Mẹta
True Cadmus
?
Good news, I made my way out of that little stasis area. It was simple, really; I just filled the whole floor with steam and teleported everywhere. What to do when all the security cameras are foggier than a sauna and the guards can't see more than four feet?
With a sigh, I focus my energy and teleport somewhere.
I see a (soon-to-be) balding man pacing around the room as suddenly seven screens come down from the ceiling. No pictures, as if this detective stuff were easy; instead, there are white silhouettes.
"Dr. Desmond." One begins, an angered masculine voice speaking, "You require an audience with the Light?"
He almost seems... mad.
A panicking Dr. Desmond replies, "Yes, I'm very sorry to disturb you at this late hour."
"—Just make your report." Another male speaks up. Is this Light a sexist bunch or what?
Desmond proceeds to explain the fire, but that's not remotely what I care for. He then brings up us— side note, can we not be called sidekicks? I don't even have a mentor; the term doesn't apply to me. Then, something that I failed to consider popped up. "What should I do with them?" he asks, referring to us. Them? Whatever the right word is.
"Clone them." One of the original two voices suggests.
"The substitutes will serve the Light and only the Light." Adds the other male.
"And the originals?" Desmond asks.
"Dispose of them. Leave no trace."
. . .
Aimlessly, I flitted from place to place. My companions stood firm against the darkness. Suddenly, a pale figure in white caught my eye. I shifted, ready. He saw me too. Our gazes locked in silent confrontation words unnecessary.
My eyes narrowed at him, and his eyes followed. If he wasn't going to make the first move...
"You want to save your friends, right?" he asks me. I nod, and he motions his head to them.
Oookay? Regardless, I dropped my hands and walked over to the machines my friends were hooked up to. It almost reminded me of...
Suddenly, the three of them awaken to a staring Superboy and, well, me. "What? What—What do you want?" Kid Flash demands.
"Uh, I want you to take a chill pill," I snap back.
As Superboy keeps staring, KF suddenly looks at me, "Let us out. You're still normal, right?" He frantically asks.
"No. I serve Cadmus," I lie to him in my most robotic voice. Although, I decided to hold off on telling them about the cloning thing for now. If I'm gonna be stuck here, I might as well have some fun.
...
Aqualad speaks up, "We only sought to help you."
"Yeah. We free you, and you turn on us." The yellow teen interjects. "Speaking of freeing, aren't you gonna free us? Or are you also gonna turn on us?"
I roll my eyes. "If you keep barking accusations, I might. How's that?"
The dirty Fishman can pretty much smell the tension between us. He then directs him, "Kid, please be quiet now. I believe we have all been through a lot of things."
In the corner of my eye, I notice Robin doing what he's best at—tinkering and being sly. I'll let it slide.
And then the impossible happens: Superboy uses his voice for the first time. He stuttered a bit, but he got the point across, "What if... What if I wasn't?"
"He can talk?!" asks Kid Flash, clearly in shock. Idiot.
The clone balls his fists before replying angrily, "Yes. He can."
"Hey, those Genomorphs, they taught you with their mind. Right?" I ask him, stealing the spotlight from Kid Moron. He confirms my suspicions, and Robin furthers, "But have you seen them? Have they let you see the sky? Or the sun?"
Superboy concurs, "No. I have not seen them."
But then Aqualad adds something much more important: "Do you know what you are? Who you are?"
The clone in white looks up. "I am the Superboy, a Genomorph, a clone made from DNA of the Superman, created to replace him should he perish... to destroy him should he turn from the Light."
—But something's missing. Why would Superman serve the Light if they're evil? What even is the Light? Urgh, I'm gonna get to the bottom of this, one way or another. I could ask the clone, but he's kind of a loose cannon, and he isn't even a human. I don't know if I want to ask Superman himself, but—
"Get him!" Desmond cuts off my thought process. I instinctively teleport to a corner of the room. The cave's fog seems to hide me from the guards. The electrical prongs buzz painfully at the boys' chests. I faintly see a red gas filling a couple of glass spheres. SO glad I'm not those guys.
