Capítulo 23: Showdown
We all stood in front of the elevator door, tensed up for a possible battle, but to our surprise, there was nothing there.
Instead, we were greeted by a series of hallways that looked almost organic, with pulsating veins running along the walls.
We moved slowly out of the elevator, still wary of an attack until we came up to a split hallway.
"Which way should we go?" Aqualad spoke with a tense voice, Robin chuckled, trying to keep things light. " Yeah, bizarre-looking hallway one, or bizarre-hallway two?"
Suddenly, a blue humanoid Genomorph appeared in front of us from the left hallway.
The same one that I saw earlier when we were investigating upstairs. His horns started glowing red as he lifted two metal containers telekinetically and launched them at us.
We quickly dodged the attack, and Robin threw a Batarang at the Genomorph, which was stopped in mid-air by his telekinetic force. As it prepared to attack us again, we decided to take the other hallway.
We continued down the path until we reached a door, where a scientist was walking out of a chamber.
Kid Flash came around the corner at high speeds and accidentally ran into her only managing to avoid a full head-on collision, causing her to fall to the ground.
I noticed the doors behind the scientist closing and saw the PROJECT Kr label on them.
I quickly got in between the closing doors and used my strength to hold them open. I could already hear the door straining.
Seeing this Kid Flash picked up a large triangular prism-shaped object from a pile that was next to the closing gate and jammed it between the two flat segments of the door.
Robin and Aqualad finally arrived at the door, and Aqualad kicked out the prop, allowing the door to slam shut behind us. We were now trapped inside the chamber.
Robin quickly pulled out his HoloGlove and began hacking the door to engage the emergency lock. "I disabled the door. We're safe," he informed us.
"We're trapped." Aqualad said in a dark tone as he looked around the dark chamber.
Kid Flash called out to the other two, "Uh, guys, you'll want to see this."
He hit a single button that turned on all the lights in the chamber, revealing a pod in the center of the room with a teenager inside it.
The boy had pitch-black hair, pale skin, and was wearing a white suit with Superman's "S" on it. The letter "Kr" was written on the glass that kept the teen within the pod.
Kid Flash stepped around the console to get a closer look at the boy. "Big 'K', little 'r', the atomic symbol for Krypton. Clone?" he wondered out loud.
"Robin, hack," Aqualad commanded.
Robin quickly plugged his connector into the console and bypassed the password program, allowing him access to the information.
"Weapon Designation Superboy, a clone force-grown in sixteen weeks?!" he exclaimed in shock. "From DNA acquired from Superman."
"Stolen from Superman," Aqualad said.
"No way the big guy knows about this," Kid Flash agreed.
" And, I doubt he's going to like it." I said.
Aqualad shot me a look. " We will cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, we should find a way to make this right."
"The Solar Suit allows him to absorb yellow-sun radiation 24/7. " Robin continued reading off the information.
"And these creatures?" Aqualad questioned, pointing to the ones inside the pod surrounding Superboy.
"Genomorph-Gnomes, telepathic, force-feeding him an education," Robin relayed sourly.
"And we can guess what else." Kid Flash said.
"They're making a slave out of, well, Superman's son," Robin said.
Without hesitation, Aqualad suggested we contact the League. But as we all tried to access our communication devices, we quickly realized that we had no signal.
"We're in too deep, literally," Kid Flash said, acknowledging the issue at hand.
" I doubt there is any reception this deep down, and even if there is they probably have signal scramblers. I doubt they want the league coming down on their heads considering what they are trying to accomplish." I said, pointing at the cloning pod.
"We can't leave him like this. We have to free him." Robin said.
" Are you sure about this? He could be brainwashed for all we know." I warned.
" What's wrong with you? We can't leave him in there!" Kid flash said.
" I didn't say we should leave him. I am merely stating that this could go bad really fast. If he turns out to be hostile. " I said.
The three of us were now looking at Aqualad waiting for his opinion.
"Set him free." he decided, then turned to me. "Get ready." I shrugged and prepared myself.
As Robin began to work on freeing the boy, the pod fell away, and he remained calm. For a second I almost sighed in relief, but then, his hand clenched tightly.
The three Genomorphs inside the pod started hissing and their horns began to glow red, the boy's bright blue eyes snapped open, and he launched himself at Aqualad, who was standing right in front of the pod.
The two of them tumbled over each other, and Superboy ended up on top of Aqualad, hitting him repeatedly, before Kid Flash and I managed to grab his arms and held him back slightly.
