Hey everyone! Hope you all enjoyed the surprises of the last chapter… because more are bound to come here! I'm really excited to get the action up and running again after the insanity of the first arc.

It's only gonna get crazier here. Including that, we're gonna be powering through three straight chapters of this story in the coming weeks! So put on your seatbelts and get ready for a wild ride!

Enjoy!

OMNI FORCE: JUSTICE

"The Atlantic Ocean?" Sunset questioned from back in the tower's conference room. She and Ben had returned to meet up with the others in order to discuss what Law had uncovered about the Legion of Doom's supposed whereabouts. A green hologram of the Earth was projecting from the table, showing the tracking pattern in red as to where the villains had gone after fleeing from Gotham.

"Looks to me like they stopped somewhere around the Equator between the North and South Atlantic," the pirate told his comrades.

"Why would they go there?" Ahsoka asked curiously with crossed arms.

"Probably an underwater base," Ben chimed in as a response, "Most bad guys have 'em…" he recalled, rolling his eyes.

"That Sinestro guy might've gotten me good…" Law pointed out, "but we're gonna have the last laugh in the end," he confidently stated.

"So our new mission is to find and defeat the Legion of Doom, correct?" Rex asked as he turned to Ben. He was still taking all of this information in. Most importantly, he had to consider the consequences. If the Justice League found out that his team discovered the villains' location, no doubt he would be chastised again and made more of an enemy to the media. But on the other hand, there was a chance that if the heroes found them too late, guilt would wrack the Omni Force leader's brain for a while. It was already bad enough that he was suffering from the nightmares of his past failures.

"That's your mission, Captain," he finally answered. Rex blinked.

"Sir?" he uttered in confusion, arching an eyebrow.

"I'm taking a leave of absence for this one," Ben said to his teammates, who all blinked in surprise, save for Sunset, "There's… just too much going on for me to be in the right mindset now…" he admitted as he lowered his head a little out of shame.

"Ben…" Erza uttered worriedly. Sunset stepped forward.

"That's why I'll be taking the lead for this mission," she told her comrades, making them all perk up in surprise, "We'll form a small team to head to the UT's location and take down the Legion before they can try anything," she explained.

"So… we'll just barge in via MPG?" Ruby guessed with a tilt of her head.

"We could…" Sunset replied, "and we could not," she mentioned with a smirk.

"…Huh?" the student huntress uttered out, extremely confused.

"Half of the team can go in via MPG to catch them off guard, while the other half goes around the base to find out exactly what they're planning," she recommended as a plan, "That way, we kill two birds with one stone and bring it all down," she said.

"There is one problem though," Rook chimed in, catching her attention.

"And what's that?" his estranged wife questioned, sounding somewhat annoyed.

"The Justice League," he responded, "Should we go through with this plan, they will no doubt be upset that we are yet again intruding on their affairs," he pointed out to the group.

"Because they think it's their problem to begin with," Law remarked in response, causing him to blink in surprise as he looked over to him, "From what we know, the Justice League had every chance to jump in and help us rather than give us shit for doing our job," he noted with narrowed eyes, "Way I see it, we're on our own for this," he stated, "And we're doing it our way," he added firmly.

"I agree," Erza responded with a nod, "Their inaction until the last minute could have resulted in countless lives being lost in Gotham," she pointed out to her comrades, "Right now, we're the ones who have to take the next step and stop the Legion of Doom," she told them.

"But… are we sure we shouldn't at least tell them what we're doing?" Ruby questioned nervously, "I mean, this is exactly what Superman told Ben about last week!" she recalled, gesturing towards the Omni Force leader.

"Which is part of the reason he's not going," Sunset chimed in, "You don't need to take all the blame for what the Omni Force does outside of your command," she pointed out to her best friend, "If we screw up somehow and need the League's help, we'll take the heat," she promised.

"Of course," Gaara concurred.

"So… how are the teams to be structured, Commander?" Rex asked curiously. Sunset used her right pointer finger to tap the icon that registered the Legion of Doom's supposed location currently. The image zoomed in, displaying coordinates with longitude and latitude.

"One team'll go in via MPG and confront the villains, catching them off guard," the Equestrian Magic user explained, "The other will sneak around by transport and figure out what they're planning," she finished telling them.

"How will we divide ourselves up?" Erza questioned, putting her hands onto her hips.

"You, me and Law'll fight off the Legion, while Ruby and Gaara take whomever else comes along to get the info we need on their plans," Sunset told her as a reply.

"If we're goin' underwater, you're gonna need the Rust Bucket…" Kevin realized as he stepped forward, catching everyone's attention, "So I'm coming," he declared, crossing his arms and smirking.

"I'll go, too," Ahsoka chimed in.

"And you may need my help as well," Rook offered as he stepped forward. Sunset grinned, grateful for their help. Surprisingly, Smoker hadn't propounded his services… but neither did Rex.

"We're probably gonna need someone tech-savvy to hack the Legion's database," Kevin mentioned, putting his hand onto his chin. Erza grinned.

"I have the perfect person in mind," she told her comrades.

"All right…" Sunset uttered out, "we'll leave first thing in the morning," she declared firmly, "We can't let these guys get away with anything else," she stated with narrowed eyes, "Especially after what they did in Gotham…" she added. As everyone else voiced their agreements, Ben watched on. He wasn't against Sunset's plan… but was also worried that she and the others were underestimating their future foes. After all, they weren't the same ones from four years ago…

OPENING

Insert "Period" by Chemistry

Opens with the sun rising over Omnitrix City as Ben, Sunset, Law, Erza, Gaara and Ruby walking out onto the balcony of Omni Force Tower. Ben looks up into the sky, narrowing his eyes. From above in the Watchtower, Superman glares back with a hardened expression.

The Omni Force logo appears with a red streak shining underneath into, forming the word 'JUSTICE'.

We cut to the new Legion of Doom meeting in a base at the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, joining up with Gorilla Grodd. As they converse, Vandal glares angrily at Luthor for taking charge of what was supposed to be his revived Legion of Doom. Watching from afar is a figure lurking in the shadows. We don't see who he may be, but he lets off a familiar and ominous grin.

At the White House, Amanda Waller walks through the halls with Christopher Smith. It transitions to her walking down the halls of Belle Reve Penitentiary to gather together members for Task Force X. The rogue gallery of villains she selects are Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, Harley Quinn, King Shark, Killer Frost, and Star Sapphire. And leading them is Peacemaker.

We see Captain Rex with Rook and Kevin Levin joining the Omni Force squadron leaders as they head up the ramp into the Rust Bucket III. Before they depart, Sunset looks back worriedly at Ben, who forces a grin in reassurance. Inwardly, he's concerned for the safety of his comrades.

The scene changes to the Omni Force in battle with the Legion of Doom. Cheetah furiously slashes at Erza with her claws, Bane's fists rain down on Gaara, Law gets overwhelmed by the multitude of constructs formed by Sinestro, and Ruby is pinned down by Black Manta. Meanwhile, Sunset gets cornered by Lex, Grodd, and Vandal. Before she can do anything else though, the doors blast open to reveal the Suicide Squad. Harley winks at her, causing her to blush and sigh.

We cut over to Apokolips, where Darkseid oversees the training of the Female Furies under Blackfire. Meanwhile, Steppenwolf overlooks the production of the Parademons alongside Kalibak and Granny Goodness. They're also there to witness the revival of a certain monster from a metal pod… Steam hisses from it as it opens, revealing a pair of ominous red eyes…

Back on Earth, we see multiple Null Void portals open up all over the sky of Metropolis, with several Way Bads and other creatures falling out from them. Watching the news of this coming from his television, Ben immediately takes action, transforming into Kryptoknight and flying off into the distance. From the balcony, Rainbow watches worriedly with Raya in her arms.

The Justice League is in battle against the Way Bads as Kryptoknight arrives, knocking one of them down with Superman as they slam their fists into the mutated To'kustar's face. After the Way Bad topples over, Ben and Clark share a brief look of disdain with each other.

We cut to Lex Luthor in his war suit, flying away from Sunset and Cyborg as they're in pursuit of him. Meanwhile, Ruby duels with Cheetah, clashing Crescent Rose fiercely against her claws. Green Lantern and Star Sapphire combine their powers to fight back Sinestro, and Black Manta is being taken on by King Shark and Law.

All of these events start to pick away at Ben as he inwardly wonders if he's prepared to actually go against the Justice League in trying to stop the Legion of Doom. We cut to shots of Smoker being comforted by Erza as they're sitting on a bench together, with her patting his back, and a shot of Ahsoka and Kara Danvers together in Omni Force Tower.

We're with Ben looking over to the Omni Force squadron leaders atop Mount Rushmore, smiling as the sun sets in the background. As he ventures over to them though, members of the Justice League look on with concern, thinking this may not be the right choice for him. We end on both groups staring each other down with stone-faced expressions.

END OPENING

DOOM

"Ah, fuck!" Cheetah cursed out as Grodd injected the needle of a syringe into her right arm.

"Language," he remarked jokingly. The feline-like woman rolled her eyes.

"Oh, shut up…" she muttered in response. She and Bane were both being seated in chairs in what appeared to be a laboratory as Grodd and Lex were respectively working with them. Watching them from afar with narrowed eyes was Vandal. He looked on as Bane was injected by the greenish substance lurking in the syringe.

"What is that?" he asked the Lexcorp CEO, who had his sport coat removed as the sleeves of his white dress shirt were rolled up.

"A Kryptonite steroid serum I've been developing," he answered, much to the muscular man's surprise, "Though… it's still in the testing phase," he admitted.

"And you just had us injected with it?!" Cheetah yelled angrily.

"It's not harmful to humans or metahumans for that matter," Grodd assured, getting her attention, "In fact, it's more of a stimulant for the trials ahead," he told her.

"A stimulant?" Bane repeated in confusion.

"We have to work as quickly as possible to get you two up to speed," Lex stated, going over to a counter riddled with chemical components, "Obviously, training won't suffice," he pointed out, grabbing a vile with a purple liquid inside of it and bringing it over, "You require a much quicker solution," he said, handing the vile off to Bane.

"This… is my venom…" he noted, widening his eyes slightly.

"A re-engineered version, yes," the Lexcorp CEO replied, "I've made it digestible, though I don't know how long it will last for you," he told him, "But already, it solves the biggest problem you've had with your power," he noted with a smirk. Bane stared at the vile for a moment curiously. He then popped the cap off of it before guzzling the serum down his throat in a single gulp. In almost an instant, his pupils dilated as his muscles greatly expanded. He grew at least a couple of feet, letting out a yell. Lex held his hands behind his back with a satisfied smirk on his face.

"Huh…" Bane exhaled afterwards, looking down at his enlarged hands as he closed them into fists. Now he no longer needed the tube that failed him so much in the past. He had a new use for the venom. "I appreciate this…" he remarked out of gratitude to the Lexcorp CEO, turning around and grasping the arms of the mounted chair. In just a single motion, he ripped it out of the floor, followed by chucking it against the wall. It struck so hard that it ended up stuck there. A wide grin crossed the muscular man's lips. "I greatly appreciate this…" he corrected in admittance. Meanwhile, Cheetah blinked in astonishment.

"All right…" she uttered out, catching Grodd's attention, "So what's my upgrade?" she asked curiously. The gorilla chuckled.

"Obviously, your biogenesis experimentation was a fruitful endeavor," he told her, "resulting in what I'd call a success," he remarked with a grin.

"Flattery is not an upgrade…" the feline-like woman muttered in response, crossing her arms over her chest.

