Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10 or Legion Of Superheroes.

Greetings fanfic readers of the internet. Hope you all had a great New Years! And with a new year comes a new story. Like my other new story "The Ultimate Legend", this crossover combo is rare and the first of its kind, and will work on this during my spare time. I thought I'd get this out of the way before I officially start school again on the 15th of Feb. Technically this is my second try at a Ben 10/Legion of Superheroes x-over. The first one, even though got good support from few readers, a good story flow and lacked materials and good scope. But after re-watching Legion Of Superheroes I'm confident I'll do better this time.

PS, this story was partially inspired by J-Ryder's "Green Legionnaire" story. I recommend you read it some time.

Chapter 1: A Crack In Time

The city of Bellwood was buzzing with noise as people were out and about, driving along the streets, pedestrians walking across the sidewalks, or just hanging around the general area in the warm summer afternoon. It appeared to be a rather normal day in the urban area, which was rare considering the daily actions of a certain hero.

Far away from the busy city was the suburb, surprisingly rather quiet save for few kids darting across the local shops decorating the area. One of the stores was a small, yellow infrastructure with a sign that read "Max's Plumbing" stuck just above the entrance. Inside, all sorts of sanitation tools were strewn about, organized upon shelves, walls, and within the display case of the countertop. Beyond the supplies themselves and past a green curtain shielding the door to washroom included just a toilet and a sink. However, contrasting the initial appearance of the store, beneath the hard floors of the somewhat grotesque lavatory, an elevator emblazoned with a strange, green hourglass symbol was speeding down, heading to the bottom of what was formerly the Plumber HQ, which was relatively nothing more than a metal room with a large, round, green glowing platform upon its floor. A human officer exited the elevator and rushed over to the dais, followed by few more of his companions.

"Agent Ellie to base," He called out. "…ten to transport."

An abrupt bright flash enveloped the place before the group disappeared into thin air, leaving no trace of their presence behind.

In the outer depths of the space, a Plumber HQ station was floating, within the orbit of the planet Earth as it span slowly like a moon. Inside the station, the Plumbers troops from before rematerialized upon another round platform, effectively confirming the teleporting potency of the mechanical unit as the troops quickly hopped down from the platform and headed out to their respective duties. The others occupants, ranked high and low, were working hastily at their assigned positions, ensuring to work their duties to absolute perfection.

Further within the station, a teenager laid on the plush, red couch, having his arms outstretched across the soft surface, watching a show that featured sumo wrestlers on the television before him. Seventeen years of age, he bared shaggy brown hair, pale green emerald eyes, pale and slightly tanned skin, with a lean, muscular build of average height. Adding further to his appearance was a black shirt with a broad green stripe in the middle and a white 10 and more green stripes on the sides of his shirt, paired up with brown trousers, decorated with pockets around knees, and green and white shoes to go along with it. Finishing his attire was a white hooded jacket with more similar green stripes on both arms and another green number 10 imprinted on the right side. However, the most noticeable feature was a white, black, and green digital watch of sorts was clasped around his left wrist, with a black touchpad that he was currently fiddling with, which displayed a holographic dial of different faced creatures.

He's none other than the famous, intergalactic superhero, whose legend exceeded most, the savior of universe, Ben Tennyson; known throughout the universe as Ben 10; the bearer of the Azmuth's greatest creation, the Omnitrix; the most powerful creation in the universe that stores the genetic code for over a million sentient life-forms and offers the wielder the opportunity to experience becoming anyone of those life-forms.

However, the current one was the modified duplicate version of his old prototype with new features installed to it. It stilled had retained his unlocked aliens and had the evolutionary matrix reinstalled to allow his aliens to go ultimate once again. Apparently Azmuth believes Albedo's early Ultimatrix was an inferior glitch filled piece of tech, but the potent benefit of the evolution mechanism couldn't be ignored and so he installed it to this new Omnitrix design, after installing and confirming the proper safety features so that they'll be no chance for any aliens consciousness to awaken like with Ghostfreak and the Ultimate Aliens. The Omnitrix was also installed with a network link up system so that it remained connected to the Plumber HQ database and is capable of displaying any information and navigational coordinates by tapping into satellites or recorded charts of multiple planets that have been explored by the Plumbers. The Omnitrix had also retained its DNA analyzer and genetic restoration matrix to heal unstable DNA codes.

Needless to say, Ben loved the new watch more than anything, although he still wishes Azmuth would consider unlocking the master control. However, that doesn't prevent him from still trying random codes to see if he gets lucky, but until then much to his chagrin, no such luck; nor he'd even managed to even unlock any new aliens to add to his arsenal. Well, if what Azmuth said about offering him the master control on his eighteenth birthday was anything to take seriously then he just needed to be patient and wait for his next birthday.

He'd spent the year attaining to more missions with his new companion Rook Blanko, whom he has come to call as partners. Although, he still found his know-it-all attitude to be rather annoying and him misunderstanding human behaviors and expressions on every occasion was simply another talk that would leave even him speechless. Nevertheless he's gotten along better with him and had come to regard him as a new best friend.

Letting out a tired and stretched yawn, he continued to enjoy his favorite show, grinning with droopy eyes. "Ah," He sighed deeply. "This is the life." He murmured in utter satisfaction, feeling completely relaxed upon the soft plush surface supporting his back. Suddenly, the screen of the television died out in a flash prompting an indignant protest from him. "Hey!" He shouted, frowning as he tilted his head to notice his alien partner, Rook Blonko towering over him, holding a remote in his hands, clad in his trademark Proto-Tech armor, with his Proto-Tool mounted upon his left shoulder.

"So fighting criminals has become mundane as well?" Rook guessed, raising an eyebrow in suspicion as he grinned.

"Uh, heh heh." The Omnitrix bearer chuckled in response as he pushed himself on his feet and turned to face him. "Well, when you've seen how your entire universe got created…" He began. "…you tend to get a little bored." He admitted, scratching the side of his head sheepishly.

"So everything after what we had witnessed…" The Magister started to realize. "…was not as entertaining to you?"

"Nope." Ben replied sagely, crossing his arms in defiance. "As far as I know, there's nothing that can possibly outdo what we saw." He stated as a matter of factly.

"Eh…true." The Revonnahgander agreed, stroking his chin. "I suppose that-"

"HELP!"

The scream interjected Rook mid-sentence as he and Ben noted the green laser beams raining down all across the area but mostly meant to pelt the one assailant, whose appearance was more that of a samurai, armored in silver and black clothing, face obscured behind helmets with purple, tinted visors, while a glowing purple, power sword held in his hand, swinging upon the closing Plumbers, slicing their blasters cleanly into pieces and disarming them, prompting the defenders to flee for lack of choice. And, the horde of men following him didn't exactly help much to boost Plumbers confidence.

Ben and Rook gasped in shock. "Eon!?" The former of the two muttered, narrowing his eyes in seriousness as he clenched his hands angrily.

...

Hollering sounds of retreating agents filled the corridor and monitor room as their rather advanced tech weapons proved ineffective against the blades of the samurai's. Noting the panic among men and women, the Omnitrix bearer and the alien Magister clenched their teeth, showing immediate worry to the appalling situation.

