CHAPTER 25: The Endgame: Part 1

Supergirl soared through the city of Metropolis, pushing back against the hurricane-like winds and dodging every blood red lightning strike. After changing into her suit and resting just a little longer (the second condition Batman had before he could let her go), she immediately went to the common area and almost burst out the window before Batman prepared the teleportation sequence.

Kara swerved to the left as a car came hurtling toward her, then back to the right as two more made their way to her. Suddenly, she heard a scream and looked down to see a woman with a baby in her arm while the other was struggling to hold onto a street post, which was barely rooted in the ground. The pole finally gave way and the woman hurtled off in Kara's direction, still holding her child closer to shield him from the danger. Kara immediately flew to her and flew down to a nearby building and forced the doors open, and then closed them again and set the mother and son down.

"'You both okay?" asked Kara.

"Yes, thank you so much, Supergirl!" Breathed the mom.

"I'm just glad you're both safe. Now make your way to the basement of this place and stay there until this all blows over, okay?"

"Yes, of course!"

As the mom hurried off, Supergirl flew back out and braved the storm once more. Soon, she could see LexCorp in the distance.

"I'm coming for you, Ben!" she whispered.

Meanwhile, back in Lex's office, we still find Ben strapped to his seat, Luthor standing off to the side, and Eon staring up at the sky.

Ben sadly stared at the ground, lost in thought. Is this really the end? Is there really nothing he could do? Master control is out of the question thanks to the inhibitor device strapped to his head, and his limbs are completely restrained so he can't even touch it. That's when it hit him: voice command!

Ben was about to shout to the omnitrix, but Eon shouted, "Don't bother! The inhibitor I attached to your head also keeps the omnitrix from recognizing your voice! You won't be able to use voice command either, forgive me for not mentioning this earlier!"

Ben slumped back into his seat, feelings of hopelessness sinking back in. Finding no other option, he asked God for help, what to do and not to worry.

Suddenly, he heard Eon shout, "Ugh! This is taking too long! Ultimate power is within my grasp and yet I cannot reach it! A paradox!"

Another idea struck Ben in the face harder than the voice command idea!

Ben smirked and yelled, "Sounds to me like you're scared, Eon!"

Eon whipped around and stormed over to Ben. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean, this is taking quite a while to prepare, and you're afraid my friends are gonna come flying in and stop you!"

"You really think I'm afraid? I have control of an indestructible monster that took out the Justice League, and the temporal storm is protecting this place like a natural forcefield! Why should I be scared?"

"Well, why else would you wanna rush for the rest of the storm to get here already? I mean, sure, it's ultimate power and whatever, but you don't truly feel like you'll succeed as long as my friends are on their way right now, and you're still only second rate!"

Eon growled and yelled, "You think you're so smart?! Fine! Let's see if you're still half as cocky when I bring the anomalies here in one hour instead of several! The end of the multiverse will come a lot sooner and it'll all be your fault! Not that anyone will be around to know that, of course."

With that, Eon stormed over to his machine and began typing on the keyboard.

Ben smirked a bit at his plan: Now, with Eon's attention fully devoted to the anomalies, the League will have more time to rescue him and not have to worry about them facing Eon. However, as the sky began to slightly intensify, Ben couldn't help but doubt his own plan. Did he really just doom the whole multiverse?

No! He couldn't afford to think like that! Ben reminded himself that his friends will come through for him! So he sat back and took deep breaths, expecting them to come busting through at any moment.

Supergirl waited on top of a building in front of LexCorp, tapping her foot. Just as she was about to ask Bats why her backup hasn't arrived, she heard multiple sounds of rockets and feet landing on the ground. She turned around to see her backup finally joining her on the roof: Blue Beetle, Firestorm, Nightwing, Starfire, Beast Boy, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Red Robin, and Superboy.

"We came as fast as we heard," said Nightwing.

"Sorry we didn't get here sooner," said Beetle, "After contacting the Titans, there was the whole mess of teleporting everyone and . . ."

"It's okay," Supergirl cut in, "What matters is that you're all here."

"Alright, so, what're we up against?" asked Firestorm, "Bats said something about a time travel bad guy and a mutated Luthor?"

"That's pretty much it, and they've got Ben trapped in there!"

"Does it have to do with this storm?" shouted Beast Boy as he shielded his face from the wind.

"I'm 100% certain of it! Which is all the more reason we need to get in there and save him! He's the only one who can stop all this!"

"Alright, so what's the plan?" asked Red Robin.

"Huh? Why do you ask me?"

"Because you've encountered these villains before," said Nightwing, "You know them better than we do, and you also know Ben better, that means you know what has to be done in what order. This is your mission, and we're with you till the end."

All the other Titans and heroes smiled, nodded, or verbally agreed.

Supergirl smiled. Then she thought for a moment and said, "Alright, here's the plan . . ."

Ben anxiously looked on as Eon frantically typed on the machine, the storm beginning to worsen by the minute. Meanwhile, Luthor still stood off, still as a statue and just as silent as one.

Y'know, thought Ben, I really thought you guys would've gotten here by now. It's been, what, thirty minutes? Fifteen? How the heck should I know?

