Chapter 9 Blockbuster

A problem presented itself soon. I couldn't open the doors to the Containment unit. Hacking was Robin's thing, not mine. Anytime, now Desmond would walk in to take the sample he would use, although that was risky, it was also my only chance. I looked for places to hide and settled on the ventilation shaft at the end of the hallway. From that position, I could see the doors to the unit perfectly, and I was undetectable, mostly due to Robin hacking the motion sensors. I stayed put for 5 minutes before the elevator doors dinged and opened. Ed, Desmond entered, looking to be in a hurry. He jogged slightly towards the huge doors and swiped. I jumped out of the shaft and landed gently behind him as he pocketed his card and entered a code. Then the biometric pad on the wall next to the doo, scanned his eyeball. I silently thanked my lucky stars that I had waited. There wouldn't have been any other way to open those doors without getting found out. What I was doing needed to be seen as something necessary. Taking the blockbuster formula would no doubt increase my strength way above what I currently have. That would raise flags with Batman and the rest if I didn't have a good explanation. So Desmond needed to take that formula first and turn it into Blockbuster. When he started overwhelming the team, I could jump in and beat him, telling them that I had taken a sample of the blockbuster to give to Batman for stud, only to have to use it to avoid our deaths. That wouldn't fly with Batman, but one thing I was sure of was that he would look the other way. The thing is, I wanted to be a hero, and he wouldn't risk losing my alignment to the good side over something like that. As long as I wasn't killing anyone, I hoped he would condone my actions like he did with Catwoman. What Batman didn't know was that although I wanted to be a hero, it was not in the traditional sense. I had plans for this world, and I would take every advantage I could to make them happen. If that meant stretching my morality a little into the gray area, so be it. I mean, I was just 17 years o,ld but I could see what was wrong with this world! That meant more than most, I had the responsibility to change it for the better. The doors opened with a loud hiss, and Desmond walked in. I trailed after him and hid behind a machine, watching him. He approached a glass casing containing 6 samples of the blockbuster formula, glowing blue. Desmond pressed a key on the computer, and the casing opened. He grabbed one of the formulas and looked at it with a manic expression on his face. "Yes, this will do." He turned and left, only to stop before the door with an odd look on his face. He shook his head and left, muttering. "It's probably nothing." I felt like slapping myself when I realized I had left the kid in the ventilation shaft on the floor out in the hallway. I breathed out a sigh of relief when the doors closed behind him, locking me inside the lab. I waited for a few minutes, then walked to the glass case and opened it. My hands grabbed 2 of the vials. I stalled for a second, thinking things through. The plan had been to skip on this serum and use the perfected version of it, but the thing is…could I survive without this power-up until the Santa Prisca mission? Hell, I could die here if I weren't careful. No, I couldn't wait for the Kobra-venom serum. It had to be now. Here's to hoping that the adaptable body lives up to its hype. I didn't waste another second and drank one of the vials. Instantly, pain assaulted my body. I felt myself stretch, and a cry escaped my mouth. Oh my God." I shut my eyes and curled up in a ball. Desmond hadn't gone through such agony in canon, so what was different? No, he didn't have a dependable body, though, did he? The way the perk worked was allowing changes to be made to my body as a result of an outside element interacting with my biology. That came with the added benefit of my body not changing drastically from the model of how my species was supposed to look. I clenched my jaw and took the pain with nary a cry, hoping it would end soon. (With The Team) They had been surrounded. Genomorphs on all sides. There hadn't even been a fight. The Genomorph from earlier had taken them out easily through telepathy. Then he'd given Superboy a choice. Superboy had chosen freedom rather than captivity. With that, Robin and the others had breathed out a sigh of relief, thinking that the fight was over. "It feels like a fog lifting." Guardian said after the Genomorphs released him from their control. "Guardian?" Robin asked. The older man looked at him. "Go, I'll handle Desmond." A snicker sounded from behind them. "Handle me? I think not. Blockbuster will let me restore order here in Cadmus." They looked behind them, only to see Desmond drink a strange, blue, glowing serum. Right before their eyes…Desmond began to change into a grey, monstrous form with red eyes. Cut 5 minutes late, and the sidekicks were losing badly. The creature had blasted Superboy through the roof of the building, right to the next one up. He had the strength to match Superboy and enough durability to