Chapter 3: Independence Day Part 1

July 4th, Cadmus Labs

"INTRUDERS! INTRUDERS! ALL SECURITY PERSONEL APREHEND THE INTRUDERS!"

As a group of armed soldiers ran down the hall way, a lone individual watched the group rush off after whoever they were chasing.

"Great, less trouble for me."

Steeping out of the shadows, Wade, now wearing a ninja mask made out of a pillow cover, looked left and right down each hallway to see if anybody else was coming. Once he was confident that no one was approaching, he ran down the opposite end way that the soldiers ran off to.

Wait a minute! What just happened?

"What do you mean Bold?" the scarred boy asked as he continued running.

He means how did we go from the last chapter where you were in your room to here where you are running down a hallway?

"Well voices in my possible insane head," Wade began just as he stopped in front of a specific door, "What happened was that I managed to sneak away a grenade during practice and hid it inside my arm. Then, using a spoon or knife, I cut my arm open and retrieved said grenade. Then, after pulling the pin and blowing up the room, I killed everybody that was around me. That is what we want you to believe but the truth is that the author is just too fucking lazy to be bothered to write that scene."

What author?

The teen nonchalantly shrugged at this question. "I don't understand it myself. Hell, it was only when I started to hear you guys that I began to understand this sort of stuff. But enough about authors who can't finish their own works, now is fun time." Wade then reached into his pants and produced a served arm that he had taken from one of the scientist that had been killed earlier. Placing the hand on the door scanner, a small bing signaled the approval of the scan.

Bing? Seriously?

The door then slid open and Wade ran inside, the door closing behind him. Turning on the lights, a childlike smile grew on the potential assassin's face. "Oh yes," he dreamily said.

Upon the walls were guns. Several different types strewn about the walls around the boy. Shotguns, revolvers, SMGs, pistols, snipers, and even a RPG.

It's Gunvana!

I have to agree with you on that one. But remember, we can only take the bare necissities.

His expression now serious, Wade nodded his head. "Right voice," he said. The boy then grabbed one of the many duffel bags-

What kind of gun storing room has a duffel bag?

-And looked over each weapon to decide he would take with him. He already knew that his beloved katanas were located in another room, along with another important piece of equipment he would need. But right now, he needed guns. Lots of guns.

"Hmm…I'm thinking we at least need some revolvers and semi-automatics," Wade said as he grabbed two of each, placing the former in the duffel and the latter in his pants.

Get a shotgun! Get a shotgun!

"Oh yeah! Everybody loves a shotgun!"

I believe it is slinky.

"Who cares at this point?" the scarred clone asked as he placed the gun in his bag. "I think one or two SMGs should do nicely and also…"

This went on for a few minutes until Wade had placed nearly every single in his duffel bag. Smiling at his work, Wade nodded his head in approval. "Yep, that should be it."

Wait, what about that one?

Turning his head, a near psychotic grin appeared on his face. "Oh yes, I almost forgot you my beauty!"

In front of the boy was an RPG-7, complete with rocket. Now, one might wonder why Cadmus, a lab built for science and innovation would have a literal rocket launcher. The answer is quite simple, for-

"Hey, whoever is writing this, shut up. No one cares," Wade yelled as he scowled at the air as if there was someone in front of him.

Shutting up.

"That's better," the scarred boy said as he nodded before turning his focus upon the lone weapon he had yet to grab.

I told you, only grab the necessities!

"But I really need it!"

Yeah, we need it!

For what?

"For…I don't know…maybe some kind of monster battle that occurs in the next hour or two."

…

…

…Well I can't fault that logic.

Smiling as the more logical voice approved of his decision, Wade grabbed the rocket launcher and held it close to him while rubbing his cheek against it. "Oh my beloved, you and I are so going to cause death and destruction where we go." Taking his cheek off the weapon, the boy placed his final fire arm in his bagn before hefting the strap over his shoulder. With his enhanced strength, lifting a bag full of weapons was no problem.

"Now then," Wade said in a rare serious tone before cocking the pistols in each hand, "How's about a little freedom?"

With a dash of revenge?

And a hint of destruction?

Smiling more manically than before, the clone of Deathstroke level his weapons to the door as he said, "You guys read my thoughts."

