Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10 or DC
Endgame
Chicago; May 30th 2019; 7:33AM
Having been living in her uncle's apartment for several months now, M'gaan had made herself almost too comfortable having Ben there; now she felt even worse having a third guest. Without a safe place to hide from the Light and Reach while plans to delegate the United Nations and Justice League in escorting Reach crafts out of Earth space, Ken had no where to go once cleared from the infirmary after his aid in the recent battle.
She moved herself into her Uncle's bedroom and gave Ken the guest room, leaving Ben to stay on the couch… however long that lasted, she didn't really remember. She turned over at the bright rays of sun light that beamed into her eyes from the window, as she did she felt the mattress was more firm and even slightly… hairy? This stirred her awake enough to realize she was in bed with Ben, again, both very much naked but, this didn't make her uncomfortable. She smiled, after the battle with the Reach soldiers she finally felt like she could settle things with Ben and perhaps even have a normal life; M'gaan embraced their random hookups this time rather than feeling embarrassed or scurrying off, she held him tightly as, even in his sleep, he held an arm around her to keep her safe.
…
Rimbor; May 30th 2019; 10:46AM
"Let the defendants rise," Superman, Wonder Woman, John Stewart, Martian Manhunter, Hawkgirl, and Batman were shackled together by energy binds that kept them connected as they rose from beneath the stand, looking up at the judges of different species, "You are accused of willfully attacking Rimbor, is there nothing more the defendants would like to… offer the tribunal before we reach a verdict?" he faked a cough over the word 'offer' implying a bribe but, the League refused to compromise their morals.
Icon, their personal intergalactic attorney, spoke up, "No more, tribune, I believe we have presented enough evidence to fully exonerate my clients."
Hawkman watched from the stands, narrowing his eyes at the situation; the tribunal head sighed loudly, "Then you leave us no choice; the tribunal of the high court of the polyglottery of Rimbor finds the defendants guilty on all charges!"
Gasps echoed through the room as the heroes held their heads low, feeling quite defeated, being executed for a crime they couldn't even remember committing.
"Take them away!" cheering began erupting from the stands as the heroes were lowered back down beneath the courtroom where they await their sentencing; Icon and Hawkman landed on the spot where the original six where just standing, looking down in deep thought.
Suddenly, Superboy, M'gaan, and Adam Strange all flew in above the crowds landing next to the two heroes with solemn expressions; they relayed their good news but, it was too late, "Icon, Hawkman! We've brought new evidence, the Light and the Reach on holographic record admitting they controlled the League and ordered the attack!"
Superboy was ecstatic as he stepped forwards, "It should easily clear them of all charges, it's irrefutable!"
Neither hero looked interested or excited, "Why do I feel like something bad just happened," Strange said.
Icon looked away, "I'm sorry, you're too late."
They all gasped as they weren't expecting such a turn of events; they thought they'd finally won but, if the Justice League is executed here then there isn't a chance of stopping the Reach and their armada.
…
New York City; May 30th 2019; 7:33AM
Aboard the main Reach vessel, Black Beetle stood at the central command as he watched their entire plan fall apart bit by bit; "Time to leave this meat infested world."
"Warrior, look!" Scientist said, "The infestation is aboard this ship!" she noted the security cameras of heroes like Wonder Girl, Impulse, Nightwing, and Robin tearing their way through their Reach defenses.
"Enough," Black Beetle's body suddenly bulked up, a long-serrated beetle-horn extended from his wrist, "The Ambassador tied my hands, now all the hero-meat will die!"
"I would not be so sure!" Aqualad said from behind, Kaldur enjoyed sporting his old Atlantean armor and was more than happy to be on the right side of the fight again; he entered with Blue Beetle on one side and Spiritus on the other.
Without warning, Jamie shifted his hands into staple-shooters which pinned the scientist to the wall behind them in one shot, too quick for Black Beetle to react; Blue flew upwards and begun firing staples that pinned Reach soldiers to the ground and walls.