"As much as I'd like to praise you more for this change, it's still incomplete," Grodd stated to her surprise, "You haven't fully grasped the nature of the cheetah," he noted, "Why is that?" he wondered with a tilt of his head, "Were you unable to fully complete your transformation?" he guessed, causing her to grimace as she turned away from his gaze for a moment, "Or… is it something else?" he inquired, now grinning with narrowed eyes.

"…I can't have it either way," she finally answered, "Whether I take on this form or try to be human, I'm always cursed…" she told him, "If I'm human, I'm in pain…" she recalled, grasping her arms tightly, "And if I'm this… I'm insane…" she confessed in frustration.

"Then perhaps this procedure will help clear your mind," Grodd said, causing her to perk up in surprise. He trotted over to the counter and pulled out an injector gun from a drawer he opened. "I studied your research extensively," he told the feline-like woman, "The only thing stopping you from becoming as powerful as you could be… is yourself," he noted, glancing back at her.

"What?" she uttered in confusion, seeing him trot back over to her.

"Now bear with this," he advised, "You may die if you resist," he pointed out.

"Wait, stop—!" Cheetah's plea was cut as Grodd injected her with the yellow serum within his device. She clenched her teeth as her claws dug into the metal of the chair she sat in. "AAAGGHH!" she screamed in agony. Lex and Bane looked over to see her fall forward out of her chair, twitching as she tried desperately to get back onto her feet.

"Let it happen, Barbara," the intelligent gorilla insisted, "You want more power, don't you?" he guessed. Cheetah clawed at the ground as tears were pouring out from her eyes from the pain. Her yellow fur darkened, while the fur from her chest to her undergarments lightened to a cream color. Her tail gained a tuft of brown fur, making her much more cat-like.

"Huh… huh…" she breathed out afterwards. Grodd grinned.

"Bravo… Cheetah," he complimented in a whisper. The feline-like woman slowly stood back up, looking at a nearby mirror to see her reflection. The transformation had resulted in her feeling much different than before. She felt… more capable now. She drew her claws and whipped around to slash at the chair she had been sitting in. The top of it fell off in five cleanly cut pieces. Lex clapped.

"Well done, Grodd," he complimented, "It seems both of us deserve a pat on the back for these results," he pointed out.

"Agreed," the intelligent gorilla responded with a chuckle, "Though we will have to see if these two can handle their newfound capabilities…" he pointed out.

"I think we'll be just fine," Bane remarked in reply upon overhearing them, grinning all the while.

"Hmph," Cheetah scoffed. She looked herself over, seeing that her body had grown a bit… thus making her clothes somewhat tighter. Rather than be embarrassed, she seemed annoyed. "These are in the way…" she muttered out, grasping her sports bra and ripping it off. Those in the room all looked over upon overhearing, widening their eyes to see her rip off her underwear as well, leaving herself completely naked. Thankfully, her fur was covering her more private areas from view. "…What?" she questioned upon noticing the stares of her comrades. Lex awkwardly coughed to clear his throat as he and the men turned away.

"Now that we've provided you with our services…" he began to the group, "I assume you would like to hear of our plans, yes?" he guessed, glancing over to Vandal. He glared back.

"Do tell," he insisted.

"The Null Void projector last week was merely a test to observe the various creatures that could emerge from that artificial dimension…" Lex told the others.

"So you had no idea those giants would come out at all?" Cheetah inquired, somewhat shocked. The Lexcorp CEO let out a chuckle.

"I sound crazy, don't I?" he inquired rhetorically, "That aside, finding out those creatures were lurking in that world was most welcoming," he admitted to the others' surprise, "Because phase two utilizes them to our advantage," he mentioned, "Grodd?" he said, prompting the intelligent gorilla to speak.

"During last week's test, I was developing a new form of technology based on one used eight years ago to control those giant beasts," he explained.

"Those things… were controlled?" Bane inquired out of disbelief.

"For a while," Grodd replied, heading over to the counter and accessing another drawer that had a form of headgear that he placed out his head. It was similar to a crown, framing his head with three red dots on the front. "However, a drawback to the control was that he each individual creature required its own beacon to respond to the orders of the one in command," he explained thoroughly.

"And you've only needed to develop one," Vandal realized, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Correct," Grodd answered with a grin. Pressing a few icons on the interactive screen of a control panel, he suddenly made a portion of the floor open up as something rose from it. It was a small, tower-like device painted red. In a way, it was much like a beacon with the blinking red light atop it.

"And this thing will control all those giants?" Cheetah inquired, somewhat unconvinced.

"You'd be surprised at what alien technology can be capable of with a bit of ingenuity from the likes of us," Lex chimed in assuredly, "More importantly, you shouldn't doubt one of the most intelligent minds on the planet," he advised.

"How are you going to even bring the giants here again?" Bane asked, "The projector was destroyed…" he pointed out.

"Yes, the 'test' projector," Lex corrected, "There's a reason I had Sinestro and Manta recruited aside from their strengths," he mentioned to the group, taking out his phone and projecting a holographic city in blue with eight red markings spread throughout it.

"This is Metropolis…" Cheetah realized as she blinked in surprise.

"What are these markings?" Vandal asked curiously, narrowing his eyes.

"They're the locations of the hidden Null Void projectors I've laid about the city," Lex answered with a grin, "The best part is that they're completely undetectable, even to the likes of Superman's eyes," he added to their astonishment.

"Sinestro gathered the neutrino burst supply required as energy for each of the projectors, while Manta stole Atlantean technology to build the projectors themselves," Grodd explained.

"And in doing so, we've installed one each in eight sections of Metropolis," Lex mentioned, letting off a smirk, "Quite a grand scheme, isn't it?" he inquired of his comrades.

"But for what?" Vandal asked, narrowing his eyes with suspicion as he caught the Lexcorp CEO's attention, "As incredible of an endeavor as this may be, what do you hope to achieve out of it?" he questioned on, "What's the endgame?" he asked as he stepped closer to the bald man. The others could sense the tension rising between the two. And then Lex grinned.

"People will be frightened, especially as their heroes won't be able to completely protect them all from the threat of these monsters," he told Vandal, "Rather than worry about the triviality of things such as freedom…" he continued, "they would want food, shelter… and safety," he listed off, "And we… can provide that," he added assuredly. Vandal didn't argue… but he didn't want to agree either.

"Protecting people?" Cheetah inquired, chiming into the discussion, "I don't think anyone's foolish enough to rely on a villain for safety…" she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh, but they will once they're exposed to the danger," Lex assured confidently, "Humans will sacrifice their wealth for protection, even if it costs them everything," he pointed out.

"In three days' time, we'll be stationed at Lexcorp to activate the eight projectors," Grodd told the group, "Once the giants emerge, I'll control them with my device and have them cause some destruction to create a panic before the heroes show up," he explained thoroughly.

"And then?" Cheetah inquired curiously with a tilt of her head.

"We take out the heroes behind the scenes," Lex answered to her surprises, "Your upgrades will suffice in besting them now," he promised, holding his hands together behind his back, "And this time… you won't need to rely on creating exclusive plans for each Leaguer," he mentioned to Vandal who growled through clenched teeth.

"If I get to break the Bat for sure this time…" Bane started to reply, catching everyone's attention, "then I'm in," he stated firmly.

"Same here," Cheetah chimed in with a smirk, "But what happens after we kill the Justice League?" she inquired curiously.

"That phase grants us dominion over the populous without so much as a threat," Lex responded, "We offer them protection, drive off the monsters, and they become loyal to us and us alone," he listed off in explanation.

"So your plan is basically a version of Vandal's…" Bane realized.

"But with much more to offer…" Cheetah mentioned, crossing her arms over her chest. The immortal man scoffed from afar in frustration. And Lex overheard.

"Surprised at how thorough I can be?" he inquired.

"You're still forgetting one factor that could entirely throw this operation out the window," Vandal pointed out, "The Omni Force," he said with narrowed eyes. Bane and Cheetah shared a somewhat nervous glance at the mention. Lex frowned, but only slightly.

"That is true…" he admitted in response, letting off a small grin, "Which is why… I developed a contingency for them," he told him and the others, causing them to all blink in surprise. At that moment, the sliding doors into the laboratory opened. Sinestro and Manta walked in.

"Everything has been prepared, Luthor," the former of the two said to the Lexcorp CEO.

"Good work," he complimented, "Incidentally, do you still have that thing with you?" he asked curiously with a tilt of his head.

"What thing?" Cheetah asked, arching an eyebrow. Reaching into his right sleeve, Sinestro pulled out a small, chip-like device.

"Is that… a tracker?!" Bane guessed with widened eyes.

"Yes," the Yellow Lantern answered, "I found it on my person moments after our battle against the Omni Force in Gotham," he told them, "I would've destroyed it… if Luthor hadn't insisted on me holding onto it," he added, glancing over to the Lexcorp CEO, prompting him to explain.

"Essentially, I thought why not leave a trail for the Omni Force to follow?" he questioned rhetorically with a shrug, "Didn't you notice that the Justice League hadn't shown up alongside them that night?" he inquired, "At least not until after the portal had been opened…" he added in correction.

"They're working separately…" Cheetah realized.

"But even if it's just them, Tennyson will be a problem," Bane pointed out, "He's not someone any of us can defeat, even with our enhancements," he noted in concern.

"I hate to admit it, but he's right," the feline-like woman concurred, "What's your plan for him?" she asked Lex.

"A man like Tennyson can't be beaten physically, I imagine…" he responded as he walked off to the side for a moment, "But mentally… that's a different story," he noted with a grin.

"And what exactly is this mental plan for Tennyson?" Vandal asked. Lex held his hands together behind his back.

"Something… rather unique," he replied vaguely to almost everyone's confusion. Watching on from security camera footage in another room was another figure who gave off a wide grin with his yellow teeth…

X

JULY 12, 2020, 8:34 A.M. – BELLE REVE PENITENTIARY

Dressed in his jumpsuit and armed with his weapons, Floyd was looking at a photograph of himself with his daughter. She had just turned 18 recently. And his retirement from his life of bounty hunting and being a mercenary would've been one of the many gifts he'd get her. But now… he didn't get that chance. He just hoped this mission would give him enough time to get out of prison and see her again.

"Doin' alright, Cowboy?" Harley's voice asked out of concern, catching his attention as he looked over at her. She was wearing a sleeveless red and black-checkered top with red and black leggings under tall black boots. In her hands was a baseball bat of the same checkered style and color. Her face had become a ghastly white from makeup, with light red and blue eyeshadow over her eyes.

"Fine," Floyd answered, stuffing the photograph into his pocket.

"You know… it's okay to not be okay…" Harley told him, "I mean, we're all just a bunch o' psychos just trying to get our way outta the slammer," she pointed out with a shake of her head. Floyd cracked a small grin.

"How many years do you have left after this?" he asked her.

"I'll be free as a baby birdy if we get this shit done," she replied with a proud huff, "You know, I think I'm gonna go visit one of my old flings once it's over," she admitted as she glanced up for a moment.

"What, your Puddin'?" the mercenary inquired, making her blink in surprise.

"Ugh, god no…" she muttered as a response, "Me an' Mistah J are donezo for now," she told him, putting her hands onto her hips defiantly, "Besides, the girl I was with was helluva lot better than that asshat could ever be…" she mentioned. At that, Floyd blinked.

"Girl, huh?" he repeated out of surprise, "I didn't know you swung that way…" he pointed out in surprise.

"I swing lots of ways," Harley corrected, spinning the grip of her bat into her hands and taking a practice swing for emphasis.

"King Shark is a shark!" Nanaue exclaimed, catching their attentions as they saw him walking over alongside George, dressed in a black combat vest with black pants.

