BEN 10 DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. YOUNG JUSTICE DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. WITH PERMISSION, I HAVE DROPPED ONE OF MY CHARACTERS INTO ANOTHER AUTHOR'S PART OF THE SANDBOX.

So, this idea has been rattling around in my head, in one form or another, for quite a while. Now, however, I'm actually going to do it *cheers madly*. Have fun!

Unlimited Justice, Part 2

Chapter 10

Ultimate Heroes, Part 1

Unknown Location, Unknown Time

When Ken regained consciousness, the first thing he noticed was that he wasn't in pain. In fact, he felt like he had never been hurt in the first place! Just to be sure, however, he sat up and flexed his limbs; before blacking out, his right arm had been completely unresponsive and horribly injured, but now it was perfectly healthy and responsive.

Not that I'm complaining, but what happened? Ken looked around the dark room he was in. Someone either helped me, or I've been healing on my own here for a really long time.

"Ah, you're awake!" Ken froze at the familiar voice. "Good to see you again, young Ken. Or is this the first time we've met?"

Ken slowly turned his head. "Professor Paradox. Should I be worried?"

"Not at all." Paradox then paused. "Well, perhaps. Why would you ask?"

"Because I don't think you've ever visited anyone just to chat."

"That's not true; I was at your parents' wedding."

Ken stood up, then crossed his arms and gave Paradox a pointed look.

Paradox shrugged. "Well, yes, I could use your assistance in a matter, but I didn't bring you here. You did."

Ken blinked. "Say what?"

"You absorbed more power from Brainiac than you thought. When you tried to teleport to the ground, you… overshot by a bit."

"By how much, exactly?" Ken found that he really didn't want to know, but felt that he had to.

"Well, you made it all the way to Earth, but you ended up in another universe. And timeline." Paradox raised an eyebrow at him. "Which is my territory, by the way."

Ken sat back down, hard, on the mattress he'd woken up on. "Wha… I mean, how…? I wasn't even trying to do all that!" Then he shook his head. "Wait, that doesn't matter. I need to get back to New Genesis; the rest of the Team is probably freaking out about me being missing. Not to mention my family."

Paradox merely smiled. "Not to worry, Ken; I promise to return you to the exact moment you left. Your friends and family won't even know you were gone." When Ken opened his mouth, Paradox held up a hand. "And your teammates will recover from their injuries, I assure you."

"Well, that's a relief." Ken took a deep breath, and some color returned to his face. Until Paradox had said it, he had been so worried about the Team; some of them had been pretty badly hurt. "Thanks for telling me."

Paradox held out a hand and helped Ken back to his feet. "Normally I wouldn't interfere so directly, but your injuries required me to… bend the rules, so to speak. I trust you don't mind?"

Ken patted himself down one last time, just to be safe. "Yeah, it's cool." Once he was calm, he looked Paradox in the eye. "So, where are we?"

"Japan, early twenty-first century." Paradox pulled a paper bag out from his coat and took a gumball from it. "Gumball?" When Ken shook his head, Paradox put the candy in his mouth. "Moving on, we're in a small city known as Karakura Town. And the timing of your arrival is quite fortuitous, as a war is about to start. And you will need to help end it."

"A war? What?" Ken gave Paradox a look. "Look, I want to stand out on my own, but shouldn't you go to Dad for problems like this?"

Paradox's expression was a mix of mild amusement and sheepishness. "Actually, Ben is already here."

"Seriously? Awesome!" Ken had always wanted to go on a universe-crossing adventure with his father, but Paradox hadn't needed Ben in years. "Where is he?"

The amusement was gone, replaced purely by sheepishness. "Well, he's on the other side of this war."

Ken stared at him for a long moment. "Come again?"

"Ben is currently working… well, I do not want to say 'for', but he is working with a very evil man named Sousuke Aizen. At this point, Ben suspects that not everything is well on Aizen's side of things, but is still there." Paradox gave Ken a very serious look. "Remember, young Ken, that though this is Ben Tennyson, this is one from a different timeline. He is your father, but at the same time, he isn't."

Ken blinked a few times as he processed that. "Right, I'll try to keep that in mind. So, why do you need me, if you have Dad—I mean, Ben?"

