Desert
Ben and Hal had come out to the desert to train, so they were naturally dressed in their hero attire. Ben was used to training pretty much anywhere since that's how he did it during that summer vacation, and Hal's apartment wasn't suitable for numerous reasons.
Currently, Hal was training up Ben's normal form since the watch timing out could lead to issues. At the very least, he wanted the kid capable of buying time, more than he already was, until they could somehow better solve the time out function.
Ben punched at Hal as he dodged. "You got to throw your whole body into it." He dodged another punch. "That goes for whatever you decide to use to hit your opponent." He dodged again. "Make sure you got a firm stance."
Ben firmed up his stance like Hal showed him and performed the movements more in line with his mentor as well.
This time, Hal blocked him with a smile. "That's what I'm talking about." They parted. "Granted, your skills shouldn't lie in this like other heroes, but learning how to through a move should come in handy."
"Yeah, I understand." Ben stated hesitantly.
Hal noticed his student wasn't himself since they returned from Galvan Prime. "Alright, what's the matter kid?" He crossed his arms. "You're never this reserved."
"I'm just wondering about something Azmuth said." Ben looked at his watch. "Do the Green Lanterns really not want me to have this just like the Justice League?"
"To be far, the league was was a clear majority vote for this current arrangement and letting you keep the watch." Hal offered. "As for my corp., I still voted in favor of you, but it was a lot closer. Fortunately, that was majority enough for them to sign off on this."
"Look, I know I've made my mistakes, but I've always come around." Ben stated. "I did my best to make up for them, and I've always done what's right. Are my mistakes really that bad to have practically half a corp. distrust me?"
"Chimera, your mistakes are amplified in a lot of people's eyes." Hal stated. "That watch on your wrist is potentially one of the most dangerous objects in the universe. You should know better than most that there are people who will stop at nothing to take it.
To many, your mistakes aren't just the mistakes of a child. Take that Kevin kid for instance. Sure, he was bad news, but he became much worse because you insisted on sticking around him. You gave him more power. Regardless, you do have people rooting for you. Like me."
"Thanks." Ben smiled. "I'll just have to work harder to change the other's opinion of me."
"That's the spirt." Hal nodded. "What's say we forget the rest of training for today, head back to Coast City, and get a couple of ice creams?"
Ben thought about it before shaking his head. "We can get ice cream after our training session is finished."
"Alright kid." Hal stated. "Let's get started on dodge."
Woods Outside of Coast City, Night…
A crashed, smoking ship leaked a small, Galvanic Mechamorph with a dog like body. He has no visible mouth but does have a tongue. He slithers out of the forest before finding a semi-truck which he upgrades and drives into the city.
Coast City
Hal had Ben doing night patrols through the city. He was looking for common thugs and thieves. Not that he hasn't stopped any before, but his mentor did say this would help get his new alter ego out there. Commonly, Ben used Stinkfly, like tonight, to survey the city.
In his short time, he's managed to take down a couple of criminals. Thanks to his association with Hal, Green Lantern, Chimera was becoming more well known here and in Bellwood where he'd occasionally patrol. His watch started to time out prompting him to seek out an alleyway.
What Ben didn't know was that a young, slender yet muscular girl had spotted him. She had blue eyes and blonde hair with unkempt bangs. Her attire was a black sleeveless top with two stylized golden W's on it, red pants with two white stripes on the sides, and blue shoes.
Ben touched down in the alleyway just before transforming back to his normal, hero attire. "I think one or two passes more before I call…"
He noticed a shadow above him which drew his attention to the girl as she touched down a few feet back from him. "Oh wow, you really can transform into aliens. That's so cool!"
"Uh, yeah." Ben was wondering who this was until he noticed the symbol on her shirt. "Wait, are you Wonder Woman's sidekick, Wonder Girl? What are you doing here in Coast City?"
"Seems Green Lantern told you about me, huh?" Wonder Girl asked.
"He's told me a lot about other heroes and sidekicks." Ben replied.
"Well, that's me, and I actually got my mentor's permission to come out here because I wanted to see the relatively new sidekick, Chimera." Wonder Girl informed. "Like I said, I think the way you can transform into other aliens is cool. Oh, can you become a Kryptonian?"