"How were both Eon and his minions able to get into the Headquarters!?" The latter of the two demanded as he dismounted his Proto-Tool from his left shoulder, and prepared himself.

"Time traveler and dimensional jumper, remember?" Ben responded rhetorically, causing his partner to blink while he recalled something. "Though, don't know who he's teamed up with this time." He shrugged tapping the lid of Omnitrix, causing a small, holographic, circular screen with icons to appear. "But I know they're not getting away with anything!" He declared, scrolling through the index of faces until he came across one with a pointed head. The lid then slid forward, allowing the core dial to pop up.

The Revonnahgander had meantime remodeled his Proto-Tool into a power sword with glowing orange saber; the Omnitrix bearer slamming his right hand atop the dial causing a green flash of light to explode from him. When the light faded away, the luminosity revealed him as four feet tall, monkey-like alien with light blue fur. He had four arms, six green eyes, and his light blue hair, which had tinge of grayish-white streaks in it, was flipped up. The parts of his body that weren't covered in fur were all dark blue while the Omnitrix dial stood on his chest, with four green sashes connected to it that were wrapped around his body. He also had grown a tail with two grayish-white striped at the end of it.

"SPIDERMONKEY!"

The samurai's attentions were diverted toward the emerald flash where they noted the Arachnichimp and the Revonnahgander standing their ground. The former turned to his partner and cracked his knuckles. "Hey Rook, you know what time it is?"

"Uh…perhaps twelve-thirty, more or less, I assume?"

Spidermonkey groaned at his partner's obliviousness. "No! It's Hero Time!" He corrected mentally face-palming before rushing forward and somersaulting towards the unprepared enemy horde. Flipping forward through the wild swinging of energy swords and barely deluding them, he launched himself at the farthest of his assailants and delivered a triple uppercut, effectively knocking out one before he quickly spun around, molding his agile body according to his will and ramming his knee into another's face, sending the man skidding backward and crashing into farthest of wall.

Rook charged forward with his blade deployed and ducked beneath a swipe meant to impale his head before he quickly parried the blade closing in on him from his side. Retaliating quickly, he pushed forward before strafing to the side and countering with a vertical swipe that down one of his many assailants. Stepping forward, he began charging with countless swipes of his sword, each quickly either parried to the side or struck thin air. Quickly, noting another blade drawing closer, Rook quickly retreated only for intercepting two more blades, barely by a width margin from his neck. However, the force and momentum send him skidding backward as he struggled against the overpowering duo. Gnashing his teeth together, Rook let out a battle cry and breaking through the stalemate, he pushed the minions backward, their weapons flung away from their grasps from surprising effort, making them vulnerable for him to attack, which he did adding two more on his defeated list. Noting more of his adversaries charging at him, he reacted quickly and twisted the green, hourglass symbol upon his Proto-Tool, causing it emit bright green glow.

"SPLIT FUNCTION ACTIVATED!" A mechanical voice announced before the Proto-Tool began glowing bright orange, creating a symmetrical shape of the Proto-Tool.

The Magister acted accordingly and pulled the contraption from opposite sides, effectively splitting the Proto-Tool into two similar replicas, each modeling into smaller shape than the original. He held the energy saber in his right hand while the other replica turned into an energy shield, which he used to parry away the first swipe before knocking down the assailant and staving off the body tackle and thrusting his blade aside to fend off more of his adversaries before rushing forward into the stumbling grunt and using him as a springboard, he performed a omni-directional swipe; three more of the grunts collapsing in a heap.

Meanwhile, Spidermonkey used his webbing to lasso another unsuspecting samurai and bypassing a purple swipe, he swung the trapped man, hammering away probably dozen more of the minions before finally decking his supposed hammer into the wall and adding another count to the semi-conscious bodies on the floor. The alien simian grinned cheekily at his accomplishment and bowed slightly taunting the dawdling group of samurai before leaping forward and stomping his feet into the faltering grunt, and lunging at the further two members, driving his eager fists into their faces; their bodies collapsing down with a loud thud shortly after.

"Ben!"

A familiar voice enticed the Arachnichimp to look up and see Max Tennyson on the above floor, tagging along him were three other senior Plumbers, fencing the troop of minions piling them. "Hang on, grandpa!" Spidermonkey shouted in reassurance, before using his web to swing himself to the upper floor and landed right beside the human Magister. However, before Max could utter anything, the clattering sounds of more swords prompted them to note the purple vortex coughing out dozens of more foes.

"Aw, man." Spidermonkey groaned, his shoulder slumped slightly before he lunged forward into the mess again, effectively knocking out couple of foes caught off guard only for more grunts to replace them. Spidermonkey got into fighting stance and crooked a hand at them. "So, who's going first?" No sooner the taunt left his mouth, a couple dozen more of the grunts backed up the group and towered over the Arachnichimp.

The Plumbers was dispatching few of the Eon's servants, however with their growing numbers, it barely helped in reducing their quantity as more began filling the station.

Rook, meanwhile rammed his force-field shield into yet another grunt before reverse sidestepping to parry the blade closing at him from behind and pushing him backward, only for more trying to dog-pile him; the only thing preventing that was his superior skills and experience. Effectively performing a counter attack, he dispatched another oair of samurais before tackling the third one sneaking on him from behind and striking him down with the tail of his sword. Turning around, his eyes were drawn toward his allies struggling against the oncoming servants through the portal, swarming them and realized the futility of their attacks. "Ben!" He shouted to the monkey-like alien as he fended another blade meant to impale his torso. "You need to close off that portal!"

"You think, I don't know that?!" Spidermonkey shot back indignantly, slightly distracted that proved fatal enough as a punch sent him staggering back, tripping behind and falling on his back, grunting in pain. "Okay," He groaned, pushing himself off on his feet. "Time for a timeout!" He declared, slapping the Omnitrix symbol upon his chest.

In nanoseconds, his body transformed in another emerald flash and a robot-like alien with a larger body stood out; his skin apparently made of copper or brass-like metal, with black stripes and a transparent piece of green hexagonal glass, revealing gears inside of him. He had a round, short head with a semi-triangular appendage on top while on his back; he had a black stripe that splits in two stripes with a keyhole between them, and the Omnitrix symbol stood proudly on the glass piece on his body.

"CLOCKWORK!" He shouted, strangely in a German accent. "And now for a little clock-verking!" He exclaimed as he extended his arms forward and fired forth beams of green light at the grunts, that instantly froze them in place; not in ice but as if someone had pressed the pause button and they seemed to have ceased moving as to his will. "Heh." He chuckled at his accomplishment.

"Good thinking, Ben." Max complimented the bio-mechanical alien; the latter stepped forward, bypassing the frozen servants and stood in front of the swirling rift. The gears within his body began rotating before he fired forth another giant beam of green light from his chest that upon making contact with the portal prompted it to diminish and disappear in a flash of light; the troop of enemies disappeared in purple flashes as an aftereffect, much to the surprise of the human Magister and his fellow officers.

Even the servants' dog-piling the Revonnahgander disappeared into thin air much to the latter surprise and noting the danger not lurking anymore, he reconnected his Proto-Tool to its original form and hasted to his partner and his allies, mounting the weapon upon his left shoulder. "It appears that the portal was the only thing able to keep the soldiers within this time period." He noted, "But I doubt that includes Eon." He pointed out.