Paradox frowned darkly, but the expression wasn't aimed at Ken. "I did not send Ben here; someone else did, someone with no regard for subtlety. Ben's abilities could unintentionally tip the balance of power in Aizen's direction, and he is one man who cannot be allowed to succeed. Your presence could help balance things out." Ken couldn't remember any of his father's stories about Paradox that had the man so serious. "However, I insist that you be careful. While you will be among allies, many of those near Ben at this time will take any opportunity to destroy him."

Ken took a deep breath. "Make sure my side wins the war, and that not-Dad stays alive. Got it."

Paradox smiled. "Excellent! Now that you have your task, I'll leave you to meet several of the people you'll be working with." He walked over to the door and knocked gently. "He's ready."

"Oh, good!" To Ken, the voice that came through the thin door sounded far too happy to not be hiding something. "I'll be right in."

Paradox patted Ken on the shoulder. "Good luck, Ken! I'm sure we'll see you again soon."

As Paradox disappeared in a flash of blue light, the door slid open. "Does that man always leave so dramatically?"

Ken looked over the man. He was tall, just around Ken's height, and thin; he wore a dark coat with a white diamond pattern along the bottom half, over dark green shirt and pants, and had traditional Japanese wooden sandals on his feet. On his head, concealing most of his pale-blonde hair, was a white bucket hat with green stripes that shadowed his eyes, and in his hands he carried a cane.

"From what I've been told, he usually does," Ken said, then gave a friendly wave. "Hi, I'm Ken Tennyson."

As much as Paradox's eccentricity threw him for a loop, Ken had been told over and over by his father that the time-traveler could be trusted. If Paradox trusted this man, then Ken was willing to bet that he could as well.

"Yes, Professor Paradox told me about you." The man bowed. "My name is Kisuke Urahara. Welcome to my humble shop."

Ken glanced around. "You have rooms for unconscious people in a shop?"

Urahara smiled. "It happens more often than you'd think. Why don't you come outside and meet the rest of my staff?"

Ken glanced over his shoulder; part of him was hoping that Paradox would come back. After all, he was in a completely different universe—though at least he was on Earth, just not his Earth—and among strangers. Then again, he had a mission, and in that respect, he was in familiar territory. And he had to admit that, even if the Ben Tennyson in this universe wasn't technically his father, Ken was excited to work with him on one of these adventures.

Outside, sitting around a low table, were three people. The first was a tall, muscular man with black hair, a mustache, and glasses that reflected all light and concealed his eyes. Ken idly wondered if Robin's mask did the same thing.

The second was a young boy with bright-red hair, big eyes, and a scowl that was aimed right at Ken. Sitting next to him was a tiny girl with long pigtails and the most adorably sad face Ken had ever seen.

"Everyone, this is Ken Tennyson," Urahara said, then pointed to the other adult in the room. "This is Tessai." Then he pointed at the boy. "That's Jinta." The little girl, the one yet to be introduced, waved shyly. "And that is Ururu."

Ken waved back. "Hello. Um, how long have I been here?"

"A few hours," Tessai said, and Ken was surprised at how deep his voice was. "You were badly injured and we feared the worst, but Professor Paradox did something to make you perfectly healthy again."

Ken shrugged. "I've been told not to try to understand how he does stuff. It saves you from headaches." He then realized that he was a guest. "So, thanks for letting me stay here."

"Well, you are helping us," Urahara pointed out. "Giving you a place to stay in the meantime seems like a small price to pay."

"Speaking of helping you," Ken said, "can you tell me what's going on? Paradox only said that there was a war, and that someone named Aizen was the bad guy."

Another thing Ken was curious about was whether Urahara and Tessai were speaking perfect English, or if he was speaking Japanese, or there was some translation thing going on. Granted, Ken did know Japanese—after Seeker had nearly been killed by Deathstroke, he had picked up the language while investigating the area in the aftermath—he wasn't perfectly fluent. He figured that either Paradox or Urahara had done something.

"Of course." Urahara waved his hand towards the table. "Would you like something to drink?"

Ken smiled wryly. "Actually, I don't need food or water." At the surprised looks he received, he shrugged. "I'll explain later, I promise."