The clone then kicked the door open-

Those doors must be taking the Japanese architect approach.

-BEFORE stepping back into the hallway.

"Look out Stockman, Wadey is coming." The boy then turned and began to walk down the hallway-

"Huh?"

-until he saw a scientist standing a few meters away from his. Looking at the at the guns in his hand, Wade said, "Uh…I can explain."

However, the scientist did not want to hear him out as he turned around and ran off screaming.

Whelp, guess you got to go kill him.

"Yeah," the boy said, his eyes never leaving the spot where the scientist was, "Guess I got to. Out of curiosity, what's my kill count at?"

That've we seen so far? Or in total general?

"Total in general; including off screen kills."

At least 25 if I remember correctly.

"Well then, that guy is going to make 26, and Stockman?"

Numbah 27!

Smiling, Wade exclaimed joyfully, "See, he can learn!" His smile was soon cut off as he heard an even louder alarm than before ring through the area.

"RED ALERT! RED ALERT! PROJECT MERCENARY HAS ESCAPED AND IS ARMED! ALL PERSONEL, PLEASE HEAD TO THE NEAREST SHELTER! PROJECT MERCENARY IS ARMED AND DANGEROUS!"

They made an alarm for us!

"On one hand, I'm flattered," Wade said as he began running down the hallway towards the fleeing scientist, "But on the other hand, this causes a lot more trouble. But on the other hand, more points for my kill count!"

Wait a minute, that's three hands.

"So?"

…Nevermind.

"That's what I thought. First things first, kill that douche that let everyone know that I'm out and about. Second, get me my trusty katanas. Third-"

Revenge?

Revenge.

"REVENGE!" the gun toting pillow masked assassin screamed as he ran down the hallway into the unknown.

In another part of Cadmus:

"PROJECT MERCENARY IS ARMED AND DANGEROUS!"

Three young boys in their early teens stopped running as they heard the new alarm ring through the air.

"Uh…what's Project Mercenary?" asked the red headed boy, "And why do I get a bad feeling about that?" This yellow spandex clad boy was known to others as Kid Flash, the partner/nephew to the fastest man in the world, the Flash.

"I do not know," the dark skinned boy said in a calm yet cautious tone, "But for this 'Project Mercenary' to have its own alarm, they must be very worried. Especially if it takes priorities over us." The eldest of the three went by the name of Kaldur'ahm, better known as Aqualad, the apprentice to the king of the sea, Aquaman.

"I'm already hacking into Cadmus' files with the priority being 'Project Mercenary," the shortest of three said as he typed on his handheld device. He was one half of the Dynamic Duo, the protégé of the world's greatest detective Batman; his is Robin.

For these three boys, today was supposed to be their first step towards adulthood. Up until this day, they had believed that they were going to be joining the Justice League, the planet's protectors, the same organization their mentors were a part of. It was going so smoothly at first. They had been invited to the VIP section of the Hall of Justice.

However, it was when Speedy, a friend and the partner to Green Arrow, had revealed that the Hall of Justice was no longer the League's base of operations. Turns out, their new base was a satellite known as the Watchtower. The red colored archer made it known that he was not happy about being snubbed and stormed out, but not without delivering a few choice words to his mentor.

Then, a call arrived for the League informing them that there was a fire at Cadmus labs. But before they could react, another call had come in stating that there was an even bigger emergency. To make a long story short, the adults had told them to stay put and not investigate Cadmus on their own.

They did not listen.

However, when the three had infiltrated the lab, they had discovered there were a lot more to this place than many would believe. At the moment, they were running for their lives, avoiding guards and other…things, while also trying to find out just what Cadmus was hiding. But with this new alarm blaring, their curiosity was peaked.

After a few more minutes of typing, Robin smiled as he said, "Alright, found something. Project Mercenary is the black taped project with the sole purpose of…" Robin's smile disappeared as he read the line.

"What? What were they trying to do?" Kid Flash asked curiously, though he did not really want to know.

Looking at his friends, the Boy Wonder continued, this time much slower, "The sole purpose to create a clone of Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke the Terminator."