Black Beetle was going to into intervene when a blast of mana struck him in the chest pushing him back, "You are alone," Kaldur announced as he formed a glowing liquid-katana, he advanced swinging left as Beetle crossed right with his horn-blade, lifting a leg and kicking him with enough force to send him thirty-feet into the air and into the wall. He collapsed with a thud as he groaned attempting to get up, "As for you two," he formed a sonic cannon and fired at Jamie who used a blast of his own, however, Black Beetle's was so much stronger it completely over powered him and sent him back first into the ceiling. Black formed a plasma weapon out of both hands, five feet long and two feet thick the cannon would easily vaporize a city block.
He fired but, Veronica got in between the blast, throwing up a mana shield as the blast slowly cracked away her shield; Aqualad stood from behind and charged at him but, Black Beetle's armor reacted by forming a large staple gun shooter out of his back, pinning Kaldur to the wall without interrupting his beam.
Spiritus' shield shattered and sent her back first into Jamie as they both toppled into a heap, "I believe its time I put your Scarab back on mode," Black said ominously as he approached Blue Beetle.
…
Rimbor; May 30th 2019; 1:53PM
As the judges looked over the scans of Lex Luthor, Queen Bee, the Brain, Ra's Al Ghul, and the Reach with their constituents; they analyzed it all and gave a long sigh, "Your new evidence is compelling, Icon but, the High Council has already made a decision, the fact that we reconvened at all…"
Icon interrupted, "Excuse me, your honor but, this is a direct confession from multiple parties promptly placing the blame for the attack on Rimbor on those responsible, the Light," the judges gave each other confused looks and muttered amongst themselves, "It even gives a solid motive; to bring Earth to the Reach's attention."
"Yes… yes…" the main judge was a blob of a creature, pink and gooey but, he kept his head up as he listened, "Do you not have any more?"
Icon was shocked, damning evidence that deliberately places his clients as innocent was the best defense he had, he wasn't expecting a corrupt judicial system looking for bribes.
Superboy narrowed his eyes at the ground before sprinting into the square to speak to the judges, "We do have more to offer!"
The judge sat back down, comfortably adjusting his seat, "Lovely…"
Superboy stuttered, "Well, I… uh," M'gaan took this time to intervene.
"This… is a court of justice; I mean the decisions of the tribunal have repercussions across the Galaxy!" She announced as Superboy took over, following her lead.
"Right, and what we have to offer is…" he thought for a moment before throwing his hands up, "Opportunity! Opportunity to prove that truth and justice prevail here."
The judge seemed unamused, "That is not the more we are accustomed to receiving…"
"Perhaps not but," M'gaan stepped forwards, "If the tribunal shows its fundamental fairness here and now? Then how many other disputes would be brought to the tribunal from across the known worlds!"
"And the more disputes brought to the council, the more, mores the tribunal will receive!" Superboy finished.
The judged muttered amongst themselves for a moment or two.
…
Meanwhile, Black Beetle approached Blue and Spiritus, the latter formed another shield but was backhanded away; she hit the wall and tumbled to the ground, "This all began with you! And now it shall end with you!" he aimed a plasma blaster for Jamie's head ready to vaporize him but, suddenly a shaking erupted from beneath them.
"Ultimate Humungousaur!" the massive green beast roared as he crashed upwards from below the platform they were on, reaching out and grabbing Black Beetle and tossing him into the ship's controls, sending sparks flying.
A flash of emerald light erupted as Black Beetle recovered, Upgrade dropped from above, covering his entire body and melding with his Reach armor; sending black ooze with green circuitry across his skin, his armor bulked up even more and received several upgrades. The Beetle within fought for control but, Ben wouldn't have any of it, "Sorry but, this suit is history!" Upgrade slowly leaked out of the armor as it disintegrated into a pile of dust.
"Oh, no…" Ben noted as he transformed back into his normal form; Aqualad approached from behind and smiled.
"It is over, we have won."
Ben shook his head and stepped back with a fearful expression, "No, we lost; when I melded with his armor I received all the data it had stored including plans to erase all evidence of their attempts to conquer us…" he choked on his own words, "By destroying the Earth."
