"Turn left, left!" Superboy barked suddenly as they sprinted down the corridor, his instincts kicking in. The others followed without question. "Now, right."
But the turn led straight into a dead end.
"Great work, Supey!" Kid Flash snapped, skidding to a halt. "Are you trying to get us re-podded?"
Behind them, the thunder of booted feet and genomorph growls echoed through the metallic corridors. Superboy frowned, clearly confused and frustrated.
"Your panic is weak. Hold your tongue," Thragg said coolly, stepping forward. His charcoal eyes narrowed as he rolled his shoulders, muscles tensing beneath his T-shirt. "We stand and end this."
"Wait, no. This is where we're supposed to be," Robin cut in, pulling his grappling hook and scanning above. He reached up and yanked down the cover of an overhead ventilation shaft. "Everyone up. Now!"
Thragg's expression soured. "Diana owes me for enduring such primitive planning," he muttered before grabbing the others, effortlessly hoisting Aqualad and Kid Flash up like sacks of grain and tossing them into the shaft while Aqualad offered a nod.
"Guardian won't fit!" Aqualad realized, pausing halfway in the shaft as he looked down at the unconscious man. He was too broad for the narrow duct.
"You go. I'll take Guardian and carve a path myself," Thragg declared, already slinging the armored man over his shoulder.
"We can't leave you!" Kid Flash shouted, struggling against Robin's hold.
"You have no choice," Thragg growled. With his free hand, he slammed his fist into the sprinkler pipes above, rupturing them. Water gushed out in torrents, soaking the hallway. Then, to Thragg, everything seemed to slow down, guards and genomorphes alike appeared, all moving at slow speeds before being slightly pushed off, causing the water to be propelled forward at monstrous speeds.
The others watched in stunned silence as a large genomorph smashed forward, its body riddled with tiny impacts on its skin, rendering it unconscious as it blocked the route, effectively functioning as a wall of flesh. In contrast, the others watched in horrified stillness as water droplets tore into the guards, shattering bones and tearing muscle.
The others watched in stunned silence as Thragg turned his head slightly toward them. He raised two fingers... and flicked them dismissively.
Then he was gone, sprinting with inhuman speed down the corridor, dragging Guardian like he weighed nothing.
"What the hell just happened?" Robin demanded, eyes wide.
Aqualad shook his head. "Thragg has taken Guardian and sealed us off. He's... on his own now."
"He's insane. But maybe he knows what he's doing," Robin muttered, tapping his wrist computer. "We've got a shot at escaping because of him. We move now, contact the League once we're clear. If he survives, he'll find us."
"If?" Kid Flash echoed.
"Let's go," Aqualad ordered, leading the way as they crawled deeper into the shaft.
Meanwhile, Thragg tore through the corridors of Project Cadmus like a missile. Alarms blared. Water rained from the broken pipes, steam rising where hot air vents met the flooding.
Genomorphs burst from side halls, clawing at him with murderous intent. Thragg sidestepped an attack before throwing his head back to then crash his forehead into the creature's lower jaw, tearing muscle as blood flowed, mixing into the water that lay upon the ground.
Using one arm to hold Guardian, he punched with the other, shattering skulls, splintering bones. When one genomorph got too close, he slammed it onto the ground before dragging it, the friction causing its outer skin to be burned off and exposing the flesh underneath.
Every muscle in his body was sculpted for violence. Thragg knew this very well, having been on Themyscira for some time; he knew that he had different physiology, denser muscle fibers, high-speed regeneration, and gravitational flight. Especially in the ways he used said strength, with bursts of momentum through flexed energy, he rocketed himself through another genomorph.
Yet he wasn't reckless. Looking toward the still unconscious form of Guardian, Thragg nodded to himself before continuing on his path of destruction.
If it were just Thragg, he'd fly through the ceiling and tear a path to daylight. But Guardian slowed him. The weight wasn't a problem; it was the unpredictability of carrying someone so fragile who couldn't take a single misstep without dying.
"This is honestly quite vexing." He murmured.
He stopped at a crossroad, calculating.
They were being funneled. Cadmus had learned the ventilation shaft escape he could hear units repositioning already.
"I could kill them all," he muttered to himself. It wouldn't take long.
But if he did, he would be causing issues for not only himself but to Diana. He has already killed more than enough, and he could easily pass it off as self-defense, but constantly having to clash with the so-called morals of heroes wouldn't do well, especially with what he had in mind.
He had to maintain a certain facade. For now.
So instead of turning back and annihilating every genomorph in Cadmus, Thragg lifted off the ground before shooting off.
He found a security door, tore it off, and ducked into an auxiliary lab. Slamming the door shut behind him, he jammed it with a lab table, then gently set Guardian down against the wall.
Thragg's eyes scanned the room, tanks filled with embryonic genomorphs. Consoles humming.
A small smirk tugged at his lips.
Now it was time to have fun.