Inside the Project Kr lab, the young heroes made a fateful decision regarding the Superboy clone.
"This is all wrong," Kid Flash said, feeling sickened by what he had seen at Cadmus. "We can't just leave him here."
"Toneri, what do you think?" Aqualad asked.
Ctoneri glanced back at them, then at Project Kr. He sighed. "We don't know what he's capable of or his state of mind, given what's been inputted into him." He looked back at Aqualad. "Do what you think is right."
Robin nodded and turned to Aqualad, who gave his agreement. "Set him free," Aqualad said.
Robin used his holographic computer to open the pod doors. The restraints on the table released, but Superboy didn't move immediately. As the G-gnomes' horns glowed, he began to stir. His eyes shot open, and without hesitation, he launched himself at Aqualad. The two rolled on the floor until Superboy pinned Aqualad down, punching him in the face. Kid Flash tried to restrain Superboy's arms.
"Whoa, hang on, Supey," Kid Flash said. "We're on your side!"
Superboy ignored him, escaping their grasp and backhanding Kid Flash across the room, breaking a glass container and knocking him out. Robin shoved a smoke bomb into Superboy's mouth, causing him to back away momentarily. As Robin helped Aqualad up, Aqualad delivered a powerful kick to Superboy's chest, knocking him back.
Ctoneri observed the fight with interest. 'Hmm, interesting. He's not quite on the level of Superman, but he does look strong,' he thought to himself.
Robin shot his taser at Superboy, but it had no effect. Superboy reeled Robin in, slammed him to the ground, and knocked him out. Aqualad struck Superboy with a water hammer, sending him into the experimental table.
"We are trying to help you!" Aqualad said, raising an arm defensively. "We did not come here to fight."
Superboy didn't respond and lunged at Aqualad again. They exchanged blows, but each strike was either dodged or blocked. Aqualad tackled Superboy into the wall but was quickly kicked off. He grabbed Superboy from behind and delivered a shock, causing him pain. Superboy recovered swiftly, jumped high, and slammed Aqualad into the ceiling twice, knocking him out.
'Hmmm, so that's all they amount to. Well, considering who they're up against, that's understandable,' Ctoneri thought as he stepped forward.
Now it was his turn to face Superboy. Using purely physical strength, he effortlessly weaved through Superboy's attacks. He delivered a powerful punch to Superboy's left kidney, followed by a strike to the chest, and spun to kick him into the ceiling. The impact caused the room to tremble, dislodging rocks from above.
As he waited for Superboy to recover, Ctoneri realized the clone's durability was impressive. 'Well, at least he's quite durable, but hitting him too hard like that might cause me to dispel. Plus, I can't get hit by him or else I'll come undone,' he thought, looking at his hand.
Superboy lunged at him again, but Ctoneri dodged and delivered a spinning kick to the back of his head, causing Superboy to bounce off the ground. Using a falling rock as leverage, Ctoneri slammed it into Superboy's face, propelling him into the far wall.
Ctoneri moved to check on the team, ensuring they were okay. Suddenly, he sensed Superboy rushing at him with a powerful punch. Realizing that dodging would result in Robin getting hit, Ctoneri couldn't move in time. The punch connected with his side, making him fold from the impact. 'Damn it,' he thought The punch connected with CToneri's side, making him fold from the impact. 'Damn it,' he thought as he was launched into a console, destroying it on impact.
The console sparked and sputtered around him as he tried to catch his breath. 'A few more hits like that and I'll get dispelled.'
Superboy turned his attention to the console, scanning left and right for his opponent. Just as Superboy's eyes narrowed, CToneri used Shunshin no Jutsu to appear right beside him, delivering a swift kick to his side and pushing him away. CToneri observed Superboy's resilience. 'He isn't taking too much damage. This will be harder than I thought.'
Superboy leapt at him with a punch, which CToneri blocked. The force of the punch sent a shockwave through his body, but he stood firm. Then, CToneri unleashed a flurry of quick hits to superboy's neck, chest, and stomach, pushing him back with each blow. Superboy barely had time to react as the tremors from their battle shook the room.
Outside, Desmond watched the sealed door with frustration. "Hurry it up! The weapon must not be damaged!" he barked at the G-trolls. Guardian and Dubbilex exchanged looks, their own thoughts racing.
'What kind of power is being unleashed in there?' Guardian thought, feeling the vibrations through the floor.
