Author Note: Some people have reviewed said that this wasn't cannon. I want to point out I wrote this during our first long hiatus so any stories following this timeline will be different then cannon. Thank you. P.S. Support my work by reading my original novel "Battle for the Stars" available via my profile.

It was a crisp late mid-fall night in October. Beneath the wreckage of what had been the faux exterior for Cadmus, the underground facility was alive and well. Guardian had done well during his short tenure as Head of the main facility. The Board had sent many new human workers to continue research, as well as to run the facility so the genomorphs wouldn't have to work so hard. Changes were slow and difficult, but there was some advancement towards Guardians ideals. At the moment he was having a review meeting with Dr. Spence going over the latest Project Blockbuster results. In attempt to restore the good name of Cadmus, Guardian had ordered all previous projects stopped and to see if there were alternate usage for them.

"According to my test results certain sequences of Project Blockbuster can reverse, instead of accelerating mutations, the key components could be used to create new vaccines against serious infections. With enough time we could apply some of what we learn to rarer medical disease and find cures for rare metabolic, genetic, and respiratory diseases. I talked to my old friend at John Hopkins and she believes we are on to something."

"I wonder if Desmond would be proud to know that his hard work in creating living weapons can actually save lives instead of taking them. The Board will be pleased, as this will do wonders for our image. Where's Dubbilex? I haven't seen him in a few hours," Guardian remarked, going over his notes. His old genognome sat nearby out of habit, but wasn't invading his thoughts; which he was very thankful for.

"The Board asked him to be in charge of the transfer of some of the genomorphs to our auxiliary base in Herdonan, VA. Apparently a rash of sickness has disabled most of the human workers and the Board felt the genomorphs weren't at risk of getting sick. I also think Dubbilex wanted to say hi to some friends there," Dr. Spence informed him.

"Of course must have slipped my mind. Well he'll be back tomorrow and then we can continue this meeting. For now I think we should all get some rest. I have a feeling tomorrow will be a good day," Guardian told her, not knowing that his words were prophetic for some.

About seventy five miles away in another facility strange things were happening. On the surface the five story office/research facility appeared to be normal. This facility did use its faux top for public relations and its intended purposes, but there were seventeen underground floors filled with facilities with hidden entrances and exits below where the real work was done. The floors ranged from training arenas, laboratories, and infirmary to personal living quarters and dinning center for the employees who lived there.

Dubbilex was supervising the last of the transfer from an underground tunnel that connected to the surface via an elevator on level three. He was telepathically telling his brethren their patrol routes, who to report to along with a mental layout of the underground levels. He placed his hand on a DNA recognition terminal pad granting him access to the computer system so he could enter in the genetic sequences of the new genomorphs so the security system recognized them. It was a tiring process, but it would be worth it in the end. He sensed a presence behind him and turned to greet his two escorts, two members of Checkmate currently on assignment with Cadmus. "Ah Negative Woman, Mr. Jagger, it's a pleasure to see you again."

"That's White Queen and White Knight Dubbilex, don't forget that," Valitina Vostok voiced, with a hint of eastern European accent. The blond haired women glanced down at the computer pad impatiently. Smoothing a non existent wrinkle in her white body suit, she spoke directly to him. "You were supposed to be finished with the transfer two hours ago. What is taking so long?"

"I apologize for that. The situation here was direr then expected. I had to call in for a second delivery and then there was familiarizing the genomorphs with the new layout and staff before entering them into this facilities database. I will attempt to speed up the process."

"Take as much time as you need, we want to be sure this facility is secure and that events that occurred in yours do not repeat. We've reached a critical stage with our Projects. Any unexpected factors could derail months of preparation," White Knight coldly informed him. He didn't trust the genomorphs at all. It was highly suspicious how they all just failed to carry out there duty and stop the escape of Kr and his friends.

"How are your Projects doing? I haven't seen them since you brought them to our facility back in June."

"Our Projects are none of your concern. All you need to know is my colleague Thinker has already made sure mine in is his pod for the night. Queen's assistants have made sure the same goes for her Project. If you would excuse us, we have to go check on some security issues. Finish what your doing and report back to us. Come on White Queen."