"Where's Dubbilex?" Desmond asks. Demond walks up behind him without a word. "Ooh! Lurking as usual." He jumps. "Get the G-gnomes downloading their memories. When that's done, delete the source material."
Alright, and now this has gone on a little too long. I take a breath... and then leap out of the shadows. "Pick your jaw up." I chuckle, sweeping Desmond by the feet. I must've had perfect timing, as Superboy bursts in not a second later. He deals with Guardian and Dubbilex. "You here to save us or fry us?" asks Kid Flash.
Superboy glares at him for a moment. Then he replies, "I don't seem to have Heat Vision. So, helping is my only option."
Robin finally escapes his pod with lockpicking. He comments while rubbing his wrists, "Lucky Batman isn't here. He'd have my head for taking so long."
Kid Flash chastises the Boy Wonder for his priorities. It's ironic. I decide to walk over to Kid Flash to free him. I shatter the glass with my right hand, then tear free from the restraints. Like trees, we all leaf, right as the baddies start to recover. "You- You'll never get out of here! I'll have you in pods before morning," Desmond vows in exasperation.
"That guy is not whelmed. Not whelmed at all," Robin comments.
KF replies, "What is it with you and this whelmed thing?"
...
"We are still 42 levels below ground. But if we can make the elevator—" Aqualad starts. The Atlantean's thoughts are cut off by Genomorphs flooding the halls. With a growl, they blocked both of our exits. A G-troll attacks us from behind, and everyone gets out of the way, save for me. "...!" I turn to the side and put my hands up, tumbling backward from the blow. "Ouch."
Superboy knocks down the Genomorph with a punch. But, another one punches him and knocks him down. "Superboy! The goal is to escape!" I yell.
He turns towards us, "You want to escape?"
"Uh. Yeah." I look at him quizzically.
The clone grabs a large Genomorph and throws it into the others. The dirty Fishman successfully opens the elevator doors. KF jumps to the side while Robin uses a grappling hook to get up. Superboy grabs Aqualad by the waist and jumps into the elevator shaft. It's a good leap of faith, I guess, but they start to fall after scaling a couple of levels.
"I- I'm falling..." I hear him mutter.
Robin's eyes widen, he throws a Batarang so Aqualad can stop the fall. "Superman can fly. Why can't I fly?" He asks, looking up, confusion filling his otherwise confident self.
"Don't know." Kid Flash replies, even if the question isn't necessarily for him. "But it does look like you can leap tall buildings in a single bound. Still cool."
"Thank you..." Superboy mutters.
As Robin and I look above, we both notice danger, "Guys, that'll have to be our exit."
"Yeah! Coming down!" I add.
We all hop out at the 15th basement floor but are met by Genomorphs. I create and lob a ball of fire at them, catching some but ultimately being too slow to burn them all up.
"Go left! Left!" Superboy suddenly exclaims. Next, it's "Right!"
And... we end up at a dead end, with an air vent. Cool, yeah, this was part of the plan. "Great directions, Supey." Kid Flash says, sarcasm coating his tongue. "You trying to get us repodded?"
"No. I, I don't understand..." He falters once more.
"Nope." I sigh, clasping my hands together and scouting for a good location to teleport to. Quickly, I find a place and vanish.
...
"I hacked the motion sensors," Robin smirks at us. KF acknowledges him, before putting his goggles on and running up the stairwell. "Gee, you playing bowling or something!?" I joke with him, running up the stairs on top of the unconscious Genomorphs. No doubt the guy just plowed right through them with his speed. "More behind us!" Robin exclaims, still working with his glove.
We all run to sub-level 1, the parking garage I assume, as Kid Flash tumbles backwards. "You couldn't run through the wall?" I taunt him.
