-Gnome itself is a very small, four legged white creature with black stripes, short horns and red eyes on its head and face. Guardian turns and looks at us, going "Wait, Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Chimera and Miss Martian?"
Robin teases Kid Flash with a "At least he got your name right." while working on decrypting Project Kr's files out of sight. A look of familiarity dawns on Aqualad's face as he says "I know you. Guardian, a hero." to our mysterious staff member. Guardian responds with standing tall and a humble "I do my best." In a curious tone of voice, Kid Flash asks "Then what are you doing here?"
"I'm chief of security. You're trespassing, but we can call the Justice League, figure this out."
The moment becomes tense for a while until a beep from Robin's wrist computer rings through the room. Kid Flash, deciding to take control of the conversation, angrily voices his questions with "You think the League's gonna approve of you breeding weapons?!"
"Weapons?" Guardian asks, confused. "What are you-" before the G-Gnome's horns glow red for a brief second until it falls unconscious. Miss Martian jumps up and shouts out "You may be good at telepathy, but I'm better!"
"What have I been doing?" he asks nobody in particular, to which I respond with "Working as Chief of Security for a shady NGO superpower?"
"Right. Well, I'll call the Justice League and have them sweep Cadmus. Until then, stay put." to which Robin replies with a "Sorry, no can do! We gotta find out what Project Kr is!" to which Guardian responds with a "That was not a request. G-Elves, knock them unconscious!"
Both the G-Elves and Robin jump into action, with Robin getting in front of us, dropping a smoke bomb and grappling to one of the support beams. Kid Flash backs up as a G-Elf slashes at his chest to dodge before he walks up on the wall and dives at two G-Elves with dual punches, then pushes off the opposing vertical support to execute an inverted flip to push off and kick one in the chest before rebounding back into the smoke.
I turn into Greenhouse, my Methanosian form. My humanoid plant body is light green with my face being shades of yellow, red and orange. My hands are black with four yellow claws, yellow spikes on the knuckles, and yellow holes on the palms. There are six red horns with yellow spots on my body, one on each shoulder and two on my forearms. Six green horns are on my lower body, one on each foot, knee and elbow. A large collar is raised on my neck, green on the outside and yellow on the inside. The Omnitrix is on my stomach.
Without a second's notice, I drop a few seeds into the ground, capturing the two G-Elves as they burst out of the ground. With my two attackers currently entangled in my vines, I blast two clouds of methane at them, rendering them unconscious. It's a rarely used ability, used only once in the entirety of Classic Ben 10. With that done, I drop some more seeds and block off the room from further interception by Cadmus security forces.
Aqualad throws one of the few remaining G-Elves off of him, and offhands backhands another one coming to the left of him. Miss Martian uses her telekinesis to throw the two G-Elves attacking her onto the ground, instantly ending the fight.
With that out of the way, Miss Martian, Aqualad and I run to Kid Flash who is berating Robin, who is currently hacking an elevator terminal. Alarms are blaring, which I guess meant that a G-Gnome sensed M'gann knocking out his brethren and pushed an actual alarm to alert the facility about us. Any further thoughts on how things went so wrong is stopped with a "Way to be a team player, Rob!" from Kid Flash to which Robin responds surprised, with "Weren't you right behind me?" as his hack finishes, the elevator opens and we enter. Much to my annoyance, and everybody else's, the floor number increases. Aqualad voices his concern and dislike at Robin's gaslighting with "We're going down?" with Kid Flash going "Dude, out is up! I don't want Beautiful here get into trouble with her uncle!"
Miss Martian looks confused and asks "You think I'm beautiful?" only for everybody else in the elevator to snap at her tensely and go "Not Now!"