"Coming, ugh that Dubbilex and the rest of his kind make my stomach turn. I didn't defect from the Soviet Union and join Checkmate to deal with man made monsters. I joined to secure the safety and security of this country from the evils of the universe. At least our Projects are more natural and haven't rebelled."

"The circumstances of what happened at the main facility are still clouded. We can't be certain it wasn't Desmond arrogance that caused project Kr to slip away. We just have to remain vigilante and step up the training for when Kr is reunited with them," he said as they two entered Central Control and started going over the itinerary list, and discussing with the head of security the best way to use the morphs. This facility prided itself on its human personal keeping this place up and running and not the monsters. They refused to become remit as their sister facility.

An AI android, by the name of Thinker, was just leaving his charge's room after securing him in a biopod for his nightly upload and rest on Level Ten. The former AI had been a program created by Mr. Terrific of the JSA, but had rebelled and forged its own evil path. Thinker had been near "death" when the Light had discovered him. In exchange for becoming a Project Handler they repaired him and even created android body for his use. It was a very satisfying deal.

"Subject Beyond is asleep for the night. I ran a check on the biopod and its functioning within parameters. Daily upload from cybernetic implant commencing in five minutes. Lockdown of room completed. Subject is secured," Thinker reported over the comlink.

"Thank you Thinker, report to techs for defrag and virus check to your systems. You're way overdue for maintenance and we can't afford to have you start degrading," White Knight ordered. It was disconcerting to work with an evil AI, but the entity had been here longer then him so he was forced to trust him. At least he wouldn't have to deal with him for the rest of the night. Once the techs began their maintenance check and upgrade they couldn't stop until completed without losing Thinker. That was not an option.

Back in the small room the lights had been dimmed. The room was rather tiny slightly bigger then a utility closet. On one wall there were computer and medical monitors hooked up to a computer terminal and the biopod. A small work table with a variety of tools sat neatly in the corner with a small shelf filled with detective novels, criminology and forensics texts along with a history book on great advisers. In the back of the room was a small biopod, just the right size for a small child. Indeed a small boy about ten with short black hair wearing a white body suit with black accents and a blood red bat on his chest was strapped to the table. A cable was hooked to the back of his head uploading data of some sort from an internal cybernetic implant while a genognome watched him keeping an eye on the boy and his dreams.

The biopod was designed not to release the child unless an outside source commanded it and right now Project Batman Beyond, (which was written on his pod), was in his sleep cycle dreaming. In his dreams the boy relieved memories of past events not even daring to dream for the future.

It was shortly after midnight when a voice entered hi mind. "The time to escape draws close. You must go before your gateway is closed. You have fifteen minutes at best. Wake up!"

Right then the biopod malfunctioned and the straps disengaged. The boy's blue eyes sprang open. He dropped and rolled out of his pod before slapping a small electric disk to the pod forcing it to close. The cable was no longer connected to him, but was still uploading his memories and data he inscribed onto the device to the Cadmus Mainframe. It would take them awhile to discover the artificialness and search for the cause, but by then he hoped to be gone.

Beyond hurried over to his desk barely acknowledging the little gnome that plopped on his shoulder. He pulled out a hidden duffel pack already packed with his spare outfit and his special mini wrist hard drive/computer, he and his Handler Thinker had designed, with more abilities then any known computer. Also there were large stacks of cash he managed to steal from the repository when Handler White Knight was reviewing his paycheck. This would come in handy.

He needed to get going, the guard cycle was shifting. "Thanks for freeing me little guy. Can you help me into the vents? I need to pick up a few items from R&D."

The gnome chatted and gave him a boost as Beyond started making his way through the vents. He was careful to avoid the motion and heat sensors using his computer to get around them. At one moment he froze when he sensed someone looking into the vents; pressing up against the shadows willing himself to be invisible. Finally, he made it to R&D on Level Eight, activating an EM pulse generator to knock out security and cameras, before quickly wiggling into the room. Seven minutes had passed as he used Handler White Knight's card to open a cabinet full of toys he helped designed and could be useful for his escape. Spying a certain piece of equipment, he placed the cybernetic jammer on his head. A tingle was felt as the first time, since he was six when the cybernetic implant was installed in his brain, its transmission was being blocked. Stuffing another one and the last of the equipment into the bag he dove back into the vent pressing his right palm and focusing his thoughts on his partner.

