We ran through the strange level, quiet as a whisper, passing machine after stranger machine until we hit an intersection. The team spent all of three seconds deliberating before I spotted the Genomorph that started this all.
He looked the same—dressed in white, resembling a matured version of the telepathic gnomes.
"Hold!" he commanded, levitating several barrels of strange material and chucking them in our direction.
We dodged and retaliated. Robin threw his Batarang, and Artemis fired a boxing glove arrow. Their attacks froze mid-air, and with a twitch of the Genomorph's finger, reversed.
He followed up by throwing two more strange canisters.
The canisters exploded on impact. I shoved Artemis out of the path of her own arrow.
"Go. Go. Go!" I yelled. "What was that about encountering nothing we couldn't handle?"
"Really? You want to do this now?" she shot back, just as Wally blurred past her.
The Genomorph didn't give chase. I quickly found out why.
The elevator we'd taken slid open. Guardian and a group of Claw Genomorphs emerged.
Shit.
Ahead of us, Kid Flash held a circular, interlocking vault door open with some kind of cylinder. A confused African-American scientist sat nearby. Robin rushed past her, followed by Artemis, and right behind me was Aqualad, who promptly kicked the cylinder out of the doorway, locking us in the vault.
Whatever complaints I had about Robin's leadership died in my throat when I saw what Project Kr was.
Or rather, who he was.
He floated there—a teenager dressed in a white bodysuit with Superman's emblem on his chest. Above his head hovered three genomorphs.
Artemis' eyes widened. Kid Flash's jaw fell open, and Kaldur and Robin shared a disturbed look.
"Is that--" Wally began.
"Yeah," Robin said.
Superman's Clone. The resemblance was uncanny.
"Well, that answers the Desmond question," I said.
"I can't believe they actually did it," Kid Flash said. "Clone Superman. That's why the project was named Kr."
That's the atomic symbol for Kryptonite.
"Robin. Hack," Aqualad ordered, and the younger boy got to work immediately.
Robin confirmed it. His name was Superboy—a clone, force-grown in sixteen weeks. His suit constantly fed him solar radiation, and the genomorphs educated him telepathically.
"They're making him a slave," Kid Flash said, disgusted. "We need to get him out."
"Now hold on just a minute," I said, earning confused looks. "I can't be the only one who's put it together. He's a living weapon—probably the first of many. Do you know how little DNA it takes to clone someone?"
"No?" Artemis replied.
"Likely not a lot," I said. "He's been programmed to follow Cadmus, and he shares DNA with Superman. If he's not on our side, and we let him go, we're screwed."
"We have to take that chance," Robin insisted. "With him, we might stand a chance against all the Genomorphs."
Aqualad nodded. "Getting to the surface would also be easier—and we can contact the League and find your friend."
He looked at Artemis, who gave a grateful nod.
I almost rolled my eyes. "Still not worth the risk. I can hide us from them long enough to reach the elevator shaft and go back the way we came. We wait until the Justice League is here before we free the murder-robot."
"He's a human being," Kaldur said firmly.
"And what if they move him before we return?" Artemis shot back.
I was about to respond when a fist shattered the glass, and Superboy's eyes snapped open.
The Genomorphs' horns glowed.
He was on us in a flash, charging Aqualad.
I channeled Cursed Energy for the first time this mission, zipping forward to intercept—but I was too slow. Aqualad hit the ground, Superboy's fists raining down like meteors. The first punch bloodied his nose, the second burst his lips, and the third would've crushed his face if Kid Flash hadn't stopped the blow, yanking his arm back.
Fuck.
I speared Superboy off him, but he threw me away with a growl. I flipped mid-air, planted my feet on the terminal, and launched myself back, mace packed with Cursed Energy.
Artemis fired an electric arrow into his chest as Robin lobbed a smoke bomb. The combination staggered him, giving me an opening for a clean hit to the jaw that sent him crashing through the glass cylinder he'd emerged from.
"Stop!" Kid Flash shouted. "We're on your side!"
"Artemis!" I called, nodding toward the Genomorphs. She understood instantly.
Superboy roared again and blurred forward—too fast for most of us to follow.
I tapped into Overdrive, enhancing my vision. I raised my hand, activating Inverse just in time. His punch—meant to mulch my skull—felt like a love tap.
He blinked in surprise.
I swung my mace into his jaw, sending him flipping into a wall of equipment. Artemis loosed an arrow into the chamber glass above the Genomorphs, shattering it. The telepathic gnomes spilled to the floor.
Robin flung a gas bomb their way—it detonated, knocking them out cold.
Kaldur and Kid Flash squared off against Superboy as he recovered. I stepped in beside them—naturally the toughest of the trio.
"You can trust us," Robin said from behind. "We're trying to help."
"They were inside your head," Kid Flash added. "They were trying to control you."
"No," Superboy growled, chest heaving. "They were my family."
Ah, shit.
He ripped a steel panel from the wall and flung it at me. I slapped it away with Inverse and cursed energy, but by then he was already on Wally.
He swung.
Wally dodged and countered with a flurry of punches to the gut. Superboy didn't flinch. He swiped wide. Wally barely dodged. Aqualad leapt on the Kryptonian's back, trying to electrocute him with his glowing tattoos, while Robin and Artemis fired a stun gun and arrow.