…
As Black Beetle was defeated, storms begun to erupt across the globe; tornadoes in Paris, hurricanes in the desert, blizzards in Florida, all thanks to miniature devices hidden by the Reach upon their arrival nearly six months ago.
Watchtower
"The natural disasters have escalated," Captain Atom noted as they watched screens from across the globe of heroes big and small helping to save lives, "The Justice League is spread thin trying to keep casualties to a minimum," images of Dr. Fate stopping a Tsunami in Japan, Gai Gardner carrying victims to safety, Captain Marvel keeping a bus from collapsing off a bridge.
"It's Black Beetle's MFD's," Ben noted as he stepped forwards and addressed the entire group, "Magnetic field disruptors, they're seeded at multiple locations across the Earth, they're slowly deteriorating the Earth's magnetic field…"
Dick finished his sentence for him, "Which in turn is causing these not so natural disasters."
Ben folded his arms and turned to the massive computer showing a holographic globe where several marks were pinpointed, "I can track them down but, I don't know how to stop them because Black Beetle didn't know. This was an endgame strategy, there is no failsafe."
Suddenly, their screen was interrupted by the United Nations symbol while the computer announced the transmission receival, "Incoming transmission from United Nations Secretary Tsang."
They allowed the transmission only to find Tsang in the background with Lex Luthor staring at them through the camera, "Luthor? How did you-" Ben was cut off.
"Secretary Tsang was kind enough to let me use this frequency, as I have a possible solution to our mutual problem," Lex finished as he folded his arms across his chest.
Captain Atom spoke up, "A problem you created when you brought the Reaches attention to Earth!"
Lex raised a brow, "I have no idea what you're going on about," he pulled a thumbdrive from his jacket pocket and held it out, "Lexcorp has developed an anti-reach software program, a virus that should disable magnetic field disruptors."
…
Rimbor
M'gaan, Superboy, and Adam Strange along with Icon and Hawkman stood in the main hall where they waited for the tribunal to come to a conclusion; M'gaan paced for several minutes until Conner grabbed her arm, "Hey, it'll be alright."
"I'm just worried I'll lose my uncle, and who knows what'll happen to Earth without the League," she panicked a bit but, he held her shoulder with comfort.
"I'm sure it'll be fine."
Suddenly, the council rose from below ground, having come to a conclusion, they announced their verdict, "We've heard your unorthodox appeal and have come to a decision; all charges will be dropped effective immediately," the judges signed some paperwork as they continued, "The defendants will be processed and released to Earth's custody."
"We did it!" M'gaan shouted as she jumped for joy, swinging an arm around Superboy for a cheerful shout, "We saved the League!"
Icon and Hawkman approached, "The credit goes to you two, you saved them this time."
"Thank you so much," Superboy noted to Icon, "But, we're needed back on Earth as soon as possible, can you handle things from here?"
He nodded as Superboy and M'gaan returned to the zeta-tubes to transport themselves back to Earth as quickly as possible.
Earth; Metropolis; May 30th 2019; 4:45PM
Every hero that could be found assembled around a staging area in the middle of an abandoned street; temporary zeta-tubes were set up for quick access to any of the scenes at a moment's notice.
Adam Strange, Beast Boy, Miss Martian, Superboy, Wolf, Robin, Wonder Girl, Shifter, Batgirl, Aquaman, Aqualad, Garth, Flash, Kid Flash, Impulse, Jay Garrick, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Artemis, Red Arrow, Arsenal, Tai Longshadow, Virgil Hawkins, Asami, Eduardo, Black Lightning, Plastic Man, Red Tornado, Captain Marvel, Zatanna, Zatara, Spiritus, Sunny, The Atom, and even Mal Duncan in his guardian armor all gathered together to go over their strategy against the cataclysmic final ace in the hole for the Reach.
Ben took a step forwards next to Nightwing, Lex Luthor, and Captain Atom who led the massive team, "Every single one of the magnetic field disruptors must be disabled before they chrysalis to guarantee Earth's safety," Captain Atom explained as Ben continued for him, taking a step forwards.