"Right." Clockwork agreed. "Ve need to vind him, quickly." He stated with a clenched right fist.

"How?" His partner asked with an arched eyebrow. "Knowing him, he could be anywhere within the base." He muttered, rubbing his chin in contemplation. The time-walking villain had disappeared, letting his grunts ambush them and keep them distracted for whatever he must have come here for.

"I've got an idea." The Chronosapien responded. "Don't if it'll verk though…" He admitted. "…but it's verth a shot." He decided, as the protrusion upon his head began to spin counter-clockwise; his mind began searching throughout the complex of the station, flashing from area to area until he caught sight of a figure within a small room, having blue lines aplenty on the walls, including a central pillar shaped like a hexagon, reaching all the way up and connecting to the ceiling. He gasped in realization, catching the attentions of his comrades.

"Did you find him!?" Max asked.

"He's in de storage vault!" Clockwork exclaimed and quickly tapped the Omnitrix symbol and transformed once again. This time, he shifted into a humanoid Velociraptor-like alien with a black tail that had blue stripes, a blue face with green eyes and black lips, a pointed head that was more like a helmet, and black balls attached to his blue feet that looked more like wheels. On top of that, the Omnitrix symbol was still on his chest, over a green color strip on his torso.

"XLR8!" He hissed. "Time for a speed run, partner!" He declared grabbing Rook by his arm. Before the Revonnahgander could protest, they disappeared in a black-and-blue blur that dashed its way towards the storage room at an astounding speed.


Down in the small room that was proclaimed as the storage vault was the evil time walker; donning a black helmet with a purple visor upon his head, though his face was still visible through it as it appeared repulsive, being long and thin, with a wide mouth, greyish skin, a flattened nose, dark lines under his eyes, and thin, black lips. He was also wearing silver gauntlets and boots, and also silver shoulder pads on his black jacket. Completing his attire was a black bodysuit, which had some purple lines and a silver collar that covered his entire neck.

He was alone after his minions had suddenly disappeared, indicating the possibility of how much time he had remaining as he stood in front of the central pillar of the vault, as a panel upon it slid out, with steam billowing from it.

"There it is," Eon uttered, his eyes widening as he reached with his right hand into the small cloud of steam and pulled out a stone-like object that glowed with an ominous blue light. "The Gem of Zion is finally mine." He proclaimed, holding the small, luminous gem in his hand. 'If I'm not mistaken, then this was the day that Ben Tennyson disappears.'

Abruptly, interrupting his musing was a black-and-blue blur that sped into the room and skidded to stop in front of him. "All right, Eon!" XLR8 began. "Whatever you're tryin' to get, you ain't getting it." He stated with a serious glare. The Revonnahgander shook off the nausea feeling and deployed his Proto-blaster, aimed at the time walker.

Eon merely smirked. "Ben Tennyson and Rook Blonko." He noted; his demeanor was strangely appalling to the duo that confused them. "I assume you're expecting a 'partner' of mine to show up and reveal that he's the mastermind?" He guessed, raising an eyebrow as the two shared a glance.

"Uh…maybe?" The Kineceleran responded unsurely, causing the pale skinned villain to cackle loudly, prompting the duo to grit their teeth angrily.

"I've learned my lesson from trusting Vilgax and Maltruant." Eon chuckled. "From now on, I'm working alone." He proclaimed arrogantly. "Besides, I've had a plan for a while now…" He mentioned with an evil grin.

"And what would that be?" XLR8 asked somewhat hesitantly.

Eon sneered. "Do you know how many wars I've been into in order to find this gem? I'm a human precognition! Any move you try, Tennyson, I can predict!"

"Then, predict this!" XLR8 retorted before he rushed at Eon; just as the latter initiated a vortex behind him. The Kineceleran body tackled into his foe, and before Rook could reach out and grab his partner, the alien hero and time walker were sucked into the portal and the vortex was already closed.

"BEN!"

...

"Let go!" Eon demanded as he and Ben, the latter having reverted back to his human form, tumbled through the endless void that was the time stream. "The gem belongs to me, foolish boy!" He shouted, trying hard to get the Omnitrix bearer's hold off of him.

"Not on your life!" Ben retorted, grabbing the gem tightly and twisting his body around, he kicked away Eon out of the way. Unfortunately for Eon, he wasn't able to maintain his balance and was effectively knocked out of the time stream, disintegrating him into pure light.

Ben panicked as he struggled to stay inside the time stream. "How do I get out of here!?" He cried out, distressed before he phased through a stream toward a light, where Eon had went through.

...

New Metropolis, 3015

An abrupt tear in the air created a strange distortion before the disruption shaped into a vortex and a brunette fell down from it and crashed on the hard surface of street face-first and groaned deeply. Trying to shake off the death feeling from a few moments ago, he slowly pushed himself on his feet and rubbed his spinning head.

"Ow...where am I?" Ben wondered aloud before his instincts kicked in and he flung himself to the side to dodge an incoming car. However, much to his utter astonishment, the car was…hovering. "What the…?"

"Watch where ya going, you troglodyte!" The driver yelled at him, earning his immediate attention and to his further shock, the driver had a chicken-like face that was turned at him and uttering gibberish and he barely needed another second to recognize him as an alien.

"What planet did I end up on now?" Ben wondered with a strange hollowness in the pit of stomach as he rushed out of the street to dodge incoming traffic.

Blowing a deep breath, he ambled along the sidewalk and noted the weird inhabitants around him, including a human teenage girl wearing some kind of futuristic clothing he'd seen on TV and holding hands with a large humanoid alien composed of stone. Then, an elephant man doing manual labor and transporting some boxes from a hovering truck, and the strangest of all was a white-colored alien walking a large, orange dog with no eyes that reminded him of someone from his wide arsenal of alien DNA.

"I am definitely not in Bellwood anymore." His musing was interrupted from familiar cry of help from people running and screaming, and the probable source of the chaos seems to be a bank at the far end of the street, which read: 'New Metropolis National Bank'. "New Metropolis!?"

Discarding his thoughts to ponder for later, the teen hero rushed toward the bank, and eventually found himself at the steps of the bank when for a split second, he probably picked the sound of a girl screaming in pain. Going instinctually when anyone's in need for help, Ben was about to activate the Omnitrix and storm into the bank when the front of the building exploded; the several large shards of glass flew in the teen's direction. Ben dived toward the ground, covering his head as he did so and picked the sound of glass and pieces of metals clattering against the ground, and some fell upon his back but barely hurt him. Certain that the danger had ceased; he rolled and began to stand up when stepping out of the burning building was a ten-foot tall, muscular man clad in a green bodysuit and energy crackling in his hands.

(A/N: Mantis is a New God from Apokolips. His powers are immortality, superhuman strength, speed, reflexes, stamina, agility and durability, energy absorption, manipulation and projection, ability to generate heat, cold and anti-matter and flight.)

The man stared down at the brunette and frowned. "You shouldn't be here, kid. You could get hurt." He spoke rhetorically as a ball of pure energy materialized in his palm before he hurled it straight at the still astonished brunette. The latter barely got enough time to react and he might have been toast if he hadn't found himself being knocked to the ground by an unseen force. Wincing slightly, Ben let out an inaudible grunt as the energy ball zoomed past over his head.

