Disclaimer: Own Justice League and Ben 10, I do not. Very sad, I am.
So, after another friggin four month hiatus, I return. If Man of Action don't start putting up new Ben 10 episodes, I'm gonna lose it. Anyway, your reviews have been very encouraging. It shows me how much you guys like this story, and that always makes a writer feel good inside. Anyway, time to wrap up this chapter.
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Chapter 14: Initiation Part II
"I'm telling you J'onn, it took all the restraint I had to to introduce the man's face to my ring," Green Lantern reported, his temper still at its limit, even though the argument with the General had been hours ago.
Soon after the military departed, the heroes had searched the area for any kind of clue to what had happened to the now-decimated landscape. Unfortunately, Ben had been forced to stay in the Javelin at first due to the Ultimatrix's low charge, his need to keep his identity secret still very crucial. He wasn't thrilled about being left out, but relented nonetheless. After an hour of recharging, he had been allowed to help, putting his aliens to good use in the searching process, a process that had revealed the nature of Ben's transformations to Captain Atom and Green Arrow. Now, after several hours of scanning, sweeping, and even digging, they were still no closer to finding a solution to the unknown problem.
Now John Stewart was delivering a status report to his martian friend back up in orbit.
"You did the right thing," J'onn reassured through the screen. "But the problem is most definitely not under control. It's getting worse."
"Of course it is," a voice said from behind GL. Turning, the marine laid his eyes on the familiar form of Diamondhead, who calmly walked forward. "They're trying to hush it all up, even if their own people are hurt in the process. Saw it lots of times back home. By the way, Arrow is fuming back there." The jade alien jerked his thumb over his shoulder to emphasize his point.
"I'm not surprised. The guy never shuts up," GL muttered, rubbing his temples.
"He seems alright to me. Reminds me of Kevin, except more left-wing," Ben responded, shrugging his large rock-like shoulders.
"If that's the kind of guy you put up with for three years, you have more patience than I thought you did," John said, making Diamondhead smirk.
"I'm full of surprises," he responded, but his face became serious once more. "We should probably go back and see what more we can do. Screw the General and the stick up his-"
"No!" J'onn barked from the screen. "We can't just do whatever we want. We have to respect the government's wishes, regardless of what we think of their policies."
"And this is why I hate politics," Ben grumbled.
"Guys!" Kara's voice called out from behind them. Turning, Ben and John saw Supergirl and Captain Atom standing in the doorway to the cockpit. "Green Arrow's gone!" Kara reported worriedly.
"And he took the Geiger counter with him," the Captain added. John's eyes narrowed dangerously.
Diamondhead facepalmed. "Aw, man."
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The archer in question sat crouched behind a cluster of bushes as he observed the evacuation. Under control, yeah right, the hero thought bitterly as he watched men, women, and children fleeing for their lives in a panic, with soldiers directing them towards a small wooden bridge nearby. He could also see many military vehicles transporting supplies as well, including food and weapons. Green Arrow then narrowed his eyes as he saw the General from before beckoning the civilians to safety from the back seat of a Jeep. The hero felt a spike of anger toward the General, though he managed to restrain his fury and get back to the mission at hand.
The Emerald Archer pulled the Geiger counter from his hip and pointed it to his left, which caused it to start beeping incessantly. As Green Arrow was preparing to move in said direction, he heard the familiar sound of screeching tires and turned to see that one of the supply trucks had lost control, smashed through many of the bridges supports and safety bars, and was now teetering at the edge of the bridge, the driver still stuck inside.
Unwilling to leave an innocent behind, Arrow pulled out his bow and slid down the hill he had been scouting from. Notching two arrows, each eqipped with high-density cable, the archer fired, the two arrows attaching themselves to a bridge support with the cables landing in a position to cradle the truck. The end result was that the large vehicle fell off the bridge, but the pair of cables managed to keep it from plunging into the ravine below.
Knowing that the cable wouldn't hold for long, Arrow prepared to fire a grappling hook from his bow before feeling a strong grip on his shoulder. Turning, he saw Green Lantern standing behind him, his eyes emitting a fierce glare. Behind him was Supergirl, arms crossed over her chest, frosty blue eyes locked in an infuriated expression very similar to the Lantern's.
