Back again, guys. I'm trying not to get discouraged by how little people actually read this story compared to my others. If anyone has any recommendations for how to better promote this, or wants to send their friends this way, feel free to. I'd consider it a personal favor.

Chapter 7: Lightning versus Spider- part one.

If you'd told Ben that he'd have to chaperone a field trip for his class at the LexCorp science fair at Freeland High in Metropolis, he'd have found a way to be sick on the day in question. Instead, he had tuned out the announcement, and was subsequently now trapped on a commuting boat with the little brats for a hour. Apparently the teacher who was supposed to buy them plane tickets for the trip to the city of the future had been robbed by the Penguin on the way to the air port, and they now had to take alternative means of transportation.

So here Ben was, sitting on a four-way discord video call with Jason, Kara, and Tea. He had chosen to do this, because his students had driven him up the wall on the first ten minutes on the bus. He at least had Ernie and Derek as buffers between him and the other little monsters, and they didn't care enough to be nosy.

"Benny~ I'm bored without you hereeeeee." Tea whined through her section on the call. Ben could only stare at her incredulously, considering he had literally just kissed her goodbye 4 minutes and 20 seconds ago at the school.

"I...don't know how you would be. Considering I know for a fact your you're sitting inside the car Lex gifted up AT the destination." At Ben's deadpan response, Tea had the decency to blush sheepishly. He did note, she started to poke her index fingers together like that one anime chick from Naruto, though Ben didn't remember her name. He did however, remember she fit 97% of the criteria of being a stalker, so Ben wasn't sure how to take this new...habit.

"But...I miss you. Even Salazar does!" She pulled up their cat-WAIT A MINUTE.

"WHY DO YOU HAVE OUR CAT IN METROPOLIS!? THIS TRIP ONLY LASTS TWO DAYS!" The other teacher chaperone on the bus gave Ben a funny look, but didn't comment. He coughed to hide his embarassment, instead choosing to whisper furiously. "Why the hell did you bring our cat, Tea?! He would have been fine at the apartment for a day!"

Tea just looked confused, whereas Jason and Kara just had popcorn, seemingly enjoying this turn of events.

"Was that bad?" Ben just palmed his face, dragging his hand down it in an exaggerated fashion.

"Tea...Most hotels are not pet friendly.." Ben tried to explain, but Tea cut him off.

"But this one is! The nice receptionist guy even let me have the room for free, and the rooms apparently have free litter boxes." Tea stated happily, convinced she'd had just subverted any trouble,

"Tea... Why did the guy give you a free room?" Ben was twitching. He'd hate to have to dangle some dickhead off a roof for trying to take advantage of Tea's lack of practical Earth knowledge.

"Oh! Apparently, Mr. Luthor took care of it!" Tea just smiled at him, her eyes crinkling in a way that was much too adorable to stay mad at.

"Did...Did Lex bug my phone?" At his statement, his phone buzzed, with a text from Lex Luthor himself, which read very simply:

'Yes I did. Because boredom. Also, clear your browser history, you degenerate.'

Shaking his head at his billionaire friend's antics, he refocused on Tea, who was now appearing to be sad about something.

"Did...Did I mess up?" She asked Ben carefully.

"Ooooh you messed up, Ben!" Kara supplied unhelpfully from her end, looking bored at her desk in the Daily Planet.

"Yeah, bum. How you gonna fix this?" Jason supplied equally unhelpful, prompting Ben to sigh.