"Not yet I can't." Ben stated. "I don't know if you heard, but I'm kind of rubbing a few members of the Justice League the wrong way. As a result, even though Azmuth's taught me how to scan new aliens, I'm not allowed to do it until they okay it."
"Oh, that sucks." Wonder Girl stated sympathetically. "You don't seem all that bad. Plus, I've made my fair share of mistakes under Wonder Woman, yet I'm not restricted like you."
"I'll admit it doesn't feel the best." Ben sighed. "Still, I do carry one of the most dangerous objects in the universe to most people."
"Well yeah, but I don't see how that's any different from people like The Flash or Superman." Wonder Girl crossed her arms. "At least Wonder Woman says they voted in favor of you, so that's something."
"Really?" Ben smiled. "Good to know heroes like them and my mentor support me."
"Oh!" Wonder Girl got an idea as she walked up to Ben. "You know what, they aren't going to be the only ones. Chimera, you seem like a good person, so I've decided I'll be your friend. If anyone bad mouths you, I got your back."
This was unexpected but welcome all the same. Ever since Hal told him about the other sidekicks, Ben had been eager to meet them. Despite his own accomplishments, he thought it'd feel welcome to meet others his age and with powers all their own. That feeling was correct.
"Alright, the same can be said for me." Ben declared. "Since you're here, want to help me patrol?"
"You mean patrol without Wonder Woman?" Wonder Girl smiled. "Well, she didn't tell me I…" She perked her head up. "Wait, do you hear that?"
"Yeah, it sounds like a truck." Ben's watch started to beep. "What?"
"Does the Omnitrix usually do that?" Wonder Girl asked.
The sound of the truck died down, but the pair were more concerned with the watch.
"Not usually." Ben stated. "If I didn't know what this thing does when it's set to self-destruct, I'd be more worried about it. Right now, I just don't know what's wrong with it."
Suddenly, the beeping stopped to the pair's relief before their attention was drawn to the dog like, Galvanic Mechamorph.
It was jumping up and down. "Ship. Ship. Ship." He then rubbed up against Ben before moving down the street, jumping, moving back to Ben, and repeating the process. "Ship."
"What is that thing?" Wonder Girl asked. "It's kind of cute."
"It's a Galvanic Mechamorph." Ben replied. "Usually, they're more humanoid in shape, and I can even turn into one myself." His Omnitrix started beeping again. "Huh, I think this little guy came seeking help for something and wants me to follow."
Ship stopped and nodded. "Ship!"
"Well, looks like something found us before we could patrol." Ben started walking. "You coming?"
"You bet." Wonder Girl stated. "No way am I missing out on something like this."
The pair proceeded to follow the Mechamorph which picked up speed.
"Oh yeah, I think this is on the up an up, but be on guard just in case, Wonder Girl." Ben stated. "Green Lantern and I recently had a bad run in with a defective Mechamorph. Basically, guy was bad news and even has a red lantern ring now."
"Right." Wonder Girl replied.
Woods Outside of Coast City, Night…
A golden ankh appeared in the middle of the woods before Gwen stepped out wearing her Lucky Girl costume. "Alright, I managed to perform the spell." The ankh vanished, and she prepared to conjure another to take her back. "Just wait until…"
"Ship. Ship. Ship."
Gwen turned only to see the dog like Galvanic Mechamorph followed by her cousin and Wonder Girl. Both parties stopped with the Mechamorph staring up at her.
"Lucky Girl?" Ben questioned knowing they used their hero names when in costume. "What are you doing here?" He looked at the Mechamorph. "Are you involved with him?"
"I'm just as lost as you are." Gwen replied. "I knew these are partially your grounds, but I didn't expect to see you in the forests."
The Mechamorph moved around her and began jumping up and down.
"Well, this is fortunate since I had planned to come out to Salem and see you as well Lucky Girl." Wonder Girl spoke up. "Oh, it's nice to meet you by the way."
"Uh yeah." Gwen nodded. "Good to finally meet you as well. Sorry if Chimera got you involved in his work. He tends to do that."
"Hey, I'll have you know she didn't have to join me out here." Ben argued. "She choose to join me on this." He crossed his arms. "Thank you very much."
"It's true." Wonder Girl agreed.
Before they could speak anymore, the Mechamorph came to the middle of the trio and began jumping to get their attention. "Ship!"