"Each MFD is protected by two Beetle drone's equipped with weapons just as powerful as those on Beetle warriors like Blue, Black, and Green; I managed to locate twenty of them across the planet, there are forty of us here so you'll be assigned to squads of two," Ben folded his arms as Blue Beetle and Lex worked together to program devices that would disable the world-ending devices.
Lex finally spoke up, holding up his device, "You will all be given Reach tech eggs programmed with my disabling virus; while one hero runs interference with the drones, the other only has to physically touch his or her egg to an MFD to disable it."
Cassandra scoffed, "You really think we can trust Luthor?" she whispered over to Ken who folded his arms in response.
"I don't know," Ken looked down at his newly upgraded emerald Omnitrix, "It's his world too and I'm pretty sure he doesn't want it reduced to space dust."
They looked back up at the scene as the heroes were almost ready to dispatch, "Besides, what choice do we have?" He reached out without taking his eyes off of the stage, intertwining his fingers with hers. She noticed and said nothing, only tightening her grip.
"Alright," Captain Atom announced, "I have your assignments, we'll distribute these eggs and go!" Once completed, they rolled a rack of over twenty MFD disabling eggs, one for every hero team.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Lex announced to the heroes gathering closer for their egg, "The fate of the world is in your hands."
…
Pacific Ocean
"Sigma has engaged!" Aqualad and Garth swam at supersonic speeds, darting back and forth underwater, leaving the MFD defenders incapable of hitting them.
Speaking in Atlantean, Kaldur shouted out to Garth, "I'll distract them while you plant the egg!" he nodded in response and swam away as Kaldur formed two solid hammers made of mystic liquid; he dodged over a blast before bringing his hammer down on the first drone. The second blasted him in the shoulder but, Kaldur was relieved when it was crushed from behind, noticing the deactivated MFD drifting in the waters; Garth swam over and shook his old friends' hand.
…
Paris
Artemis fired arrow after arrow, hitting one drone after the other but never gaining any headway; her explosive arrows didn't do much and nothing else she tried worked, however; she got better angles when her speedster boyfriend scooped her up and allowed her to find an open joint in one of the drone's shell. The arrow pierced a mechanism that caused it to smoke and explode, crashing to the ground.
"Ah, the Eiffel Tower! And the ever-romantic city of lights!" he kept his pace at six-hundred miles an hour as she shot multiple arrows at a time, taking down drones one by one, "We definitely have to come back here babe, ya know, when we aren't saving the world."
Artemis looked up at him with a smile and giggled, "There will always a world to save! Now drop me and go," she leaned back firing an arrow upside down, hitting a drone in the center of its head and exploding.
He set her down and dashed off at speeds faster than any of the drones could track, moving from one to the other so fast his punches shattered their armor; sending attacks into them at five-thousand two-hundred feet per second was enough to completely annihilate them.
Wally ran and slapped the egg on the MFD before it could even register him.
…
Detroit City
Black Lightning dodged a purple beam from one of the drones as he fired off his own lightning-based attacks; hitting the wall behind them, he ducked under another blast before opening his palms and blasting both drones apart at the same time. Virgil used his manhole cover to hover over the sewer water below, holding the egg in hand as he dodged between the explosions, he slapped it on the MFD which shut it down promptly.
Virgil jumped for joy as he approached Black Lightning, "You got a real talent for this, kid, if you ever need a mentor, hit me up!"
"Damn, are you serious?" Virgil smiled brightly.
…
Gotham City
Heatblast fired two waves of searing heat at the drones but missed as they fired a beam into his chest, knocking him back into Wonder Girl's arms; his skin temperature of over three hundred degrees didn't bother her as she helped him up. He transformed again, this time into Jetray giving her a smile before flying upwards, drawing the drones away from the MFD; he used neuro-shock blasts to disable the drones as they exploded mid-air, he landed and transformed back into his base form.
The device clattered on the ground, disarmed as Ken put his foot on it triumphantly. He dusted off his black hoodie but, didn't see a tight embrace coming as Cassandra placed her chin on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his back.
He smiled and returned her embrace, he finally found exactly where he belonged.
