Somewhere Unknown, inside a secret facility:
Lex Luthor stood in front of several computer screens, some of his researchers and scientists sitting in front of them.
Half of the screens were displaying what Match was currently seeing in Gotham, Leon Blade standing on a street, staring at him.
"The Nanites have started working. The Kryptonite augmentation has started healing his body," one reported as he observed the data on the screen.
"You said you used the Blockbuster Serum," the figure engulfed in light, projecting up from the device on Luthor's hand, spoke.
"It is the Blockbuster, only that it's enhanced by pure Kryptonite Extract, which powers the nanite in his cells," Luthor replied, then said to the researchers, "Increase the output of the nanites, I want them to work in full throttle."
'Those slashing attacks from before had even destroyed half of his heart, but it easily healed back… Heh, we're getting there… Show us what else you can do, Match.'
Back at Gotham:
Leon was in the air, holding the oversized clone by his leg and twisting him around in the air, with a smirk on his face he threw him like a sack of potatoes.
Match flew towards another building, crashing onto its middle, caving into the structure, tilting it down and collapsing the two behind it, like dominos falling one over another.
The clone immediately regained his composure, after he landed down; his muscles bulking up a bit more and the dark sclerae of his eyes becoming more bright green in the process.
He immediately zoomed around, quickly throwing each fallen building towards Leon. The tall structures were in the sky now, flying towards him.
Leon, with a grin, flew towards Match, leaving a big sonic boom behind, all the while pulling all those buildings in the sky towards himself using the Amplification.
'Limitless Amplification: Blue!' He thought, all of the structures collapsed onto a blue sphere of energy at the center and turned into a gigantic sphere of concrete and metal.
With that same grin on his face, he pulled the whole sphere with Amplification, hurling it towards Match, who could only put his hands forward, legs digging onto the pavement below.
"HAAAAAH!" A guttural roar erupted out of his throat as Match stopped the whole thing, his muscles bulging even more, his eyes glowed even more green, then out of nowhere, bright-green beams of energy rippled out of his eyes, cleanly slicing through the sphere and going straight at Leon.
Infinity stopped the beam right in front of his chest, but he could feel some blistering burn on his skin, 'Radiation?' He thought. He'd already adjusted the Six-Eyes and Infinity down to atomic and subatomic levels, but something like Ionizing Radiation or Photons? That would be harder.
'Tsk.' He flew to the side, now avoiding the beam altogether. The plasma from the energy wasn't a problem, but the radiation poisoning was.
Match took a huge leap, flying towards Leon, with his hands spread wide, covered in green energy, the rubble from the ground all lifting up in the air, covered in that same energy.
'Telekinesis.' Leon thought, a bit surprised.
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Back in Luthor's lab, they'd all been surprised, when that green beam erupted out of Match's eyes, they hadn't accounted for that.
"What's the status of his brain?" Lex asked, a bit agitated.
"The nanites are still under our control. That energy beam was just Match sending out the energy wasted while the nanites work. They're adapting each time, just like we predicted."
The holographic figure beside Lex asked, "You. Don't tell me you used that thing's DNA to create those nanites."
"We simply modeled those Nanites' structure based on Doomsday's DNA. They are nowhere close to being at its level. I doubt we'd be able to control it if it was," Luthor replied.
"Sir! Look… The sorcerer… Is he- hurt?" One of the guys sitting by the screen spoke as he pointed at it, Leon was kneeling down, Match crushed into a gruesome form a bit far from him on a crater, but was slowly healing back.
The whole city block was a rubble now. Leon got up, bleeding from his nose and ears. The insane radiation from those green beams was destroying his cells and organs. the skin on one side of his face and neck was already blistering off, he was holding on to himself through sheer tolerance of pain and CE reinforcement.
He could use the Deer, but 'Not yet…' He thought. He was looking for a way to adjust the Six-Eyes to stop the radiation damage too. He also wanted to see how far he could push himself before having to use the round deer. And if that clone could heal back even after getting diced up or crushed into a ball, then he needed something more.
Leon looked around, a few helicopters were now roaming above them, there were no standing buildings on that block right now, so they could probably see him clearly, not that he cared much.
He grabbed the side of his jacket and ripped it off, only a tight black t-shirt remaining underneath. The tattoos on his arms and neck were visible now, along with the burnt skin on the left side of his face and neck.
He cracked his neck, thinking, 'Some bad memories, huh?' He remembered the first time he saw his burnt face in that hospital.
Leon then walked towards the still healing clone, but this time Leon didn't let it happen. He raised his hand, the clone getting wrapped in a veil of blue energy as it went towards Leon.
Leon placed his hand on the clone's chest, then thought, 'CLEAVE!' Suspended in the air, the clone got barraged with thousands of slashes in mere seconds.