"Oh yeah, sorry about that buddy." Ben stated. "Look, if you want to help us out, then come along Lucky Girl." He ran after the little guy. "If not, do whatever it is you were."
"I should follow him." Wonder Girl stated before running.
Gwen figured it'll probably be fine to lend her cousin and Wonder Girl a hand, so she followed them. As they neared whatever the Mechamorph was leading them to, Ben's Omnitrix started to beep again prompting them to run faster towards a crashed ship.
"I should have figured there was a more humanoid Galvanic Mechamorph." Ben stated.
"So that's what you look like when you transform into him." Wonder Girl commented.
"Not exactly, but it's close enough." Ben replied.
"Whoever this one is, it looks like he's in a bad way." Gwen stated. "The main issue is that energy field which doesn't look pleasant. Not to mention, he's trapped, and we got what looks like a device ready to blow. It looks like it's counting down fast to."
"Alright, I'm prying that force field open." Ben declared. "Gwen, get the Mechamorph out. Wonder Girl, get that bomb into the air." He then activated his watch and switched to a Petropia before slamming the device down. "Diamondhead!"
Ben rushed forward and slammed his hands down generating a structure of diamonds which pushed the shielding up. He then hollowed out the center which allowed Gwen and Wonder Girl to rush in.
Gwen conjured golden energy and used it to lift the beam off the Mechamorph. Wonder Girl grabbed the device before flying out and using her enhanced strength to toss it clear into the sky. When she ripped out the device, it had shut down the shielding.
"Ground, now!" Diamondhead shouted. "Gwen, here!"
Both girls ran to Ben who managed to erect a dome around them just as the shockwaves washed over the area. The Galvanic Mechamorph in the ship came out just as Hal Jordan arrived on the scene in his hero attire. Clearly, he had flown quickly over here.
The Green Lantern noticed the four, technically five, figures that were here "Ben, what is going on here? Why are you out here with two Galvanic Mechamorph, Lucky Girl, and Wonder Girl?"
"Perhaps I could be of some help in this." The Mechamorph stated. "My name is Baz-l, and I extruded this symbiote."
The symbiote appeared. "Ship!"
"Alright, his name is Ship." Baz-l shook his head. "I set him off to find the nearest Plumber or Green Lantern."
"He came to me, and I'm no Plumber." Ben informed.
"Ah, but you are the bearer of Azmuth's Omnitrix which is close enough." Baz-l declared. "As for you, Green Lantern, I assure you I meant no harm. Something malfunctioned with my ship causing me to crash here on my way back to Galvan B."
"I believe you." Hal nodded. "Since your ship seems in bad shape, how about we help you get it back up and running?"
"Well, I suppose I could use the help." Baz-l stated.
"We get to help fix a spaceship!" Wonder Girl smiled. "Alright, becoming friends with Chimera is the best!"
"You won't say that soon enough." Gwen crossed her arms with a smirk. "Trust me on that."
"Usually, that's what guys say to you." Ben retorted with his own smirk.
"Chimera…" Gwen began.
"That's enough you three." Hal commanded. "Right now, let's help the Mechamorph get off planet before morning."
"Yes sir." All three of them declared.
Later…
The ship lifted a bit into the air before Baz-l stuck his head out. "Right, everything seems to be in order, so off I go."
"Wait." Ben stated. "What about Ship? Isn't he part of your body or something?"
"That's not how it works." Baz-l retorted. "Besides, you and he had such a lovely bonding session." The window to the ship closed. "He's yours now."
Ship rubbed up affectionately against Ben who looked to Hal hopefully as Baz-l left. "So, I get to keep him, right?"
Hal looked from him to the symbiote and where Baz-l had been. "Well, we'll have to figure some stuff out, but I'd feel better him being with you than anything else."
"Awesome!" Ben held out his arms and Ship jumped into them before panting like a dog. "From here on out, you shall be my pet, Ship."
Ship rubbed his head affectionately against Ben.
"Aw, you two are kind of cute together." Wonder Girl commented.
"Ben always gets the souvenirs." Gwen thought a little jealous.
"Alright, I think Wonder and Lucky Girls should return back to their mentors." Hal put a hand on Ben's back. "As for you and me, we got some stuff to figure out with Ship now. Let's hop to it you three."