Hearing this, the other two boys' eye widened. Being under the tutelage of heroes, all three had come to hear of the legendary assassin and his exploits. While none of them had actually met the man, they knew that he was not someone to take lightly.

"Are you serious?!" the red head asked in a worried tone, "Why the hell would they do that?!"

"A personal assassin?" Aqualad guessed.

Looking back at the device, Robin said, "Well, officially, it says that it was in attempt to create the world's first man made super soldier. But I doubt that is what they were thinking of when they made a clone of Deathstroke."

"Can you find anything that proves that?"

The black haired boy shook his head in frustration. "No, I've tried looking in every nook and cranny with this file and there is nothing that says the hopes of this project other than a super soldier."

The Atlantean rubbed his chin in thought. "Perhaps in an attempt to keep his true purpose a secret from everyone."

"Maybe, but that still does not change the fact that there is a Deathstroke clone running around here," the speedster said, before turning to Robin, "Just how dangerous would you say he is on a level of one to ten?"

"Well, being trained since his creation, which took place nearly eighteen years ago, in several types of martial arts, weapons, assassination techniques, and super human feats, I'd say a nine."

"Oh, so we are only about the level of being totally screwed. Hooray," Kid Flash said sarcastically.

"Hey, could be-"

"NOPE! NOT LISTENING!" the red head shouted as he plugged his ears.

"KF, I'm serious here-"

"That's what they all say before something happens!" Kid Flash said.

"I thought you didn't believe in magic?" Robin asked with an all too smug grin adjourning his face.

"I don't! But this isn't magic! That statement is not to be said!"

"My friends," Aqualad said as he looked down the hallway.

"Give me second Kaldur," Robin said as he looked at the red head, "So now you are superstitious."

"I am not because there is nothing to be superstitious about! It's a matter of probability!"

"My friends," Kaldur repeated, this time a bit louder.

"One moment," both boys said, not even looking at the eldest of them.

"My friends!" the blond finally exclaimed.

"What?!" the other two asked in an annoyed tone.

Aqualad simply pointed down the hallway, to which the three could see…

"God damn it, I am so freaking lost."

A young boy(?) that was carrying a duffel bag, a gun in each hand, and bore a pillow case over his head. However, what drew the boys' attention were the horrendous scars that laced the boy's entire body.

Aqualad then broke the silence among the three by saying, "I do not believe that we will have to worry about finding this 'Project Mercenary, because I believe he has just found us."

Speaking of said clone, Wade was rather annoyed at the moment. First, thanks to the alarm that was pointing out his escape, there were a whole lot of guards that tried to stop him, meaning he had to dispose of them to continue. While this would have been fun, killing the same group over and over again just felt boring.

Then, there was the matter of getting his beloved katanas. While he did manage to retrieve them (along with something special), getting them had made him waste a lot of ammo. Add in the guys he had to kill before he got to the room, his duffel bag was a lot lighter than before. The only fully loaded weapons he had left were the revolvers, the semi-automatics, one SMG, and the RPG. Finally, finding Desmond was a lot harder than he anticipated. So yeah, he was rather pissed off.

Rubbing his eyes, the scarred boy let out a frustrated sigh. "Dammit, I knew we should have taken a left back there."

Well, maybe if someone listened to me, we would not be so lost.

"Oh don't you give me that bullshit!" Wade exclaimed angrily, "You were absolutely no help with the directions. I'd rather let Bold take the wheel then listen to your directions!"

Yeah, and we all know what I would do with the wheel!

Fine, I messed up once, but that doesn't…

"Why did you go quiet all of a sudden?"

…Who are they?

Confused, the clone turned his head around to see a group of three boys standing away from him. It was quite obvious that the three were not scientist and the clone doubted they worked here. They looked too…too…

Herioc?

Colorful?

"I was going to say out of place, but those work too," Wade said in agreeance with his voices. "But then again, they might be what we need."

A way out?

"Bingo."

Was his name O!

"Too easy Bold," the scarred boy said as he shook his head before focusing back onto the three boys. Deciding to put his best foot forward, Wade smiled underneath his hood while waving his hand at the other boys as he slowly walked towards them. "Hi there!"

The three protégés looked at each other wearingly before the dark skinned boy step forward and said, "Hello…are…are you Project Mercenary?"

