The smell of cut grass and rain in the far distance impacted my nose as I sat inside a warehouse that was a few blocks from the final person we needed to meet.
"Connor, did you get anything from the meeting?", I asked as I looked at my right shoulder, Connor looking out at the empty warehouse around us while letting out a hum.
"Unfortunately, not. His mind is strong, but I did see fragments of memories that he tried to hide from me. It appears that he indeed did coerce Captain Adams into taking the tests because he was ordered to do so. However, I could not find any memory that showed me who said person is."
"I expected that. So we got a general that was ordered to force a man into doing a test that resulted in the man dying. That sounds eerily similar to Lex making a clone of Superman to use as a weapon."
"It does, indeed. If this person was able to give General Eiling orders, then either they had a higher rank in the military or significantly more political party."
"That narrows it down to the top politicians of the world or maybe some deep-state ghost wearing a fake badge or…a group of people with political power equivalent to that of presidents?"
"You believe that he is working for the Light?", Connor asked and I let the silence hang as I frowned before nodding.
"The possibility is there and considering the research we've done, I'd say that is also the most probably thing."
"You're awfully calm about this. I expected you to be more angered considering this could have been you had you not escaped?", Connor spoke and I looked to him before giving a soft smile.
"I am, but being angry doesn't help right now. If we want justice for Captain Adams, I must be precise and thorough, which means I should stay calm until it's needed."
"I see," was all he said, making me roll my eyes before I looked at myself and felt the thin layer of tactile telekinetic energy I had clinging to me. It was a bit hard to both keep focus on it and my investigation, but I was only using it as a warning shield to give me more time to respond.
"We're too close to finding out the truth for any mistakes now," I muttered as I rose to my feet, raising a finger to the earpiece and turning it on.
"Team, report in. What's your status?"
"Team Robin and Ms. Martian here. We just wrapped things up with Yarrow and he's definitely hiding something. We learned into the 'curious but clueless college students' angle, but the guy has been through enough debriefings to spot a game when he sees one."
"However, we did get confirmation that Eiling was not acting alone," Ms. Martian spoke and I frowned as I glanced to Connor who nodded.
"Did he give any names?"
"No, but he looked terrified the second Megan asked if the orders came from the Pentagon Like…break-into-a-cold-sweat terrified."
'Yep, that tracks.'
"Wallace and I have concluded our talk with Captain Adams' children. His daughter appears to think that her father was innocent during his trial, but the son…"
"The guy thinks his dad is guilty and that he should have been hung instead of given a chance to redeem himself," Wally chimed in and I sighed as I heard the others disgruntled groans.
"Of course, he did. Well, anything on your end, Chris?"
"Yes, General Eiling showed us a confidential file that showed him coercing Captain Adams into volunteering, but Connor found that the general was ordered to force the captain into the test."
"Did Connor use his telepathy on him?"
"Only because I ordered to him to and I told Connor to not go too deep and risk the general finding out."
"I see. So, we're looking at a chain of command here, then. Yallow takes the heat, Eiling redirects it away and the one at the top gets to reap the rewards."
"Exactly and that chain does not stop at just some random mid-level villain. This is probably the work of someone high up the chain of command. Also, Connor found that this incident has far too many parallels with the other projects that we've been encountering. My creation, the Cadmus Labs and Project Kr are eerily similar to this experiment, which means…"
"That this is also most likely another project by this 'The Light' group we've been hearing about," Aqualad spoke and I nodded before looking out through the slight holes in the ceiling to see the rain beginning to fall.
"In any case, it appears there's more to this case than we expected. We've got one more person to check out. What have you found about him, Robin?"
"General Duk Trang, retired general in the North Vietnamese army that then moved to America after he was captured by Captain Adams and his unit. He currently lies in a mansion in Annapolis, Maryland, something that is way out of his paygrade."
"So, he's most likely a member of this plan as well," Ms. Martian said and I could hear the disgust in her tone before I spoke.
"Most likely, but we must not set him off. Ms. Martian, go pick up Wally and Kaldur with the Bio-Ship and then get to the mansion. It'll take me a few minutes to get there so I'll wait for you all."
"Got it, but be careful, okay? We don't want you charging in," She spoke with a concerned tone and I chuckled before giving a nod even though she couldn't see it.
