The room was banged up, and the three heroes were on the ground, looking as though they were knocked out. He took a deep breath and schooled his features. This wasn't the time to make any mistakes.
The door opened up, and the person who entered evoked a feeling of rage in him, though his face remained passive. "Ah, I see you have dealt with our intruders. Excellent! Excellent work! See Guardian, the weapon knew how to do your job better than you. Get the heroes into the pods, and we can clone them and kill the leftovers." Desmond told the man to his right, who wore a golden helmet.
Guardian didn't answer and went to gather the sidekicks. His hand snapped and grabbed hold of the man's wrist. "What are you doing, you fool?! Weapon, I demand you release Gua—." He didn't let Desmond continue his rambling, throwing Guardian at the mad scientist.
The others sprang into action and started attacking the other G-gnomes. He aimed for the bigger monsters and leapt at them, throwing a haymaker, knocking out the giant monster. He grabbed the horn and lifted it off the ground with a grunt. He threw it at the other monster, knocking them both down.
He started dealing with the weaker ones, and in no time, the four of them defeated the remaining enemies. He walked over to the downed Desmond and Guardian, kicking them lightly to make sure they were down.
"You good there, Supey?" Kid Flash voiced. He grunted and grabbed both men by the collar of their uniforms. "Not my name. Anyway, if we can use these two as hostages, the facility most likely won't attack us." He told them, but quickly noticed the frown coming upon the teens' faces.
"We don't take hostages." Aqualad said seriously. "Yeah, we're heroes here. We don't stoop down to the villain's level." Kid Flash commented. A sigh escaped his mouth. "This isn't the time to argue whether this is right or wrong, what we should be focusing on is escaping this place. Besides, if something goes wrong, I can protect them." He had no problem with Guardian, his only problem was Desmond.
The man was despicable, experimenting on unwilling people, kidnapping, and probably committing multiple other crimes. This entire place was filled with garbage human beings who deserved no mercy.
"I suppose it is a good plan," Aqualad consented, although his reluctance was obvious. The other two looked at him in shock but stayed silent. "We should head back. Keep your guard up." Aqualad ordered us.
It's best to follow his lead; the guy had more experience than him, so he would be arrogant to think he could do better. They started running towards the elevator, encountering multiple G-gnomes who were about to attack them, but stopped when they who we we're carrying.
They tried to call on the elevator, but it wouldn't budge. He was frustrated, but quickly thought of a solution. He grabbed Desmond by the neck and lifted him up. "If this doesn't come down in the next five minutes, I'll snap his neck!" He yelled, applying a bit of pressure on the man's neck.
"Dude, what are you doing!?" Robin whispered to him. He ignored him, and for a while it seemed like they wouldn't believe him. He added pressure to the neck, which seemed to rouse the man from his sleep. "Huh, wh—." Desmond started choking, and that seemed to do the trick as the elevator started descending fast.
The elevator door opened, and they quickly entered. As soon as the door closed, he felt someone try to push him. "What the hell, man?! You just threatened to kill that guy!" He turned, narrowing his eyes at Kid Flash.
"Yeah, we don't kill." He then glared at Robin.
"What, you want me to ask them to please open the door? No! I don't know what kind of shit they have in this place! What if they had some Kryptonite? Or, I don't know, something that could take you down? You think this is a game, huh? Of course I threatened him!" He yelled at them in disbelief and anger.
"That's one line we don't cross." Aqualad commented, his eyes narrowed, but more in disappointment.
"Oh, well, sorry, I'm not hero material the second I'm outside the pod. It's not like we were in tight on options." He responded sarcastically, ignoring them in favor of turning his attention to the awake Desmond.
"You." He grabbed the man by his arm and lifted him roughly. "Once we're at the top floor, you'll order your goons to stand down; the Justice League is already on their way." This seemed to scare the man, but he quickly put on a brave front.
"You're bluffing," Desmond smirked. "Your friends wouldn't have been able to contact anyone at the level we were in." He smirked in return, confusing the man.
"Maybe, or maybe the Justice League will notice their missing proteges, and it won't take them long to realize that the last location they were seen was Cadmus. Now, tell them to stand down." This seemed to break the man's bravado, and they made it to the first floor.
The man grumbled something about how he'll be killed by his superiors, but in honesty, he hopes Desmond rots in Hell.
They exited the elevator, and outside was a large number of G-nomes and armed personnel. "Stand down." Desmond muttered in defeat. They were escorted to the entrance, and he felt his heart jump at the sight of the outside and allowed himself to smile.
"So," Robin uttered. "That was...underwhelming." He snorted.
"What, did you want us to have a big epic fight, with collateral damage." He smirked at the teen, who slightly grinned. "I mean, it seemed like it was leading to that."