…
San Francisco
NRG fired beams of radiation into the air, trying his best to hit the flying insectoid drones, each blast missed entirely but, with a single thought a flash of emerald light transformed Ben into Loadstar.
The humanoid magnet raised its clawed hand sending waves of magnetic force into the surrounding area, targeting the drones which were forced to crash into one another, exploding in a heap as M'gaan placed the egg on the MFD, shutting it down as it lifelessly toppled over.
Loadstar transformed back into Ben as M'gaan approached him, "What do you think about San Francisco? We could move here. retire just like Wally and Artemis?" M'gaan noted but, Ben couldn't take his eyes off of hers.
"What, do I have something in my eye?" she asked, wiping her mascara.
"No, you just look beautiful…"
They shared a passionate kiss, one they'd waiting a long time to have without being directly interrupted by an ongoing fight.
…
Watchtower
Ben watched the twenty or more screens displaying the events taking place across the planet, "Alpha team is go, Gamma is a go too," the clock was ticking and time was of the essence as Ben was the only one left on the tower, he counted their victories, "Eighteen, nineteen, and twenty! Twenty MFD's and twenty eggs delivered."
"We missed one," The Atom pointed out as he enlarged the screen from his size to a size large enough for them all to see, "It was hidden by Earth's North magnetic pole; there are no zeta-tubes in the area, how are we going to-"
Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed through their communications as Barry Allen ran toward the arctic at thirty-thousand times the speed of sound holding a blue anti-Reach egg, "Don't worry, guys, I got this!"
Impulse joined him at nearly the same speeds, "Not without me you don't!" dashing next to him, to ensure the Flash survives, to ensure his future never came true.
They slowly came to a stop as they sighed, "It's too late," Barry said as the defending drones dropped lifelessly next to the massive chrysalis forming within a cave that it quickly consumed, "The MFD has already gone chrysalis."
"I don't think the egg will-" Barry was cut off by Lex Luthor's voice.
He scoffed, "The egg is useless now, you were too late," the sphere of inconceivable energy sent bolts of white lightning out around it, carving into the ice and growing by the minute. Once it had grown larger than a house, it formed a massive cyclone around it of wind and ice; it reached into the sky and connected with a massive hurricane that encompassed a quarter of the hemisphere.
Barry put a finger to his ear, "Now, what?"
"Now you run," Lex suggested.
Barry turned for a moment, talking into his communicator, "Hey, I'm no quitter!"
"No, you buffoon, you and Impulse run around the chrysalis opposite to its energy flow, this should unravel and dissipate the cataclysm," Lex explained as Barry finally understood, he narrowed his eyes, as Impulse had been listening in, they both placed their one knee bent, two hands on the ground, and yellow lightning surging through their pupils as they took off running, both of them nearing the speed of light as they put every ounce of effort they could muster into their speed.
Ben looked back at The Atom, "Is it really that simple?"
"I wouldn't call it simple," Atom explained, "You'll be attempting to syphon its power with your own speed trails, it'll take a massive amount of energy."
Wally narrowed his eyes and turned around as Artemis looked over, "Do you think it'll be-"
"Recognized: Kid Flash B03."
Ben announced into the communicator as Barry and Bart kept their speed even at 99% Light Speed, "Whatever you do, don't slow down until the chrysalis has been completely unraveled." Their intense speed caused another more massive cyclone, one that overshadowed the chrysalis for the time being but, they couldn't keep it up forever.
As predicted, blue sparks of kinetic energy suddenly begun striking the two speedsters but, their intense speed kept it from effecting them; their speedforce energy was enough to keep them safe and running but, not all of them.
"I think it just might be working!" Bart said with a huff, almost out of breath for the first time.
Flash didn't slow his stride, "It's definitely slowing but, not stopping. Even at our top speed, I'm not sure the two of us can generate enough kinetic energy!"
"Then how about us three?" Wally announced as he zipped in next to them, just barely keeping himself at their pace for only a moment or two, "I might not be as fast as you two but, I can definitely add my fair share of kinetic energy!"
"Good man!
"So crash!"
