Metropolis, a month later

The citizens of Metropolis did not normally fear for their lives, at least, not from things like supervillains, or falling airplanes. Superman was always there for them, and the people of Metropolis were his strongest supporters. The same support could not be said for the other heroes of the Justice League, which was why mobs of civilians fled in terror from the current brawl occurring downtown.

The supervillain Parasite, a mutated human that was purple with white stripes on his body, had escaped from prison, and was currently fighting several members of the League: Elongating Man, who could stretch his body into any shape, Metamorpho, who could turn his body into any kind of chemical reaction, Batman and Heatblast.

Elongating Man was currently unconscious; Parasite's power allowed him to absorb the energy out of people and, in the case of metahumans, their powers with just a touch. He could even use those powers just as well as the original wielders; it reminded Heatblast of Kevin, except that Parasite could do that without going insane.

Metamorpho tried to hit Parasite with a wave of acid, but the villain used his new rubber body to slither out of the way like a snake. Heatblast managed to contain him with a wall of fire, but couldn't risk getting close; the possibility of Parasite absorbing all of the powers of his aliens was too great a risk.

Before Heatblast could get another shot off, Parasite turned his lower body into a spring and launched himself over the flames, tackling Metamorpho as he did so. With a scream of pain, Metamorpho felt his powers being taken away, before he fell into unconsciousness. It feels like the same incident when Monster Kevin goes on a rampage

Batman threw an explosive batarang at Parasite, but he merely turned his entire body into a gas, emerging unscathed. With Metamorpho's power, there wasn't much that either Batman or Heatblast could do. But then Shazam shows up to assists Batman and Heatblast. Heatblast then press the Ultimatrix dial to transformed into Arcticguana.

Shazam shoots his lightning from his hands to knock off Parasite, then Arcticguana uses his cold breath to froze out Parasite.

Arcticguana: (to Shazam) Nice work dude.

Shazam: It was nothing, really.

Metamorpho: Come one kiddo, you've just kick-ass.

Then the heroes began to make their way out of the area, but were stopped by a crowd of reporters, Lois Lane among them. All of them began to barrage the Captain with questions, while the others stood back; Articguana in particular wanted to see how Marvel handled being swarmed by the media.

Shazam: Alright guys, one at the time...

Lois: Lois Lane, Shazam, from Daily Planet. How does it feels to take down Parasite?

Shazam: It was nothing really, I was just happy to help that's all.

Lois: What is it you value so much about the League?

Shazam: Well I guess they've done a lot of good, I mean that's the reason we're all here in the first place, right? But they really make a difference; they change the world.

Lois: How so?

Shazam: Well, just look at Lex Luthor. He used to be a supervillain, for Pete's sake, and now he's one of the good guys.

Watchtower, The Next Day

It had been a month since Ben had been relocated to the Watchtower; in that time, he'd gotten to know each of his teammates better, though it did make seeing Kara a little difficult. They still went out, but both of them had gotten used to living together in Ben's house, though they had started to call it "their" house.

Ben had actually been expecting a lot of teasing from the other Leaguers about his own love life, but surprisingly, he'd only received a few good-natured jokes from Green Arrow and Flash; everyone else knew that Ben had to be there for his own safety, and that any strain on his and Kara's relationship was completely Cadmus' fault.

While Ben are having jokes on Supergirl, they noticed Shazam walking across the room, a rather angry expression on his face; that worried both of them, as they'd only ever seen a confident, friendly smile on his face before now.

Ben: What's wrong with him?

Supergirl: Yeah; I heard Superman bring him over for a meeting. I heard some raised voices, but I wasn't paying attention to what was said.

Then Ben called Shazam to come over.

Ben: Dude. Over here!

Shazam turned to see Ben and Supergirl, the latter of whom had called out, as they caught up to him in a hallway.

Shazam: Oh, hey, what's up?

Ben: Alright dude, what's wrong?

Shazam: I had a meeting with the founding members, and Superman was not happy. The news said that I was endorsing Luthor for Presidency.

Ben: Well, we aren't supposed to take sides in politics, but even if it is Lex Luthor, I don't see why you would get anything more than a slap on the wrist.

Shazam: (looking a little ashamed) I… I may have overreacted when Superman said that some people don't change.

Supergirl: Overreacted how?

Shazam looked sheepish

Shazam: I, uh, may have dented the conference table.

Ben: Okay look, I'm not saying that people don't deserve second chances; back home, my best friend tried to kill me more than a few times, back before we became friends. But Luthor has put the entire world in jeopardy, and he's tried to kill every founding member of the League at least once.

