I know, I know. Over 3 months, no updates. I bet everyone thought I have abandoned this. I haven't. I won't. Adjusting into college took me more time than I thought. I still don't have my own laptop(I'll get than in December), so I've been writing this on college computer. This chapter is a bit longer than last ones, so enjoy. I know what I said earlier, but Ben is 20 in this fic.
Six heroes were assembled inside the meeting room of watchtower to decide the future of the league. They had finally agreed to the Batman's plan of expanding the league. Now they were deciding on the superheroes to invite.
"What about Dr. Fate? I mean, we sure can use the help of a magic user," suggested Green Lantern.
Flash turned to Batman and said, "Isn't one of your friends a magic user Bats?"
"She's not my friend. But yes, Zattana is a very capable person," came the reply of Batman.
"What about Kara?" asked Superman hopefully. Perhaps a bit too hopefully.
Five pairs of eyes locked on him. John was the first to object.
"I don't think she's ready yet."
"Of course she is! Remember how she took out all those goons attempting the bank robbery?" Superman reasoned.
"I do remember. Precisely. And that's why I don't think she's ready. She broke 6 bones of a goonjust because he called her a sidekick." It was Batman this time.
Superman looked visibly hurt that his best friend was not backing him up on this. In fact, he was against him.
"I think she's ready." All eyes turned to Wonder Woman. She continued.
"Being a part of league will help her. She needs to learn that she doesn't have to do everything all by herself. Plus, she'd to learn discipline and how to act under a team leader."
"Unless she'd want to be a team leader." John said.
"It's a yes from me as well." Flash quipped in, sensing the tension in the room.
Now every eye was on J'onn waiting for his vote. He looked at Superman for a second and in his monotone voice, said, "I don't know Supergirl enough to comment."
Superman nodded and said, "Well 3 against 2. I guess Kara is joining the league."
"Any other suggestions?" John asked, looking at Wonder Woman, as she was the only one who had not suggested any name yet.
"Umm.. What about that Fire creature you told me about?" she asked turning towards Flash.
Flash's eye lit up under his cowl.
"Oh yeah. Heatblast. The shapeshifter. He was pretty cool."
"Shapeshifter, huh? Nothing like I've seen before." John said.
"He said he was new." Everyone turned towards Superman. "When I met him first, he was a red creature with super strength." He clarified. "He was able to hold Metallo for a while."
Metallo possessed strength enough to hurt Man of Steel. If this shapeshifter had been able to hold Metallo for a while, then he was no joke.
"But we don't know him. Nothing about him. We can't ask just anybody to join us!" John protested.
"He did help us with fire." Flash defended the shapeshifter who he barely knew. "And it sounded like he was protecting Metropolis from Metallo. Not to mention we've a telepath. If he's up to something, J'onn can easily find it out."
"About that." Six pairs of eyes turned towards their green teammate, J'onn who's spoken for first time since the discussion about shapeshifter had started.
"I was unable to read his mind." Martian Manhunter clarified.
"What? You tried to read his mind?" Batman asked, never the comfortable with Martian Manhunter's telepathy.
"There was an uncontrollable fire and he was made of fire. I got suspicious. And I don't like fire." J'onn replied, addressing no one in particular.
Batman nodded. "What do you mean you couldn't read his mind?"
J'onn remained silent for a while, trying to find the right words.
"It was strange. When I tried telepathy on Hawk Girl, she resisted. But he was different. It was like he didn't have a brain."
That did make everybody reconsider their decision of inviting him. It hadn't been long since Hawk Girl's betrayal.
"We can't judge him just because he's got a resistance to telepathy. We watch him for some days, see if he's really like us, then we make a decision." Diana said. Even though she had taken Hawk Girl's betrayal hard, she was not going to assume everybody who reminded her of Hawk Girl evil.
Superman nodded and said, "Well, any more suggestions?"
Diana once again spoke up, "I do have one. But I need to think more about it. And ask them before I say anything."
Superman nodded and got up. "In next meeting then."
Flash got up and raced to the door only to stop and turn back. Looking at Batman he said, "Ah when are we going to get our own teleporter on Watchtower, Bats? Or at least give us the link to call Alfred."
"You run faster than the teleporter works West." Batman said without turning and headed out of the door.
"Did he just compliment me?" Flash asked turning towards John.
It had been 2 days since Ben had arrived in this dimension. So far, he'd no luck finding the knight that brought him there. In fact, he hadn't even tried finding him. Finding a person who he had never seen face of was nigh impossible. Meanwhile he'd made a very unsettling discovery. His galvanic mechamorph form, Upgrade, was missing from the Omnitrix's playlist. Now he was stranded in an alternate universe with no way to go back. To put it simply, he was screwed. His only hope was to find the league and ask for their help.
