Young Justice: Doom and Rebirth

by Spaceman

SIOC. I died and was reincarnated. I'm not a Hero. I'm not a Villain. I am a Monster. I woke up in the World of Young Justice as Doomsday. I'm about to destroy Canon and cause Chaos. I'm not Alone. Knowledge is Power, Power is Responsibility, Sharing my Knowledge shall Set Me Free. Made in collaboration with NewMystery356. Updated Bi-Monthly.

43. Chapter 43

[Young Justice: Doom & Rebirth]

by Spaceman

Start: April 8, 2023

DISCLAIMER

I do not own Young Justice or any of the related characters. The Young Justice series is by Brandon Vietti and Greg Weisman and owned by DC Comics. This story is a work of fanfiction and is for entertainment only. I am not making profit from this story. All rights of Young Justice belong to DC Comics. All other characters other an OCs beyond to their respective creators and owners. This is a fanfiction for non-profit entertainment.

Notes:

Chapter 43 of 46 Chapters. Each one ranging from over ten thousand words, with some being over twenty thousand words long. It's been a long journey.

Reviews:

Alan, Death Fury, coldblue2015, , Antex-The Legendary Zoroark, Victor Ebone, and OmniIBIBUltraInstinctGodzilla. Thanks for the Support.

OmniIBIBUltraInstinctGodzilla.- Chapter 43 is only 15+K words long, but Chapter 44 & 45 are Over Forty Thousand Words Long. The Epilogue is so large I had to split it into two parts that I will post together – +40K & +38K

*DOOM*

Chapter 43 – Fall of Cadmus

*DOOM*

Centuries ago, the New God of Tyranny Darkseid arrived on the primitive mudball that is Earth and encountered the immortal metahuman Vandal Savage for the first time. Vandal Savage who was the famous conqueror and Khagan of the Mongols - Genghis Khan, couldn't defeat the power of the extraterrestrial tyrant, but he was able to impress him. Thus, they made a deal; Darkseid would provide aid for Earth and Earth would produce metahuman warriors to dominate the universe. In the end, when the universe was theirs, they would both fight to become the sole tyrant.

He called the project Cadmus in the modern era.

In Greek mythology, Cadmus was the legendary Phoenician founder of Boeotian Thebes. He was, alongside Perseus and Bellerophon, the greatest hero and slayer of monsters before the days of Heracles. Cadmus was a Hero guided by the oracle of Delphi to follow a special cow. That moon-marked cow led to Boeotia, where he founded the city of Thebes. When he went to sacrifice the cow to the Goddess of Wisdom Athena, he encountered a water-dragon guarding a spring and killed it.

He was then instructed by Athena to sow the dragon's teeth in the ground, from which there sprang a race of fierce armed men, called the Spartoi ("sown"). By throwing a stone among them, Cadmus caused them to fall upon one another until only five survived, who assisted him to build the Cadmeia or citadel of Thebes and became the founders of the noblest families of that city.

Cadmus Labs conducted thousands of experiments into genetics, cybernetics, chemical enhancement, and nanotechnology to create metahuman soldiers. Cadmus' most important development was advance cloning, which allowed coping of mind and body with the ability to make modifications.

Cadmus' fortunes changed in July of 2010. A group of young heroes went on an unauthorized mission to Cadmus Labs (Cadmus Alpha), which led to the exposure of Project Cadmus and a clone of Superman - Project Kr escaping to join the (Young Justice) Team as Superboy. At the same time, an unstable scientist combined samples from Project Kr with an extraterrestrial bioweapon to create Project: Qliphoth. The walking doomsday weapon proceeded to reveal that the personnel of Cadmus Beta were all clones. He also revealed extradimensional knowledge to the Justice League. Knowledge, he possessed due to being reincarnated from another world, which crippled Cadmus' operations.

Project: Qliphoth, calling itself "Ash Grey", made friends with a vigilante named Rorschach who had connections to a super genius known as Doctor Genus. Since they came together, they worked their way down the Greek alphabet taking out major Cadmus bases, while the minor ones have self-destructed for various reasons.

Doctor Genus' company Cognito Inc. absorbed the resources developed and discovered by Cadmus. This included superpowered beings from other worlds, meta-enhanced clones, hybrid clones, and superhumans captured from other parallel worlds. Cadmus itself on the other hand suffered clones going insane, out of control experiments causing death and destruction, and simply being discovered and shut down by the League.

The clones of the world's greatest mercenary Slade Wilson, also known as Deathstroke the Terminator, have become infamous on a worldwide scale. These clones range from Cognito Inc's loyal soldiers to imitation mercenaries to wannabe bond villains to complete lunatics.

*Doom*

Metropolis, Delaware

April 2020

11:00

1POV

"Cadmus Idiots. The Light cut their funding years ago and they are still causing problems."

Cadmus is like an anemic incompetent version of Advance Idea Mechanics (AIM). AIM was originally a scientific branch of HYDRA which branched off from the Nazi Party in the Marvel Universe. Cadmus was supposed to be the scientific development branch of The Light organization run by Vandal Savage, now they're nothing more than a nuisance. It's been ten years since these guys caused my rebirth as Doomsday and they have been getting more insane every year.

Superman would agree with me if he wasn't currently locked in battle with one of Cadmus' mistakes.

The experiments are muscular humanoids with red eyes, translucent white skin over dark red muscles, and not a trace of hair. They are dressed in white bodysuits each marked with the crest of the House of El which resembles an "S". They possess all the Kryptonian superhuman abilities fueled by the solar suits they are wearing. This includes super strength, speed, nigh invulnerability, and flight.

What surprises the citizens of Metropolis too stupid to run away from an SPB fight is that while Superman is struggling against two sickly white clones, I'm currently holding my own against four of them. Kryptonian strength combined with EX-class monstrous strength means I can easily overpower the mindless clones even with their adult Kryptonian strength. These beings are not like Superman of Earth-Prime that has unlimited comic book strength, they have limits, whereas I do not.

One of the clones fires its heat vision, but it doesn't do anything against me. I do have to make sure they don't move their heads and slice civilians apart like Homelander. This would be a lot easier if I knew if these clones could or could not be healed like Matt/Powerman (formerly known as failed Project Match).

"Sorry about that. I was busy with another Cadmus-induced problem." says Rorschach over the communicators. "Data is back from Doc. The clones are completely mindless and breaking down. No point in holding back."

"Got it."

I release a thunderous roar, that not only intimidates the primitive animal minds of the clones but blows out their equilibrium. I grab the throat of laser emitting clone and use my Doom Vision. My beams of deadly destructive radiation pierce the eyes of my target and go out the back of his skull. I drop the corpse and deploy my absurdly sharp bone spikes. I then impale the three remaining clones and pump them full of special poison. The clones collapse to ground and shake as the poison tears through their pseudo-Kryptonian cells. They are making whimpering animal sounds as they die.

Superman's eyes widen as I grab the two clones he's fighting. I snap their necks and the sound is extremely loud. Kryptonian bones are stronger than most alloys, so it's logical that snapping them would produce a sound far louder than mere human bones.

"Ash!?"

"Confirm from Doc. They are mindless and no chance of becoming bros like Matt."

Someone in the crowd is about to say something about killing villains but is slapped by his friend who points out Cog Net just posted the results of the testing. The clones were dying and couldn't be reformed. Mercy killing them was the best choice. Then the two are escorted away by authorities because this is still a crime scene.

I hear hissing and watch as the clones begin to dissolve. Translucent white skin that could once stop 50 Cal rounds melts like wax under a candle's flame. Muscles once capable of bending steel like children's clay become soft gelatin and break apart releasing heat. Even the impossibly strong bones crumble apart.

"Where did these things come from?"

"You're not going to believe it." says Doctor Genus.

"Doc, I'm a person from another world reincarnated as a comic book monster in a fictional world and have a harem of overpowered beauties including three literal goddesses. I'm also best friends with a man who's literally half a dozen people in one and is the economic overlord of the universe."

*Doom*

Arkham Site

Gotham City, NJ

Same Day

11:30

3POV

The Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane known as Arkham Asylum was once known as a bloody joke. The Asylum did not have a good record, at least with regard to the high profile cases; most of the staff and guards were corrupt and escapes were frequent (on at least one occasion, an obsessive-compulsive multiple murderer was signed out of Arkham into the care of an incontinent, alcoholic vagrant, on the grounds that he "looked like a responsible citizen"), and those who were 'cured' and released tend to re-offend.

Rorschach and Cog Inc. changed Gotham forever. Joker was executed on live cable and slowly criminals, even the high-profile super criminals, were eliminated. Some of them ended up as corpses, but the majority were forcibly stripped of everything that made them criminals. Villains that had once used gadgets found themselves stripped of memories and unable to recreate any of their gear. People that were once horribly deformed and driven insane, found themselves flawless and terrifyingly sane.

Arkham was shutdown forever. Its staff and guards were fired, many arrested for their own numerous crimes. The historical building was destroyed down to its foundations and turned into a parking lot. It has even spiritually and magically purified to cleanse the area of ghosts, malice, and spirits of madness.

Batman is currently fighting clones of Seven villains that ambushed him.

The original Poison Ivy – Doctor Pamela Lilian Isley – never had a chance to become a major super villain. She and her wife Doctor Harleen Frances Quinzel/Harley Quinn have been living in the Bahamas for a decade, taking care of their daughters. Thanks to Doctor Genus they are now considered Cognito-affiliated Pro Heroes.

The Poison Ivy clone resembles the original, but her skin is a dark forest green, and her long red hair is streaked with white. She is nude with her lower body fused with a mass of thorny vines the size of a multi-century old tree with tentacle-branches thicker than Batman's torso. Around her are dark flowers that according to his sensors are releasing toxic pollen.

Batman is armed with herbicidal smoke bombs mystically enhanced to work against those created by The Green. Any thorny vine that enters the purplish smoke withers in seconds and turns deathly white and brittle. Sonic grenades also over the Clone Ivy's senses as she attempts to detect him using vibrational sense.