"If you're going to ask me that, you better take me out for a drink first," was the clone's reply.

Despite the situation, Kid Flash snorted a bit in laughter at the joke the boy did. Robin watched the boy with a stoic poker face; however he was laughing a bit on the inside. And Kaldur was merely confused by the boy's words. Even though he had been to the surface a couple of times, and his friends had helped him get caught up with surface world slang and lingo, this was new to the Atlantean.

"I-"

"It's a joke fish boy!" Wade exclaimed happily as he continued to walk to the boys in front of him. When he noticed Aqualad's confused stare, the boy said, "You got gills, so I was just guessing that you are a fish guy. By the way, does the type of water you live in affect you or…?"

"So," Robin spoke up, cutting the taller boy off, "you are what everybody is freaking out about."

"And you three are what everybody was originally freaking out over before I got out," Wade countered before smiling once more, "But yeah, I'm 'Project Mervenary'. Though, right now PM sounds a lot better, so call me that."

PM?

"It's the best I could come up with OK?" Wade said in an annoyed yone as he looked in the air besides his head.

We sound like some kind of time zone person. Look out everybody, it's PM!

"Hey be glad it's not BM or whatever deity forbid BJ!"

The three apprentices looked at each other before Kid Flash whispered, "Oooookay, so this kid is crazy."

"You got that right KF," Robin said, nodding as he did.

"Perhaps the aftereffects of being trained so rigorously?"

Shaking his head in frustration, Wade turned his focus back onto the boys and said, "Soooo, what are you three strapping young lads doing in a shit hole like this?"

"Um," the red head began nervously before turning to his friends and whispering, "Do you think we should tell him?"

"Well, he does not look to be completely hostile."

"He's got a gun though and I am pretty sure that is blood on his mask and chest."

"And he is total chick magnet."

"AH!" Kid Flashed exclaimed as he noticed the fourth boy whispering over his shoulder. "Don't do that!"

"Well, you were taking too long, so, I had to make myself known once again."

I think we already do that without talking.

Yeah, we kind of got that presence that no one can replicate or dublicate.

Duplicate.

Huh?

It's duplicate.

That's what I said.

"Pretty sure you said dublicate."

What the hell is dublicate?

We're getting off track here! They are our ticket out of here and you need to convince them to help you.

"I can do that." Wade then got on his knees and grabbed Kaldur's leg and began to cry, "PLEASE, YOU GOT TO HELP ME GET OUT OF HERE! I'VE BEEN STUCK HERE FOR 17 YEARS AND IT HAS BEEN ONE SHITTY DAY AFTER ANOTHER! I'LL DO ANYTHING!"

This statement caught Robin's attention. "Anything?" he asked, a smile forming on his face.

The clone nodded his head rapidly. "Yes, anything; just name it!"

The three boys looked at each once more before looking back to the still Kaldur leg clinging boy. Robin smiled as he said, "Well…"

"So, you wanted to head further into Cadmus, well you got your wish!" Wade exclaimed as the four ran down the hallway away from the creatures and scientists that chased them.

"Hey, you're the one that said he knew this place!" Kid Flash exclaimed in frustration.

"Yeah, only with what little room they gave me to walk around!"

"Both of you, please calm down," Kaldur requested.

Thankfully, the four had managed to find a room at the end of the hallway and Robin had locked it from the inside using his device.

"There, we're safe," the blacked haired boy said in a satisfactory tone.

"We're trapped," Aqualad countered.

"That's looking at it a little pessimistically ain't it?" Wade asked.

"I'm just speaking realistically."

"Uh guys," Kid Flash called out, garnering the attention of the other three, "You might want to look at this." The red head then pushed a button on a counsel in front of him. causing the lights to turn on.

Oooh, I see they got H.R. Giger to decorate for them.

As the other boys joined the speedster, they noticed the pod in front in them. And within the pod was a boy that looked no older than the four. His hair was short and black, and he wore a white jumpsuit of sorts with a red 'S' on his chest. Above his head were three small versions of the creatures that were chasing the four earlier.

"Big K little r," Kid Flash said as he walked up to the pod, "The atomic symbol for Krypton!" He turned back to the group before asking, "Another clone?"

