Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad pressed on through the expansive floor they were exploring. Robin meticulously sifted through the complex schematics laid out before him through a hologram, his fingers deftly inputting a carefully crafted set of malware aimed at breaching yet another locked door. After a tense few moments, the mechanism whirred and clicked, and the door swung open, revealing what lay beyond.
As they stepped through the threshold, the trio was instantly engulfed in a profound state of shock and awe, their eyes widening at the sight before them.
"Okay, I'm officially considering this is out of my league," Robin remarked, his voice filled with incredulity as he surveyed the astonishing room. Glass cases lined the walls, each one housing a different type of genomorph, their forms pulsating and shimmering with vibrant energy.
The electric currents emitted by these creatures danced like lightning, converging and flowing into a massive power station that loomed overhead. This station, with its intricate network of wires and glowing panels, efficiently directed and distributed the accumulated energy across the entire facility.
"I've seen some weird things…but, nothing to this extent," Aqualad muttered as he took a few steps forward, surveying the room. His hand stressed out and moved along the glass cases, eyeing the creatures within. "These things are putting out some impressive energy."
"So that explains how and why they hid this massive underground facility, The real Cadmus isn't on the grid but It generates its own power with these things. It must be what they're bred for." Kid Flash tagged on as he too looked over the room.
"Even with the name, it's a hint. In Greek mythology, Cadmus was a figure who forged a new race by planting the teeth of dragons into the ground," Aqualad stated softly, his demeanor serious as he regarded the other two.
"Clearly, they're interpreting the myth quite literally; this new Cadmus is also generating new life. Let's see if we can uncover the reason behind it," Robin remarked as he approached a nearby computer, linking it to his device and preparing to infiltrate the system. "They refer to them as genomorphs, and I do not like what I'm seeing," he let out a soft whistle of shock and disbelief. "Take a look at this—various types with distinct abilities: enhanced strength, telepathy, speed, sharp claws, the ability to fly, and regeneration."
Kid Flash's eyes widened with realization. "They're creating an army, but for what purpose and for whom?"
"Wait, there's something more... Project Kr. Ugh! The files are triple-encrypted; I won't have time to crack it," Robin said as he continued to probe into Project Cadmus's records.
Just then, a booming voice interrupted them from behind.
"Don't move, hands where I can see them." The voice commanded, causing them to turn and find Guardian entering, flanked by a group of genomorphs.
"Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash? What?" Guardian exclaimed, surprised as he halted several dozen feet away.
Robin chuckled, clearly trying to lighten the mood. "At least he got your name right," he said, looking at Kid.
"I know you. You're Guardian, a hero linked to the Justice League," Aqualad interjected, disregarding Robin's remark as he focused on Guardian's golden helmet.
"I do my best," Guardian replied with a slight smile and a shrug.
"Wait a minute, what are you doing here?" Kid Flash asked a frown of confusion on his face.
"Well, I'm the chief of security here, and technically you all are trespassing. But don't worry, I'll just contact the League to sort this out," Guardian responded, his expression turning serious.
"Hold on, that doesn't sound right. You're involved in this, and you think that's okay?!" Kid Flash asked incredulously. "Do you really believe the League will approve of you helping to create weapons?"
"Weapons? What are you… what have I… ugh…" Guardian muttered, his head throbbed with pain as he clutched it in confusion. But then the genomorph on his shoulder glowed red, and he regained his composure, though his entire demeanor had shifted.
"Kill them, do it fast, show no mercy!!!"
In response, the genomorphs behind him charged forward in a group.
Seeing this, Robin acted instantly, tossing a smoke pellet onto the ground that erupted into a thick cloud, before shooting out a grapple line and swinging toward the door.
Meanwhile, Kid Flash dashed ahead, breaking away from the others as he weaved through claw swipes, then leaped off the wall and struck a genomorph, sending it crashing to the floor. After that, he sprinted away, dodging left and right to escape the cramped room and the living weapons trying to take him down.
Following Kid Flash's lead, Aqualad did the same, his water bearers in hand as he used them to create a pair of hammers out of the water, which he then used to smash the genomorphs closest to him, sending two of them stumbling backward into a larger group, before he too turned and ran, following after the other two.
A few minutes later, the three found themselves meeting up at the elevator door, with Robin having got there before the other two, with him already in the process of trying to get it open. Ignoring how the alarms were going off even as he tried to hack in.
"Way to be a team player, Rob!" Kid Flash said as he met up with Robin, the sound of the pursing genomorphs sounding out loudly as they charged after the retreating sidekicks.
"Weren't you right behind me?" Robin said dismissively, even as he got the elevator open and then ran in with the other two following after him, neither one of them wanting to stay behind and confront the horde of creatures pursuing them.
"We're heading down?" Aqualad asked as he noted the direction in the lift was now traveling.
"Dude! Out is up." Kid Flash added on helpfully.
"Excuse me? Project Kr, it's down on sublevel 52." Robin replied as if he were surprised by their questions.