"Whoa! Hang on, Supey," Kid Flash said, trying to reason with him.
But Superboy was too strong for Kid Flash and managed to free his right hand giving him enough time to land an uppercut under the speedster's jaw. Knocking him up and back and through a display cylinder.
The Kid flopped to the ground, unconscious.
Robin was suddenly behind Superboy and jumped on his back, he wrapped his arm around Superboy's neck and in his other hand, he was holding on to a cylindrical device.
"I don't want to do this." he said before he placed a smoke blaster on the clone's clavicle. Unleashing gas right into his face.
Finally getting him to stumble back, I followed up with a solid sidekick to Superboy's stomach, sending him crashing into the console and falling to the ground before his pod.
Superboy simply brushed it off and didn't seem all that affected and quickly started to get up.
Aqualad was still disoriented trying and failing to get up, and Kid Flash was out of it. Robin on the other hand was ineffectually trying to distract Superboy with projectile weapons, but the clone didn't even seem to notice.
"We're on your side!" Robin yelled out still, trying to reason with him.
When that didn't seem to work, he pulled out a high-voltage taser and shot at his chest, sending high amounts of electricity.
Superboy contemptuously grabbed the wires and yanked on them. Catching the young teen by surprise and pulling him towards him with ease. Catching him on the front of his cape and then slamming him to the ground.
Finally knocking him out. Leaving only me and Superboy.
Superboy charged at me like a raging bull, his muscles bulging, and his eyes fixed on me. I knew this fight would be tough.
As he charged towards me, I dodged to the side and threw a quick punch. Superboy blocked it with ease, and before I knew it, he was raining down blows upon me. Although our physical was really close, the same couldn't be said for my durability.
His Kryptonian body could clearly take more punishment than mine and wasn't as affected by my hits. Instead, I tried to dodge and weave, but his punches were fast and powerful.
Each hit felt like a sledgehammer, and I knew I had to be careful since a strong enough hit to the temple could knock me out. The horse talisman could heal most injuries, but I had to be conscious to activate its powers.
I knew I had to change my strategy if I was going to stand a chance. I started to focus on my martial arts training with Black Canary, remembering all the techniques she had taught me. I began to dodge more, moving in quick circles around Superboy and avoiding his blows.
As we circled each other, I could feel the power of the Ox Talisman coursing through my veins. I flexed my muscles and felt them bulge with incredible strength. With a deep breath, I charged forward, ready to strike.
I swung my fist at Superboy's head, but he was quick to dodge. He retaliated with a powerful punch of his own, which I barely managed to block. The force of the blow sent me stumbling back, but I managed to keep my footing.
I quickly regained my balance and charged forward again, this time with even more force. I slammed into Superboy, sending him hurtling backward.
But Superboy was tough. He quickly got back to his feet, his eyes flashing with anger. He charged at me, his fists flying. I ducked and weaved, dodging his blows with ease. He was fighting like a wild animal and was telegraphing his punches and I quickly found myself adapting to his fighting style.
I patiently blocked and dodged his attacks, waiting for my chance to strike. I pushed my body to the limit, generating more strength with each blow drawing more and more on the Ox talisman power.
The fight continued, each of us trading blows and trying to gain the upper hand. Superboy was getting tired, and I could see he was slowing down. But I was also taking a beating.
I could feel my strength beginning to wane.
The Ox Talisman had given me incredible power, but it was taking its toll on my body.
Superboy, too, was starting to tire. He stumbled back, his breath coming in ragged gasps. I could see the frustration in his eyes, the anger at not being able to defeat me. I knew I had to end this quickly.
The Ox talisman was straining my body and I could feel my bones creaking and muscles tearing, with every movement I made. So, I channeled the power of the Horse Talisman and focused on healing my wounds and regenerating my energy.
I tried to compensate for the damage by healing myself over and over, but it was a delicate balance. I knew I couldn't hold it for more than a few seconds, so I took a deep breath and focused as I prepared to deliver the final blow.
Superboy charged towards me, fists raised, but I was ready. I sidestepped his attack and delivered a powerful blow to his spine.
He screamed in agony, but I didn't stop. Next, I delivered a powerful punch to his solar plexus, winding him, then I followed up with a swift kick to his head, and he crumpled to the ground, defeated.
I stood over him, breathing heavily, feeling the power of the talismans pulsing through my body. I had won the fight, but I knew things weren't over.
(Chapter End)
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