Supergirl: (bitterly, while crossed her arms) It was because of his money and his tech that General Hardcastle put me in a coma.

Ben put a comforting hand on her shoulder, while Shazam looked guilty; he had forgotten about that incident. It was at least partially Luthor's fault that Superman's last surviving Kryptonian relative had been hurt; if he was being honest with himself, if someone had hurt his family, he wasn't completely sure that he'd be able to forgive them, either.

Ben: Most of the League will probably never trust Luthor, but I think we're all willing to at least wait to see what he does; if he's clean, well, good for him. If he's dirty, we'll bust his butt.

Shazam: Okay, I see what you're saying; I still think that everyone deserves a second chance, but… I can see how keeping an eye on him could be a smart move.

Supergirl: All we ask is that you look at both sides of this argument, before you make a mistake that you'll regret.

The couple walked away, leaving Shazam alone with his thoughts.

Supergirl: (while linking her arm through Ben's) You think he'll be okay?

Ben: I think so.

Ben smiled when Supergirl put her head on his shoulder.

Ben: I guess he just needed someone to talk some sense into him… someone who isn't Superman.

Metropolis, A Few Hours Later

Normally, Superman was pretty adept at avoiding attacks; even if he was invulnerable to almost everything, it was still annoying to get smacked into the side of a building. Nevertheless, that's exactly what happened, courtesy of a large, super-strong member of a new metahuman gang that had attacked Metropolis.

He, Batman and Ben, now as Spidermonkey, had easily caught up to them; they weren't exactly a challenge, but Superman had other things on his mind. He had yelled at Captain Marvel, a hero who meant well, but seemed a little too naive. In retrospect, all Marvel had done was what he thought was right, but supporting Lex Luthor, of all people… On top of that, Luthor, who'd avoided all contact with Superman for months, had openly invited the Man of Steel to a charity he was hosting, commemorating the construction of Lexor City, a large part of Metropolis that had been repurposed to offer jobs and housing to the less fortunate of the city. It stank of a trap.

Batman: (to Superman) You were a little hard on the Boy Scout, don't you think?

Batman making conversation while using a set of electrically-charged Brass Knuckles to punch out a man dressed like a Luchador. Superman knocked his own opponent into the side of a building; part of the wall collapsed on top of him, burying him and taking him out of the fight.

Superman: I thought I was the Boy Scout.

Spidermonkey: So did we, (while he swung on a string of web and kicked a man with a glowing crowbar) until we saw Shazam.

Batman: What do these guys want anyway? (then he knocked his own opponent into a phone booth)

Superman: To take over the world, (as the man with the crowbar ran at them, along with a man that looked like an armored baseball player) or rob banks. I forget.

The baseball player threw a metal sphere; the heroes ducked, and the sphere hit a van with enough force to smash it into pieces, while the other struck his crowbar against the ground, creating a fissure that spread towards them.

Spidermonkey: Alright, enough of this crap.

Spidermonkey twisted the dial on his chest, then slapped it. Spidermonkey evolved into Ultimate Spidermonkey.

Then Ultimate Spidermonkey shoulder-checked the baseball player, knocking him to the ground. As he tried to rise, his face met a large, blue-furred fist. While he didn't get up again, Ultimate Spidermonkey didn't want to take chances; he opened his mouth and, after his lower jaw split down the middle, spat an enormous net of webbing onto the man.

Superman: But back to Shazam. (while he wrapped the last man's own crowbar around his body) Why are you two, why is everyone defending him!?

Batman: We liked him (while punched the villain to knock him out).

Ultimate Spidermonkey: Yeah. He's... sunny. (then he thought about someting) Besides, don't you have another problem you have to deal with? Like meeting Luthor in the Lexor City?

Back at the Watchtower, Superman was watching the news on TV where Luthor is inviting Superman for a truce for the grand opening of Lexor City. Superman wasn't very comfortable about it, but try to make a "squeaky-clean image" to the media.

Watchtower, That Night

It was a slow night for the League; there hadn't been much to do, and many Leaguers had gone home. It was fortunate for Ben and Supergirl, who'd found that they had most of the station for themselves; normally, they'd never act like this on the Watchtower. They had had a quiet dinner after ordered a take-away food, and enjoyed each other's company. Now, they were standing next to a window that looked out into space; Supergirl had her back against Ben, who had his arms wrapped around her.

Supergirl: It's been a while since we had a night like this, (then she reached up and placed her hand against Ben's cheek) we should do this more often.

Ben: Yeah, we should.

Supergirl closed her eyes in pleasure as Ben placed kisses on her neck, working his way up to her jaw, then her lips.

Supergirl: (slyly) Now Ben, we wouldn't want to do anything naughty right now, would we?

