Chapter 7 Cadmus

We took a Zeta tube to the area in the city where Cadmus was located. Coming out of the phone booth, we spotted the smoke rising over a few buildings a block away, and Kid Flash took off in that direction. Boy Wonder shot a cable to the building in front of us and pulled on it. He landed on the roof and took off with Aqualad and me following behind. Aqualad's Atlantean physique, which was levels higher than mine by the way, helped him gather momentum from his sprint and jump onto a window close to the roof of the two-story building. Then he pulled himself over. Not one to get shown up, I used the wind to increase my speed and copied Aang's move on the walls of Ba Sing Se. The draft picked up behind me and propelled me forward at high speed. Climbing up the wall of the building, I stepped on it and pushed up. The next step I took was onto the window sill, and then I jumped, easily clearing the distance. My leap carried me to somewhere nearer the edge of the building, right behind Aqualad. In front of us was the Cadmus building. Its upper section was in flames. Boy Wonder was just arriving on the ground. I looked at Aqualad and said, "Let's jump." We did, and I manipulated the air to slow us down, finally landing on the ground and catching up to Boy Wonder. "No time. Kid has cleared the area of civilians, but something tells me…" Robin didn't complete his sentence as a section on the second floor blew up, sending scientists falling to the ground. Kid Flash leaped toward them and saved them. Barely placing them on the roof of the building. Unfortunately, the speedster lost traction and had to hang from the window. "We need a plan…"Aqualad began by looking around and finding out that the Boy Wonder had disappeared. "He's up ahead. Come on, I have an idea." I told Aqualad and started sprinting forwards, the wind carried my body as I moved as fast as a speeding car. I had Aqualad's bounding steps behind me and, looking ahead, noticed that Robin had already arrived at Kid Flash's position. He helped him up, a nd they entered the building. Meanwhile, I took a running jump, cleared a distance of 20 meters, and stepped on the ladder of the fire truck on the scene. I distantly heard the firemen shouting in surprise. I pushed off the vehicle, leaving behind a sudden whoosh of air behind me. My trajectory carried me to the roof of the building. The two scientists stepped back in fear, I spared them a look at their wariness before I realized something. I was still unknown, so they didn't know if I was a hero or a villain. Fear was understandable. "Who…" One of them started before I pointed at Aqualad, who was coming up, riding on water. "Aqualad's going to get you down." I then ignored them and focused on my task. Ok, here goes nothing. I focused and pulled out all the air from the room burning below me. A cloud of smoke flew out of the room, leaving behind a vacuum and nothing but blackened furniture. Meanwhile, the two scientists reached the ground safely, due to Aqualad, who then controlled the water to rise and form a platform for us to step on. "Let's go to the others." I nodded and we went down, stopping and entering the room next to the one burning previously. Aqualad did not look happy as he said sarcastically, " Appreciate the help." Robin spared an amused glance at us. "Nice going. You too, Maelstrom." I nodded and started to look around. Aqualad did the same, and we all heard the ding of an elevator from the hallway through the open door. We went on guard and ran out to the hall. "What was that?" I asked, catching a glimpse of something before the elevator doors closed. "No idea, but a 2-story building like this shouldn't have a high-speed express elevator." The boy wondertold us while swiping at the watch displayed holograms on his wrist. I whistled in appreciation. "Ok, I know it's not the time, but could Batman get me something like that if I asked nicely?" The boy wonder looked at me and smiled. "Cool, isn't it?" I nodded while Wally snorted. "Keep dreaming, I tried to 'ask nicely' but all I got was the patented glare." "Guys, focus." Aqualad said while going to the elevator and pulling the doors apart. Robin whistled. "So that's why they need the express elevator." Just as I had expected, the elevator went down many floors, judging by the shaft. "Now what?" I asked. "Despite our powers or in Robin's case, skills and gadgets, I don't think we should go down there without informing the League first. This doesn't seem like your average supervillain scheme to me." Kid Flash patted me on the shoulder. "I get it,m man You're scared. But this is what comes with being a hero." "Wow, Kid, that was almost inspiring." Robin threw a jab at him. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Robin ignored him and turned to me. "If we contacted the League, they would just tell us to fall back, a nd by then, it might be too late." Aqualad nodded. "I believe it would be prudent to go forward. As humans would say, "It is easier to beg forgiveness than to seek permission." "Wow." I was stumped by their recklessness, but in the end, I nodded. Robin wordlessly shot his grapple gun. The hook dug into the ceiling above us, and he jumped, hanging from the cable as he went down. Next up was Aqualad. Kid Flash followed after them while smirking at me. "Guess you're last." He said, saluting. I rolled my eyes, though he couldn't see it from my visor. I pulled on the cable to make sure it was stable before biting the bullet and sliding down along it. Luckily, I had my gloves on, so friction wasn't a problem. I pushed myself to the ledge of the floor where the rope ended just as Robin hacked the elevator doors. Aqualad opened them, and we stepped through. We walked in to find ourselves in a huge room lined with strange compartments on the side. "Welcome to Project Cadmus." "Guys, this place gives me the creeps. We should…" Kid Flash used his Superspeed and pulled ahead of us. "…be careful." I finished lamely. "Dammit." Aqualad said as we ran forward. Kid Flash slipped after running into huge gray creatures and losing balance. I sent a blast of wind that pushed him away from being turned into mincemeat by a Genomorph. "Thanks." He said once they made it past. The huge creatures had tiny other creatures on their shoulders. They spotted us but ignored our existence. My heart was hammering inside my chest. It's one thing to see such things on TV and another to stand close to them! "Ok, that happened. Still don't want to call in the League?" "Not yet. I need to find out what's going on here." Robin insisted, and I knew the others would back him up. I swallowed my objections for the second time as we proceeded through the hallways to come up on two huge double doors. "That looks interesting." Kid Flash said. "I agree. Aqualad added that Robin broke through the security measures, and the chamber doors opened. Inside, more Genomorphs were put into glass casings. Electric energy ran through their forms as Kid Flash told us of his suspicions that the reason Cadmus was off the grid was because they were using Genemorphs to produce energy. At that point, I tuned them out, knowing that trouble was about to arrive. 2 minutes later, Guardian, several of the combat Genomorphs entered the room. "Don't move! Wait, Robin? Kid Flash? Aqualad?" Guardian looked caught off guard by our presence. While they were talking, I prepared myself, ready to spring into motion when Guardian and the Genomorphs inevitably attacked. This would be my first real battle, and my nerves were killing me. I breathed out calmly while stepping away from the others to avoid friendly fire. Guardian clutched his head in disorientation once he figured out something was wrong. The horns of the Genomorph on his shoulder glowed red, I took that as my cue. "Take them down hard!" "In your ddreamsbuddy." A blast of air escaped my hands, knocking the Genomorphs back. Guardian rolled to the side and escaped the attack. Robin threw a smoke pellet onto the ground, and I used my air to spread it out faster, obscuring our position. The four Genomorphs jumped through the air. I took the chance while they were suspended and let loose a point-blank air bomb. This was a skill I had come up with while practicing, where I condensed as much wind as I could before releasing it in one burst. It sent out a shockwave of air that slammed two of the Genomorphs to the walls of the room while sweeping the smoke away. "Holy crap. The new guy has moves." "Focus, Kid!" Aqualad shouted while dodging Guardian's attacks. I watched as Kid Flash took one of the Genomorphs out, leaving one that was headed for Aqualad. Birdarangs came flying from above and took it out. Courtesy of Robin With all the Genomorphs taken out, that left only Guardian, and boy was he powerful. Guardian threw out blows that Aqualad struggled to defend against. More Genomorphs entered the rrroomnd I turned my attention away from Aqualad. "Hey Kid. I need a distraction!" "Sure." Kid Flash replied and blitzed forward in zig zags. In the same motion it took him to run, I twisted and bent, harsh winds covered my form before I completed the set of motions and stepped forward. "Out of the way, kid!" Kid Flash hopped on a wall and ran up to cling to one of the beams above us. My hands shot forward, and a massive cone of wind slammed onto the new Genomorphs. The blast pushed them all away and back out into the hallway. Aqualad was also done with Guardian after electrocuting him, so we left the room and ran to the elevator, which Robin had just finished hacking into. "Way to be a team player, Rob." Kid Flash said to the boy wonder, looking miffed. Although that statement was true in most cases, I disagreed with the current situation. If Robin hadn't gone ahead, we would still be stuck fighting the Genomorphs. "I thought you guys were right behind me." He answered. The elevator doors opened wide, and we entered. Aqualad barely made it as he came rolling in a group of Genomorphs following behind him. Luckily, the elevator closed and started going down. "Why are we heading down?" I asked Robin. "Dude, out is up." "You don't get it. Project Kr is down on Sub-Level 52." Robin responded. "Perhaps we should contact the League, this is getting out of control." "No, we started this. Let's finish it." Robin said convincingly. This time I didn't hide my sigh.