Killer Croc, also known as Wayton Jones, is no longer a threat to anyone. The clone on the other hand has mutated to the point it resembles a giant anthropomorphic saltwater crocodile than a human. The massive and opportunistic hyper-carnivorous apex predator would prefer to ambush his prey in dark water, but the creator of the clones has enough control over the reptilian brain to join the attack.

Clone Croc screams in pain as Batman's sonic grenades as small, spotted bumps that cover reptilian clone's skin are full of nerves sensitive to pressure and vibrations. Its fearsome mouth is then stuck shut by an expanding sticky foam grenade. While crocs, both natural and mutant, have tremendous bite force, the muscles for opening their jaws are so weak human hands and duct tape can stop them.

Clayface is the name used by several villains possessing clay-like bodies and shapeshifting abilities. Many of them are dead leaving behind elemental beings. The clone that Batman is facing is unidentifiable as it's a humanoid golem composed of thick wet clay with glowing eyes and a wide mouth of hard brick teeth.

Batman's sticky foam grenades are forced deep into Clayface's malleable form with the assistance of Croc's thrown form. The grenades detonate inside the wet clay and expand outward, artificially binding the clay particles together with the hydrophobic polymer. Clayface also finds itself sticking to Croc's scaly hide. A sudden explosion of ice and cold causes Clayface and Croc to fall into hibernation from the low temperatures.

The original Mister Freeze, also known as Dr. Victor Fries, has been cured of his meta-mutation that left him unable to survive temperatures above sub-zero and reunited with his wife, cured of the fatal disease that forced him to place her in cryogenic suspension. They are spending their days on a tropical island with their children.

The Mister Freeze clone is horribly decayed to the point it's been reduced to a cadaverous head with cybernetic eyes. It's inside a container resembling a bell jar, connected by cables and tubes to a purely mechanical robotic body. The two-and-half meter dark blue body can fire devastating freeze blasts from its arms and can fly short distances using the hover jets in the legs.

Clone Freeze is more powerful than the original in pure offensive power, but Batman is having an easier time. Thanks to people using cybernetic augmentations, Batman's sensor can scan people to determine how artificial their bodies are and what parts. This means since only Clone Freeze's head is real, he can be far more aggressive such as planting thermal explosives on the mechanical body. This causes the suit to rupture and lock up. It's then blown apart by another villain's attack. The head tries to escape using robotic spider legs, but an electric batarang nails it and shorts out the robotics.

The clone of Deathstroke is very divergent from the original. The clone is heavily augmented by cybernetic technology to the point it may as well be "a brain in a bot". It's dressed in standard Deathstroke costume, but it's holding high frequency sword that can break electron bonds and is carrying weapons far too powerful to be used by a normal human, even one augmented by a super soldier serum.

The Cyber-Slade fires a plasma beam at Batman only for Batman to dodge and let it detonate Mr. Freeze's suit. Batman retaliates by throwing electric batarangs, but Cyber-Slade either dodges or slices them apart causing explosions in the air. Cyber-Slade's blades then slice through the wrong grenade, which detonates into metallic dust and jams his sensors. Cyber-Slade is confused as he doesn't have the experience and calculating mind of the original Slade, sacrificed for the more powerful body. He spots the silhouette of the bat and charges only for his blades only for the blades to pierce through a piece of rubble. A Cog-made device planted on Cyber-Slade's back activates and the cyborg collapses to the ground, his HUD filled with thousands of errors and system failure messages.

Scarecrow, also known as Doctor Jonathan Crane, is no longer a threat to anyone, but his clone looks like something out of a horror-themed video game.

The clone Scarecrow resembles an old fashion scarecrow – old farmer's clothing with a sack for a face and stuffed with straw. The differences from his human counterpart include unnaturally long limbs with extra joints, long fingers with needle-like tips, and four mechanical limbs extending from the back with scythe-like tips. As it moves, it reminds Batman of a spider.

Batman is smart to not get close to the walking fear toxin factory. Instead, he fires batarangs connected by cable which entangle the limbs of Clone-Scarecrow, before delivering a powerful electric shock that overloads the cybernetic implants and nervous system. Scarecrow without his fear toxin is a pathetic little man and his clone is no different.

"Bane, Will Break You!"

Bane, the former prisoner and ruler of the island nation Santa Prisca, never had a chance to break the Bat as he did in the comics. His drug empire was destroyed due to the actions of both heroes and villains, but he was still a powerful villain when supplied with neo-steroid Venom. Bane wasn't a masked wrestler on steroids, he was a brilliant crime lord who went from being a child imprisoned for his father's crimes to ruling the island.

Bane's clone was crafted with Kobra Venom and other Venom derivatives. It's turned the man into a humanoid monster with a grotesquely muscular body and heavily damaged skin. While Clone Bane is stronger than any incarnation of Bane, he lacks the intelligence that made Bane so deadly.

Batman's attacks are having little effect on hardened flesh of super-venom-ized clone. Electrical shocks fail to affect Clone Bane's nervous system, while he easily pulls apart the sticky foam. Despite having plenty of access from tears in the hardened flesh, sleeping gases and other drugs don't work on Clone Bane's mutated physiology. Clone Bane even runs through the explosions and when Batman dodges, he's almost hit by a thrown vehicle. Clone Bane grabs Batman and brings him down on his knee to shatter Batman's spine. Instead, the armor on Batman's back hardens and Clone Bane manages to hurt his own knee using Batman as the hammer. While Bane is surprised, Batman plants devices that fire jets that push Clone Bane away from Batman.

Suddenly, a sphere shoots out of the darkness and nails Bane in the head, exploding into a purplish gas cloud. Clone Bane roars in pain as blackened veins spread across his body, turning his skin a deathly bluish color. Clone Bane collapses to the ground as steam rises from his mouth and the cracks in his hardened skin.

Rorschach emerges from the shadows.

"Venom and the derivatives have become a major problem. Cognito Inc makes solutions for all problems including a nanomedicine that neutralizes all Venom in the target's body and makes them unable to absorb anymore." says Rorschach, "In normal Venom users this causes fatigue and muscle weakness but causes muscle paralysis in Kobra-Venom mutations. With this clone, it paralyzes the internal organs."

"You killed him?"

"These 'clones' are already dying. They don't even have minds worth saving, barely above the simulations of villains I have on Asylum Anarchy"

Batman grimaces at the name "Asylum Anarchy". It's an Amusphere game where people get to play a Batman-style vigilante fighting against Expys of criminals and villains of Arkham and Blackgate. The game clearly uses data that Cog has on him and the Bat family and it possibly caused a rise in vigilantism. Vigilantes that are quickly caught and recruited into the Meta Star Academies.

Batman doesn't know that Cognito Inc based the game on the Batman: Arkham franchise developed by Rocksteady Studios. Literally thousands of people playing a knockoff Bat family and funneling their money into Cognito's unlimited pocket.

Batman's eyes widen as Cog Spider robot arrives with the decaying corpse of a Joker Clone.

The original Joker died at Rorschach's hands. He was electrocuted to the point he caught fire and dumped into a vat of corrosive chemicals that destroyed even the bones. The world released a sigh of relief when Joker was killed, because across the multiverse he was a feared monster.

Clone Joker is disturbing to look at it. It's a lean humanoid with green eyes, white skin and wild green hair, but it also has unnaturally wide mouth with red lips. It also has additional mouths on its shoulders and palms, and a huge mouth in his torso. The body is currently slowly dissolving and what drips off burns the ground like acid. The spider robot is holding the corpse far away from itself as if to say "Gross."

"All the mouths laugh while exhaling poison and their bites contain Joker Venom. It looks like something a demented version of Luthor would make. You can't even call it a clone in the traditional sense. It doesn't contain any of Joker's original DNA. Instead, it's a cell-by-cell construct made to look like a Joker monster."

Rorschach shows the data on a holographic screen provided by his Mass Effect style Omni-Tool. The clones all have the same DNA profiles. This indicates that instead of being grown at an accelerated rate in lab, they were constructed cell by cell much like the meals from a Cog Food Replicator. Even the Poison Ivy clone is a female copy of the male sample fused with genes from various "Green" type metahumans and pumped up with chemicals.

"Someone went to a lot of trouble to replicate my Rogues." says Batman.

"It's clearly a distraction. You would let the now competent and clean GPD handle regular criminals not on your patrols, but you would insist on handling super villains yourself."

The Gotham Police Department has changed over the last few years. The corrupt have been arrested and incompetent have been fired. Good cops are finally getting the help they needed after many years. Cognito's donations of money and crime prevention technology has changed Gotham. The Old Gotham ruled by crime bosses and the mad is disappearing and a Neo-Gotham is rising.

"He wants you busy, while he tries to protect himself." explains Rorschach, "He even fabricated terrorists to launch attacks on Cognito-affiliated groups. That's why I was a little late."

"Who?"

"The last master of Cadmus."

*Doom*

Luxury Cruise Ship Luxia-6

Atlantic Ocean

Same Day

15:13

3POV

Luxia-6 is a cruise ship owned by the Luxia Luxury Cruises. They were once an exclusive business that only the rich, powerful, and influential could afford. No parents with their screaming kids or old folks wanting to experience the sights before they finally died. Only people with vast wealth and connections could afford to enjoy the decadent experience of Luxia.

Then Cognito Inc. rose from nowhere to become the God-Emperor of the business world. The invention of the Amusphere was the nail on Luxia's coffin. Why would people want to experience an overpriced cruise where there could be bad weather, catch a random disease, or encounter people with horrible personalities. In Amusphere they can enjoy weeks of perfect weather, have sex with beautiful people, play with dolphins, and do anything without fear of harm or the press invading your privacy. Amusphere can even compress time, so you can have weeks of vacation without missing a day of work.

Luxia's luck took an even worst turn, when three of its ships were sunk.

