SDC 61

Julius POV

Kid Flash rubbed the side of his head, blinking slowly as he looked up at me.

"What the heck happened?"

"I believe we were incapacitated… then healed," Aqualad offered, rising to his feet.

"You can thank Robin for that," I said, turning away and firing at a pair of Razor Genomorphs with my tranq guns. It took five shots to bring one down. I tried not to think about what it would take to stop the Trolls.

"Superboy is down, and we need to get out of here—yesterday. You should be good to fight."

"How?" Kid Flash asked, still dazed.

"You wanna ask questions, or escape?" I replied.

Kid Flash exchanged a glance with Aqualad. The Atlantean answered for both of them.

"Escape."

"Good. Then follow my lead."

I surged forward, stepping down on two Genomorphs mid-leap, using their bodies as launchpads toward the exit.

Robin saw what I was doing and followed suit. Artemis trailed behind. We plowed through the small army with surprising ease. I caught limbs, flipped bodies, cracked jaws—cursed energy dancing across my fists as I drove toward the exit.

A Troll Genomorph stood in the way. I clocked it in the jaw with a surge of Overdrive, dropping it like a sack of bricks, then vaulted over its falling body—clearing a path through a crowd of panicking scientists and one very stunned Guardian.

That's when I saw him.

The man in charge.

Late twenties. Green eyes. Brown hair. Face scrunched in annoyance. I expected fear. But when you've got an army of monsters on call, I guess fear wasn't your first reaction to most things.

What stuck out most wasn't his expression—it was the name on his keycard.

Mark Desmond.

That was the Blockbuster?

What the hell happened?

I dropped to the back of our formation voluntarily, firing tranq rounds to hold back the recovering Genomorphs while the others rushed toward the elevator. Robin joined me, laying down support.

When we reached the elevator, Kid Flash was already there—standing over four unconscious Genomorphs and the limp body of Superboy.

Oh crap.

We all traded looks. I broke the silence.

"Get the Genomorphs out of the way and bring him with us—for now. Better than leaving him behind for them."

Nobody argued, for once.

Kid Flash zipped the bodies out. Aqualad slammed the elevator button. Artemis loosed an arrow down the hallway. It hit a Razor Claw square in the jaw. I helped Superboy into the back of the elevator.

The doors slid shut. We started our ascent.

A stretch of silence hung thick in the air until Kid Flash said what we were all thinking.

"What do we do if he wakes up?"

"Reason with him?" Artemis offered.

"It could work," Robin said. "He looked genuinely upset when he thought he killed you."

He looked at me.

Truthfully, there weren't many options. Killing him was beyond me, and would've shattered the fragile cohesion of the team. Leaving him behind would just guarantee trouble later.

"We'll try it your way," I said.

The elevator stopped on level 32.

The doors slid open to reveal a hallway packed with Genomorphs.

"Ah, crap," I muttered, slamming the button for the first floor and sprinting forward.

I had seconds before the doors shut—and I made them count.

I launched the first Genomorph with a spinning kick, slammed the second down with a hammerfist, grabbed its ankle, and swung, clearing a path with raw momentum.

Arrows whistled past me, hitting targets dead-on. I kept swinging. Three Razor Claws went flying just before a batarang embedded itself into the wall.

I pivoted and leapt back into the elevator right as it exploded—flooding the corridor with pinkish restrictive foam.

"That was my last foam batarang," Robin winced.

"Your grappling hook still work?" I asked.

"Yes. Why?"

"Because we're climbing to the first floor—and cutting the elevator cables on the way up."

Kid Flash frowned. "We can't lug this big guy and climb ourselves. Robin's line won't hold the weight."

"Artemis probably has something in her quiver," Aqualad said. "And I bet you do too."

He looked at me.

"Not as fancy," I shrugged. "But it'll work."

"It'll take forever to reach the legal floors," Kid Flash muttered.

"But it's worth it," Robin said thoughtfully. "We can exit anywhere—and destroying the main elevator buys us time."

"So, it's a plan," I said, as Aqualad hit the emergency stop.

We climbed out.

I kept Superboy close for obvious reasons. I was the only one who could take him if he woke up again.

Our grapples fired into the dark shaft. Robin and Artemis's lines reached the top. Mine wrapped around one of the main elevator cords a few floors up—stable enough for the climb.

"How do we cut the elevator line?" Aqualad asked once the others stocked the carriage with supplies.

"Leave that to me."

I produced a new katana. It was not as refined as the one from the Underground, but it didn't need to be. It only had to survive one good swing.

I channeled Cursed Energy into the blade. It hummed—blue and black wisps rippling off it, vibrating with barely-contained power.

Aqualad's eyes widened ever so slightly.

I swung.

The blade cleaved the cord clean in half—then shattered. Shards bounced off my skin and Superboy's body. The elevator dropped like a stone.

"What was that?" Aqualad asked.

"Sorcery," Robin said, voice taut.

Artemis looked uncertain. Kid Flash looked suspicious.

"There's no such thing as sorcery."

The elevator slammed into the base level with a metallic gong that shook the shaft.

"That's our cue," Robin said.

He paired off with Aqualad. Kid Flash grabbed Artemis. They zipped upward.

I climbed with Superboy in tow.

We hit the eleventh level when he stirred. I had to make an emergency stop.

I swung toward the doors and forced them open with my hands. The floor beyond was deserted.

I dropped Superboy and backed up fast. He jolted awake, eyes locking onto mine.

"You!"

"Me."

The rage coming off him was almost physical. We were seconds away from another fight. I needed to defuse this.

"You knocked me out," he said, disbelief creeping into his tone.

"And you shoved your fist through my gut," I countered. "We're about even."

"I… you… I didn't mean to," he stammered. "I lost control when you hurt them."

"The Genomorphs," I said. "You said they're your family."

"They're the closest thing I've got," he said reluctantly. "They've always been there—for as long as I can remember."

Huh. I hadn't thought deeply about it when he'd said it during our first fight, but in a twisted way, it made sense.

"Look, we didn't mean for any of this to happen," I said. "We came looking for Mark Desmond. Things spiraled out of control."

"The head of Cadmus?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said, leaning in slightly. "Last time I saw him was six months ago—kicking some meta's teeth in during a pit fight in Gotham. Now he's heading up a Genomorph project?"

"I don't know how that happened," Superboy said. "All I know is… he's our father. And we're loyal to him."