Chapter 1
Part 6
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And then Superboy leapt for the kill.
Straight towards the biggest target.
In the time it took Robin to blink, Superboy had leapt and gone after the nearest G-Troll and struck it with the strongest hit he could. The creature was thrown back several steps, crashing against the wall behind.
Immediately the heroes and genetically engineered creatures jumped to action to stop the insane clone of Superman.
Dubbilex and the G-Gnomes reacted first, invoking their psychic powers to the fore to subdue the clone. But the moment their minds connected, a screaming cacophony inside Superboy's mind tore out and fell into the network.
It was pain. A psychological feedback loop that self-perpetuated via stimulating the pain centres of the half Kryptonian while simultaneously sending his limbic system analogue into overdrive, burning his brain with unfettered anger and hatred.
A volatile and dangerous formula of psychological energies that set all that it touched into hateful pain. It was a tool to make those not psychic resist the psychic, via poisoning their own mind with pain.
A pain that was immediately projected back into the network and caused every genomorph to flinch back in pain from the mental anguish.
A flinch that was exploited by the enraged clone and scientist.
Desmond had long disappeared when the attention had turned to Superboy, and now everyone present had to deal with the man's hidden card.
Superboy launched himself at the next group of genomorphs, but quickly Aqualad took the chance and intercepted the hit with a shield of solidified water. It managed to block the hit successfully, but the clone was not done. Far from it.
And neither was the Atlantian.
Superboy pulled back for a second punch, but Kaldur's second water bearer had already shifted into a heavy mace, his superior training providing him the necessary skill to evade the strike and counter with his own, sending the part Kryptonian flying off.
But superboy was harder to injure than most, so it did not take long for the clone to get up and come at it again.
"What the heck Superboy?!" Shouted Kid Flash as he made a quick run and intercept the clone's trajectory with a punch of his own. But he had misjudged the speed at which an enraged Kryptonian worked and Wally felt something grasp his arm and without warning sent him flying against a wall with a painful crash.
The furious Kryptonian saw the prone form of the speedster for an instant, and immediately decided upon a target. And he leapt, crossing the distance between the two in the blink of an eye. A sight that drew Kid Flash's friends into horrified shock as they were too far to save him.
"NOOO!" They could not, they would not be able to save him. Wally was going to… then suddenly Superboy flew up, a long distance away from ever touching Kid Flash.
Both Aqualad and Robin looked on in confusion when the now floating clone of superman was flying a few feet off the ground, but he still was struggling and shouting animalistic roars of fury and hatred.
"What… What happened?" Asked Robin and they received their answer soon enough, from Guardian.
"Telekinesis." Said the man, standing right beside Dubbilex whose hand was outstretched towards Superboy and his horns shining with red light. Though curiously he was massaging his head with his free hand.
Dubbilex turned to the young heroes as he held the still struggling, rabid superboy with his telekine grip. -Superboy's mind has been affected by a very powerful and horrifying mental command. You could not have reasoned with him during this time.- They blinked, and relaxed somewhat knowing that the threat had passes.
They were still angry that in that short moment of distraction, the lead scientist, Desmond, had escaped. But what truly upset them was how he had achieved it, by turning Superboy homicidal and insane with a single verbal command.
That… that was messed up in all the wrong ways.
Dubbilex's horns grew brighter and so did the horns of all the other psychic genomorphs of the hive present. The Kryptonian clone's eyes changed ever so slightly, from the mad look he had instants before to a sudden sense of shock, even his violent thrashing and shouting had subsided for an instant, something that the genomorph goblin saw, and so he opened his arms wide, addressing all of his psychic brethren. - Now together brothers. Let us end our brother's pain and set his mind free from this accursed mental command.- And with a pulse of red light there was a flinch from the clone's thrashing, and then his eyes closed, body subsiding into a peaceful sleep. A complete contrast to his previous state.
As Dubbilex slowly floated him down, Guardian stepped over and caught the sleeping youth in his arms. Kaldur looked at the genomorph. "Will he be alright?"
A nod. "He will be, after he has time to recover." Dubbilex answered. "He may wake up in a few minutes."
Aqualad nodded in understanding. "Good." Kaldur guessed that everything would be well from now on. But there was one thing that was missing. "And Desmond?"
Dubbilex frowned. "Gone. The geno-"
But then nothing was well, when a roar from beneath the ground reverberated across the entire facility. All heads turned down with a wide mixture of emotions. "What was that?" Asked Kid Flash.