"Robin, hack," Aqualad said in a calm tone.

"Uh, right," the short boy said as he plugged a wire into the counsel.

Wade walked up to the pod and stood next to Kid Flash before saying, "So this is what Stockman was up to for the last few weeks."

And here we thought we had something special.

You think you know a guy.

The red head looked at the pillow wearing boy in confusion, with a trace of understanding, as he asked, "Stockman?"

"Yeah, you know, the scientist that-"

"Works for the Shredder. How do you-"

"These things keep appearing in my head."

"Got it!" Robin exclaimed as he looked at the image on his glove. The other walked over and peered over him to look at the image. "Weapon designation Superboy; a clone forced grown in…16 weeks?!" Everyone's eyes widened at what they heard. Well…

"Huh, don't know if I am lucky or not to have grown on my own."

Read the mood Wade.

Sending him a quick glare, Robin continued to read, "From DNA acquired from Superman."

The blond's eyes narrowed as he heard this. "Stolen from Superman."

Kid Flash nodded as he heard this. "No way the big man knows about this."

Just like us!

Hush you.

"Solar suit allows him to absorb yellow sun radiation twenty four seven."

"And these…creatures?" the Atlantean asked wearingly pointing to the tiny creatures above Superboy's head.

"Genomorph gnomes," Robin answered, "Telepathic. Force feeding him an education."

Hey didn't they try to-

Hush you!

"And who knows what else. They are…making a slave out of Superman's son!" the speedster said in worriment.

As he heard this, Wade focused his attention onto the 16 week old clone in the pod. For seventeen years, the scarred boy had been the personal test dummy for Cadmus. For seventeen years, he had been shot at, stomped, electrocuted, and even melted a couple of times. And now they were going to make an infant of sorts their slave. Normally, he really should not care. He's got his own goals, his own plans and things to do. But…

You know what we must do.

Sighing, the scarred clone took out one of his weapons and stabbed it right into the side of the pod, shocking the other three.

"What are you doing?!" Kid Flash asked angrily.

Turning to the red head, Wade simply said, "Getting him out of there" While not a brilliant plan, the clone of Deathstroke knew that if he destroyed the lock to the pod, then he could easily open the pod itself and get the other clone out.

"I'm already on it," Robin said as he typed away at his gauntlet, hacking the counsel and opening the pod. When this happened, the white wearing boy opened his eyes and looked at the four in front of him.

He's shy! Give him a big hug!

"Hey there pal!" Wade jubilantly exclaimed while holding his arms out, "Why don't you give a fellow clone a nice big AGH!"

The scarred boy never got to finish his sentence as he was tackled to the floor by the Superman clone and proceeded to have his face beat on.

He doesn't want hugs! He does not want hugs!

"I can see that ass hole!" Reaching into his pants, Wade produced one of his guns and unloaded a clip point blank into the clones face. Unfortunately, all this did was annoy the clone as he smacked the weapon away and continued his vicious beat down.

Thankfully, the other three began to step in to try and pry Superboy off Wade. However, this was met with little success as all the black haired boy did was attack them instead.

Looking at the beat down the others were getting, Wade frowned as he said, "Fuck this. I am not getting caught for this shit." He then turned around and began to run towards the darkest corner he could find.

What are you doing?

"What's it look like?"

It looks like you are being a pussy.

"No, I'm being smart. We waited so long to get out and I am not letting something like this fuck me over sideways."

Meanwhile, Superboy had just finished knocking out three of the boys ripped open the locked door. Desmond, accompanied by the hero known as Guardian and another scientist walked in. The head of Cadmus overlooked the Superman clone's work and smiled.

"Excellent," he said in an approving tone. His smile however disappeared as he began to look around the room. "Where is Project Mercenary?"

Confused by this question, the clone looked around before returning his visage back to his creator.

Sighing, Desmond shook his head. "No matter, he's still here. I know it. We'll just flush him out. Grab them." The brown haired scientist walked out of the room, the others following him, with Superboy dragging the knocked out boys.

As this was happening, Wade merely watched in his shadowy corner, hidden from the naked eye. Standing up, the scarred boy shifted the bag on his shoulder before reaching down and pushing a button on his belt. Then, in a flash of light, he was gone.