Chapter 26

-[Dante]-

He and M'gann flew out of the bioship in camouflage mode, stopping just above the warehouse.

Nodding to each other, they flew in seperate directions, going around the warehouse only to meet at the back.

[There are twelve of them on this side.] M'gann said through the mental link.

[Fifteen on this side. Go.] he ordered as they parted ways again, going around the warehouse and back the way they came.

As Dante flew above the disguised goons, quick uses of telepathy knocked them unconscious without them knowing what happened.

Multiple soft thuds occurred as he and M'gann met at the front, the last two goons dropping unconscious beside each other.

[All clear.] Dante said through the link as bioship opened up again, allowing the rest of the team to zip line down to ground level.

[Superboy, use your infrared vision to see what's inside.] Dante said as he landed back on the ground.

[On it.] The clone had become less agitated for some time now, no longer aggressively disagreeing with everything he did.

Whether or not it was because of his intervention with the Superman issue, he wouldn't know. He also doubted that his fellow clone was aware that he had a hand in it.

[Move!] Superboy suddenly screamed through the mental link as the entrance was smashed open, a large blur speeding out of it towards them.

On instinct, Dante's telekinesis lashed out, pushing the members of his team out of the way as the blur reached him.

*BOOM!*

[Dante!] Artemis and M'gann screamed through the link as dust obscured their view of Dante and the blur. Robin, Superboy, Kaldur and Kid Flash had wide eyes at the suddenness of the attack.

The dust quickly cleared for them to see Dante with his arms raised, gritting his teeth as he blocked a large fist.

The assailant drew even more shock from them, as they saw its full appearance. The attacker had a slightly pale skin with bones poking out of its skin and a large muscular frame that towered over Dante.

One feature Dante clearly saw was the clown face paint on the creature's face.

*ROOOAAARRRRR!!!*

The creature raised its fist, quickly smashing it down. Dante immediately jumped over it as the ground around them was destroyed.

Using his telekinesis, he pushed it far back into the warehouse, crashing through the wall.

"What was that?!" Robin asked in shock.

"I'm just as surprised as you are." Dante responded as he landed back on the ground.

"Um…guys…" Artemis' voice trailed off, causing them to turn to what caught her attention only for their eyes to widen in shock.

The monster that Dante pushed away walked back out of the warehouse, along with two more of its kind.

"You have got to be kidding me! These guys are even bigger than Dr Desmond!" Kid Flash exclaimed as the appearance of the enemies triggered some memories from Dante.

The transformation looked similar if not exactly the same as the effects of the titan formula from the Arkham Asylum game from his previous life.

Artemis drew her bow, firing an explosive arrow as Robin threw some of his disks. Both made contact with the creatures, doing nothing more than obscuring their vision with smoke.

"This is going to be a problem." Robin said, taking a step back.

Artemis agreed, firing another arrow. "Yeah, no kidding."

This time, as it impacted it, a red foamy substance was released and immediately solidified around its head, halting it in its tracks as it attempted to get free.

Artemis made a sound of victory only for the monster to punch its own head, shattering the solidified foam into pieces. "Well that was embarrassing."

"We were too late." Kaldur said, Dante agreeing with him.

"Yeah. They've already made what they wanted." Dante had a frown on his face as he watched the slowly incoming mutations.

'Even with my barrier, I still felt the impact. I can't allow myself to take too much of that.' He thought.

[Alright listen up. Kaldur, Superboy, M'gann and I will handle these guys while the rest of you get inside the warehouse and find the scientists.] Dante ordered as the mutations picked up the pace, rushing towards them.

[Go!] Dante immediately rushed forward to meet them head on, Superboy and Kaldur flanking him while M'gann followed from above.

Artemis, Kid Flash and Robin immediately began making their way to the warehouse.

One of the mutations turned in their direction only for Dante's feet to leave the ground as he sped up. "What are you looking at? I'm over here!"

His fist flew forward, smashing into its cheek with a loud sound. It wasn't sent flying but it stumbled backwards.

Superboy, being a literal tank, took the one on the right while M'gann and Aqualad took the one on the left, leaving Dante with the one in the middle.

*ROOOAAARRR!!*

It swung its arm at Dante who moved back to dodge it. While he dodged it, the air pressure still pushed against his barriers.

'You've got to be kidding me.' He thought in slight bewilderment as he moved forward, throwing a punch at its exposed chest, pushing it back a bit.

It smashed its hand into the ground, swiping forward and sending the pile of rocks at him. A wide blast of telekinesis destroyed them before they got near him.

The dust it caused created a smokescreen, hiding the monster's blind charge at him, an arm already sailing forward to deliver a devastating punch.

Thinking quickly as it approached him, Dante's body thinned and elongated in a snakelike manner, his legs melding to form a tail as he slithered onto the arm and coiled around its body.