Aqualad refocuses our attention with "This is getting out of hand. Perhaps we should contact the Justice League." to which I go "And distract them from Wotan blotting out the sun, possibly killing them? Noooo, thank you. If the situation gets out of hand, I'll call the only League-level super who I know that doesn't have any ties to the League." Aqualad sighs and voices his thoughts with "I cannot believe I am saying this, but you are right Chimera." to which an indignant Robin disbelivingly asks "He's right? I'm the one who led us down to Project Kr!"
Any further argument is ended by the ding of the elevator and the woosh of the elevator doors. We tense up for a fight, only to see organic looking hallways instead. With a sigh of relief, I hit the Omnitrix and detransform. Noticing a change in the aroma of the room, Kid Flash yells out "Thank god that smell's gone! What was it anyway?" to which I respond with "That was Greenhouse's methane."
"Why do you have a form that produces methane?"
"Greenhouse produces methane as a fuel source for some of his abilities, like fire projection and knockout gas clouds."
"Why didn't you tell us you had a methane producing form earlier?"
"You never asked!"
Aqualad growls "Which way?" and is given a nonchalant response of "Yeah, bizarre looking hallway one or bizarre looking hallway two?" from Robin.
Before we can ponder Robin's odd sense of priorities, a "Halt!" comes from a being whose body looks just like Aqualad's shadow clad elevator user, wearing white shirt and pants over blue skin. His horns glow red and cans are telepathically lifted and thrown at us. Seeing no use to fight, we go down the less hostile hallway, with Kid Flash superspeeding a few seconds into the run down the halls.
Catching up to him, we see a scientist on the floor and a door similar to the one containing the insect Genomorphs but with the words 'Project Kr' written on the door in a yellow futuristic font. Seeing the door quickly close, Kid Flash puts a container between the two parts of the door and yells out "Hurry!" to the rest of us. We all enter the door just in time for Kaldur to kick the container out of the door, locking us inside and the scientist, Guardians and the G-Elves outside.
As I look around, I see Miss Martian float right next to Kid Flash, Aqualad pondering at the door, and Robin hacking at the door. He disengages from the hacking and informs us "I disabled the the door. We're safe."
Aqualad mutters grimly "We're trapped." before looking to Kid Flash and Miss Martian who are in front of a large computer system a bit down the system. Kid Flash looks at us and attracts our attention with "Uh, guys? You'll want to see this." Hitting one of four light rectangular buttons near the top of the console, the room is illuminated and we see a pod with 'Kr' written in a box on it. Inside said pod is what I presume to be three G-Gnomes forcefeeding what appears to be Superboy a telepathic education. Superboy himself looks like Superman: tall, pitchblack hair, pale skin and a glowing white bodysuit with a red House of El coat of arms on it. The only word I hear from any of us is a "Whoa!" from Robin.
Kid Flash walks around the console and looks in front of the pod. He mutters deep in thought "Big 'K', Little 'r'; the atomic symbol for Krypton!" before turning back to us and rhetorically asks us "Clone?"
Aqualad, in an authoritative voice, makes a command with "Robin, hack." to which Robin responds by breaking out of his stupor and mutters "Right, right." M'gann looks at the pod and informs us "I can feel three telepathic presences in there from the small pods above. What should I do?" to which I respond with "Knock them out and make sure that any and all telepathic communications between them and other Genomorphs are disconnected for the next few hours. Actually, to be on the safe side, knock out all telepathic genomorphs connected to the network." Her eyes glow white for a moment before fading and I hear a "Done!" while the three Genomorphs have their horns go from red to bone white as they fall asleep. After that happens, I turn to the others and ask "So, what have you found out so far?"
Robin speaks up with "Well, this is Superboy, Superman's kid force grown from Superman's stolen DNA. The suit allows him to absorb sunlight 24/7, and the G-Gnomes, what Cadmus calls their telepathic beasts, are forcefeeding him an education and slave protocols."
"Alright then, I'll call for backup."
Kid Flash looks annoyed at me and goes "Dude, we tried calling!"
With a smile, I tell Kid Flash "I haven't." and go "Omnitrix, access Contacts list."
