Thragg displayed a faint smile of curiosity before a punch collided with his face. The atmosphere trembled, and a dazzling shockwave erupted, obliterating the walls and stripping away everything nearby.
His expression hardened, lessening the blow somewhat as blood seeped down the edge of his lips. A broad grin spread across Thragg's face, his eyes shining with a feral gleam, while his smile conveyed an urgent longing.
"I concur, " he remarked before mirroring the blue-eyed youth's movement by lifting his fist and hitting the boy in the abdomen. Superboy's eyes grew wide in clear surprise; he expelled a mouthful of blood that splattered onto Thragg's torn shirt before being hurled backward.
Thragg smiled with a predatory glint in his eyes before dashing forward with breathtaking speed, refusing to let such a moment slip by. In one swift motion, he seized the boy's pristine white suit, lifting him effortlessly overhead, the fabric straining against the boy's form.
With a powerful thrust, Thragg brought him crashing down onto his knee, the impact reverberating through the air as the boy gasped in shock and pain.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" The boy cried out in agony; his lungs felt on fire, his head pounded, and his sight became hazy.
A tiny being perched on the boy's shoulder buzzed, emitting a soft light from its horns. Superboy's expression instantly hardened as he dug his fingers into Thragg's side.
"You've got some audacity to grip me like this," Thragg commented, before seizing the boy's arms and yanking them upward, forcing him to let go.
Holding on still, Thragg swung Superboy upward once again, the boy's body arcing through the air before being violently slammed onto the floor. The impact generated a small shockwave that reverberated through the room, rattling loose items on nearby surfaces.
Thragg looked on in disappointment, his expression a mix of frustration and disdain, before leaping onto Superboy's back, pushing his full weight down onto the boy.
The tiny monkey-like being clinging to the boy screeched, and Thragg seized the creature, applying pressure until its eyes bulged from its head and its brain was crushed.
"Silence," he stated, exhaling a sigh.
Superboy propelled himself upward, his Kryptonian physique straining to its maximum as he rose, causing Thragg to hover steadily to avoid being toppled.
"DIE!!" Superboy screamed, his voice echoing with fury as he launched himself into the air, executing a powerful right hook that connected with Thragg's face, causing a satisfying crack.
Thragg's expression remained disturbingly neutral as he absorbed the blow, unfazed and unimpressed by the boy's effort. In a swift counter, he seized Superboy's head with a vice-like grip and drove his own forehead down into the boy's nose with brutal force.
Blood erupted from Superboy's nostrils, splattering against the pristine fabric of his white suit. His eyes glazed over momentarily, shimmering with pain before he managed to steady himself, breathing heavily.
Thragg didn't grant the boy a moment's respite; without hesitation, he drove his fist into Superboy's abdomen with brutal precision.
The impact sent the young boy hurtling down the hallway, his body colliding violently with the sturdy metal doors, which buckled under the force of his crash. The sound of crumpling steel echoed through the corridor.
(A few minutes earlier)
Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Robin were all contorting in agony as electricity coursed through their bodies, while the pods they occupied started to collect their DNA, pulling it out to facilitate the creation of clones for each of them.
Regardless, the three of them continued to seek a way out. Robin persisted in his efforts to unlock his restraints, even as the electricity caused his muscles to convulse.
Similarly, Kid Flash made his own effort by vibrating his molecules to a frequency that would enable him to move through solid matter, just as his mentor the Flash could. However, he was ultimately unsuccessful, as his powers did not match the Flash's level of proficiency.
Aqualad, on the other hand, managed to withstand the electricity much more effectively than the other two, yet he did not attempt to break free, fully aware of how pointless it would be.
Instead, he sought to reach out to the Superboy clone, hoping that the boy possessed super hearing and was paying attention.
It was as this was going on however that Desmond and Guardian both heard a disturbance outside, a sound of fighting and loud screaming, which was then followed by an explosion of force that shook the room they were in, with this soon being followed up by the body of Superboy slamming through the metal doors, breaking them open as he did so, before he then hurtled across the room.
"Superboy! I instructed you to get to…!" Desmond started with a growl, only to pause in bewilderment when he noticed the clone was bleeding from his chest, nose, and mouth, even as he groggily rose to his feet. "What happened to you?"
"Shut up!" Superboy snarled, even as he glared at the entrance, from out of which a dark-haired man casually floated in, his body a mass of muscle that surpassed that of Superboy.
"Oh, I was curious when I would come across others. Unfortunately, humans are off-limits according to Diana's request, so you can relax for the time being." Thragg said causally, his appearance catching the attention of the three sidekicks, Desmond and Guardian.
"Who are you?!" Desmond exclaimed before turning to Guardian and Superboy. "You two, take him out!"