(First-person point of view)
I attacked the first thing I saw, which was a giant ugly G-gnome. Dodging the giant's attempt at hoping to kill me, I lock my eyes on the beast. Angry. Annoyed. I jump and punch its head so hard it gets knocked down while also thankfully taking out other G-gnomes in the process. "What the hell..." I say out loud, surprised at how strong I am now. Not long ago, I was an average Human only dreaming of having this sort of power.
I take a look around and see the others handling the weaker ones with relative ease, so I decided to take care of the stronger ones. Turning around, I spot another one of the giant G-gnomes. Running straight at him, I punch his hand hard enough that it makes him fall and quickly start punching the thing, managing to knock it out. Looking around, I see that Desmond isn't in sight, which probably means he's going to his lab. If I manage to get it, I can hopefully find a way to gain a power-up without turning insane and looking like an abomination.
After dealing with the rest of the monsters, I looked around, seeing none of the G-gnomes were left standing. I turn around to look at Robin and shout. "Which way is the exit to this hellhole!!" Hoping we can finally leave this place. "This way." He tells me as we start following him to the way out while also taking out any more G-gnomes we see in our way. Finally, we make it to the elevator, using my super strength, I pry open the elevator doors. I see Kid Flash and Robin looking down at the twelve-story drop below them and the never-ending darkness above them.
Kid Flash jumps to the side of the shaft while Robin grapples up to get to a couple of floors above them. I grab hold of Aqualad's waist and jump quickly, holding on to the wall tightly, hoping to god I don't fall. After a few more jumps, we hear the sound of whirring from above. "This will have to be our stop." Robin says, annoyed at the situation.
Aqualad and I open the doors, showing that we are on floor SL-15. We were able to make it out just before the elevator squished the others to bits and pieces. I hear multiple footsteps coming our way. Most likely G-gnomes are coming our way to try and stop us.
"Turn left, brother." A voice says in my head. I remember this scene in the show. It's when Dubbilex helps us find a way out of here.
"Turn left!" I tell the others. I start running in the direction he's telling me. I just hope he's on our side.
"Turn right"
"Right" We make a turn, only it leads us to a supposed dead end. The air vent is our exit to this place.
"Great directions, Supey are you sure you're trying not to get us killed?" Kid Flash says sarcastically. "This is perfect!" Robin says happily.
"We're going to use the vents." I tell Kid Flash as he realizes our chance to escape. Aqualad uses his Water-Bearers to open the vent as we get inside. We start moving as Robin leads the way as he has a map of the vents. Do they not clean these vents?
"At this rate, we'll never get out!" Kid Flash whines and I have to agree with him at the pace we're going, it will take a while until we see the light. Wait a minute. I'm hearing some noise behind us. "Wait." I tell them, I figure out that they got into the vents. "There inside the vents!" I say.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Desmond, Dubbilex, and Guardian are seen running down a hallway. Desmond is seen with a tablet in his hands that shows the ventilation system. "Someone, Robin, I'd wager, hacked our systems, deactivating internal security cameras." His voice then turns smug. "But he forgot about the motion sensors." The tablet shows four dots in the vents following their path and two groups of three dots converging on them. "The Genomorphs are closing in on them. They'll be coming right over here!" He opens the door to an empty bathroom. "We have them cornered." He says smugly, standing before the vents. Waiting.
As the vents open, instead of the teen heroes, four G-gnomes come out. Falling onto Desmond and the people behind him. "He hacked the motion sensors damn it!" Desmond says angrily, his face red with anger.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"I hacked the motion sensors." Robin says as I smirk. It was pretty funny. We continue moving finally out of the vent.
"Sweet." Kid Flash says happily, able to now stretch his legs. Speedsters really can't stay still in one place for a while. "Still plenty of us and out." Robin says, irritated that we're still in the building.
"Let's just get outta here." I tell him, getting a nod of agreement from him.
Kid Flash brings his goggles down over his eyes. "But I've finally got room to move." He then opens the door and starts running up levels at super-speeds. I see him taking them all out and clearing the way for Aqualad, Robin- who is still hacking- and me.
"More behind us." Robin tells me as I slam my foot on the connecting stair. Knocking the whole staircase down and all the G-elves on it. Good riddance.
Kid Flash continues up the staircase at super speed, making out the door that indicates that he is at Sub-Level 1. As he does, an alarm begins to blare, and massive doors in front of him close. His eyes widen as he realizes he won't be able to stop in time.
"Oh, crud." Hitting the doors hard, his head hitting first, then falling back to the ground a few feet away from the barrier, then tumbling over twice before coming to a stop on his butt.