"Going somewhere?" Lantern growled.
"We don't have time for this! That man's about to fall!" Arrow yelled.
"No he's not," Supergirl responded, pointing toward the bridge.
Turning, Green Arrow felt his jaw drop at the creature now floating over the bridge, the driver of the truck held securely in his arms as the cable finally snapped and allowed the truck its inevitable plummet into the abyss, a loud boom following as the truck connected with the canyon floor. The weird monster-thing looked like some kind of blue mothman, which proceeded to land on the bridge.
As Big Chill released the driver from his grip and allowed his wings to fold back over his body, the General ran over, his face red from rage. "I told you to stay away!" he roared.
"Hey, chill out. I was just trying to help," Ben responded, little breaths of mist flying from his mouth as he spoke, the transformed teen holding up his arms to placate the General. It didn't work.
"I told you before!" the uniformed man yelled, getting up in the taller Big Chill's face. "The situation is under-"
BOOM!
Turning quickly, Ben felt his eyes widen as a creature matching the height of Way Big, with what looked like a suit of red armor and a flaming skull-like head revealed itself over the horizon, only the top half of its body being seen as the large hill covered the lower half. The massive monster instantly spotted the bridge and lifted its arm. But instead of a hand, there was what appeared to be a cannon attached to the end of the arm. Said cannon was now lighting up with energy and preparing to fire.
Ben's heart jumped into overdrive as the monster fired a massive energy blast, which proceeded to burn its way through the landscape before approaching the bridge. Apparently the colossal beast had very poor aim.
As the beam approached, Big Chill grabbed the General and leaped into the air. Ben's first thought had been to go intangible, but he honestly didn't know how well he could withstand that kind of power, even while phasing through it.
The alien landed with the General, both turning quickly to see the bridge blasted in half, the giant with the flaming skull walking in the opposite direction, its job seemingly done.
Ben and the General both stood up, the latter placing his military cap back on his head. He was then lifted from his feet as he came face-to-face with the narrowed green eyes of Big Chill, whose hands were now grabbing the General's uniform with a strong grip. "'Under control'? Do you have any idea what you've done here?" the alien snarled, throwing the General to the ground. Some of the nearby soldiers aimed their weapons at him, but bullets were never a problem for this particular alien.
"I'm gonna make sure you burn for this, General," Big Chill said in a dangerously cold voice. "You can count on that."
With that, the Necrofriggian unfolded his wings and flew over to his comrades, who were still as shocked as he was. "What the hell was that?" Arrow managed to ask.
"A mistake. One we're gonna fix," Ben responded.
"Damn right we are. Let's move," Lantern commanded, turning to Kara. "Tell Captain Atom we need back-up, ASAP."
Supergirl nodded and spoke into her communicator as John turned back to the other two, his eyes focused on Big Chill.
"You sound like you got a plan already," Lantern observed.
The Necrofriggian was incapable of grinning, so he simply nodded in response.
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The massive nuclear creature roamed the countryside without direction or purpose, its intent to destroy all in its path. If it saw a village, it would decimate it. If it saw a bridge, it would collapse it. If it found the army, it would end it.
And, almost as if on cue, half a dozen military tanks began firing at the creature from a distance. Moving slowly, as if it had all the time in the world, the monster walked toward the tanks, powering up its right arm cannon as it approached. Knowing that their armor wouldn't be able to stand that kind of blast, the drivers climbed out of the tanks and ran as their only means of defense were destroyed by a massive blast of nuclear power.
Looking a little farther, the creature saw what the tanks had been protecting. About three dozen people and their animals (including oxen and horses) were pushed back towards the edge of the same cliff from before. They had been attempting to cross it when the monster blew it away. Now they were trapped, with the gigantic mindless beast stalking towards them.
As it prepared to fire both of its arm blasters, it was interrupted by an incredibly loud voice.
"HEY UGLY!"
The monster did not lower its arms, but it did turn its head to see a massive humanoid creature with a height similar to its own standing a short distance away. The white creature clenched his fists as he locked eyes with the monster.