Suddenly, the eyes of the genomorphs present widened like saucers, causing a massive shift in the atmosphere in the chamber. Something bad was happening and the genetically engineered creatures were aware of what it was. And so, the voice of the genomorph hive spoke, and all the heroes present were thrown into shock. –We must leave now! Desmond had released the other failed Superman clones! All are extremely hostile.-
All eyes turned to the genomorph in shock. "Other clones? How many?" Asked Guardian.
The answer was as grim as the tone it was delivered in. -Thirty seven.-
"Thirty seven?!" Kid Flash was aghast.
-And some of them possess more of Superman's powers. And they are tunnelling their way up.- They did not speak any more, for everyone knew what that meant. Immediately all the genomorphs and humans present started running for the nearest gate to the surface, doing the best to get a great a distance from the underground rampant clones.
But none were open. The gate they were previously was still there, closed. Guardian tried his access keys, but none worked. Not even Dubbilex's own override commands had any effect. "Damn!" Guardian hissed. "Desmond must have sealed the entire facility."
"How long until you can crack it?" Asked Kaldur, looking at his friend once again working on the hacking computer on his wrist.
"Too long." Replied Robin, his fingers pressing more and more keys on his holo screen at a speed that the others could barely follow.
Another crack and the sounds of rocks crumbing down, followed by another deep roar from beneath. God, how loud must those things be shouting to be heard through multiple concrete floors?
Suddenly, the lights began to flicker on and off for a moment, then remained on as a small quake shook the complex.
It was then that the heroes truly realized in how much shit they were when they were trapped inside a complex with thirty seven aggressive clones of superman. Doomed does not quite encapsulate how utterly screwed up they all were.
Thinking rapidly and perhaps finding an alternative to their immediate issue, Dubbilex looked at two Trolls and the giant creatures immediately set to action. Robin stepped aside when he saw the giant lumbering creatures approach the metal doors to the first floor.
One moment later two pairs of giant, hands began to smash against the metal doors, causing a set of indentations big enough to be noticed on the surface. Again they smashed and the indentations became bents on the metal.
They were going to smash their way though and it would be possible to make their escape.
When another quake shook the facility. This one feeling much, much closer.
Then they knew that time was not on their side. And their fears were proven right when a loud crack occurred on the ground. Then another. And another.
It was then when the metal gate fell that the concrete shattered into a cloud of debris. Both openings brought into being at the same moment in time, and both offering opposing destinies.
From the dust and clutter a misshapen figure emerged. An unclothed mutant that only resembled human on the most blurred of shadows. Its right arm was a massive hyperplasic mass of muscle and pale veins, while its left was a shrivelled atrophied thing, no bigger than a person's hand, and hanging limply at its side. Its body was a mismatch of genetic aberrations. No gender to be determined.
A face so profoundly hideous that only a mistake since inception could have made. Its right eye shone brightly with the beautiful sky blue that only the eyes of the earth's sole Kryptonian had. But that was the extent of any beauty that it had. And on such a face, it only drew a more sickening reaction. Its left eye was massive, blood red and swollen, almost as if on the verge of exploding from the skull it was lodged in. Its mouth was too big, and its jaws badly fused so that it would never be able to close its lips and cease the line of drool that constantly kept dripping down. Its hair a mismatch of black and white.
A mistake of biology.
An aberration of natural law. One that was only alive because of the unseen supernatural flesh that held it together and away from the verge of biological collapse.
And then it attacked when its red eye grew as bright as the light of a blood red sun.
The beam fired and hit the largest genomorph square on the chest, carving a bloody, cauterized path through the creature's chest.
The troll screamed in pain, but the assault on it would quickly end when another of its brethren stepped forth and clubbed the genetic aberration with its immense fist, sending it flying into a nearby wall.
The rest of the genomorphs took the opportunity and pounced on the biological mistake. Elves, hands with claws as sharp as a dagger, leaped forth, ready to drive their blades into the mistake's flesh.
Not one strike managed to scratch the skin.
But the mistake's attacks were not as useless as the genomorphs'. Because in one swipe of its enormous fist, it sent three elves flying and shot its eye laser into the head of another, tearing a hole through the creature's head and killing it on the spot.
It was with the first drop of blood that was spilled that there was a shift in the genomorph hive.