"I gotta agree with Rob here, like we find a secret elevator that leads to a secret room where we find a clone of Superman, and that same clone, instead of helping the people who made him, decides he wants to be free and helps us defeat the same people who created him. We have to fight our way out of the place, and when we enter the elevator, it feels like, I don't know, we deviated off course." Kid Flash explains. Aqualad grabs both guys by their shoulders.
"Well, I for one am happy we managed to survive and complete the mission." He says.
Outside of Cadmus, I took a deep breath, taking in the fresh air. "That's it." He breathed out in happiness and relief. He felt a tap on his left shoulder. He turned to look at Kid Flash.
"Look at that man, the moon." He looked at the full moon and smiled at the sight of it. Even though he didn't stay long in Cadmus, the thought of being trapped there for a long time was horrifying. You honestly didn't know how much the little things matter when your fate was uncertain.
That's when he saw it, descending from the sky as though they were divine beings. At the front was Superman, and behind him were Martian Manhunter, Zatara, Captain Marvel, and Red Tornado flew behind.
Then, by Captain Atom, Hawkman, Wonder Woman, Hawkwoman, and Hal Jordan, followed John Stewart, who was helping Leaguers who can't fly: Black Canary, Aquaman, Batman, and Green Arrow.
As they land, Batman walks up to Superman, followed by Flash, zooming behind them. He saw Superman looking at him in confusion, probably noticing the resemblance between them. He looked at them with slight awe, but tried not to show it.
"Is that what I think it is?" Batman asks. He felt himself flare up at being called an it.
"Don't call him an it." Kid Flash spoke on his behalf.
"I'm Superman's clone." He tells them. Superman looks at him in shock and horror. The other heroes around look at each other in shock at the surprise of what he admitted. "His son, when it comes down to it. Hey, Pops." He smiled teasingly. The man got serious
Batman's eyes lock onto the teens. "Start talking." He let the other teens start explaining while he looked at some of the heroes. One that caught his attention immediately was Wonder Woman. He felt his mouth open in shock at the sight of her. She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, better looking than any model in his previous life.
He composed himself before he made himself look like a fool and decided to initiate a conversation with Superman. He walked up to the man and noticed that the man started to look uncomfortable. Superman looked as though he was about to fly away by the time he reached him.
"Yo." He greeted the man. "Hello." Superman replied curtly. He chuckled at the man's nervousness.
"Heh, you should take a look at yourself, man. Looks like you're about to explode in fear." That seemed to do nothing, and he decided to change tactics.
"Listen, man, I get. Finding out you've been cloned would scare anyone.
The Green Lanterns have guards and scientists, including Desmond, trapped inside a sphere while Hawkman, Hawkwoman, and Captain Atom fly alongside them to make sure nothing happens on their way.
We see Superman having a conversation with Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter. Nobody speaks for a while, and then Manhunter places a hand on Superman's shoulder, causing Superman to look at Superboy. He sees the clone by himself, looking deep in thought. Superboy sees Superman looking at him and quickly looks away, Superman looks down to think before finally turning around and walking towards him.
Superman sighs as he meets his cross-armed clone. "We'll, uh, we'll figure something out for you. The League will, I mean." he corrects himself quickly. "For now, I better make sure they get the prisoners squared away." As he flies away, Superboy looks on with narrowed eyes.
(Superboy POV)
"I'm going to need his help, more specifically, the fortress of solitude, to find a way to turn myself into a full-blooded Kryptonian. Even though the villains in the show weren't as strong as the ones from Earth Prime, I can't risk underestimating them, or else I'll suffer for it." As I thought of this, I turned my attention to the conversation happening in front of me.
"Cadmus will be investigated," Batman says, getting the sidekick's attention as he begins explaining. "All 52 levels, but let's make one thing clear﹘"
"You should've called." Says Flash, interrupting him, making Batman give him a side glare.
"End results aside, we're not happy." The Dark Knight says in silent anger. "You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders, and endangered lives. You will not be doing this again."
"I am sorry, but we will." Aqualad disagrees with him, looking at Batman. "Stand down Aqualad." Aquaman orders his protégé shocked that he would go against them
"Apologies, my King," Aqualad disobeys his King, then his voice goes firm once more. "but no." This catches Aquaman off guard, not expecting this from his protégé. "We did good work here tonight, the work you trained us to do. Together on our own, we forged something powerful, important."
"If this is about your treatment at the Hall, the three of you﹘." Flash tries to understand where they're coming from, but Kid Flash cuts him off.
"The four of us, and it's not." Kid Flash quickly corrects him.
"Batman, we're ready to do what you taught us, or why teach us at all?" he speaks, getting their attention because of how quiet he is.