"Ugh, we already bloody know, ya fish dick!" the Australian man shouted in response, now wearing blue overcoat over a black sweater that had a shoulder strap wrapped around him with several boomerangs upon it. He also wore a white scarf, dark pants, and a dark blue beanie with a boomerang symbol at the front.

"Hey boys!" Harley greeted as she waved to her approaching comrades, "So… where are the ladies?" she asked curiously, glancing around to see no sign of Louise or Carol.

"Cold feet?" Floyd guessed, raising an eyebrow.

"King Shark is a shark," Nanaue responded.

"Ugh…" George groaned, smacking himself in the face, "New girl's obviously got the jitters 'bout all this…" he told the others, translating the mutated shark's remarks, "But Frost is the real surprise," he mentioned.

"Why's that?" Floyd asked.

"Remember that red-headed broad ya told me about?" George questioned back, causing him to blink in surprise, "Apparently, Frost ran into her and almost ended up dead," he told him.

"Poor Frosty…" Harley chimed in sadly, "Hope she doesn't melt under pressure…" she remarked with a shrug. All three of the men groaned at her pun.

"King Shark is a shark…" Nanaue grumbled out. Elsewhere in the underground part of the prison, Carol was now wearing a pinkish-purple and black outfit that exposed much of her stomach and chest area. A crown framed her face, while a glow in the shape of a six-pointed star was over her belly button. She was seated upon a bench, staring at multitude of text messages on her phone. And all of them were from Hal.

Hey call me when u can

U alright?

If something's wrong, let me know

Please

"Huh…" she sighed out sadly. Those messages were all from last night, when she would've been out on a date with him. They had managed to push past the squabbles they had as enemies in the past and move forward as a couple. But thanks to Amanda, she had taken on her Star Sapphire persona once again. And she hated it… Just as she was about to try and type a reply message, a hand snatched the phone out of hers. She looked up to see the secretary of state there.

"No outside communication until the mission's complete," she stated firmly with narrowed eyes of contempt onto the Pink Lantern.

"Why me?" she asked with sadness in her tone, "I'm no criminal…" she claimed, balling her hands into fists over her knees.

"But you were a part of the first Legion of Doom," Amanda pointed out, "And besides, since they have a Lantern, we need one ourselves," she mentioned, "And you're the only one we have," she added in conclusion.

"Why not tell the Justice League though?" Carol questioned.

"Because we can't rely on them for everything," Christopher answered, chiming into the conversation as he ventured over with Louise in tow, "That's why we're doing this covertly in order to keep the peace," he stated firmly.

"Exactly," Amanda agreed, turning to face Carol, "And you'll do as you're told, whether you want to be Star Sapphire or not," she mentioned to her, "If you don't…" she continued, pulling out her phone to show her what was on its screen. There lied six headshots of her and her five comrades for the mission, not including Christopher. Each headshot included an 'ARMED' sign at the bottom, indicating that the phone was the trigger for the explosives of each of the squad members.

"Huh…" the Pink Lantern sighed out sadly again, "Fine…" she finally said. Amanda grinned. A few moments later, the task force was brought together in what appeared to be a docking bay. In the pool of water was a black submarine.

"So… we couldn't get anything better?" George asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Quiet down, Harkness," Amanda advised, "This will be your transportation," she told him and the others, "You'll be heading towards the coordinates I've given Peacemaker," she added.

"And we're just supposed to go and try to kill the Legion of Doom all on our own?" Floyd asked, arching an eyebrow, "I highly doubt boomerangs and a baseball bat are enough leave a dent in whatever they have…" he bluntly admitted.

"Well fuck you, too…" George muttered out in response. Harley just shrugged, not offended.

"You'll have the element of surprise on your side, along with an exceptional supply of arms," Amanda assured to him, "You don't have to worry about capturing any of the Legion's members," she mentioned, "Just kill them," she insisted.

"…King Shark is a shark," Nanaue replied after a moment. The secretary of state blinked in confusion.

"I think that's a yes," Harley translated, though she herself sounded unsure.

"Anyways…" Amanda continued, "Peacemaker is team leader for this mission," she told the group, "You'll listen to only him or me," she stated.

"Right…" George responded as he rolled his eyes, "You're the one that's gonna be feedin' him orders…" he pointed out. The secretary of state shot him a sharp glare of contempt.

"Hey, Frosty, Sapphy," Harley chimed in, catching Louise and Carol's attentions as they looked over at her, "You wanna say somethin'?" she inquired of them, "Wouldn't want ya ta freeze up…" she mentioned.

"Huh…" the ice villainess sighed deeply, "I'm not the talkative type, Quinn," she pointed out, "So piss off," she insisted as a threat. Harley blinked, turning to Carol.

"I'm… not really much of a talker either…" she admitted, nervously holding onto her left arm.

"Suit yourselves," the former psychiatrist replied with a shrug, turning around to listen to rest of Amanda's briefing.

"We believe the Legion of Doom is positioned somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean near the Equator," she told the group.

"They lookin' for Atlantis?" George wondered curiously, tilting his head to the side.

"It's likely that their next operation requires Atlantean technology," the secretary of state pointed out in response, "Stop their plans, and you get ten years off your sentences," she mentioned with a grin.

"Ooh, Sunbuns here I come!" Harley sang with delight. Everyone looked over at her in confusion.

"Sun…buns?" Louise repeated, completely perplexed as she raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, psychotics have their needs too, Frosty…" the jester-like villainess retorted as she puffed out her cheeks. And with that, the Suicide Squad had their mission…

X

10:02 A.M. – OMNI FORCE TOWER

Ben stood off alongside Rex as they watched Sunset and the others prepare for their mission. The ramp to the Rust Bucket III was deployed as Law, Erza, Gaara and Ruby boarded it. Aside from Rook, Kevin and Ahsoka joining them for the mission, Hiro Hamada and Baymax were present as well. Erza had insisted that they join after learning what the operation entailed with trying to uncover the Legion of Doom's plans. He was likely the only one who'd be able to accomplish that out of the many members of the Omni Force.

"Sir, if I may…" Rex uttered out, catching Ben's attention as he looked over at the Plumber captain, "are you sure about not going on this mission?" he asked of him.

"Why aren't you going?" he asked back.

"Heh," Rex chuckled, "I feel that my duty right now is to here," he told the Omni Force leader, "This isn't a mission to stop the Legion like last time," he mentioned, "It's more of an infiltration mission," he pointed out.

"Yeah…" Ben agreed, looking over to the loading ramp where Sunset and Kevin were, discussing the nuances of the mission. He was glad his two best friends were ready to work together and find out just what the Legion of Doom was planning. But at the same time, he was nervous. The last time, it was thanks to his help that each of the members were stopped prior to the Null Void portal opening. Now he wasn't coming along. That made him nervous.

"Do we have a way to get inside after you guys jump in via MPG?" Ruby asked curiously, catching Sunset and Kevin's attentions.

"I'm sure I can bust us in once I absorb the base's armoring," the hybrid Osmosian replied.

"Or Hiro could hack the docking bay open for you," the Equestrian Magic user chimed in as a suggestion, "Either way, don't worry," she advised to Ruby, "We'll figure it out," she promised. Cracking a smile, the student huntress turned around and skipped back into the ship.

"Alright, I think we're ready," Kevin said, "I'll get this old bird warmed up," he mentioned as he walked off. In the meantime, Sunset looked back to see Ben standing there beside Rex. She noticed how hesitant he seemed. And he saw how worried she looked about him.

"I should say goodbye," he admitted, walking over to the Rust Bucket. Sunset met him halfway.

"You really wanna go, don't you?" she guessed.

"I'm just worried-"

"Don't be," she interrupted sternly, crossing her arms over her chest, "I know you're going through a lot right now, so don't force yourself to be onboard for this," she insisted in a firm tone.

"Huh," Ben exhaled with a grin, "Okay," he said, stepping closer and wrapping his arms around her in a warm embrace, "Just remember to call if things get out of hand," he advised.

"Will do," she promised in response, hugging him back, "Now go help Rainbow with Raya," she requested of him, causing him to chuckle with a sigh. The engines started revving as Sunset boarded the ship's bay, looking back at Ben one last time. He gave a reassuring smile, and she shot one back before the ramp closed up. The ship floated up off of the floor as its thrusters were engaged. Its landing gear retracted before it quickly flew out of the docking bay.

"Huh," the Biomnitrix bearer breathed out, turning around, "All right, Rex…" he began to the former clone captain, "you can head back to your post," he told him.

"Sir!" he responded with a salute. Ben passed by him and went into the elevator. A few minutes later, he stepped out onto the floor of his household to see his wife there with their daughter in her arms.

"So you're really not going on the mission, huh?" Rainbow inquired as she trotted over.

"Nope," her husband replied with a shake of his head, "I'm all yours today," he promised as he outstretched his arms.

"Great!" his wife exclaimed, handing Raya off to him suddenly, "Then you get the baby, and I get a much-needed power nap," she told him before walking off with a proud huff. Ben blinked before looking at his daughter eye-to-eye.

"Baba!" she giggled out, waving her hands happily.

"Well, I guess it's just you and me…" her father realized, shaking his head again.

"Blehbleh…" she mumbled as she stuck out her tongue.

"Yeah, I'm with ya," Ben agreed, "Your mom's a real piece of work…" he grumbled with a chuckle. But even so, he was glad to have this moment with his daughter. He just hoped that it was worth leaving his team to find the Legion of Doom without him…

X

11:35 A.M. – THE WATCHTOWER

"Five whole days?" Victor inquired to Hal in the hallway as they met up.

"Yeah," the Green Lantern replied, putting his hands onto his hips, "All I've heard that she's on leave from the company to just… take a week or so off," he told him.

"A whole week?" Victor questioned, "Well… maybe she's just tired," he suggested with a shrug.

"I know Carol," Hal pointed out seriously, "She doesn't leave work for that long," he mentioned, "And she's always good at keeping me posted…" he added, pulling out his phone and looking at his slew of unanswered text messages, "Something's not right," he realized.

"Well, I'd be glad to help you look into it," the half-man, half-robot assured to him, "Not sure about anyone else though…" he admitted.

"That's fine," Hal replied, "We don't need the whole League for this," he noted, "especially when we're still looking for the Legion right now," he mentioned, narrowing his eyes.

"Yeah…" Victor agreed. Elsewhere in the tower's conference room were Bruce and Arthur.

"So Manta's recent thefts have all been… random?" the Dark Knight questioned to the Atlantean king.

"It would seem that way," he replied, holding his hands together behind his back. The two of them were looking at a holographic image of all the stolen pieces of technology from Atlantis. From a quick glance, none of the pieces seemed to correlate with each other. But Bruce was determined to find out exactly what the Legion of Doom was building… or had already built.

"Judging by the looks of this Atlantean technology, whatever they're making is likely connected to what they did in Gotham," he pointed out. Arthur blinked in surprise.

"Are you sure?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, "Like I said, these thefts have been random…" he mentioned.

"But when you start to put the pieces together…" Bruce began, tapping a few keys on the holographic keyboard floating out in front of him. All of a sudden, the holograms began to come together, attaching to each other as they became one singular invention.

"What is that?" Arthur wondered as his eyes slightly widened.

"A beacon of some sort," the Dark Knight answered, "And that's not all…" he added, tapping a few more keys. The holographic pieces of technology rearranged themselves into another invention. And Arthur gasped.

"That's…!" he attempted to say, but was lost for words.

"A Null Void projector…" Bruce finished for him, narrowing his eyes underneath his cowl, "Arthur, how much of the technology did Manta and his men actually steal?" he asked of the Atlantean king.

"Enough to build more than just one beacon and one projector," he responded, "Do you think they're attempting to bring those giants back onto Earth again?" he inquired.