Dubbilex turned to the heroes as the battle was joined by more Trolls. -We need to contact the League!-
"Already doing it!" Replied Robin. And then in an excited voice, "Done!" Then his face turned grim and determined. He drew a batarang and his staff. "Now, let's go!"
"What?" Guardian asked, incredulous.
"We are heroes. We must fight, or else more genomorphs will die."
"It's suicide!" He shouted, and grabbed Robin, basically tossing the smaller clone on his back to the kid. "And you do not have any powers!" He said, with a voice that brokered absolutely no argument. "Get Superboy to the surface."
Robin was about to protest, but Aqualad spoke before he could.
"You have no superpowers, so one mistake will cost you your life." He stressed that last part and Robin's eyes widened in surprise. But then the Atlantian placed a hand on the younger's shoulder. "This battle is not for you, but you can save one life now and alert the League when they arrive."
Robin was left without words, he did not know what to say to Kaldur after that. He still wanted to protest, but the agony filled scream of another troll forced his decision. "Fine." He said, unhappy with the choice, but accepting it nonetheless.
And with that, Robin ran after the fleeing Genomorphs to the surface, leaving behind those that could be better equipped to handle the tough battle to come. But that did not stop him from looking back just in time to see another figure emerge from the hole the aberration had made.
Something just as hideous as what had just come before.
"Oh no." He whispered, and when he did, he saw the thing's eyes turn to him. It snarled and soared his way like a speeding bullet, blood in its eyes.
Robin's panic rose for an instant when he saw what was coming his way, but before any action could be done or taken, the mutated clone made a sharp turn to the side and if Robin was not any wiser, the look of surprise in its face meant that it had not planned for that. And it was true when the aberration crashed head first into the nearest wall.
-Go!- The voice of Dubbilex roared in Robin's mind and this time the boy wonder ran without fail.
Once the Robin had escaped did Dubbilex truly focus on the battle around him. There were two of those failed Superman Clones, but he could sense more heading their way.
Brute force would not halt them. They have proven more than equals to Superboy's strength. And unlike the boy, some of them had more powers than simply greater strength and invulnerability.
So the only way to defeat them was to fight them in the things they lacked.
The mutant, whom Dubbilex had saved Robin from, got up again and turned its hateful glare upon the genomorph goblin. Its eyes began to glow. But Dubbilex's horns were faster in their shine.
A wave of psychic pain struck at the mutant and caused it to break its laser attack and scream as its mind was set ablaze with mental energies. Dubbilex frowned deeper. He had aimed for complete incapacitation, but the mind of the creature he was facing was different in a way he simply lacked experience in. It would require more punishment to take down.
So be it.
He lifted a hand and pushed it against the wall again. A telepathic web pulse later and the giant fist of a G-Troll came barrelling in against the abomination, slamming it deep into the wall. –Again brother!- He instructed and the troll struck once again. And then the opening he was searching for came and Dubbilex attacked once again with his telepathy, this time with a mental barrage meant to kill.
The aberration though was hardy, even in its basal mind. So the blow that could have caused fatal cerebral haemorrhage on a person, it merely caused the creature to submit to a deep coma.
It will suffice.
Dubbilex turned to the still active mutant. This one was definitely stronger, both in its primal savagery and in its physiology, being much closer in strength to the original Kryptonian. Dubbilex focused and used his mental might to stun the creature to provide a moment of weakness that could be exploited by the heroes and genomorphs.
One well used.
Kid Flash slammed the thing's head with a metal bar twice before it could even lift its overgrown arm. But by the time it had, the one known as Guardian had run around it and grabbed it by its smaller limb and threw the thing towards Aqualad whom was waiting with his water bearers alit with magic. And as the creature came, he struck, the water suspended by them in the shape of a sharp edged mace, crackling with electricity, right into the thing's face.
There was a crack and a pop. Its overgrown eye exploding in a shower of blood colouring the water of the arcane weapon in ruby red.
The creature's shrieks of pain resonated everywhere like the roar of thunder, the strength of its Kryptonian physiology carrying over into its lungs.
But it was far from knocked out, so Dubbilex took the chance and reached into its mind to shut down the creature. Only for him to have to reorientate his focus away and towards an emerging head of another clone peeking through the hole its predecessor had made.
He lashed out against it before it could fully emerge from the hole and fire a laser attack at the genomorphs. But that instant cost him.