"Yeah, you're probably right." Wonder Girl levitated into the air. "It was nice meeting you Lucky Girl, and I hope to see you soon Chimera."
"Same here!" The cousins declared together.
As she took off, Gwen conjured another ankh doorway. "Later doofus."
"Same, doofus." Ben retorted.
She ran into the ankh, and it vanished.
Bellwood: RV Parking Lot, Days Later…
Ben, in his civilian wear, approached the Rust Bucket to find his mom and dad sitting at the picnic table. "Mom? Dad? I thought the house was fixed by now."
At least, he remembered them saying as much the last time he was here.
"Oh, it is." Carl stated. "We just heard from Max that you were coming to visit and decided to be here to see you sooner."
"Yeah, and it's so good to see you." Sandra had gotten up and hugged him. "Oh, I think you've grown an inch or two since I last saw you."
"Mom…" Ben hugged her back. "You say something like that every time I come to visit."
Hal joined them with his hands in his pockets. "Well, this time it might be true. You'd be surprised what a little training the way we've been doing can do for the body."
Sandra parted from her son but kept an arm around him. "Hello Hal, has Ben been behaving himself."
"Of course." Hal stated. "The kid's been eating all his vegetables, he does his chores with minimal complaining, and his school work seems to be coming back positive."
"That's good to hear." Sandra smiled. "After that incident for a month, I was very worried about his more normal pursuits."
"Don't worry, I can keep the kid in line easy enough." Hal grinned. "The occasional take out, and, lately, a lot of smoothies seem to be great motivators."
"Smoothies?" Carl asked. "Ben, I thought you didn't like them."
"Well, I didn't." Ben put his hands in his pocket. "Hal said they'd be a more abundant treat, so I tried them recently. In the end, I really enjoyed them."
"Like them enough?" Hal chuckled. "That doesn't do your new found love any justice. Heck, I had to buy a blender just so he'd stop wanting them from that Mr. Smoothie place. On the upside, it is a great way to get him to have more fruit."
"Well, guess we can't complain there." Carl stated. "Still, I feel bad you had to buy a whole blender, and that you've been taking care of our son all this time. Are you sure you don't want us to pay anything in?"
"I may act a bit like it's all a pain, but Ben's been growing on me." Hal ruffled his hair. "He's no bother in my book."
"It's good to hear you two are getting along." Max stated as he came out of his RV.
"Grandpa!" Ben ran over and hugged him.
"Whoa, you're really building up some of our famous Tennyson strength under Hal." Max chuckled as he hugged him back. "It is good to see you."
They parted and Ben looked up at him. "How has Ship been doing since we sent you to him?"
"I took him to my old Plumber place, and he ended up feeling real attacked to this old ship I had stored there." Max replied.
"Oh, sorry." Ben chuckled nervously. "I'll come by and see about…"
"Oh no, that old thing didn't work anyways." Max chuckled. "If anything, him taking a liking has really helped the old girl. With him aboard, it seems to be working and changing every day. Yep, you got something real special that night. Enough of that. It's time to eat."
"Uh…" Ben began.
"Don't worry, I handled the cooking." Sandra stood up. "I made sandwiches."
Unknown Location
"We need the proper target." A man shrouded in shadows stated. "Without the correct choice, the operation will be a failure."
"What about Chimera?" A woman asked. "Even if we can't manage to take his watch, the genetic samples within would be a boon."
"They would, but it is exactly that watch of his that makes capture difficult." A man stated. "I suggest we go with Lucky Girl. With our contacts, we could capture her with ease and have a more effective pawn than the one we've been discussing. The leads only cement the choice."
"What are these leads?" The woman asked.
"According to what I now know, Chimera and Lucky Girl are cousins." The man informed. "By capturing her, we get our in, and with a little help, we can garner a good scan of his watch."
"There is much that can be done with such a thing." A new man spoke up. "With those scans, we have the potential to power up my recently acquired ward. Someone who could match… Chimera."
"You seemed to pause on the sidekick's name." A woman stated. "What do you know that we don't? In fact, why does Lucky Girl matter?"
"His name doesn't matter since we know what going after family of heroes achieves." The man stated. "All you need to know is that the bearer of that watch is a threat to the universe. People with power like his need to meet their end."
"We shall proceed with Lucky Girl as our target." A gravelly voiced man spoke up. "All we need is the right bait, and everything will fall into place."