"WHY DON'T YOU PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE?" Way Big boomed.
Assessing the white being as a greater threat, the nuclear monster turned, powering up its cannons in preparation of annihilating its opponent. However, Way Big was faster than his size would suggest, quickly lunging forward and grabbing both of the cannons in his arms and delivering a powerful kick to the creatures chest. The beast flew backwards through the air, over the ravine, and on the other side of the canyon.
Moving quickly, Way Big leaped over the people and the canyon and landed right next to the monster, leaving a nice indent in the earth. Crouching his knee on the creature's chest, Ben lifted his arms and began pummeling the nuclear beast with everything he had.
From a distance, Green Arrow, Kara, Captain Atom, and John watched with astonished looks on their faces. "Where did you find this guy?" Arrow asked.
"To be fair, he found us," Lantern said cryptically, smirking to himself. But his marine attitude then kicked back in as he started barking orders. "I'm gonna try and get those people to safety. The rest of you wait here, and give the big guy help if he needs it."
"Is that likely to happen?" the Captain asked.
There was a bright flash of light and a loud yell as Way Big was sent flying backwards from a well placed shot to his chest. The monster let out what sounded like a groan as it stood up, wobbling a little.
"Captain, see if you can drain him," Lantern ordered as he flew into the air. Before the Captain had a chance to fly towards the creature on the other side of the canyon, a well-placed kick by Way Big knocked the radioactive monstrosity back to their side of the ravine.
"Can't seem to decide which side he wants to fight on," Arrow said dryly as he notched a few explosive arrows.
"Seems that way," Atom responded as he flew towards the creature, deciding that draining it while it was down would be a wise choice. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Way Big step over the canyon and back onto their side of it.
Acting quickly, Captain Atom hovered over the creature and began attempting absorption of its power. No power, no life, no destructive rampage. Problem solved.
He began draining small doses of radiation in an attempt to feel it out, and see what he could learn from it. Deciding that he could go a little further, the Captain began sucking out higher quantities of energy at a more rapid pace. It didn't take long for him to realize that he was out of hi league as he felt his 'body' burning, a sign that he was taking in way too much power. After a few more seconds, the energy became too much and the Captain felt his body give way, some of the leftoer radiation he hadn't fully absorbed into his body creating a small explosion that sent him flying back a small distance from the monster, his impact with the solid ground creating a small crater. The beast still had yet to get back up.
Supergirl quickly flew over and worriedly checked to make sure that he was alright.
"Too much power. I can't drain it all," Atom gasped out.
A shadow fell over the two of them, and they turned to see Way Big crouched down on one knee beside them.
"DID LANTERN MANAGE TO EVACUATE THE CIVILIANS?" he asked.
"Yeah, they're on the other side of the canyon now," Supergirl answered him.
"GOOD. I CAN STOP HOLDING BACK."
With that, he stood up straight and carefully stepped around his teammates and approached the monster, which was finally managing to get back to its feet. Once it spotted the enemy that had smacked it around like it was nothing, it lifted its left arm to attack.
"MY TURN."
Ben then crossed his hands together in a right angle-like shape in front of his chest. As the beast unleashed its own energy blast, Way Big released his own. A red-hot beam connected wth a cosmic-blue one, and the two blasts struggled for domination, pushing towards the monster, then Ben, then back to the monster.
Deciding that he had little choice, Way Big let loose all of his power into that blast, and the beam widened considerably, overpowering the beast's and hitting the creature dead in the chest, creating a large explosion that sent the monster through the air and onto its back.
Way Big then began panting heavily, the effort of firing that energy beam exhausting him severely. Looking up, Ben groaned as he saw the beast getting back up.
Then it got worse.
As Ben prepared himself for another fight with the colossal monster, a bright green flash illuminated the nearby environment, and Way Big was replaced with an eighteen-year-old teenager that now had to look up to see the monster's face.
Ben's heart began racing as he saw the beast look down on him, cocking its head slightly, as if confused. Then it went back to its destructive nature and lifted its arm towards Ben, preparing to wipe the young adult from the face of the Earth.