"What an idea." KF sarcastically replies. Superboy, and then Aqualad try to pry the door open to no avail. "Step aside." I dust off my hands, applying my own strength. The door gives way just a tad. "Can't hack this fast enough." Robin grumbles.
G-trolls come out from the corner and Robin suddenly finds a new way. "This way!" He shouts. We then run into probably the biggest trap I've ever seen, Genomorphs everywhere, big and little, calm and angered. We all get into our fighting stances, but... every G-gnome's horns glow a vibrant red.
Lives flashed before my eyes, everything's getting so hazy. These Genomorphs are... dangerous. Through it all, I can make out Superboy and Dubbilex doing... something. We all start to get up, and Guardian speaks up, "Feels... like fog... lifting."
"Guardian?" I ask.
He then stands proudly, "Go. I'll deal with Desmond."
Dr. Desmond's face reddened with rage as he spluttered, "—I think not." I could almost see the steam rising from his ears. His anger was palpable, and I understood why – the Light would likely have his head on a platter for letting this situation slide.
As he began to say, "Project Blockbuster will...", something primal and unknown inside me took over. I was consumed by an overwhelming urge to see his plans come crashing down around him.
Dr. Desmond let out a shocked yelp, "Guh!" as I reappeared right in front of him. With a swift motion, I slapped his wrist, forcing his aged fingers to release the vial. Before he could react, I sent him tumbling to the ground with a well-placed kick. The sound of my satisfied chuckle drowned out any other noise.
Stepping closer to the frail scientist, I pressed my foot down on his chest, restricting his airflow. "Hm?" I taunted him. "Speak up, I can't hear you." I wasn't interested in listening to anything except maybe a desperate cry for help.
My gaze darted to his hand, where he was attempting to retrieve something from his pocket. But I was one step ahead. "Ah ah ah," I chuckled, shifting my foot to pin his hand down, forcing a syringe to clatter to the ground. "Next time you won't get off so easily," I warned him, before hauling him up and handing him over to Guardian's custody.
But, as we prepare to leave, a memory stirs within me, like the gentle lapping of waves on a distant shore.
…
I'm back in the stasis pod, surrounded by the eerie silence of the vast white complex. The fluorescent lights above seem to pierce my eyes, making me squint. I scan the room, searching for any familiar face or object. That's when I spot two scientists, a man and a woman, observing me with a mix of concern and curiosity.
Through the man's glasses, I catch a glimpse of his data screen, and my heart sinks. Vitals plummeting, it reads. My mind reels—what happened to me?
The scientist's whispered conversation carries to me. "—Why did we have to kill it?" one asks, their voice laced with doubt.
Oh God, am I 'it'?
The woman responds calmly, with a hint of resignation. "It will return. You know it always does. The best we can do is contain it. You're aware of that. Even containment won't be..."
As I take in my surroundings, I'm met with chaos. A vacation house lies in ruins, its walls cracked and crumbling. The ocean's waters have flooded the area, and the poolside is a mess of debris. I see a tomboyish teenager near the cliff's edge, her body frozen in stone. "Just what happened here?" I mutter to myself, my mind reeling with questions.
My first instinct is to touch the statue, to understand what kind of stone it is. Is it warm to the touch, or cold as ice?
As I graze her arm, memories flood my mind like a burst dam. They're not my memories, though – they're hers. It's like her mind is fighting me, trying to keep her secrets hidden. But I push through, and suddenly I'm seeing her life unfold before me.
"Wow, uh…" I mumble, my eyes wide with amazement. Her life was marked by tragedy, orphaned at birth and struggling to find her place in the world. But then she found a home, an orphanage filled with friends and joy. Or so it seemed.
Their peaceful existence was short-lived. A massive storm hit the region, bringing with it supernatural typhoons that turned everyone who gazed upon it to stone. The poor soul's life was one of struggle and loss.
But I'm left with one burning question – why can I see her memories? What's the connection between us, and what does it mean for me?