'The white-haired one… he's powerful, but he's different from the others,' Dubbilex mused.
Back inside, CToneri felt his form about to dispel. 'Damn it, I can't use jutsus effectively in here that would work on him. And the original didn't make me with much chakra to use more advanced techniques.' He watched Superboy get back up, determination blazing in his eyes.
Superboy charged again, and they clashed in another fierce exchange of blows. CToneri ducked under a punch, landed a strike to Superboy's ribs, and spun to kick him in the side. But Superboy absorbed the blows, retaliating with a powerful uppercut that CToneri barely dodged. He felt his form wavering with each hit.
Then, with a sudden, surprising speed, Superboy landed a punch directly to Toneri's chest, sending him flying into the wall. Toneri felt his form breaking apart. 'I've reached my limit.'
With a final, frustrated thought, 'I couldn't even…' Toneri's clone dispelled in a burst of chakra, leaving the room eerily silent except for the lab's alarms blaring in the background.
Superboy stood amidst the wreckage, breathing heavily.
Desmond grew increasingly impatient until the G-Trolls arrived. With a pair of massive hands, they punched through the edge of the vault door and forced it open. Desmond and his associates entered, surveying the unconscious heroes sprawled across the floor. A sick smile crept across Desmond's face. He glanced at Superboy, who stood motionless, staring blankly.
"Attaboy," Desmond said, satisfied with the clone's obedience.
---
Meanwhile, in the lower sublevels of Cadmus, Toneri suddenly halted as the memories of his clone flooded his mind. He sighed deeply, turning back towards where the team might be. He looked around the room he was in, designated as "Sublevel 5: Experimental Holding." The room was vast and dimly lit, lined with rows of empty test tubes and containment units, some human-sized and others much larger, hinting at the variety of experiments conducted there.
The air was thick with the sterile scent of chemicals, and a faint hum of machinery echoed through the room. 'All these empty tubes... they must have held countless experiments,' Toneri thought. 'What horrors were created and then discarded in this place?'
He glanced back one more time, reflecting on the grotesque and morally bankrupt experiments he had seen in Cadmus. 'These experiments... they're reminiscent of the worst I've seen back in the Elemental Nations. Orochimaru would be envious of the scale and cruelty.'
His thoughts raced as he considered the implications. 'Is there a connection between the chaotic energy here and what I fought months back? Or is this just another manifestation of humanity's darker side?'
He focused back on his mission. 'I need to get back to the team. They're in trouble.' With a final glance at the empty test tubes, he vanished, moving at incredible speed towards his supposed teammates.
As Toneri rushed back through Cadmus' labyrinthine sublevels, he chose a different route from the one he had taken down. Concentrating slightly, he tried to sense where the team might be, but the corrupted life force energy of failed projects all around him jumbled his senses. With effort, he pinpointed their location amidst the chaos.
'This place is a sensory nightmare,' Toneri thought. 'It's like trying to find clarity in oil-polluted water. The energy here is so murky and corrupted, it's almost nauseating.'
As he moved upwards, his thoughts turned to the broader implications of what he had witnessed. 'Even with the Justice League's efforts to help humanity, people still create such abominations. It's in their nature to go against what they do not understand. While that response is unreasonable, it's also understandable. What defense would they have if the Justice League decided to turn on them?'
He recalled a passage from one of the books Wonder Woman had given him to stave off boredom in the Watchtower. Voltaire's words echoed in his mind: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." 'Humans, in their fear and ignorance, create monstrosities because they believe it's their only defense against the unknown,' Toneri mused. 'In their eyes, the Justice League is a potential threat as much as a protector.'
His thoughts wandered to the current issues faced by the League, specifically Wotan blotting out the moon. 'I wonder how that is progressing. I would have liked to witness that firsthand,' he sighed, a hint of longing in his expression. 'The battles of gods and monsters, the clashes of ideals... it's all part of the same struggle.'
As he continued upwards, he steeled himself for the confrontation ahead. 'There's still so much I need to understand about this world and its inhabitants. But first, I will lend a hand to the team.'
Another quote from a book he had read came to mind, this time from Friedrich Nietzsche: "He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster."
'It's a delicate balance,' he thought. 'To fight the darkness without becoming consumed by it.'
With renewed focus, Toneri pushed forward, ready to face whatever awaited him.