A digitized version of my voice goes "Affirmative." and pulls up a list of names that I quickly scroll through. "That's my favorite pizza place...that's the library system...that's the online college I attend...that's Batman...That's Bruce Wayne...that's Clark Kent...That's Wonder Woman...That's Wonder Woman's embassy...That's the Green Lantern who bothers with a secret identity...That's John Stewart...Ah, here we go! Guy Gardener!"
Robin groans with disgust and questions my choice "Of all the people you're calling, you're calling him?"
"He is a Green Lantern, and is arguably betterthan the Green Lantern who's my mentor. Not to mention, he is League-level despite not being a member of the League." Given the fact that Hal was chosen on a basis of proximity rather than capability (a thing I am told by John to neverbring up in the proximity of both Hal and Guy) I think it's safe to say that it's true that he's a great choice for reliable backup.
"Yeah, but still! He's-"
"Annoying? Smug? Impulsive? Simultaneously several different shades of jerk? Our best bet for discreet backup?"
..."Fine! Call him now."
"Alright, calling him now." I then hit the call button on the Omnitrix and I wait for a few seconds before Guy picks up.
"Hey Chimera, what's happening? And why the call? Today's the day!"
I wince in emotional pain and tell Guy "Long story short, Hall of Justice not real League HQ, discovered that from Speedy's going solo rant, investigated Cadmus as an act of rebellion, discovered that Cadmus is really shady and has made several artificial lifeforms, got chased by Cadmus security down to the lowest level, and found Superman's teenaged clone made without consent."
In the most dull voice a Marylander can muster, Guy goes "Wow. You really are full of suprises, aren't ya?"
"Yes, yes I am. Now, please hurry up. We're sealed in shut and I don't think the doors will hold for long."
In a frustrated tone, he rambles on with "Alright, alright. I'm hurrying as fast as I can. Some Khunds disobeying their Emperor's orders that Earth's off limits have decided to set up a small surveillance outpost for a possible invasion, and it's up to Guy here to give them an ass whoopin'."
"That's all I ask of you. I guess I'll see you in a few minutes."
"Don't count on it! I'll see ya later." And with that, he hangs up.
I then ask my team "Well then, I assume you heard all of it?" and am met with several voices of agreement, including one from an unfamiliar voice. Turning around, and I see Superboy, who's face is as unemotive as possible. I hold out my hand and I greet him with a "Hello there, I'm Chimera and you must be Superboy. How are you?"
"...Fine."
"Do you have any questions?"
"Why should I not burn you down to a crisp?"
"Help us escape and we can give you the one thing practically everybody has: freedom. Stay here, and you'll be doing what Cadmus wants you to do. And I don't think you want to do what Cadmus wants you to, don't you?"
"Well, I want to meet Superman. But everything Cadmus taught me is that he should be killed if he strayed from the light."
I exchange worried looks with my fellow intruders for a bit before Aqualad tries to motivate our new friend with "To be like Superman is a worthy aspiration, but like Superman, you deserve a life of your own beyond Cadmus."
These words infuriate Superboy for some reason, and he yells in a rage "I live because of Cadmus! It is my home!"
Robin points out "Your home is a test tube." and I support Robin with "We can show you what you learned from your telepathic education: The Sun, The Moon, cities, towns, cultures, et cetera."
Miss Martian joins in with "We can show you what real life is like."
A voice yells out "No, you won't! I don't know what you did, but you knocked out the entirety of telepathic communications for the entirety of Cadmus. But rest assured, there will be consequences. Now, as per the orders of the board of directors, get the weapon back in its pod and take the children for Project Sidekick, except for Chimera who is to be killed and his watch taken off him." Turning around, I see a 5'9' man with long brown colored hair and a ponytail stained by streaks of white wearing a standard lab coat, black glasses with square lenses, and sandals.
"You must be the Director of Cadmus, I presume?"