"I'll just tell the school that I'm staying in your room tonight" Ben replied coolly, glaring mildly at Jason, who just laughed at him. The conversation devolved from there, with Tea and Kara talking about.. stuff in Kryptonese and giggling. When they occasionally heard their names, both Jason and Ben shivered slightly, wondering what evil they were plotting. Shaking his head, Ben focused on passing scenery, content to watch it pass by while sharing the occasional smile with his girlfriend on their call.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Metropolis was probably one of the most impressive cities the United States. Boasting a revolutionized public transit system, as well as numerous innovative quality of life technologies from LexCorp and STAR Labs, Metropolis had come to resemble a city of science fiction more so than science fact, particularly compared to somewhere like Gotham. Furthermore, it was a much more advanced city than any of the ones from Ben's original universe. He did note with a twinge of irritation, that outskirts of the city were still where the poorer communities had ended up at, no different other cities in the country. Apparently, even Superman couldn't be everywhere in Metropolis, and that rang the truest in the city's Freeland neighborhood, better known as 'Suicide Slum'. The only bright spots the town had were the principle of the area's high school, as well as it's residential vigilante Black Lightning. Jefferson Pierce was a homegrown hero to the people of this area. Having been both a top student growing up and winning a gold medal in decathalon. Pierce was an inspiration and a beacon of hope in the bleak atmosphere of Freeland. Black Lightning offered a different kind of Beacon, for the same reason that Batman did. Black Lightning struck fear in the local gang, the 100. They were every bit the violent lowlifes you'd expect them to be. They terrorized neighborhoods, and pushed young black men of the neighborhood into their service. That was one of their more mild habits. Before the vigilante had shown up, the 100 had been using parties as cover for abducting teenage girls for their brothels. Black Lightning had made sure everyone involved in that operation was either crippled or in coma. The 100 had yet to try something like that again, though they'd gotten more hostile towards the general population as a result. As such, tensions always ran high in the neighborhood.

It was for this reason Ben was apprehensive about the trip in general, and why he'd brought his hero gear, and had instructed Derek to do the same. While the 100 had never attack Freeland High before, Ben felt it was better to be safe than sorry. Plus, his suit was bulletproof, so he could take some hits if he needed to. He might have found his students to be annoying little shits, but they were HIS annoying little shits and he'd take a bullet for every single one of them if he had to. He was about to text Tea that the group had arrived at the hotel when someone smacked the window he was laying against, causing him to spaz and fall to the floor. Hearing loud and obnoxious laughter coming from out, he climbed back his chair to glare at the culprit. Upon seeing Tea giggling into her hand, he already knew this trip was going to be huge headache. Rubbing his temples, he began to usher the kids off the bus into the hotel, making sure they were quick so as not to attract attention from any members of the 100. Unfortunately, they were starting to get some looks from some shady guys. Sending a mental request to Tea for help, he tried to move as much of the students' stuff as he could. One of the sketchy dudes however, had tried to grab one of the bags. Ben caught him in the act, thus putting them in a rather precarious situation.

"Excuse me, I think you have my student's luggage case. If you would be so kind as to hand it over, we'll be on our way." Internally, Ben was annoyed. He'd had to rely on Tea to solve this, or else he'd risk making his identity a target for one of the most vicious gangs in the country.

"The hell you mean this is yours? I found it. That makes it mine." The guy looked like a stereotypical gangbanger, and judging from the fact he was trying to steal clothing from a bunch of kids, he was probably about as smart as the typical one as well. Certainly not a lieutenant or anything, that was sure.

"Yes, I'm sure you did. Probably from the stack of other suitcases. So unless your name happens to be Vanessa, like the suitcase says, I'd appreciate it if you'd give it back." Ben at this point flicked his gaze to the entrance, his students were watching apprehensively. They were terrified their teacher was about to get shot in broad daylight. As for the goon, he seemed to get embarrassed, because he got up in Ben's face.

"You think you're funny, don't you, cracker?" He had a hand hanging near his belt, which was probably wear he was carrying his gun. Ben wasn't worried, since he'd caught a glimpse of Tea in her costume nearby.

"I don't think I'm funny. I know I am. But in this case, I'd say I'm more just stating the obvious. Why are you even trying to steal clothes from a bunch of high school kids anyway? Shit, if you're hurting for cash, just take my cash, dude-" Ben had pulled out his wallet and was about to hand him some cash when the goon just slapped it out of his hand. The guy then pulled out a gun, and shoved it in Ben's face.