Still, Ken sat down and tried to get his bearings while Tessai made tea for everyone else. Urahara's store seemed pretty ordinary, but with several oddities. Ken noticed that some of the products on the shelves had a faint energy signature; it was almost like magic, but not quite. To his surprise, he noticed that Urahara and Tessai had the same kind of energy. He also spotted, through a quick X-ray glance, that there was a trapdoor that led to a huge underground chamber. It was obvious that these people weren't normal.

Once Tessai passed around the tea, Urahara spoke. "First of all, Tessai and I are not Human. We're spirits, inhabiting artificial bodies so that we can interact with normal Humans. I'm sure that's a bit of a shock for you."

Ken shrugged. "You're ghosts in meat-suits. Got it." He almost laughed at the double-take from Jinta. "I've met ghosts before."

If Urahara was surprised, he didn't show it. "All right, then let me explain how things work."

Over the next few minutes, Urahara gave Ken a basic summary of the situation. When people died in this world and didn't pass on to the afterlife—which was called Soul Society—one of three things would happen. First, a special type of spirit called a Soul Reaper would find them and help them pass on peacefully. Second, the soul's regrets would fester, and they would turn into monsters called Hollows. Those Hollows would then hunt down and devour other souls, growing in power, until they were destroyed and purified by a Soul Reaper.

The Soul Reapers were organized into thirteen units, collectively known as the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. Each squad was headed by a Captain and seconded by a Lieutenant; many squads had specialties, such as combat, healing, or other talents. The Thirteen Court Guard Squads had operated smoothly for thousands of years.

Recently, however, things had taken a dark turn. The Captain of the Fifth Squad, Aizen, had betrayed Soul Society and was attempting to take over everything. He had been joined by the Third Squad Captain, Gin Ichimaru, and Kaname Tousen, Captain of the Ninth Squad. While the traitors hadn't made any moves against Soul Society since their dramatic betrayal, everyone seemed positive that that would change soon.

"We have several plans in place for Aizen's next move," Urahara concluded, "but it's still going to be risky."

"No plan survives first contact with the enemy," Ken quoted. "And that's why Paradox was okay with me staying here, right? Because I could help?"

"Yes, along with Ben Tennyson, though he seems to be working with Aizen at the moment." Urahara tugged his hat lower over his eyes. "How are you two related, exactly? Paradox didn't say."

Ken scratched the back of his head nervously. Paradox hadn't told him not to explain things, after all. "Well, he's kind of my dad, but he isn't?" Again, he received some strange looks. "Okay, let me explain. You already know that I'm from another universe, right? Well, I'm also from an alternate timeline."

Jinta squinted at him. "How does that work?"

Ken thought about how to explain it. "Does anyone have a piece of paper and a pencil?"

Urahara immediately pulled out both from his pocket and handed them to Ken.

"Uh, thanks." Ken drew several circles on the paper. "Imagine that each circle is a separate universe. Some are really different; let's just focus on Earth, for now. In one universe, Humans never existed, while in another, everyone has three heads. Then there are universes that are almost identical, to the point where they're all called 'parallel universes'. Those universes are really only different in how their timelines progressed, or how people made certain choices." He shrugged. "I'd be willing to bet that my Dad and the Ben Tennyson in this universe are almost the same, but just had different adventures. I mean, Dad never told me about fighting in a war between spirits, and he told me about all of his adventures."

Even the one about how Vilgax killed his family, Ken thought. Ben had told him that story after he turned sixteen; Ken would never forget the tears that rolled down his father's face that day.

"So, this Ben Tennyson is just a different version of your dad?" Jinta asked.

Ken nodded. "Yeah, but Paradox wouldn't have told me to help him if he wasn't a good guy."

"Paradox has already told me as much," Urahara admitted, "but it's good to hear it from someone else." He then pulled out a fan and covered the lower half of his face. "Now then, what was that about you not needing food or drink? I'll admit, I'm curious."

Ken sighed; something told him that Urahara would hound him for answers, so it would be better to just come clean. "Well, you aren't the only one who's not Human. Okay, technically I'm half Human; the other half is Kryptonian." If Urahara's wide eyes and Tessai's sharp intake of breath was any indication, they had already figured it out, but Jinta and Ururu were still in the dark. "I'm half alien. Oh, and I'm a superhero."