"And you're the Chimera. So, you're the reason why Cadmus has a security breach."
"More or less."
"Do you know the scientific potential of your watch? If we could disassemble it, Cadmus would become leaders in genetic technology for years to come! Now, hand it over."
"Can't. I don't know the code to do so," which would be a lie "And even if I did, I wouldn't hand it over to anybody I don't trust, assuming it would even work for them." which is the truth.
"That was not a request. Take him down!" Three of the beasts that nearly killed Kid Flash come by and run towards me. I respond by choosing one of my most difficult aliens I have mastered: the form known to many in the general public as CheMystery. I turn into a purple skinned being with green eyes wearing a green hazmat suit and boots. My hands lose a finger, grows a second layer of skin and grows vents that I can project gas from. All around my body, gas vents are created, and the skin on my stomach turns into an organic glass compound. My internal organs save for my nervous system, my skeletal system, my muscles and my larynx are evaporated, and my bladder is turned into some sort of chemical disposal system. Bone grows out of my face and forms a gas mask covering where my mouth and nose should be. The Omnitrix is on a belt located around my stomach. Immediately jumping into action, I shout out "CheMystery!" and I whip up what I hope are non lethal amounts of knockout gas tailored specifically for humans and humanity's evolutionary relatives and I disperse it in front of me. In one fell swoop, our attackers, Guardian, Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash fall unconscious. Seeing that my work here is done, I disperse a neutralzying agent in the air, immediately ending the threat of death from overdosing. I then blast the three allies with a chemical agent designed specifically to neutralize said compound.
Waking up with a groan, Kid Flash, Robin and Aqualad hold their hand on their forehead and look at me annoyed. Kid Flash, being the science wiz he is, asks "What the hell was that gas?"
In CheMystery's Bostonian accent, I go "A knockout gas designed to be effective only to Earth-based life that can have it's effects instantly neutralized if the affected inhales its secondary component. Don't ask me for the formula, it requires the resources of a fully stocked Wayne Industries Chemical Laboratory to produce outside of my physiology."
Aqualad then turns and looks at me and asks me "Is there anything the Omnitrix's DNA samples can't do?" to which I respond with "Magic, probably."
As if the concept of Magic offends him, Kid Flash disdainfully shares his opinion with "Yeah, right. Magic is a science we don't understand yet."
Superboy interrupts our conversation with "As much as I am interested in your talks, we should probably leave." to which I respond with an affirmative "Right! Onwards, my fellow heroes."
We run back towards the elevators and hit the button for ground level, only for the elevator to stop and open its doors at sublevel 42. We go out to see just a plain normal office building. Stopping to look at Superboy, I ask him "Can you fly?" to which he responds by grabbing all of us and uses his legs to get a jumping start. We reach up to sublevel 16 before we land down on the floor. "I-I'm falling. Superman can fly? Why can't I fly?". Miss Martian, trying to console him, consoles him with "I don't know, but we can find out." Superboy responds with a smile and a "Ah, thank you." and I tell the soon to be Titans "So we're going to have to do this the hard way then."
We run to the elevator only to see G-Trolls and G-Elves surround us. They try to close us in, but I create a gas cloud of a nonlethal variant of Scarecrow's fear gas in a desperate attempt to overwhelm the minds of our genetically engineered hunters. It works, and they fall to the ground in fear. Robin then turns to look at me and angrily asks me "How did you get the chemical formula for fear gas?"
"I promised that I would help Batman with a favor in exchange for getting it. Besides, this is a variant that requires phermones made by people, i.e us. Now, can somebody move the security away?"
Miss Martian replies by using her telepathy to move the immobile bodies behind us to make a barrier to prevent Cadmus security sneaking from behind. Before I could detransform to conserve my charge, a beep beep beep sound is heard and the Omnitrix's hourglass flashes red before I turn back to normal. "Oh come on!" With a curious glare, Superboy asks "What happened?"