"It's very much possible," the Dark Knight answered, letting the holograms disappear from view, "We need to find their base quickly," he insisted as he and Arthur walked off.

"Mera's already scouting the area for signs of their activity," the Atlantean king told him, "In the meantime, shouldn't we go to someone who might have more expertise in dealing with interdimensional threats?" he asked. Bruce came to a stop with him as they reached the doors.

"If worst comes to worse," he started to reply, "we'll go to Ben," he promised, "Right now, we'll deal with this ourselves," he firmly stated.

"Right…" Arthur replied, sounding unsure. He and many other members of the Justice League were left to question what their position was on how they felt about the Omni Force. Were they performing their duties civically? Or were they just making more trouble by interfering?

11:46 A.M. – DETROIT, MICHIGAN

"Thank you for coming on such short notice, Maxwell," a disguised J'onn said in gratitude to the Magistratus, who was seated across from at a coffee table, enjoying a mug of the steaming beverage in his hands, "I take it that you've adjusted to your new arm well," he pointed out, seeing the mechanical lines of the old man's prosthetic arm.

"Huh," he chuckled, "And you've adjusted to living in Detroit," he noted, looking around the spacious apartment the disguised Martian had, "I hear rent's not cheap…" he mentioned with a shake of his head.

"It is a small price to pay," J'onn admitted in response, taking a sip of the water he had, "I know you are wondering why I asked you here," he pointed out, giving off a serious expression.

"It's about Ben, right?" Max guessed.

"Yes," the disguised Martian replied with a nod, "I may have known Benjamin for only a brief time…" he began in confession, "but I understand that his recent behavior is… abnormal," he told the Magistratus.

"For him, that is," he corrected as a response, "Ben's seen and experienced things that he wishes he could've stopped," he pointed out.

"He witnessed death right beside us at one point," J'onn mentioned, "This is not anything new to him…" he said.

"Except it is," Max argued, "My grandson saw a man his age get decapitated before his very eyes," he noted with narrowed eyes, "I think that's far worse than seeing someone die of age," he added firmly.

"Hmm…" the disguised Martian hummed curiously, holding his mug of water in both of his hands, "Perhaps you are right," he admitted, thinking of another subject that he had questions about, "Has Benjamin accessed a Martian form in his inventory of aliens?" he inquired of Max.

"I wouldn't know," he answered with a shake of his head, "Sometimes, Ben isn't as much of an open book with me as he is with others," he confessed sheepishly.

"Regardless, I hope he understands the gravity of the situation he has involved himself in now," J'onn pleaded, "The media is one thing for him to have to face," he continued as Max listened intently, "but in time, he may have to face a greater challenge in himself," he finished explaining. After taking a moment to process those words, the Magistratus set his mug down onto the coaster upon the coffee table.

"Thanks for the coffee, J'onn," he remarked in farewell as he stood up and walked off, heading out the door.

"Huh…" the disguised Martian sighed. He and Max were good friends at one point. It was thanks to their relationship that Ben was first introduced to the Justice League. And with that, led to him becoming a greater hero… and an even greater potential threat…

X

1:17 P.M. – ATLANTIC OCEAN

The Rust Bucket flew over the water with Kevin piloting, while Sunset sat beside him on the bridge. Everyone else aboard the vessel was in the docking bay, preparing for the mission to begin. Hiro and Baymax were fitted with their underwater armors, with the former making sure the healthcare companion's suit was functioning properly.

"So once we head in as the distraction, Hamada's gonna hack himself and the bot in…" Law started to recall.

"And then the rest of you will use your MPGs to meet up with him," Erza finished for him, sharpening one of her swords upon a stone brick.

"What about the ship?" Ruby asked curiously.

"Kevin said he'll have it cloaked and out of the range of any scanners the Legion might have," Gaara answered.

"More importantly, we'll be able to MPG back to it if things get too dicey," Ahsoka chimed in.

"But they will not," Rook affirmed confidently, adjusting his Proto-Tool before mounting it onto his left shoulder, "We will make sure of that," he stated.

"One way or another that is…" Law grumbled out as he stood up. A beep caught his and everyone else's attention.

"We're diving now, guys," Sunset's voice echoed through the intercom, "Strap yourselves in your seatbelts in case there's turbulence," she advised. Everyone in the docking bay adhered to the warning, clicking their belts into the buckles as they sat down.

"Shimmer's come a long way," Law remarked as he tipped down his cap.

"Indeed she has," Rook agreed, tensing up a little. He thought back to the night he acted out against the pirate for what he was planning. Looking back… made him realize how stupid he must've been. How selfish he was about trying to protect a woman he never could love, as much as he wanted to.

"Hey, Blonko," Law said, catching the Revonnahgander's attention as he turned his head to the pirate, "It's water under the bridge right now," he assured to him, "Don't worry about that shit," he advised. Rook blinked in surprise, shocked at how easily the pirate was willing to let bygones be bygones. But he breathed out a sigh of relief, deciding not to think about the past any further.

The ship dove underwater in a large splash, slowly descending towards the ocean floor. Sunset and Kevin looked through the windshield to see the various amounts of sea creatures and stunning oceanography. If it were any other day, the Equestrian Magic user would have taken pictures to show her friends back in her universe. But now wasn't the time.

"I'm gonna go get ready," she told Kevin, getting up from her seat and walking out of the bridge. Watching her go, the hybrid Osmosian let out a deep breath. The ship sank even further down, approaching the seafloor. Its landing gear was deployed, gently touching the ground as small puffs of sand billowed up from the points of contact.

"Guess it's go time…" Hiro realized, unbuckling his seat belt, "Baymax, you have the UT location plugged in?" he asked of his healthcare companion.

"Yes," he responded robotically, "We are approximately two miles from the pinpointed location," he mentioned as he carefully viewed his radar.

"Then we've got no time to lose," Sunset chimed in upon entering the docking bay, "Once we go in, you two need to hurry and get into the base for the others," she instructed to Hiro and Baymax.

"Got it," the former responded with a nod. The Equestrian Magic user then turned to Law and Erza, who got up from their seats after unbuckling.

"You two ready?" she asked of them, placing her hands onto her hips.

"As ready as we'll ever be…" the pirate muttered in response.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Erza asked him out of concern, "I know you've been in the bacta tank to nurse your injuries after treatment, but…" she recalled, still worried for her comrade.

"I'll be fine, Scarlet," he assured as a reply, "More importantly, we need to be a good distraction if we wanna get them in unnoticed," he pointed out, tilting his head towards the others in the docking bay.

"Exactly," Sunset agreed, pulling out her MPG from her jacket, "Either we hold them back long enough, or we take them down," she insisted of her teammates. Tapping the center icon of her device, a holographic screen appeared over it. She tapped a few of the icons before a green portal appeared before her and her teammates. It swirled slowly in front of them as its glow shined on their bodies.

"Please do contact us if you require reinforcements," Rook pleaded to his estranged wife, catching her attention.

"…Will do, Blonko," she replied after a moment, "Let's go," she beckoned to her teammates. She, Law and Erza hopped into the portal, which disappeared seconds.

"Boy… Sunset really wants to get this done right…" Ruby noted curiously.

"I bet it's because of Ben," Gaara chimed in to her surprise, "She must know that stopping the Legion of Doom will take a great deal of stress off of his mind…" he realized.

"Hiro, you better get going," Ahsoka insisted of her teammate.

"Right," he replied as he nodded, "Baymax?" he said to his healthcare companion.

"Opening bay doors," he said, flipping a lever down. The ramp of the ship deployed, allowing the two to exit quickly before it closed up. Mounting the armored robot's back, Hiro led him as they quickly swam through the ocean water.

Sunset and the others jumped through the green portal, landing upon their feet on what felt like a hard surface. To their surprise, wherever they ended up was a dark area. Ponying up in a flash of golden light, Sunset lit up her right hand to illuminate their surroundings. All she and the others could see was the expansive white floor beneath their feet.

"Where the hell's that UT?" Law grumbled in question.

"Something doesn't feel right…" Erza admitted, summoning forth a sword in a flash of light.

"Yeah…" Sunset agreed. Either they ended up in the wrong place… or… All of a sudden, the lights came on in an instant, causing the three Omni Force members to flinch from their brightness, shielding their eyes with their arms. As they slowly opened them back up to bring them back into focus, Sunset found herself suddenly on the receiving end of a pair of red laser beams striking her square in the chest, sending her crashing hard into the wall.

"SUNSET!" Erza screamed, while Law grimaced upon noticing something.

"Move!" he yelled, tackling the requip user down to evade getting swiped by Cheetah's claws. They rolled across the ground to a stop, quickly getting onto their feet.

"Well, you've gotten swifter since last time," the feline-like woman remarked, standing up with her hands on her hips. Manta walked up and stood beside her.

"She looks different…" Law remarked with a nervous blush. Meanwhile, Erza gasped in realization.

"Sunset!" she cried out, whipping around to where she had crashed. Thankfully, she stumbled out from the wall on her feet, breathing out raggedly. She had managed to put up an energy barrier in the nick of time, though she wished she had more in order to keep herself from getting blown back...

"You seem pretty out of sorts," Cheetah noted curiously, catching their attentions, "Surprised?" she guessed. Erza growled, summoning forth another sword into her left hand.

"So it was all a trap?" Law inferred.

"You're naïve to think that your idea of tracking us was in your best interest," Manta mocked holding the U.T. in between his fingers, crushing it in a mere instant, "especially when you don't have Tennyson," he mentioned. Law drew Kikoku from its hilt, standing alongside Erza in a ready stance.

"Manta, go ahead and deal with the minnows approaching," Lex's voice insisted over the intercom, "Bane will help Cheetah," he assured.

"Understood," the armored man responded as he turned around and started to walk off.

"Hey!" Law yelled, about to pursue him as he ran forward. But suddenly, a wall rose up from the floor in front of him, blocking his path. Another one started rising between him and Erza.

"Law!" she cried out, but they were too late to do anything as the wall blocked them off completely from each other. And another came up between her and Sunset, separating them as well.

"Shit!" the Equestrian Magic user cursed in realization. A door suddenly opened up behind her, causing her to whip around and gasp to see Grodd trotting out alongside both Vandal and Lex. The latter of the trio was donning a new suit of armor.

"I don't suppose you'd consider surrendering…" he remarked to Sunset. She spat off to the side, holding her fists up like a boxer as she took on a ready stance.

"Sunset, are you alright?!" Erza's voice echoed from the other side as she banged her fist against the wall, "Dammit…" she cursed upon getting no response, rearing her right arm back to thrust her right sword into the wall. But without warning, Cheetah sped in, hopping up and landing upon her shoulders. She then rotated to make the requip trip up and fall to the floor in a pained yelp. "Agh…!" she groaned out, grabbing at her neck as the muscles of had suddenly tightened.

"Sorry to say it, but you and your friends aren't leaving here alive…" the feline-like woman remarked with her claws drawn. Standing up with a grunt, Erza aimed her right sword out at her.

"The last time we crossed paths, you weren't exactly faring well…" she noted with narrowed eyes. Her opponent shrugged.

"That was then," she responded, taking on a ready stance, "This… is now," she said with a wicked grin, swiftly dashing forward. Before Erza could even react, Cheetah slashed by her in an instant. The right half of the Heart Kruez Armor shattered off of her body as deep claw marks were in her right hip.

"ERK…!" she grunted out in agony, while her foe smirked deviously.

"Shit…!" Law cursed, preparing a ROOM underneath the palm of his left hand. But suddenly, his eyes widened as he could feel a presence approaching him. He whipped around and quickly ducked from taking a fierce punch from Bane, which left a large indent in the wall he ended up striking instead. The pirate somersaulted away from the muscular villain, getting back onto his feet.