Jinta's jaw dropped, and Ururu's eyes went so wide that Ken worried that they would pop out of her head.

"Paradox didn't tell me that," Urahara muttered. "And being an alien means that you don't need to eat or drink?"

"Well, I could if I wanted to," Ken said, "but all I need for energy is some time in the sun, or stick my finger in an electrical socket. I can absorb most forms of energy."

"Really?" There was a thoughtful look on Urahara's face that made Ken a little worried. "Do you have any other abilities?"

"A few," Ken said, just to mess with the man. Then he had to wonder: did he have anything new? His fight with Zero had been pretty intense; it was possible that he'd acquired a new power without knowing.

Please don't let it be something lame, he begged silently.

"Absolutely fascinating," Urahara said, then grinned. "I have a feeling that the foreseeable future is going to be very interesting."

Ken glanced at Ururu. "Should I be worried?" The little girl held up one hand, then brought her forefinger and thumb about half an inch apart. Ken turned back to Urahara and sighed. "Just… don't try and clone me, or something. That's been tried a few times, and it never ends well."

All of them gave him a strange look, but thankfully didn't press. Ken was about to make another comment, when his super-hearing picked up something strange. To him, it sounded like something was tearing open, but it was no substance he was familiar with.

"What the heck is that?" he asked; when he saw the questioning looks of the others, he tapped his ear. "Super-hearing; it sounded like something was… I don't know… opening?"

Urahara frowned. "I need to check some of my instruments. Please wait here for a moment."

While Urahara was gone, Ken noticed that Jinta and Ururu looked vaguely confused and worried, but Tessai was extremely tense.

"It seems you may have arrived in the nick of time," the tall man said after a few moments of silence. "Aizen may be making his next move."

Ken shrugged. "With Paradox, there's no such thing as having bad timing."

"Indeed," Urahara said as he reentered the room. "In fact, he left something for you in my lab." He glanced over his shoulder. "Or, rather, someone."

Ken stared as a familiar face stepped out from behind Urahara. "Greta!?"

The young ghost put her fists on her hips and frowned. "Secret!"

"Right, right, sorry," Ken waved at her. "How have you been, Secret?"

Secret shrugged. "Secret."

Ken chuckled. "Right, should have guessed. I should stop asking you questions, huh?"

Secret nodded, then held out a small package with a note on top.

"I really wonder how you can lift things when you're a ghost," Ken muttered, then read the note aloud. "Dear Ken, I decided to send young Secret with you to keep you company. I felt it would be good to have a familiar face around. I also sent with her something that should help keep Ben safe. For the time being, it would be good that Aizen and his forces not make a connection between the two of you. Good luck; your friend, Paradox."

Secret beamed at Ken. "Secret!"

"First solo assignment?" Ken asked; Secret nodded. "Yeah, I know how that feels."

"You can understand her?" Jinta asked as Ken opened the package.

"Sometimes," Ken admitted. "I live with an alien symbiote who can only say one word, and my cousin has a pet ball that was made by gods and can turn into a flying tricycle with lasers and can only beep. I'm pretty used to understanding weird ways of talking." Ignoring the sputtering that came from Jinta and Tessai, Ken looked into the package. "Oh, that's nice. Thanks, Paradox."

"What did he give you?" Urahara asked, even as he wrote down everything Ken had said on a notebook.

Ken held up a black double-diamond mask, almost identical to the one Robin wore. The mask had white lenses and a small container of adhesive. Ken quickly applied the adhesive, then placed the mask on his face.

"That's going to take some getting used to," he commented, then looked down at himself. "Yeah, the jacket is going to have to go."

"Why's that?" Urahara asked.

"Ben wears a jacket almost exactly like this," Ken explained. "If I don't want the bad guys putting two and two together, I can't wear it." He quickly pulled off his jacket. "I guess I'll go check out that weird sound."

"You'd better hurry," Urahara said. "It seems that Aizen has sent two particularly powerful fighters, and Ichigo and his friends have gone to fight them." When Ken tilted his head, Urahara quickly said, "Ichigo is a young man with bright orange hair. You can't miss him."