"We are cut off from the street." Aqualad grumbles as we finally catch up to Kid Flash.
I walk past the fallen speedster, punching the door but not even getting a dent in it. "Why is this so strong?" I thought, frustrated that it was not opening. Even when Aqualad takes one side of the door, we still can't open the damn thing.
"Can you try hacking it?" Aqualad says to Robin. "I can, but by the time I get it open, they probably would have caught us." He says, frustrated about our predicament.
We hear some G-trolls growl, and two of them come from around the corner. I see Robin kick a door that was to our right. "This way!!" He yells at us.
The G-trolls fortunately can't make it through the door, but in the adjoining hallway is a bunch of G-elves, another pair of G-trolls, and Guardian waiting for them. Not to mention a G-gnome on every creature's shoulder. Behind us, a third G-troll and a half dozen G-elves cut them off. Shit.
One of the G-gnome's horns begins to glow, setting off a chain reaction as all the other G-gnomes do the same. Linking everyone against the heroes telepathically. I see the others straighten out of their dropped stances before falling to the ground. I fall to my knees as I hear someone talk to me. Dubbilex.
"Perhaps for the sake of all Genomorphs, our brother should make up his own mind." Dubbilex says to all the Genomorphs telepathically.
"Wait! You were the voice in my head helping me!" I say already knowing it was him, but I can't just tell him that it would be weird and suspicious.
"Yes, brother. I set the fire and lured your new friends into Cadmus, woke them when they were in danger-" Dubbilex lists.
"And helped us." I interrupt. "Why did you?"
"Because you are our hope, the Genomorph hero. You will blaze a trail for all our brothers, showing us the way to freedom." Dubbilex tells me.
Guardian groans and grips his head; then, the G-gnome jumps from his shoulder. "What's going on?" he questions, stirring Aqualad back into consciousness.
"What is your choice, brother?" Dubbilex asks me as he stands tall. "...Freedom," I tell him with conviction. "I want to be free from this place."
"Feels... like fog... lifting." Guardian manages as the other three teen boys get back to their own two feet as well. "Guardian?" Aqualad asks since right now his head is clearer than Robin and Kid Flash's. "Go, ill deal with the Desmond, that bastard." He tells us.
"I think not!!" Says Desmond as he appears, looking disheveled, tired, and crazy. " YOU FOUR RUNIED EVERYTHING IF YOU HA-" I sped over and knocked him out before he could finish whatever he was going to say, destroying the serum.
"So, is it finally over?" Kid Flash says nervously as he's surrounded by Genomorphs. Aqualad sighs, looking tired of everything that's happened so far. "Now we can call the league." He says as he presses the symbol on his belt. It starts to light up and blink, signaling that it's contacting someone, probably Aquaman.
(Third-person POV)
Outside of Cadmus, we can see four teenagers standing next to each other. Two of them seem to be talking to each other about what happened just an hour ago. The adrenaline finally wears off, and fatigue starts to show just how tired they are. The shock of what happened is still fresh in their minds, as the realization finally starts to set in what they just did.
"So, how long till the league arrives?" asked Robin, hoping they could finally leave this place. "Batman's so going to chew me out when he gets here." thought Robin, already feeling the lecture he was going to get.
"Soon," says Aqualad. "You should rest for a while until they get here." He tells him, seeing how tired his friend is.
"No, I'm fi-." Just as he says that, he feels a pain in his abdomen. "Ow, yeah, I need to sit down." He says in pain.
"They're here!" Says Kid Flash, as they all look up at the sky, seeing Martian Manhunter, Zatara, Captain Marvel, and Red Tornado fly behind Superman. Then by Captain Atom, Hawkman, Wonder Woman, Hawkwoman, and Green Lantern (Hal Jordan). The second Green Lantern (John Stewart) helps the Leaguers who can't fly: Black Canary, Aquaman, Batman, and Green Arrow.
Batman walks up behind Superman, followed by Flash, zooming behind them. As everybody looks at each other, they notice the sidekick's roughed-up appearance. Superman looks at Superboy with narrowed eyes, noticing the resemblance between the two of them. As Superboy lifts the ripped piece of his suit, revealing the same S that looks exactly like his. Superman's eyes widen in shock and anger at the revelation.
"Is that what I think it is?" Questions Batman, already knowing the answer, just waiting for them to confirm.
"Don't call him an it." Says Kid Flash in annoyance as he steps up.
"I'm Superman's clone!" Superboy raises his voice a bit to tell them what he is. The heroes around look at each other in shock at the surprise at what he admitted.
Batman's eyes lock onto the teens. "Start talking."
(Ten minutes later)
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.