With each slash, Cleave was adapting to the clone's toughness. Green fluid flew around everywhere, Match's bulged arms and legs flying off of his body.
But, just when it seemed over though…
Lex, looking at the screen with a frown, said, "Go overdrive. Put the nanites in suicide mode."
"Sir, the clone will not survive this," the scientist spoke, but seeing Lex staring at him and their time running out, he pressed a few prompts on the screen and finally pressed a button.
Leon widened his eyes, there was a sudden surge of energy that he noticed going through the clone's remaining body.
All the green fluid and the arms and legs that were littered around the crater suddenly burst into green light and went into the remaining part of his body, which was still suspended in the air, all bloodied from the endless slashes.
To Leon's surprise, Match's entire body healed in a mere second, getting much bigger, his face and head getting disfigured a bit, as he looked more like a troll now.
Leon just frowned and pointed his finger at him, hitting him with blue and dismantle at the same time, the big body of the clone contorted onto a blue point and got hit with thousand other slashes that flew at him. Getting pushed far towards the Gotham Harbor.
'It didn't cut through,' Leon thought; the clone was definitely tougher now. He frowned, looking at the clone, which was fully glowing green now.
Crawling on the ground, clawing his face and unnaturally moving his disfigured body, Match looked up at the sky, screaming his lungs out and at the same time, a bright green wave of radiation with electrical discharge and heat erupted out of him, pushing back everything and leveling anything that was around him.
Infinity stopped the blunt of the energy release, but the radiation dose was almost a hundred times more this time.
Back in the lab, Match's observants were agape. This was way more chaos than what they had expected.
Lex and the leader of Light just silently stared at the aftermath of that energy wave, which disintegrated almost everything on its path.
"Sir, we've lost control of the nanites. Almost all of them have been cut off from our control in that burst of energy," one of the scientists said, and Luthor asked, "And Match, what's his status?"
"Still alive somehow- What? How's this possible? His cells are healing and getting destroyed at a rapid pace. It's getting ready for another burst of energy. We still have a chance of retrieving him. We're ready to shut him down, by your orders of course," a younger scientist replied.
"Let him be… We've learned a lot today… Whatever the results, gather all the fight data and analyze everything," Lex ordered, and they all nodded.
In the Watchtower:
The day was going normally as it had before, until everyone was called in by Batman into the observation room.
He himself was on a call with Red Tornado. "Where's Superboy?" That was his first question.
"He's right here in Mount Justice… Sir, is this about what's happening in Gotham? I haven't told the team yet. Should I-"
"Not now. Just the radiation levels around that block are off the charts… Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern are already there evacuating the surrounding area. They'll back the kid up if needed-"
Just as he was saying, J'onn came forward and looked at the big screen, "Is that another clone?"
Cyborg, sitting in front of the computer, spoke, "Cadmus apparently had more, it seems, but this one's too different. He's using pure Kryptonite like an energy source. I don't even know how that's possible, being a half Kryptonian."
Superman, who'd just entered, finally spoke, "I'm going there, we can't leave it be like this."
Before he could move though, Batman showed a clip of that energy wave on the screen, "What part of 'it's pure Kryptonite' do you not understand? You'll be down before you even reach that area."
He added, "The three of them are already there, you'll just have to trust them on this one."
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Leon had now taken the fight a bit closer to the sea, away from the city. Match was now floating on the water surface, all bloodied and seemed unmoving, but Leon could see that the clone's body was healing back faster than before.
"Is he down?" Leon heard a voice; it was Green Lantern, who was in the air along with Wonder Woman, who looked at him and asked, "That burn seems bad. Are you alright?"
"Perfectly fine…" He said with a smile, even though half of his left side was already burnt. 'I think I'm ready now. And now that they are here.'
"He's about to heal back. I have something in mind, so, can you guys keep him busy while I prepare it?" Leon asked the two.
Leon walked back, and Green Lantern asked, "You're not planning to kill him, are you?"
He just smirked and replied, "His brain's too far corrupted for him to have any sort of sane reaction now, his body's breaking down too; another wave of that energy, and whole Gotham will be uninhabitable, so don't risk yourselves by trying to save him."
Before they could say anything, Leon added, "On my signal, run away from this place, as far as you can." He clasped his hand, making a sign for the Deer, 'Round Deer, come out.' He thought.
A majestic stag with white and brown fur and branching antlers emerged out of his shadow, then he was engulfed in a pale blue light, healing his body back in seconds.
'I held pretty well, I'd say. But this also gave me the chance to adjust Infinity further.' He'd finally figured it out, as he'd fought the clone, to even block away something like radiation.
The Six-Eyes could now see even the particles or waves of radiation and could filter out probably anything that he didn't want to touch him. 'I can feel it… I'm getting closer and closer to understanding the true essence of cursed energy, I'm getting closer to RCT, just a bit more.'