"Nah motherfucker, I don't want your money or this stupid case anymore. Now, I want your life." He said, trying to be intimidating.

"Oh good, another guy who thinks a gun makes him scary. By all means, fire away. I don't think it'll end well for you though." The 100 member looked confused for a moment, before he was rushed away by a red and black blur, before the other gang member was grabbed as well. He sent a mental message to Tea through their bond. 'Go ahead and kill them. We don't need them trying to get revenge on me since I hang around kids.'

He felt a lot of smug satisfaction coming through their bond. 'They were going to try to kill you. Of course I'm going to kill them. I just dropped them from 8000 feet in the air. Just make sure to wipe the local cameras of the altercation.'

Ben didn't reply, but he pulled out his phone, and used it to send out a data worm that deleted any and all video footage from the past hour on any multiple platforms. In the end, the only proof of the altercation would be the two grease stains on the pavement somewhere in the neighborhood, and judging from their idiotically belligerent behavior, Ben doubted they'd be missed by anyone. He shrugged before retrieving the last of the bags, and heading back inside. Hopefully the symposium would actually be interesting.

Though, before he left, he made sure to send Jason one quick text:

'How'd you like to solve Freeland's gang problem tonight?'

Jason's response was instantaneous:

'I'll get my gear.'

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Freeland High School was surprisingly nice. It definitely didn't fit the stereotype of a rundown inner-city school, that was sure. Ben was honestly impressed. Pierce took great lengths to ensure that his students had the best resources they could have, so they could rise above their individual demons and shackles the same way he had. The school itself had a sweeping entrance that lead into the school proper, which was a three story building made of brick and mortar, with various windows dotting the side of the building. The floors were impeccably clean, and the lockers were so polished you could use it as a mirror. It was..inspirational to see a man like Pierce working to give back to his community. He could have left it all behind completely, but he instead chose to be a hero without a cape. Ben found that to be truly remarkable, something he would be sure to pass along to the man when they met today. The guy was nowhere to be found, however, but the vice principal stated that he had been at a science expo that Pierce's wife was presenting at, and he would not be in until a little later due to only being able to a catch a late flight back home in time. The way the staff spoke about Pierce was akin to heroworship, as every single one of the teachers at the school were former Freeland students. He had wanted a staff trained and familiar with the everyday struggles that the people of Freeland faced each day. And if the man was not already being nominated for Sainthood, the guy used the majority of his salary to ensure every single kid at that school had two hot meals a day for free. He stated his reasoning was that he didn't that much money, as he'd invested his residuals from Olympic sponsorships to ensure he'd be set for life. He wasn't Bruce Wayne rich, but he'd made sure that he wouldn't need a salary from his work as principle. Yes, everyone loved Jefferson Pierce in Freeland, except the 100. They realized that smarter youth meant no freshblood for their ranks. While they'd made several efforts to intimidate Pierce, but the man was a rock, and unshakable in his determination to make Freeland a better place. The tensions had risen between the beloved principle and the 100's leader, Tobias Whale.

Ben was rather impressed. Both by the man, and by the fact the Freeland High staff member was able to tell him all that information in a single breath. Fascinating. As they walked down the pristine halls towards the gymnasium, where the expo was held, Ben was halted in his tracks by a very familiar and haughty drawl.

"Well, how surprising. Mr. Reily showed actually showed to a high school level science event. How...droll." Ben would recognize that voice in his sleep, and it prompted him to give a wry grin, turning to see the smirking face of Lex Luthor looking right at him.

"And I could say something similar to you, Mr. Luthor. Shouldn't the CEO and founder of a multi-billion dollar company have better things to do than attend something so beneath him?" Upon seeing Lex's smirk widen, they both let out a laugh and shook hands. "Good to see you, Lex."

"And you as well, my friend. Tell me, has Harry been as insufferable with his jokes to you as he has been with me?" His face betrayed his amusement with their more awkward fellow genius' antics. "How Tess puts up with him, I will never know."