Luxia-4 was sunk when the illegal items it was smuggling including highly explosive materials detonated. The passengers escaped without injury, but the ship sank and was consumed by one of Cognito's Ocean Cleaners.

Luxia-5 was sunk when it was unfortunate enough to encounter Same – the incarnation of sharks and mascot of the Megalodon Knights of Atlantis. When Luxia tried to sue, Cognito revealed so much evidence of Luxia's illegal activities they had to retreat with their tail between their legs.

Luxia-7 was destroyed by one the Brainiac Beetles/Scrab Warriors during the Invasion. A prostitute took revenge on her pimp and his clients, with Luxia-7 exploding from damage, killing all those onboard. Again, the Ocean Cleaners made sure nothing was salvaged.

The last ship – Luxia-6 – is holding an illegal auction in international waters. Most of the people on the ship are the kind of people Cognito would not associate with. They are the political and business leaders of countries with numerous human rights violations ranging across the map. Politicians who don't police warlords because they are paid by illegal trade, countries that imprison people for being homosexual or anything other than Heterosexual, and those countries that oppress people for their ethnicity or religious beliefs. All countries that are failing economically and falling technologically behind their more accepting neighbors thanks to Cog's influence.

Mr. Sung, the current CEO of Luxia, can calmly state that he hates Cognito. He's not a fan of the world's rapid changing ruining his business and he doesn't like Cognito's bullying of others. It's hypocritical since his own company used to enjoy bullying the less fortunate, but Mr. Sung ignores that fact. The elderly Korean man sits in his bunker/office, watching his monitors.

The reason he's in his bunker is because the heroes have arrived. Wonder Woman with a couple of Atlantean Heroes have arrived to arrest the entire ship and rescue the merchandise.

He has 5 female SPB mercenaries guarding the merchandise and monitoring the guests. He gives them simple names since he doesn't want to remember their dumb codenames.

*Doom*

Gun Girl - Katerina Kuznetsova

A tall, lean athletic Eastern European woman with long white-blonde hair, light skin, and blue eyes with one eye covered by a black eyepatch. She's dressed in a form-fitting black bodysuit with a mask covering her lower face and a hooded metallic gray long coat. She clearly has meta- or cybernetically- enhanced strength to carry around a huge anti-material sniper rifle like it was a feather. She also has a pain of machine pistol with armor-piercing rounds.

Her special ability allows her to alter her projectiles, so they become intangible and invisible, generating a phantom image in the real world. On mental command those projectiles return to normal space, even if it means inside a target. These bullets can hurt Kryptonians by bypassing their invulnerability.

They are not much use against an Atlantean Heroine that can transform into water. It doesn't matter if you're hit by armor-piercing rounds or a sniper round that appears inside your body, when you don't have organs or bones to damage. Unlike blood, any liquid lost from his watery body returns to it. Katerina is then grabbed by a tentacle of water and smashed repeatedly into the deck, until the deck has a hole with unconscious mercenary in it.

*Doom*

Blade Girl – Himiko Hamado

A tall, athletic Asian woman with black eyes with black sclera, pale skin, and long straight black hair. She is dressed in a form-fitting military bodysuit, but other than a handgun, her weapon of choice is high frequency blade - a sword reinforced by a powerful alternating current and resonating at extremely high vibration frequencies enabling it to slice through materials at a molecular level.

Her special ability lets her manipulate light around her depending on her speed. She uses it to distort his visual data in combat and make it impossible to judge the length and position of her blade. She can also use the effect to protect against laser and energy-based attacks.

Her special ability doesn't help Himiko against an opponent who doesn't use their eyes. Her opponent is a male Atlantean hero who detects everything using his sonar. When Himiko gets within striking range, a sonic scream sends her flying back and over the railing into the ocean. Himiko's floatation devices prevent her from sinking to the bottom, but she was beaten with one attack and just stares at the sky above her in disbelief.

*Doom*

Spike Girl – Subira Sauda

A very tall, very lean woman of African descent. She has dark eyes behind dark welder's goggles, ink black skin, and long black hair done in microbraids. She is only dressed in a sleeveless shirt over a slingshot bikini and sandals. The reason becomes apparent went her arm transforms, becoming covered in sharp barbed spikes.

Subira's special ability allows her to absorb kinetic energy rendering her nigh immune to physical attacks. The absorbed energy is stored in hardened spikes on her body and when she wants to release the accumulated energy, she can shoot the piercing spikes from her body.

If Wonder Woman has punched her, Subira would have absorbed the energy and fired her most powerful spike. Wonder Woman being vulnerable piercing attacks would have suffered serious injuries at such a close range.

Instead Wonder Woman lassoed Subira, yanked off her feet, and swung her around before tossing her in the ocean. Subira's cocky face dissolved into terror as she doesn't know how to swim, and her body has very low buoyancy. Mr. Sung wonders why she volunteered for an ocean-based mission.

*Doom*

Poison Girl – Belladonna Bath

A tall, very curvy woman of Western European descent with large breasts, dark skin, and long curly dark purple hair. She wears a standard villainess form-fitting bodysuit with a dark purple scale pattern, black boots, and mechanical gauntlets on her arms. His face is covered by a featureless one-way mirror mask.

Her special ability is the generating of a highly corrosive chemical that becomes explosive when exposed to air and water. How it doesn't explode her own body is a mystery of meta-physics, but it does explode violently when it hits a person. The CEO does remember the ability's nickname "Hell's Explosive Venom".

Belladonna is shocked when her opponent – a frog-like amphibious Atlantean boy, spits blobs of green goo at her. When she raises her gauntlets to fire upon the boy, she finds the barrels are clogged. She throws punches at the frail boy, but he hops around and continues to nail her with sticky slime. Finally, he does a handstand and doubles kick her into the way. The adhesive goo sticks her to the wall rendering her unable to move.

*Doom*

Explosive Girl – Maria Martina Mary Martinez

Nicknamed "Mars Bar" because she is in their words, "short, dark, and more than a little nuts.".

A short, athletic woman of Mexican descent with dark brown eyes, dark skin, and short black hair. She wears black clothing with a thick utility belt, a combat vest, and a protective gasmask with special lens in the eyes. These lenses change according to light levels and a set of special earplugs protect against loud noises.

Her special ability is not actually related to explosives or explosions. Instead, she has a minor technopathic ability that allows her to mentally transmit radio signals to electronic devices. She is a living detonator for her bombs.

"Are you ready to meet your creator, Hero? My toys are ready to blast this ship into Lego-size fragments." says Maria, her madness shining through, "Los fuegos artificiales del diablo!"

"Seriously, you planted explosives on your own ship? That's your escape strategy!?" says the Pro-Hero in front of Mars Bar.

"It's my win or die strategy." says Maria, "I've survived it before. Blowing up an entire building of hostages and leaving the heroes to sift through the rubble while I escape. Blowing up a few heroes is just a bonus."

"That's the plot from Die Hard."

"Never said it was original." says Maria with a frown.

"Nothing about you is original." says Rorschach appearing from the shadows, scaring Maria.

"Stay away! I'll...I'll blow up!"

"Do you remember how you survived the destruction of the Klaxon Building? Do you remember how you survived the bombing of Blue Line Railway? How are you alive?"

Maria looks confused and realizes she doesn't have those memories. She found herself back at the base after the missions and she never questioned it. She doesn't know why she didn't question it, but Rorschach does.

"There is a biochip in your brain that prevents you and the others from questioning things. Now that chip is turned off." says Rorschach, "Maria MM Martinez used explosives to take down the Rosa Cartel to get revenge for her sister. She was a vigilante with military training, not a mercenary. She has a small grave near her hometown next to her sister Sofia."

Maria is crying as the memories of Sofia, her family, and her death against Rodrigo De Rosa.

"Cadmus took the DNA of several lesser-known vigilantes and created a mercenary team. You've died repeatedly as the doll of another."

Maria's fake memories have her leaving her family to protect them, becoming a mercenary, and diving deeper and deeper into the darkness. A dive that eventually cost her part of her sanity. Now she realizes those memories don't make sense anymore.

"I'm fake. I'm a toy. They created a doll with horrible memories. They made me broken? A broken toy?" says Maria on her knees. "Dios ayúdame."

"Why are you here, Rorschach? A Cadmus clone team would be below your notice normally." asks the Hero, while Maria has a breakdown. The clone mercenary attempts to detonate the bombs, but they have already been disabled. So, all Maria could do was cry.

"I was trying to intercept a Speedster, but I was too late."

*Doom*

In Mr. Sung's Bunker, the businessman's lifeless eyes continue to stare at the monitors unseeing as blood stains his expensive suit. His breathing has stopped, his heartbeat has stopped, and all electrical activity in the brain has ceased. It happened so quickly that Mr. Sung's corpse is still frozen in his last position.

Everything in the room is unharmed beyond microscopic traces of blood, the screws in the door lock being loose and a symbol burnt into the wall – a pair of crossed zig-zag lightning bolts.

*Doom*

Flash looks in disbelief at the insanity before him.

It started a while back with a new corporate speedster named Fastway.

A Caucasian man of average height and athletic build with green eyes, light skin, and short dark brown hair. He's dressed in a black speedster bodysuit with green-gold decorations and a transparent mask over his face. As he moves lightning travels across the lines indicating the use of The Speed Force.

He wasn't as fast as The Fastest Man Alive, but he was a higher tier speedster and was on friendly terms with both the League and Cog Pro-Heroes. He was always willing to put his life on the line to save others and was generally a popular character in his section of the United States. The worst the public said about him was he spent too much time in front of the cameras and making commercials, when he could be saving more lives, but that was said about all corporate heroes (mostly by League supporters who didn't like the changes to hero culture).

Then came the strange reports.

Death after Rescue. Fastway was fatally injured rescuing a family from an automobile accident. While rescuing a family from a burning car, a mangled truck exploded sending out fiery fragments. Fastway protected the family and the injured truck driver, but several fragments cut deep into his body, and he died from the blood loss too great for his healing factor. What's strange is his body, including costume, disintegrated at death and even the spilled blood and body parts vanished.