"Why should we let them tell us what to do?" I question as I uncross my arms. "It's simple. Get on board or get out of the way." We turn back to look at them. Standing tall, proud, and defiant.
Batman's eyes narrow as he starts to have a plan.
(Mount Justice, Rhode Island; July 8th, 8:04 EDT)
I see Green Lantern and Captain Atom flying large pieces of equipment around the Mountain, setting up our new base of operations. We're standing in the Center, finally dressed in civilian clothes with Batman, Aquaman, Flash, Hawkman, Black Canary, Red Tornado, and Captain Marvel.
"This cave was the original secret sanctuary of the Justice League." Batman tells us this nice little fun fact. "We're calling it into service again. Since you four are determined to stay together and fight the good fight, you'll do it on League terms." For now, I already know how crazy most DC universes and having to abide by their rules would be stupid. "Red Tornado volunteered to live here and be your supervisor. Black Canary is in charge of training. I will deploy you on missions."
Training with Black Canary would help me use my powers more efficiently when fighting against people stronger than me. Maybe in the future, I can learn Kryptonian martial arts.
"Real missions?" Robin says enthusiastically, now in his civilian clothes.
"Yes, but only covert." Confirms Batman, which dampens the others mood a bit but I now from canon that most times, well have no choice but to fight.
"The League will still handle the obvious stuff," Flash speaks up from behind Kid Flash's right shoulder. "There's a reason we have these big targets on our chest."
"But Cadmus proves that our villains are getting smarter. Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly." Aquaman continues, then turns his head towards Batman to continue the flow of conversation.
"The five of you will be that team." Says Batman. "Cool! Wait." Robin does the very simple math and realizes the problem. "Five?" Looks like this is the part where Miss Martian joins the team.
Batman only looks over his protége's shoulder, and all four of us turn to see Martian Manhunter stepping out of the shadows with a green-skinned, red-haired teenage girl. "This is the Martian Manhunter's niece. Miss Martian."
Kid Flash looks down at Robin as he puts one hand on his hip, Robin, in turn, looks up at Kid Flash. "Liking this gig more every minute." he steps up, blocking her view of Robin and me. This idiot. "Uh, welcome aboard, I'm Kid Flash." He points to himself. "That's Robin," the smaller raven steps to the side and gives a Rock 'n' Roll sign, "Aqualad." the Atlantean gives a small nod but says nothing more. "It's cool if you forget their names."
"I'm honored to be included." Miss Martian says sincerely, clasping her hands in front of her to enunciate her point. I let them introduce themselves while I go and talk to Batman about Superman.
"Batman," I call out to get his attention; he turns to me from the conversation he was having with Aquaman. "I wanted to know if Superman is going to help me with my powers, his experience can help me understand them better."
"I'll talk with Superman about it. For now, Black Canary will help out with your combat training. Since you don't have all of Superman's powers, that'll help you for now." He assures me, but I know it'll take Superman a while until he accepts me, and I will not wait an entire year for that to happen. So, for now, I just nod and walk towards my new team.
"I'm Superboy." I give her a small smile. She smiles back with a blush on her cheeks. "T-Thanks, I'm Miss Martian, but you can M'gann or Megan, whichever you like."
"I'll call you M'gann then." My eyes slightly widen, seeing her shirt change to one that almost looks like mine. "I like your shirt." she tells me as I give her a small smile, which causes Robin to elbow my side with a childish smirk on his face. At the same time, Kid Flash zips to his other side with a bright smile.
Robin looks toward Aqualad. "Today is the day." The Atlantean says proudly. We all know it's true.
(Third-Person POV)
Below, an under-reconstruction Cadmus Guardian speaks to Dubbilex and the scientist from the endeavor. "Cadmus changes today. With Desmond out of the picture, the Board's placed me in charge." He turns to the scientist. "Dr. Spence, you're acting Chief Scientist. No more G-gnomes suppressing our wills, no more secret breeding projects. This is a kinder, gentler Cadmus."
"Then I will, of course, help in any way I can, brother." Dubbilex ensures Guardian. The entire conversation is being watched by the Light.
"Can the Light afford to leave Guardian in charge without the G-gnomes?" A masculine voice questions.
"We have subtler means of control." A second assures. "What concerns me is the children. We now know the League is employing young Heroes to do their dirty work. Tsk, that's a dark twist."
"Yes, but one that can be played to our advantage. Even the temporary loss of the weapon may prove useful. Eventually, everyone sees the Light." A final voice says.
(AN)
Hey, now I know I didn't update for a while, but it was because I was busy. So, I will try to update faster now, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Also, tell me if you have a cool hero name for Superboy 'cause I don't want to call him Superboy. If I did, then I'd feel like he'd be under Superman's Shadow. And show me some suit ideas, nothing anime, I feel it won't fit in. Try something from the comics, maybe.