"Don't worry, Megan. I will. Chris out," I finished the call as I turned the earpiece off, taking a deep breath before smirking as Connor climbed into my shirt.
"We're not going to fly, right?", He asked and I chuckled as I walked out of the warehouse before taking off in a fast sprint towards the warehouse.
I never said I wouldn't run at superspeed.
I was thankful for the fact that General Trang lived near the outskirts of the neighbourhood as I found myself sliding to a stop just a few dozen yards away from his house, Connor immediately hopping out of my shirt and onto the ground with a relieved sigh.
"I can feel a presence in the house, but it feels…uneasy? Almost afraid even," Connor spoke and my brow furrowed at that as I gazed at the mansion, making sure to hide in the foliage around the house along with Connor.
It was not long before my ears perked as I heard the sound of something landing, keeping still as I watched an invisible hatch open before slowly turning my head to see Robin crouched in the bush besides me with a pair of goggles on his eyes.
"…Infrared?"
"With X-Ray too. Have you guys seen anything?"
"Telepathy is up."
"We just got here a few minutes ago so no. However, Connor has noticed that there is only one inside and they seem to be on edge."
"Their body temperature is high, so I'm inclined to agree," Robin spoke and I frowned before turning my gaze back to the mansion, narrowing my eyes as rain began to come down slightly.
"That kind of fear is not from guilt, but from being hunted."
"Also, the room he's in? I can't see any windows, only one door and I can barely make him out with both the X-Ray and infrared. It's almost like a bunker so he knows someone's coming."
"Then he's a liability to the group. If he's scared, that means he's not part of the Light and he knows who is, right?", Ms. Martian spoke and I frowned before nodding.
"Most likely. For now, we hold position. Ms. Martian, stretch out telepathic sensing to fifty yards in all directions. Goblin, start a passive surface-level probe scan. Aqualad, Velocity, flank the sides of the mansion. If he tries to run, cut him off. Robin, begin to see if you can tap into any security surveillance or comms he may be using. I'll go and make first contact."
"Are we sure that's the best idea?", Aqualad asked as I stood up, to which I simply shook my head as I began walking up the steps.
"Unfortunately, waiting here may result in the assassin taking out Mr. Trang before we can talk to him. Also, he knows someone's coming so he won't expect the person to be loud. Now, remember, wait until my command or Ms. Martian's if I can't, got it?"
"Got it," They all spoke and I took a deep breath as I grabbed the door knob to the front door, opening it slowly and walking into the dark living room.
"Who are you?!", The hoarse voice came from the speakers around the house and I raised an eyebrow at the numerous cameras aimed at the doorway before speaking out loud.
"My name is Chris, sir. I'm not here to threaten you. I'm here to ask about Captain Nathaniel Adams and the roles General Eiling and Henry Yarrow played in his death?", The silence was deafening as I finished talking, slowly lowering my arms as I heard his whispered mutters before smiling as he spoke once again.
"Come in to the room," Walking to where Robin had said where the room was, I walked towards the back of the house and stared at the rather thick door, faintly hearing him pressing buttons on the other side before raising an eyebrow as the door slowly opened.
"Get in! Get in!", A voice hissed from behind the door and I did as he asked, the door closing behind me while I blinked at the gun held right in-between my eyes.
"Now, who the fuck are you?", The Vietnamese man in his late seventies asked with a frown as he held the rifle at my eyes, noting the neatly pressed military uniform he had on along with the metals attached to the left side of his jacket.
"Like I said, sir, my name is Chris and I'm here to see research whether or not Mr. Adams was guilty."
"Why, though? Why now of all times?", The man asked with a frown and I frowned back before continuing.
"Because just a few days ago, some new evidence was found to show that Mr. Adams may have been innocent which meant that an innocent man was put to the death."
"Innocent? There's no innocent in war. Only those who dies first," He spoke with a sour expression, but I relaxed as he lowered the rifle.
"You're not one of them. You're too young and angry to be one of them."
"I'm not. I was created to be used just like Adams was. Project Kr and Cadmus are terms I'm sure you'd know, yes?", I asked, nodding as the man's face flashed with guilt and recognition as he slowly sat down in the leather chair in front of his desk.
"I know exactly what they mean. They…they told me it was justice, but it wasn't. It was control. It was always about fucking control."
"Who gave you the order, Tang? We know it wasn't your idea to blackmail General Eiling into forcing Adams to do the test," I spoke as I took a cautious step forward, watching as the man looked at me before reaching into his pocket and placing a circular gadget on the desk.