"Good ol' Harry Wells." Ben said with a laugh, before his face went serious. "How's the progress on that project, Lex?" They were trying to synthesize power serum for Lex snd Harry using Ben's blood. It was being done on the condition that none of their research was even thought about by anyone outside the three of them. Lex agreed, shuddering at what someone like Amanda Waller would do if she could give Ben's powers to anyone she pleased. Frankly, he was surprised that Ben hadn't had an encounter with her yet. She probably didn't find his powers to be anything spectacular or something to that effect. But the three of them had agreed that the world needed smarter heroes, rather than mere titans like Superman. Especially given the threat that Ben had been warned of by the Monitor, it paid to have an ace in the hole. While the Justice League were great, to a point, he knew that sooner or later, there would be a threat that would be too great for them to handle alone.

Lex coughed, to get Ben's attention. He'd apparently gotten lost in thought again.

"What was that, Lex?" He asked sheepishly.

"I said that the experiment was successful." To prove his point, Lex stuck his hand on the wall, and tried to move it down, only for it to stick to the wall. Ben's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He hadn't expected it to be ready so soon. "I was originally going to design our suits my self, but one of Harry's more...hero bonkers employees, Drisco Blamone or something like that, insisted he perform the design process himself. I'll probably end up adding my own...goodies to them after, but I'm curious to see what he'll have for me."

Ben nodded, just glad to have two more hands on deck for when the cards were down. "I'd offer to train you, but you've probably got all my tricks figured out."

Upon seeing Lex merely smirk in response, he knew he had hit close to the mark. "I am Lex Luthor. Of course I figured out how to best implement my new power. Of course, I was generous enough to teach Harry as well."

"How generous of you. I would recommend you learn some martial arts to go with them. The enhanced strength is great, unless you're fighting someone even stronger than that." Seeing Luthor twitch a bit, he knew the man had not been planning to train his fighting techniques that much. Ben shook his head. "We can talk more later after the expo. In the mean time, let's see how bright the next generation is, shall we?" Ben clapped his rich friend on the shoulder, and then headed inside the gymnasium.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"When I look around this room, I see the best and brightest of what our community has to offer, as well as the brightest minds of our visiting schools as well." Jefferson Pierce spoke confidently, his natural charisma captivating the audience, impressing even Lex with his eloquence. "It is for that very reason that we gather here today in order to combine two of the most noble pursuits available to us: cultivating the next generation, and working to achieve greater outcomes for our society as a whole. So for this reason, I thank you, and welcome you to the first of hopefully many LexCorp Youth Science Expo." He ended his speech to the cheers of nearly everyone there. Immediately, everyone went about their business, and to their respect booths.

Ben noticed that Ernie was clinging onto Derek, and glaring her sister Emeline. Emmy had apparently started hitting on Derek once he'd stopped hiding his form with baggy clothes. He mostly gave her the same treatment that she had given Ernie and himself years prior: ignoring her entirely. Poetic justice, but Ben was amused nonetheless. Derek had formed some interesting theories about how his powers worked, and had chosen those theories for his project. Ernie had been the observer and they often had discussions about the exact mechanics of applying his powers to other areas of physics. Ben was happy for his apprentice, though the last time he'd called Darth Sideways, the kid had threatened to drop him in the middle of the ocean. Ben had never been more proud.

Soon, the expo was in full swing, and the chatting of like-minded individuals filled the gymnasium. Ben was looking around for Tea, who was supposed to be here somewhere. He was about call her when someone put hands over his eyes.

"Guess who it is!" Came Tea's playful voice from behind him.

"If I said 'Kara', how many of my ribs would you break?" Ben replied jokingly.

"All of them." Her voice was right next to his ear, and it sent shivers up his spine. "But my Benny would never do that, because he knows how rewarding I can be riiiiight?" She whispered rather seductively into his ear, causing him to blush crimson.