Both speedsters zipped off at several hundred times Wally's top speed, "Come on, Wallace, don't get out shinned by some kid!" he pushed himself further, speeding up to nearly as fast as the return stroke of a bolt of lightning.
Several minutes later; the Bio-Ship arrived on scene with some of the heroes that had finished their missions including M'gaan, Artemis, Kaldur, Blue Beetle, and Nightwing; "Look, it's working!" Dick shouted pointing at the shrinking vortex.
Ben spoke up from the Watchtower, "Guys, we still have a problem! The Earth's magnetic field is stabilizing but, Wally can't take much more of that kinetic energy."
As he ran, Wally was nearly knocked over twice by a blast of blue energy that hit his chest, his atoms starting to disassemble; "Barry and Bart are too fast, all the energy is hitting Wally!" The Atom concluded behind Ben.
As the vortex spun, Barry shouted out to Bart, "We need to slow down so we can syphon off some of the energy!" a fruitless effort as slowly down enough to save Wally would doom the Earth and vice versa.
Blue Beetle listened to his scarab and widened his eyes, "If this keeps up, Wally is going to… going to…" he couldn't finish his sentence as Wally slowly faded from sight, drifting in and out of existence.
"Ben, what should we…" Captain Atom and The Atom were both flabbergasted as their teammate still running the entire operation was suddenly missing, "Do?"
…
Wally shouted in pain as blue energy outlined his body, his atoms slowly vibrating apart as the kinetic energy struck him over and over, "This is it, Barry!"
"Don't say that, Kid!" Flash shouted as he reached out and his hand moved right through his former partner.
"I'd rather die doing this than live knowing I could have stopped it!"
Without warning, Ultimate XLR8 sprinted through the snow leaving a massive trail at speeds nearly half that of light, he cracked the Icey tundra as he ran across it and was on the scene in seconds circling the chrysalis with them and adding his speed to the mix, speeding up the process and also removing the danger for Kid Flash.
"No! The world needs you! You can't just do this!" Wally shouted as their entire conversation took place within a picosecond, "The world needs Ben Ten!"
"The world needs heroes, if I've learned anything in this last year it's that I am no hero," XLR8's visor opened up, "Dying is the easy part, the dead are at peace, the real heroes are the ones that have to keep going…" he said as the energy struck him again, slowing him down a bit as his material body faded, his atoms scattering, "I'm at peace… so keep running, Wally."
With those last words, Ben shoved wally out of the loop, sending him hurtling into the snow at mach three, he recovered quickly enough and stood as suddenly the chrysalis imploded and the entire vortex came crashing down in a plume of snow.
Barry and Impulse were breathing heavily, nearly coughing, as they held their knees and stared at the snow at their feet, Bart pulled back his hood and fell to his knees; Artemis moved to comfort Wally who was still regaining his balance after being forced from the vortex.
Bart had to watch Ben die twice now, this wasn't the future he wanted, not like this… Aqualad and Nightwing rushed in to help the exhausted speedsters up, "You guys did it!"
"Congratulations," Kaldur announced but, was cut off by M'gaan's expression, she looked around the area as the dust had settled but, there was no sign of Ben anywhere, "W-Where is…" she asked as Barry looked up at her with a solemn expression, shaking his head in failure, it was never easy losing a life, especially in the hero game.
The Martian collapsed to her knees, clutching the snow as tears formed and streamed down her face quickly, "No… he's alive, he has to be!" Wally held her back as he closed his eyes, not wanting her to rush into the area they'd just stopped from destroying the planet.
…
Purgatory
Ben opened his eyes and looked around… wait, did he have eyes? Was he looking or just, existing? It was dark for a while, really dark. There was nothing but, an empty void forever, or maybe just a few minutes; he couldn't feel his body, or his brain or any of himself but, he still felt like he was there, like he was still existing.
"Hello, there!" he heard a familiar British voice shout as suddenly his body materialized, "I'm terribly sorry that I'm late, or am I early? I don't like the temporal physics of purgatory at all…"
Ben looked down, he was in his body again but, it was all blurry; it was all faded and everything was an echo, "What happened?" he was in some sort of parallel dimension.