"Hit my time limit. I'm vulnerable until 5 minutes from now or my life is in fatal danger. Until that happens, I can't transform."
"So you're useless until then?"
"Not really, just less useful."
Climbing up the stairs to sublevel 15, we hear G-Elves and a G-Troll coming from behind. Any thoughts on the matter is stopped by an affirmative "Go Left! Left!" from Superboy. We follow him and he turns right while yelling "Right!" and stop at a wall with a vent. Kid Flash, clearly sarcastic, shouts out "Great directions, Supey! Are you trying to get us podded!?" to which an apologetic Superboy apologizes "No. I don't understand." Miss Martian facepalms and speaks up with "Hello M'gann! I felt a telepathic presence similar to the G-Gnomes in your mind for a few seconds, but it wasn't hostile enough for me to raise an alarm!"
Before Superboy can get angry at M'Gann, I go ahead and ask Robin "Can we climb into the vent?" only to see the vent open and I hear some giggling coming inside. "Guess that's a yes." One by one, we climb into the vent, except for M'gann who once again decided to fly to the vent. Robin being the master of stealth he is, leads the way through the vents. During said vent crawl, I hear a beep signaling the Omnitrix has recharged. Miss Martian asks "What was that?" to which I respond with "Omnitrix is now fully charged." Kid Flash, in a hushed whisper, requests "Glad to hear it, but could you change the tone? It's a bit revealing."
"Sorry, no can do."
We crawl for a few more minutes and we see the G-Elves and a computer module. Thinking fast, Robin attaches a wire to the module and starts typing rapidly while we knock out the Elves and throw them aside. With a triumphant smirk, Robin announces "I hacked the motion sensors."
Kid Flash, in the happiest tone I heard him since we began this whole mess, happily goes "Sweet." and Miss Martian blurts out "That's brilliant!" We exit the vent and we see the Emergency Exit. Robin grumbles "Still plenty of them between us and out."
Bringing his goggles over his eyes, Kid Flash boasts "But I've finally got room to move!", opens the door, and runs up the stairs at high velocities. Despite the Genomorph Army's best efforts, Kid Flash runs through them and knocks them down for all of us. Robin, still hacking Cadmus, informs Superboy "More behind us." to which Superboy responds by removing the stairs that lead to the platform.
"Huh. The more I think of it, the more this resembles Escape From New York."
Aqualad asks me "What's Escape From New York?" to which I respond with "It's a movie from the 1980s starring Kurt Russell about a man who is sent to a prison to retrieve powerful knowledge and the person holding said knowledge, and he has to fight the entire prison's population to get out. Oh, and the prison's New York City. Do you not have that in this universe?"
Robin, overhearing the conversation, yells "We don't have that here!"
"Shame. It's a good movie."
We reach the door marked with Sublevel 1, but as we do so, alarms begin to blare and the doors are about to seal shut. Kid Flash, seeing his fate, blurts out "Oh, crap." and runs facefirst into the solid metal doors. Seeing a way to help, I go "Here. Let me try to open the doors." and I dial in my Kryptonian transformation, Solarion. Save for the Omnitrix on my chest, a pretty impressive beard, muscles and a cape, Solarion looks identical to my human self as Chimera.
Miss Martian, a bit curious, asks me "Did the Omnitrix break?" to which I respond with a "Nope! Solarion here is a Kryptonian." before making a circle in the door with my heat vision and putting said cut circle aside.
"If you can turn into a Kryptonian, then why won't you turn into a Martian?"
"Because my Martian transformation is… troubling for a lack of a better word."
We open the door and see an army of Genomorphs led by Aqualad's mysterious figure. Without further prompting, the mysterious figure's horns glow red, and everybody stands still. I 'hear' Perhaps for the sake of all Genomorphs, our brother Superboy should make up his own mind.
Superboy, eyes wide in shock, 'whispers' to our mysterious figure It was you.