take their hits and shrug them off. He punched Superboy into a wall and then used Kid Flash to slam into Aqualad, sending them both to the ground. Robin's birdarangs did absolutely nothing, and the boy wonder was just about to come up with a risky plan when reinforcement arrived in the most unlikely way. Maelstrom blasted through the elevator doors, catching everyone's attention. "Hey guys. Thought you needed some help." "Maelstrom!" Robin shouted in relief. Batman would have had their heads had they let the new guy get hurt. The creature turned to look at Maelstrom and roared, running forward. Maelstrom ducked the first blowandnd in a move that surprised the rest, let loose an uppercut that snapped the creature's head back with an audible crack. The blow was so strong that it sent a sudden gale of wind through the room. The creature was lifted and slammed into a pillar that broke under its weight. "Ooookay…I didn't know you could do that." Kid Flash spoke,u p looking shocked. They all looked at Maelstrom in question. To answer them, he showed them the vial held in his hand. It contained the same blue liquid that Desmond had used. " I followed this guy into a lab where he took one of these vials, talking about how he would use one to restore or, e,." Maelstrom told them while helping Aqualad out from under one of the wrecked pillars. "I took two of them to give to the league for study, but then found myself besieged by Genomorphs. I took a risk and drank one, hoping I'd get strong enough to overcome their number. Then…they just stopped." They looked at him, and he tried to clarify. "I me andan they didn't attack me, so I used the elevator to come,e up and the rest is history." Robin wasn't convinced. "Then how did you not turn into a monster like Desmond?" My body felt… amazing. I clutched my fist in wonder while I contemplated how to answer Robin's question. "I have a power called Adaptable body that enables me to adapt to certain conditions without a change in physiology." Just hthenB lockbuster extracted himself from the wreckage and shook his head while staring at us. "Save the rest of your questions for later. Right now, I think we should handle this." "He's right, Rob. We need to take this thing down." "I agree." Kid Flash said, and was backed by Aqualad. "You all talk too much." Superboy told us and sprang forward with a snarl. I looked at Robin and added the second vial. He looked at me strangely. "You excel at long range against this kind of opponent. It's less risky if the vial stays with you." He nodded, a nd I jumped into the fray, following the others. I called upon the air to slow down Kid Flash's body from colliding against me. "Thanks." He said upon landing. His body blurred as he jumped back to fight against the monster. Blockbuster took Aqualad's water mace to the face and stumbled back. Although he was disoriented, he managed to backhand Superboy, sending him flying off. Aqualad came into position underneath him and slammed a hammer on the monster's side. I jumped over him, assisted by the wind, and slammed an axe kick on Blockbuster's head, sending him to the floor on one knee. Kid Flash whizzed in with a hundred punches a second, moving faster than Blockbuster could see, successfully distracting him. "Aqualad! Superboy! Hold him down, I have a plan." "Don't order…" "Not now, Superboy, you can set me on fire later with your heat vision. Right now, use that anger and work with us." "Robin. Some smoke bombs to distract him. Kid Flash, keep doing what you're doing." "Got it." It must have been the urgency of the situation combined with no one else having a plan, but they listened to me. "Ki,d fallback." He did so, right when Robin's smoke bombs hit Blockbuster. I slammed a double-handed punch on top of his head when he made to get up, sending him back to a knee. Superboy and Aqualad came in from behind and grabbed each of his hands, pulling them back. They strained, and I hurried to carry out the final step of the plan. I waved my hand, and a bubble of air surrounded Blockbuster's head. I sucked out all the oxygen from the bubble, slowly suffocating him. "Hurry!" Aqualad shouted, his hands shaking while his face scrunched up. Kid Flash came in from the side and helped him, barely easing the burden. Blockbuster's eyes were wide open as he tried to rise but couldn't due to the legs placed on his back, pushing him to the floor and denying him leverage to stand. Finally, he slumped on the ground, passed out, and the three of them let go, breathing heavily. "I…I never…want to do that again." I ran a hand on my face and breathed out. "It's over." The entrance was before us. I looked at the others and pointed to Blockbuster. "Should we leave him here or…" The unanimous decision was to carry him outside, a task that Superboy took on willingly this time, sending a challenging look my way. We followed him out and into the night sky. Superboy dropped Blockbuster on the ground as he stared at the moon, too distracted to notice the league watching us with unamused looks on their faces. I looked at BBatmann and he narrowed his eyes at us. "You have some explaining to do."