When Fastway reappeared, there were a lot of theories. Some theorized that Fastway had a cloning ability – as there were several heroes and former villains that could make copies of themselves. Some theorized he used projection power – that Fastway was merely a creation of a master who was remotely piloting his heroic avatar. Some theorized that he was an avatar of the Red and that his body was merely an avatar which could be replaced by any random piece of meat. Internet debates don't change even when the topics do.

Death on the Road. Fastway died from overusing his power while attempt to reach new levels of speed. Special cameras that he set up recorded him going past his normal speed, his golden lightning turning blue. Then he began to decay crumbling into a trail of dust particles. Cog was able to get data from the cameras and this became his official second death. Fastway appeared the next day to retrieve his camera.

Death from Weapon. Fastway died from a shot from a laser weapon. While The Flash of the comics can outrun light, the Speed Force speedsters of our universe are normally not fast. He was also distracted by the bright lights and loud voices of the reporters who came for a quick interview (after tips/bribes from the company). This time Cognito got readings from Fastway as he died and completely disintegrated. Fastway appeared to apologize to the public for his carelessness with no explanation of why he was still alive.

Cognito prevents Death by Lightning of Fastway. Fastway was killed by the AOE (area of effect) electrical attack of metahuman, but an electric Pro Hero from Cognito was not only able to stop the electric criminal but restarted Fastway's heart. Fastway thanked the Cog Pro-Hero then left. This was the last time that Fastway was seen as a Hero.

Double Death. Cameras and citizens witnessed two versions of Fastway fighting each other. It was a very savage and desperate fight that ended in both receiving fatal wounds. They both died at the exact same time and disintegrated.

A photo of a young Caucasian man with the build of a professional runner with blue eye and reddish-blonde hair. Additional photos show him as a child with his parents, as a child in school, and a young man in a racing outfit in high school.

"Fastway. Frederick "Freddy" Fast. An average man of an Average family with German and Irish roots. He got average grades in school but was good at track and field. He eventually ended up being a security guard at a pizza place and stopped an insane lunatic from murdering a child. The murderer William A. was shot dead escaping from the police, while Freddy became a hero. He was in the hospital for injuries he sustained from stopping William."

The new image is a newspaper article about the man in a hospital after saving the life of child and a subject in a purple jacket being dead.

There is a photo of Freddy in his Fastway costume with the headgear pulled back. He's holding his kids with a smile, while his wife looks happy at them. The second photo is the fully costumed Fastway shaking hands with a businessman in a suit in front of the Hermes Corporation building.

"According to Fastway's memories, his injuries were so severe he was left crippled, but with the help of Hermes Corporation he not only regained the ability to walk but gained the power of a speedster. He became their corporate speedster and has been doing hero work for the past couple of years, maintaining a healthy marriage with his wife and a relationship with his kids."

The photos are scanned by green lines, then they turn red and are stamped with [FAKE] in big black letters. Various official documents appear including a marriage certificate, which is also marked [FAKE].

"The truth is Frederick Fast wasn't crippled by his confrontation with William A. Instead, he was approached by the Hermes Corporation for some tests before he went on with his life. He married his girlfriend but divorced two years later with no kids. He's currently living in another state working at home and spending his time off playing games on the Amusphere. A general nobody."

Two images appear. One is an older, slightly overweight Freddy lying on his bed with the Amusphere headgear covering his eyes. The other is a screenshot of a game character – an anthropomorphic golden-brown bear in a purple-and-teal outfit that looks like it jumped out the 80s glam rock. Above his head is the name tag – FastBear. He's currently beating the tar out an anthropomorphic rabbit hacker.

"Fastway is a cybernetically and genetically enhanced clone of Frederick Fast with simulated memories. He would fight crime, do promotions, and then when he thought he was going home to see his loving wife and kids, his mind would be placed in a simulation while his body was auto-piloted back to base. There were nearly a hundred Fastway clones and if anything happened to the original, they could just download him into a new clone body and the old body would automatically disintegrate on death."

Schematics for implants. Images of many naked clones in the pods favored by Cadmus, an image of a closet full of the same costume, medical scans showing implants in various parts of each clone's body. There is even a video clip of a test, where one of the clones' life signs flatten and he disintegrates.

"Things got complicated during the fight against that generic electric villain. The lethal shock overloaded the network link and prevented the auto-destruct long enough for Fastway to be revived by Pro-Hero Surge. After the trauma he went home, only to find his home didn't exist. He returned to the base and after some explorations not stopped by the fried implants, he found the replacement Fastway. He tried to get help from his other self, but the guy was controlled by the computer, so they fought until they both died."

The next image is a security video showing Fastway, a random criminal using electricity, and a blue-haired Japanese heroine also using electricity.

"This created a critical error in the computer, which caused it to resurrect both Fastway clones in a single body. The computer couldn't react fast enough, and clone driven mad by memories damaged the link to the point it wasn't controlled anymore. Using a massive amount of speed force energy, he destroyed the computer system and every clone. He also learned his entire life was fake and went on rampage killing the scientists and corporate heads. He found out the Hermes company was just another Cadmus front company."

Images of destroyed computers and mutilated corpses in the Hermes building.

"He's now calling himself Crossway. He's now on rampage, hunting down Cadmus. He's been avoiding those employed by Cognito since they are rebels against the system and Cognito is way beyond armed to the teeth."

"So why did you call me in?" asks Flash.

"He's getting faster."

*Doom*

Hal Jordan has experienced many strange events in his life. He was originally an air force pilot, who became a test pilot for Ferris Aircraft company. In 2000, his life changed when he discovered the dying Abin Sur, a member of the intergalactic law enforcement organization known as the Green Lanterns. Hal was given Abin Sur's Power Ring which granted him the power to make any imaginable constructs of green willpower energy. He joined the Green Lanterns meeting thousands of extraterrestrials from many different worlds and helped protect Earth. In 2003, he became a founding member of the Justice League after working together with other heroes to stop the Appellaxian invasion.

The world's weirdness increased exponentially over time. Multiple surges in metahuman population, numerous super powered clones, and Cognito increasing Earth's technological levels by leaps and bounds. Doctor Genus proved to be smarter than anyone in the galaxy, exposing the secrets of Guardians and somehow altering the Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum so only those possessing the whole rainbow could tap into power of any color. This eliminated many of the hardcore Lanterns from the various Corps and crippled the emotionally dead Oans.

Currently, Hal is thankful for Doctor Genus's tinkering of the Emotion EM Spectrum.

One abandoned Cadmus project was an attempt to create Emotional Spectrum soldiers. The clone scientists created seven clones of Hal Jordan, each modified to manipulate their emotions and enhance their emission of different colors.

Red Hal is a younger version of Hal with larger muscles like he's been using steroids. He has red-brown hair which forms spikes, dark tan skin, and red eyes with black sclera. His skin also has numerous dark red veins, and he has a perpetually angry face. He's dressed in red-and-black uniform and occasionally vomits bloody red plasma as he yells.

"Half Jordan, you (censored). (Censored) (CENSORED)"

Orange Hal is a younger version of Hal, but he's thinner and gaunt like someone under severe stress. He has brighter auburn hair, pale skin, and orange reptilian eyes. He's dressed in an orange-and-black uniform with numerous belts and scale-pattern bandages around his arms.

"I don't have much, but I won't let you take what's mine. I'll take everything from you if you try."

Yellow Hal looks almost identical to Hal except for the coloration. He has gold eyes with pale yellow sclera, darker skin with yellow veins, and gold highlighted hair. He has a psychotic grin on his mouth and is dressed in a yellow-and-black uniform of one of Sinestro's Lanterns with additional yellow armor.

"I understand Sinestro's point-of-view. It takes a strong will to build a civilization, but it takes fear to maintain the laws of that society. If people didn't fear punishment, then no law would be enforceable. While uncontrolled fear can cause chaos, focused fear can create order."

Green Hal looks identical to the original Hal except for green eyes instead of blue and an emotionless expression on his face. Green Hal is dressed in a green-and-black uniform resembling a Green Lantern uniform minus the chest symbol. The real Hal can feel a strong resonance between him, his ring, and the Green Hal clone.

"I have your memories, but I'm detached from everything. My mind is operating at a different level without the other emotions slowing down the processing speed or distracting me. A single desire to survive and achieve my objectives guides me."

Blue Hal is a beautiful female clone of Hal. She has blue eyes, light skin, and long feathered styled brown hair. She has a serene look on her face and is dressed in a blue-and-white uniform combined with a hooded robe that looks vaguely religious.

"I'm feeling great." says Blue with a warm smile, "I'm a flying heroine who can rescue and heal people! The future is shining."

Indigo Hal is identical to Blue, only more athletic, and she has Indigo eyes, tan skin, and is completely bald. Her skin is also covered in numerous indigo markings resembling tattoos. These markings resemble the tentacles of marine creatures including cephalopods and jellyfish. She is dressed in a sleeveless white-and-Indigo uniform with a long coat.

"Nok."

Violet Hal is the third of the emotional nigh-identical triplets. She has a curvier body than the other two with very large breasts, has violet eyes, tan skin, and long violet hair. She has a sensual predatory look on her face that makes Hal very nervous. Her "uniform" resembles a V-shaped slingshot bikini that barely hides anything with long gloves and boots that resemble body paint. She looks like she stepped off the set of space porno movie.

"I love everyone. I want to love everyone and be loved by everyone. I want to show my love in all forms."

They were sent to stop Hal to allow the one in control of Cadmus branch to escape. The problem is with Doctor Genus' manipulation of the Emotion Spectrum they are far weaker due to their focus on a singular emotion. This means even with all Seven forced to work together, they are weaker than Hal.

"Why does she look like came off a porno?"

"When she was at full power, she produced an AOE effect that caused intense feelings of love, desire, and lust." says Green Hal, "She often joined those affected by this effect. She considers herself a junior Goddess of Love and Sensuality."