"I'm a bit disappointed that Tennyson decided to stay home…" his opponent admitted, turning around to face Law, "I had a surprise for him…" he mentioned with a smirk.

"Well you can tell me all about it…" the pirate muttered, lunging out at him and slashing forward. He was hoping to slice the tube connected to his head… only to find that there was none there!

"Surprised?" Bane guessed, catching his attention almost too late as he landed a fierce right hook to his hip, sending him flying across the room before he hit the wall hard in a grunt. He let go of his sword as he dropped onto the floor. Gritting his teeth, he pushed himself up to his hands and knees as he glared at his muscular foe, who approached him. "I guess your reaction is good enough…" he noted, "This new Legion of Doom has given us more than could've ever hoped to achieve," he stated as his foe finally stood back up, "And we will achieve our goals this time," he added firmly.

"Yeah, whatever…" Law muttered in response, reclaiming his blade as he coated it in Armament Haki, dashing out at Bane. With the three battles raging on, the figure watching from the security footage in the secluded space let off another ominous grin again.

"Oh, I can't wait to join the fun…" he remarked in a raspy voice.

X

1:32 P.M.

"Are we there yet?" Harley asked, fiddling with a yo-yo while seated upon her bed in the submarine. Her legs dangled over the railing, annoying Louise as she was on the bed below hers.

"Would you shut up already?" she questioned back in frustration, "You've been asking the same damn question for two hours…" she grumbled out.

"Yeah, well maybe a little girl talk can fix that!" Harley suggested excitedly, only causing Louise to groan as she grabbed her pillow and put it over her face, "When all this is over, I think I'm gonna go visit that girl I was tellin' Cowboy about," she told her, "She's the best, lemme' tell ya…" she bragged, "Girl can't even get herself drunk from three straight martinis!" she mentioned with a chuckle.

"Huh…" Louise sighed, resigning herself to her fate of having to bear with Harley for the entirety of this mission. She glanced over to see Carol turned away as she was trying to go to sleep on her small bed. "So what are you gonna do after this, Saph?" she asked, getting her attention.

"Go back to my life, obviously…" she replied, keeping herself turned away. But Louise's chuckling caused her to perk up in surprise, turning to face her.

"Yeah, right…" she muttered out, "You're still a bad guy, even if you're a 'good' bad guy for a day…" she noted to the Pink Lantern, who grimaced again.

"Hey, whoa…" Harley chimed in, hopping down from her bed to get between the two, sticking her hands out at them, "Let's calm it down, ladies…" she advised, "Some of us are outta here after all this, so we'll live as normally as we can…" she pointed out.

"Hmph," Louise scoffed, "Speak for yourself and your girlfriend, or whatever…" she grumbled, turning away from her female comrades. Meanwhile in the control room, Floyd and George manned the controls as Christopher was piloting the submarine.

"Please tell me we're gonna find 'em soon…" the Australian man grumbled as he leaned back in his seat out of boredom.

"Shark's already got a head start on us in the water," the mercenary pointed out in response as he adjusted his wrist-mounted guns, "Knowing him, he'll make it in probably a few minutes," he mentioned.

"Yeah, but we won't be able to understand the fuckin' bloke when he calls back…" George muttered.

"Once King Shark contacts us, that's an indication that he's close to the Legion of Doom's base of operations," Christopher explained, getting their attentions, "We're depending on him to knock out any form of radar they might have," he added.

"Oh, that'll be the day…" George grumbled, resting his hand upon his left cheek. Out in the water, Nanaue was swimming far ahead of the submarine, heading the abyssal crevice in the seafloor. Meanwhile, Hiro and Baymax were approaching the base.

"There it is, bud," the former noted, "Let's hurry and get inside for the others," he advised.

"Hiro, are you sure we should not contact Erza to confirm that she and the others are fine?" the healthcare companion asked of the boy genius.

"I know Erza," he responded immediately, "She'll be fine," he assured with confidence in his tone, "Right now, we need to do our job and get the others inside," he insisted.

"My scanner is indicating a lifeform approaching us from the base," Baymax suddenly said, causing Hiro to blink in surprise.

"What?" he uttered out of confusion, "From what dir-? WHOA!" he yelped loudly as he and his healthcare companion narrowly avoided being struck by the red laser beams that streaked by them instantaneously.

"Oh dear," Baymax voiced out. Hiro looked down to where the beams had come from, seeing Manta speedily swimming towards them, drawing his red energy blade from behind his back.

"Watch out!" the boy genius exclaimed, detaching himself from Baymax in the nick of time to avoid being sliced by the underwater mercenary. He veered back around to attack him again, but Hiro stuck out both of his palms, engaging the thrusters to propel himself away from getting sliced by his enemy's blade.

"You're a slippery fish, aren't you?" Manta inquired, swimming after the fleeing boy genius.

"Baymax, take him down!" he cried out desperately to his healthcare companion. He blinked, scanning the armored mercenary.

"My protocol prevents me from injuring a human being," he told his partner.

"What?!" he exclaimed out of shock, narrowly ducking from a slash as he yelped in surprise, "Well… find a way inside!" he insisted, "I'll meet up with you after I shake this guy!" he promised as he blasted himself back from another attempted slash.

"I don't think so…" Manta remarked upon overhearing, sticking his right arm out towards Baymax. A compartment of his armor opened, with a small missile launcher popping out. Hiro gasped. A mini missile was fired from the launcher, heading straight towards the armored robot.

"BAYMAX!" the boy genius screamed, seeing his healthcare companion get struck and then enveloped in an explosion from the missile. The resulting smoke took a moment to fully clear. But as it did, it revealed that Baymax had crossed his arms to take the attack, leaving only some cracks on his underwater armor. "Huh…" Hiro sighed out of relief.

"So you're tougher than you look…" Manta realized as there was a daunting red glow in the red eyes of his helmet, "Guess I'll have to fix that…" he noted, about to fire another round of laser beams. Hiro gasped upon realizing what he was about to do, engaging his thrusters to propel himself forward and tackle the armored mercenary to knock him off balance. He fired his lasers, which ended up aimed downwards as they pierced through the seafloor, causing sand to billow up. Unbeknownst to the three fighters, Nanaue had arrived on the scene, watching the battle from behind some coral. His red eyes narrowed as he growled.

Hiro held onto Manta tightly as he swam around, trying to shake him off. Time was of the essence, but things were now much more complicated with the armored mercenary on the scene. He swung his blade and ended up nicking the boy genius' arm.

"AGH!" he yelped in agony, falling off of Manta as he grabbed at his cut. Blood seeped in between his fingers, floating up in the water.

"Hiro!" Baymax robotically exclaimed as he swam over to his companion.

"I'm okay…" he reassured, "But we gotta find a way to get this guy away from us…" he grumbled out of frustration. Meanwhile, Nanaue's nostrils twitched upon inhaling the scent of the boy genius' blood. His teeth twisted into a feral smile.

"Hiro, you are losing oxygen quickly," Baymax pointed out.

"That's not the only thing you'll be losing!" Manta remarked as he zoomed towards them. But all of a sudden, Nanaue dove in and caught the mercenary in his teeth, swimming away with him as he yelped. "What the… hell?!" he grunted out, slashing at the mutated shark to knock him off as his grip on him was lost. He shook his head to regain himself, grinning wickedly. The two of them continued their battle as Hiro and Baymax watched on.

"Uh, we should hurry," the former advised before mounting his healthcare companion's back again. They swam off towards the dome at the ocean floor. Meanwhile, Nanaue's teeth were narrowly missing Manta each time he tried to catch him.

"Ergh…" the armored mercenary growled in frustration, glancing over to see Hiro and Baymax approaching the base, "I don't have time for this…" he growled, reaching down to grasp something from his left hip. It turned out to be a taser as he jabbed it into Nanaue's chest, zapping him.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" he yelled out in agony. However, he steeled himself with clenched teeth, opening his mouth and biting Manta's left arm at his bicep.

"GAH! DAMMIT!" he cursed out, dropping his taser as it sunk down. He tried to attack the mutated shark with his red energy blade, but Nanaue swung him around ferociously, making him lose that weapon as well once it dropped out of his hand.

"Come on… come on…" Hiro pleaded to himself while quickly rewiring the electrical system as Baymax stood guard. From the boy genius' heads-up display, he could see that his oxygen was rapidly depleting. There was no time to lose.

"Ergh…!" Manta grunted, finally managing to free himself from Nanaue's grasp as blood seeped from the holes in the left arm of his armor. Its scent filled the water, making the mutated shark's grin grow even more wicked.

"King Shark…" he began to growl out, "IS A SHAAARRRRRKKKKK!" he bellowed, swimming out instantly and punching the armored mercenary again and again to push him back even further. Baymax blinked as he watched their battle rage on.

"I do hope that shark is more attracted to his blood than to yours, Hiro," he remarked blankly. Meanwhile, the boy genius crossed a few wires together, making a spark go off. All of a sudden, the two of them heard a rumble before they noticed a large set of sliding doors open up beneath the dome.

"There's our route!" Hiro pointed out, quickly mounting his healthcare companion's back again before they swam down into it. At that same moment, Nanaue evaded a pair of red laser beams shot from the eyes of Manta's helmet. He then approached the armored mercenary and chomped down onto his helmet. Thankfully, his teeth didn't pierce all the way through. But the attack was enough to cause the glow in the helmet's eyes to go out.

"Dammit…!" Manta cursed, engaging the damaged thrusters at his back and feet to zoom out of Nanaue's grasp. He then swam off, fleeing the scene.

"Heh," the mutated shark chuckled out.

"Oi, Sharky!" George's voice echoed into his ear through the communicator he had in it, catching his attention, "Ya find the bloody base yet?" he asked. Hearing that, Nanaue remembered that Hiro and Baymax were there as well. And the former's blood still lingered in the water…

"King Shark… is a shark…" the mutated shark finally responded with a wicked grin, swimming down towards the opening to the dome. Back in the submarine, George groaned in frustration.

"Well, what'd he say?" Floyd inquired curiously. The Australian man rolled his eyes.

"What the fuck do you think he said?" he muttered in response.

"It's been twenty minutes," Christopher pointed out, flicking a couple switches and adjusting some controls, "We're moving in," he told the two men, much to their surprise.

"But the radar-"

"Won't be a problem if King Shark can disable it," the task force leader assured, interjecting Floyd's comment, "Boomerang, man the periscope," he insisted, "Deadshot, get Quinn and load up the torpedoes," he continued to the hitman in the room, "Have Sapphire and Frost go on ahead to meet up with Shark and get him out of there before we blow the base sky high," he mentioned thoroughly.

"Don't ya mean, 'ocean' high?" George inquired with a sarcastic grin and a chuckle.

"Get your head outta your ass, Boomer," Floyd remarked bluntly in response, "We better work fast…" he pointed out, banging his fist against a button. All of a sudden, the alarm started blaring as a red light flashed brightly in each of the rooms in the submarine, including the cabin.

"Oh, great…" Louise muttered out of frustration.

"Showtime, ladies!" Harley exclaimed as she skipped off, "Try not to get yourselves killed, 'kay?" she advised cheekily in farewell. Back at the Legion of Doom's base, Hiro had removed the armoring over his right arm as Baymax sprayed it with a white mist from the tip of his right pointer finger.

"Since the cut is shallow, the bacta spray should have it sealed in approximately ten to fifteen minutes," he explained to his partner, who rolled down his sleeve and reached into his pocket. They were in what appeared to be a docking bay as Manta's submarine was floating in the pool of water they had come out of.