Ben groaned and muttered something incoherently as he sat up again to find the man pissed. Following his gaze, the brunette's jaw dropped at the sight of a girl around his age, and not just any woman. This particular female seemed more like a Native-American in a long feathered sleeved yellow leotard and yellow boots with her toes exposed, and exposed cleavage windowed down to her naval, the asset at which he struggled to not ogle at as blood rushed to his face, and the most distinguishing feature of her were the pair of long wings on her back.

"You're starting to get on my nerves, girly. You and your friends back there." The man snarled, jerking his thumb back toward the bank.

The winged-girl ignored the man and turned to regard Ben with worried eyes. "Get out of here, kid!"

'Kid? I'm almost eighteen.' Ben sweat dropped at his thought as blood instantly drained from his face. However, before he could protest, the unnamed girl flew into the air and lashed out with a right hook at the unnamed man.

"You think can hurt the mighty Mantis?" The man asked cockily as he lazily reached out and grabbed the strike before propelling her in the air with an energy blast in her torso. Apparently, he was really pissed too which would explain his move to finish the event with one blow when he was assaulted by a psionic attack, enticing him to clutch the sides of his head as he futilely struggled to stifle his agonized cry.

From the bank emerged two more teens; a girl and a boy. The blonde girl, sporting a pink and white uniform and probably was responsible for the mental attack, dropped on Mantis, and accompanying her was a teenage boy with crimson hair, a lighting shaped scar on his right eye, with yellow lightning streaks on his blue suit, and white pants with yellow boots on to complete his attire.

Recovering quicker than expected, Mantis countered with another bolt of energy at the reemerged heroes, the energy sphere surprisingly catching the winged girl off guard and hitting her dead-on and instantly freezing her solid in a chunk of ice. The blonde girl rushed forward and caught the frozen comrade before she hit the floor and shattered into pieces, only to be blasted away by another one of Mantis's energy blast.

"Saturn Girl!" The red-headed boy glared at Mantis with an angered look in his eyes. "You're toast!" He growled and backed up his words with a blast of blue electricity. However, the latter merely grinned smugly and made no attempt to dodge the energy bolt as the blast struck him. Instead of being pushed back or showing any sign of discomfort from the attack, Mantis smirked in delight as the energy was swiftly absorbed into his body and his entity began glowing slightly from new found energy surging through his stature.

The boy's eyes widened; he didn't see that coming.

'Energy absorption, huh? Just like Feedback and Chromastone.' Ben summarized, curiously, not sure whether to interfere in something which he knew nothing about.

"Foolish Legionnaires!" Mantis snarled as he grabbed Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl by their throats and heaved them into the air. "Lightning can't hurt me!"

"Hey! Let them go!" Ben demanded, catching their immediate attention, finally unable to help himself backing out when people are in need.

"Or else what?" Mantis asked sarcastically, smirking at the growing discomfort of his two victims in his grasp.

"Or else this!" Ben growled, going back to searching through his index of aliens, sliding its lid open and allowing the dial to pop up. "It's Hero Time!" He slammed the dial down, and his body exploded into green light before it dissipated to reveal a massive, nine-foot armored being, shaped more like a heavy oven-like walking suit. The suit had a handle on its head, and the shoulders had bolts while three more bolts were present on each of his hand and two on the chest. The being's helmet was attached into the shoulders and had three grills where there was an ominous orange light was visible. And, the last but not the least, the Omnitrix symbol stood proudly on his chest.

"NRG!" The being proclaimed in a thick Russian accent, as everyone stared at him in utter shock and astonishment. Needless to say, their expressions was enough to define the sudden boost in the Omnitrix wielder's confidence and he took advantage of Mantis' stupefied state to fire a dense beam of radiation from the grills of his helmet.

Being caught completely off guard by the sudden transformation of teen whom he'd directed as kid moments ago, Mantis couldn't prepare himself to absorb the energy and upon impact, he was sent careening back into the burning infrastructure, relinquishing his grasp on the two teens in the process.

NRG walked over to them and helped them up their feet.

"Thank you." Saturn Girl said in gratitude to the armored alien, still surprised from the transformation.

"So, what do I call you and your friends?" NRG questioned, deciding to get the formalities out of the way.

The blond girl took a few seconds to answer, considering that their savior was a human teen who had suddenly turned into a walking oven. Even though, a walking oven is least of her concern, but the transformation still bothered her. Finally she replied. "I'm Saturn Girl. And this is Lightning Lad." She said, regarding the red-headed boy. "That's Dawnstar." She finished, gesturing to the winged-girl, who was still frozen in ice.

"Allow me." NRG walked over to Dawnstar and held a glowing hand against the ice that has trapped her within. He didn't want to risk exposing her to his radiation, not knowing how it would effect her, so to play it safe he only melted the ice down to a couple of inches, allowing the winged-girl to easily break the rest with her own physical strength.

"So, can you guys still fight?" NRG asked, ensuring his fellow heroes were still fit for duty or were not going to share the same fate again.

Dawnstar smiled. "Always." She answered while punching her hand.

Before the other two could respond, Lightning Lad was blasted by a familiar energy attack that sent him crashing into a nearby building. NRG and the two girls noticed Mantis emerging from the broken bank infrastructure, and boy did he look mad and his angry gaze was set on NRG.

"I don't know what you are, boy." Mantis muttered. "But no one makes a fool out of me and gets away with it!"

"Really?" NRG asked pretending to be surprised. "Den I guess I must be de first." He added, earning giggles from the two girls while Mantis merely snarled in annoyance.

"You dare mock me, insolent whelp?!" Mantis demanded angrily. "You shall pay dearly for that!" He roared, his fists cloaked in energy.

"Sorry." NRG folded his arms. "I don't carry cash."

Mantis growled at the snarky response from the walking oven and discharged another energy beam intended to eviscerate his adversary and the other teen heroes standing behind him. Dawnstar pushed Saturn Girl outta way, while NRG stood his ground and took the blunt force of the attack, the bolt harmlessly ricocheting off his extremely durable armor plating. NRG would have smirked if possible and crooked a hand at the snarling Mantis. As predicted, the latter fell for the taunt and charged at the Prypiatosian-B like a wild bull.

NRG once again stood his ground and his armor began glowing red; digging his feet into the ground he braced himself for the inevitable impact. An energy coated assaulting limb impaled the sturdy armor and no sooner the heat torn through the energy surrounding the limb and registered by Mantis that he instantly recoiled back at the tremendous burning sensation. However, before Mantis could get away from his rather outwitting adversary, NRG used the distraction to reach forward and grip the New God and wrapped him into a crushing bear hug.

"Is it hot in here, or is it just me?" NRG quipped as his armor transmitted the mind-boggling heat into Mantis' body and fumes began evaporating from latter. Mantis gritted his teeth to prevent the pained cry threatening to tear his throat apart. If NRG's face was visible, one could see him smirking. "Oh, maybe is me."

