Priya froze at the top of the stairs, clad in her lab coat and combat suit, her entire body trembling with rage. Her lips peeled back in a vicious snarl, teeth bared, while Gina stood behind her—stunned, pale, and silent.
"What did you do?" Gina whispered.
"I think you know."
And then Priya moved.
To call her fast would've been an understatement.
She was a whirlwind—one second on the stairs, the next slamming into my Inverse with enough force to send me crashing into the wall. My technique buckled under the pressure.
She was strong. Far stronger than the other Special Grades. The smoothness of her Reinforcement told the story. It was controlled, practiced, layered. She was better than I was. By far. But I still had the advantage.
I was stronger.
A scalpel flashed from her coat, arcing toward my neck. I caught it mid-swing, my hand locking around the blade as I pumped 250% cursed energy into my reinforcement and countered with a left hook that should've put her through the staircase and into the concrete beyond.
It didn't.
She staggered but held her ground, focusing her CE on key areas of her body to minimize impact. Her physical build did the rest. Whatever enhancements she'd taken, they were leagues above what she gave her underlings.
Priya produced another scalpel. Just before she moved, I did. I cranked up my Reinforcement all the way.
The world slowed to a crawl.
One blistering step forward—and I was inside her guard, swinging with a shortsword aimed to decapitate her.
Her eyes widened as my blade bit into muscle. I was an inch from bone when the air detonated.
Stone, dust, and steel groaned as gravity spiked tenfold, dropping me to my knees.
I could hear Priya choke on her blood, yet she still managed to speak through clenched teeth.
"Animal!"
Her scalpels tore bloody lines across my back. I barely registered the pain. I spiked Overdrive, dumping CE into my knees, and launched upward, slamming my head into her jaw. The impact sent her reeling.
Before I could recover, Gina blurred into motion. Her palm flared with cursed energy as she closed the distance.
For the first time, I saw Gina CE flow up close with my new eyes—and it was flawless. Not a drop wasted. It was better than even Priya's. By my estimation, her reinforcement had to be boosting her physique tenfold.
This was going to hurt.
I flared Inverse at the last possible second, layering it over my reinforcement. The blow still launched me through several walls.
I landed hard, switched to Domain Amplification the instant my feet hit the ground, and bolted sideways.
Five quick steps later, I finally looked around the room I found myself in.
It was refrigerated storage with rows of cryogenic tubes that glowed pale blue, packed with clones of people I recognized—and hundreds I didn't.
Batman. Robin. Kid Flash. Aqualad. Green Arrow. The Joker. Canary. There were also sorcerers—Adrian, Misha… and me.
Lots and lots of me. They were in varying stages of development. And one of them even looked like a cross between me and Superman.
"What in the eighties-movie fuck…"
What kind of insane world-domination plan were Luthor and his friends cooking up? Replacing everyone? Swapping the League for obedient puppets? And what did that say about Superboy?
It was like the kind of nightmare you had after falling asleep to a sci-fi horror movie.
What was the move here? Free them? Kill them all? Would it matter when Luthor could just crank out a hundred more?
Still, burning this place to ash would slow him down. Maybe buy the world some time—at least until I reach the Justice League.
That meant giving up my revenge...
But hadn't I had my fill?
Adrian, Misha, and five other sorcerers were already dead. It would take years for Artisan to recover. And while the thought of popping that bitch Priya like a zit was… tempting, it wasn't worth it.
I already had a copy of her technique. The fight would be long, loud, and attract all kinds of attention.
Luthor's allies were bound to converge here soon. And while I liked my odds against most sorcerers, I wasn't delusional enough to take on every heavy hitter in Lex's contact list.
I still had my burner phone. Calling the League would be simple. Whether they'd approve of what I'd done? They didn't have the right to judge me. And if I were quick enough, they might actually find enough evidence to detain Luthor this time. Maybe even capture Gina and Priya.
So—with great reluctance—I bolted toward the distant metal door at the end of the room. Reinforcement at full burn.
I unleashed a concentrated Expanse at the door. The explosion ripped through locks and heavy plating, tearing the entrance open.
Alarms wailed instantly.
My perception field pinged—Gina and Priya had entered the room. I could hear them through the chaos.
"Whatever you do, do not let him destroy the clones in those tubes," Luthor's voice barked through comms. "A great deal of them are unstable, and some are irreplaceable."
"We'll try our best," Priya replied smoothly, "but you and I both know how fast these situations spiral."
She had no idea.
I flooded my hand with positive energy, cranked Expanse to maximum output, and pointed at them.
Gina reacted instantly, pumping the gravity in the room to absurd levels. Glass cracked, tubes shattered, clones sloshed free. I dropped so fast I swore a few organs burst, but it didn't stop me.
I flicked my finger. Positive energy detonated outward. The chamber disintegrated—air igniting, metal screaming, stone collapsing.
The gravity around me weakened, and I backed into the hallway, panting and rapidly healing.
I summoned a fresh set of sweats and pulled them on, all while assessing the situation. Both women were still alive.
A shame, really.
By all rights, I should want Gina dead. She'd spied on me, helped torture me, and probably watched as George dragged Candice and Sasha away from their homes.
But I couldn't do it.
Not when I didn't have to. Something was holding me back—something I couldn't explain, nor did I particularly like.
I turned and sprinted down the hall. Two massive Genomorphs rounded the corner with a squad of Blockbuster-enhanced humans and riflemen at their backs.
I channeled Overdrive and vanished between them in a blur of motion, the air cracking from the speed. My landing shattered the floor, and I bolted upward, blasting Expanse behind me to collapse the passage and prevent pursuit.
I found a stairwell and hiked it. A few squads of soldiers found me more than once, but the result was always the same. Instant death. Eventually, I reached the final highest door on the stair well and emerged in a wide chamber with a low ceiling and load-bearing pillars. The muffled sound of rain echoed overhead.
I was almost out, which was why I wasn't surprised when the elevator on the far side dinged open.
Priya and Gina stepped out.
"The rest of your cultists must be busy if you've not called for backup yet," I called out.
Priya shot me a look sharp enough to cut steel. "We are more than enough. The others would only get in the way. I've been waiting a long time for this."
She pulled her scalpels free of her bloody coat. They gleam under the lights.
"Oh, believe me, lady," I said, grinning despite myself. "The feeling's mutual."
As fun as the trash talk was, it wasn't the point. I needed time. I wasn't leaving this place without dropping one of them—and Gina had a Domain.
Simple barriers wouldn't cut it.
I'd have to lean into my mutations.
I thickened my bones, sealed my ribcage around my heart with overlapping growths, and expanded the space between my forearm bones to grow a pair of bone daggers.
My gaze slid to Gina.
"Got nothing to say? I expected another token apology."
She raised her hands, cursed energy swirling. "Not after everything, Julius."
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