"Thanks, Baymax," Hiro said in gratitude, pulling out his MPG, "Now let's get the others here before-" A sudden splash interrupted his sentence, making him gasp as he whipped around to see Nanaue land down in front of him and Baymax.

"King Shark… is a shark," he remarked as he grinned, opening his mouth up wide as he was about to chomp down on Hiro.

"Baymax!" he cried out quickly. The circular pieces upon his healthcare companion's shoulders glowed a bright blue before they unleashed a powerful sonic screech onto the mutated shark.

"RRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" he screamed in agony, grabbing at his head and clenching his teeth together as he stumbled back, "King… Shark…" he tried to growl out, "is… a…" he continued, grimacing all the while, "shark!" he yelled out, jumping back and diving into the water.

"Phew…" Hiro exhaled in relief.

"Since sharks are sensitive to loud noises, he will likely not approach us again," Baymax explained.

"Great," the boy genius replied, "Now let's get the others here," he said, pressing the center icon of his MPG.

X

Sunset clenched her teeth with frustration, flying about the sealed-off corridor she had been trapped in as Lex pursued her. A greenish light spewed from the thrusters at his feet. He fired off beams of the same color of luminosity at her, which she managed to evade by barrel rolling. She then turned herself around to fire off her own beam of amber light at her opponent, but he quickly threw up an energy field from the palm of his right hand to block it.

"Ergh…" Sunset growled in frustration… right before noticing a shadow start to loom over her. She glanced up and gasped to see Grodd about to come down on her with his right fist reared back. Jerking her head to the left, the Equestrian Magic avoided taking a heavy punch to the face from the intelligent gorilla, instead getting clipped at the right shoulder. She was sent spinning down before she crashed against the floor in a flurry of dust. "Ow…" she grumbled out as the veil around her had yet to clear.

However, her pony ears twitched, causing her to widen her eyes. She stuck her left hand up and projected a golden energy barrier to block Lex's armored right arm from striking her. Watching the battle unfold with hands held behind his back was Vandal. Disdain and contempt were in his eyes as he saw Sunset blast the Lexcorp CEO back with a shockwave the moment her energy barrier blew apart.

"Are you not going to join us?" Grodd inquired, catching the immortal man's attention, "Surely a conqueror like yourself knows how to fight…" he remarked. Vandal huffed.

"I'd only slow you down from what it seems…" he pointed out. The intelligent gorilla smirked.

"Wise words, immortal…" he quipped before charging back into the fray. Vandal growled angrily. Meanwhile, Sunset ducked from another round of beams shot from Lex's armored palms, followed by disappearing in a flash of golden light. She reappeared right behind him, about to backhand him in the head with her left fist as it glowed brightly. But suddenly, Grodd grabbed her by the neck and slammed her hard against the wall.

"AGH…!" she gasped out in agony.

"RRROOOOAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!" the intelligent gorilla roared into her face. She gritted her teeth, grabbing his large hand with both of hers as they glowed. A brilliant flash of golden light emitted from them, causing Grodd to flinch in surprise as he stumbled back, letting go of her. However, that gave Lex the opportunity he needed as dashed in and landed a fierce right hook to the Equestrian Magic user's face, sending her tumbling across the floor.

"Ugh…" she groaned out upon coming to a stop on her stomach.

"I have to admit… this plan of yours is quite bold," Lex noted as he sauntered slowly towards her with Grodd, who wiped his eyes, "Coming to us was foolish enough…" he mentioned, "but without Tennyson?" he inquired curiously with a chuckle… which quickly changed into an offended frown, "Who do you think we are?" he asked. Sunset rose to her feet with a heavy breath, spitting out a wad of blood onto the floor.

"You… are guys not worth his fucking time…" she muttered in response, raising her fists once again. Lex laughed softly at the answer.

"Oh, I'm sure we will be…" he remarked with confidence. Sunset growled before charging at her foes again. As they exchanged their blows, Vandal continued to watch on.

In the other sealed-off corridor, Erza was barely managing to block each of Cheetah's slashes. The blood dripping from her cuts fell onto the floor, leaving small splotches. She was amazed at how quick the feline-like villainess was. In fact, she never remembered her ever displaying this kind of speed the last time they fought…

"Now I remember you…" she started to say, causing the requip user to perk up as she whipped around to see Cheetah stalking her like an actual predator, "We were fighting back at the harbor before we were so rudely interrupted…" she recalled, licking her lips.

"And what of it?" Erza inquired, aiming her blade at the feline-like villainess.

"There won't be anyone getting in between us this time…" she replied as she stood up and shrugged, "It'll be just the two of us…" she remarked with narrowed eyes that locked onto her prey. She dashed forward. On impulse, Erza swung her blade down… and found it sliced into pieces that clattered against the floor.

"What?!" she exclaimed, glancing back to see Cheetah hopping from wall to wall before lunging out and slashing mightily with her right hand's claws. However, she only managed to get a few strands of her foe's hair as she noticed them in her palm.

"You're quick," she noted with a smirk, "But I can adapt," she pointed out, taking a ready stance.

"As can I," Erza retorted, enveloping herself in a golden flash of light. When it subsided, it revealed that she had requipped into her Flight Armor. Her shortswords appeared in her hands as she glared out at her foe.

"Ah, so we're roleplaying now are we?" Cheetah inquired, "Two cats wrestling…" she remarked, "This should be fun…" she admitted. Erza ignored the heat rising in her cheeks as she growled, dashing forward. Her blades clashed with the feline-like villainess' claws, making sparks fly each time they crossed.

"Sonic Claw!" the requip user exclaimed, slashing at her foe from every possible direction in front of her. But to her shock, Cheetah dodged each one, followed by landing a quick slash to her opponent's torso. "ERK!" she yelped out in pain, feeling the sting of the cuts. But she quickly ignored it as she continued to battle against her foe. All of a sudden, she kneed her in the chin, followed by landing a powerful punch to her stomach. "GUAH…!" she gasped out as she lurched forward slightly.

"Ooh, that didn't sound right…" Cheetah noted, landing a right hook to the requip user's face to make her fall onto the floor in a grunt. She gasped for breath as the wind had been knocked out of her, struggling to push herself up.

"I… don't remember you ever being this strong…" she grumbled while glaring at her foe. She smirked, putting her hands onto her hips.

"I suppose it's a bonus for being part of a good team," she remarked in response, roaring as she dashed out at her target. On the other side of the wall, Law was narrowly ducking from the heavy punches thrown by Bane, avoiding one in the nick of time as his opponent's fist struck the wall hard, leaving an indentation with several cracks that spread far.

"Shit…!" Law cursed aloud, quickly preparing a ROOM underneath the palm of his right hand.

"I've seen that trick before…" Bane remarked with a grin, rearing his left fist back. The blue sphere of space expanded to contain him and the rest of the immediate area.

"Shambles!" the pirate exclaimed, flipping his hand over. In an instant, he and his foe instantaneously switched places, with the latter striking the wall again as pieces of it fell onto the floor.

"Ah, clever…" he admitted aloud. Meanwhile, a blue aura shrouded Law's blade as he was about to land a mighty slash onto his foe from behind. But to his surprise, Bane leapt up to dodge the attack, followed by kicking him back with both of his feet as he tumbled across the floor in a grunt.

"Ergh…" he growled out, getting back onto his feet as he kept his grip on his blade firm, "Didn't expect a big guy like you to move like that…" he confessed with clenched teeth.

"It seems my 'upgrade' has given me more than I could ask for…" Bane responded as he held out his arms to their respective sides, "All the strength and power… without any of the drawbacks," he mentioned as he grinned sinisterly. He then lunged out at Law, who took notice of various pieces of the wall lying on the floor. And the fact that his ROOM was still intact… He smirked, disappearing instantaneously as a piece of the wall took his place, being shattered into bits upon being struck by the muscular man's right fist. He gasped in surprise, whipping around to see his foe standing with his blade readied.

"Well, you've given me everything I need to take you on…" he remarked, slashing backwards to cleave the wall and make more pieces fall onto the floor.

"Hmph," Bane scoffed, balling his fists tightly as he turned around to face his foe, "You will break, otherworlder," he vowed.

"I don't break easy…" Law retorted, lifting his left hand up, "Now let's see if you've got brains to go with all that muscle," he challenged. Growling, Bane charged out at him. "Shambles!" he yelled again, disappearing in an instant. The muscular villain narrowed his eyes intently.

He knew that this space was controlled by the pirate. He knew that he would be able to switch places with miniscule things such as debris. But what he didn't know… is where he'd be coming from. At least until he felt something. He whipped around to his left and slammed his left fist against Law's left arm.

"GHRRKK!" he yelped out in agony with gritted teeth, sliding back several yards from the sudden blow he took. In spite of the Armament Haki around his left arm, he could still feel it twitch. "How the hell did you—?!"

"Know?" Bane guessed, finishing his opponent's question, "My enhancements aren't just limited to my physical strength and agility, it seems," he pointed out, staring at his hands before balling them into fists, "My senses are much more sharpened," he noted with a smirk. The confidence Law had earlier had vanished. Each of the three Omni Force members were in a difficult situation. Their opponents were now much more troublesome than they were before. They could only hope that their friends would complete the mission thanks to their efforts…

X

"Does anyone think we should contact Sunset and the others?!" Ruby asked as she ran down the hallway with Kevin and Gaara leading the way. Rook and Ahsoka were tailing behind them with Hiro and Baymax to follow.

"Shortstack, they're probably taking on those bigshots while we're runnin'," the hybrid Osmosian responded, "We gotta do our part before we go help them," he mentioned firmly. The student huntress grimaced, not wanting to leave her fellow squadron leaders behind.

"I'm glad Sunset's plan worked at least," Ahsoka pointed out.

"Yes…" Rook agreed, "Though I am surprised that all of the Legion of Doom's members seem to be focused on them alone…" he admitted in concern.

"Not all of them," a familiar voice echoed ahead, causing everyone to instantaneously grind themselves to a screeching halt. They looked out and gasped to see Sinestro standing before them with his hands held together behind his back. "Welcome," he greeted, "As you can probably guess, we knew you were coming," he told those ahead of him. Ruby gasped lightly in surprise, while most everyone else narrowed their eyes with contempt. Baymax merely blinked.

"You think you can stop us?" Ahsoka inquired, drawing her lightsaber hilts as they flew into her hands. Sinestro shrugged.

"It wouldn't matter either way," he responded, "You're already too late," he noted with a smirk.

"Too late for what?" Ruby asked as she raised an eyebrow. The Yellow Lantern chuckled. He then projected a construct of a wall from his power ring, which slid towards the group of Omni Force members rather quickly.

"Oh no," Baymax said. Thankfully, Gaara stepped out and threw his hands forward, causing sand to billow out from his gourd and strike the incoming wall, pushing back against it as he gritted his teeth.

"Hmph," Sinestro scoffed, "Even though you're far too late to try and stop us, I do find this resistance admirable," he admitted with a smirk. Growling, Ahsoka ran forward and thrusted her hands out. All of a sudden, the Yellow Lantern found himself getting blown back by an indescribable force, causing his construct to fade away. It allowed for Gaara to manipulate his sand to entrap him, pinning him against the wall.

"Ruby, take Hiro and get to the main room!" the former Padawan advised, pressing the buttons on her lightsaber hilts to make blades of white light shoot up from them.

"But—!"

"Shortstack, go!" Kevin yelled, interrupting her. As frustrated as she was about leaving her comrades behind, she knew completing the mission was of the utmost priority. She grabbed Hiro by his left hand and blasted off with him in a burst of rose petals. Sinestro huffed as he watched them go.