"Y-yeah. You're right." He couldn't stop himself from stuttering a bit. "Hey, baby. Glad you made it." He was about say something when the rather annoyed visage of his cat was shoved into his face when he turned around.

"Meow." Ben just leaned around his cat to stare at his girlfriend.

"You brought him to the Expo."

"I did."

"Why?"

"Because he was lonely. He also is a very smart kitty, and stays close. Right, my precious furchild?" She turned Salazar around so their noses were now touching. He just seemed to shrug, if that was possible for a cat, and meowed to be let down. Tea complied, before turning back to Ben.

"He is disturbingly intelligent for a cat. Almost like he understands us sometimes." Ben commented offhandedly, before staring at Salazar for a minute.

"Stop bullying our child, Ben!" This got a lot of funny looks from passersby and Ben had to assure him he was not actually bullying anyone. He was about to go find Lex when there were several gunshots at the front of the gymnasium. Immediately Ben looked to Tea, who nodded. She then quickly moved them out into one of the secluded areas. Ben quickly pulled off his clothes, revealing his Arachnid suit underneath his work clothes. He pulled his mask from his bag, and slipped it over his face, and pulled the hood over the mask. His lenses kicked in, and he moved towards the door she'd moved them through.

"Move back to where you were but don't engage. I'll handle this. Use you xray vision and the comm device I put in your pendent to keep me updated for external threats." Seeing her nod, he lived up his mask, and kissed her. "For luck."

She smiled, before she sped away.

He engaged his suits stealth field, and slowly moved his way back into the gym, before climbing up the the ceiling. He took a moment to observe events and formulate a plan. He watched as an Albino man approached Pierce, strutting like he owned the place and everyone in it. He nodded to the six men that had accompanied him, who spread out through the gym, pointing their guns and laughing at the fear people displayed.

"Mr. Pierce. I hope I'm not interrupting anything." The man spoke with mock deference. "Surely you wouldn't exclude the 100 from your little shindig?"

Jefferson was angry, that much was visible, but when he opened his mouth to respond, the man whacked him across the face with a pistol.

"Man, I didn't tell you speak. Now, it's been too long since people really feared the 100. I don't think I like that very much. So I got to thinking, what's the best way for Tobias Whale to get the respect of the community back to his gang." He stopped circling around Pierce, who was glaring at him, before putting the gun to Pierce's temple. "And that's when it hit me. You're as much of a symbol as Black Lightning. So I kill you, and the people learn their fucking place again." He was about to pull the trigger when some black webbing landed on the barrel and yanked it out of his hand, right before the lights in the gym went out. There were a variety of screams of pain and sickening snaps, and about 30 seconds later all the screams of the 100 members stopped. Tobias looked around frantically, not sure who it was.

"Who the fuck is doing this?!" He yelled, before pulling out his back up pistol from his jacket, frantically waving it around.

"That would be me." A cheerful voice supplied helpfuly behind him, but before Tobias could whirl around, Arachnid punched him in the shoulder, shattering his rotator cuff and causing Tobais to scream. "Now, I heard you've been terrorizing this community for quite some time, Mr. Whale. Huh. There's petty insult in their, I'm sure of it."

"Man, fuck you! I will feed you to my fucking piranhas- MMPH!" Arachnid shut Tobias up by webbing his mouth shut. He followed it up with a spinning kick to the albino man's temple. Instantly, the crowd started cheering, and the lights came back on. He looked around, before sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "Aww shucks folks. It was nothing." However, one person wasn't happy with what had happened.

"You killed them all except Tobias." It was a simple statement, but it brought a great silence over the gym. It became oppressive. Arachnid became acutely aware of Jefferson Pierce glaring at him. Mr. Pierce while eloquent, was by no means a small man. The guy was at least 200 pounds of solid muscle slapped on a 6'4'' frame. He was a charmingly handsome African American man in his late 30s, and he didn't look happy at all. "Some of them couldn't have been more than 18 years old."