The mutant that had its eye torn open leaped towards the G-Goblin and he was not fast enough to evade it. He was going to die there, if it hadn't been for Guardian throwing Dubbilex out of the way and receiving the blow himself.
Guardian flew from the blow of the Kryptonian clone against a wall, slamming against the metal panels as his helmet crashed against the wall with a loud bang. A sound accompanied by the crack of broken bones and much worse.
The young heroes heard it as much as felt it when the man had collapsed into a heap, and so did Dubbilex, for the Guardian's mind had silenced abruptly after the hit.
But the creature responsible was yet to be defeated and while it had been wounded and made to lose one of its greatest weapons, the fight was far from over. But the worst was yet to come as another mutant emerged from the hole, screaming and raging.
And it flew towards Aqualad.
Dubbilex used his psychic powers to force the creature's mind to succumb to paralyzing pain, but it was not as effective as he wished. It stunned it with pain, allowing Aqualad to strike at its head with his lightning abilities, and get away. An action that was helped by Kid Flash whisking away the Atlantian before the creature could recover. Allowing one of the few remaining G-Trolls to slam its fist into the creature and launch it flying into a distant wall.
But more came.
So much more.
Dubbilex then was forced to focus on his old rival, staring into the bleeding eye of the previous mutant and fired another mental barrage, a much more desperate and painful one.
The creature roared and spazmened for a moment, but it recovered and was about to strike again. So Dubbilex attacked again. And again and again, over and over even as dark blood began to pool out of his nasal cavity.
He did not care. He needed to defeat this thing now so that he could help the others.
And then one final strike and the mutant clone fell back, its mind shredded by mental lacerations. But the other side did not come out unscathed, but he could not focus on that.
There was a battle to continue.
But at the sight of the four other clones emerging, he knew that he would not be able to win.
Dubbilex could not deal with these many.
His mind straining to keep them as confused as he could. Stopping a laser lance from the eyes whenever he could. Turning an otherwise fatal blow into something that could incapacitate.
But it was too much. And it soon came the time when he felt the eyes of a mutant on him, about to unleash a beam of deadly energy. Dubbilex reached out, but too late. The mental attack he unleashed came at the same time the laser emerged from the thing's eye socket, curving the beam away. But not enough.
It missed his head. But stuck his left thigh. And split it in two.
Dubbilex barely realized what had happened by the time he was falling to the floor.
But his roar of agony eventually spilled from his throat as he clutched at his bleeding stump. But his awareness of the battle he was did not abate. The psychic transmissions of the rest of the genomorph hive kept flowing through his mind and he could now see how everything had gone down.
Without his aid, the rest of the hive was beginning to lose ground and members. He could feel it, the deaths of his brothers. Their last moments, so pain filled, becoming burned into his psyche forevermore.
He could not cry, he was incapable of it on a physiological level. But grief he could. He could, for the last moments he had left for the little it was worth as he looked at the hovering form of a mutant coming towards him, intent to ending the psychic genomorph.
But Dubbilex would not go down like that. Not without at least giving one final fight to his name. He reached out with his hand the moment the mutant's eyes began to light up.
But instead of Dubbilex being slain by laser or the mutant being driven into another wave of mental pain, an energetic beam of energy impacted the mutant and sent if off flying into the distance.
Shocked and no less confused, the genomorph turned to see a man hovering not too far away. His skin made of metal and with arms and feet of red, and on his chest a symbol he was familiar with.
Captain Atom.
That meant that…
And to his confirmation he saw them arrive as saviours.
Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, and more.
The League had arrived, and to his comfort, he could hear the Hive's words grow less and less fearful, and more hopeful.
Dubbilex smiled. Maybe it was the strain this battle had made on his body, or mind. Maybe it was that he was bleeding out, but it did not matter now. Everything would be alright.
The last thing he saw before his vision faded into darkness was the panicked look of Robin running towards him.
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End
AN: I think it was a good idea to let the part end at this point. Next part will be the League dealing with the aftermath of the Cadmus.
I hope you liked Dubbilex, he got his moment to shine and I hoped I made him good. I kind of felt proud of this one. Also, if you haven't noticed, yes, I just took off a few layers of plot armour for our heroes.
The incident at Cadmus was way too easy for them and with something on such a scale, it could have either gone really bad for them or for Cadmus, or both. Here, it was bad for everyone.
I also got past the Barricade Chapter, which means that writers block can take a hike for this story.
Something like this but with gems coming out of it and dark purple and green