Mantis' body exploded in energy that was enough to force NRG to loosen his grip and the slight distraction was enough for Mantis to drill his energy cloaked fist into NRG's helmet prompting a loud clattering noise. Ignoring the heat, Mantis pushed backward and sent NRG staggering backward before he reached forward and grabbing NRG by his helmet, he tossed the Prypiatosian-B into another building, burying him in rubble.

Mantis wasn't much worse for the wear, except for burns marks on his body. He smirked confidently, wiping the beads of sweat on his forehead as he thought that the tables might have turned when NRG's armored body suddenly shot through the rubble and debris, and struck the unsuspecting Mantis and sent him flying into a truck.

The teen heroes turned toward the rubble and noted a mysterious new being emerging from the debris and building chunks. The being was humanoid, but apparently composed of red and yellow energy, and donned two suspender straps with green buckles on them, a belt with the Omnitrix symbol for the buckle, two wristbands on both arms and two knee braces on both legs with green buckles on the braces. Sporting a savaging grin like the kind one might have seen carved on a pumpkin for Halloween where the inside was completely white, and he seems to have had lightning shaped bolts for eyes.

This was NRG's true form, hovering in the air.

Mantis tossed the armor aside, as he looked at NRG's real form. "So you decided to reveal your true form. But it won't do you much good." He claimed.

The now unarmored and unrestrained NRG smirked confidently. "Wanna bet?"

Rather than a verbal reply, Mantis brought his hands together, creating a gargantuan energy ball in the hollow part of his palms and hurled it over at NRG. He figured since his adversary was without his armor, his attacks could hurt NRG and as he predicted, the blast encompassed the energy being completely. Mantis grunted in satisfaction. However his satisfied mood lasted only for a second before it quickly replaced by shock when he and Legionnaires noted the energy whirling around before it began to shrink and NRG was revealed absorbing the energy into his palms much to their utter amazement.

After absorbing the energy completely, NRG let out breath of satisfaction. "Ah, now that was a delicious meal." NRG said while patting where his stomach supposed to be.

Gritting his teeth in anger, Mantis punched the ground with his energy cloaked fist; the aftermath was a tremendous shockwave that levelled everything in its path, including the already destroyed bank. NRG and the other teen heroes quickly flew into the air to avoid the shockwave that was strong enough to blow anyone of them away.

"Oh great." Lightning Lad muttered. "Now he's twice as mad."

NRG glanced at them, his smirk never leaving. "And hopefully, twice as sloppy too." He proceeded to perform series of hand-signals at the three, instructing them of his plan. Lightning Lad, momentarily surprised, quickly grew a smirk of his own as he motioned the girls to follow him.

NRG grinned himself as he floated in front of Mantis. He knew that while Mantis' ability is extremely powerful, if there was one thing he knew about energy absorbers, it's that they always had limits; limits which shouldn't be exceeded. Something he doubted Mantis knew.

"Well, let's find out whether he knew." NRG said to himself as he thrusts his arms towards the New God and countered with a massive ejection of a radioactive energy beam, impaling Mantis dead on. The latter prepared this time, grinned smugly as overconfidence was dripping from his face and began absorbing the massive energy; his body glowing brighter as he fed on the radiation and the excess energy surged throughout his being.

He sensed movement behind him and presumed it to be the missing red-head when a concentrated blast of electricity struck him at the back. Hardly fazed, he continued to absorb everything he got. NRG and Lightning Lad continued to pour their energy, draining themselves and feeding their adversary.

The excess draining of energy began taking its toll upon Lightning Lad and NRG but the sudden shift and waver in Mantis' confident demeanor was enough to keep them fuelled and Mantis's confident smirk was replaced by discomfort and disbelief. He felt his frame beginning to swell and bulge in random places as his ability to absorb energy began exceeding his limits and it was only a matter of seconds before he went to critical state, almost beyond his limit.

"Too…much…energy…" Mantis grunted; his voice strainful before he let out an agonizing scream of an appalling pitch, and he exploded into a massive spherical orb of bright light that caused a rift in the air and shockwaves to tear through it, prompting NRG and Lightning Lad to shield their eyes from the mere intensity. Once the light faded, the heroes saw the unconscious battered form of Mantis; his body still glowing dimly from the lack of energy.

Certain that the enemy was down for good, NRG flew back into his suit and sealed himself within before he approached the others who had gathered around unconscious Mantis. Saturn Girl tapped a button on the grey box placed Mantis' belt and in a boom reminiscent of thunder, a white, swirling tunnel appeared behind him. The teens had to brace themselves for a moment; it felt like they were being sucked inside.

"Move!" Saturn Girl instructed in alarm, and they did so before Mantis' unconscious form was sucked into the portal before the rift died away.

"What was that?" NRG inquired, slightly alarmed himself.

"A Boom Tube." Dawnstar explained. "An extra-dimensional doorway back to Apokolips."

"Apokolips? What is it?"

"That's where Mantis is from." Lightning Lad answered nonchalantly. "They're all pretty chatty there."

"I noticed." NRG noted and with a tap on his Omnitrix disk and a brief moment of blinding green flash, he was back into his human form.

"Thank you for helping us back there." Saturn Girl said in gratitude.

"No problem, all in a day's work for Ben 10." Ben commented proudly, with his hands on his hip.

The three teens stared at the brunette with an unrecognizable look. "Come again?" Dawnstar was the one to break the silence but the strange demeanor was still there.

Ben was taken aback by her response. "Um…I'm Ben Tennyson?" He said, his pride taking major hit when he noted them still sporting the blank expression. "You know protector of Bellwood?"

"…"

"…Savior of the universe?"

"…"

"…Wielder of the Omnitrix?"

"…"

"Oh come on! I'm one of the Plumbers! You know, the Intergalactic Police Force?"

"Dude, what are you talking about?" Lightning Lad asked the brunette with a frown. "There aren't any Plumbers around here anymore."

"Anymore!? What are you talking about?" Ben looked genuinely confused now as he wondered the effect of the time stream and a light bulb lit in his head. "Wait, what year is this?"

"3015." Saturn Girl replied.

Ben's eye twitched. "3015?" He repeated as his mind tried to process the information. "Am I still on Earth?"

"What are you babbling about, kid? You sound like you were time traveling or something." Lightning Lad spoke skeptically as he crossed his arms.

"That's because I was!" Ben claimed groaning deeply. "It all makes sense now! The aliens, people who have never heard of me and the Plumbers, all of this futuristic stuff around. I pulled a Marty McFly!"

"Is this guy delirious or something?" Lightning Lad whispered to his other two companions.

"I don't know, but we should take him to Brainy at the Archives." Saturn Girl replied as she stared at the brunette. "I think Brainy might tell if he's a time traveller or not."

"All right, let's do it." Ben insisted, mentally hoping to find a way back home or to his own time.

"So uh…can you turn into something that can fly?" Dawnstar inquired, arching an eyebrow.

"Sure can." Ben nodded confidently as he again activated the Omnitrix and scrolled through the Omnitrix's DNA library before he finally slapped the dial down, prompting another brief moment of emerald flash and the brunette was replaced by a red, humanoid, manta ray like alien with two black lightning bolt-like stripes coming down from his shoulders to where the Omnitrix disk was located. He also has yellow horns extending from his nose, gills underneath his arms and yellow patagia.

"JETRAY!" The Aerophibian proclaimed flapping his wings before he turned to the girls. "Ladies first."