"That's unfortunate," he admitted as the yellow glow around his body brightened. Several yellow spikes projected from his form, piercing through the sand and breaking it apart as he freed himself.

"Ah…!" Gaara gasped in surprise, quickly throwing up a wall of sand with a swing of his arms to try and stop the yellow spike constructs as they shot out towards him and the others. However, they pierced through like before, now forming into spinning sawblades.

"Heads up!" Kevin yelled, quickly placing his hand against the wall next to him, absorbing its metal as it coated his body. He crossed his arms to defend himself from the constructed sawblades, though they still knocked him back as sparks flew about. Rook and Ahsoka dashed forward, with the former drawing his Proto-Tool in the form of an orange energy blade. They parried and clashed their weapons against the sawblade constructs, knocking them back. All the while, Baymax watched on and blinked.

"I will allow you to handle this threat for now," he suddenly stated as Kevin stumbled back to be beside him.

"Yeah, thanks…" he replied sarcastically, rushing back into the fray as he formed both of his arms into blades.

"You are welcome," the healthcare robot responded, blinking again. Meanwhile, Sinestro smirked as his array of constructed sawblades were keeping his foes back. Even so, he was somewhat frustrated that he let Ruby and Hiro get past him.

"Luthor, we may have a problem," he communicated to the black earpiece in his ear.

"What is it?" the Lexcorp CEO's voice echoed into his ear in question.

"Two enemies got past me and are likely on their way to discovering what our operation is," the Yellow Lantern responded, projecting a much larger sawblade that tore through the floor as it rolled towards Ahsoka. She crossed her lightsabers in front of herself, taking the construct head on as it rammed into her.

"Ergh…!" she growled out as the sawblade pushed her back several feet. Tightening the grip on her lightsaber hilts, the Togruta slashed forward and broke the construct into pieces. Sinestro didn't seem to notice, too focused on listening to Lex.

"I wouldn't worry too much about that," he advised into the Yellow Lantern's ear, "He can activate the traps around the base as he pleases," he mentioned assuredly.

"That's what concerns me…" Sinestro muttered in response. Without warning, ropes of sand suddenly wrapped around both his left arm and leg. Before he could do anything, he was flung against the wall hard in a loud yelp.

"Sand Coffin!" Gaara yelled, closing his right hand into a fist. The sand around Sinestro's limbs squeezed tightly, threatening to break them as he clenched his teeth in agony. However, the glow around his body brightened. The sand was burst right off of him in an instant, with bits raining onto the floor beneath his feet as he floated over it.

"Don't be so arrogant as to think that is enough to best me…" he remarked, aiming his power ring forward as it blasted a huge ray of yellow light at his targets. Elsewhere in the building, Ruby and Hiro had arrived at the main hall of the base, seeing the giant computer and control panel that lied before them.

"Whoa…" the student huntress uttered out in disbelief.

"Let's get this done and get outta here," the boy genius advised, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a flash drive. He plugged it into the console, followed by typing rapidly. Several pages of data started appearing upon the screen. Ruby looked on curiously, wondering what all of it meant.

"How long do you need?" she asked of Hiro.

"A couple minutes at most," he replied, "There're a lot of firewalls for me to crack," he mentioned in frustration, making more pages appear on the screen as he kept typing. Ruby hoped that amount of time would be enough for her comrades to last before they escaped.

"GAH…!" Law gasped out as he hit the wall hard, slumping down onto his hands and knees as his Kikoku was dropped from his hand. As he reached out to grab it, Bane picked it up in his left hand.

"Hmm…" he hummed curiously as he stared at the weapon, "A Nodachi, right?" he guessed. Law managed to stumble onto his feet.

"Give… that back…" he insisted with clenched teeth.

"Heh," Bane chuckled. He took the sword in both of his hands… and snapped it in half with his left knee. Law's eyes widened in disbelief. "If a blade like this can shatter so easily," he started to say, "then I don't imagine your spine faring much better…" he mentioned. A frustrated and somewhat frightened look came across the pirate's face. On the other side of the protruded wall, Erza was having her own problems. Cuts riddled her body, with blood dripping from them as she remained in her Flight Armor. Her rapiers were held loosely in her hands as she glared out at Cheetah, who stalked around her like the feline she mimicked.

"Getting tired?" she guessed, hissing excitedly. A euphoria had been building inside her ever since her fight with the requip user started. And it hadn't stopped. Erza steadied her blades and gritted her teeth.

"Not on your life!" she roared out, dashing towards her foe. She reacted quickly with a crazed smile, leaping over the requip user, much to her shock. Before she could do anything else, her enemy's tail suddenly wrapped around her neck and pulled her down to the floor hard in an instant. "Urk…!" she grunted, trying desperately to pull the tail off of her as she could feel it squeeze on her neck.

"I think that's that," Cheetah remarked, picking Erza up off from the ground by her shoulders as she loosened her tail's hold on her. She then clawed ferociously at her shoulders, causing her to drop her swords on reflex as she let out a pained scream. The feline-like woman slashed her back afterwards, leaving wide, stinging cuts. Erza lurched forward a few steps before falling onto her stomach, breathing rapidly for air as her body was bleeding from almost all over.

She looked to see one of her shortswords lying right beside her left arm. She tried to reach for it, but it was kicked away by Cheetah, who stalked about her again as she weakly lifted her head.

"Oooh…" she cooed out, crouching down and inching closer to the requip user like an actual feline, "guess this cat's about to lose her first life…" she cheekily remarked, chuckling as she grabbed Erza by her chin and made her look up into her eyes. She glared fiercely at Cheetah, who merely grinned. "You don't scare me…" she pointed out. In response, Erza spat a wad of saliva onto her right cheek. "Hmph," she scoffed, standing up and kicking her foe in the face, sending her flying into the wall before she fell back down upon her stomach.

"Augh…" she groaned out in agony, now having a cut on her cheek. Cheetah stood over her, placing her hands onto her hips.

"Bane," she called out, "Are you finished with yours yet?" she asked, "My play toy's a little scratched up…" she remarked as she looked down at the wounded Erza.

"I'm afraid you'll have to make do with her," Bane responded as the wall came down. The requip user widened her eyes in disbelief. Over the muscular man's shoulder was a semi-unconscious Law. He too had been bested.

"I didn't think your steroid was enough of a boost for that one…" Cheetah admitted, sounding impressed.

"And I expected you to have lost your head to that woman," he mentioned in response.

"Oh, she'll lose hers…" the feline-like woman vowed, grabbing Erza by her scarlet hair and lifting her up in a yelp, "What are you going to do with yours?" she wondered curiously.

"Break his back," Bane bluntly replied, lifting Law up in both of his hands and holding him high over his head.

"Law…" Erza whimpered out in fright. The pirate could only grimace weakly. His spine was about to be shattered. But before Bane could even attempt to do anything, he felt a sudden palpitation in his body. A sharp gasp left his mouth as he dropped Law onto the floor, stumbling back as he grabbed at his chest.

"Bane?!" Cheetah exclaimed in surprise, dropping Erza as she ran over to her comrade, who dropped to his hands and knees. He breathed raggedly as his body was pulsing every second. His muscles shrank along with his form, reverting to normal.

"The drug…" he uttered out to Cheetah, who crouched beside him, "I need the drug…!" he gasped out in demand. She clenched her teeth with frustration.

"Luthor!" she yelled, "Bane's venom wore off!" she shouted to the Lexcorp CEO on the other side of the protruded wall, "He needs a new dose now!" she insisted.

"We're a little busy at the moment, I'm afraid," Lex replied as the wall started to come down, "But if you wanna help speed things along…" he continued, "be our guest," he remarked. Cheetah blinked in surprise to see that once the wall came down, it revealed that Lex's war suit had been heavily damaged, while Grodd seemed to be pretty bruised as he breathed raggedly. Vandal was standing by without so much as a scratch on his form. He hadn't entered the fray for the whole time, looking at the back of Sunset. She was breathing heavily with exhaustion, but still had her fists raised. At least until she saw her injured comrades lying on the floor.

"…Guys?" she uttered out with a shocked look on her face.

"Sun…set…" Erza managed to say, grimacing all the while from her multitude of cuts. Meanwhile, Law just looked over at her with clenched teeth, being in so much pain. The Equestrian Magic user's fists tightening as she inhaled and exhaled through her nose angrily.

"Guess if it'll speed things along…" Cheetah muttered out with a feral grin, dashing towards her. Sunset felt her pony ears perk up as she heard her coming. She thrusted her right fist out and struck the feline-like woman square in the stomach with ferocity. Blood flew out from her mouth before she was sent flying back in an instant, crashing against the wall hard. The Legion of Doom members in the room were left stunned by the action, seeing their comrade fall onto her stomach. They looked over at Sunset, who exhaled a calmer breath.

"That… was a mistake," she stated. The air began to tense up around her. The villains could sense her rising rage, with Lex and Grodd stepping back. Her eyes flashed a bright white as markings like the wisps of flames from the sun appeared around them. Sun-like markings also appeared at her knuckles as well, with her wings expanding in a reddish and yellow aura, much like those of a phoenix. To top it off, an orange streak appeared in her hair as it shined brightly.

"Oh, this may not be good…" Lex admitted. For once, Vandal smirked upon seeing Sunset's sudden power-up. She stepped forward… and a pale hand grabbed her shoulder. Before she could do anything, she was electrocuted as electricity coursed along her body.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she shrieked in agony, falling onto the floor upon her stomach as her skin went back to normal, with her wings, pony ears and long ponytail disappearing instantaneously. Lex and Grodd blinked in shock before looking out to see who had zapped her. Dressed in his purple suit with green hair, yellow teeth, and a face familiar to that of a clown was none other than the Joker. In his right hand upon the base of his middle finger was a joy buzzer.

"Oh, what a rush!" he exclaimed with excitement, cackling happily. No one else seemed amused. Even Vandal seemed upset. He wanted to see Sunset try and take down his comrades.

"Joker…?" Bane uttered out in surprise upon noticing the Clown Prince of Crime.

"Oh, if it isn't the muscle-head!" he pointed out as he saw his fellow villain still on his hands and knees, "Great show you put on with that lanky fella!" he complimented, "A shame you couldn't finish…" he remarked with a chuckle. Bane narrowed his eyes angrily.

"You're supposed to be keeping an eye on the base…" Lex noted, catching Joker's attention as he let off a small grin.

"And you promised me this Tennyson boy to break down like a Jenga tower, piece by piece…" he retorted with another cackle. Sunset widened her eyes as she tried to push herself up.

"Don't move," Lex advised aiming his left hand out at her. She immediately paused herself, keeping her mouth shut. She looked over to see Law and Erza both wincing in agony, unable to move.

"Joker, why aren't you on the security detail like we told you?" Grodd asked.

"Oh, don't go all bananas on me, monkey…" he muttered back, "It gets boring watching the same old thing over and over…" he pointed out, sauntering around Sunset, "I mean, the cat was doing her thing twenty times over with the redhead," he mentioned as he chuckled again.

"Fuck you," Cheetah responded as she managed to walk over while holding her stomach, "What the hell happened to Bane?" she asked Lex.

"A side effect of the venom compound I developed," he replied, "When it wears off, the user experiences the aftereffects of an overdose," he explained to her, much to her shock as her eyes widened.

"Are you insane?!" she exclaimed angrily in question, "He could've di—!"

"Bane's body is able to withstand the aftereffects," Lex interrupted assuredly, "He'll be fine in a few minutes," he promised with a nod.

"Well, looks like we're done with this party," Joker remarked as he clapped his hands together and rubbed them against each other, "So how's about we all go out for a slice o' pie?" he suggested cheekily.

"Meaning finishing the preparations," Grodd chimed in, acting as a filter for the Clown Prince of Crime.