"I think many goddesses would be insulted, including Raven and she has only been a love goddess for few years."

There is a loud sound like thunder that spooks the group.

"What the [Censored] was that?" yells Red.

"It's me being too late again." says Rorschach in the shadows.

*Doom*

Throne Room

Poseidonis

A day later.

13:24

3POV

The History of Atlantis is long and messy. Thousands of years ago, the world's first metahuman Vandal Savage created a tribe of his descendants and those possessing meta-abilities. They were almost wiped out by Lord of Chaos Klarion when he appeared on Earth, but Vandal struck a deal with the absurdly powerful being. The colony of Atlantis was rebuilt as the city and eventual kingdom of Atlantis, but the entire continent was sunk into the ocean when Klarion returned.

Annax Mera Nereus, High Queen of Atlantis, is having a very long day.

"A conflict between the Pureblood and the Vlatavan embassy."

The Purebloods refer to those that didn't change much over the thousands of years since Atlantis' sinking. The metagenes awoke and adapted, so the former land-dwelling humans could now breathe and live underwater. This allowed them to eventually conquer over 70% of the world's surface as Vandal Savage had envisioned. They haven't changed beyond the underwater adaptation, merely developing magic and advanced technology to enhance their abilities.

"There is a conflict in Archeology involving the Blue Star of Atlantis. It was a crown jewel of Queen Amphitrite but was lost during the Rhodos succession conflict in the first century. It was found by a British explorer and made part of the Crown of Vlatava in the eleventh century. The ship it was on sank in the sixteenth century and it was rediscovered in the twenty-first century." says the advisor to Annax Mera Nereus, "The purebloods are insisting the gemstone be removed from the Vlatavan crown, but the Vlatavan ambassador says the crown is a part of their culture. The United Kingdom also has their two cents to say."

"I remember when we didn't have so many embassies." says advisor number two.

"It's a whole new world of red tape." says the third.

*Doom*

"There was an incident in South Lemuria. A Graft Rights group is up in arms."

The Graft or Impure are Atlanteans descended from experiments and interbreeding with beings other than Purebloods. These Atlanteans have aquatic and/or amphibious animal traits ranging from mermaids out of Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tales to cephalopod people resembling Cthulhu. There is a lot of racism which led to Ocean master's Purists, but things have been changing fast over the years.

"They accused a group of Japanese of physically abusing a Cephalopod Graft, before learning he was hired as an actor on a monster film."

"What was the film about?"

"A live action version of the 'Purple Tentacles from the Deep' Hentai. It's a very basic story of a group of teens playing with magic and summoning a tentacle beast that ravages them. It has a happy ending for the monster and the girls." says the advisor with a blush, "The accusations of physical assault were dismissed, but it turned out one of actors lied about his age."

"He lied so he could have sex with half a dozen Japanese girls with huge breasts." says advisor three before getting slapped by number two.

*Doom*

"Alex Marsh was re-elected the leader of the Imbocan Colony, not that he had any real competition. He was at the Conservatory of Magic to congratulate another advance class graduation."

The original Imbocans were the Genomorph experiments of Cadmus Beta, but they have evolved far beyond that point. A variant of the virus created from Ash Grey's fluid fused them with DNA of the Axoloti paedomorphic salamanders, transforming them into amphibious species that could ask Asylum from Atlanteans. Since they have bred and continued to change, becoming physically, mentally, and magically superior to the beings they once were. Their name coming from Spanish take on the word Innsmouth.

"Purebloods are still whining how the newcomers are constantly beating the scores of their children. They want to accuse them of cheating or getting special treatment, but the reality is the pure blood brats were spoiled and didn't apply themselves."

The Clear Metahumans are any metahumans that have water-based meta-abilities, be it controlling a state of water, transforming into a liquid, or being a hybrid of some form of sea life. There have been many in the past, many which became ancestors of The Graft. The sheer number is shocking. Since the Day of the Dragons, the number of metahumans of every type has skyrocketed. Fearing oppression and/or exploitation from their own governments, many metahumans have come to make their home in the cities of Atlantis.

"The META STAR Academies also had a recent graduation. The Oceania Hero Society is getting several members from Lemuria and Tritonis. They are employed by Cog-affiliated companies. Sea Lion has also become the official government-sponsored hero of Singapore."

The Sea Lion has nothing to do with Pinnipeds - a widely distributed and diverse natural group of carnivorous, fin-footed, semiaquatic, mostly marine mammals. Instead, the lion was chosen as it is a powerful and historic symbol of Singapore's status as the Lion City and symbolizes three national values: courage, excellence and strength. The government sponsored Pro Hero's special ability is Water Affinity becoming stronger in presence of water and Singapore is an island with numerous rivers, water ways, and reserves.

*Doom*

Outside the Palace

13:52

3POV

Ka'a is shark woman who was born in Hawaii of her Earth and is named after Ka'ahupahau – a guardian shark deity of Pearl Harbour. She is a fearsome warrior in black-and-white and Dame of Megaladon. She would rather face an army of enemy soldiers than being doing what she doing right now.

The Sharkmen were not as common as they are now. The most famous one being Nanaue Sha'ark (King Shark)- the ruler of the Atlantean city-state Nanauve and son of the Hawaiian God Kāmohoaliʻi. Ash Grey, Legendary Indestructible Monster and Atlantean Knight Commander of the Order of Megaladon, allowed the integration of two entire populations of shark people.

"Shark Selfie!"

Atlantis never had much of a tourism bureau, mostly because they live at the bottom of the ocean. Even with Aquaman's existence becoming well-known to the world, the number of people capable of visiting Atlantis could be measured on one's hands. The sole exception being other superheroes allied to Aquaman and his partner and supervillains attempted to seize Atlantis' resources. Cognito introduction of the Water Pill and other super technology allowed a sudden increase in visitors. Some people enjoyed Atlantis so much they considered getting permanent alterations from Cognito and immigrating to Atlantis.

Ka'a smiles at the camera showing her impressive teeth next to an idiot tourist. Normally she would tell them to fuck off, but she's currently being punished with "Tourist Babysitting" by her commander. These idiots have attempted to win the Darwin Award many times and sometimes succeeded. One big example happened less than a week ago.

There are many legends about mythological fish and many aquatic creatures from mythology have appeared with the changes to the world's mystical fields. This includes mermaids, sea nymphs, aquatic lamia (sea snake lamia), and many other beings thought imaginary or extinct even by Atlanteans. This has attracted many tourists and explorers.

One tourist believed he found a Ningyo – a human-faced golden scaled fish, which later evolved in media to become a Japanese mermaid. It's said those that eat the flesh of the mermaid gain immortality, but he didn't know this only applies if you survive eating one. He and his nine friends ate the supernatural sushi and nine of them died. The last one mutated into a horrible fish monster as only one in million just become Immortal.

"Suu!"

"She's so cute."

Ka'a turns to see a bunch of tourists looking at a slime girl. She looks like a small, lean ten-year-old girl with innocent eyes and thick shoulder-length hair dressed in a simple dress. What makes her non-human is the fact her entire body is composed of a pale blue translucent jelly-like substance and her clothing is also part of her body and almost transparent. She's as anatomically correct as a Barbie Doll, so there is no problem with decency laws, but these cute girls can be troublemakers.

The Ocean Cleaners created by Cognito's Dr. Genus have proven to be wonderful. They have removed decades of plastic pollution from the oceans of the world in only a few years and they continue to work. They are even treated like tourist attractions with some crazy people even jumping into them.

Some dark sorcerers combining eldritch magic and science, attempted to turn the Ocean Cleaners into weapons of mass destruction. They envisioned the giant blobs consuming the cities of the surface world, but instead they created a new race of slime-like humanoids that even Doctor Genus didn't predict. These oceanic slime folk are an extremely friendly race of creatures with happy and sunny disposition. They at first seem simple minded, but they later shocked scientists and magicians by learning both science and magic even faster than the Imbocans.

"Let's get photos of her with the cool shark girl."

Ka'a prays the torture to stop.

*Doom*

14:34

A Megalodon Knight's blade tears through a monster's body. The problem is the wound bursts into a tumorous mass of grey flesh before reforming into flesh.

For the past week, strange blobs of pulsating grey biomatter have been found floating in the ocean. When devoured by various sea life they cause the animal to mutate into hideous monsters that appear to be a combination of sea animals mixed with humanoid. These chimeric creatures are ravenous beasts driven solely by instinct and when killed they dissolve into the same blobs.

The creature roars, its voice is a strange, distorted mix of creatures and it generates bubbles of hot gases.

The monster is a grotesque monstrosity of body horror that only David Cronenberg could conceive after reading the works of HP Lovecraft and made with leftovers from HR Giger art. It's three meters tall with thick muscles on its asymmetric skeleton with many bones protruding from the flesh. The creature's body is heavily armored in bone, thick shells of marine life, and even fragments of stone and corral incorporated into it. Even with the armor, muscle and pulsating flesh can be seen through the cracks in the armor. Its long multi-jointed limbs end in long claws covered in crustacean exoskeleton and its lower body is like a giant eel covered in slime, toothy mouths, and poisonous quills. Its head resembles a fangtooth fish with row upon row of too many teeth inside a helmet of armor.

Kaldur'ahm, Garth, and Tula, better known as Atlantean Heroes – Aquaman (II), Tempest, and Aquagirl dodge the blindingly fast strikes of the long limbs. They also avoid bubbles of toxins emitted from those limbs, while manipulating the water around them. Their teamwork is impressive and with their melee weapons they slice off the arms releasing small clouds of greasy blood before the bleeding abruptly stops.

A mass of tumorous flesh explodes from the stumps of the arms and forms larger, thicker limbs that look like they are a combination of Atlantic Lobster and human complete with red exoskeleton. The monster continues to mutate with spiky red armor covering parts of monster's body or replacing them by bursting off the old parts. Even the eel tail bursts to reveal a giant lobster tail with numerous sharp legs with quickeningly hardening shell.