Yes, brother. I set the fire that lured your new friends into Cadmus and helped you escape.
Why?
Because you are our hope, the Genomorph hero. You will blaze a trail for our brothers to show them the way to freedom.
I hear Guardian go "What's going on?" as he sees the scene that he just walked into.
What is your choice, brother?
I...choose…"Freedom!"
Aqualad walks in front of us and asks "Will you help us, Guardian?"
"Yeah. I can't believe Cadmus lied about their intentions, so I'll help you with Desmond and quit after."
As if on cue, the scientist I saw before walks towards us, with the Genomorphs moving to either side to let him through. "I think not! Project Blockbuster will give me the power to restore order at Cadmus!" Oh crap.
As Blockbuster drinks the vial, he falls to his knees and his body grows through his skin. His clothes tear off, his eyes turn black and red, his skin gets ripped off to reveal new thick greyish skin and his entire body is purely muscle.
The newly rebirthed Blockbuster begins his new lease on life by roaring at us and sweeps Guardian away like it's nothing. Seeing my turn to act, I punch him in the privates. As he is distracted, I do a karate chop on his left shoulder. Blockbuster breaks his left arm trying to punch me in the face, and I Hapkido roundhouse kick on the chest before doing a Savate chassé kick in the middle of his right arm. Finishing things off, I do an Akido face thrust on him. End of fight results: I end up uninjured while Blockbuster here has two broken arms, a fractured jaw, a powered skull, the muilitation of his family jewels, 3 ribs gone (as in they're dust), and 4 ribs broken. Cadmus itself has its above ground facility collapse in on its sublevels and a few members suffering from various injuries, both of which are caused by the shockwaves produced from the punches. I clear out the debris and ask everybody "Well? Are you helping? Because if not, the whole League will kill us for this. Not literally, but still. I don't want to go back to training with the Lanterns."
Before anybody else can say or do anything, the entirety of the Justice League comes down like the Gods of Olympus. Superman flies in front of the setting sun, followed by Martian Manhunter, Zatara (using a magical platform), Captain Marvel, and Red Tornado. Following them through the air is Captain Atom, Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Wonder Woman, and the second Green Lantern, Hal Jordan. The third Green Lantern, Guy Gardner arrives with his arms crossed, sulking that he missed the fight while the fourth Green Lantern, John Stewart, flies down with a platform made by his ring carrying down Batman, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Flash, and Black Canary.
As Batman steps up from the platform, Superboy walks up to Superman with a smile on his face, only for Superman's mood to turn harsher. At this unspoken rejection, Superboy's mood turns into what is best described as confused anger.
Batman, speaking up with the most tranquil fury he can muster, asks "Is that what I think it is?" to which I respond with "He doesn't like being called that."
Superboy, clearly angry at the whole situation, yells out "I'm Superman's clone!"
The faces of the Leaguers (and Guy Gardner) save for Batman and Superman changes from disappointment to confusion. Deciding to regain control of the situation, Batman growls "Start talking."
I begin with "Well, it all started once you left the Hall. We felt betrayed at the fact that you didn't trust usenough to consider us League members in the making, so we decided to investigate Cadmus and hacked into the computers to get info on them. Upon arrival, we found out that the Cadmus we knew was in fact a decoy building and that the actual Cadmus was a 52 floor underground base that was off the grid. In addition, they mastered DNA techniques well enough to the point that they created their own species that they used as manual labor as well as Kryptonian clones for their employer's ulterior motives. We managed to break in and out, but not before Dr. Desmond here" I motion to Blockbuster "turned into Blockbuster. That's pretty much it, unless you have any questions."
Batman takes his fellow mentors away to a corner to discuss our actions. While they do so, I ask Superboy "So, first day being alive. How do you feel?"
"I feel happy for meeting people who believe in what I want. Other than that, I've done things I wouldn't do if I stayed with them instead of joining you guys."
"Glad to hear it. Do you have anything else to say?"