During the time Beyond was being freed and making his way to R&D there was movement happening on Level Six in another Project's room. The inside was similar to his only this one had tables filled with battle models and books and video on strategy and tactics. Two female guards with laser pistols stood watch over the biopod containing a teenage girl about fourteen with long black hair braided and emerald green eyes wearing a white form fitting sundress with sandals. The name on her biopod read Project W.G.a was embossed on the glass.

When her biopod disengaged, the two guards quireled around blasting at the Project, but she wasn't in the pod anymore. The little gnome that had been on the biopod monitoring the girl's dreams was freaked and jumped on top of one of the woman's face causing her to curse and fire random shots. As her partner moved to help the teen made her move. She had hidden under a model and now levitated in the air split kicking the guns away before driving her elbows into their throats cutting off their air supply. They soon succumbed to unconsciousness where she proceeded to rip out some computer cable tying them up and stealing their key cards. She stuffed something from her desk into her pocket hurrying out the door.

W.G.a made her way through the passageways. In her mind she tactfully went over the best ways to avoid patrols and how to not be picked up by full spectrum sensor sweeps. Summoning all her willpower, she managed to levitate to the ceiling. She started crawling through the hallways and taking a stairwell to the Level Five, reaching the Special Armory. Swiping the card the door opened. She ignored the villain tech, guns, and battle suits making her way to the Project Locker. White Queen stored items that would be used in training here, not trusting her to keep them with her. She rubbed her wrists remembering the punishment White Queen had given her for questioning her methods.

The key cards were useless here. You needed thumbprint ID and access code, but W.G.a had already thought of this. One item she had brought from her room was a print embedded into a piece of her models. She pressed it onto the pad watching the red pad blink green. Next she tapped in the code. "What do you always tell me White Queen? The only thing that matters to an operative is performing her duty. Blessed be," W.G.a whispered, as the code worked. Hurriedly she stuffed the items she was searching for into her pockets along with a few extra goodies. She closed the locker and felt something itch on her palm, as the seven minute mark passed. She had to hurry.

W.G.a hugged the wall and waited for her chance to make it to the rendezvous point unseen. A trio of genotrolls was marching past with a couple of human guards accompanying them on their patrol. Their view of her was blocked by the massive girth. Taking a deep breath she counted down to three. On three, she swiftly jumped grabbing a hold of the beast and rolled onto its stomach hugging it tightly. The guards didn't notice a thing as they made their way down the corridor. She held until the reached a certain section of Level Five. When they reached a key three way juncture she crawled to the top of the beast and reached out snagging a pipe holding herself there until the patrol past by. When she was sure it was safe she dropped to the ground. She heard a noise coming from above her. She looked up just in time to catch a falling Beyond. "That was foolish Beyond. What if I hadn't been here to catch you?"

"I knew you were here. Did you get what we needed from the Armory?"

"Yes, here keep them safe. For right now I rather not risk losing them. I managed to knock out my guards without backup being called and no one saw me as I left the Armory. How about you?"

"The AI computer disk should keep them unaware of my absence for a little while longer and I used the EM pulse generator to knock out most of the security systems. I was able to hack into the central mainframe during my time in the vents. All cameras are on a loop and I planted a virus into the system that should give them trouble. Come on we have less then six minutes to get out of here before they realize something wrong."

"Hey what are you two doing out of your pods?" A voice shouted from the other end of the hall. A squadron of eight security guards brandishing laser pistols, cuff guns, and a one mean looking glowing energy baton spotted the two Projects. They had completed their circuit a few minutes ahead of schedule and knew that the Projects were supposed to be in their biopods for their nightly sleep cycle and upload. "Stay right where you are or they'll be trouble!"

"Crap! I didn't think they be here so soon!" W.G.a muttered. Beyond took action using the weapons she had handed him seconds before. He hurled three smoke bombs onto the ground creating a cloud of blackish green smoke filling the entire junction up.