"Supply me with the right kind of tools to bring her in, and I'll supply the initial bait to lure her in." A man stated.
"I have contacts in the right places." The gravelly voiced man stated. "Just ensure she can't get away, and I shall supply what we need."
Salem, Months Later, Night…
Recently, Kent had been informed, by his contacts in the league, that Lex Luther was setting up a shell company as a front to trade weapons with North Rhelasia. While Batman had offered to investigate, Kent had entrusted this to Gwen.
Salem was becoming as much her home turf as Bellwood, and the fact that her mentor trusted her with this made Gwen want to try her hand at gathering the information needed to stop this. A golden ankh appeared in the file room followed by several smaller ones.
They covered every camera in the room which would prevent anyone watching from seeing her. Gwen just had to hope the spell was used in time as she stepped out of the ankh which vanished behind her. To her, everything seemed fine since no alarms had been set off.
"Alright, now to find…" Gwen's thoughts were interrupted by a napalm blast.
It came from the left, but she managed to roll out of the way before looking at the dimming face of Malware. He lit up his red ring which bought his associate enough time to fire off a silver bracelet with black markings. It slapped around her wrist before a humanoid robot stepped out.
"What?" Gwen immediately tried to remove the bracelet; however, she couldn't get it off, and she couldn't use her magic to get it off either. "What is this?" Suddenly, every window and door was sealed shut by metal sliders. "Are you two working with Lex Luthor?"
"Correct human." Malware stated. "He promised me I'd get my shot at Chimera followed by the Green Lantern if I did them this favor. Despite how wrathful I feel towards them, I'm no idiot to think I can take them without interference."
"I am here because they promised me a fuel source for my people." The Synthroid declared. "Something on par with the power of an Anodite."
"What's an… No, focus." Gwen got into one of her stances.
She at least kept up her martial arts training seeing as that had been very useful over the summer she spent with Ben and Max. Neither of her opponents were moving prompting her to whirl around correctly guessing there was a third figure in the room.
It was a tall, strongly built man. He has short blond hair, and a gray hockey mask which only reveals his brown eyes. He wears a sleeveless blue muscle shirt, with a collar that covers some of his neck. He also had arm and elbow pads on both arms as well as fingerless gloves.
This was Sportsmaster who was reaching for Gwen, but she managed to kick his arm while back flipping away from him. At that moment, the Synthroid's right arm formed into a canon and two energy cuffs were fired.
Gwen managed to dodge them only to be then snatched up by a sphere of red energy curtesy of Malware. He lifted her up just high enough before sending Gwen crashing to the ground and removing the sphere at the right time. She smashed into the ground rendering her unconscious.
The idea to make a chapter with Ship comes from The One Beyond You.
Xenozip: Well, I've read some stories where they do angst for the character well, but you do make a point. Hm, I wonder if there are any well done, extra angsty Sasuke in these worlds. You do make sense with the Alien X feat which not only happened, but was later confirmed to have happened through that trial episode. Green is an odd choice for an Anodite form.
Like yeah we don't see any male Anodites, but they I do feel they should be purple. I mean, we see countless examples of aliens Ben has been, and they are the same color. As for Anodites, there is most certainly DNA there to be scanned. We'll see what happens with people like EightEight though the others shoudl theoretically work as well as no matter how damaged the DNA sample, Ben would always just become a prime example of that alien.
Ibrenneke: You'll see
OmnihancedEternatus: I felt the rage was there and we'll see about that future plot point.
The One Beyond You: You do speak sense in that Malware is a bigger threat now. I don't think a connection is out of the ordinary as well as the idea about that transformation could be something.
Maxmimum Rhapsody: Yeah, they in one universe. I will just say I have plans for those characters. For the rest of those, you'll just have to wait and see.
Berrus-Sama: I have my plans for Kevin... trust me on that regardless of how I handle what he is.
Guest: Tengo mis planes para Kevin. En cuanto a los nombres de héroes, se sabe que aquellos como los disfraces cambian incluso dentro de Young Justice. No está fuera de discusión. Tengo planes para que el Equipo de Justicia Joven lo lleve en otra dirección. Nada está completamente inamentado en piedra, por lo que Rook podría muy bien instalarse en un papel más parecido al de héroe, pero tendremos que ver.