His first meeting with them had gone good enough. Since then he hadn t been doing much. He was almost out of the money. Gaining league's trust and asking them for help, it could take weeks, even months. Finding a job was now his top priority. The only place he thought he could possibly get one was the library he s practically spent his last days at.
Groaning, he got out the bed. He had overslept. Not that he was complaining. Any sleep was welcome. After freshening up, he headed out. It was going to be a long day.
A few hours later, Ben was sitting in the restaurant outside the library. By some miracle, he's gotten the job. Joan, the girl who sat at the library was pretty cool. She's seen him searching about Justice League and they'd spent last two days talking and joking about superheroes and their costumes. She didn't ask for any address proof which he was very glad for. He's told her that he was staying in hotel and was lacking money. She's agreed to give him his salary weekly.
Now he had a little over 100 bucks, and a week to go. He's had worse.
His eyes traveled to the television in the restaurant which was playing the news. Green Lantern, Flash and Superman was engaged in battle with a huge robot with a silly smiley face on it. He sighed. Why did it always happen when he was about to eat?
Getting out in the alley, Ben found a secure place and turned dial of the omnitrix. Selecting the logo of Jet Ray, he slammed the dial. In a green flash and a boom, Ben disappeared from the sight.
The robot was insanely durable. Superman's punches were hardly denting it. Green Lantern has not been able to find any weak points so far. Flash was carrying civilians out of the area. Superman was mad. The first thing Toy Man has done when he arrived in his metal suit was to smash the globe on the Daily Planet! And he knew how much it cost every time they replaced it.
"Any luck yet?" Superman asked John meanwhile hitting the torso of suit. Toy Man chuckled inside. He's enjoying seeing Man of Steel hitting the suit again and again without any luck.
"No. Its like the damn thing doesn't even have a joint." John said, frustrated.
"Keep looking." Superman said and returned to his job of beating the metal suit. What was it made of?
Jet Ray slowed down a bit when he saw the battle area. The robot was taller than a buliding. Almost as tall as Way Big. He fired his neuroshock blasts at the suit. It didn't have any visible effect.
He got closer to the suit. Superman was first to notice him.
"Need any help?" he asked the man in blue costume.
He punched the suit again and said, "Any help is appreciated right now."
"You tried freezing it?" asked Jetray to Superman.
Superman looked a bit surprised for a second before saying, "No. That might actually work."
He took a deep breath and let loose a cold jet of air which created a layer of ice on the left side of suit's torso instantly. Very next moment, a blue blur collided with it, with enough force to derail a train. Green Lantern immediately covered himself in green energy bubble and Flash ran a few meters back to avoid being hit by the flying ice. When the commocsion cleared, Superman was surprised and disappointed to see that the blow didn't do much to the suit.
"This is going to take a while."
"Not if I can help it." Jetray said and tapped the omnitrix symbol on his chest. In a blinding flash, he was replaced by a blue mammoth creature.
Superman was a bit surprised to see him transform again and couldn't help but ask, "How many forms can you transform in?"
Big Chill, unable to smile, just looked at Man in blue and said in a raspy, chilly voice, "Many."
"Hit it after I freeze it." saying that, Big Chill turned intangible and phased through the left leg of the suit. The leg was frozen instantly from the inside. Next moment, Superman collided with it causing the leg to shatter like wood.
"Whoa!" Flash said, narrowly avoiding some flying chunks of the metal suit.
"Hey!" the man sitting inside the suit shouted. "This is not supposed to break!" Locking on Big Chill who was advancing towards its other leg, he fired a energy blast. It passed harmlessly through him and blew a good portion of road instead. Big Chill looked up and said,"Seriously? Firing energy blast at an intangible person? You must be desperate."
Big Chill phased through its other leg which a second later was shattered after a blue blur collided with it.
"No! Stop!" Toy Man kept shouting, watching his unbreakable suit shatter like a glass.
"Time to get him out of his haven." Big Chill said, flying towards the child siting inside and screaming. He phased through the suit but didn't freeze it. Turning the child intangible with him, he phased him right through the suit and left him on the ground. The kid was instantly covered in a green energy bubble. He started banging on the bubble shouting,"Let me go!" again and again.
The suit, without anything to control and support, fell to the ground with a loud thud.
The child was looking at the suit like a boy who has seen his favorite toy demolished. Ben felt bad for a second. He was brought out of his thoughts by voice of Superman.