"What about their communicators?" Vandal asked suddenly, catching the attentions of his comrades. Lex cracked a grin.

"Good thinking, Savage," he complimented. The immortal man just huffed in response. Moments later, he and Grodd took the MPGs from Law and Erza respectively.

"You bastards…!" the latter growled out angrily. Grodd scoffed at her angered remark, walking off. In the meantime, Cheetah was crouched down and rummaging through the pockets of Sunset's jacket. She then pulled out something, being her MPG.

"Finally," she muttered out, standing up. She looked down to see the sneer of frustration on the Equestrian Magic user's face. It pissed her off, enticing her to kick her upside the head hard. "Bitch…" she cursed out before walking off and handing the MPG off to Lex.

"And where do you think you're going?" he asked her curiously.

"To help Sinestro take care of the rest of the rabble," she replied, "I don't know why, but I've got an itch for another fight…" she admitted with her hands at her hips. Joker chuckled once again.

"Oh, how catty…" he remarked, causing Cheetah to hiss.

"That's a side effect of your performance enhancement," Grodd chimed in, approaching the feline-like woman as she blinked in surprise, "We're leaving now," he stated firmly, "Sinestro and Manta will be meeting with us shortly," he mentioned.

"Then we've got no time to lose," Lex added, "This base will be set to self-destruct in approximately five minutes," he stated as he pressed a few keys on the control panel upon his left arm. A countdown starting from five minutes began.

"I lost contact with Manta well after he went out to try and catch the intruder," Vandal pointed out.

"Then he obviously failed, seeing as how there are multiple intruders now," Lex retorted with a shake of his head, "Let's move," he insisted in a firm tone.

"And I was hoping we could stay and see the fireworks…" Joker grumbled in faux-disappointment as he laughed afterwards, causing Cheetah to roll her eyes. Grodd went over to help Bane onto his feet, holding his right arm over his shoulder as they walked off with the others. Sunset pushed herself up a little, grimacing with pain. Her body was still tingling from the shock she endured. No doubt due to an upgrade to Joker's joy buzzer. And she wondered why he of all people was recruited…

"Wait!" she yelled out, causing the group of villains to momentarily stop themselves, "What are you planning to do with Ben?" she asked of them. Joker took on a crazed smile. He sauntered over to her.

"Oh sweetheart, I'm so glad you asked…" he remarked, "Truth be told, Lexie there came to me with what he thought would be a big problem," he explained as he crouched down to her eye level, "This Benny boy of yours… well…" he began, "he's an everyman, both literally and figuratively!" he pointed out with another chuckle, "I doubt even an army could stop him…" he mentioned in admittance, "But…" he continued, "there's one weakness every man has," he noted with a smaller grin, "Fear," he said. Sunset exhaled an angered breath through her nose.

"Ben… is not afraid of you," she stated firmly. Joker's wide, frightening smile returned.

"Everyone's afraid of something, Pumpkin," he noted to her, "Now you and your Justice Wannabes sit tight," he advised as he stood up, "The fireworks'll start in four minutes," he pointed out to her, "I'm sure it's gonna be a blast…" he remarked, cackling like a madman afterwards.

"Joker, we need to move," Lex insisted seriously.

"Oh fine, fine…" the Clown Prince of Crime muttered repeatedly in response, turning around and walking over to join his comrades in departing, "If you make it out of this somehow, stop by for the big show in a few days!" he called out to the Omni Force members before he and the others finally left the room.

"Ergh…" Law grunted out in agony as he managed to push himself up his hands and knees, "Damn…" he cursed.

"We failed…" Erza whimpered in frustration.

"No… we haven't…" Sunset retorted as she slowly managed to stand up, stumbling a little as she got to her feet, "The guys probably figured out their plans by now…" she noted assuredly, "So let's find a way outta here…" she insisted. Though it'd be much easier said than done…

X

A progress bar upon the large screen in the base's hall had reached 100% completion. And Ruby's eyes were shaking with horror. She and Hiro had seen exactly what their enemies were planning.

"We need to get out of here now," he insisted as he took out the flash drive from the port swiftly.

"Wh… Why?" the student huntress asked in concern, arching an eyebrow.

"Look," Hiro said, pointing towards a page upon the screen. It was the timer, which had three and a half minutes left.

"A… countdown?" Ruby uttered out of confusion.

"I think this place is about to blow," Hiro responded, "Come on!" he beckoned quickly before running off.

"Uh, wait!" the student huntress stuttered, hurrying after him. She pulled out her MPG, tapping its center icon. A frightened look was upon her face. She hoped Sunset and the others were doing okay…

"GAH!" Sinestro yelled in agony as he slammed back first into the wall, with his various constructs shattering like glass, "Agh…" he groaned as he slumped to the floor, breathing raggedly. The sound of a click caught his attention as he glanced ahead to Rook putting his Proto-Tool into its blaster form, aiming it at him.

"Do not move," he demanded with a fearsome glare, though the Yellow Lantern just smirked.

"Why the hell's a Lantern like you even working for these guys?" Kevin wondered curiously as he approached Sinestro, aiming his bladed left arm at him, "What do you get out of it?" he asked him. The Yellow Lantern chuckled.

"Fear, of course," he responded to his foe's confusion, "The Green Lanterns' strength comes from their willpower," he mentioned, "And fear… is the opposite of will," he pointed out. Rook blinked in surprise, having remembered hearing that once before.

"Well, you're not scaring us," Kevin remarked with narrowed eyes of contempt.

"Hmph," Sinestro scoffed.

"Sinestro, we're leaving," Lex's voice suddenly communicated into his ear, catching his attention as he perked up slightly, which Ahsoka noticed, "Meet us in the hangar in one minute," he advised. Before the Yellow Lantern could ask why, an alarm started blaring with red lights going off.

"What's going on?!" Gaara asked aloud over the blaring alarms.

"It appears we may have triggered a security alarm," Baymax bluntly responded as he raised his right pointer finger.

"I don't think that's it…" Ahsoka responded with a shake of her head. All of a sudden, Sinestro floated up from the floor.

"Well, I'd love to stick around and crush you all…" he admitted with a smirk, "but it'll have to wait," he stated, flying off in an instant.

"Hey!" Ahsoka yelled, throwing her right hand out to try and telekinetically stop him. Unfortunately, he fired off a beam of yellow light from his ring that struck her hand. "Ah!" she yelped in pain as she stumbled back a step. Thankfully, she wasn't wounded. But Sinestro had escaped.

"Now what?" Kevin wondered.

"Guys!" Hiro's voice cried out, catching their attentions as they saw him running over with Ruby in tow.

"Hiro!" Ahsoka exclaimed, letting out a sigh of relief as she turned off her lightsabers and put their hilts back onto her belt, "Did you two get all the information?" she inquired of them.

"We did," the boy genius replied with a nod, while the student huntress looked around worriedly.

"What about Sunset and the others?" she asked her comrades out of concern, "Did you hear from them?" she questioned on.

"No," Rook replied with a shake of his head, "It is likely that they are still engaged with the enemy at this time," he pointed out. Ruby grimaced as she balled her trembling left fist.

"We need to leave, now," Hiro chimed in seriously, causing everyone to blink in surprise, "This whole base is gonna blow in less than two minutes," he pointed out to their shock.

"I'll get a portal to the Rust Bucket ready," Kevin said, taking out his MPG from his pocket.

"Wait, what about the others?!" Ruby exclaimed frantically, "What if the bad guys got 'em?!" she inquired with panic in her eyes.

"Ruby, they'll be fine," Ahsoka assured, getting her attention, "I know Erza," she mentioned, "She won't go down that easily…" she vowed with a shake of her head. At that moment, a green portal appeared beside the group.

"Let's go," Kevin insisted, being the first to head in. Everyone else except for Gaara and Ruby followed, with the latter's fists trembling in frustration. The Kazekage took her left one into his right hand, causing her to look up at him.

"We have to go," he told her in a soft, yet firm tone. Reluctant as she was, Ruby knew that the mission's important part was to get the information they needed. She went with Gaara into the portal, which disappeared moments later. Meanwhile, the manta ray-like submarine had left the base through the bay opening. Inside, Grodd was piloting as the vessel swam through the ocean water. Cheetah looked quite antsy, impatiently tapping her left foot against the floor while clawing at it, sitting in her seat. Meanwhile, Bane was being tended to by Sinestro and Lex, now breathing much easier than earlier.

"So we're heading to Metropolis already?" Vandal inquired to the Lexcorp CEO.

"Lying low for a few days will be fine," he assured in response, "And besides…" he continued, "we can correct any errors we have for these two in the time we have," he noted, looking over at Bane and Cheetah. It was clear that their side effects were somewhat problematic in various ways.

"Well, you've got your science project to get done…" Joker chimed in as he sauntered over, catching their attentions, "I've still got that Benny boy to meet for a one-on-one!" he remarked, cackling afterwards, "So…" he continued, giving off an ominous grin, "when's that gonna happen?" he wondered curiously.

Meanwhile, the Omni Force members had returned to the Rust Bucket. But to their horror, Sunset and the other squadron leaders weren't there.

"Is anyone picking up?!" Kevin asked desperately as he held his MPG in his left hand, awaiting an answer from who he was calling.

"No…" Rook replied.

"Erza isn't responding either…" Ahsoka mentioned with a shake of her head. Now everyone was frantic about the situation. And Ruby could see the fear in their eyes.

"We need to go back!" she desperately yelled, pulling out her own MPG. But before she could do anything, there was a rumble that knocked her and the others off of their feet. Thankfully, the Rust Bucket stood in place, though its passengers were all knocked down to the floor from the sudden shockwave.

"What… was that?" Rook asked, getting back onto his feet.

"Probably the rush from the blast…" Hiro replied, "I…" he tried to say, balling his gloved fists in frustration, "I don't think anyone could've survived something like that…" he admitted ashamedly. Having risen to her hands and knees, Ruby widened her eyes with horror before she let out a quiet sob. She and her comrades were left saddened by the revelation. It seemed that three of the Omni Force's squadron leaders… had perished…

ENDING

Insert "Mayonaka No Orchestra" by Aqua Timez

Opens with Ben looking through old pictures, coming across one taken from when he was with the Teen Titans. He smiles, fondly reflecting on those memories.

We see him sighing deeply after Robin and Cyborg have their falling out over letting Cinderblock get away as he stands with Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven. The scene shifts to him being suspicious of Blackfire when she first arrives on Earth, followed by mistakenly turning into Starfury for the first time as he had no idea how to use her, getting beaten by Mammoth.

We then cut to him as Arctiguana, seriously going after Robin as he's taken on the role of being Slade's apprentice. He then joins him in confronting Slade at his hideout, transforming into Starfury to help him in the effort to save their friends.

The scene changes back to the present day, where Nightwing stands atop the Titans Tower with Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven. They look out at the ocean with smiles on their faces. From the Watchtower, Cyborg looks down at the Earth and grins as well.

The Titans reflect on the memories of fighting Slade, Ternion, Brother Blood, Trigon, and the Brain. The last fight they fought together as a team was when Albedo invaded Jump City. Now we cut back to the present day, where Ben stands atop Mount Rushmore, staring down Cyborg with a stone-faced expression. He stares back the same way.

Both members of their respective teams join them, facing each other as the tension mounts between them…

We end on the image of the framed photograph of the Titans, where they all seem very happy…

END ENDING

Sorry to leave you all on that crazy cliffhanger, but I'm not regretting it…

So, should I change the rating of this story to M because of the content? Because there's gonna be some crazy stuff happening in the next few chapters…

Until next time folks, I hope you enjoyed this one!