Leon looked at the two, who were staring at the Deer, he pointed behind them with a smirk, "Head's up."
Wonder Woman widened her eyes and immediately pulled out the shield from her back, blocking the incoming green beams.
Match was now levitating above the water surface, aiming his attack at them. Green Lantern made a green barrier around him, the lantern's powers protecting him from the radiation.
He then pointed his fist at the clone, the water surface below him rose up, a huge shark completely made out of green energy rippled out of the water, grabbing Match by its maw and launching into the sky.
The clone widened his arms, breaking the construct apart, and then flew down towards Green Lantern at blinding speed.
Hal was barely able to create a shield in time before Match struck him with his whole body, sending him flying, breaking the shield apart.
Wonder Woman came flying towards him, bashing him with her shield, then as he was lifted up in the air, she grabbed his foot and was about to throw him away, when he looked down at her and used his green energy beam, she blocked it using the shield but was pushed back in the process.
'He isn't as strong as Superman, but fights more viciously,' she thought, pushing forward as her shield blocked the beams from the front.
Hal flew up from the rubble that he had been trapped in, a bit pissed off, he concentrated a bit more, the ring on his finger glowing brighter green. He then pointed his hands at Match, who was being kept busy by Wonder Woman.
Green Lantern gritted his teeth, concentrating a lot of power on what he was about to do next. As Match was about to fly towards Wonder Woman, two gigantic hands, constructs of the same green energy, each almost bigger than a whole skyscraper, came flying towards him from opposite directions.
Before they could reach him, Match widened his arms, holding against them. Hal, from his position, brought both his arms together, "HAAAH!" He clasped his hands together, using most of his strength.
The clone also did the same, used everything he'd got as he held on. Just then, he saw Wonder Woman just levitating right ahead of him.
She brought her arms forward and smashed her forearms, the gauntlets she was wearing clashed against each other, creating a shockwave of wind, sound, and energy that rippled towards Match, who was holding off the two big hands.
The shockwave broke apart the constructs as it pushed back the clone, just the intensity of its sound ripped his insides apart.
But even before he could crash on the ground, he was already starting to heal. Now he was on the ground, unnaturally but slowly getting up.
Hal suddenly started to feel hot, as in, the surrounding air itself was being vaporized.
Wonder Woman turned around, slightly widening her eyes, Leon's left hand was lit up in bright orange-red flames, but the fire wasn't the surprising part, it was the temperature of that flame.
Just the small kindling that was lit up in his hand was thousands of degrees, the surrounding temperature already going above a few hundred and ground beneath him getting red-hot.
Green Lantern had already created some distance, exhausted, he didn't have enough energy to protect himself from that heat.
Wonder Woman looked at the clone, who was almost healed back, then at Leon and gave a nod. She flew back, grabbing Hal along the way, then landed atop a building roof far away from the harbor that they were fighting until now.
Sukuna's voice echoed in Leon's head:
'You don't need Malevolent Shrine to unleash the Divine Flames. Think of the Divine Flames like a furnace. The Dismantle and Cleave are its fuel. The more cuts you make, the hotter the furnace becomes. And with enough slashes unleashed, it becomes hot enough to ignite the flames. And if you keep increasing the number of slashes you use, the flames become hotter.'
A few minutes before Diana and Hal had arrived, he'd already noticed the presence of the ignited flames within him, he just needed it to become more hotter and needed some more time to prepare it, as it was his first time trying to use it.
He raised his left hand, the bright beautiful flame dancing around his palm. He looked at the clone that was about to get up and, just focusing a bit, Match was pushed back towards the sea with a glistening blue energy wrapped around him.
Leon put his hands forward, placing his palms above one another, then molded the fire as if it was just a bright clay and he was just playing with it.
He then straightened his left hand, pulling back the fire with his right, extending it forward, giving it a shape of an arrow and his posture was as if he was aiming a bow.
Before the clone could regain its composure, Leon fired the flame arrow, which shot towards Match, melting everything on its path.
A straight line of hot molten slag was formed along the path that the arrow took, and the ocean water just turned into steam as the arrow passed from above.
The last thing that Match saw as he looked up was a bright point of flame flying towards him. As soon as the arrow touched him, a bright and dense orb of flames erupted outwards, disintegrating him and vaporizing the water underneath.
The big explosion of fire went into the sky, the water that was pushed back came back as a huge wave that almost drowned the entire harbor, all the flame was then concentrated at a single point in the sky where it completely disappeared.
Leon sighed a long breath; things had escalated too quickly. 'Should have just stayed at home today,' he thought, although he had a feeling that even if he hadn't come here today, the ones who'd sent that clone would have made him fight it one way or another.
'Better on my terms than theirs,' he thought with a shrug.
'Microscopic nanobots and some insane formula that uses Kryptonite, huh? They've definitely gone mad,' he thought with a smirk.
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...… To be continued!