"Last I checked, waving a gun in someone's face and laughing at their fear isn't the sign of some misguided child. It's the sign of a sociopath, Mr. Pierce." Arachnid responded coldly, all humor fading from his voice.

"That doesn't give you the right to-" Jefferson began but got cut off by a new voice.

"Gentlemen." The cool and silky voice of Lex Luthor grabbed both men's attention, causing them to turn to face the smartest man alive. "I believe this is not a conversation to have around such young minds." Lex then turned to face Arachnid before nodding. "Mr. Arachnid, how nice to see you in Metropolis. While it is puzzling that you would show up here, I thank God that you were here. You put down the threats to these people's lives and saved the day." Lex then put out his hand, waiting.

Ben knew exactly what this was, and silently thanked Lex for this opportunity to get people on his side. "Mr. Luthor, think nothing of it. These are the some of the brightest stars in the sky of tomorrow, so we must ensure they shine as bright as possible, halting anything that might snuff them out before their time." He clasped hands with Lex, who smiled appreciatively. He then turned to Jefferson, who was grinding his teeth angrily.

"This isn't over." Arachnid wasn't sure what that meant but it spelled trouble. He double tapped his comms button to send Tea a signal to move Tobias out of there, and dispose of him. He received an affirmative, and in a flash of red and black, Tobias was gone.

"Well, I have to go! Duty calls. Later citizens! And remember!" He shot himself up into the rafters and out a window. "You can always count on the Amazing Arachnid!"

He landed on the roof before engaging the stealth systems again, moving around the back of the building, before finding his clothes in the hallway he'd left them in. Covering up his outfit, and grabbing his bag, he moved back into the building. He sprinted towards Lex and Jefferson, who were having a heated conversation.

"He had no right to kill them! And he dares to call himself a hero!"

"It couldn't be that you're upset he stopped Tobias more effectively than you ever did, could it?"

"I have built this community up from ashes, Luthor!"

"I understand that. But this is a good thing, you'll see. Ah! Mr. Reilly, come! I'm glad that you are safe my friend." Ben noted that Lex was still in PR mode, trying to smooth this out.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Pierce. I'm a huge fan of your work."

Jefferson stared at Ben a moment, eyeing him suspiciously, before extending a hand to Ben. "How odd that I didn't see you anywhere during the crisis. I do hope you weren't harmed by the 100 or the Arachnid."

Ben twitched a bit, something Jefferson noted. "I wouldn't worry too much about the Arachnid. He doesn't seem like the type who'd attack civilians in broad daylight. In fact, he's something of a hero to our students. They all look up to him."

"Yes, well, children should be careful who they emulate. Not all heroes should be seen as people to luck up to."

"How about Black Lightning? He basically fried those human traffickers into mush a couple years ago." Ben noticed Jefferson twitched at that. 'No freaking way...'

"Yes, well, from what I hear, that was one time thing. He'll probably be after the Arachnid now, since he just killed four young men in cold blood. So maybe the Arachnid should be careful while he's in the neighborhood."

"Oh I wouldn't worry too much. He seems like a capable fighter. And given the fact the Red Hood was sighted in Metropolis as well, I think it's safe to say the 100 won't be around much longer."

Jefferson's expression took a dark turn at that statement. Both men stood silent a moment, just staring each other down.

After Lex coughed awkwardly, Jefferson leveled a glare at Ben before granting some parting advice. "Enjoy your stay in Freeland, Mr. Reilly. But be careful. It can be very dangerous for the wrong sort of people."

Ben just met his gaze coolly. "I'm not too worried, but your concern is appreciated. Have a nice day, Mr. Pierce."

xxxxxxxxxxxx

To be continued.

And so concludes the set up chapter for my two chapter arc of Black Lighnting versus Arachnid! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'm sorry it took so long. I wanted to try my hand at a Harry Potter fic, and it was going well, until I decided to try something new. Long story short, my drive to work on that is dead for a while. Anyways, I hope to see you around, people.

Raizen out.