"Intangibilty, huh? That was good." Superman said looking at the blue moth like creature. Green Lantern was floating the child in energy bubble who was silently sobbing over his failure. Flash joined them a second later.
"So, you're gonna show us your real face?" asked Flash. When Big Chill didn't react he added quickly,"Or is this your real face?"
Ben thought about it. He had no intention of blowing up his identity to public. But first step of getting League to trust him was him trusting them. They were genuine heroes. He saw no reason why he shouldn't trust them.
"I look much better than this." he said to Flash. "But not right here." he added, pointing to the increasing crowd of reporters and bystanders which was assembling now that the threat was taken care of.
Superman nodded. After Toy Man was handed over to the authorities, four heroes headed towards an empty alley. All three were standing in front of Big Chill like kids standing in front of a magician. Having no idea what to expect.
Big Chill slapped the omnitrix logo and in a blinding flash of green the blue moth was replaced by a young man, hardly 20, standing almost as tall as Flash.
Flash's reaction was most visible. His mouth was hanging open in almost a comical way. Green Lantern had an incredulous expression on his face. Superman, on the other had, was surprised to say the least.
Not two days ago, this boy had asked him for his cell phone. Turned out he was the same person who had saved a burning city and had defeated Toy Man.
"Ok. I did not see that coming." Flash finally broke the silence.
Ben smiled. He looked at other two heroes, waiting for their response. Green Lantern was a bit shocked to find out that the shapeshifter they were talking about last 2 days was a human boy. He didn't look like he lacked a brain, like J'onn had said.
He shrugged. He'd seen stranger things happen. After thinking many responses, he settled for the question he was most curious about, "How did you do that?"
Ben, finding no harm in telling them, raised his left arm, showing them the strange looking watch. It had the same symbol all his transformations had.
"A watch?" asked Green Lantern. "A watch allows you to shape shift?!" he asked incredulously.
"Says a man who can fly using a jewelery?" Ben said.
Green Lantern smiled a bit. He did have a point.
Superman was still silent. He was brought out of his stupor when he saw all three heroes looking at him. He shook his head.
"You okay?" asked Green Lantern.
Superman nodded.
"Yeah. I was surprised. That's all." He extended his right hand for Ben to shake. Ben shook his hand introducing himself, "Ben Tennyson."
Superman nodded. "Thanks for your help, again."
Ben nodded. He didn't know when he's get to meet them again. He decided to ask them for help right now.
"Actually, I need your help." Superman nodded, saying him to go on.
"I'm from an alternate dimension. A parallel earth. I was brought here by a knight and now I'm stuck here with no way of going back. I need you guys to help me."
All three of them were looking at him like he had just said he was a god or something. Ben sighed.
"It sounded a lot less crazy in my head." he muttered.
Flash was the first to respond. "Wait? A parallel earth?"
Ben nodded frantically. "Yeah. One where none of you exist. I'm the only hero."
Green Lantern arched his eyebrow. "We don't exist?" He narrowed his eyes next moment. "How do we know you're telling the the truth?"
Ben knew this would happen. They'd been betrayed recently by Hawk Girl. They won't go trusting a stranger with a crazy story. He suddenly remebered about Martian Manhunter. He was a telepath.
"Martian Manhunter! He is telepath, right? He can verify my story."
"Umm..he can't. Telepathy doesn't work on you. He tried." Flash said.
"It doesn't?" Ben asked, surprised.
"You didn't know?" Superman asked. He could tell when somebody was feigning. But Ben looked genuinely surprised.
"No. It must be omnitrix. It blocks stuff like that." Ben replied. It was the only explanation he could think of.
"Omni-what? That watch has a name?" asked Flash, like it was strangest thing in the world.
Despite the situation, Ben laughed. "Yeah. It does. Omnitrix" He turned towards Superman and said,"Is there no other way you can verify what I'm saying?"
Superman thought about it. Ben had given him no reason not to trust him. His story even confirmed the way they met. He must've teleported into Metropolis and asked for a cell the first person he saw. To verify Ben's story, he'd have to take him to the watchtower. He didn't want to risk the Watchtower in case Ben was lying. He's seen what he could do. None of them could counter him if he went intangible again. Maybe, J'onn, but his telepathy didn't work on him. What to say his intangibility will?
Superman inwardly sighed. He was becoming Batman. Just because Shayera lied to them doesn't mean everyone else will. He looked at Ben and said, "There is another way. But you'll have to come with us to the Watchtower."
"Yeah. Sure." Ben agreed. Whatever they want, he needed to get back to his universe as soon as possible. Aggregor was at large.