Paradox sighed, "I'm afraid you've died, young Benjamin," with a click of his pocket watch he showed two portals, one white and blank and the other was where he just was. Heroes gathered around M'gaan who was crying into the snow, the speedsters had deactivated the chrysalis and the world was safe, it was over.
"So, I'm finally done?"
Paradox looked back at the blank portal and suddenly, he could see a heavenly place with his friends and family, happy and healthy; Gwen, dressed in all white, looked at the portal and smiled, "Come on, what are you waiting for, dweeb?"
A tear formed in the corner of his eyes as he backed away, "Because of your countless sacrifices for this reality and others, I'm giving you a once in a lifetime offer," Paradox explained as he held both portals on either side of himself, "You can return home to see your new family or you can join your old family in eternal bliss?"
Ben turned around facing the void of darkness, "What do you think I should do?" he asked Paradox.
He reached into his lab-coat and pulled out a pouch of gumballs, "Hmm, you've dedicated your entire life to peace in the name of justice, don't you deserve to be happy?"
"Maybe, but after everything I've done and been through in the last almost seven years… Maybe, seeing my family again is something I don't need anymore, I'll see them again one day but, I don't think it's time yet."
"Then it's settled!"
Ben narrowed his eyes as he turned around, "You didn't just give me the option because I've been a great guy, did you?"
He didn't receive an answer but, Ben continued anyways, "Paradox," he turned around, "I still feel guilty."
The time-walker smiled, "That just means your work isn't done yet…"
"Vilgax…" Ben muttered as Paradox nodded with a caution.
"You are still needed for the land of the living, one day you and Vilgax will clash one final time and the victor will decide the fate of the Universe."
…
Artemis and Wally stood behind M'gaan as she wallowed in the snow, crying as she held her head in her arms, "Come on, we need to start crowd control, the world is going nuts right now…"
As she wiped her tears, a surge of white light sparked and exploded dropping two figures into the snow, on their feet, "As much as I'd love to stay and catch up; there's someone whose assembled something known as an Infinity Gauntlet and I must be going…" another white light enveloped them and when it dissipated, Ben was left standing in the smoke.
M'gaan's smile was unrivaled as she floated over, hugging him with such force they spun in place as he didn't hesitate to kiss her, wrapping her arms around his neck, "I'm so happy you're alive!"
"So am I," Ben narrowed his eyes as she hugged him, facing away from his serious expression, "So am I."
…
Mount Justice; May 31st 2019; 1:32AM
Green Lantern used his ring to create a vessel allowing the Leaguers to return to Earth at much faster than light speeds; as John lowered his rings construct, they noticed the decimation of Mount Justice, "Are we too late?" Superman asked.
Batman put a hand on his shoulder and gestured up to the sky as M'gaan, Chromastone, Beast Boy as a hawk, Spiritus, and Blue Beetle arrived from the air, landing on the beach next to them. The Super-Cycle wasn't too far behind holding Shifter, Wonder Girl, Superboy, Aqualad, Nightwing, Wolf, Robin, and Batgirl.
Batman stepped up first, "Aqualad, what happened here?!"
"Fear not," he responded solemnly, "The crisis has passed, however; the real credit goes to Ben Ten Thousand who led the mission that saved planet Earth and was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice."
Chromostone reverted into his normal form, "I did what I had to do, and I'd do it again a thousand times over."
"Well, all I can say is… good work," Batman smiled as the entire team was shocked by this development.
…
"This is impossible!" Captain Atom shouted with Artemis, Ben, Conner, and M'gaan behind him, "We had him dead to rights!"
"I just don't understand how one single voice and name can be erased from a digital recording individually? Not without the recording being stolen but, it's been in League lock up for several days," Ben noted as he looked over the recordings the took of the Summit they crashed several nights ago.
M'gaan folded her arms, "Well, it had to be Luthor, who else would want his voice erased from incriminating evidence?"
Ben caressed his beard slowly, "But, the real question is, how?"