"Project Atom must remain classified. Make sure that Adams volunteers for it," The first to speak up was a rough voice, sounding a bit older than even Trang was along with having this certain wisdom to it that made me cautious.
"B-But sir, he's not stable. His powers are far too-!"
"He's not meant to be stable. Just like the bombs that wiped away cities within the blink of an eye, Project Atom will be a weapon that will wipe away entire countries that displeases us. The data we gather from this experiment will be enough," With those final words, the message cut off and I frowned as Trang sat with his face hidden in his hands.
"Who was that?"
"The one protesting was me. The other was the guy that was in charge of Project Atom. I don't know who he was. All I know is that his name was Desmond and that he was neither military or government. He was someone completely impossible."
"Memories of the incident flashed and showed not a single feature that one could recognize. However, that also confirms it. That person was one of the Light's leaders," Connor spoke up and I nodded before looking at the old man that was sitting with his hands on his knees.
"Mr. Trang, if you want redemption and make amends for what you did, you need to testify. We can protect you."
"No…No, you can't. Not from them," He spoke and before I could counter, my head snapped up as an alarm blared through the room, panic returning to Trang as he picked up his rifle.
"It's them! It's them! They're here!"
"Chris, you got incoming! Five of them and they're coming in fast!"
"Velocity, Aqualad, you two take on two of them! Robin, you take another! Megan, come in through the wall and phase both you and Mr. Trang through the wall! Then, you both take the Bio-Ship and head back to the island!", I barked out and it was not long before the sounds of chaotic fighting echoed in the background, Trang looking surprised before he gasped as Ms. Martian came through the wall with a hurried look.
As she did, I turned as a dark green blade stabbed through the door, gesturing for Ms. Martian to leave as I watched the person cutting through the wall.
"Go! I'll take care of this!", I spoke and she nodded as she grabbed onto Mr. Trang's arm, pulling the both of them to the wall right as the person in front finished cutting through it.
"I see he is not here," The man dressed in samurai armour spoke with a disappointed tone, to which I just shrugged while staring warily at the blade in his hand.
Normally, I wouldn't mind energy blades since I could block them for the most part, but considering this man was holding what appeared to be a custom-made Kryptonite katana, one can imagine that I do not want to get cut by it.
"What can you do? Now, you're stuck with me. Any chance I could get you to not try and fight me?", I asked as I crouched slightly, my fists raised as the man simply tilted his head.
"Unfortunately, not. You are but a loose end that I must get rid of."
"Then, let's see you try," I spoke and without warning, the man lunged forward with his blade gripped tightly.
A burst of tactile telekinesis into the ground shot me upwards and over his sweeping slash that hissed through the air, gritting my teeth as I felt the wave of radiation washing over my body even as I pushed off the roof and landed behind him.
"You're fast," He spoke as he rushed back in and I quickly ripped off a chunk from the ground and threw it at him, my TTK giving it a burst of speed that he barely ducked under right as I rushed in.
Another slash was aimed at my neck and I slipped under it, pulling my fist back and delivering a harsh punch that cracked his chestplate along with sending him back first into the wall.
The man looked surprised at the force behind my punch as the wind was knocked out of him, but I quickly stomped on the kryptonite blade's hilt and shattered it.
Grimacing at the burst of pain that came from it, I did not care as I continued rushing towards the samurai only for my eyes to widen and quickly dodge the side as a kryptonite dagger barely missed me.
"I suppose it's a good thing I came to check," The woman dressed in a green bodysuit and tribal mask spoke with a soft voice as she tossed her dagger at the samurai, who caught it with ease while I frowned as she took out a pair of sai that, to no one's surprise, had a pair of kryptonite-tipped blades.
'I swear, I just know this is Lex's fault. It's a fucking Kryptonite bargain sale.'
A/N: And we cut off here~! Sorry for the late upload but I decided to take a quick nap after dinner because I was feeling super tired and I also wanted to write this chapter, bit I may have slept for a few hours more than intended.
Anyway, Superboy is fighting, but he now has to worry not just about the samurai but also the sai-wielding beauty
Next chapter: Facing off against a League of Shadows and their Samurai friend.
Like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories & even some that haven't been released out to this site yet. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until next week...
Ba-Bye~!