"Okay maybe you are actually a time traveller, nobody is that polite anymore." Dawnstar giggled, musing as they took off into the air.


After about five minutes of traveling over the city square, Jetray was led to the white clubhouse of the 'Legion of Superheroes' located in a park-like area. The clubhouse itself looked more like an inverted bottom stage of a large rocket that had been drilled into the ground to steady it. However, in reality the club-house complex was much larger than it appeared and most of it was underground. Once inside, Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad and Dawnstar directed Ben toward a lab, where four other teenagers had occupied the room. Needless to say, everyone's eyes were drawn toward the new brunette who felt more like outta place.

"This kid here claims to be from the past." Lightning Lad stated, after explaining what had happened earlier. "Brainy, can you check and analyze this guy?"

"Of course, Garth; let me see." Brainiac-5 replied rather calmly despite how odd the time-travelling sounded as he stepped toward Ben and reaching out, he plucked a hair for sample. He scanned the sample using the strange symbol on his forehead as he hummed. "Interesting, you are Benjamin Kirby Tennyson. Mostly to known as Ben 10, wielder of the Omnitrix; a powerful device created by first thinker, the Galvan scientist Azmuth. It allows its wielder the ability to shift into over a million sentient life forms and have complete access to their respective capabilities. Benjamin Kirby Tennyson was also a member of the Inter Galactic Organization, Plumbers, from the year 2015."

"See, I was telling the truth!" Ben frowned, surprised that so much knowledge was available about him in this time stream. At least, it confirmed that he was stuck in future though. He could have done much worse instead.

"Wait, Ben Tennyson of the Plumbers? What are you doing here in the 31st Century?" Bouncing Boy inquired, arching an eyebrow.

"Well, I was with my partner at Plumber HQ, chasing after Eon through a time portal so I could retrieve this gem." Ben explained as he digs into his trouser pockets only to find nothing. "Where is it?" He gasped in shock.

"Where's what?"

"The Gem of Zion that Eon stole! I might've dropped it somewhere!" Ben answered, panicked slightly as looked at Phantom Girl. "I can't believe that I lost it!"

"Are you sure you had it on you?" Dawnstar asked.

"Maybe the link stood that too." Lightning Lad joked.

"Hey, bite me, Sparky!" Ben retorted, scowling before he frowned in despair and worry. "Grandpa isn't going to like this nor will I if anyone else found it."

"Maybe it is still in the time stream." Brainiac suggested. "Let me check if it ever showed up in the past."

"Oh man, I'm not gonna stuck here in the future forever, am I?" Ben's shoulder hunched forward as he slumped down on a nearby chair.

"Relax, Ben." Dawnstar assured the brunette. "You'll be back in your original timeline in no time."

Ben looked at the girl and nodded, despite the gut feeling still telling him otherwise. "So I gotta ask who you guys are?" He questioned, rubbing his head.

"We're the Legion of Superheroes, pal." Lightning Lad stated as if that was the most obvious thing. "We're a group of superheroes inspired by Superman and every hero of the past. I'm one of the founding members." He exclaimed proudly, jerking a thmub at himself.

"And, me and Cosmic Boy." Saturn Girl interjected.

"Who's Cosmic Boy?" Ben asked earning a deep groan from Lightning Lad.

"Oh he's Mr. Stick-up-your-ass." Lightning Lad replied sarcastically. "But lucky for you, he's not our prime Legion leader."

"So we're not too different from you, Ben." Triplicate Girl reassured the brunette before chuckling. "Well, except, of course, most of us here are aliens to you."

Ben could already tell the same. He'd suspected them to be aliens or Plumbers kids at least, harnessing the power of their parents. But, the difference was enough to pin it. Although, there were humans who inherited alien powers back in his timeline, Ben's cousin Gwen being a perfect example and himself, only he doesn't had access to the spark; most people he knew who had off-worldly abilities were not human, or not entirely human. Same goes for these heroes, these Legion of Superheroes. It was very subtle, as whatever species they were greatly resembled human teenagers, but Ben was skilled enough to see past that subtlety. Having lived most of his life around aliens and alien-hybrids, some of them who greatly resembled humans, allowed Ben to clear the distinction between humans and beings that merely looked like humans.

"I couldn't find the Gem of Zion in the time stream, or in any other time it might've fell in." Brainiac-5 informed the brunette, returning to him. "It's possible that it fell out of the time stream and disintegrated into particles."

"Great, so I not only failed to apprehend Eon, but I failed to get the gem back too." Ben realized, frowning as he contemplated his choices. "If it wasn't for Eon then I'd be back in my time and I'd be celebrating with a smoothie and some Sumo Slammers Eight!"

"Sumo Slammers Eight?" Lightning Lad whispered to the Bouncing Boy, who developed goofy grin on his face.

"I know. He gonna flip if I show him Sumo Slammers Deluxe: the 1020th Year Anniversary Edition with the first game re-mastered." Bouncing Boy whispered back with a smirk, their muttering could be mistaken for giggling.

"YOU HAVE WHAT!?" Ben yelled in shock, overhearing the conversation. "YOU'VE GOTTA LET ME SEE IT!" He said almost pleadingly as he got in their face, his eyes gleaming with excitement much to the astonishment of others.

"Sorry, buddy, but that'll lead to some spoilers of the game." Bouncing Boy replied, like scolding a kid. "Besides, I don't think you'll handle well when you see the graphics of the future. It'll blow your mind."

"And, you should think about getting back to your own timeline, dude." Lightning Lad added, almost dead-panning.


Later, the teen heroes directed Ben toward another room where Brainiac 5 had prepared a mechanical unit for Ben to return back to his own time: the Time Sphere. Brainiac 5 had explained it could take the user to any desired time period, and that theoretically could help Ben find a way back home.

"So I step in that bubble and I get back home, right?" Ben confirms for yet another time, still unconvinced but he still stepped on the round platform.

"That's right, Mr. Tennyson. Time setting, the day you've disappeared: July 16th, 2015." Brainiac-5 replied as he adjusted the time sphere to suit the conditions.

"It's been nice knowing you." Dawnstar waved to the brunette.

"Yeah, you guys too." Ben grinned, as he waves back at them. But, as soon as the brunette was enveloped in the sphere, something seems to go wrong and the sphere glowed brightly before disappearing, leaving the traveller behind. "W-What!? Why am I still here?"

"Something's wrong with the Time Sphere." Saturn Girl realized, confused as she examined some tech adjustment. "It should have worked otherwise."

"A techno difficulty I assume." Brainiac-5 suggested. "Bouncing Boy, why don't you step in?"

"Alright Brainy, let's do it." Bouncing Boy replied, almost too enthusiastically as he stepped on the platform while the brunette stepped aside. "Send me to the Viacom Wars."

"Viacom Wars?"

Brainiac-5 activated the Time Sphere again while Lightning Lad crossed his arms over his chest. "The Viacom Company turned sentient and almost owns the world until the hero The Mysterious Enterman helped stop and destroyed Viacom and their ownership claims at the 22nd Century." He explained as Bouncing Boy disappeared in the Time Sphere.

"Seems working to me." Triplicate Girl commented the obvious.