Suddenly, as if on cue, Supergirl landed hard into the room, firing her heat vision at Eon, but Luthor quickly got in front and withstood the attack.

"Kara?" asked Ben, shocked from the sudden appearance. Kara turned around and smiled at him.

"Ugh! I don't have time for this! The process cannot be interrupted!" said Eon, "Destroy her and make it quick!"

Luthor launched his omega beams at her, but Supergirl flew up with the omega beams on her tail. Then Blue Beetle landed behind Luthor, transformed his hands into balls with spikes, and whacked the back of his legs behind the knees, causing Luthor to roar in pain and kneel down, thus breaking his concentration on the omega beams and making them dissipate. Then Starfire flew down and unleashed a supernova of energy that sent Luthor crashing through a wall and into a hallway.

Eon screamed and said, "Come on! They're just a bunch of brats! Just crush them already!"

Luthor roared and charged back into the room! Starfire was about to fly up, but Luthor grabbed her leg and slammed her into the floor a few times, then blasted Beetle with his omega beams and tossed Star at Supergirl. As the two heroines crashed to the floor, Beetle charged at Luthor, his hand now a sword, and thrust it at Luthor's chest, except the blade shattered on impact.

"Yeah, well, I thought it was worth a try, anyway!" muttered Beetle to his scarab.

Luthor grabbed Jaime's face and punched him so hard that he skyrocketed into the sky! Suddenly, Supergirl and Starfire both flew to Luthor and delivered a strong uppercut that made him stumble a bit, but he soon regained himself and struck Kara aside and Star the other way. That's when Blue Beetle flew back in at incredible speed from the jets on his back, his arms turned into a battering ram, and slammed into Luthor, knocking him through wall after wall. However, Luthor planted his feet into the ground and unleashed a powerful and much larger omega beam that sent him back to the room, and exploded when he reached it.

Blue's armor partially fell off, but the scarab quickly reconstituted it as he struggled to stand up.

"Is this part of the plan?" asked Beetle.

"Just hold out a little longer, Jaime!" said Supergirl.

Luthor sped inside the room and punched Supergirl into the opposite wall, then rammed into her again and grabbed her by the throat. She gritted her teeth and struggled to get free, but Luthor's grip was too firm. She tried shooting his eyes with her heat vision, but that only made him angrier and pushed her harder against the wall.

Suddenly, Beast Boy, as a pterodactyl, flew over the exposed room and Nightwing and Robin dropped down from him and landed inside. Nightwing rushed up and jumped onto Luthor's back, careful to avoid the spikes on it, and thrust his batons into his neck, electrifying him and making him roar in pain once more. Then Robin threw some birdarangs at the back of Luthor's knees and forced him to kneel down and finally let go of Kara.

Luthor recovered and grabbed Nightwing, thrusting him off and blasting Robin with his omega beams. Beast Boy turned into a T-Rex while in midair and landed on Luthor, but Luthor managed to catch him and struggle to lift him up. That's when Nightwing and Robin struck behind the legs again and brought him back down, then Kara and Star immediately grabbed his legs and pinned him down. Luthor growled from the extra effort to support Beast Boy while resisting these incredibly strong heroines.

"Now!" shouted Supergirl.

Firestorm immediately flew into the room from above while Kid Flash rushed in through the door. KF rushed over to Ben and said, "Don't worry, man, I'll have ya outta there in a flash!"

Then KF sped around the chair, working to disable the locks and restraints that held Ben captive. Meanwhile, Firestorm stood in front of Luthor and put his hands together, then slowly spread them apart, making a giant molecule (like in his super move in Injustice 2) appear around Luthor, and then Luthor glowed orange and the energy appeared to go to and fro from the molecule.

As KF finally freed Ben from his prison, Ben asked, "What's Firestorm doing?"

KF stopped and replied, "Firestorm has the ability to manipulate energy and molecules. Supergirl thinks that Jason can manipulate the molecules in Luthor's body and the energy from his watch to turn him back to normal."

"You think that'll work?"

"Well, Jason said Professor Stein supports the theory, although the odds are pretty slim."

"Hey, I eat odds like that for breakfast, every day!"

Meanwhile, the heroes struggled to contain Luthor while Firestorm worked his magic.

"Professor," said Jason, "I think it's working! It's . . . changing him!"

Luthor suddenly started to shrink a little, but when he noticed, he launched his omega beams at Firestorm, breaking the connection. Then the monster thrust aside Beast Boy and knocked Star and Kara away.

"No! They were so close!" said KF.

"They had the right idea!" said Ben as he ripped off the inhibitor around his head. Then he turned into Brainstorm and said, "They just need a little more muscle!"

"And how exactly is a giant crab muscle?"

"What Brainstorm lacks in physical strength, my friend . . ." Then the plates on his head opened, and a large blast of lightning shot from his brain and forced Luthor to kneel once again. " . . . He more than makes up for in brain!"