"This is out of control. Perhaps… perhaps we should contact the League." Aqualad said as the door pinged open and they arrived at sublevel 52, which was distinctly more alien and fleshy looking than the sterile, metallic sublevel 26.
Ignoring Aqualad, Robin ran ahead, with Kid Flash following closely behind. "Come on, Aqualad I'm not leaving until I get answers."
"Which way?" Kid Flash asked as the three of them made it to a fork in the corridor.
"Yeah, bizarre-looking hallway one, or bizarre-looking hallway two?" Robin asked cheerfully as he looked between the two.
"Halt!" A voice called out from behind them, even as Dubbilex walked out of one of the corridors and saw the heroes, his horns already glowing red as he raised a clawed hand and sent a half dozen nearby barrels flying through the air towards the sidekicks, driving them away with his telekinetic projectiles.
"The first one, now let's go!" Aqualad said, taking command as they dodged the barrels and Robin threw three 'birdarangs' at Dubbilex, only for them to be telekinetically stopped in mid-air as the horns of the creature glowed red again.
Seeing this the heroes ran down the hall, with Robin throwing another smoke pellet behind them to confuse their opponents and cover their retreat.
As this was happening Guardian and the genomorphs arrived on the floor, all of them rushing out of the elevator only to see the stoic-looking Dubbilex looking over at them.
"They are heading for Project Kr!" Dubbilex said pointing down the corridor they took, with Guardian nodding in reply, before he ran after them, his squad of genomorphs following after him.
A few minutes later they found a female scientist walking out of Project Kr's laboratory, a clipboard in hand as the large electronic doors to the lab began to slide shut behind her. As she exited though, she was taken completely by surprise when Kid Flash ran past her in a yellow and red blur, sending her stumbling to the side in shock.
Not that Kid Flash seemed to notice as he instead saw the door to the lab closing, which prompted him to throw a barrel into the path of the closing doors to slow them down. He then darted through the gap the barrel made as it kept the doors from closing, with Robin and Aqualad darting through after him, both of them ignoring the scientist's shouts for them to stop, as Aqualad instead kicked the barrel out of the doorway, purposefully causing the doors to close fully.
Noticing the massive metal door locked behind them Robin once again used his wrist-mounted device to hack into the building's systems, only this time he hacked into the door's controls.
"I disabled the door. We're safe." Robin said after a few moments, even as they heard the creatures banging on the doors from the other side.
"Which means we're trapped," Aqualad replied as he looked around at the room they were in.
"Uh, guys. You'll want to see this." Kid Flash spoke up in reply, gaining Robin and Aqualad's attention as they turned to see Kid turn on the main light in the room, which revealed just what Project Kr was.
It was a teenage-looking version of Superman. A dark-haired boy, with a large, broad-shouldered build, one who was wearing a white fully body suit with Superman's shield on it.
"Big K, little R. The atomic symbol for Krypton. A clone perhaps?" Kid Flash asked immediately as he looked over at the other two.
"Robin, see what you can find," Aqualad said as he looked to Robin, who in response nodded before he then hacked into the computer and pulled up the file on Project Kr.
"Weapon designation Superboy, a clone force grown in… sixteen weeks! From DNA acquired from Superman." Robin read out loud before he looked over at the other two.
"Stolen from Superman." Aqualad corrected, his blue eyes narrowing in concern.
"No way the big guy knows about this." Kid Flash said quietly, as he mulled over just what this meant.
"Apparently, the solar suit he is wearing allows him to absorb yellow sun radiation 24/7," Robin said, nodding at the white fully body suit the clone was wearing, answering the question none of them asked.
"And the creatures?" Aqualad asked as he eyed the three monkey-like grey creatures that were perched above the unconscious Superboy as he was held motionless in a large glass tube.
"Genomorph gnomes, they're the telepathic ones, and are currently force-feeding him knowledge," Robin replied quickly.
"Not feeding him but controlling him. I saw the same thing on Guardian's shoulder right before he attacked us, I saw the horns on it glow red. It was like he was being controlled. They're trying to make an army and they won't let anyone stop them. It looks like this is their trump card." Aqualad said grimly.
"They're making a slave out of… Superman's son." Kid Flash added incredulously, looking around at the others.
"Now we contact the League," Aqualad said with finality, even as they all tried to send a message, only to find that they couldn't get a signal.
"No signal. We're in too deep, literally." Kid said. "What do we do?"
"We can't leave him like this," Robin replied, once again looking over at Superboy.
"Set him free. Then we'll get rid of the genomorphs and free him. Do it." Aqualad said to Robin, who after a momentary pause did just that.
Moments later the pod opened, even as the three sidekicks gathered around in front of it as they did so, not noticing as they did how Superboy's hands clenched into fists, even as the horns of the G-gnome's perched above him began to glow.
Then suddenly without warning the teen's blue eyes snapped open and his face twisted into an expression of anger, before without a word he lunged forward, lashing out and attacking his would be rescuers, not saying a word as he instead reacted on sheer animal instinct.