"Stupid watch!" Ben yelled as he turned and began sprinting in a futile attempt to outrun the creature's energy blasts. He heard the familiar noise of the beam firing, and time seemed to slow down as Ben turned his emerald eyes to see the beam rapidly approaching him, its heat making his skin burn even from a distance. The beam closed the space between them within seconds, and in the back of his mind, Ben heard a small voice cheering at the fact that he was about to be reunited with his family in a matter of seconds.
Then, he saw a black and green blur fly by him, and a large green shield spawned from nowhere, encircling Ben and his savior.
Ben managed to turn and see Green Lantern flying a few feet in the air, his right arm extended, power ring at full blast to protect the two of them from the blast.
It wasn't enough.
The beam smashed into the shield, causing a massive explosion that sent both heroes flying through the air. Ben's head connected with the ground, and all was black.
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The first thing Ben was aware of was the yelling.
"This wouldn't have happened if you'd acted as a part of the team instead of your 'lone wolf' crap!" That was Captain Atom's voice.
Ben cracked an eye open to examine his surroundings. He was back in the Javelin, and by the looks of it, he was in the medical wing. Then he remembered the creature, the destruction, and...
John!
"I'm not part of your damn team, remember? So back off!" Green Arrow's voice snapped.
Ben looked to his left and saw John Stewart lying on a medical bed, and the young adult knew that he was lying on one as well. Judging by how he could feel a sheet against his skin, he guessed he wasn't wearing his shirt or jacket.
"Hey, we've got a giant rampaging robot out there!" Kara's voice. "But if you guys are too busy playing alpha male smackdown, I'll handle this."
"Hold it there, girlie," Atom barked. "You're not in charge, so you're not going anywhere."
"Who's gonna stop me? You?" Kara snarled.
Ben was getting tired of this. "ENOUGH!" he roared.
All three heroes quickly turned to see the youngest member of their group sitting straight up, allowing the sheet to fall away and reveal his scarred physique. His green eyes burned with fury.
Ben turned his body and hopped off the bed, his noticably bare feet landing on the cold steel floor. He winced slightly, as he was still sore from the blast, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle, at least until Swampfire could heal him up.
"We don't have time for this crap! Every second we're here fighting is another second that thing is destroying the countryside!"
The wielder of the Ultimatrix noticed a slight amount of fear in the eyes of his comrades, which snapped him out of his infuriated tirade.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Ben began speaking in a quieter and more controlled tone.
"Look, we went head-on against it and got creamed, so that's not gonna work. We need a real plan. This thing's gotta have a weakness, right?"
Green Arrow stood up straighter. "The General might know. This is his doing."
Ben nodded. "Alright. I think it's time we had words with the good General."
The young hero then cocked his head in thought. "Can I trust you two to not reveal my identity, or am I gonna have to remove something to make it physically impossible?"
Arrow and the Captain shared a look.
"I can keep a secret if nuke-boy can," Arrow answered.
Atom threw a glare toward him, but promised to keep Ben's secret nonetheless.
"Good. I'm Ben Tennyson, by the way. Just call me by my name instead of whatever I turn into. Easier that way."
The two nodded.
"You guys head for the ramp. I gotta grab the rest of my clothes."
Arrow and Atom followed the order and walked out, but Kara paused in the doorway befor turning to look at Ben, who cocked his head in confusion. After a moment's hesitation, Kara ran towards him and wrapped him in a hug.
"I'm glad you're okay, Ben," she whispered.
"Thanks, Kara. Sorry for losing it back there," Ben apologized, returning the hug.
"Don't worry about it. We're all freaking out after what happened to Green Lantern," Kara said, breaking the hug and giving him a smile before leaving the room.
Ben sighed as he pulled his shirt off a nearby chair. My first mission with the League, and I get the giant nuclear monster that can take Way Big's punches. Freakin' great.
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About twenty minutes later, the four of them were flying (Kara carrying Green Arrow and Ben transformed into Chromastone) after the monster after having an interesting chat with the General (during which Ben had turned into NRG and threatened to melt his face like a wax figurine). Now they were equipped with special carbon rods meant to knock out the creature's radiation and basically weaken it to the point that they could kill it easily. All they had to do was jam at least one rod into the creatures reactor, which was in its chest. Easier said than done.