The monster releases a louder roar that makes the ears of many Atlanteans hurt. It then fires high pressure jets of purple liquid from its body leaving toxic trails in the water. It then attempts to smash the heroes with its now shelled fists. While the Heroes dodge, the blows create immense craters in the ground, creating clouds of debris and sand. Weapons try to crack or pierce the armor but fail. The Shark guard Ka'a manages to pierce the flesh through the cracks, but the monster's thrashing snaps her sword.

The monster then generates a thunderous sound, creating shockwaves and stunning everyone around them. Unable to move due to the paralyzing effect, Ka'a and the heroes can only watch the red fists coming closer to crush them into pulp.

Fists stopped by my own grey hands with ease. With a squeeze the dark red armor cracks and shatters beneath my fingers. It's harder than steel, to me it feels like a discarded crab shell. Something I would find and crush as I explored the beaches of Newfoundland when I was young. Tossing the crippling arms away from me, I pull back my right fist deploying my spikes before punching deep into the monster and injecting my venom.

The monster is screaming as bubbles foam from its mutating body. Parts of its body swell, shattering the armor that covers them before bursting into tumors. These tumors distort and consume the monster's body until only a blob of pulsating grey flesh remains. It continues to release immense amounts of heat and gases, creating a cloud of superheated bubbles around it. Finally, after almost twenty minutes, the reaction ends and the basketball size mass of hardened debris rests on the ground.

"Yeah! Our Commander is Invincible." says my fangirl and subordinate Ka'a.

"Lord Ash Grey." says a nervous Tempest, "It's good to see you, but do you know why the monster appeared?"

"According to Doctor Genus, the last of Cadmus is panicking due to a homicidal speedster clone hunting them down. They are causing distractions with failed experiments, while they attempt to find a solution." I say, looking at Garth with a toothy smile, "They will fail."

*Doom*

Cadmus Base Thebes

Doomsday

15:28

3POV

Cadmus has thousands of experiments running. The Cloning of heroes, villains, important scientists, and celebrities. Cybernetic, genetic and magical enhancement of the body. Experiments into various forms of mind control.

One crazy project was Project: Phobos.

Phobos (Ancient Greek: "fear") is the god and personification of fear and panic in Greek mythology. Phobos was the son of Ares and Aphrodite, and the brother of Deimos. He does not have a major role in mythology outside of being his father's attendant.

The Cadmus Project involved the cloning of the white Martian terrorist M'comm M'orzz (Malcolm Morse would be the English equivalent) known under the alias Ma'alefa'ak. The nephew of J'onn J'onzz (Martian Manhunter) and sister of M'gann M'orzz (Miss Martian). Radicalized by years of systemic injustice, he sought to topple Green and Red Martian hegemony on Mars by leading a White Martian uprising. Project: Phobos would have supplied an enhanced army capable of realizing Ma'alefa'ak dream. The problem was ensuring the loyalty of the unstable natural shapeshifters.

The tanks of Cadmus Thebes contain a hundred incomplete clones of the White Martian, plus eleven special clones. Less than one percent of the original project's planned number. When the Leader of Cadmus learned Crossway had finally located his base, he activated the clones despite the danger. One hundred eleven incomplete clones of M'comm M'orzz awoke with the mission to eliminate the intruders.

A hundred Martian troopers roars like an army of Dead Space monsters hungering for death and flesh. The chalk white clone extraterrestrials burst from their tanks using brute force. They can't use special abilities like psychic abilities or density shifting, but they instinctively use their shapeshifting to make themselves into more monstrous predators to hunt their prey.

Ten clones start off monstrous due to the modifications. The donator's codename comes from an animal on Mars known for its feral behavior, so much so that it is considered "a rabid beast". Genes of that animal, several other Martian beasts, and Cadmus genomorphs were used to create White Beasts. These beasts are grotesquely muscular bodies with manes of tentacles, maws of sharp teeth, bony armor, and eac possessing three glowing red eyes.

The final special embodies the name Phobos in the form of pyrophobia. While the clone is still a White Martian, it possessed the powers of its galaxy-feared ancestors – The Burning Martians. Its body is covered in intense flames that scare the other clones due to human metagenes infused into it. Those meta-genes grant it fire manipulation and fire immunity, while Cadmus's programming erases the fear programmed into the native members of the Martian race.

As it roars it generates an aura of heat that melts metal around it.

All of this happens in less than thirty seconds.

Less than 10 seconds after the Director sent the awakening command, Crossway had already bypassed the bases defenses. He had disassembled some doors, torn the wiring out of locks, and phased through walls using his superspeed. Moving at that speed, no guards could target him and any guard that got in his way splattered like bugs on the windshield.

Less than 15 seconds after the Director sent the awakening command, he was already captured by Crossway and taken out of the facility.

"This is getting old." says Rorschach. He's attempting to capture Crossway, but the annoyance leaves problems behind everywhere he goes in his "quest for revenge".

The Burning White Martian roars again, the area around Rorschach becomes hot enough to melt lead. Rorschach is unharmed due to his protective barriers and somehow looks annoyed while wearing his infamous mask. He pulls out a dart gun from storage, selects a number, turns off the safety, and shoots the Burning White in the chest.

The dart is made of a heat resistant metal and has enough speed to get past the waves of intense heat radiating off the Cadmus monster. The special liquid inside is injected into the creature's body causing its eyes to widen in pain.

Cognito Inc has experimented with drugs designed to effect metahuman. Drugs designed to suppress meta-abilities till they could be properly controlled or removed. Drugs designed to enhanced weak meta-abilities and help them fully mature. Drugs designed to awaken meta-abilities in normal people. The kind of pharmacology that makes the smartest scientists of Cadmus look like primitive cavemen putting random plants in their mouths to get high.

The drug that Rorschach injected into Burning White would normally be given to humans at low dosages to enhance meta-abilities. The concentrated dosage on the other hand is like a poison to the enhanced Martian clone causing its fire powers to go out of control.

The Burning White screams in pain as its body grows and distorts with the abnormal cell activity. The metal floor beneath the beast begins to melt, while structures collapse around it. The fiery aura continues to grow and expand like a fire tornado. The hundred-plus clones scream like frightened animals at the flames and instinctively try to escape the burning hell. The command implants in their brains can do nothing against primal fear.

They don't get far. Burning White glows like a star before finally exploding. The energy released is comparable to a very large thermonuclear bomb and Cadmus Thebes wasn't designed to handle such an explosion. The one hundred and ten clones of M'comm M'orzz are turned into plasma by the heat of the explosion along with the few remaining scientists, while the building itself is sent into the air as dust and debris. Thankfully, this bio-explosion doesn't contain any nuclear material, so there is no radioactive fallout raining down for miles. The island is far away from the mainland, so no innocents are harmed.

Rorschach walks out of the nuclear-level hellfire and brushes the dust off his coat.

"I have had enough of this chase."

*Doom*

A Rock

Middle of the Atlantic Ocean

Less than a minute later

3POV

The rock is the tip of an underwater mountain barely above the surface of the ocean. The tiny island is less than 10 x 10 meters and less than 1.5 meters above the waves. It's covered by seaweed, kelp, and organic ocean debris, and its only importance is a hazard for ships unlucky enough to be sailing by. Crossway has stopped on the Island, with the Director on his knees.

Crossway looks down at the Cadmus Director. He's a short slightly overweight man with blue eyes behind thick goggles, pale skin a bald head, and a thick beard. He's dressed in a black shirt pants, and shoes with a white lab coat. The Director is currently crying in fear. You would be crying too if you were in the hands of murderous speedster only slightly less insane than Reverse Flash.

"Killing me won't change anything! Cadmus will continue without me!"

"You're wrong about that. Project Cadmus is already dying. After so many failures and raids by Cog, the Light has all but abandoned the project. With Dr. Sevarius missing, the Light even lacks a head for biological science. It's only the programmed clones that keep the leftover projects running," Crossway tells the terrified man. "Clones loaded with fake memories and mental commands, just like me."

Crossway bends over the director and exposes a cybernetic port on the back of the man's neck, resembling a USB port. The clones have wireless cyber-psychic links to the cloning systems, but some of them go further and have cybernetic implants to allow greater man-machine interface. Crossway pulls out a stick from his costume and removes the cap. He then plugs the USB drive into the Director's spinal link.

"What...What is this?"

"A computer virus that I stole from Cognito. An extremely nasty one. When you die, your memories will be downloaded to the Cadmus network infecting it. It will kill all the clones on the network and erase everything, finishing off Cadmus."

"No... No... No!"

The Director's eyes are filled with horror. Crossway isn't sure if it's the thought of Cadmus's destruction and the loss of all the research, or that he will truly die instead of transferring to a new clone (the data would be just copied, but the illusion of immortality makes the clones braver).

"Please, you were made in the form of a forty-year-old man. Act your age instead of the six months you are chronologically." says Crossway as lightning cracks around him. He's drawing in the power of the Speed Force, his body vibrating with accumulating energy and shaking the terrified Director.

Crossway picks up the Director and then he runs.

Crossway creates a sonic boom as he surpasses the sound barrier.

Crossway continues to accelerate beyond the hyper sonic.

Crossway reaches a speed that would have been unimaginable to The Flash only a few years ago.

The Director is already dead. His body wasn't designed to handle superhuman speeds and disintegrated between Crossway's fingers. Now, Crossway's body is starting to breakdown. He's leaving behind a trail of glowing dust, and he cries out in both pain and release.

Rorschach appears on the tiny island and reaches down into the seaweed. He picks up the USB drive that Crossway used to infect the Director. A drive, whose viral contents, are now wiping out Cadmus.

"Father. I'm observing the virus's progress in the cyberverse." says Pip over the secure communications, "I have never seen such a virulent computer virus. Are you sure this was the correct choice?"