His upper body stretched, reaching chest level as his mouth stretched open, wider than normally. A large sonic scream ripping from his throat, causing the monster to hold its head, screaming in pain.

It raised its hand against, causing Dante to slither off its body as it attempted to punch him only to smack itself on the face.

As Dante's body returned to normal, the creature quickly recovered. 'Of course it wouldn't be that easy.' He thought in exasperation.

-[Robin]-

The three of them easily snuck through the hole the monsters had created when they barged out of the warehouse.

Upon entering, they found the place filled with armed goons, walking around. The warehouse was also filled with large crates, one of which they were currently hiding behind.

As reluctant as they were to leave the fight, they also had to acknowledge that they wouldn't be able to help against those kinds of monstrous opponents.

"Who does he think he is, sending us off like that?" Kid Flash grumbled lowly.

At least some of them acknowledged it.

"Must you question everything?" Artemis asked in obvious frustration.

"Hey I don't need lip from the newbie here. Just watch and see how the professionals work." Kid Flash said, adjusting his goggles.

"Wait!" Robin whispered harshly but was too late as the speedster ran out of their hiding place.

His impulsive actions were followed by gunfire as the goons shot at him. As if that wasn't enough, his actions also exposed their positions as the other goons fired at Robin and Artemis.

'This is becoming a problem.'

-[Dante]-

*Boom!*

He dodged an arm that ended up smashing into the ground, shattering it. Taking a risk to glance around him, he saw Superboy land a punch on the monster he was facing, only to receive one in return, sending him back.

The boy of steel's shirt was in tatters as was his pants but he was relatively unharmed. Kaldur and M'gann on the other hand we're doing better yet worse than the clone.

While they were able to avoid getting hit directly due to M'gann's use of telekinesis to pull Kaldur out of the way, they were unable to land a damaging hit.

Dante had learnt something important from his fight up till now.

Flying into the air, he telekinetically raised the monster into the air before sending it crashing down. It was only a few seconds before they got up again.

Attacks like that could only stun them for a few seconds so repetitively doing it would only waste his energy. Their endurance and stamina was off the charts, able to withstand his blows at full power with no injuries to show for it.

If he had to guess, he would say that they were at least six times stronger than Mammoth who was dosed with Kobra Venom.

'I guess I'll have to use that here.' He thought as he landed in front of his opponent.

*ROOOAARRRRR!*

As it began rushing towards him, he took a deliberate step forward as he focused his telekinesis on his body, using it for something other than flying.

Twisting around the arm that swung at him, he threw a powerful punch at his opponent's chest.

*Boom!*

The shockwave was sizable and unexpected. 'I haven't had anything to safely test this on nor have I needed it so far but I guess there's a first time for everything.'

His raw strength was higher than Superboy's but not even remotely close to Superman's. Even with that, using his telekinesis in a tactile manner gave it a tremendous boost.

"Let's have some fun with this, shall we?" He said, a smile on his face as he looked at the monster he sent flying.

As it rushed forward, so did Dante, ducking under a punch as delivering a powerful kick that sent it twisting to the side only for Dante to grab its leg.

Pulling it back to himself, he threw an uppercut, his fist smashing into its face and sending it into the air.

*Boom!*

In a burst of speed, he was in the air, waiting as the monster gained enough altitude. Clasping his hands together, he smashed downwards, another shockwave occurring as he sent it slamming into the ground, shattering it once again.

*Boom!*

As he let himself descend, he took a deliberate breath, his mouth widened and his palms faced down with mouths in the centers.

A sonic scream burst out from all three orifices, all aimed at the monster. The intensity and pressure only increased as he got closer and closer to the ground, prompting a pained scream from his opponent.

*Crack!* *Crack!* *Crack!*

The pressure was also damaging the ground, sending spiderweb cracks around the point of impact as the sonic attack pushed the monster into the ground.

The moment he got close to the ground, he dismissed the mouths on his palms as he balled them into fists, smashing them downwards into its torso.

*Boom!!!*

The impact was enough to cause another sizable shockwave, raising dust around him and his opponent. As he raised his hand to attack again, he realized that the mutation was no longer attempting to get up.

The dust settled for him to see his opponent unconscious and majorly bruised beneath him. His enhanced ears could still hear its heart beating so he knew it was still alive.

"Maybe I went a little too hard." He muttered only for Superboy to be sent flying in his direction.

His telekinesis caught the clone, shifting him out of the way as he threw a punch at the monster that attempted to punch the clone.

*Boom!*

His telekinetically enhanced strength was proven once again as he sent it flying back. Dropping the clone beside him, he showed a grin. "Round 2?"

The clone hesitated for a moment before matching his grin. "Round 2."