Ken nodded. "I'll tell him you sent me."

"Not a bad idea. I'll be joining you shortly, I just need to get someone."

Ken still had many questions, and only had a vague idea of what was going on. However, Paradox had asked for his help, and he couldn't say no to making his dad's life easier—even if it wasn't technically his dad. With that in mind, he pushed aside his worries and headed for the door.

"It's Hero Time," he muttered, and sped off in the direction of the noise.

…

Ken arrived at the scene—a copse of trees on the outskirts of town—just in time to see a severed arm land near his feet. "Oh, gross!"

The owner of the arm, a huge man with odd ridges on his head and what looked like an animal's jawbone attached to his own jaw, let out a roar of pain and anger. Ken also noticed that he had a large hole in the center of his chest, but from the way it wasn't bleeding, he assumed that that was always there.

Behind the giant was a normal-sized, albeit thin, man who looked completely unfazed by the other's pain. His skin was almost as pale as his white clothes, and lines traced down his face from below each eye. He wore a white half-helmet on the left side of his head, from which a horn jutted out. Like the other, he had a hole in his body, though his was on his sternum, something that Ken found disturbing. Both men had sheathed katanas on their hips, but something about the weapons struck him as odd. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, though, and simply added it to the list of questions he would ask Urahara later.

"You little bastard!" the big man bellowed. "How dare you cut off my arm!"

Ken followed the giant's angry gaze to a teenage boy with bright orange hair—that had to be this Ichigo person. The boy wore an all-black outfit of baggy pants and a ragged coat with red on the inside. He held a black katana in his hands; it wasn't hard to deduce that he had been the one to cut off the big guy's arm.

There were two others nearby, but neither of them were in any shape to fight. The first, a tall, muscular teen with tan skin and messy hair, was lying in a heap off to the side. He was bloody and bruised, though Ken was intrigued by the way his right arm had transformed; it was black with red stripes, and had several angular plates coming out. The other person was a pretty girl with orange hair, who was trembling behind Ichigo.

"Yammy, do not kill him," the pale man said in an emotionless voice. "Lord Aizen wants to test the abilities of Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Fine, Ulquiorra," the big guy, Yammy, spat back, "but that doesn't mean I won't beat this punk into paste for what he did to my arm!"

Oh, so that's what's going on, Ken thought. This is a scouting mission, to see what the enemy is capable of. I guess this Aizen guy has his sights on Ichigo. Well, I don't think letting him know all the guy's secrets is a good idea. Time to go to work.

Ken rushed forward, catching Yammy by surprise with a super-fast and super-strong punch to the jaw that sent him flying twenty feet back. Ichigo and the girl looked at Ken in shock, though all Ulquiorra did was tilt his head slightly.

"Who are you!?" Ichigo demanded.

"Long story," Ken said, not taking his eyes off his opponents. "For now, Urahara sent me to help out. Don't worry, backup's on the way."

"You… you little…!" Yammy sputtered as he got to his feet. "I'll crush you!"

"You're name is Ichigo, right?" Ken asked, not reacting to Yammy's threat.

"Yeah, why?" Ken noticed that Ichigo was very defensive, and wondered if he was always like that, or if it was because he was in a fight.

"Look, I know you don't trust me, but you need to get your friends back and keep them safe."

"I can fight!" Ichigo protested.

"I'm sure you can," Ken said, trying not to sound condescending, "but these guys were sent to see what you can do. Don't let them. I'll buy time until the cavalry arrives."

In his head, Ken hoped that Urahara and whoever else he was bringing actually was strong enough to count as the cavalry.

Yammy roared, and suddenly there was no more time to talk. Ken blocked Yammy's remaining fist with both of his arms, then grabbed the hand and heaved the giant over his shoulder and into the ground. Yammy didn't even have time to react before Ken was standing over him, delivering a series of super-strong punches to his face.

"Get off me!" Yammy shouted, then brought a knee up and into Ken's chest; the blow knocked him back and gave Yammy the time he needed to get back up.