"Crossway would have done anything to eliminate Cadmus, including hitting structures with the Infinite Mass Punch. Even Doctor Genus would have had problems with devastation of 10 octillion megatons." says Rorschach, "He was fully tapped into the Speed Force. So having him acquire the Cadmus Crusher virus was the best option, especially since the Thebes director possessed a cyber brain."

"Is the Cog employee, OK?"

"Mr. Joshua Jackson." says Rorschach, remembering the name of the computer specialist who had been killed by Crossway to acquire the virus. "He's already been resurrected under Phoenix and will be getting a raise, a new house, and a bunch of luxuries from Cog."

"The last active Cadmus lab on the network has gone dark. The virus is being stubborn. Give me a second."

*Doom*

In the depths of Cyberverse, the Cadmus Crusher Virus manifests as an immense monster that looks like it could go several rounds with Godzilla. It's an immense worm composed of interwoven pulsating black and grey cables with numerous round camera eyes around a maw of metal teeth and harsh red light. It fires a red beam from its mouth which instantly disintegrates several towers and increases its mass.

"GRID BEAM SABER SLASH!"

The Cadmus Crusher virus monster is sliced in half by a blade of brilliant energy as the giant Pip lands in front of the digital worm. The worm is not dead yet as a spherical core rises from the remains and the pulsating cables reach up to it.

"SPARK BEAM!"

Pip delivers an uppercut that releases fiery spark bolts at point blank range. It sends the core rocketing into the sky before its cables can reconnect. The core generates cables, but there is nothing for it to grab onto in the sky of the cyberverse "city".

"NEO COG KICK!"

Pip delivers a kick covered in energy that strikes the core with the force of a missile. It resists for a split second, then cracks, and finally shatters exploding. The mass of cables on the ground disintegrates into pixels and smoke that also vanishes completely from existence

"GRID FIXER BEAM!"

Pip releases a blast of sparkling energy that washes over the battlefield and repairs all the damage in seconds.

*Doom*

"Calling out your attacks, Pip?"

"It's fun and Gridman does the same thing."

"Funny that we had more trouble with our own virus than we do with all of Cadmus's creations."

"Cog is a lot more competent when they make things."

*Doom*

Metropolis

Project: Cadmus' last F U has been released. Upon his Death, clones of the original Team were automatically released. These clones were infected with Kelipot Virus extracted from Project: Qliphoth which transformed them into juvenile Doomsday Clones possessing far greater physical power than the originals and capable of mutating into walking apocalypses. The Team was sent out to the bio-organic weapons of mass destruction before they could fully mature.

Superboy, also known as Project: Kr, Conner Kent, and Kon-El.

Powerboy, also known as Project: Match, Matthew Kent, and Mal-El.

Ash Grey, also known as Project: Qliphoth, The Doomsday, and the One who will Stand at the End.

The brothers are currently fighting monstrous clone that shares their face. The D-Clone of Conner looks identical to how did when I was born, which makes some sense since I was created using Conner's cells and sample of a Kryptonian bioweapon. Despite being smaller, he's still powerful enough to send Conner and Matt sailing with his blows. They also must be worried about the absurdly sharp bone spikes which can pierce their Kryptonian flesh. My problem is I'm the one that needs to block the heat vision as the D-Clone's beams could slice through a skyscraper let alone the crowds of slack jawed locals. Finally, I nailed the clone in the eyes with my own Doom Vision, temporarily blinding him.

I jump towards my opponent, and we begin to rapidly strike each other. Each blow is massively supersonic causing shockwaves as it strikes, but I don't feel pain and I hope my opponent does. The battle is so intense the wind generated is pushing everything away from us. I can even hear civilians who should have evacuated shouting out.

I stop holding back and the D-Clone is sent tumbling down the streets from the force of my blows, and I follow in an instant. I continue to strike the Cadmus creature, not giving him a chance to react. I grab its tumbling form and swing him into the street with enough force to create a massive crater and land before the monster can finish his bounce. I then deliver a Strong Punch that surpasses the punch of Pro Hero All Might. There is burst of light on impact and the D-Clone goes flying into the sky much to the amazement of onlookers. It flies through the clouds, dispersing them, then leaves the atmosphere.

In orbit, a portal opens before the D-Clone can collide with a Cog Satellite and create telecom-destroying fireworks show.

*Doom*

Miss Martian, also known as M'gann M'orzz, Megan Morse, and recently, and sometimes Megan Kent.

She is currently fighting a D-Clone of herself. It's a bizarre creature since Martians are natural shapeshifters with very malleable physiology. Its upper body resembles a naked cross between M'gann's true White Martian form and her human form, which makes it resemble something made by Dutch artist HR Giger. Its lower body is a mass of long tentacles covered in bone-like white plates and its arms are like clusters of thorny vines.

Megan is having serious trouble with the monstrous copy of her as its body is stronger and harder than her own, inflicting damage to herself when she strikes it. She can't phase through its body to strike internal organs, because its internal physiology is changing too rapidly. She attempts to use her Martian vision to incinerate the creature, but only manages to incinerate her arm tentacles. Then seconds later, eyes appear on the surface of its body, releasing beams in multiple directions.

Those beams are stopped by shadowy portals that redirect them beams to slice of the arms before blocking each eye. Jade appears with her Kijin Kahn. The supernatural sharp blades of the Kijin slice Miss Martian D-Clone to pieces, before Jade herself releases a spell. Dark mist washes over the D-Clone, before pulling out all the spiritual and vital energy as glowing mist. Megan can only watch as her monstrous clone's pieces wither away.

"The thing about Doomsdays is the longer you fight them, the worst they get due to the adapting." says Jade - the Literal Goddess of Darkness. She opens a portal and pulls out an energy drink before tossing it to Miss Martian. "This one hadn't encountered the supernatural yet, so it was still vulnerable. Heh. I'm starting to sound like Uncle and his lectures. At least I'm not asking for Mung Beans."

"Mung Beans?"

The mung bean is mainly cultivated in East, Southeast and South Asia. It is used as an ingredient in both savory and sweet dishes. It was a favorite of the original Jade's Uncle, tho she didn't like them at the time. Demon Queen Jade developed new tastes over the years, despite Oni generally disliking beans and onions.

*Doom*

Aquaman (II), also known as Kαλδυρ'αμ (Kaldur'ahm) and Atlantean Minister of Justice is currently facing his own clone.

The D-Clone of the Atlantean is taller and more muscular but retaining its swimmer build. Its body is covered in sharp boney white scales with numerous webbed spikes sticking out like fins. Its long limbs end in sharp claws between webbed claws. What's most disturbing is its head, with the upper face covered in thick scales with no visible eyes and its mouth being skeletal with many rows of sharp teeth like a shark. As it roars, it releases deafening roars in the water and Kaldur's world becomes painful. This is like the sonar pulses of military submarines turning the brains of dolphins into mush.

As the D-Clone rushes to kill and consume the incapacitated original, a black mass crashes into it and rams the creature into the ocean floor. It's an immense raven composed of dark energy attacking like a bird of prey hunting a fish. The Dark Raven then shoots out of the water with the D-Clone in her claws.

Raven, half-demon sorceress, daughter of deceased Trigon and young goddess of love, places her hand on Kaldur's arm and injects with waves of divine healing magic. Soon, all his injuries including the internal bleeding caused by the sonic attack are gone.

"Thank you for your assistance, Raven." says Kaldur, always courteous.

"I was waiting for the perfect moment as we didn't want the beast escaping and becoming immune to magic." says Raven, "Also, call back up next time."

"My apologies. May I ask, where is the clone?"

"Where he will never be a problem."

*Doom*

The D-Clone of the Atlantean hero finds itself falling out of a portal and crashing onto the hard ground. It gets up ready to attack anyone, but it's too late as its body is already glowing purple. It roars in rage creating shockwaves, but its body continues to dissolve into vanishing particles until nothing remains. Not a single trace remains.

Obsidian Black doesn't notice the D-Clone's complete annihilation.

The eternity of an ant, the lifetime of a man, the blink of an eye for a god.

*Doom*

Kid Flash, also known as Wallace Rudolph "Wally" West, and is considering changing his name to something more impressive if he survives. He's currently fighting D-Flash, a D-Clone of himself. What is more terrifying than Doomsday, is a small Doomsday with superspeed.

While many versions of Doomsday possess enough superhuman speed to catch the Flash, D-Flash is a true Speedster version. The D-Clone has the same build as the Speedster with a layer of flexible bone scales instead of a normal costume. This results in the clone's fingers ending in sharp claws and the sides of the arms forming blades. Its eyes are covered with a helmet of bone, and its mouth is full of sharp teeth.

As it moves at superspeed, Kid Flash considers calling it D-Flesh because of its bloodthirsty nature. Hundreds of people are either killed or left maimed, the ground soaked with raining blood. Kid Flash is terrified on the inside like when he had drug-induced nightmares of the zombie-like Black Racer coming for him.

Kid Flash cries out in pain as one of his arms is sliced off by the hypersonic blades of D-Flash. The clone goes in for the kill, only for the road friction to drop to nothing. Moving out of control and his blades unable to regain control, he goes flying through an open portal.

Kid Flash is getting dizzy from the blood loss, but he sees Rorschach walking towards him with a floating robot holding his severed arm. The robot grabs him and places the arm back on his body. An injection of nanomedicine and the world comes back into focus, with his shoulder becoming completely numb. In seconds, bones, muscles, nerves, and other tissues reconnect, while blood and other fluids are recycled. The skin heals without leaving a mark and Kid Flash then feels the pins and needles of his reattached arm awakening.

"Thanks." says the exhausted Flash.

"No problem. I would have been here sooner, but I needed to grab a few things." says Rorschach turning to the disaster area, "Not many people had Phoenix Insurance, so resurrection will be a lot harder. We may still lose a third of them."

*Doom*

Richard "Dick" Grayson, formerly known the Batman's partner/sidekick Robin and currently known as Nightwing is getting thrown around like a rag doll. His costume has numerous rips and is stained with dirt. He wishes he was wearing his Cog armored uniform instead of his classic, as he wouldn't be bleeding all over a rooftop and have a dozen cracked bones.