After a few seconds of disappearance, Bouncing Boy reappeared again and stepped off the platform. "Man, if I'd stick to that time any longer, I was gonna be almost owned by the Nickelodeon army." He exclaimed as he bounced back to his spot.

"So if the Time Sphere's working perfectly, then why it didn't work on Ben?" Phantom Girl asked.

"Does that mean...I'm stuck in here?" Ben asked on the brink of panic.

"It's not that bad, Ben." Dawnstar tried to calm the Omnitrix bearer.

"According to the archives…" Brainy began. "…one of your alien transformations includes a Chronosapien you refer to as 'Clockwork'. Perhaps you could use him to return to your timeline."

Ben shook his head. "Doubt it; I only know how to do a few things as Clockwork, and actually moving through time isn't one of them."

"Bummer." Dawnstar muttered.

"Then while Brainy figures out a way for you to return home, we'll show you the history museum of heroes, then we can show you the archives as well." Saturn Girl grinned as she grasps the brunette's hand and pulled him to give him a tour around the Halls of the Legionnaires; the rest of the team following from behind, save for Lightning Lad and Brainiac-5

"What are you thinking about, Brainy?" the former asked.

"He's a promising hero, though there is something troubling for him." replied the latter

"Like what?"

"Well, we've faced Eon before, and if there's any implication...chances are that Ben might get stuck in our time...permanently." Brainiac stated the situation as he looked quite sadden for the brunette from his incapability to help him then.


Ben spent the next hour getting acquainted with the Legionnaires and he was quite surprised by their competence. The Galactic Enforcers had made Ben wary of anyone who wore capes and bright outfits. However, judging from what he'd seen, Ben had developed his own mental 'files' on each member for future reference since, he couldn't only trust on what he was being seen.

First, Garth Ranzz AKA Lightning Lad, inhabitant from the planet Winath as he called it. His seemed to be around Ben's own age and height, and has medium length ginger hair and electric blue eyes. He also has a lightning bolt shaped scar that runs across his right eye. Whenever, he charges up his electrical energy, the scar and his eyes glows and he'd acquired the scar during the Lightning Beast attack that first granted him the powers on some planet called Korbal, apparently, according to the details. Ben could almost immediately tell, the boy was brash and hot-headed with a somewhat competitive attitude, and his attire included a black and yellow uniform, and supposedly he's also the Legion's Field Leader and despite his hotheaded nature, he seems to have a good head on his shoulders. And last but the not the least, his powers seems to be mostly focused on Electrokinesis.

Second, Imra Ardeen AKA Saturn Girl, from Titan, the largest moon of planet Saturn. Name suits her well too. Ben was somewhat surprised that the moons of distant planets have also been colonized though. She was also close to Lightning Lad's height, just as both were of the same age, seventeen. Long blonde hair, pink eyes and a one piece suit of pink and white color with a Saturn logo crest on the chest were her distinctive features. Apparently, due to her Telepathy and Telekinesis power, she's the most empathic and understanding of the Legion, it seems. She behaves as the voice of reason for almost all situations he'd found and she seems to understand the actions and motives that people take, and can often get people to talk about things and feelings that they normally wouldn't open up to a stranger. It was clear that she was more than just a pretty face in the legion.

Third one, Charles Taine AKA Bouncing Boy, Chuck happens to be a hero from Earth, his home in New Metropolis. Brown eyes, spiky black hair; short rotund dressed in a blue and black jumpsuit with orange goggles and he'd heard that the boy is the best pilot the Legion has. His power in simple words is to change into a human bouncing ball which he'd gained when he accidentally drank a super plastic formula which he'd mistaken for soda pop. Ben had sweat dropped when he heard that bit and wondered there were weirder ways of gaining power than some creations or ancient artifacts but Chuck seemed to have strides his mistake and is an impressive member of the Legion and also the apparent comedian among the group. Needless to say, Ben instantly liked him. He's also the in-charge of reviewing candidates for potential membership too.

Fourth, Luornu Durgo AKA Triplicate Girl, from the planet Cargg. Ben had never heard of one such place. 16 years old and packs quite a punch with her Tri-Jitsu, a martial arts optimally for three synchronized bodies. Apparently, this power was not limited to her alone as everyone on her planet possesses it due to the exposure to unique radiation of the three Suns and Brainy had called it Bio-Fission or something. Her dressing sense reflects the triple in her name, three colors that included white, purple and orange while her three different bodies were themed on the colors, white, orange, and purple, in her eyes, hair and costumes. However, her merged form seems to have mainly white hair, but also streaks of orange and purple while her eyes retains only purple color.

Fifth, Tinya Wazzo AKA Phantom Girl from the planet Bgztl. From the details, she happens to be the daughter of a president named Winema Wazzo, a good lady who was kind of always worried about her well-being. Her attire included a white costume with a long white cape to enhance her name and reputation as Phantom and living up to it, her power was related to Intangibility and Phasing which was common among her people. She also has long black hair and grey eyes, sixteen years old and as far as Ben understood, she'd joined the Legion to prove herself to her mother long ago but now she's an invaluable member to the team; being the daughter of the president gave her modest diplomatic skills. However, her report seems to provide reference about needing work on physical skills.

Sixth, Querl Dox AKA Brainiac 5 from Planet Colu; 14 years old and his most unusual feature was the three electrodes on his forehead. Apart from that, he has purple eyes, blonde hair and green skin while his attire includes a purple jumpsuit. His power seemed to be related to altering his shape to create tools and weapons, like telescoping his limbs; a large combat mode and can create quantum force fields and much more. Though, Ben could only describe him with one word, curious as he was always curious of everything, the kid liked to learn. Well if anything his greatest weapon was his 12th level intellect. Even though he lacks experience, mainly socially and on the field against opponents of equal stature.

And then there was Dawnstar. Apparently her ancestors was of a Native American tribe originated from Earth until they've been abducted and sent into a planet called Starhaven where they've colonized since the 13th Century. Her people are of Anasazi Indian heritage and have had their white wings grown from genetic engineering from an unknown alien race that activated their metagenes. However, what caught Ben mostly about her was her modesty which she seems to lack, for her attire among the females Legionnaires showed-off the most skin.


"Welcome to the Hall of Heroes." Saturn Girl escorted Ben to the museum of Earth's heroes as it contains artifacts that belonged to the past. Hawkgirl's mace, Superman's uniform, Batman's utility belt, Doctor Fate's helmet, Zatanna's wand and many more that had belonged to these heroes of long ago and the one who had apparently influenced them to become heroes.

"Whoa, a superhero museum, that's nice" Ben wondered aloud as he went through the lists of names that wore the helmet of Dr. Fate. "Gwen? She became Dr. Fate?" He was surprised.

"Here, the archives will show you the history." Saturn Girl instructed him as she pressed a button that showed a holographic image of Gwen who dawns the Helmet of Nabu.

"In 2020, after defeating and destroying the magical demon known as Neron, Gwendolyn Tennyson had been chosen to carry on the legacy as the new Avatar of Nabu. She has become the newest Dr. Fate for 250 years until she pass down the helmet to her successor." The hologram speaker explained.

"Cool, what about everyone else while I was gone?" Ben's interest had peaked.