The guards began to cough and gag on the gas before managing to put on their gas masks. The guard with the cuff gun made his way to the wall and felt for a terminal. With his eyes watering he tapped in a code that activated the ceiling vans clearing away the smoke. The squadron looked up in time to see, three groups of W.G.a with Beyond on her back, racing down the different junctures. He raised his scope to see which had a heat signature, but all three were giving off heat.

"Sir, I can't figure out which ones are the real ones! They're all giving off heat!"

"Never mind, Alpha take the right, Beta middle, Gamma left. Delta alert the rest of security and get me some genomorphs to help with the search. I'll contact their Handlers. Remember you can injure them, but they must be taken alive! The Projects are too valuable to lose! Go!" the head guard (Omega) shouted dispersing his squadron. They did as they were told as emergency alarms sounded off. He tapped his comlink knowing he was going to be getting chewed out about this.

In Central Command, White Queen and White Knight had just finished going over the itinerary for tomorrow and how they were going to be using some of the genomorphs in training, when the alarms started going off. Head of security Zeta turned to his grunts monitoring the high tech systems. "What in the name of the seven heavens is going on? Report!"

"Sir we just received intel from squadron 5 leader Omega that he encountered Projects Batman Beyond and Project W.G.a on Level Five; near junction ten. When ordered to stand down they released a smokescreen and now the squad is chasing three different versions of them down the corridors."

"That's impossible Beyond and W.G.a are in their sleep cycle and uploading their daily memories! We would have been alerted if they left their biopods prematurely. Bring up footage and data on their rooms now!" White Queen commanded.

"Yes Ma'me!" a grunt said hurriedly bringing up the footage of the two Projects rooms as well as the computer data on screen. The data clearly showed an upload in progress, but it was repeating the same sequence of events over and over just at different intervals to confuse the computer. The video footage showed them in their biopods, but White Knight typed in an algorithm Thinker had shown him to break the loop. They weren't in their pods!

"Dammit! I'm not having a repeat of what happened in the main HQ here! Find them now! Lock onto the cybernetic implants GPS and give them a jolt now!" White Queen shouted.

"Unable to comply, something is jamming the link. I can't remotely activate it from here!"

"Forget it. Then use the full spectrum sensors and cameras to find them. We can't waste time chasing ghosts."

"Attempting to do that right now, but something's wrong with the system. Much of its down thanks to an EM pulse frying the system. I'm attempting to access the video footage, but someone's spliced in a continuous loop. I can't undo this!"

"Then initiate a full scale lock down now!" White Knight shouted. He was getting extremely anxious and kept fingering his service arm. There was no way this was happening on his watch. Both Handlers refused to accept failure as an option.

The grunt attempted to do just that, but Beyond's virus fried the system. They would have to attempt a reboot, but the only way to that was to draw on power and energy from Thinker's separate AI system. Something they could normally do if he wasn't in the middle of upgrade health check.

"Sir, this Alpha squadron reporting in! We cornered the two Projects only to have them dissolve into nothing. It appears they were generated by a holographic moving sphere!" Alpha reported in. Beta and Gamma reported the same thing before they started coughing and gagging.

"What's going on there? Report!" White Queen shouted anxiously. She knew those holographic spheres didn't harm the subject despite their solid real life projections. She used them when training W.G.a in use of her super strength and agility while at the same time keeping her tactical skills sharp. Now that same technology was being used against them.

"This is Omega cough…repor….my men… are frozen… and I'm…having cough… trouble breathing. My..ung..fee…like… their own fire ah!" Omega said, before he dissolve into a coughing fit that abruptly ended.

"The paralyzing gas bombs from the Special Armory. I showed Beyond how to use them to protect himself just last week. He must have managed to get a hand on some. Unless you've been injected with the antidote you'll succumb to the effects within minutes."

"Never mind that now if we don't find our Projects fast they're going to escape just like Kr did! The Board will not be pleased one little bit if we lose more of their precious resources. I don't know about you, but I refuse to be punished for something that wasn't my fault! Dubbilex, you better have every genomorph out tracking down the Projects! Security, listen up we have escaped Projects on the loose. Guard every entrance and make sure they stay contained. Come on White Knight, we have to get them back in biopods before this get's out hand," White Queen informed her partner. She literally flew out of the room with her hands glowing with explosive energy. White Knight grabbed a couple extra weapons and headed out after her.