"Yeah. Will you keep Miss Martian's promise?"
"We will find a way to give you full Kryptonian powers."
I see a smile cross Superboy's face as he thanks me for my help before he joins a private conversation with the senior sidekicks. Now then, what time is it? "Omnitrix, time."
"Affirmative."
Ruins of Project Cadmus
July 4th, 17:52 PM EDT
"Oh for the love of Tom Baker, it took that long?!"
"Who's Tom Baker?" I hear a curious Superboy ask.
"He's a guy best known for playing the Fourth incarnation of The Doctor in Doctor Who." One of the few good things in this universe's popular culture is that Michael Grade never became BBC1 Controller, which meant that Doctor Who never got cancelled back in 1989. However, post-1989 Who is different in many ways. "His incarnation of the Doctor is arguably my favorite out of all of them." Because my actual favourite, Peter Capadi's incarnation never existed.
"Huh. Is it a good show?"
"It's my favorite."
I see Guy Garnder and John Stewart carry away Blockbuster in a bubble with the Hawks and Captain Atom flying near them for security. Superman walks to his clone and says to him in a professional tone "We'll, uh, We'll figure out something out for you. The League will, I mean. For now, I... better make sure they get that Blockbuster squared away."
As Superman flies away, Batman walks towards us with Flash, Aquaman, the remaining Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter in tow. Batman speaks for the group with "Cadmus will be investigated. All 52 sublevels, but let's make one thing clear-"
Flash, always the master of timing, scolds us with "You should have called!", piquing an eyebrow from Batman before he continues with "End results aside, we are not happy. You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders, and endangered lives. You will not be doing this again."
Aqualad speaks what's on our mind with "I am sorry, but we will." with all of us standing up in support of him.
Aquaman tries to take control with "Aqualad, stand down."
"Apologies, my king" Aqualad says with reverance before going in a firm voice "but no." As Aquaman raises an eyebrow, Aqualad continues with "We did good work here tonight, the work you trained us to do. Together on our own we forged something powerful, important."
Flash tries to apologize with "If this is about your treatment at the Hall, the five of you-"
Kid Flash interrupts with "The six of us, and it's not!"
Robin speaks up in a quiet voice "Batman, we're ready to do what you taught us, or why teach us at all?"
Miss Martian scolds the League with "We trusted you to be our heroes, and yet you tore down that idea without even realizing it."
Martian Manhunter tries to calm us down with "I tried to get the League to show you the Watchtower, but-."
I follow up with "Trying isn't good enough. What's the point of being a hero if we're being coddled beyond relief?"
Green Lantern angrily yells at us "We're not coddling you!" before going somewhat silently "We just needed to know if we can trust you."
Superboy finishes our argument with "Then show us that you do trust us. It's simple, get on board or get out of the way."
We turn our backs on the League and see the moon rise. Batman growls and announces to us "Fine. Give me three days."
Without even turning back to him, I respond with "Glad to hear it." and I hear Superboy go "Where am I supposed to stay? I don't have a home." to which he is met with my response of "You can stay at my place until we get you sorted out."
"Thank you, Chimera."
As we watch the moon rise from the horizon, Miss Martian voices our thoughts with "You know, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship." and I couldn't agree more with what she said.
?
July 11th, 2010
Ocean Master watches Guardian announcing Cadmus' new mission statement and asks "Can the Light afford to leave Guardian in charge without the G-Gnomes?" and is met with a "We have subtle means of control." from Luthor, who continues with "What concerns me is the children. We now know the League is employing young heroes to do their dirty work. Tch, that's a dark twist."
A tall, muscular male known to many as Vandal Savage goes"Yes, but one that can be played to our advantage. Even the temporary loss of the weapon can prove useful."
"Apologies, but what about Le Chimére? The technologie he uses to transform into extraterrestes is very utile for our objectif."
"Then we shall make him see the Light."