I actually felt that hit, Ken thought. I've been hit with worse, but I'd put this guy at Cyborg's level of strength… before he got upgraded, anyway. Ken considered using one of his other powers against Yammy, but decided against it. If these guys came to report on Ichigo's abilities, they'd do the same for me. I'd better keep a few tricks up my sleeves.

Ken didn't like relying solely on his Kryptonian powers, preferring to mix it up by throwing in his Ultimatrix abilities, but he could brawl just as well as Superboy. He cracked his knuckles and grinned at Yammy.

"Come on, then," he said. "What else you got?"

"I've got this!" Yammy thrust his first forward; an instant later, a red burst of energy was sent flying at Ken.

Ken was suddenly reminded of his fight against Zero; the last time he had dealt with energies he wasn't familiar with, he had been impaled. Thankfully, when the red blast hit him, he did absorb it; however, it was… slower than what he was used to, and there was still enough force to send him back a few steps. Still, Ken was glad that he was unhurt, and the energy had given him a decent boost.

"Huh, so you took the hit?" Yammy grinned. "Looks like you might be fun to fight, if you can withstand my Bala."

Did he notice that I absorbed it? Ken wondered. He doesn't seem the type to analyze things. Maybe he just thought that I shrugged it off.

"Oh, you have no idea," Ken said, then charged in again; rather than a head-on attack, however, he sidestepped right and slammed his foot into Yammy's knee. With Yammy's own attack giving him a boost, Ken's kick had a lot of power behind it. Before the giant could retaliate, Ken grabbed him by the leg he'd kicked and hurled him at Ulquiorra.

The pale man leaned out of the way to avoid getting hit, but otherwise made no reaction. In fact, Ken would have said that he looked bored, but even that was too much. Ulquiorra had no expression whatsoever; it was like he had no emotions.

"Trash," Ulquiorra said. "I was not aware of non-Soul Reapers with your level of strength, but you are still trash."

Ken narrowed his eyes, then ran towards Ulquiorra; before he could attack, however, Yammy jumped back up and swung his arm down like a hammer. Ken crossed his arms over his head and blocked the hit, though the force of it still created a small crater in the ground.

"Is that all you've got?" Ken grunted, then moved in close and delivered five super-fast punches into Yammy's gut. "My little sister hits harder than you!"

With another roar of fury, Yammy swung his arm in a vicious backhand, slamming Ken back towards Ichigo, who had moved his two friends near the edge of the trees.

"Are you all right?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ken said as he brushed himself off. Between his natural healing factor, the bright sunlight, and the energy he had absorbed, Yammy's hits were easy to shrug off.

"You won't be fine after this!" Yammy pulled back his fist to fire another Bala, but just as he did, a crimson shield appeared to block the shot.

"Sorry we're late." Ken and Ichigo both turned to see Urahara behind them, holding out a sword with a black edge and a white edge, and an ornate handle. At his side was a beautiful woman with dark skin, even darker hair, yellow eyes that reminded Ken of a cat, and wearing a black and orange outfit.

Ken only nodded, then turned his attention back to the enemy; he could figure out who was who when there wasn't a fight going on.

"More of you bugs to crush!" Despite having only one arm, and plenty of bruises from Ken, Yammy looked like he was having the time of his life.

So fast that Ken could barely track her movements, the woman grabbed Yammy by the arm and slammed him into the ground, much like Ken had done earlier. She glanced at Ken and Urahara.

"Check on Chad," she said, "he's in bad shape."

Through process of elimination, Ken assumed that Chad was the big guy with the transformed arm. Urahara pulled a bag from his coat and moved towards Chad, just as Yammy got up—and Ken had to wonder just how much punishment that guy could take—and tried to smash all of them.

Urahara and Ken had already moved back, but the woman simply vanished, then reappeared next to Yammy and backhanded him. Ken was sure he heard Yammy's cheekbone fracture, and the woman wasn't done. She hopped onto his back, kicked him in the head, brought her hands together to hit him again, then jumped up to gain momentum before bringing her leg down in a vicious blow that created a ten-foot-deep crater, with Yammy at the bottom.

"Whoa," Ken breathed. He knew plenty of people who were as strong or fast—or both—as this person, but few of them—the good ones, anyway—fought so viciously. Ken was used to restraint.