The four of them landed once they saw the beast in the distance.
"Okay, what's the plan?" Arrow inquired.
"I shove these rods into its chest. That should stop it," Atom responded.
"Sorry, Captain, but that plan sucks," Chromastone stated."You'll fry if you get too close, and I'm not letting anyone die while I'm here."
"You got a better plan?" Atom asked angrily.
"Yep," was the response before Ben slapped the Ultimatrix symbol, a bright green flash lighting up the area before dying down and revealing the form Ben used earlier with the General.
"NRG!"
"You're gonna stop that thing as an oven?" Arrow asked.
"You can't tell because of the suit, but this form is pure radiation. He was meant for situations like this. Kara or the Captain gets me close enough to throw me, I stab the reactor with a rod, and boom. We win."
"Not much better than the Captain's plan if you ask me," Arrow mumbled.
"Good thing no one asked you. Kara, you distract it. Captain, you're gonna have to carry me. Green Arrow, stay here and hold onto the rods. Hit him from a distance if you see an opening."
The emerald archer narrowed his eyes and nodded.
"Good. Now then, let's move," the walking oven said in his strangely russian voice.
"Hold it," Arrow interrupted.
Turning, NRG and the Captain saw that Arrow had extended his arm in the classic gesture of a handshake. Ben smile under the metal helmet and shook the outstretched hand, Captain Atom following soon after.
"Let's make it hot," NRG said as the Captain grabbed under his armpits and began to carry him toward the beast. Supergirl flew ahead and began her job of distracting the creature. As it turns out, she was good at her job, as she flew around the monster, mocking it while dodging multiple radiation blasts fired at her.
While the beast's attention was on Kara, Captain Atom went in low and flew upwards with NRG in his arms, the transformed teen carrying a rod in each hand as if they were swords.
The two felt the heat coming off the body as they got closer, and Atom didn't know how much further he could go.
"Throw me!" NRG barked.
The Captain complied and threw the alien with all his strength toward the reactor, Ben letting out a battle cry as he flew forward, pointing both bars toward the reactor as he got closer and closer. But then Ben felt a pain surge through his body, and his hands unclenched, the rods falling to the ground as NRG connected with the beast's chest, just under the reactor. The alien form bounced off the armored beast and fell back down to earth, similar to what happened to Captain Atom last time.
"What's happening," Ben uttered weakly as his body trembled from the pain, his fingers clenching in painful ways and his head feeling like it was gonna split open. Everything else was drowned out as the pain overtook his senses for God knows how long.
The pain then spiked even higher, and Ben screamed in agony as he felt his body change into a different form. His body began to shrink, his armored black body becoming much smaller and lighter, and his head grew more spherical.
"ECHO ECHO!" Ben yelled as the pain then died down, leaving the small alien lying there, panting from the horrible experience he had just gone through. He could hear the creature roaring in the background, its energy beams making their distinctive noise repeatedly.
Groaning, Ben stood up and looked down at himself.
"What was that?" he muttered before looking back up at the radioactive monster. The radiation! Ben realized. The Ultimatrix must not have been able to take all that concentrated nuclear energy. But how come Way Big could take it and NRG couldn't? It doesn't make sense!
Ben decided to put his conundrum aside for later. He had to get back into the fight, and regular Echo Echo couldn't cut it. So, without further ado, Ben slapped the Ultimatrix, the four familiar spikes popping out. The surge of energy that rushed through his body felt invigorating as Echo Echo grew taller, his arms and legs grew longer, and his head became more like an oval than a sphere.
"ULTIMATE ECHO ECHO!" Ben roared as he leaped into the air after the beast.
Thanks to the Ultimate form's supersonic speed, he made it there in seconds, lifting his arms and firing blasts of sonic power at the monster's head. The monster turned to look at him and swung its arm as if trying to swat a fly. Ben dodged easily and kept firing his sonic waves at the monster, which seemed to be having some kind of effect. Looking around, Ben couldn't find Kara or the Captain anywhere. However, he saw Green Arrow nearby and ceased his attack, swooping low and landing next to him.