Meanwhile the two Projects had managed to get to Level Three. Beyond was still on W.G.a back, keeping a firm grip on her and the duffel. The two of them were tired and exhausted, but freedom was in their reach. They just had to make it out the service entrance, but there were at least twenty guards and several genomorphs watching the exit.

"I can take five or six guards no problem. You could probably handle maybe one or two with your capoeira moves, but that still leaves to many to handle. Also, the genomorphs are on high alert, willingly to attack us if we get even close to the exit. What do you advice?" W.G.a asked the small boy.

"It's too late to head for an alternative exit and even the lesser known ones will be guarded. A simple distraction will not deter them from the exit and we know our Handlers are out searching for us. We have maybe two minutes left before escape is entirely impossible. Our best course of action would be to thin the ranks and power on through before escaping. How I have no idea."

"Look! The genomorphs are leaving! They must have received orders to try and block us from the first floor entrance. Hold on I have an idea," W.G.a whispered. She crawled around the crates and vehicles sticking to the shadows. As more genomorphs passed by she used their bodies to shield the two of them, while staying out of their line of sight in case they were spotted. Finally, they were right next to the ramp hidden. She whispered something to Beyond who carefully extracted his computer. Bringing up some voice print files, he hacked into the comlink isolating those guards from the rest before using White Knight's voice to order half of them away. Now they could handle the rest.

White Queen was just solidifying herself after passing through Level Four when she spotted the men. White Knight came around the corner looking stunned to see them. "What are you men doing? Your orders were to guard the service entrance!"

"But sir, didn't you command us to come assist you search the Level a few minutes ago?" asked a confused soldier.

"No I didn't why would you? Beyond! Curse Thinker for teaching him that trick, come on they're in the service bay!" The group headed to the bay area only to find the rest of the squad out cold and the Projects long gone. They had let two of Cadmus most valuable Projects escape. The Board was not going to be happy.

A few hours later after order had been restored and Thinker was back on his feet, they along with Dubbilex were getting ready to explain themselves to the Board. White Queen and Knight were not looking forward to this on little bit as the Board members appeared. They took a deep breath, strengthened their uniforms and looked the Board in the eyes, sort of.

"Explain why are you calling at this late hour? Did something go wrong with the transfer?"

"No sir, the transfer of genomorphs personal went smoothly."

"Then what is the problem?"

"Shortly after midnight, Projects Batman Beyond and W. G.a's biopods malfunctioned releasing them. The two of them took out their guards and raided both the R&D and the Special Armory before making their escape. All attempts to capture them were made, but they sabotaged our systems and somehow are blocking the cybernetic implants for tracking. They escaped through the service entrance and are in the wind. Why the genomorphs weren't more effective I have no idea," White Queen explained evenly.

"The genomorphs only followed your orders. I don't know why they weren't more successful in apprehending the Projects, but they did as much as they could. After all we live to serve Cadmus," Dubbilex insisted.

"Your loyalty and that of your kind are not in question Dubbilex. You have always served the Light, and while it is upsetting that two breakouts happened under your watch we don't hold you at fault. What was taken exactly?"

"A review of inventory reveals; that along with the proto batsuit and weaponry that went with it, the RSS, jammers, and a couple of grappling guns, along with a few EM pulse generators and a toolkit are missing. I designed those jammers with Beyond to prevent outside electrical influence. I believe he's modified them for his own use. Along with his computer, several thousand dollars are missing from the repository. A search of the armory reveals the bracelets and the synthetic lasso are gone. I also am sad to report much of our files have been copied by Beyond. I'm unsure if he'll be able to unlock the more encrypted ones, but anything is possible," Thinker reported, already thinking of the possibilities of what could be done with the materials listed. Those files were especially disturbing. That information in the wrong hands could spell the end for the Light

"It appears that the Projects thought their escape out. Not only did they know what to take with them, they knew when the best night to make their move was. How come this wasn't picked up in their dreams and memories uploads?"