Conner looked at his phone before his eyes went wide, "Turn on channel fifty-two, now."
It was but a series of a few buttons before an eighty-inch screen of the news report was holographically projected in front of them, "-The lone voice of reason, calling for the ouster of U.N Secretary General Tsang after his disastrous collaboration with the Reach who are currently being escorted off world by Green Lantern agents, at least those aliens have badges, meanwhile Tsang has decided to resign due to this! You're welcome!"
They watched his slander only for the last bit which was the most important part, "His successor hasn't been chosen yet but, we all know the most qualified candidate, the genius responsible for saving the entire planet, Lex Luthor!"
Ben narrowed his eyes; things were getting more and more complicated even as they finally sent the Reach packing and crippled Vilgax, things would never slow down, this world needs Ben Ten Thousand, whether he liked it or not.
…
Ben stood in the center of the Watchtower, looking over data on the holo-computer when a bright flash of pink energy exploded behind him; Sunny appeared and reverted into her human form, "Hey, cus."
Ben turned around to face her, "Hey, so are you going to stick around?" he said as he dispersed the holo-screens behind him, "Vilgax is still out there."
She chuckled, "No, I think you can take care of it from here; between Bart and I, I think we've changed the timeline enough, its time I go see what it looks like," Sunny brushed a lock of raven black hair behind her ear, "I'm going to miss you, ya know?"
"Yea, I'll miss you too," they shared an embrace, hugging tightly as they separated, "How are you going to get home?"
"I never had a problem getting home, I just wanted to spend more time here with all of you," Sunny gave them a smile and clapped her palms together, cackling pink energy summoned a seal which spun until a vortex opened for her, "Smell you later," she said playfully as she vanished within the portal, closing behind her.
…
Hall of Justice; June 1st 2019; 2:33PM
It was still in the midst of reconstruction but, the main hall was still open and they decided to use holograms instead of solid monuments to the heroes that they honored.
Ken stood in front of a massive monument, it was holographic but, it was of Ben Ten Thousand with the words 'Hero of Heroes' inscribed underneath; he saved the world more times than he could count and he was supposed to follow that shadow, how? Being a clone of the greatest superhero that ever lived, how is he supposed to live up to that?
"Hey," Conner announced his presence which Ken didn't notice, "I know what you're thinking…"
He turned as Conner continued, "How do I know who I am if I'm just supposed to be a lesser version of him," for Superboy he turned to look across the massive hall where Superman's virtual statue stood.
"He's the best of the best, how do I top that?"
Conner shoved his hands in his pockets and turned back to the hologram of Ben, "When I met Ben he was just a kid, a little older maybe, he was so full of optimism and heroic vigor but, somewhere along the line… he lost his way, he stopped being him. He started blaming himself for every little bad thing that ever happened and soon he let himself drown in it."
"Does this story have a point?"
He chuckled in response, "Ben had no idea he was going to be a 'hero of heroes', it just happened; you need to carve your own destiny, walk your own path."
Ken was surprised at his wisdom as they both looked up at the statues, "They are what we grow beyond," Conner said one last time as he patted Ken's shoulder once and walked away as from the entrance came Cassandra, Bart, Jamie, and Tim, "You don't have to be a part of the team, you don't have to be a part of the League," as he finally turned around to leave, he chuckled, "You can be Outsiders, all your own."
Cassandra greeted Ken with a kiss as Conner walked away, there was a new generation of heroes brewing and it couldn't have made him happier.
...
Apokolips
A boomtube opened up allowing Lex Luthor and a tall, bulky, figure to exit the portal; the large alien was clad in maroon armor, he had advanced steriod enhanced pumps embedded into his arms, and a respirator covering his mouth and nose. Each of his foot steps pounded the ground with a metallic clank, approaching an equally tall and threatening force of nature with glowing crimson eyes of the devil; Darkseid and Vilgax approached each other and held a hand out, slowly clasping forearms, they shook as their machinations began with Lex Luthor soon being capable of hindering the Justice League's political charter, the Anti-Life Equation was within their reach.
…
Season 3? If you want it, review about it and i'll consider it.