"Where's Supergirl and the Captain?" he asked, turning to make sure the beast was still disoriented from the sonic attack.
"You didn't see?" Arrow asked loudly.
"No. What happened?" Ben inquired worriedly.
Arrow looked down at he ground. "The Captain's suit got cut and he flew away. He exploded in the sky."
Ben felt his blood run cold.
"Kara got knocked into a mountain over there," the archer added, jerking his thumb to te east.
"Captain Atom's... gone?" Ben gasped.
A nod was his response.
Ben felt a raw fury build up inside of him. A rage he hadn't felt since that night. The night he lost everything. Ultimate Echo Echo's fists clenched so hard he would have cut into his flesh if he was organic. Ben threw his head back and let out an infuriated roar.
"That's it! This thing is dead!" Ben screamed as he took to the air, releasing all fifteen of his sonic discs as Arrow yelled at him to stop.
The young hero felt his rage consume him as he approached the beast's head, his sonic discs flying behind him.
Yes, that's right. It killed your teammate. This thing deserves to die. Kill it! a voice in Ben's head yelled. The wielder of the Ultimatrix followed the voice's instructions.
He flew in front of the monster's head mentally commanding his disks to surround its head. "Eat this, you bastard!"
Ben inhaled a deep breath and focused all of his power on one final attack, and for a split second, his green eyes flashed purple.
"SONIC DOOM!"
The discs unleashed massive amounts of sonic power on the beast's head from fifteen different angles, each one exerting pressure on this thing's 'skull'. After a few seconds of non-stop sonic blasting, the thing's head began denting, the pressure of the screeching discs too much for the monstrosity to handle. The massive head began contorting, eventually looking more like a crumbled up piece of paper than a massive burning skull of death.
But as Ben began feeling victorious, the monster's arm flew up and collided with him, sending him flying downward into the ground. Ben groaned as he changed back to Echo Echo, then his human form.
"Aw, man," Ben muttered as he sat up, seeing the beast approach him, both arm cannons targeting the young man.
As it looked like the creature was gonna fire at him, something incredibly fast blew by, flying straight into the creature's reactor. The monster let out a small roar as its flames went out, and it finally died. Then, adding insult to injury, Supergirl flew out of nowhere and smashed her fist into the beast's now-dead skull, knocking it out of its armor and basically decapitating the nuclear weapon.
Turning, Ben saw Green Arrow approaching, his bow held in his right hand and a smirk on his face.
"Nice shot," Ben complimented, standing up with a groan as his back cracked.
"Thanks. Nice trick on that thing's head."
"Thanks."
Looking up, both heroes saw Supergirl float down towards them. As soon as she landed, she wrapped both of them in a super-strong hug.
After a few seconds of nice and quiet, Ben broke the hug with despondent look on his face.
"Let's get back to the Javelin and contact the League. Tell them what happened."
And so, without any more words, the three walked back to the Javelin.
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And so ends the Initiation.
It took a long amount of time to figure out how I wanted to do this. Did Green Arrow get that last shot in, or should Ben kill it himself? Should I cut this chapter in half and make it a three-part story arc? But I figured I'd just make this one chapter and add a tiny hint of what was to come.
Okay, future announcements. First, I plan on inserting Ben into a few JLU episodes, but not all. Depends on both entertainment value and plot importance. Second, next chapter is going to center around Ben's civilian life, including one Cassie Sandsmark. Third, the chapters right now may seem random, but there's an important conspiracy brewing under the surface...
Also, I feel like I should lend a little support to two other excellent writers on this site. The first is Codecrash, who is working simultaneously on a number of Ben 10 crossover fanfics, including ones with Teen Titans and Danny Phantom. Check him out if you like this story. As an added bonus, his chapters are longer than mine. Be careful though, he's a little insane... And since I know you're reading this, Codecrash, don't attempt to deny it. And update soon! I miss your stories!
The second is for fans of the Mass Effect game series (my all-time favorite series, in fact). There is a fic written by Fainmaca called 'Mass Effect 3: Into the Unknown' that he is working on, which is his own version of how ME3 will turn out. It's an excellent story, but the man needs WAY more reviews. He deserves them! Help him out? Please?