On Earth, in a dark laboratory, Amanda Waller walked up to two pods containing a young boy and girl floating in suspension. They both had black hair.
"Director!" Dr. Morrow called out as he entered the room. "We have stability!" He explained as he pulled out a pad and started swiping and tapping at an incredible rate. "The power levels of these two are beyond anything we could have imagined!"
"Sentinel #1 and #2 are almost ready to be woken up. Compared to the Superboy I lost when the League infiltrated C.A.D.M.U.S., these two are state of the art with the best DNA samples available. They have already surpassed the necessary strength to completely overwhelm the likes of Darkseid," he finished as Amanda turned and glared at him.
"And? The Destroyer could already do that, it's a given," she reminded the scientist.
"But the energy readings are completely different. This indicates that they should be more than enough to handle the Destroyer in the future, even if he could increase his power dozens, even hundreds of times!" He tried to explain more, but Amanda just glared at him.
"I agree this is good, but 'only' good. You remember that he has multiple states?" she asked. The doctor nodded eagerly.
"Yes! But we have also had a breakthrough! Those exceptionally resilient cells took some time, but we were finally able to access the dormant power. We just had to torture the cells in a compressed space. Whatever effects that may have on the subjects is currently unknown—" He could tell Amanda did not like the sound of that. Her increasingly potent glare and aggressive body language spoke volumes.
"But we should be able to nurture those cells. That should lower the chance of phantom pains. We did forcibly rip open and extract the power and inject it into our own super cells. Those cells are held together by Superman's DNA, they can even mutate safely! Just as we witnessed the Destroyer, those transformations are evolutions, a mutation of the sort," Dr. Morrow finished. The glare in her eyes seemed to dull as she turned and looked at the children.
"They seem to be growing at a good rate. When will I be adopting them?" she asked. "You didn't try to manipulate their memories, did you?" she asked as Dr. Morrow shook his head.
"The risks involved are far too great to try and force them into submission."
Amanda nodded, pleased to hear the doctor didn't try anything. "These two assets are too important to risk," she explained as she walked up to the glass and touched it. A bubble formed in the liquid they were submerged in.
Amanda and the doctor immediately looked at the bio-sensors on the bodies. "Are they awake!?" She turned and glared at the doctor, who quickly shook his head.
"Of course not! It seems it was just a muscle reflex. It seems the Saiyan side requires oxygen to survive. The body is still stabilizing. There isn't any sign of consciousness yet." Amanda let out a breath she had held in.
Double-checking the stats again, she turned and walked away. "If you mess up, you're as good as dead, doctor. Make sure there aren't any oversights. If these bodies so much as twitch, we want to know why and how it happened!" She criticized the doctor, who just nodded truthfully.
'That gave me quite the fright!' he thought to himself. "Regardless, they are still infants. They cannot make any decisions as of yet," the doctor explained. "I will create a genetic failsafe virus in their blood to ensure control if necessary, to be safe I will use the Kryptonians natural weakness to Kryptonite, that way they wouldn't be suspicious if they ever feel something is wrong."
On the Watchtower, Superman finally entered the base. All the members of the League had seen the confrontation and weren't sure how to act around the Man of Steel.
Clark tried to ignore it as he made his way toward the briefing room, where he could see Bruce.
"Clark," Batman started as Superman entered. Cyborg, Manhunter, and Green Arrow turned to look at him.
A silence descended on the briefing room before Superman started. "About before, I...I made a mistake. I was blinded by my own—"
"Superman," Batman cut in, stopping Clark, who looked a little surprised. "Are you okay now?" Bruce asked.
"Yeah, I'm alright now." Batman nodded.
"Good. Take a seat. We have more important things to discuss. If you really want to talk about what happened, we can after, but I suggest you talk to Gohan."
Superman nodded as he approached and sat. "Glad to have you back, big guy," Cyborg grinned at him. Green Arrow nodded. Perhaps newer members might look at Clark a little differently, but at least his friends understood him.
Besides Darkseid, Superman had never really cut loose, and even then he was afraid of what Darkseid would do in retaliation. 'Not to mention if I didn't hold back against Darkseid, neither would he...' The shockwaves from their blows would be catastrophic. In that scenario, no one wins except Darkseid.
"Now, you said Roy has been chasing a lead?" Bruce continued the conversation.
"Yeah, I don't know too much yet," Green Arrow explained as he slid a USB over to Bruce. "But this is all I have so far. It's titled Project Apex Sentinel."
The cozy ambiance of Titan Tower was filled with laughter and playful banter. Raven sat on one of the large plush couches in the lounge, her usual calm demeanor a sharp contrast to the vibrant energy around her.
Beast Boy and Starfire were immersed in an intense video game battle, their faces lit up with the glow from the TV screen. Nightwing leaned against the wall at the back of the room, arms crossed, a nostalgic smile playing on his lips. Visiting the Tower always brought back fond memories.
"You're going down, Star!" Beast Boy shouted, his fingers flying over the controller.
"Not if I can help it, Gar!" Starfire replied, her eyes glowing with excitement as she expertly maneuvered her character.
Raven watched them, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. Despite her aloof nature, these moments of camaraderie were something she cherished deeply. Today was her birthday, and although she preferred not to make a big deal out of it, the Titans had insisted on spending the day together.
As the game grew more intense, Raven felt a sudden wave of exhaustion wash over her. She tried to shake it off, but it clung to her, making her head spin.