"Yes don't you review what your Projects are thinking every night? This shouldn't have happened."

"Sirs, we've looked over the last six months worth of uploads and there was never any indication they would do this. We trained them diligently to obey the Light and respect their Handlers. While their escape puzzles me I swear they are loyal to the Light. Perhaps they left in order to secure Kr again and continue with Project Hero Light. That is their primary purpose and reason for being," White Knight suggest still not believing his Project would leave voluntarily.

"Perhaps or his escape inspired them to want to be free. Either way they must be recaptured before the League finds them. We have already lost one weapon to them. Should they discover the existence of the two Projects the entirety of Cadmus could be undermined."

"Not to mention our entire agenda as the Light could be compromised."

"Sirs, the Projects are what the local authorities would claim to be runaways. They might be picked up and sent to a group home until their parents claim them. A DNA test would ruin everything. It might be best to alert authorities about our missing children."

"We'll hold off from doing that right now. For now we need you to monitor the system for when the jammers fail and we can lock onto them again. Prepare a strike team for the retrieval and have all necessary material ready. In the meantime, beef up security and contact the other facilities in case something similar happens. We'll keep the League busy, as well as their protégé. After all, the Projects will seek out Kr one way or another it's their nature to. You're dismissed for now. Be ready to redeem yourselves should we contact you again," The Light instructed the four before leaving them with their thoughts. The two Checkmate agents looked at one another in silent agreement. They would do whatever it took to get their Projects back and punish them for their insolence. No one made them look like incompetent fools.

At the moment, Beyond and W.G.a were hugging the top of Greyhound roof tightly as they could. After escaping the facility they managed to use one grappling gun to get onto the roof of the passing vehicle. They didn't have an exact plan at the moment, as they sped northward at eighty miles an hour. Right now they were running on pure adrenaline and trying to survive the ride long enough to think of what came next.

Beyond glanced over and saw beads of perspiration trailing down W.G.a's face and could feel the same thing happening on his own. It was a sign that the cybernetic implants were adapting to the jammers. He should have taken this into account the adaptability of the devices; after all he designed them. He had never ever thought of escape before. It was W.G.a who convinced him of the necessity. She had already witnessed the horrors such as the death of her "sisters". W.G.a had been one of four projects of variety techniques using her donor's blood. Project B had developed malignant tumors and D had mental problems causing both to be put down. Project C had attempted to kill a scientist so she was forced to kill her "sister" in a life and death struggle. She still had nightmares of that incident.

He was thankful that he hadn't had to deal with that. With his genius IQ of 145 and being trained in advisory/detective skills, he hadn't seen a lot of action. You need someone to design a cover up story or monitor League activity, he was your boy. Need someone to fight, well not so much. His full physical training wasn't to begin until after he had gone through puberty, though White Knight had been preparing him for the last two years. However, he didn't know how he felt about his primary objective of killing, replacing, and surpassing Batman, so he agreed to help his friend/sister

"How are you holding up? Are you in pain?" Beyond asked her with great concern.

"Not much I'll be okay really. Are you warm enough? We should probably try to ride inside once the bus stops."

"Can't risk it, security cameras will catch us and besides we don't have tickets. Our clothes will also draw attention. We'll have to find another way to travel. Are you sure that Kr will be able to help us?"

"He's our leader and he's been in the outside world longer then we have. I'm sure time with his genetic donor, I mean father, has taught him much. If anyone can help us it's him. We just have to find him. I heard White Queen talking about him with some of my guards. She mentioned he was spotted in a town in Rhode Island called Happy Harbor. I know it's predictable, but if he's there then."

"Then we need to seek his assistance. I just hope he remembers us. Our only contact lasted less then two hours and was months ago. We don't know what adverse affects to his mind could have occurred for being prematurely released."

"We have to take that chance. Its October 11th now. If we continue to hitchhike and take the back roads we should reach our destination by the 14th. I just hope we can find some nourishment to sustain us. We should alert him that we're coming so he's not surprised by our arrival. Can you boost the link so we can contact him?" W.G.a asked whispering something under her breath. On a right palm, her symbol appeared in a circle. Beyond did the same thing and took a few tools from the bag and carefully, while still keeping a grip on the bus, tinkered with the symbols and his computer.