Ben stopped electrifying him, giving Supergirl the opportunity to launch a punch into him, then Star blasted him followed by Beetle, then Firestorm unleashed a massive fire stream while Nightwing and Robin bombarded him with bomb-filled birdarangs. Luthor roared in rage and shot omega beams that knocked everyone out. Ben flew up and opened the plates on his head again, using the electricity to grab pieces of metal from the floor and wall and pressure them onto him. Luthor broke free, however, and shot him down with his omega beams.

KF ran in circles around Luthor, trying to vacuum away his oxygen, but Luthor used his omega beams again to stop him and send him skidding across the floor. Ben fired more electricity at him, but it did no effect this time as Luthor blocked the attack with his arm. The brute was about to shoot more omega beams, but Star and Beetle rammed into him.

Meanwhile Supergirl flew over to Ben and helped him up.

"'You okay?" she asked.

"I feel quite alright, madam," he replied.

"Well, what are we gonna do? Firestorm was supposed to change him back, but Luthor's too powerful! He won't stay still long enough even with all our strength combined!"

Then Ben focused on Luthor, and holograms and data appeared around the monster and everywhere else as if they were holograms. All time seemed to stop as Ben worked the puzzle.

"Hmm. Analysis: Strengths of corrupted human include super strength, invulnerability, omega beams, bone and spit manipulation. No apparent weakness, except for when the group applies their combined strength to restrain him, but it still barely contains him. More strength is required for Supergirl's plan . . . Wait! That's it!"

Ben returned to reality and turned to Kara. "I have an idea! Lure the creature outside!"

"What are you gonna do?"

"Just trust me!"

With that, Ben transformed into XLR8 and rushed sped up the wall and out of sight.

Then Supergirl shot Luthor in the face with her heat vision. "Hey, ugly! Why don't you pick on someone your own size? Unless you're scared to fight a little girl!"

Luthor roared and charged at Kara, but she flew up into the sky and then out in front of the building. She looked around but couldn't see Ben anywhere, but she didn't have time to keep looking, as Luthor super-jumped out of the building and reached for Kara. However, Kara moved out of the way and Luthor crashed into another building. Then, as the monster lunged forward once more, Ultimate Waybig grew to full height behind Luthor as he jumped (like Ant-Man becoming Giant Man in the MCU) and grabbed him in both hands.

"Firestorm! Get over here! Now's your chance!" shouted Ben.

Then Kara and Ben saw Firestorm shoot out of the building and hurry over to Luthor, resuming the process from before. Luthor struggled and was about to shoot his omega beams, but Ben moved his finger and thumb of the top hand that held him to cover his eyes. However, smoke started to rise from them and Ben winced in pain.

"Hurry! I don't know how much longer I can hold him! Even at this size, Luthor is still powerful!"

"I'm working on it!" shouted Firestorm.

After what felt like an hour of struggle, Luthor finally began to shrink again: his spikes retreated into his body, as did his monstrous teeth, and his skin was finally returning to its natural color and his eyes returned to normal. Ben felt like his hands were empty, so he opened them to reveal Luthor, back in his human body wearing shorts, and his omnitrix crumbling to dust and fading away in the wind.

The heroes cheered at their success.

"Wait," said Kara, "How did you know that would work?"

"Brainstorm figured out that you guys needed more strength to restrain Luthor, so Brainstorm calculated the angle Luthor would come out from his building into the other one, and the exact moment I should transform into Ultimate Waybig, thus giving you guys the chance to change him back."

"Wow! Even the Professor's jealous!" said Firestorm, "We totally rule!"

"It's not over yet," said Ben, staring up at LexCorp.

"You're right," said Kara, then she flew to Ben's hands and grabbed Luthor, then radioed Batman for pickup. "I'll be back as soon as I can, I've gotta make sure Luthor is locked up until this is all over!"

"Got it!" said Ben.

Then Kara and Luthor were surrounded in white light, and vanished soon after. Then Ben transformed into Jetray and said, "Alright, let's get to work!"

Firestorm nodded, and the two flew back up to LexCorp. However, they were soon stopped as the storm greatly intensified, then all the storm clouds and red lightning gathered in one place, combining into a single massive blast of lightning that fired down into the room.

"We gotta get in there!" shouted Ben.

Then they resumed their journey into the building, pushing back against the massive force of the wind that resulted from the lightning blast. Soon, they finally managed to get into the room and met up with the others, who were shielding their faces from the bright light. Ben managed to peek through his own fingers and saw Eon grasping the rods and absorbing all that power.

A few minutes later, the lightning finally ceased and the sky cleared while the machine exploded. When the smoke cleared, everyone saw a pile of rubble where Eon and the machine were.

"Um, what just happened?" asked Beetle.

"'Guess all that energy was too much for him," said Ben.

"Think again," growled a deep voice with a grave echo.

From the rubble emerged Eon, except he looked more buff and red cracks spread across his entire body, and his suit and eyes glowed a very bright red instead of purple. Then Eon took his helmet off and thrust it aside, revealing his face that looked like Ben 10,000 except with more red cracks across it.

"You wanted me to gain the power to beat you all, Tennyson," Eon said, then his fists powered up with massive energy orbs and electricity, "So let's dance."