"You have no idea," Urahara chuckled, then inspected Chad. "Orihime, can you heal him?"

The girl, who was no longer trembling as much, nodded. "Y-yes, I can!"

As Ken watched, Orihime held her hands near Chad's head; a moment later, two winged creatures emerged from her hairpins and created an orange field between them that encased Chad. To Ken's surprise, Chad's injuries slowly started repairing themselves!

No, stupid, pay attention to the fight! Ken berated himself, and turned back, just as Yammy opened his mouth wide; a moment later, a massive red beam fired out.

Ken put everything he had into intercepting the shot, and even though there was a huge explosion of dust and smoke from the impact, he had managed to absorb it all.

"How do you like my Cero, you maggots!?" Yammy laughed, but it died in his throat when he saw that not only were his targets still alive, they were all completely unharmed! "What!?"

Ken grinned. "Yeah, that wasn't so bad. Not even on my top ten worst hits."

Yammy gritted his teeth in rage; veins popped out on his forehead, and he moved to charge.

"That's enough, Yammy. We're leaving." Ulquiorra's words were calm, but something about the way he said it suggested that it would be a bad decision on Yammy's part to defy him.

"You sure, Ulquiorra?" Yammy asked; Ken noticed that he calmed down almost immediately.

The other man nodded. "We were only sent to test Ichigo Kurosaki. The person with the mask was unexpected, and the two newcomers are Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi Shihouin. Lord Aizen warned us about those two."

Yammy scowled. "Yeah, fine." He glared at Ken and Ichigo. "Next time we meet, you runts, I'll kill you!"

Ken tensed, ready to move. "What makes you think we're going to let you leave?"

Urahara put a hand on his shoulder. "Trust me, we don't want to follow them."

Ulquiorra made a gently slashing motion with one finger; a second later, the air itself seemed to split and rupture. In the void, Ken could see an inky darkness; he didn't know what it was, but he was inclined to believe Urahara now.

Yammy grabbed his severed arm and followed Ulquiorra as he walked into the abyss; a moment later, it closed, looking for all the world like nothing had changed.

"Well, that was different," Ken said after a moment.

Yoruichi—and now Ken had a name for the face—glanced at him. "Really? From what Kisuke told me, I assumed you were used to fighting."

"No, that's par for the course," Ken said easily. "I meant the holes in their chests. That was kinda creepy."

Yoruichi smirked. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it." She walked over to Chad and gave him a quick check. "He's safe to be moved now. Let's get everyone back to the shop to finish healing, and then we can all get some answers."

Ken looked at Ichigo and Orihime, who were giving him wide-eyed stares. "Yeah, that's probably a good thing."

And, cut! For those of you not in the know, this story has officially crossed with Bleach, but not the normal Bleach. You see, my story is now running parallel to another story, one being told by my friend, Bigby the Big Bad Wolf! Please go and read his stuff, it's very good!

Bigby: Hi, everyone! And thanks for the compliment, Muffin.

Muffin: No problem, thank you for letting Ken visit Bleach: Ultimate Alien Remake, Bigby.

Bigby: Just so long as Ken doesn't overshadow anyone he shouldn't.

Muffin: Don't worry, I won't. I only had Ken do well in this fight because, well, Yammy's pre-released state kinda sucks, and the only reason Ichigo didn't dominate the entire fight in canon was because of his Inner Hollow thing. And, since Chromastone was able to absorb spirit-based attacks in your original story, I thought it would be fine if Ken was able to do the same. After all, he has the same power. Things won't always be easy for Ken, even if he is half-Kryptonian, and 50% of Superman still means that he should be able to lift a mountain if he really tried.

Bigby: … You're not helping your case, buddy.

Muffin: Hey, I'm only telling this arc from Ken's perspective! Don't worry, I promise that he won't beat up or overshadow Ben. It's still your story, I'm just playing in the same sandbox, and you can tell me to leave at any time.

Bigby: Well, thanks. I look forward to working with you.

Muffin: Likewise! Now, onto the preview and quote!

Next Chapter: Ken learns more about the strange world he's in, and discovers some new things about himself.

Set a course for Muffins, maximum warp!