His opponent is a K-virus augmented clone of himself (a D-Clone). Since the clone was created from a normal human, it's the least mutated and physically weakest of the clones. Instead, the clone possesses immense agility and dexterity without interference of grotesque muscle and deformed bone.

It resembles Grayson with dark grey skin and white bone protrusions that resemble feathers. It has sharp claws, extendable blasts from its wrists, and the ability to fire feather-like projectiles. The armor around its upper face makes it look like an Owl mask, like those worn by the Talons of the Court of Owls. As Nightwing dodges scalpel sharp bone blades, he wonders if the illuminati-like Court was a buyer for this clone.

Nightwing pulled out everything in his arsenal, but the biggest advantage the clone possesses is vastly superior strength and durability, even tho their builds are near identical. Nano-edge batarangs fail to do more than surface damage and the explosive barely slows the clone. Gas and smoke pellets do nothing to the beast, not even blinding it as it can see despite its eyes being covered in a layer of bone. The sticky foam grenades he uses are barely a nuisance because it can tear through the foam and rip it from its anchors.

Nightwing's combat trait is his hand-to-hand combat ability, but his clone is like steel. All his punches do is rip his gloves and damage his knuckles.

It charges at Nightwing, only for one of its legs to fall through a portal that appears. A portal that closes before it can react and slices off the limb. It tries to stabilize only for other portals to open under its limbs, rise and close, slicing them off. Finally, unable to escape, a final portal opens, and Nightwing Doomsday Clone falls to its doom.

"Where did you send it, Rorschach?" asks Nightwing who sounds like he's in a lot of pain.

"A place of Absolute Destruction." says Rorschach as he appears next to Nightwing and injects the young man with Panacea. Nightwing sighs as his injuries heal in seconds and crippling fatigue leaves his body. "Let this be a lesson to Cog Costumes instead of Bruce's classics."

*Doom*

Dr. Alexander Armstrong, also known as Weird Science Rick in costume, walks on screen.

"Our world is a dangerous place, even for its heroes."

Numerous images appear. Murderous superpowered villains, cyborg soldiers with high-tech weaponry, supernatural monsters, extraterrestrial robotic invaders, and a magical dragon.

"This is why Meta Star Academies provide the best education for our future Pro Heroes..."

Images of various hero students learning to us their powers. This includes those without offensive power learning martial arts and piloting powered armor in arenas. Other students are either learning to skillfully use their meta-abilities, learning to cast magic efficiently, or learning to properly use psychic abilities. There is even a class of costumed heroes looking teary eyed and holding up their diplomas.

"...and why Cognito provides the best protection that money can buy."

Images of Pro-Heroes dressed in armored costumes and power armor clearly made by Cognito Inc. Super villains encased in hardening sticky foam, while a Hero and the former victim laugh at how the villain looks like a wad of chewing gum on a sidewalk. Cyborg mercenaries with broken smoking limbs, while a hero leans against a wall holding a remote looking cool. A female Pro Hero with metal-feathered mechanical angel wings hovers above the disintegrating bones of a hideous demon, while the former victim cry and pray. A 54-meter-tall humanoid extraterrestrial robot explodes when it's slashed in half by the beam saber of a flying Cog Mecha that's only 18 meters tall. A pair of green-skinned aliens climb out of the rubble of the robot holding a white flag. Finally, the magical dragon coughs blood and falls to the ground dead. A Pro Hero in protective armor falls out of its mouth covered in corrosive saliva, toxic blood, and metal-melting stomach acid, but completely unharmed.

"Cognito will keep it's heroes safe, so they can help keep you safe." says Rorschach, "Cognito - All problems have solutions."

*Doom*

The Light Virtual Meeting

"Project: Cadmus has finally ended."

The last of the cloning facilities have been shut down or taken over by Cognito Inc. Cog's vastly superior technology can easily determine if a person is a clone or an original, so it's impossible to replace important people and even the enhanced Cadmus clones are no match for Cog's own forces. Currently, Cadmus clones are not worth the energy to produce and maintain.

Project: Cadmus's experiments into chemical-based bio-enhancement was ceased. While Venom, Kobra Venom, and the derivatives were originally useful, Cog Nanomedicine is not only superior, but it can revert Kobra Venom subjects back to their original forms. Nanomedicine can even make the subjects unable to be enhanced again, reducing their efforts to nothing.

Project: Cadmus's experiments into mind control have also been neutralized. Hidden subliminal commands, inbuilt chemical switches, and implants like Starro-tech were supposed to help the Light keep tight control over their armies of metahuman soldiers and the so-called Heroes. Cognito created methods of detecting, removing, and protecting against every version of Cadmus mind control and dozens they had never considered.

Project: Cadmus's experiments into metahuman awakening was considered the most important project. Cadmus's main purpose was to find methods to efficiently awaken metahuman abilities. Those numerous methods included genetic engineering, chemical baths, drugs, implants, and exposure to various forms of radiant energy. Then the Day of the Dragons occurred, and the world changed. There are metahumans awakening daily around the world to the point that Cadmus' main purpose is now pointless.

Project: Cadmus has degenerated as main bases were raided and destroyed, and funding and resources were cut from other facilities. These facilities were mostly abandoned except for programmed clones becoming independent problems for the Light. Cadmus Clone these days is just another way of saying Defective Clone.

In many ways, Project Kr (Superboy) is considered the "last good clone". The creation of Project: Qliphoth is considered the beginning of Cadmus's Doom.

"So, the Project was a Big Waste of Money?" asks Klarion being his snarky self.

"It served its purpose for a time. Now, times have changed and it's time to move forward with the knowledge we have gained." says Vandal Savage.

"The Knowledge we gained? What knowledge was that?" says Klarion.

"Meow?" says Teekl, Klarion's feline familiar and link to the Earthly plane.

"Yes, I was paying attention!"

"Meow?"

"I wasn't just watching the bloopers reel."

Vandal Savage suppresses his irritation. Klarion is a Lord of Chaos that acts like a spoiled spiteful child most of the time. The only way Vandal can control Klarion in the slightest is to make things entertaining. Time means very little to a timeless being, especially to a being of chaos who detests all forms of order, and he can wait centuries for something fun to happen. It's almost like a child watching another build a sandcastle just so he can knock it down.

"Anime hair colors. Japan branch's greatest screw up? Are you sure, Teekl?"

"Meow!"

"..."

Vandal feels a headache coming on. The Japanese branch of Cadmus somehow accidentally released an extremely contagious non-lethal virus into the population. As a result, future generations of Japanese could have eye and hair pigmentation outside of past human norms – namely shades of green, blue, and purple.

"Meow!"

"Plastic Porn Project?"

"Meow! Meow!"

"Oh Yeah, the one in South America."

Vandal wishes he brought his gun. Klarion had to remind him of the South American disaster. A group in Brazil was exposed to a formula that turned them into white-skinned metahumans with powers like Plastic Man. This wouldn't have been a problem, since despite his crazy personality, Patrick "Eel" O'Brian is a competent and surprisingly powerful superhuman being. The problem is the subjects not only proved to be immune to mental manipulation, but when they discovered they now had attractive, hyper-endowed bodies, they became a colony of nymphomaniac nudists.

"Meow! PURR!"

"YES!"

If this was an anime, Vandal's eyes would be bugging out at what just arrived at Klarion's location a burst of teleportation light. It's a very large bag of a dark plant with numerous glowing eyes and teeth which are still alive despite the plant being cut and dead. It's clearly a bag of extradimensional narcotics like the Lovecraftian Catnip periodically delivered to Klarion over the years. There is also a note attached to the bag.

To Klarion and Teekl.

A little something to celebrate the demise of Project: Cadmus.

This is the ~Good Stuff~.

From Doctor Genus of Cognito Inc.

PS. Tell Vandal Savage I said "Hi."

"Doctor Genus says Hi." says Klarion as he rolls some of the plant into a paper joint made from a Bible page. The plant is swearing in ominous Latin as if complaining, but Klarion is ignoring it.

"Oh, how I wish I could actually die..." Vandal Savage groaned, rubbing at his face.

*Doom*

Apokolips

A week later.

09:25

3POV

"Lord Darkseid." says the aide before the throne of dark planet.

"Report." says the New God of Tyranny upon his dark throne.

"Doctor Genus's alterations to reality have been confirmed. The Promethean Gods and Outer Gods within the Source Wall are dead. The Lanterns and Elementals have been forced into a Balance."

Darkseid's eyes narrow and the aide's spine shivers.

"We have acquired the Anti-Life Equation you desired, but any being exposed to it also acquires the Life Equation. We are unable to change it. Doctor Genus' knowledge is clearly superior to your servants'."

Darkseid is not happy as his eyes glow with hatred and the Omega Effect.

"Lord Darkseid... You've also received a gift from Doctor Genus?"

"What is it?"

"The final creation of Savage's Project: Cadmus, My Lord?"

A pair of Parademons escort the present in. It's a humanoid the size of a child with incorrect proportions. It's bald with red eyes and grey stone-like skin dressed in a very familiar dark blue/black uniform with omega symbols. The difference between the figure in front of Darkseid and Darkseid himself is height. The small super deformed version glares back at the original.

"It is time for the lower beings of creation to remember who they fear in their darkest hours, in their deepest moments of despair. This new multiverse is now infinite. But I am finite. I am final. Darkseid is... THE END."

Darkseid's eyes glow with the energy of the Omega Effect before unleashing the feared crimson beams. As the beams strike the SD Clone there is a screeching sound, then the clone vanishes from existence.

"There can only be one Darkseid as there can only be one End."

*END*

NEXT CHAPTER

Ash's responsibilities

The Adventures of his Wives.

The Beginning of the End

Beginning of the Darkseid War

Chapter 44

Tales of Death and Rebirth

October 21