Superboy caught the arrow and yanked Robin forward by the wires of the gun. I pulled Robin away just before Superboy rocketed into the ceiling with Aqualad, slamming him hard enough to shake the entire room.
When he touched down, I closed the distance, springboarded off a console, and double-kicked Superboy in the face. Both boys landed on their backs and Aqualad quickly untangled himself.
"Aqualad, Kid Flash—press him back!" I barked. "Everyone else, keep the suppressive fire coming!"
I surged forward with a flying knee and summoned a second mace mid-air. Superboy dodged, only to take a kick from Kaldur and a punch from Kid Flash. I spun into a low sweep—he jumped, leaving himself open to Artemis' exploding arrow.
It detonated, sending him flying.
But he got back up faster than last time, leaping forward.
Kid Flash sprang in with a roundhouse kick—but it was a mistake. Superboy caught his leg and twisted.
There was a crack and a scream—Kid Flash dropped, shin snapped in half, howling in agony. A swipe to the jaw knocked him unconscious and into Robin and Artemis.
Holy shit. My eyes widened.
Kaldur and I rushed in. He arrived just before me and caught a punch to the face, sent flying with a broken nose.
My maces came crashing down on Superboy's shoulders, driving him to his knees. His eyes snapped up, locking onto me.
My heart skipped, and I stepped back, fearing he might laser my face off or something.
But he didn't. He simply stared, remaining perfectly still. For a moment at least. But I recognized this lull wouldn't last.
With a slow breath, I vanished my maces, replacing them with my Titanium Brass knuckles, warped and bent from overuse.
Worn Titanium Brass Knuckles
Soaked in the blood and Cursed Energy of a meta sorcerer, these brass knuckles have gained the ability to strike at the physical and ethereal with greater force and precision.
Cursed Energy flooded them—far more than I'd ever managed before.
Superboy lunged.
I dodged, spiking Overdrive, burying an energy-packed fist into his gut, lifting him off the ground. I chained it with a spinning kick that sent him flying, and I exploded forward, chasing after.
His kick caught me in the face before I spotted it, driving me back. He descended with an elbow strike—I parried, shifting, then dug into his side with my knuckles, twice. He grunted sharply.
He swung a backfist—I ducked, only to catch a flying knee to the chest just as I regained my footing.
It unbalanced me, but not enough to stop my rising fist from meeting his descending one.
We met punch for punch, kick for kick—speeding around the room, wrecking equipment and forming craters. I was the wind—slippery but deadly. He was a teen-sized wrecking ball I had to endure more than once to keep the team out of danger.
They were huddled around a downed Aqualad and Kid Flash.
But the longer the fight went on, the faster and stronger Superboy got. The more cursed energy I burned on Overdrive and defense, the more he grew. He was quickly mastering himself, learning to better leverage his strength.
Near the one-minute mark, he finally caught me—seizing my wrist. He snapped it, pulled me close, and punched me in the gut so hard Inverse collapsed. My suit ruptured. My insides spilled out.
I went through the strange red fleshy layer bordering the wall and blinked awake under a dense layer of sand and stone.
My heartbeat spiked. Everything hurt. My mind kicked into overdrive.
Reversed Cursed Energy Lv 6
I activated the technique, healing my guts, wrist, and the other injuries I hadn't even noticed. Then I opened my status.
Class: Sorcerer – Level 14 (2nd Grade)
Titles:Touched by the Sparks of Black, Julius the Immortal
Techniques:Inverse Lv 4
Health: 1290 / 1400
Cursed Energy: 1350 / 1800
Stamina: 1120 / 1340
Stats:
STR: 110 AGI: 120 +12 PER: 130 VIT: 140
END: 134 CP: 180
Skills:
Cursed Inventory Lv 7
Hand-to-Hand Combat Lv 6
Cursed Energy Manipulation Lv 6
Cursed Energy Reinforcement Lv 5
Stealth Lv 6
Curtain Lv 6
Gun Mastery Lv 6
Acrobatics Lv 6
Swordsmanship Lv 6
Binding Vow Lv 2
Reversed Cursed Technique Lv 6
Mace Mastery Lv 4
Hammer Mastery Lv 4
Staff Mastery Lv 4
Free Points: 12
I dumped half my free points into Dexterity and threw up a Curtain before I emerged from the rubble.
Superboy stood there, hand coated in blood, staring in horror, while Artemis stared at the wreck I was formerly under, terrified.
"He's okay, right? He has to be. I—I brought him here."
"He's fine," Robin said with confidence that didn't quite reach his face. "I've seen him survive worse."
I found their guilt strange. I'd made the choice to come here. To help her. To risk my life.
I squatted down, pushing off the floor as I revved Overdrive, soaking every inch of me in Cursed Energy.
This wasn't the time to scrimp.
The chief of it went into my fist. I tugged at the Curtain, lengthening it, giving me even more cover before I exploded forward.
Superboy's head turned in my direction by the third step. He got his hands up by the fourth—but it was too late.
BLACK FLASH.
His head whipped back with a loud crack, flashes of black lightning exploding outwards in every direction.
He was thrown back, flipping ass over head, into the interlocking lab door. The impact was deafening—so powerful it warped the metal, opening it just enough for some of the Genomorphs and scientists outside to peek through.
I collapsed onto my knees as it happened again.
Pure euphoria. Knowledge. Power.
I was breathless.
So were the rest of the team.