Ben: (while having a coy smile) We wouldn't?

Supergirl: Remember, we're still technically on duty right now; what if something happens?

Honestly, Kara hoped that that wouldn't be the case, but she and Ben both knew their responsibilities, even if they hated them at times.

Ben: (shrugged) Hey, maybe the universe is giving us a break tonight?

He placed another kiss on her cheek.

Cyborg: (comm) Ben, you're needed to go to the transporter room asap.

Supergirl: You just had to jinx it, didn't you?

Ben: You're timing really sucks Victor.

Supergirl: Go on, I'll see you when you get back.

She gave him a quick kiss, and then Ben ran off.

When he got to the transporter room, he found Cyborg working at the teleporter controls.

Ben: Wassup Vic?

Cyborg: Not good man. Superman is fighting Shazam at Lexor City.

Ben: C'mon that can't be-

Cyborg: I'm serious. There's also a device underneath Lexor that is Kryptonite-powered. Luthor says that the device is a temporary generator, which will be disposed of once the next sets of generators are installed; Superman, however, believes it to be a bomb, and is trying to destroy it. Shazam is attempting to stop him, since they do not have enough evidence to suggest that it is a weapon or not.

Ben: So you want me to break up the fight?

Cyborg: Well duh...

Lexor City

As Ben teleported down, he saw that Cyborg wasn't kidding about Metropolis at risk. There were craters pocketing the area, and half of a building was torn down. He ran towards a group of people, civilians, reporters and some police officers; he also saw Lex Luthor among them. Then he also saw Shazam flew overhead and crashed into the street, Superman not far behind him. Shazam had gotten back up and had delivered a haymaker that sent Superman into the air.

Then Ben used the Ultimatrix to transformed into Gravattack, but then twisted the dial on his chest, then slapped it. Gravattack evolved into Ultimate Gravattack.

Ultimate Gravattack no longer has legs and floats entirely by manipulating his gravitational field. His skin crust becomes more jagged, as crests and peaks form on the surface. His planetary core is engulfed in his mouth now, with a red spiral circling outwards. His hands are much larger than regular Gravattack.

Ultimate Gravattack float towards them, close to the fighting, and raised his hands; a white glow surrounded both his hands and the two people above him.

Both fighters found themselves feeling very, very heavy, and plummeted to the ground; while both were strong enough to resist Ultimate Gravattack's power, the suddenness of it caught them by surprise, and they hit the ground in front of him.

Ultimate Gravattack: You two finished?

Superman shook his head, as if to clear it; he glared at Ultimate Gravattack.

Superman: What are you doing, Ben? There's a Kryptonite bomb right there! I'm going to stop it!

Ultimate Gravattack: Really? It looks like you're beating the crap out of Shazam. (then look towards Shazam) Uhm, no offense dude.

Shazam: None taken.

Shazam was clearly the worse off of the two; he was covered in scratches and bruises, and his costume was torn.

Shazam: But I don't think that it's a bomb; why would Luthor put a bomb right under his feet? That would kill him, too.

Superman struggled to stand, fighting against Ultimate Gravattack's power.

Superman: We don't have time for this; the bomb has to be stopped!

In response, Ultimate Gravattack upped the gravity further, pinning Superman to the ground.

Ultimate Gravattack: You two have done enough! I'll check it out, and see what it really is. If it's a bomb, I'll take care of it, and if it's not, well, you've got a lot of apologizing to do, Superman.

He slapped the Ultimatrix dial, then transformed into XLR8.

Then XLR8 rushed to the hole that Superman had pointed to and dove in. Inside, after traveling down several stories of scaffolding, was a large, vaguely rectangular device. A timer was counting down to something, but XLR8 knew that whatever it was counting down to would occur in only two minutes. He slapped the Ultimatrix dial again to transformed into Grey Matter.

Then Grey Matter crawled over the device, inspecting every feature, but taking care not to actually open it up, his brilliant mind hard at work. He began to mumble to himself.

Grey Matter: Hmm… no, no, that's not it… the trigger mechanism would be right here, but… well, I'd have to check… (then he put a hand against the side of the device) No, the composition is all wrong, the vibrations indicate that… (his head shot up) Well, I'm certainly surprised.

Superman and Shazam stood up, the gravity powers finally wearing off. Superman had memorized how much time he needed to get to the bomb and get rid of it; now, thanks to Ben and Shazam, he wasn't sure that he'd be able to get to the bomb in time. He flew towards the hole, praying that he'd get there in time, when Chromastone jumped out.

Superman: Outta my way!

Chromastone: Wait for it...

