2 Cards Dealt

"Staring is rude, you know," Match spoke to the six currently glaring at him. He switched his eyes from the cuffs that 'held' him to Aqualad, Robin, Kidflash, Miss Martian, Superboy and Artemis that were all watching him.

"It's like your evil twin," Kid Flash exclaimed when the black scleral eyes turned to look at him. Artemis gave him a jab to his ribs, all the while her eyes never leaving Match. She knew a dangerous beast when she saw one and Match was just oozing of danger. Somehow, she knew she couldn't dream of beating him if he decided to just up and trash everything. In fact, she knew none of them were, that's why she was really hoping Red Tornado was watching over them, vigilantly.

"Nice place you got here, Kr, definitely an upgrade from the claustrophobic pod that we called home," Match said while looking around. They had blindfolded him when bringing him in with a cloth lined with lead. But they did not know I already knew their location, Meta-knowledge for the win.

"My name is not Kr, I am Superboy!" Superboy growled, almost crossing over and putting his hands on me before Miss Martian stopped him, probably talking to him telepathically for he calmed down.

"Hmm, already got yourself a girlfriend to keep you grounded, nice," Match continued. "But out of all of the species you just had to go for the most racist species in the universe, huh? What would happen when you get children and decide to introduce them to their heritage? They would be mocked, belittled and most likely killed by her species." His voice was as if he was giving him advice but they could all feel the dripping loathe to Martians in his voice.

"You have something against me?" Miss Martian asked with a frown. He looked at her before calming himself down.

"Do you know why we were made, Kr?" Match continued speaking to Superboy as if the others did not exist.

"We were created to kill and replace Superman should be ever turn from the Light," Superboy answered dutifully. Match chuckled at his naivety.

"We are puppets, Kr, made to kill Superman and nothing else. We were never to replace him, once the job is done, we would be killed off and everything of our existence scrubbed off," Match seriously said. "From the looks of it, you have been living outside for a long time and exchanged one master to another."

"I am nobody's puppet!" Superboy shouted in anger, about to lash out to him but Miss Martian restrained him while giving Match a glare. Match chuckled at this, while his acute hearing caught up the sound of approaching footsteps.

"You don't see it but you have a hand so up your ass it is dictating everything you do," Match said before leaning forward as if to tell him a secret. "At the end of the day, we are just killers on a short leash."

"Team, you're dismissed," a deep gravy voice suddenly spoke up, spooking the team. Batman and Wonderwoman walked in while carrying the stack of papers, an ever present frown on his cowl. The team of youngsters were about to obey when Superboy saw the mocking smirk on Match's face, making him turn to Batman defiantly.

"If you have anything to say to him then you can say it in front of us, we're no leaving," Superboy stubbornly said, arm crossed over his chest as he exchanged Batman's glare. The rest of the team were lost for a second before matching Superboy's stance. But Robin was squirming for he knew Batman best.

"We might as well get this over with," Wonderwoman told him.

Match on the other hand was overjoyed by what he was seeing. Superboy was a mere child in front of him and like children, he was very impressionable. He knew what he had written in those papers and from Superman's stance with Superboy, he knew the Kryptonian would refuse his request. The request was about using his prime DNA for it.

Due to now having two clones on the lose, both created to kill him, Match knew Superman would be hot headed in refusing. But, he was too soft to tell him in the face so he sent Batman and Wonderwoman to do it. So, he needed witnesses and what better witnesses than the proteges. Batman glared at him, knowing he knew what was going to happen next and was not amused.

"You request is not reasonable," Batman said, slamming the papers on the table.

"Not reasonable or not feasible?" Match asked.

"Do you expect us to believe you came up with these calculations on your own?" Batman asked.

"Are they wrong? Or is it that none of you understand them. If it's the latter I can say I came to the wrong people. Perhaps Lex Luther was the correct choice," Match continued on. Batman was not relenting. He took a page and showed to him.

"This formula you cmare calling the Saren formula, none of it has even been proved. We simply cannot test in on you without doing further research," he said.

"Then you will be killing me," Match did not back down.

"What's going on?" Superboy asked for the rest of the team for they were completely lost. Match slank back on his chair giving Batman a look that made him frown even more.

"Batman is just using corporate talk to inform me Superman is refusing to help me. See, unlike your DNA Kr, mine is stupidly unstable. The more I use my power even to absorb more sunlight, the closer and closer the deadline closes on the inevitable. Those are the full research on how to save me but Mr Perfect and his stooges are here to tell me that our donor is too high on his moral high ground to save me...in a nice corporate way," Match answered, his eyes never leaving Batman's.

"It's not that he is refusing, he is just confused by everything's that happening," Wonderwoman tried to mitigate the damage Match had caused. But this causes his to birst into a uproarious laughter.

"He's confused about saving me? Why? Does he need an incentive to do it, probably a moral reason do it. Fine, I'll give him one," Match said as his eyes started glowing red.

"Watch out!" Batman cried out in warning, already going to cover Robin but Match's target was never any of them but the ceiling above them.

His lasers shot out of of his eyes and started wrecking the surrounding. He increased the intensity, completely disregarding the sizzling of flesh coming from his eyelids and eyesocket. The others looked on in shock as tumors suddenly started appearing on his face, spreading to his right hand. They grew fast as the lasers started diminishing. The tumors started to deform the right part of his body to slowly. Before he could completely use up his energy and become a Bizarro, he stopped and turned to look at Batman who had a disturbed scowl on.

"Is this enough incentive. Tell him tomorrow I will use up the rest of my energy and completely die out," Match told him while panting.

"You are using emotional blackmail to make him save you, he is not going to accept," Batman comtinued playing hardball but Match strainedly chuckled at this .

"When I fully lose my energy, my DNA will completely destabalize which means my intelligence, my will, will be lost forever. Superman will be the cause of that. You will have killed an intelligent being and soon after, my body will follow. So, tell me Batman, how's the moral high ground working for you?" Match asked, a deformed grin on his face.

"You are a sinister one aren't you?" Wonderwoman jumped in. He looked at her like he was looking at an idiot.

"They are the cards you dealt me," he answered plainly.