"A kid?" Batman asked.
"Yes. 20. He has a watch, the omnitrix, which lets him transform." Superman said over com link. Superman was right now flying on his way to Watchtower. Ben was already there courtesy of Batman's teleporter. He was now briefing Batman about what he'd discovered.
"Interesting."
"It is. He has a form that can go intangible and freeze on touch." Superman said.
"I know. I saw the news." Batman replied.
"Tell Diana to come to the Watchtower. We're gonna need her lasso."
"Ok." Batman disconnected the link.
"Always busy." Superman muttered before speeding up towards the watchtower.
Ben was sitting in a huge hall in the space station of Justice League. From what he's read, this was a newer version of the space station after older one was destroyed in the invasion. A space station like this must've cost millions of dollars. And they had two? Maybe they were funded by the government. Or there was a very rich superhero among them.
Green Lantern and Flash were outside talking. One of them would look inside every now and then, probably to make sure he was still there. He couldn't really blame them.
The door was once again opened and this time a man clad in black walked in. Batman. He didn't even seem to notice him sitting there. He just walked in and stood near the corner of the room. A moment later, Superman walked in, followed by Martian Manhunter. Neither showed any surprise on seeing him. Finally, the person who was going to prove whether Ben was telling the truth or not walked in. Ben had seen her pictures before. But none of those pictures did justice to her. She, undoubtedly, was the most beautiful woman he'd seen in his life. She looked at him, her face showing a bit of surprise and started walking towards him. All while, he was hoping he was not blushing like a fool. She stopped just in front of him and took out a golden lasso she was carrying. She started wrapping it around his hand. This broke him from his trance.
"Wha? What are you doing?" he asked, trying to sound as much like himself as he could.
"This lasso, it'll make you speak only truth." Flash explained, noticing the obvious discomfort Ben was in.
Ben looked at him. He hadn't even noticed when he walked in.
"Don't worry. We won't ask anything you wouldn't want us to. We'll just make sure you're telling the truth." Superman said. He didn't like doing this. But he didn't want to be deceived again.
Ben nodded, giving Diana the permission to continue. She pressed the lasso a little, and it started glowing. Looking at Ben, she asked the first question.
"What is your name?"
"Benjamin Kirby Tennyson." Ben replied without waiting for a moment.
He heard someone snicker and trying to cover it as a cough. Definitely Flash.
"Where are you from?" Diana continued.
"Bellwood." Ben said.
Diana looked at Batman standing farthest of all. He motioned for Diana to go on.
"How did you get here?" she asked.
"I teleported with a Forever Knight soldier here." Ben said. He looked at the lasso in amazement. Man, this thing worked. He had absolutely no control over what he was speaking.
"Is it true you're from a parallel earth?" Diana continued her investigation.
"Yes." Ben replied.
"What do you want from us?"
"I need your help getting back to my earth." he replied without hesitating.
Diana slowly unwrapped the lasso from his hand. She smiled apologetically and said,"I'm sorry you'd to go through that." Ben shrugged. "I understand. Better safe than sorry."
He turned towards other and said,"So, can you help me?"
Batman, for the first time spoke," It depends. There are millions of parallel dimensions. Its impossible to pick your from them. Unless you can tell me some significant differences it has from others."
Ben was expecting something like that, things were going a bit too smooth.
He looked at Batman and said,"I don't know. All I can tell you is that none of you exist in my world. Is it enough?"
"It does shorten the list a bit, but its not enough. There are still thousands of earth where we don't exist. Finding yours from them is nigh impossible."
"But it can be found, right? You do have technology to travel through the dimensions?"
"Yes", Batman replied, "But we can't go looking into every one of them until we find yours. We'll have to come up with something else."
Ben nodded. He looked at Batman and said, "Well, that's definitely better than yesterday."
Batman nodded and started leaving the room. Superman turned towards Ben and said, "I understand if you need a place to stay. You can stay on watchtower until we find you a way to go back."
Ben nodded thankfully. The motel bill was taking a toll on his pocket.
"Thanks, I appreciate it."
Superman left followed by other heroes. Only Flash remained. He walked to Ben and said, "So you're gonna tell me how you got that thing?"
Ben smiled. Things were looking up.
Ok. How's it? Do tell me. Now, one important thing. Pairing. Who would you like Ben to paired with? Kara? Diana? Anybody else? I'm open to suggestion. I know some people might think that Diana is too old for Ben, but she's not. She's not a thousand year old warrior in New 52. She's 23. Ben is 20. Much more weird pairings has happened.
So, review and do tell me who would you like Ben to be paired with APART from Kara?