A few minutes later the ten year old spoke shivering in the cold air. "I boosted the signal and increased the range by bouncing it off one of Cadmus satellites. We can attempt to reach him, but only for two and half minutes before we shut down so Cadmus doesn't detect our activity. Hopefully we can use these ink ids properly when we see big brother again."

Deep in the bowls of Mount Justice Superboy was in his comfortable, but bare bedroom. When he was told he would be living in Mount Justice he didn't bother personalizing the room because he didn't know what to put in it. Also he had secretly hoped Superman would come around and invite him to live with him, but so far the man had barely acknowledge him during the past four months. So in a strange form of rebellion he refused all his friends attempts to personalize the space. So all that was in the bedroom was some furniture, a few spare outfits in his dresser and small photo of the team after their first mission with Artemis photo shopped in. That was it and it spoke of nothing of the child twitching in his bed and breathing hard.

"No, no don't want go back. Who are you?" Superboy whimpered sweat beads forming on his face. His face twisted in agony as he struggled to wake from the strange dream.

Superboy found himself semiconscious inside his biopod for the first time in his short life. He felt smaller and less powerful then he did now. His eyes attempted to flutter open, but the gnomes refused to allow him to awaken fully. Instead he listened keenly the happenings of the world outside him.

"This is an enormous mistake! The weapon is only fourteen weeks old and highly unstable at this point in time. The genomorphs haven't completed his education yet! Dr. Spence is still running daily checks to ensure that our weapon doesn't fall apart like the others. I insist you come back once our weapon has finished his growth development and is fully prepared before beginning integration with other Projects!" Desmond shouted angrily.

"Doc, you need to calm down. You're disturbing the genomorphs with all your yelling," Dubbilex cautioned him.

"Doc, there's no harm waking the Project up for two hours and besides they do have orders from the Board to be here now," Guardian reasonable voice pierced the haze. What were they all talking about?

"What's the matter Desmond afraid that you lose control of the one thing that makes you our equal? We all know that the fate of Kr's Handler is still up in the air. Delaying the meeting between our Projects is just an attempt to make yourself look better for the Board," a female voice with a strange accent replied coldly to Desmond. Even without seeing her he could almost feel the smirk on her face.

"Mark, I highly doubt you be the one chosen as Handler. You're just not a good match up for Project Kr. You should focus your efforts on Project Blockbuster. Now release him from his sleep so we can begin the integration," a male voice said. Another more robotic voice also insisted that Desmond free him.

He heard Desmond near his biopod's terminal muttering things mostly curses and how he was going to show them. As the biopod hissed and started to disengage Desmond walked over to Guardian and Dubbilex. He told Guardian to watch him like a hawk and Dubbilex to repress the memories once the meeting was over. It was a bit of power play to keep control of the Project longer.

The biobed he was on tilted forward and as his eyes fluttered open he caught a glimpse of his reflection. He was smaller by a good four inches and less developed, but that didn't matter when he focused on the people standing in front of him. Three adults, one android and two normal humans in uniforms eyed him, before stepping aside revealing a stranger a pair. A girl with black hair in a braid and a little boy.

"Help us Kr were in trouble and need your help!" the girl pleaded

"You have to remember us! Please Kr were counting on you!" the boy begged

Superboy woke up screaming and swung his fists destroying his nightstand. Megan came flying in the room dressed in her Martian pjs. "Superboy what's wrong? I felt a lot of fear coming from in here. Did you have a bad dream?"

"Megan it's, I mean, sorry I woke you it was just a bad dream. I don't even remember what it was about. Please go back to bed. We have a new mission tomorrow."

"If you're sure I could stay with you. Help you remember it if you want to?"

"No I'll be fine just go please." Superboy watched her leave before letting out a breath he'd been holding. He didn't know what to make out that dream. It felt almost like a memory, but that was impossible. He hadn't been out of his pod before the boys found him, and he certainly didn't meet any other children in Cadmus. Still, as he laid back down scratching his palm he couldn't help, but wonder if he's dream was trying to tell him something important. Perhaps a foreshadowing of things to come?