"History of Ben Tennyson's associates after his absence." Saturn Girl spoke as the voice in command scanned up and showed the history of Ben's friends and relatives.

"Kevin Ethan Levin became a member of the Justice League, as his experience in alien tech advanced the world in a span of 1k+ years. Rook Blonko became a fully pledged Magister, mentoring the future generation of Plumbers, while using the lessons he learned from Benjamin Kirby Tennyson to help struggling heroes in their correct path. And, Kai Green joined the Plumbers a year after Benjamin Kirby Tennyson's disappearance." The archives reported causing the Omnitrix Bearer to smile fondly at the hologram of an adult Rook and Kai among the group of Plumber cadets at the academy.

'At least you and the others got along, Kai.' Ben thought inwardly.

"Anyone else you want to learn about?" Saturn Girl questioned.

Ben nodded "What happened to my parents, and Grandpa Max?" he asked before the hologram shifted into that of his grandfather and father. He was surprised to see his dad wearing a Plumber's uniform.

"After Benjamin Kirby Tennyson's disappearance; Maxwell Tennyson retired from the Plumber's duties, and then three years later, words were received from his son, Carl Tennyson that Maxwell Tennyson was found dead. After the Forever Knights teamed up with the Rooters, Carl Tennyson joined the Plumbers to avenge his father's death and Rook Blonko rounded up the elite members for a final battle against the enemies. The results were many deaths from both sides, including of Carl Tennyson."

'I'm sure you made Grandpa Max proud, dad.' Ben smiled fondly at the achievement of his father. "I think I'm done here, Saturn Girl."

"You going to be okay?" Phantom Girl asked him in concern.

"Hey, I'm centuries far from my friends and family. I think I'll visit their graves someday." Ben smiled shrugging his shoulder as if nothing happened but the façade didn't help to ease the loneliness from missing them too much.

"It could be worse." Bouncing Boy assured.

"Oh really? How is that?" Ben deadpanned.

"Well…you could have found that all of your friends and family met horrible ends." Dawnstar replied, before she bit her lower lips and mentally slapped herself for even suggesting something so stupid. "That would have sucked."

"Yeah I guess." Ben shrugged at the winged hero. "They all lived happy lives. What more could I have wanted for them."

"Nothing." Dawnstar smiled, relieved that she hadn't screwed up anything with her words.

"Where are their graves? Just for future reference, in case I ever decide to visit them." Ben questioned.

"On the moon, I guess." Triplicate Girl answered. "The Earth had been attacked and almost went through an apocalypse, so we sent the old heroes up at the moon colony."

Ben nodded, frowning slightly at the thought of how much the world had changed since his disappearance. Time sure flies fast, huh? Brainiac-5, who had been surprisingly silent the time, finally spoke up. "Ben, could you give us a moment, please?"

"Sure." Ben walked away from the group until he was out of hearing range; slightly relieved that they have provided him some lone time, even if it's just for a few minutes.

Triplicate Girl looked at Brainic-5. "What are you thinking Brainy?"

"I'm thinking that Ben could be of help to us."

"You're not serious, are you?" Lightning Lad couldn't help but ask.

"You read it in the archives." Bouncing Boy chimed in. "With all his powers we could turn the odds into our favor."

"I don't know guys." Saturn Girl sounded worried.

"Saturn Girl, he could make a great addition to the team." Dawnstar added in. "At least a temporary one, but still a good one."

"The Fatal Five have us at a disadvantage here already." Brainiac-5 stated as a matter of factly. "And, with so few of us available, we need all the help we can get, especially to counter the odds stacked against us."

"I agree with this." Phantom Girl admitted. "Ben's powers could actually help us and we don't want the bad guys getting his hands on him, do we? I don't want to even imagine, what he could accomplish with those power at his disposal anyway. He's like a one man army."

"So, it's settled then." Brainy confirmed earning simultaneous nods as they all approached the brunette to inform him of the new development. "Ben we've come to a decision, and until we find a way to send you back home, we would like you to join us and our cause."

"Really? Wait, what cause?" Ben arched an eyebrow, sounding a skeptical all of a sudden.

"I think it's time we told you a story." Phantom Girl said.

Brainiac-5 nodded. "A group of villains, known as the Fatal Five recently broke out of prison and are heading here. The last time we fought, it took every member of the Legion to stop them; this time, however, the only Legionnaires available are right here."

"What do these Fatal Five guys want?"

"They used to bully the leaders of the various planets to do whatever they wanted." Triplicate Girl explained. "And now that they're out of prison, they'll probably try to do it again, we believe. Their leader is the Emerald Empress; she has a floating eyeball that follows her around, called the Emerald Eye of Ekron, which she uses for projectile attacks and control the minds of others."

"There's also Tharok, a cyborg that had the entire left half of his body replaced with machines, granting him an impressive arsenal, as well as enhanced strength. The fact that he's one of the smartest beings in the galaxy doesn't help." Lightning Lad grumbled while Brainiac 5 nodded his head.

"Validus is the Five's heavy hitting giant. What he lacks in intelligence, he makes up for it with his unmatched strength." Phantom Girl explained.

"Then there's Persuader, the axe-wielder who can cut through almost anything. On top of that, his body had been genetically altered to be physically superior to most beings of comparable size and weight." Dawnstar exclaimed. "Finally, there's Mano, a being who can disintegrate any material with a mere touch."

The more Ben listened the more he realized how the Fatal Five were a lot like some of his enemies, Vilgax, Dr. Animo, Malware, all of them. And in all honesty, he could see why the Legion needed his help; when compared to the Fatal Five, their powers seemed fairly weak, the exception being Brainiac-5 and maybe Lightning Lad. He was more impressed with their enemies list though. If he turns his back on them, he would be no better than the bad guys either, at least that's what he believes. Even though he wasn't from this timeline, while he was here for the time being, he would try and help it as much as he could. After all, places and times don't matter for him. He's a hero.

"So, that's our story." Brainy said coming to an end. "What do you think?"

"I think you guys need all the help you can get, I'm in." Ben smirked.

The group looked surprise at the easy conclusion and accede from brunette. "Are you sure about that, this even isn't your time period, you know." Dawnstar bit her lower lips to confirm the brunette was certain.

"Yeah, but the people here need all help they could get and I can't stand by doing nothing about it. It would go against everything my grandpa and parents taught me, so I'm in."

They all smiled at that as Brainy walked over to the brunette and shake his hand. "Glad to have you on our side Ben Tennyson."

Ben nodded with a goofy grin. "Okay, so what's the plan?"

"Brainy has a plan to recruit another hero from the 21st century to help us in our cause." Saturn Girl explained as the group exited the museum.

"And with his abilities and your Omnitrix, Ben…" Brainy continued. "…we just might be able to even the playing field. We'll use the time sphere and-" Brainiac 5 was interrupted by a flash of green light that exploded in front of them. Noting the source to be an actual floating eye, an approximately 2' diameter sphere; they barely got any time to register anything else before another ray of green energy fired forth from its pupil at them.

End of Chapter.

Thank you Zero10 for the editing, and thank you JP-Ryder for the inspiration.

I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of the rewrite and there's more to come soon. Please leave an honest review and any advice you wish to give me feel free to PM me.

TK10 signing off, peace!