Chromastone crossed his arms and looked at a nearby streetlamp. None of the lights in Lexor were on, because Luthor said that the generator wasn't up and running yet. After a few seconds, the streetlamp flickered, then began to shine. Then the rest of Lexor followed suit, save for the building that was damaged.

Superman: What? I don't-

Chromastone: It wasn't a bomb. I checked over every inch of it as Grey Matter; yes, it's Kryptonite-powered, but the pieces powering the generator are such low-quality, I'm pretty sure that even if it was a bomb, the blast wouldn't give you more than a bad headache.

Superman just stood there, shocked, while Captain Marvel heaved a sigh of relief.

Superman was still standing there, his mind almost unable to comprehend that Lex Luthor was innocent. Think that he was the bad guy in this.

Several reporters, along with Lex Luthor, approached the three heroes.

Lex: (to Chromastone) I can't thank you enough for stopping this misunderstanding before things got too out of hand.

Lex Luthor held his hand out to Chromastone. For a moment, he almost shook it, but then he got a look at Luthor's eyes; they held a cold intellect, smarter than most people he'd met, but as much as he tried to hide it, his eyes also showed disappointment. Instead of shaking his hand, Chromastone only nodded.

Superman: The… the Justice League will pay for the damages.

Lex: No, this one's on me.

Chromastone: How about I take care of the damage and noboy have to spend a single penny?

Chromastone slapped the Ultimatrix dial and transformed into Clockwork. Then Clockwork stomped towards the ruined structure and raised his hands; a green beam of light shot forth, and before everyone's eyes, the building reassembled itself, brought back to the condition it was before it was destroyed. After taking a moment to breathe, Clockwork made his way back to Superman.

Clockwork: You, me, and Shazam are gonna have a word. Right now.

Superman only nodded, then picking up Clockwork then flew along with Shazam. They've reach to the alley, where no one will see them. Then Clockwork slapped the Ultimatrix dial and transformed back to Ben.

Ben: What the hell is wrong with you guys!?

Both Superman and Shazam stared at Ben in shock. Ben sighed.

Ben: (pointed at Superman) You, jumped to a conclusion about something; you had no evidence, and you took it upon yourself to try to fix a problem, even though you had no idea what you were doing.

Then turned his attention to Shazam

Ben: (pointed at Shazam) And you. You just jumped into the fight; you could have said something like, "hey, Superman, why don't we see what this device really is, before we do something stupid; maybe we can call a specialist in the League, since they can just teleport in someone like it's nothing!"

Shazam: I did! I've just said "let's called the Atom, Steel, or Cyborg. See what the device really is."

Then Ben turned to Superman

Ben: Looks like you owed Shazam a proper apology. Boy, I hate being the grown-up.

Superman: Shazam, I'm sorry for the way I've treated you; I was out of line, and you were right to call me out like you did. I hope that you can forgive me.

He held out his hand.

Shazam: It's fine Supe. I mean, we all did stupid mistakes sometimes. And I personally did make couple of stupid mistakes and jumping to conclusions too you know...

Shazam shook Superman's hand to accept his apology.

Ben: Good. You two have apologized like real "mature people". Now if you'll excuse me, I can't be late for dinner with Kara. (then Ben uses his comm) Vic, send me back to Watchtower.

Then a blue light beam teleported Ben to the Watchtower.

Watchtower, the next day

The founding members of the League looked at each other, then at Superman. The Man of Steel had his head in his hands after he told them what had happened at Lexor. They all knew how close to disaster yesterday had been.

Superman: (softly) If Ben hadn't been there, if Shazam hadn't tried to stop me…

Batman: They set you up, Clark.

Superman: Yeah but... wait, "they"

Batman nodded.

Batman: "They"

Luthor Estate

Lex: Ah, things went well, all things considered.

Lex Luthor pulled out a bottle of wine and popped the cork.

Lex: Superman is now seen as paranoid, and if the leader of a group is unstable, what does that say about the people he leads?

He poured the wine into two glasses.

Lex: Things might have gone better if that alien shapeshifter hadn't gotten in the way, but the seed of doubt has been sown.

He handed one of the glasses to the shadows, where it was accepted by a smirking Amanda Waller.

Lex: To victory, Ms. Waller.

Amanda Waller: To victory, Mr. Luthor.

Superman wasn't happy after hearing the news when Shazam endorse Luthor for presidency. Batman and Ben try to tell Superman not to be harsh with Shazam. But things get worse at night when Superman suspected a Kryptonite fusion engine planted beneath Lexor City, while Shazam is trying to stop Superman from wrecking the city.

NOTE: This part is based on Justice League Unlimited "Clash", but I've personally made some changes.